What Friends Are For

Here i am kickin' it in provo for the weekend, all jacked up on macadamia nut cookies and mountain dew; gone through 2 movies, and still wired. Haven't slept at all, and it's now 5:30. One of the movies i just watched was 50/50. And really just got me thinking and appreciating my friends. Reminds me of the quote, "With so many people that come in and out of our lives, we sometimes forget that there are those who have been there all along. We take them for granted thinking they will always be there when one day they won't." My friends are the best.

Over the past couple years i've been able to draw extremely close to a couple of my friends. Losing a friend really brought the rest of us together. Still weird to say that over 2 years ago one of the greatest men alive was ripped from us.

While I miss Robi a shiz ton, i'm glad i have good friends who share so many similar characteristics that Robi possessed. Talking and hanging out with awesome people like Behnke, sean mearns, jeff evans, and robi's cousin bryce really make me smile because i see so many little traits, whether they know it or not, that really put a smile on my face because it's so similar to Robi's mannerisms. 

It's was fun to be in DC this past fall chillin' with Sean and Behnke for a couple days. While sitting down to a burger place (eating outside) a homeless man, or bum, or whatever you may, approached us and asked for some money. None of us said we had any cash. The guy asked if he'd buy him some food then. Without even hesitating, Behnke stood right up and walked inside with the guy and bought him a burger (it was a relatively expensive place mind you). It's simple things like that that really let the qualities of Robi shine through. The vacation was fun. But seeing those two puts a temporary patch on a gaping hole.

This pic of Robi and Behnke will forever remain on the fridge of the Santa Maria. It's perfect, shows Behnke holding his two favorite things; Robi and a burger. ;) (love ya big guy)

 Spending new years eve in Vegas with Thomas and Jevans did just the same. 

New Years Day with the Captain

Any time i talk to Bryce, it always helps soothe the ever-lingering pain. He and Robi talk the same. Sound the same. Talk about the same things. Share common interests, and are always teaching me something,  whether they know it or not.

Robi's jeep, The Jewel, facilitated many many adventures

I love how beautifully orchestrated the words are on his headstone, when it says quite simply "He was beautiful." My friends are beautiful still, just like the Captain. And i'm so glad they are the way they are. 

Check out this lakeside property!

2 1/2 years later and i still miss you every day. Waiting for the hole to finally heal, but don't see an end to it. Still waiting for the pain to leave, though being at your side, watching you slip through, leads me to not think it ever will. Wish my last memory of you was of something great, like hollering at people in your pink pajamas and footies for pancake breakfast. Or chopping wood shirtless. Or longboarding the canyone in a onesie with a gun strapped to a belt on the outside. Or stuffing kawque's pockets full of grapes. Or jumping out of the car to go ask some cute girls on the street if they had seen your "missing friend Jack," just so you have an intro to talk with them. Or the hundreds of other hilarious things you did. Instead my very last memory is the worst one. 

We all loved Robi. And we all love him still. Thank goodness we have friends who have gathered bits and pieces of him and incorporated them in to their own selves.

He was beautiful...

Miss Tee Time?

I've been meaning to post this for a long time. Over the summer i went golfing about 3 or 4 times a week. I loved it. Couldn't ask for anything better. i also had the privilege of meeting lots of new people on the course. I'd go play a round solo, and get matched up with some strangers. One of these such times i got paired with a very cute girl and her mom. The round was good. Got numbers afterward, and planned to take her out. I gave her a call, and instead got shafted (beginning of lots of puns). She never called back. i waited a few days, then gave it another shot, and called again. Nothing.
A few days later i was chatting with my brosef and we started throwing out lots and lots of different golf related little puns i could text her about why she didn't call back. The following is what we came up with:
Missed your tee tiem?
Guess i'll have to play solo
Missed the fairway?
Playing out of the rough?
Did you get yourself another bogey?
Well, you missed your chance to "leave the pin in..."
Must have been a rain delay.
I'll get my strokes somewhere else.
Guess i'm sub-par?
Too many clubs in your bag?
It's okay, your handicap is too high for me.
I'll drop my balls somewhere else.
Sliced out of bounds?
Saw it as a hazard?
Bad approach?
I'll "hook" someone else.
Difficult to read?
Didn't see it breaking that much.
Don't hit the green enough?
My "big stick" just isn't big enough?
Did i give it too much club?
Was i too fast on the greens?
Completely underestimated the distance.
I'm in the bunker.
Want to use my pinnacle?
I will calaway later.
It's hard to stay on the cart path.
Ping me on Facebook.
I'd love to play with your Titleist.
What wood should i use?
Guees i have too many irons in the fire.
You use a glove?
Play it where it lie.
You'll need a larger ball marker.
Care to hit a provisional?
How about a mulligan?
Get in the hole!
Yeah, i can see it, go ahead and pull it.

The Sleeping Boy

For the most part, all of us Prestons are really good/great sleepers. Probably the best of us all is my younger brother, Boy. He's always sleeping. He sleeps in church (not too difficult there), during meals, immediately after meals (he lays down right next to where he was eating and falls asleep), and pretty much wherever else you can think. As a loving brother, I like to snap photos of him.

 In his defense though, he does like to prove himself on all road trips we go on. He insists on staying awake the entire time. In fact, last year when we drove to L.A., starting at 11pm and driving straight through the night, Boy was able to stay awake while i drove. He did a noble job of co-driving.
One of our favorite things to do is cover people with newspapers when they fall asleep. Again, being the loving brother, i don't want him to sleep cold, so Boy gets strategically covered with papers.

This last weekend however, is my favorite sleeping Boy story. We had our family reunion at Bear Lake. Me, Tom, and Boy drove up together friday afternoon. Though, not until we had played 9 holes at Rose Park Golf Course in SLC. We didn't finally get to the cabin until about midnight. Our rooms were deep in the basement. The best rooms imaginable. They had no windows or other outside light sources. It was fantastic. You'd shut the door, turn the light off and not see a thing. Boy slept in there. Me and tom on the other hand, decided to go outside and throw down our sleeping bags and sleep under the stars. We knew we'd wake up with the sun, early, and we were fine with that. Saturday morning, sure enough, we woke up around 7 or 7:30. Had breakfast and just kind of hung out for a little bit with everyone else. We then all got to talking about how long Boy would be able to sleep for. Then the idea came to play a little joke on him. So i snuck in to his room, completely dark in there, and changed the time on his phone and also computer so that they were set to Alaska's time zone, 4 hours behind us. That way when he wakes up, he'll look at his clock, and think he has several hours left to sleep. If he woke up at 9:00 our time, it was only 5:00 his time, and he would be able to sleep for another several hours. He'd have no idea because that room was so dark.

Saturday just kept ticking by, and we were seeing no signs of Boy. 10:00 passed. And then 11:00. And the noon rolls around and we start eating lunch. Around 12:30 (only 8:30 his time) there were rumors of Boy emerging. He had woken up, fully refreshed at "8:30" and decided to come upstairs for breakfast. When he got upstairs, our cousin Mike said to him, "Whoa, you almost slept through the WHOLE day." Boy asked what he was talking about, it's only 8:30. Our other cousin pointed out that it was indeed, now almost 1:00pm. All we could do was laugh about it. That kid just slept right through the family reunion. He was just too tuckered out. Boy is the michael jordan of sleeping.

Preach. Preach Bob Marley

Stumbled across this from a friend...

Too many people I know are scared of this. They want to be the first and the last. They want to be thought of ever day. It’s just unrealistic… love doesn’t work unless you give it a chance. Sometimes it’s not perfect, but some love is better than no love, ever day.

Bob Marley on how to love a woman

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect - you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”

- Bob Marley

Thank you Nate Bagley: http://bigbags.tumblr.com/

13 year gap

3 foods i hate: watermelon, tomatoes, and cottage cheese.
It's probably been about the same amount of time that i've had any of these. 13 years. They're just gross. Call it crazy, because most people do. But i find watermelon bland, and boring, and gross. Well, with July being a constant month of barbecues and such, i finally caved and had some. Just so you know, this is a big deal. My dad would be proud.
I think i'd be fine to go the next 13 years without it again.

reminders

It's been almost 2 years since I lost one of my best friends. Still not a day goes by i don't think of him. Lots of things remind me of him. There are several songs that i'll occasionally hear and remember bumping them heavy in Robi's truck and just having fun. This most recent song, i forgot about, and then stumbled upon a couple days ago. No joke, i've played it probably 2 dozen times today. I doubt you'll enjoy it as much as i do, but i got some history with this.
It's how we lived when Captain Rob was around. Partying and Bull Sh*t.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-gvIeNWAPo

Biggie's gone, Robi's gone. I'd rather have Robi back.

Is that your dad?

A couple months ago, (yeah, it's been a long time since i've written here) while at work, one of the dealerships had John Stockton come down for the grand re-opening. It was a good time. And i was able to snap this pic with him.

                                 All-time assist and steals leader Hall of Famer John Stockton, and me.
Later on that evening i had class to get back to. While sitting in class, i was looking at this picture on my computer. Everyone in utah recognizes john stockton, right? The girl sitting next to me didn't. She was born and raised in utah, and didn't know who he was. Want to know how i knew this? She asked me if that was a picture of me and my dad. Um, no. It's not. I kind of chuckled and asked if she was serious. She felt dumb, and said, "What?! It looks like your dad. You both have really white teeth."
We have white teeth? That makes us look like a father/son combo? Please. The whiteness of your teeth isn't hereditary.
So next time you see some people gathered together, or walking, and they have the same shade of teeth, don't assume they're family. Whew, glad that one is cleared up. I'm sure lots of people always make that mistake.

oops, my bad

It's been a long time since i've written here. Doesn't quite seem right. Over the last several months i've gotten extremely hooked on twitter, and use that almost as a substitute. I've neglected this adventure book. I'll get back on it, and keep things flowing.

growin' up grown up

in my mind, there are a few things that you can use to measure up and see if you're an adult. they are...
1. having t
o dress up for work (check) (thank you new job at the ad agency)
2. costco membership (soon)
3. newspaper subscription (when i have my own place)
4. having my own place (soon, like this summer soon) slc, on my solo self i'll be

with graduation around the corner, and a new job where i'll be for the next few years (before grad school) i'm starting to feel much more grown up. Time to wear the big boy pants, right? and yes, get that newspaper subscription. (it doesn't have to make sense to you, but in my head, that's one of the measuring points) odd, i know.

bring the excitement

First off, i just have to say that it's been a long freaking time since i've written anything. not that anyone noticed, but i did. i've gotten so busy with everything that this simple thing has taken not just a back seat, but more of an attached to the hood kind of position. so with that being said, let me just jump right back in as if i haven't been missing...

throughout my provo collegiate career intramurals have been a ton of fun. Joe was the first to have the real driving passion to win an intramural championship and wear that coveted t-shirt. ok, well maybe the t-shirt doesn't even matter, but actually winning does. We've played flag football and basketball, both men's and co-ed. every season we thing we're going to do great. we keep getting older, and the competition stays the same age, right? yeah, our age isn't helping us at all. we've never really been close to winning the whole thing. i've had fun participating, but it'd be even more fun if we actually won.

Having never actually gotten that close, it was very easy to get excited watching Cheri play her basketball season. I've been to as many of her basketball games as i could attend, and they're always fun. It's seriously an awesome time watching her bring the ball up the court and control the game. every high school game i watched it was obvious she was crucial to her team's success. So of course this intramural season would be too.

The season went along and they didn't do too good. Granted they also let practically all girls on the dorm floor play with them. Tournament comes along and it's time to  make the cuts. and thank goodness they did. Cheri's team was great. it was awesome to watch them tear up teams by 20 or 30 points. yeah, they're that good. and it was really fun to shout out "shoot it" whenever cheri had the ball outside the 3-line. You know, much like everyone in provo would yell the same thing whenever jimmer brought the ball past half-court? this was similar. And with every shot cheri would make, or steal, or assist, we'd all let out raucous roars and "wahoo!'s". some more raucous than others.  


last night was cheri's championship game. championship. i've never played in one of those. in all my years, i've not been this close. now cheri, in her first year is playing for that shirt. they played against a native american team. all the girls but 2 were native american. the other 2 were white. one amazon sized, and the other irrelevant. the n.a.'s went up 6-0 quick. then cheri's team played great and forced shiz tons of turnovers and only let them score two more points, meanwhile scoring 9 of their own. cheri's up at half.

second half comes along and it seems like the game was mostly under control. then the n.a.'s heaved up a few desperation 3's toward the end of the game and were making them all. our team is down 1 and the other team has the ball. comes down to free throws and rebounding. unfortunately the tribe handled it much better and owned both of those categories that last couple minutes and won the game. total heartbreak. we were all crushed. but cheri was even more crushed. after the game we tried to approach her and you could see just how pissed she was. she had fire. white man fire for winning.

she had that same fire that we've all been experiencing the last few years. now it's an entire family desire to get that championship. she's joining the rest of us when we all say, "there's always next year." and hopefully next year they can find that elusive sought-after title. 

social media distractions

over the past couple weeks i've had to write 3 news releases, a "green energy" reinvestment act report, a large team charter, and take 3 tests that totaled 8 hours of drudgery. as i sit down to study or write, i instinctively immediately open up several different browsers and start my social media indulgence. i start with facebook, and then i do some blog searching, tumble my way through tumblr, and then end with twitter (which usually takes the longest). then i check my several different e-mails. school e-mails, work, personal, junk, other personal. i've got to take the time to link up all my e-mails so i can get them all to my phone. as of now, only 1 goes to the phone. and it's so nice to be able to receive and respond to group project e-mails while i'm waiting at a red light. that's love. you know what else is love? all the social mediums. it's great to sit down during timeouts at basketball games and plow through twitter and see the chatter from that. or to sit down in church and follow up on how everyone else is singing praises to the jimmer. or how about becoming the mayor of anywhere at all in provo on foursquare? yeah, i'll call that an accomplishment.

social media is a great distraction when you are bored.
social media is a horrible distraction when you have ish loads to do.
i have ish loads to do. yet, i can't be pulled from it. how great is it to have Big Black tweet you and tell you he'll be seeing you at Harry O's in park city in a couple weeks. or to have the guys from jackass reply to a tweet. or to feel the heartbreak of jerry sloan is retiring before ksl even reports it. or seeing the d-will trade announced before espn could report it. that or to just laugh at anything and everything ochocinco says? i feel i have a connection with him ;-) talking with daniel tosh or joel mchale during their shows airing? um, yes please.
the whole point of this is that i am horrible at being distracted. i write this while i should be researching the recovery and reinvestment act and writing and designing a magazine article about it. oh snap, what happened to time management?

finally...it clears out

January is a horrible time for going to the gym. February has proven bad too. provo is a rough place to live if you want an open gym to go work out. these people with their new year's resolutions are finally beginning to sift out. thank goodness. i'm a bit surprised though. i honestly thought it wasn't going to take this long to get rid of these people. so, kudos to you for sticking it out for 2 months. now the gym is back in control of us regulars who go because we like to, not because we made a resolution to.

E.N.T. (the buick specialist)

I've never been to an ENT specialist before, so i didn't really know what to expect. had no idea.

Starting about christmas break time i was having some weird "swimmer's ear" type stuff going on in my left ear. i didn't think anything too serious of it at all. i've had swimmers ear before. i mean, who hasn't? so while i was home in burley for a few days, i visited the family physician. i've now concluded after several attempts for family physicians to diagnose things that they really just do guesswork. trying to diagnose what's wrong with you, is like trying to kill a bull with a letter opener. or a nerf gun with needles on the tips. Good freaking luck. i went in there thinking he'd just do his little magic and swirl some wands and water around and drain my ear. nope. he said there was some infection or inflamation behind my ear drum, deep in the canal. so he game he some anti-inflammatory drugs and said it'd be gone after about a week. well, i figured it wouldn't hurt to also use some of those ear drops. and maybe some nasal spray. so i did. within a week the plugged, muffled sounding swimmers ear was gone. though i give all credit to the drops. that was that, i didn't think anything more of it.

                                              This stuff was an instant relief!

Then about the middle of January comes around and i can feel something in my head, between my ear and my brain. there's been lots of pressure, and I gone done been had a headache ever since. Every single day, it's a headache. It's hard to focus and pay attention and do anything in school. so i figured after a month and a half of constant headaches, it's time to go see the ENT guy and figures this ish out. 

Yesterday was the day. Again, let me remind you i've never been to one, and had no idea what to expect. i thought for sure there was something deep in my ears and only he'd be able to solve that problem. oh boy, after all was done, i felt like i survived the running of the bulls. and of course, all i had to defend myself was a nerf gun with needles on the tips. 

I sit down in the chair and he looks directly in my nose. gets those vice grip things and holds it open. grabbed one of those long q-tip type things and shoves that straight back and starts wiggling it around. it didn't hurt at all, but it did toy with my sinuses like crazy causing a waterfall of tears to come gushing out my eyes. then he starts spraying some stuff up my nose and told me to sniff it hard to get all the way up. that stuff tasted horrible. he went back to the q-tip, wiggled some more, and then grabbed a new tool. it resembled almost too much what the dentist uses when he cleans the plaque off your teeth. one of those long metal hook things. he told me i had a "buildup the size of a buick" in there. i asked him if it was a lacrosse or a rendezvous. haha, good one, right? then he grabs that cavity cleaner thing, shoved that clear back (i swear he was touching my brain) and yanked on that "buick" and pulled it out. just as quickly as those tears came when he was tickling my sinus, now blood was gushing out of my nose. he grabbed a handful of kleenex and i just held them there. he said it'd go away in a few minutes. just a nose bleed. so there i sit, with my box of kleenex holding back the blood, while also still gushing tears from my eyes. i'm glad nobody came with me to this appointment, i'm sure that looked great.

So then i went to have my ears checked and make sure the passages aren't obstructed at all. they first plugged up my ears to check the circulation and who knows what else. everything was normal. then i sat in those cool sound-proof booths and the lady put some headphones on me, and gave me a buzzer. "Press the button every time you hear a beep." perfect. i like this game already. so one hand has the buzzer, the other hand is still trying to switch up the gross kleenex's for a new one. i was still struggling. the beeping ensues and my attention turns fully to it. i was loving this game. i felt like i was on jeopardy playing against Watson. the beeping noises i heard were the lightbulbs going off in my head signalling i knew the answer and had to hurry in and buzz so i could beat the computer. eventually the beeps got too high pitched, and those are the questions i missed. i still had the timing right, so i guessed on a few of those. overall, she said i did good. and that my hearing is just fine. i don't have any hearing deficiencies, despite what some people may say. i guess i'm just really good at practicing my selective hearing. 

After i ultimately lost in "double jeopardy" in that soundproof booth, i went back to the specialist guy and he said they couldn't find anything wrong. there's nothing they could see that would cause these headaches, or this intense pressure and junk i can feel in my head. he suggested i go see a neurologist and get an MRI done so they can really see what's up. that's next on the agenda now. so i pretty much went through all of that treatment just to be told everything is normal, or so they can see, and that i gotta go see someone else. hmmm. lame. all i got out of it was a little bit of dehydration from tearing up so bad, and some slight dizziness from all the blood loss. not a good trade off. Now until i see a neurologist, i'ma go take a nap. maybe a few day nap. i've been so tuckered out constantly for the last month and a half. i don't know how many times i've got to bed before 11. or even 10 sometimes. that's how i know something isn't normal. but eventually i'll get right back on track. i'm just trying to enjoy this adventure as i go through it. and trust me, getting a Buick pulled out of your nose is definitely an adventure!

**sorry if this made anyone gag or get grossed out. just consider yourself lucky you weren't there watching**