3 Life Checklists for Self-Evaluation

I've come across a couple lists that I just felt needed to be shared.

8 Things Every Kid Should Experience
[article here]

1. Being part of a team
2. Camping
3. Chores
4. Snow
5. Farm life
6. A lemonade stand
7. Flying a kite
8. Bowling

My mind is boggled when I come across some city kid that has never been camping or played in snow or tried bowling. These are essentials. While I didn't live on a farm, we visited them semi-regularly and went to Bryce Canyon for horseback riding often, so I'm gonna count that as a valid substitution. Also, as a Utah boy, I am used to (and kind of like, just a little) that cow-pie smell.

Oh, and if you missed one of these as a kid, there's still time. Get out and do them!

15 Things You Should Give Up to Be Happy
[article here]

1. Need to always be right
2. Need for control
3. Blaming others
4. Self-defeating self-talk
5. Limiting beliefs
6. Complaining
7. Criticizing
8. Need to impress others
9. Resistance to change
10. Labels
11. Fears
12. Excuses
13. The past
14. Attachment
15. Living your life to other people's expectations

I fully recognize that I have a long way to go on some of these, but I'm making strides and am attempting to be cognizant and aware of making progress on them. Especially numbers 2, 8, 9, 13, and 15. Which do you most feel the need to give up?

11 Things to Know at 25(ish)

[article here]

1. You have time to find a job you love
2. Get out of debt and stay out of debt
3. Don't rush dating and marriage
4. Give your best to friends and family
5. Get some counseling
6. Seek out a mentor
7. Be a part of a church
8. Find a rhythm for spiritual disciplines
9. Volunteer
10. Feed yourself and the people you love
11. Don't get stuck

Yes, I'm into my 30s. You don't have to remind me. But I figure that my mission and a masters degree delayed this stage in my life a little. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing (yikes, I hope I haven't fallen into #11). I'm ok on some of these, and need some work on others. All have pretty good reasoning behind them. Which have you found to be helpful at this stage in your life?

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My Grandpa, the WWII Medic

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

As many of us will celebrate with a BBQ and getting together with family and friends, it's important that we remember the reason for today: to honor those soldiers and personnel, past and present, who have sacrificed on behalf of our country and its freedoms.

My grandfather, Keith Craven, was an enlisted man during WWII.
He was stationed in New Guinea, as a medic at the Fourth General Hospital.

I don't have any pictures of my grandpa from the war period or around that time, so I'll have to ask my grandma if she does, and if she'd be alright with me sharing them. But here's one of the hospital.

The facilities could handle 2,000 patients at full capacity, and I'm proud that my grandpa was one of the servicemen charged with caring for those put directly in harm's way in the Pacific Theater.

Grandpa Craven passed away during my childhood, and my appreciation and gratitude continue to grow for his willingness to serve our country and specifically the people brought to New Guinea for treatment.

God bless all our troops, past and present!

For more info on the Fourth General Hospital, you can click [here].

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My Brother, The Law School Grad

My trip to Philadelphia this week and weekend was for a very good purpose: my brother's graduation from Temple Law. We had a great time and I'm so proud of him for this achievement!

Here he is getting a special award. It's basically the equivalent of Mr Congeniality, which is awesome.

I'm so glad my parents and sister could come out for the event. Don't we look fantastic?

While waiting for the commencement, my parents and siblings decided to become an album cover.

And here he is with the woman who has supported him all through law school (and paid the bills).

On the stage, diploma in hand

Graduating and cheering for a graduate take a lot of energy, so we all went to Olive Garden for dinner.

On Friday, we did some sight-seeing around Philadelphia. By the end, our bodies were tired and our feet were sore, but we'd seen a whole lot of history and learned lots about the USA's founding.

In front of Independence Hall

Christ Church Burial Ground, where Ben Franklin is buried

At the Liberty Bell, but mostly I just really like this picture of me

We saw many more places, and had lunch (a Philly cheese steak, of course), and meandered all over.

Then Pete and Jordyn hosted a BBQ back at their place. It felt great to kick back and relax a bit.

With their wonderful neighbors

Saturday morning-ish, we coordinated and headed out to Bird in Hand, PA, also known as Amish country.

I was afraid the gingerbread man was going to actually show up and kill us all

Pops, just being awesome, as usual

Homemade Amish root beer and whoopie pie. Sooooo good.

Showing proper jug-drinking form

For dinner, we found a little place that served an Amish buffet. This entry arch was perfect for pictures.

The parentals

The couple

The siblings

Congratulations on graduating from law school, brother!
And thanks for showing us a great time in and around Philly!

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Check Out Spurfly in the iPhone App Store

Spurfly has been approved and is now available for download!

After a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, plus two kickoff events (read here and here), my friends reached the point that their app could be submitted for approval. The iPhone app store gave it the go-ahead, and now you can check out this social networking app for yourself.

In case you haven't heard about the app yet from either my friends or me, here's a quick summary
[Note: Some changes from the original release]:

Spurfly (Spur-of-the-moment, on-the-fly) is an app that let's you share activity ideas or plans with a group (avoids spam texts or mass emails) or share free time availability when you want to get looped in on activities. For example: share last-minute lunch plans with a specific group to loop in people that want to join, or if you're headed to a movie and don't mind if a couple people join you, then post your plans rather than send a mass text. Friends and acquaintances who are free and checking the app can tag along, too. Helps you get connected or be more inclusive by looping in people who want to join without resorting to a text to everyone you know each time you're planning something.

Check it out here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spurfly/id523286124?mt=8

Thanks again for all the help, we'd love your help in spreading the word around and trying it out. We think when we get critical mass that this will be an awesome way to make socializing more inclusive since it will make it lots easier to include people who want to tag along for everyday activities rather than just huge plans.

Best and thanks again,

Dave Marble & Seth Wheeler (along with Scott Clark, Jeff Chambers, Sam Owen, Staci Wheeler, Reed Farnsworth, Tyler Delange, and Bill Doolittle)

I know they've put in a lot of hours to make a quality app that will enhance our ability to coordinate activities and be more social with less effort. Check it out and let both them and me know what you think!

Note: So far the app is only available for iPhone, but a web-based browser app and Droid app should be coming in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.

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Spurfly Kickoff #2: Twinkie Brunch

Remember the first Spurfly Kickoff event? It was awesome, so we figured another was in order.

Thus the Spurfly Twinkie Brunch.

Thankfully, the weather played along nicely, and our brunch could be picnic-style in the backyard.

Check out some shots:

The Twinkie Berry Trifle, this event's crowning glory.

You've gotta have more than just Twinkies for brunch.

Rolling up the sleeves in prep for attacking the food table.

Great spot on the lawn for a bite to eat and some conversation.

Classic and scrumptious. The Twinkie, I mean.
On second thought, the gal, too.

Thumbs up for this trio.

Definitely some good brunch banter going on.

Bright spring/summer colors!

Even the photographer likes to be in a photo once in a while.

Hugs if you like Spurfly!

Practically semi-pro hip-poppers.

Representin'.

Another great event, and we still have a whole lot of Twinkies.
I wonder what's next in our saga to use all 1,000 of them...

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