Saturday With My Favorite People

This past weekend was a blast. Some of my nephews and nieces came down to visit my parents. On Saturday afternoon we saddled up the horses and rode around Grandpa's farm. Hope you enjoy the pics!


Below: I have a serious teacher face hu?

If Happiness...

Occasionally I wonder if my dog is happy. After countless hours of research I have come to the conclusion that the best way to tell if your dog is happy or sad is to measure the height of the dogs ear flop when at play.





As you can see I have a very happy dog! Is your dog happy?

Who reads your blog?

Personality, Is what this girl has. I went out with a girl on a second date a few weeks ago. We were eating dinner, laughing and having a good time just talking.

There are some pretty typical questions you ask on the first couple dates.

As we ate I asked, "What was your favorite vacation that you have ever been on?"

I completely expected to hear Disney Land or something similar, but much to my surprise she replied, "Actually this one time my family took our dogs to Yellowstone hunting...".

I didn't get it for about thirty seconds then it hit me, she had found my blog. Apparently I blog a lot about traveling with my dog Lady. I laughed pretty hard and in fact I am still laughing about it.

Next time you think no one reads your blog, your probably wrong! It is amazing what you can find just by googling a name.

Fall Dreaming!

This post is a shout out to all of you, who like me are already wasting precious work, church, and school hours day dreaming of next fall.

I am passionate about Mule Deer hunting. Not as passionate as I am about upland bird hunting, but it is definitely a close second. I haven't harvested a deer in over four years, so I am hoping that this is the year of the Mule deer. Northern Utah has suffered the past couple years from some pretty severe winters and it has really taken a toll on the population. Last year I chose to pass up some smaller bucks in hopes that they would grow into the buck of my dreams.

We have a motto it is a pretty simple statement, but it packs a big punch. "If you want to shoot big bucks don't shoot little bucks!"

Between now and then I'm already loosing sleep over the bucks I might see during the September muzzleloader hunt.

These pictures are from a hunt that we didn't harvest a buck. These pictures also illustrate why we now hunt the September muzzleloader hunt, we almost froze to death in the back country in 2007.

Love My Aggies!

When people ask me why I attend Utah State I always reply "The basketball games in the Spectrum." In my two years I have yet to see them lose at home.

There were a few tears shed in Northern Utah today. I am not a sports writer, but today I am giving it a shot. Utah State Aggies played a great game against Marquette, but ultimately ended with a loss. Final score 58-57 Marquette.

This is my weak attempt at sports writing. I think I'll stick with hunting.

My Ridge

I have a place that I disappear to when everything in life seems to be going wrong. When work gets too stressful, when my professors start rambling about chlorophyl, and when the clock in church seems to have stopped ticking. The place I go is somewhere in the mountains of Wyoming miles from roads, people, and my cell phone.

It is my horse and I riding across a steep ridge. You can see the snake river on one side and a vast sea of pine trees on the other. All I can smell are pine trees on the breeze.

I have rode my horse across My Ridge in picture perfect fall weather with golden Quaken-Aspen leaves in the background and my 300 Winchester in my scabbard. On the other hand, I have also rode across My Ridge in a summer lightening storm that seemed to dance all around me and drench me with rain. I have rode across My Ridge in snow two feet deep and below freezing temperatures. This past fall I rode across my ridge in the light of a full moon, with a stiff icy wind on the back of my neck. Regardless of the weather My Ridge always brings peace to my soul because I know I am going somewhere far from any worries and close to everything I love.

I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the times I have rode across my ridge, especially if you count all the times I ride it when the clock stops in church.

Genesis 19:17 "... escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."

Pura Vida!

God Loves Costa Rica and so do I. Costa Rica is one of the most fun places I have ever visited. I have never met such a friendly people, seen a more gorgeous landscape, and swam in such a warm ocean. It is these three reasons and the fact that it is summer year round that make me determined that God loves Costa Rica.




Below: This is Raphaela, the German girl I fell in love with, and I swimming before we went snorkeling. Unfortunately it was short lived love. I never saw her again after that afternoon.


Below: Yes that is a Monkey!


Below: The crew: Eric, Scott, Neil, and Nate.


The trip had it's fair share of problems: One lost bag, my camera got pummeled by a wave the first night, and an adventure with a rip tide. Other than that it was a raging success.

The food was fantastic. Seafood galore with lots of rice and beans. I ate fish or shrimp every single day. The fruit was definitely a glorious addition to the trip pineapple, mangos, papaya, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

I body surfed everyday of the trip. Which to me is the equivalent of a hug from heaven when the warm Costa Rican waters crash around my body. We also rented surf boards for nine dollars a day.

Before traveling we had no plans beside our airline tickets and the rental car we reserved. We found places to stay as we went. The places we stayed were great and averaged about $12 dollars a night per person. We saw tons of great country and met some wonderful people. I can't wait for my next trip to Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Self Timer

We all have one, we've all tried to use one, and we've all laughed while trying.

I'm talking about the self-timer function on my camera. Yesterday afternoon I was out in the hills with Lady when the thought came to me, "I need more pictures of us." So I found a nice rock with another nice rock behind it to balance my camera on.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words! Here is our story.

"Lady don't eat the camera"

"Lady get over here."

"Oops"

Getting closer

Finally, perfection!


I will be taking a few days off from blogging. Spring Break for USU started and I'm headed to Costa Rica. Costa Rica had the cheapest plane tickets to somewhere warmer than Logan, Utah. I'll take lots of photos and I'm sure i'll have plenty of funny stories to blog when I get back. Adios freezing temperatures!

If We Were Hunting

On Wednesday my roommate asked, "Eric do you think our apartment could go a whole day without talking about girls?"

I replied, "Yes! If we were hunting!"

I'm Rich

Times are constantly changing and the America of today is a scary one to be a college student in. I will be graduating in the next twelve months and the job outlook freaks me out. I've attended job fairs at my University in past years and they were vibrant with exciting companies looking for future employees. This year on the other hand it was slim pickings to say the least.

On the bright side, as a college student I'm doing great. I still have a job that I make decent money at. I was able to save enough money to buy a plane ticket to Costa Rica for spring break. Driving has become a lot easier since gas prices have dropped. In reality as a college student things have just become more affordable, so long as I keep my job.

It is the future that college students worry about. CNN and other news media don't help either. The woes just seem to keep coming. On Monday I was busy with school and work, but the future was on my mind causing stress.


I did what I always do to get over my depression, Lady and I went on a jaunt through the hills. Nothing clears my mind of troubles faster than watching in pure amazement as Lady races across the sagebrush hillsides. That is when it hit me, wealth isn't about money it is about relationships and the pure enjoyment of life.

I believe a man could have all the money on earth and still be completely unhappy.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be”


One my favorite people, the late Joseph B. Wirthlin said this about happiness in a talk titled Lessons Learned in the Journey of Life.

"It is a terrible thing always to be waiting for tomorrow, always depending on tomorrow, always excusing our todays because we are sure that only in the future will we possess the things that will fulfill us. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Don’t wait for the right job, the right house, the right salary, the right dress size. Be happy today. Be happy now...Make up your mind to be happy—even when you don’t have money, even when you don’t have a clear complexion, even when you don’t have the Nobel Prize. Some of the happiest people I know have none of these things the world insists are necessary for satisfaction and joy. Why are they happy? I suppose it is because they don’t listen very well. Or they listen too well—to the things their hearts tell them. They glory in the beauty of the earth. They glory in the rivers and the canyons and the call of the meadowlark. They glory in the love of their families, the stumbling steps of a toddler, the wise and tender smile of the elderly."

I'm sick of these economic blues. Today I decided that I am the richest man alive. Not because I have money, I live paycheck to paycheck, but because I have everything I need to be happy today.