Romantic Ideas for your Valentine

February is the month for romance. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and most of us men need some ideas to bring some excitement into our spouse’s lives. When most people think of Valentine’s Day and romance they think of flowers, candy, eating out, jewelry, etc… These things are fun (I am sure most women wouldn’t turn them away) but I think most women also crave something more creative and thoughtful.

Here are some Valentine’s Day ideas that will help you men out there catch your wives’ attention and make her wonder where her husband has gone:

1. Do housework for her the entire week before Valentine’s

Starting on Feb 7^th every night you get home (or during the day) do a household cleaning chore that you usually don’t do. Try washing the dishes, vacuuming, mopping the floors, clean the microwave, clean out the fridge, vacuum in the couch, do that little job you have been putting off for weeks (or months in my case), or any other little job that would help your wife out. Be sure to do a little job every night for 7 days. Your wife will be amazed and will find your gift of service much better and more satisfying than roses or candy. After each night you complete a special job leave a little children’s Valentine’s card by that area and let her know how much you appreciate that she does this job all year long and that you really love her for all she does.

2. Plan a mini vacation the weekend right around Valentine’s Day

Take the time to book a hotel, plan the meals, and plan something fun to do for a night away from home and the kids (if you have any). The mini vacation doesn’t have to be far or expensive. The point is to have some alone time together to be able to talk and to show your spouse that you really care for her. You can make it a surprise for her by not giving away any details other than; you are going somewhere for the night and to get packed. In most of our mundane lives a little excitement and suspense even for one night can mean a lot.

3. Plan a Special Night at Home on Valentine’s Night

Send the kids to Grandma’s or a baby sitter on the night of Feb 14^th and make your wife her favorite dinner. You can pull out the candles, special dishes, and create your own little candle lit dinner. You can turn on some soft music and after eating show her that you can still dance (well, maybe some of us still can). Make her feel special by planning all the little details and be sure to watch her favorite movie when you are done eating and dancing. She will be impressed with the work you have put into this special occasion and after eating your cooking will be happy to be the one who cooks for the family in the future.

4. Take your wife to the Temple

One of our favorite dates has been going to the temple together. On Valentine’s Night is a great time to take your wife to show that you value your eternal marriage and she will love you for taking her. Just be sure to go out for ice cream or a treat afterwards to complete the special night together.

5. Plan a “Blast from the Past” Date

Take your wife on a date similar to one you went on when you began dating. Play the same music in the car as you drive to a restaurant that you have been to before. Be sure to open the door for her and give her lots of attention the entire night. Think of how you acted when you were dating and try to re-live that moment. Take her to a movie or bowling or something similar that maybe you haven’t done since you were dating or first married. Ask her out with an invitation that you make yourself. Bring flowers to her when you get ready to take her out. Ask if you can hold her hand and later on if you can give her a kiss. See if she can figure out what you are doing. It will make your Valentine’s night a lot of fun and re-living the memories will make it very special for her.

6. “Happiness in Sixty Seconds” Idea

This is an idea I read about a long time ago and have used it on my wife a few times in the past. Write/type at the top of a paper “Happiness in Sixty Seconds” and write “when you need a lift and something to brighten your day, read this paper and it will bring happiness to you in sixty seconds.” Then proceed to list numbers 1 thru 60 on your paper. Start at number 1 and list something that you like about your spouse like “I love your beautiful smile- it makes my day”. Then go to number 2 and write something else like “I love the way you cry during old movies”. List 60 different things. Here a few more ideas- “I love to kiss you in the morning before I go to work”; “I love how you are so stubborn and determined”; “I love to hear your beautiful laughter after my jokes”. This can be hard at first to think of ideas, but then once you get going the ideas really start to come fast. My wife and I have made each other lists like these and have looked at them many times and it always brings a smile to our faces.

Make this year’s Valentine’s Day special. Treat your wife special. Do fun things with her. Listen to her. Let her know you care.

If you women need an idea for your men you might just want to stick to the candy idea.

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Throwing a Super Party for the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is days away and the only thing more important than the game itself is planning and throwing an awesome Super Bowl party. This year the game will be between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburg Steelers. It will feature one of the top offenses in the league and the top defense in the league. The game will surely be a good one to watch. With the most popular event in the TV watching world on tap, all you need is a plan for a party to match it.

The most important part of any party is the food. Make sure and have plenty of it and have it all ready for when the game starts so you don’t get stuck in preparations during the kickoff or first few plays of the game. My favorite menu for the Super Bowl has always been home made subway sandwiches. I go to the store the day before the game and purchase some large Kaiser rolls or other large soft sandwich buns found fresh in the local grocery store’s bakery department.

Once you have picked your bread, make your way over to the deli to pick out either ham, turkey, or roast beef and have them slice it to your liking. I like mine sliced slightly thicker than regular sandwich slices. I like honey ham, smoked turkey, and Italian roast beef. If you don’t have any cheese at home, get some in the deli, too. Try Pepper Jack cheese, provolone, or Swiss cheese for a change of pace from regular cheddar (avoid the pre-sliced/packaged Kraft cheese slices). Purchase lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, banana peppers, and jalapenos (for extra kick) to top off your subway sandwich. When you are in the process of making your sandwich on Super Bowl Sunday, add oregano, salt, pepper, and vinegar and oil to add that extra bit of flavor. Then add mayo, miracle whip, and/or spicy mustard.

Now that your sandwich is taken care of, you need to buy the snacks and drinks to compliment your meal. Choose your favorite chips- mine is Salt and Vinegar potato chips and Lime flavored Tostitos. Purchase some dip for your chips or purchase the ingredients to make your dip. I always buy avocados and guacamole dry mix to make guacamole dip for the Tostitos. I also buy a variety of nuts including honey roasted peanuts, cashews, and almonds to snack on. For drinks, I usually just drink water, but popular drinks are soda and juices. Make sure the drinks are cold and there is plenty of ice. Salty snacks and cold drinks are a great combination. Make sure you have plenty of treats, too. M&M’s, cookies, ice cream, and candy are great to break out during halftime after you have had a chance to devour your subways and snacks.

Ask your friends, relatives, and even co-workers to come to your party. Let them know the time, your address, and anything you would like them to bring. When setting up your TV room for the big party set up lots of chairs, sofas, bean bags, tables (for the snacks and food), and TV trays. I have been to a few parties many years ago where there was hardly anywhere to sit. Plan your invite list according to how big your TV room is and also how big your TV is so that all those who come can get a good view of the game.

The party should be lots of fun if you invite the right people. You need the die hard football fans (like myself) so you can really get into the game, but you also need those cute girls who don’t know what a first down is (like my wife) to provide comic relief for the die hard fans. If the food is good, if you have a nice TV, and the game is close, then it will be an awesome party. Don’t forget the commercials either because those cute girls need something they can understand.

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The grand-daddy of sports: The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the largest single annual event in the sporting world. Last year’s match up between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants had 130-140 million people tune into the game at one time or another. The Super Bowl is more than a football game; it’s a chance to get together with friends, watch the Super (expensive) commercials, eat good food, and watch the best teams in the NFL face off in the biggest sports battle in the World. The storylines will be plenty, the commercials will be talked about all night, and 2 great football teams will square off for 60 minutes in the biggest and best game of the year.

This year’s Super Bowl features the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are many interesting story lines this year that will make this game intriguing to watch starting with the fact that the Cardinals have not been to a championship in about 60 years. If you are looking for an underdog then the Arizona Cardinals would be the team you want to cheer for this year. Another storyline is the re-emergence of the Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner. Warner played for 5 years for the St. Louis Rams and was highly successful being voted as the league MVP for 2 out of the 5 years. He also took the Rams to, and won, Super Bowl XXXIV. Warner was released by the Rams and signed by the Giants where he struggled before going to the Cardinals where he had played average until this year where he broke out of his slump and had an excellent year leading his team to this year’s Super Bowl,

The final storyline, and probably the most interesting, has to do with the coaches. When Bill Cowher (head coach) retired from the Steelers 2 years ago, it was speculated that the offensive coordinator, Ken Whisenhunt, would take his place as the next head coach. The Steelers had other plans and decided to hire Mike Tomlin instead. Tomlin at the time was the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. Once Tomlin was hired he chose not to retain Whisenhunt or the defensive coordinator Russ Grimm, who was also a strong candidate for the Steelers head coaching job. Whisenhunt was subsequently offered the head coaching job for Arizona and he hired Grimm as his defensive coordinator. The Arizona coaching staff now meets up against their former team and the coach who came in to Pittsburgh and stole what they thought should have been theirs in the biggest game of all. This scenario will provide for very interesting interviews and discussions among players, coaches, media, and fans during the 2 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. It may also provide that extra motivation for the Arizona Cardinals team.

The Cardinals boast a high-powered offense with a strong veteran quarterback in Kurt Warner with one of the best up and coming receivers in the league in Larry Fitzgerald. The Steelers bring to the table one of the all-time best defenses with James Harrison and James Farrior leading a fierce attack at the linebacker positions, and Troy Polamalu providing hard hits from the strong safety position. The Steelers will look to shut down the Cardinals aerial attack and the Cardinals will look to take it straight into the teeth of the Steelers defense and show the Steelers who’s boss.

Will the Cardinals win with Kurt Warner slinging the ball down the field or will the Steelers smash the Cardinals into submission- Tune in Feb 1^st at 4pm to find out.

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The Jazz Look Inconsistent and the Cougars Continue to Win

The Utah Jazz split this past week with one win and one loss. The Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers on January 12th by a score of 120-113. Mehmet Okur scored a career high of 43-points in this game. It is a good sign to see him coming alive as of this past week with the recent injury to Paul Milsap and Carlos Boozer with his injury. Deron Williams continues to impress with his shooting and passing ability. The Jazz are finding themselves relying more on Williams and the supporting roles of Okur, Brewer, and Korver over the last few weeks due to injuries.

The Jazz lost to Oklahoma City 114-93 on January 14th. Oklahoma City was one of the bottom feeders of the league and the Jazz blew this game that they should have won. Deron Williams scored 25 points to lead the team. The Jazz were outrebounded by 48-26 rebounds. The Jazz continue to struggle in this area due to Boozer and Milsap missing games from injuries.

I have tickets to the Jazz game on January 24th against Cleveland Cavaliers. The game should be exciting to watch considering “King” Lebron James is one of the premiere basketball talents in the country. The Jazz have been very inconsistent this year and may or may not beat the Cavaliers. The Cavs have only lost 7 games this year and the Jazz have lost 16. I am sure the Delta Center will be rocking and ready for this big game, but I think if the Jazz want to pull off this win they will need either Carlos Boozer or Paul Milsap, or it would be best to have both on the court.


The Cougars look very good this year and have only lost 2 games against ranked opponents- Arizona St (20th at the time) and Wake Forest (6th at the time). They started their conference play this past week with games against Colorado St and TCU. The Cougars beat up Colorado St by a score of 86-60 on January 10th. Lee Cummard led all scorers with 18 points and Jimmer Fredette had 15 points. The Cougars won this game by a good offensive effort and a great defensive game against Colorado State.

BYU then played against TCU on January 13th and again put in an impressive performance beating the Horned Frogs by a score of 73-61 with Cummard again leading the way with 22 points. Jonathan Tavarnari put in 15 and Jimmer Fredette added 11 points and 6 assists. BYU held TCU to a low 61 points showing their defensive prowes in their first 2 conference games.

BYU looks good this year and should be able to continue rolling through the Mountain West Conference. Their biggest rival is coming up in the University of Utah on January 27th. If BYU can beat the U of U this year then they should easily coast through the conference and should be able to make noise in the March NCAA tournament.

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Bad Things Happen to Good People

My car broke down on the way to work this morning and then while we were towing it to a mechanic the battery went dead. The whole time I caught myself thinking; why is this happening to me? I have gone through this scenario far too many times, as I’m sure nearly all of us have at one time or another and in one situation or another. I have learned that bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, but that also good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. The one constant in all of this is that “things happen”.

We always hear the saying “why do bad things happen to good people?” I dare say that there have been many more good things which have happened to those good people than their memory can recall at the time something bad happens. For example, my car has been very reliable for many years and has had nearly no issues at all, but as soon as it breaks down on the way to work I quickly ask the Lord “why is this happening?” and become angry at the situation. I would be better served to thank my Father in Heaven that this was a minor breakdown and that he has allowed the car to run so well for so long.

We all face different situations daily that could be classified as bad or good. We can learn different things from every situation regardless of it being good or bad. My wife and I purchased a house a few years ago and after living there for a year there was a major accident where our hose broke while we were out of town and leaked through our basement, flooding our carpet, and ruining a lot of things in the basement. While replacing the carpet and fixing part of a wall that got soaked at the bottom, we noticed that our house had termites in it. We were able to get it treated and taken care of, but without this major “bad” incident of the flooded basement, we would have never known the problems our house may have had in the future. We were thanking our Heavenly Father when we found the termites that something bad happened to us allowing us to find out something that would save our house. The next time something bad happens, think of the possibilities that might have happened had your bad luck not stopped you or slowed you down.

Having something bad happen can also be good because it presents an opportunity for someone else to serve, give charity, or even say their prayers. How often have we been in a situation where we need someone’s help and a neighbor, a friend, or a relative is able to help? Have we thought about the impact this might have on their life? The one giving the service and helping will be blessed while helping you out and blessing your life. Therefore 2 blessings have developed because of a bad situation.

I helped someone recently with a flat tire on the side of the freeway. It was an older man and his wife and I could see that they were having trouble. I pulled over and found out the wrench they had did not fit the lug nuts on the tire they were changing. I retrieved mine and it fit their size and I was able to help them get on their way. The couple was from out of town and was going to Arizona to get cancer treatment for the wife. They were extremely grateful for my help and this left me feeling very good about myself that I stopped. I went home happier that day and probably helped my wife a little more that night making her able to complete something she wanted and helping her to feel better. I might have played with the kids a little bit longer, helping them to feel happier. The couple going to Arizona was thankful to have the stress of changing the tire removed and probably felt a little better about life because I stopped to help out. All of this came about because something like a flat tire happened to a very nice couple. Today my dad helped me out with my car. He gave me a tow to the local garage shop. It took a couple hours of his day to help me out. I know he felt good for helping me. I felt better that I could have someone to help me out and that I could get the car in the shop. All of this because, again, something bad happened to good people.

So the next time someone says “Why do bad things happen to good people?” be sure and tell them that something far better and far-reaching will come because of it. Don’t stress too much the next time something happens. Try to think of all the good that will come out of the situation and also think of the opportunities that will be presented to others. God loves us. He wants us to learn. He sometimes has to allow things to happen to us to help us to learn patience, love, long-suffering, and most of all to trust the Lord in all things whether they be good or bad.


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Budgeting Money; an Essential Tool in Today’s Economy

Creating and following a well thought-out budget is essential with the slow economy that we are facing today. With a recession going on right now, and talk of a depression on the horizon, the only sure way to handle the financial pressures is to create a budget for the money that you work hard to earn every day.

Money is a limited resource. Most of us will claim that we don’t have enough of it, although the reality is that we have plenty of it and don’t know how to use self control and thriftiness to save it. Go and visit with anyone who lived during the Great Depression and they will let you know that all of us have plenty of money. We just need to gain knowledge to know how to control our money and the wisdom to use what we have learned.

The basic tool of controlling your money is to create a budget. This has been talked about for many, many years, and can be found in countless books, but many of us fail to take the time to sit down and create a thorough, well thought-out budget.
I have a 5-step guide to help you create a budget that will help you to track expenses better, spend less money, and take control of your finances. Remember that it doesn’t matter as much how much money you make, what matters more is how it is spent.

1. List all of your income resources at the top of a spreadsheet by month.
Listing your income and where it comes from will show what amount of money is flowing into your pool of money. Your stream of income may be little or may be small or you may have multiple streams going into your pool. It helps to actually draw a picture of a pool with a big stream going into it for the main income and smaller for other income sources. You can then get the idea that your pool is filling up with water/money.

2. List all of your regular monthly expenses a couple of lines below the income lines.
Listing your expenses will not only show how much expense you have going out it will also show you areas that are fixed or are variable. Fixed expenses may be mortgage payments, phone bill (unless you have teenagers), utilities bill, insurance, etc. Variable expenses might be food items, grocery bill, electric bill, etc…
Now go back to your picture of the pool with your nice streams filling it up and add some drains all around the pool. You could put a big one in middle for the mortgage as this is usually the biggest expense or drainer of your pool of money. You can then add other drains all around the pool depending on their size of money.

3. Add your monthly income and subtract from your monthly expenses to get your monthly profit.
The amount of money when you figure the difference between the income and expenses can be large, small, or in several cases a negative number. The point of the first 3 steps is to know what that number is so we can know what needs to be done with it. We can’t change until we know for sure what needs to be changed. We can’t keep our pool full and overflowing if we don’t know how big our drains are and how quickly the water/money is running out. The idea is basic but sometimes it helps to visualize something with a similar concept to help us gain that knowledge I spoke of earlier.

4. Make and follow a plan of action to either reduce the size or amount of drains in your pool or increase the amount or size of streams going into your pool or both.
Now is the time to act upon the knowledge you have just received by following steps 1-3. You now know what amount of money you are losing or gaining each month. You need to put plans in place to reduce your expenses or increase your income. Some examples of reducing your expenses would be to go shopping for groceries less often. For my wife and I, we have a large drain for the shopping trips for groceries. We know that this drain is large and we have made a plan to make it smaller. Maybe you have a subscription to satellite or expensive internet service or a myriad of other things that could be reduced or eliminated. As you make your plans, envision your pool with the drains disappearing or getting smaller, thus allowing your streams of income to stay in the pool longer making it fuller and grow bigger. Try making more income by taking on small local jobs, writing articles, starting a home business. Just like with the drains getting smaller, envision the streams getting bigger. A combination of reducing expenses and increasing income will make your pool of money grow very quickly.

5. The final step is to hold accountability meetings each month.
This step is one that many faithful budgeters miss and should be the most important. This is a time to review your expenses and to make sure those drains really are getting smaller and see if any have grown bigger in the process. It is a time to re-assess the budget and see if any drains need to be made bigger to make the budget more in line with reality so you don’t have any unplanned draining. A budget only works if you are accountable for what is in the budget and can adjust and revise areas that need to be on a regular basis. At the end of each month is the best time to asses the budget. You need to pull out a bank statement or other data to show what was actually spent so that accurate data is reviewed. This step will greatly improve your budgeting effectiveness.


Times are difficult right now and many of us may, if not already, fall on hard times where our streams may dry up temporarily. If that happens we need to plug as many drains as possible to slow down the draining of our pool of money. If we have been budgeting correctly and filling our pools to capacity and more, then when these hard times come, we will have enough pool left to cover us until our streams start running again. Take the time and effort to budget. You will experience a comforting and safe feeling knowing that you are in control of your money.


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The Utah Jazz and BYU Cougars Basketball

It’s that time of year when football is in the playoffs and starting to wind down and I start to turn my attention to the hardwood floor of basketball. This year my beloved Packers missed the playoffs so I am going to be paying more attention to the Utah Jazz and BYU Cougars basketball teams.

I have been a fan of the Utah Jazz for many years. I remember watching many games as a little boy on an old TV that didn’t get very good reception for the Jazz TV station- KJZZ. I can still remember watching John Stockton pass the ball in to Karl Malone for the fade-away jumper or big Mark Eaton blocking someone’s shot. I remember the “Golden Grif” and Thurl Bailey. The Jazz had an incredible team back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I got real excited to turn on the TV a couple nights a week to hear “Hot Rod” Hundley announce the Jazz games. I can still hear his funny sayings in my mind “he puts up a frozen rope”; “Stockton yo-yos at the top of the key”; “The Mailman delivers”; “You gotta love it baby”; and many more.

I am still a big fan of the Jazz and always will be. The faces have changed, now there is Derron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and others to watch. My TV now gets great reception and I now get excited to hear Craig BolerJack call the games. (For those of you that still like “Hot Rod” he now announces for the radio station that broadcasts the Jazz games, although I can never keep up with him). The Jazz are doing okay this year. They are currently 20-15 but should do better as they get some of their injured players healthy again. I am actually going to attend the game on Jan 24th when they play the Cleveland Cavaliers with “King” Lebron James coming to town. It should be an awesome game. The faces are different, the shorts are longer, and the announcer has changed, but it is still the same old exciting basketball game that I watched as a child.

BYU basketball is underway as well. The Cougars jumped off to a great start- they are currently 14-2 with the only 2 losses coming to nationally ranked teams- Arizona St and Wake Forest. BYU played both of these teams very close, though, and almost beat Arizona St at the buzzer. BYU fell to Wake Forest at home ending their nation’s best 53 home game winning streak. Wake Forest was ranked 6th and knew coming in that BYU would be very tough, especially on their home court.

BYU has some great players this year in Lee Cummard, Jonathan Tavernari, and Jimmer Fredette. They can score a lot of points, especially on three pointers, and have shown they can hang with the top teams in the league. BYU should go far this year and will play one of the biggest games of the year against Utah on Jan 29th. It will be payback time after the Cougars football team got hammered in SLC to the Utes football team.

Go Cougars!


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