Friday the 13th

The year was 1998. I was in third grade, and I was a rock star. Okay, not really. But I was a really, really good speller. The third grade words were so easy that I had aced every single spelling test that school year. Naturally, this went straight to my head because spelling is what the cool kids can do. And so, in a great act of academic arrogance, I asked my teacher for more of a challenge. I asked her to give me fourth-grade spelling tests instead of the third-grade ones given to the rest of the class. I was a punk, I know.

Not me. Just a stock photo.

I continued to ace the tests, though. That is until one day in February. It happened to be Friday, and it happened to be the 13th.

The word was "carriage." I swear I included the "i" but somehow it was missing from my paper. And so, for the first, and only time that entire school year, I missed a spelling word. My mom claims it was because I never studied, but what do moms know? I never studied all year, so why would that test be any different?

I'll tell you why. It's because it was Friday the 13th! That's why!

And so I became what some people call "superstitious." I call it logical. If the only bad thing to ever happen to me happened on Friday the 13th, then, of course, I'm going to be careful on all other Friday the 13ths! To this day I will not take a test on a Friday the 13th (thank goodness I'm no longer a student), and I am very cautious in all my other activities on that day. You can never be too careful!

Except that bad luck struck once again.

It was Friday, 13 September 2013. My wife wanted to celebrate the day and mock the superstition of it by watching a scary movie. I thought we better not tempt Friday the 13th like that, but I also thought my wife was pretty excited about it and so I figured I should humor her like any good husband would.

We eventually settled on the movie Abandoned, simply because it sounded creepy. And creepy it was! See, this woman takes her boyfriend to the hospital, checks him in, meets the nurse, and then leaves while he is in surgery. She comes back a couple hours later and finds out he wasn't in the hospital's system and nobody knew the nurse she met. Turns out (and here's your spoiler alert, but it's a stupid movie, so just do yourself a favor and never watch it) her "boyfriend," the "nurse," and some sweet old guy she met in the hospital restaurant were all in a scheme to steal money from the bank she worked at.

So we're watching this thing, and it was really starting to get to my wife. It's getting particularly intense, we're not sure if what we know is real, the main character is imagining things that aren't really there, and suddenly she freaks out and says, "What was that?!"

Well, I was just a little bit concerned about the effect this movie was having on my poor wife. Now she was imagining things, too. She tells me that she was pretty sure she saw a mouse.

Fortunately, we had a flashlight nearby and I shined the light around and didn't see anything. I knew she had to be crazy because the path that this imaginary mouse would have had to take would have rustled some papers on the floor near the entertainment center. No such thing had happened, therefore my wife was being driven to insanity by this ridiculous, yet slightly creepy movie.

It happened two more times, and on the third time, she said it went out in the hall. I shined the flashlight out in the general direction my wife had pointed and lo and behold, there was a mouse peering out from under a mat.

Well, gosh darn it. Why did we have to tempt Friday the 13th with a scary movie? I had avoided bad luck for 15 and a half years on this horrible day! And now we tempted fate and brought upon ourselves a terrible curse.

So I put on my bravest face and set out to catch this thing. I thought back to my childhood and realized the only way I knew how to catch a mouse was to give it a cookie. But we didn't have any cookies. And so instead I got my wife (who was standing atop our couch at this point) her socks, shoes, and purse. I cleared the hallway and watched every angle to make sure our furry little friend wouldn't come darting out as she raced past. And race past she did! I'm pretty sure she could out-sprint Usain Bolt if she thought she was being chased by a mouse. So she bolted (see what I did there?) out of the house and went to the store where she purchased some mouse traps.

While she was gone I called my grandparents and asked if we could stay the night at their place. Now before you judge us for running away from a tiny little creature, you have to remember that our mattress was on the floor. We had no bed frame, and therefore this little mouse could come cuddle with us in the night if he wanted. But no matter how much that mouse loved us, we did not love it.

And so we spent the night at my grandparents (THANK YOU) and even took the time to finish Abandoned. And then a mouse showed up in my grandparents' house. Just kidding. But it was a really dumb movie. Seriously. Don't waste your time.

**********

IKEA should be grateful for the mouse that invaded our house. In fact, there are conspiracy theorists out there that believe IKEA actually released the mouse into our house. We had no intention of buying a bed frame or anything until we moved to a new place. For one thing, we couldn't fit a box spring down into our little basement apartment so we would have to get a frame that didn't need one and IKEA is the best place to get one of those. Also, we were still poor, so we figured we'd wait until taking a couple hundred bucks out of our account didn't bother us quite so much.

Our new bed frame!

But sleeping on the floor while at least one mouse is in your house does not sound even a little bit fun. So we weren't even going to consider it. But before we went to get a bed frame we went home and checked the traps. And by we, I mean I. I tried to claim a seat at the top of the stairs while my wife went and checked the traps, but apparently, it's my job to deal with mice. 

So I checked all the traps and discovered I had set them wrong. These aren't your traditional mousetraps. They're the ridiculous kind with a fake cheese pallet that comes with vague instructions on the back. So I reset them, properly this time, which I knew because I almost killed my finger.

After resetting all the traps, we made our first ever trip to IKEA in search of the perfect bed frame. IKEA is a cool place!  We may go back one day to furnish more of our home. Unless we find out the conspiracy theorists were right. Then we're going to release thousands of mice in their store for vengeance. And I really hope nobody ever does that or we'll be the number one suspects now...

We then went home so that I could watch the Texas A&M versus Alabama football game. I missed it the year before and it was a good one so I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, with or without a mouse running around our home.

So close!

Well, my wife fell asleep and even I was fading during commercials. Apparently, it took a lot out of us to run away from a little rodent the night before. I opened my eyes at one point to see the mouse just resting in our hallway. So I grabbed a couple of partially filled water bottles, fully intending to sneak up on it and smash it dead so that we could carry on our normal lives.

I crept forward, careful not to disturb this restful creature. I was ready to launch the water bottles the second it tried to dash away. But it never bolted like I expected it to, but rather it began to slowly meander away from me. Regardless, the movement startled me into pulling the trigger and launching the first bottle toward him. I missed that poor creature by a fraction of an inch. I quickly threw the other water bottle at it and narrowly missed once more. But the mouse didn't dart away like I expected. Instead, it started walking like it was completely drunk.

It wandered aimlessly in little circles, occasionally tripping over itself as though it was absolutely hammered. After a few minutes of struggle, the poor thing just keeled over and died, right in front of us, right in our hallway.

The video is really shaky (I apologize for that) and I didn't start filming until the most entertaining bit was over, and I stopped filming before it actually died, but this will help you visualize what was going on:

What we think happened is that it chewed on the little D-Con cheese pallets the night before when we first set the traps and poisoned itself. It must have been dying when I started throwing things at it, and the close encounters must have given the poor little guy a heart attack and killed it. 

What a wonderful blessing, though! It came and died right in front of us so that we wouldn't have to wonder if it was still wandering around our home. I still had to clean it up, however. I did, with work gloves on, and by picking it up with a shovel. I wasn't going near that thing!

**********

We rejoiced, knowing that this mouse was no longer wreaking havoc in our home! But a few days later we discovered he had a friend. Or maybe a lover out for revenge, we don't know. 

Once again we settled in to watch TV, and once again it was my dear wife who said she thought she saw another mouse. And once again, I thought she was losing it. I thought she was still feeling the ill effects of a Friday the 13th gone wrong, and that the first mouse had freaked her out to the point she was imaging another one a few days later. 

But then I saw it. It ran into the corner of the room behind our couch, and then it would try and run toward the doorway but I would force it back. Since we knew where it was trying to go, I went and grabbed one of our mouse traps we now had scattered throughout our house. And since it had worked out so well last time I also grabbed a water bottle to throw at it.

See where it says "GUARANTEED
TO KILL"?!?!??!?!?!?!?!

But you'll never believe what happened. My plan worked to perfection. The mouse started toward the door, right toward my trap. Then it started to sniff the cheese pallet. And then it CLIMBED RIGHT ON TOP OF THE STUPID THING AND IT DIDN'T SNAP!!! So that is why the first mouse had lived. And I was so stunned that the trap failed that I forgot to chuck the water bottle on the rodent's head while it was sitting contently on top of my trap. I did yell though, angry that the trap didn't work. And I startled the mouse back to its corner under our couch. 

At this point, my wife decided she was going to hide in our room, so she darted past, closed the door behind her, stuffed towels under it as tightly as she could, and barricaded it closed with the bookshelf or something, though I don't know that part for sure.

I called my best friend and had him come over and help me because I didn't really have the thing cornered by myself, but was pretty sure we could do it with two people. So he hurried over and I sat by the door to make sure that stupid thing couldn't sneak past me and escape. When my friend arrived, we tried to force it out so we could catch it or kill it, but it wasn't budging. After multiple attempts, we lifted the couch to force it out of its hiding place but somehow it was gone. We checked for holes along the wall, inside the couch itself, and found absolutely nothing. Somehow it had slipped past me and disappeared somewhere in our house.

We never saw him (or her, if it really was a rage-filled lover of the first mouse) again.

**********

Our house was then armed with spin traps, glue traps, D-Con, and noise making rodent repellents. We didn't see a mouse in our home after those first two, but from time to time we heard one in our walls, generally the wall just right behind our bed (naturally). They would scratch and claw and scurry around. It was really a terrible way to live so you can bet your bottom dollar we didn't stay here a day beyond our contract's completion.

And you can also bet that we aren't going to tempt Friday the 13th ever again. On an unrelated note, does anyone want to have us over all day today?

This blog was originally published on 12 December 2013 on another site. It has been updated slightly but the story remains the same.

Unplugged: It's Time to Go Outside

In June of 2014, I graduated with a degree in Recreation Management from Brigham Young University. "That sounds fun," you will inevitably want to tell me. And it's true: I absolutely loved my major. While I didn't enjoy all of my business classes - after all, this was a management degree and accounting is not for everyone - I am passionate about recreation.

Like most of us, I grew up spending a large portion of my time outside. I played sports, hiked, fished, camped, and just ran around the yard. I loved it! Which is why many of the things I learned during my time studying recreation are still very bothersome to me. Author and journalist Richard Louv, perhaps best known for his book Last Child in the Woods, related the story of one fifth-grader who said, "I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are."

That statement is alarming to me, and while I know that not every child feels this way, it does give insight into a prevalent problem we face in today's world.

Consider this video from Nature Valley:

Now, I don't believe that every kid is a technology addict, nor do I believe that every adult is a device-free outdoors enthusiast, but I do think this video paints a very clear and important picture of just how different a childhood is today than it was just twenty years ago.

Are all these devices and technological advances inherently evil? No, of course not. However, we as a society - adult and child alike - need to spend some more time unplugged.

I spend a few hours each week as a volunteer adult leader for the youth at my church. Recently, we were playing volleyball for a mid-week activity and on one particular point, I watch the ball sail over the net and land in the middle of the court within one foot of a girl who was so wrapped up in whatever was on her phone she was oblivious to the ball that had almost struck her. She wasn't the only culprit that night either. I watched as several of these teenagers couldn't resist pulling out their phones in the middle of the action. I understand that as a sports and recreation professional I view the world differently than these kids but it was painful for me to watch.

The Benefits of Going Outside

There are many, many benefits to spending time in nature. While we could spend all day with a never-ending list, let's take a broad look at a few of the rewards that you and I can enjoy as we get some fresh air.

Physical Health

According to a study conducted at the University of Essex, the color green actually makes exercise feel easier. So unless you've been invited to exercise inside a bank vault next to enormous piles of cash, I'd recommend taking at least some of your exercise to the great outdoors.

Whether it's playing tennis (a personal favorite), mountain biking, or taking a short stroll around the block, there are ample opportunities for simple physical activity to boost your health.

Mental and Emotional Health

Time in the great outdoors can help brain function and mental health in several ways. Spending some of your time outside can increase concentration and creativity, improve short-term memory, raise happiness levels, and decrease stress. Because of these benefits, it should come as no surprise that outdoor and natural settings can ease many mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD (another personal "favorite").

Improved Vision

Studies suggest that, at least for children, time outside may reduce the risk of developing myopia (nearsightedness). So let's get those kids outside before they need to visit my employer in adulthood!

Tips to Disconnect

In today's world, an "addiction" to screens is one of the biggest culprits behind why we don't spend as much time outside. I put addiction in quotation marks, but I probably don't need to. This can be a real addiction and real problem. Here are just a few ideas on how we can disconnect away from technology, allowing us to take in the world a little more:

• When you get home from work, school, or wherever you've been, put your phone down on a shelf somewhere. You'll still be able to hear it if someone calls, but you will have removed the temptation to constantly have it in your hands.

• Schedule some time each day to get outside. Maybe each morning you'll take your kids to the park, or maybe part of your nightly routine will be to go on a walk with your family. Whatever it is, make it a daily habit. And while you're gone... Leave your phone inside. Gasp! Think you can handle it?

• When I was growing up, it was a rule at home that I had to do my homework before I turned on the TV. It takes a lot of self-discipline, but that can even be done as an adult. Prioritize other tasks before you start flipping channels.

• We don't have video games in my house. Why? Because as a teenager I was addicted to them. Now I have removed the temptation so that I won't let video games affect me that way. Is it video games? Netflix binges? If you have a technology addiction, remove it!

• Follow the advice of ex-Googler Tristan Harris and "Unhijack Your Mind from Your Phone" by making your phone work for you and not the other way around.

I understand that some of these ideas probably won't apply to you. Maybe you watch TV as soon as you get home but you're able to easily limit your time on the couch. Maybe you play video games but it doesn't have a stranglehold on your life like it did for me in my teenage years. Or maybe you aren't glued to your phone, constantly checking to see who has liked your latest Instagram photo. But take some time for honest introspection and see if your relationship with technology needs to be improved in any way.

There are hundreds of other ideas on how to unplug. What have you done to disconnect?

"Things as They Really Are"

You may or may not know that I am religious, and one of my favorite scriptures is Jacob 4:13 in the Book of Mormon. A portion of it reads, "The Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be..." It is easy to see how television, video games, and the internet can pull us away from "things as they really are," which is troubling if we stop and think about the "reality" that is so frequently portrayed in these various forms of media.

The phrase "things as they really are" is also the title of a speech by David A. Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This speech has been particularly influential on me as I continuously evaluate my use of technology. Elder Bednar stated the following:

"Initially the investment of time [in the digital world] may seem relatively harmless, rationalized as a few minutes of needed relief from the demands of a hectic daily schedule. But important opportunities are missed for developing and improving interpersonal skills, for laughing and crying together, and for creating a rich and enduring bond of emotional intimacy. Progressively, seemingly innocent entertainment can become a form of pernicious enslavement."

I want my son to see things as they really are, not as the distorted reality that we see on television or through video games. He won't live in a bubble: he'll certainly be exposed to technology of many varieties. However, he'll spend much of his time outdoors, reading wholesome books, and spending screen-free time with our family. He was born with a natural disposition toward these things, now it's my job to ensure they continue.

My mom sent me this image quite a while back - it's actually what triggered me to begin (and finally finish) writing this article - and it has stuck with me:

And it's true! I think back to my childhood and not a single one of my favorite memories involve a screen of any kind. Most of my memories are outside. Playing one-on-one football with my friend Ryan and the immense pride I felt the one and only time I beat him. Organizing a neighborhood Wiffle ball game that resulted in heat exhaustion and an early night for me (worth it). Watching my dad jump in a lake after his fishing pole when a fish decided to bite while he was helping me with my line. Creating a new sport I called "snow soccer" during Colorado's blizzard in 1997. These are just a few of the memories that jump out when I reflect on my childhood.

If you ask me, it's time for all of us to unplug and spend a little more time enjoying the benefits of the great outdoors.

Mental Tennis: Watch Your Emotions!

In light of Denis Shapovalov's actions in Canada's Davis Cup tie against Great Britain (and if you haven't seen it, take a look here), I thought I would share some stories from the good ol' days. My goal: to help younger players avoid emotions becoming detrimental to their game.

My senior year of high school I was living in England and attending an American school. My school didn't have a tennis program, but the track coach there arranged with the other American schools around the country to allow me to compete against their top singles players as an independent. I couldn't have been more grateful for the opportunity and began traveling (thanks, Mom and Dad) around the UK for the occasional match.

During one such match, I found myself down to an opponent I believed I shouldn't ever lose to (I'll save a discussion on that poor mentality for another day). As was often the case for me at this stage in my playing career, I lost my temper. For me, this involved a lot of yelling at myself, slapping my racket against the net cord, the occasional throwing of the racket (off-hand and open face so I wouldn't break it), and much like Denis Shapovalov, I sometimes found myself taking my anger out on a tennis ball.

My sportsmanship in that loss was bad enough that my parents "encouraged" me to apologize to my victor and his parents. Honestly, it was embarrassing.

But the next week, while competing against another school, a coach I had never met before pulled me aside to offer me some advice. He said he had watched me the week before and that he thought I was a talented player. But he asked me if I understood how my emotional tirades were really affecting the outcomes of my matches.

Nope, hadn't even thought about it.

I simply thought it was a momentary expression of frustration that would allow me to get out my anger and help me start focusing on playing better. This coach, however, made one main point: my emotional outbursts gave my opponents confidence because they knew they had me on the ropes.

That was quite literally a game-changer.

Here I am picking up my first singles win, but that's
a story for another day.

It wasn't that I looked silly (though I did), it wasn't that it was poor sportsmanship (though it most certainly was), it wasn't even that it was making me play worse (though it probably did that, too). What clicked with me and caused me to instantly change was that I was helping my opponent play better, which ultimately led me to lose many, many matches.

I hate losing. Always have, and always will. And as soon as the dots were connected and the correlation between my emotions and my losing was made, I changed. That day I won my first "official" singles match, and I give a lot of credit to this mental change.

Here is the lesson I learned: very few of us in this world are like John McEnroe. He used his temper to propel him to be one of the greatest players this sport has ever seen. More of us are like me, where our tempers get in the way of our success. It's bad sportsmanship, it harms us, and it helps our opponents.

Hopefully we can all learn this lesson before we're forced to learn it the hard way.

Follow me on Twitter: @tennisbytim

The Year of Tim

My wife and I love ABC's The Middle, a sitcom that is especially hilarious because we can all relate to so many things about the Heck family. Sue, the Heck's middle child and only daughter, is a notorious trier. She tries out for everything, and never makes a thing. But she declares her senior year of high school "The Year of Sue," determined to make it her best year yet.

Before we get too far into 2017 I want to share a few thoughts on last year. At the onset of 2016, I declared it to be "The Year of Tim," determined to make it my best year yet.

I had two New Year's Resolutions:

1. Get a new job.
2. Start getting paid for photography.

Maeser Prep Tennis, 2016

There was actually a third goal I had, but it wasn't a New Year's Resolution like the others, it was more of a dream, really. And early in 2016 it became a reality when I became a high school tennis coach. I talked to my managers at work and got my schedule cleared to allow me to coach, and after reaching out to a couple schools I was offered a position as an Assistant Coach for the boys' tennis team at Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy.

Soon I hope to write about my life's journey in the game of tennis so far, but for those of you who know me, you know how much of a thrill it was to coach tennis. It was a season of ups and downs as I helped guide this extremely inexperienced team, but we were within one break of sending our number three singles player to the state tournament. I hope to be back coaching again soon, but I am so grateful for that first year on the courts!

We'll dive into tennis a little deeper in future posts, but for now we'll get back to my goals for 2016. Once the tennis season had ended things started to fall into place in my career as well.

The Job Search

I was working at NUVI, a social media analytics software company who I still believe is the best in the industry. In fact, they were just named Utah County's Business of the Year. But I was on the sales team, and to be honest I just really didn't enjoy working in sales. I loved my coworkers, believed in the product, was given increasing responsibility, and saw a lot of success, but I knew I needed to move along in my career path and get out of sales and back into roles I was truly passionate about.

Which led me to my first of two New Year's Resolutions: get a new job.

I was casually on the job hunt, and come May I still hadn't had much luck in finding a new job. The reason: I was only casually searching. But then something happened that turned that casual search into an all-out blitz: I was laid off.

NUVI decided to disband its growing Account Development department, for which I was a team lead. I was completely blindsided and utterly crushed. What was I going to tell my wife? What if I couldn't find a new job quickly? Were we going to be okay financially?

As luck would have it, we were going to be just fine. In fact, it wasn't even luck; it was just plain hard work. After I went home that day, and after a few tears and some discussion with my wife, I applied for ten jobs that night before I went to bed. The next day I was called in for an interview, and the interviews just kept coming. In fact, it took all of three days for me to get my first job offer.

And I turned it down.

Why? Not only was it sales, it was door-to-door sales, which meant late nights and driving all over Utah. In spite of their promises of a fast-track to management and my desperate need for a paycheck, I didn't feel good about jumping into the first job that came my way just because I needed income. I was encouraged by the quick offer and decided to continue pursuing a career and not just a job.

Two weeks into my search I got my second offer, this one came on the spot in my interview. It was another Account Development position, essentially the exact role I had when I started at NUVI. I asked for as much time as possible to decide, and they gave me until Thursday of that week.

There were two jobs I interviewed for that I really wanted. Both were in marketing, which is what my pre-sales experience was, and I was hoping desperately to hear from one of them before my deadline for the Account Development role. But Thursday came, and I felt that this was a job I needed to take for the time being. I told them that I would see them Monday to get started.

Then a Friday miracle occurred and I received a job offer from Hoopes Vision to join their marketing department. Not only was this a non-sales job, but it was a marketing job for a company that focused on people, something that I was searching for.

It is amazing how life works sometimes, isn't it? I will never know if I would have found a new job on my own in 2016, but I accomplished my number one goal for the year and made the perfect career move for my family. And it took just three weeks of being unemployed.

As a side note, if you have ever considered LASIK or another vision correction procedure, let me know!

Next-Level Photography

My dad is a talented photographer, and on our family vacations I almost always had a camera in my hands. In fact, the whole family did. We got some interesting looks from people wondering why all four of us needed to be taking pictures. In high school I had my first experience with a DSLR, and in the summer of 2015, shortly after our son was born, my wife got me a DSLR of my own.

As a student at Brigham Young University I studied Recreation Management, and for the most part my photography reflects my love of that industry: outdoors, travel, and sports make up a large percentage of my photography efforts. But I took my own family photos and my sister's engagement and bridal photos and decided to add a little portraiture into the mix as well. As a result, I decided that in 2016 I wanted to take on some paying clients.

So a goal was born: in 2016 I wanted to become a professional photographer, and in August of last year that is exactly what I did. Because I am still new and learning in the world of photography, my goal was simply to have one client last year. But one turned to two, two to three, and before I knew it I had done 14 sessions between August and December!

I've heard the advice that a photographer needs to find a "niche" and pursue only that niche in order to become a successful photographer. In spite of that, I've decided to maintain my "hobbyist" style as a professional photographer so that I can continue to pursue and share all the things I love to shoot. Here are a few of my favorite shots from 2016 (not including a couple major projects I haven't finished yet):

Sports

Joao Plata, Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas, 20 Aug, 2016

LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYU vs. SUU, 12 Nov, 2016 (My most liked Instagram photo of 2016!)

#CapsOn: Self-portrait for MLB's Opening Day

Portraits

LDS Temples

Ogden, Utah Temple

Provo City Center Temple

Salt Lake City Temple

Salt Lake City Temple (And my most liked photo on Instagram to date!)

Follow me on Instagam (@pictim) or like my Facebook page.

Email me at pictimphotography@gmail.com if you are interested in prints or booking a session.