Live and learn

I've had some experiences recently that have been weighing on my mind. I am someone who believes that things do happen for a reason; that there's always a lesson to be learned from everything we experience, even the mundane routines of life. The experience itself isn't what is most important, but what we learn from it.

The other night I had an experience that really had me thinking more about things that I think about on a regular basis: the concepts of forgiveness and judging. From a Latter-day Saint and Christian perspective we know we're supposed to do one (forgive others) and not the other (judge others). But we all know how hard it is to forgive and how equally hard it is to not judge. Along with that, though, it seems many do not have a grasp of what it means (and what it does not mean) to forgive and to judge.

Forgiveness
First off, what is forgiveness and why is it important? I've noticed a lot of people, Christian and not, don't really understand the concept of forgiveness, usually in very large matters like murder or other cruelty. Forgiveness does not excuse someone from facing the consequences of their action(s). I've seen on one hand people saying they won't forgive someone because they "don't deserve it" and on the other, people trying to argue that a punishment (such as the death penalty) is no longer warranted because the person has been forgiven by the family of the deceased or something like that. Nope, sorry, both are incorrect applications.

In short, forgiving someone means you no longer harbor that negative attachment to the offender and basically, you leave it to God to decide. This is incredibly difficult for most people and I am certainly no expert. How quick that can happen depends on the person but also the offense. Obviously some things are easier to "get over" than others. There is no time limit on when people need to forgive others, other than in this lifetime. The Doctrine & Covenants tells us that we are "required to forgive all men." (D&C 64:10) There is no qualifier or exception to that regardless of who you are or what is done to you. We are required to forgive all people. The interesting beginning to that statement in the D&C is that the Lord states "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive...", meaning he is the one who will ultimately decide whether someone has truly repented of whatever wrong they committed and thus, worthy of forgiveness. That, of course, ties right into the next topic of judging.

Now, while we are required to forgive all, forgiveness does not excuse anyone from the consequences of their action, whether it is something as small as having trust damaged to something as large as being put to death for their crimes. As the offender truly understands the whole process of repentance, he will gladly welcome the consequences and understand their role in helping him to make amends as best he can and hope for the forgiveness he needs from God. While being merciful is important, we also know that "mercy cannot rob justice." This means that being forgiving (merciful) on the part of the offended does not excuse an offender from the consequences of his or her action (justice). Plus, since we want to be forgiven for our trespasses against God and others, it is necessary that we are forgiving as well (see the parable of the wicked servant in Matthew 18:23-32 as well as D&C 64:9, which states: "...he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.").

A great example of forgiveness was one of the fathers of the children killed in the Connecticut school shooting back in December 2012. He had every right to be angry and vengeful at the shooter and his family, but instead he went the path of forgiveness and understanding. This doesn't mean he excused what the shooter did or that it didn't bother him or even that he wouldn't have supported proper consequences had the shooter lived, it just meant that he had decided to not harbor that negative attachment to and feelings for the shooter and the shooter's family. And really, what good would those negative feelings really do for the father? Would he have been as forgiving if the shooter hadn't been killed? No one can say for sure, but my guess is he would've been just as forgiving. Again, because he understood that forgiveness is as much for the offended than the offender. It allows people to move on with their lives and not be bogged down by negative emotions. It's something I know I have a lot to work on. Like I said, it's not a quick process and depends on a lot of other variables.

Judging
Now, to judging. What does that mean? I have noticed some people take this far too literally by basically believing that we should never come to any kind of conclusion. That's just not realistic. In our day-to-day activities, we have to come to conclusions hundreds of times a day. That's how we make decisions: by judging between various facts and opinions around us. What judging means (in terms of "what not to do") is to make a final decision about how someone is. In essence, it's referring to the final judgement. For instance, we see someone who is poorly dressed and we make assumptions about their character, lifestyle, background. This is where we get "prejudice", meaning to "pre-judge" or judge without any type of fair analysis. Stereotyping and profiling fall into this, as does racism.

Now, some of those initial assumptions may be 100% accurate, but others may be completely wrong. In reality, what we're not supposed to do is make final conclusions on someone without all, or even most of the facts. Even with those facts, we should still be open-minded enough to understand we still may have come to an incorrect conclusion or conclusions and understand that there are likely things we may never (or should never) know about someone since it isn't our business. Many conclusions can simply be from misinterpretations (written, verbal, and physical) and sometimes just a clash of different cultural norms (yes, even within the same country...here in the US, we have many very subtle cultural differences between different parts of the country and even between families). Not being judgmental is as much about being a little laid back and understanding as it is being tolerant, fair, and open-minded. It's also recognizing that we almost always don't have a full picture of someone else and what they may be going through (or have gone through), even someone we may know very well (and certainly not those we don't know well!).

We are counseled against judging not because we should never make assumptions or come to any kind of conclusions, but to understand how often we can be totally wrong about or miss key elements in why someone is the way they are, why they act a certain way, or why they look the way they do. We shouldn't let our assumptions, even if created over a period of time, be our final judgement of another person, to the point that we are never willing to alter our perception or understand someone better. Think of how many quality relationships never materialize or are sabotaged because of unrighteous judging? And that ties into forgiveness too, like sometimes how someone treats us my be a misinterpretation or misunderstanding on our part, their part. or both. In the end, we have a very limited vantage point from which to fairly judge people. This where the whole concept of "walking a mile in someone else's shoes" comes in, experiencing everything through a completely different perspective and understanding. It is also why we leave that final judgment to God, who is completely fair and can weigh all the variables accurately and justly, something that is really beyond our capabilities as human beings at this point.

In conclusion, being forgiving and not judgmental are very difficult. By our very nature, we tend to be unforgiving and judgmental. But as I said before, think about how many relationships we prevent, diminish, or even destroy because of our pride in not wanting to forgive and/or not wanting to look past our judgments. We must strive to be open-minded about everyone, be patient, long-suffering, and understanding. This will not only improve our relationships with others (not that we'll all be best friends, but we will be at least more understanding and patient) but our lives in general. How many of the world's problems stem from misjudging and being unforgiving?

Anniversary or succession?

In preparation for This is Kirtland! this year, there has definitely been some excitement because it's the 10th run of the show. A lot of people, though, keep referring to it as the "10th anniversary", when, in reality, it's not since the show started in 2004 and 2004 + 10 = 2014. This isn't the first time I've noticed this and people seem to confuse anniversary with other things, especially events that occur annually.

An anniversary is the celebration of the number of years since something has happened. For instance, the first wedding anniversary for a couple is one year since their marriage. In other words, it celebrates the end of that first year and is also the beginning of their second year.  The same is true for birthdays. When someone celebrates their 16th birthday, they have just ended their 16th year and now they are above that age. In reality, when we celebrate an infant's "first" birthday, it's really the first birthday anniversary since the first real birthday (in the truest sense of the word) is the actual day of birth.

Now, in some things, particularly annual events, we have two ways of marking time. One is to celebrate the anniversary of the first time something occurred (like an organization celebrating 10 years in existence), while the other way is numbering beginning at the first event (like the Super Bowl). Because we use both, people seem to think they are synonymous, when in reality, they aren't, but they're obviously still related.

What's interesting is when I point out the difference, it's often treated with contempt, like a detail that doesn't matter or I'm just being too picky. OK, then why use it if doesn't really matter? All it takes is simple counting and knowing what it is you're trying to celebrate. One of the tricky things, though, is when the first year of something is a year that ends in zero. That happened here in Kent with the annual Pops Concert. The first one was in 1970, so I noticed just the other day that the ads were promoting the "43rd annual Pops Concert". Nope, it's the 44th, but the 43rd anniversary of the first one. What's even better about that is that Pops '09 was celebrated as the 40th concert (though it was often referred to as the "40th anniversary" even though 2009 is obviously not 40 years after 1970) and there hasn't been a break in the concerts since then. Again, the simple confusion of succession vs. anniversary.

Here's a visual for This is Kirtland! to show how it works:

#1: 2004 (first performance run or "season")
#2: 2005
#3: 2006
#4: 2007
#5: 2008
#6: 2009
#7: 2010
#8: 2011
#9: 2012
#10: 2013

Note that 2004 subtracted from 2013 gives you only 9, again, since it hasn't been 10 years since the show opened, but this is simply the 10th time it's being put on (as is demonstrated). It's always going to be a year ahead of an anniversary because of what I explained earlier. As such, if you noticed the logo I designed for the show in a previous post, it says "10th Season", not "10th Anniversary".

The same is true for the Pops Concert at Roosevelt:

#1: 1970 (this would've been the "1st annual Pops Concert")
#2: 1971
#3: 1972
#4: 1973...
#40: 2009
#41: 2010
#42: 2011
#43: 2012
#44: 2013

Note how the succession is one number higher than the year since #1 was in 1970. It makes it easy to remember anniversaries when you have a year that ends in zero (like my graduating class of 2000!!), but can be a tad confusing if the annual tabulation is used.

And really, those of you who know me KNOW I'm a details person and a history person, so YES I definitely notice and I do actually care. Like I said, if you're going to go to the effort of publicizing how long an event has been around, there's no reason it should be inaccurate, especially something so simple. SO, make sure you know what you're measuring to celebrate: anniversary or succession.

Profile pictures

In case you haven't noticed, I never change my Facebook profile picture to the latest movement, which most recently was the pink equal sign on a red background. Now, before you jump to conclusions (and really, if you know me, it shouldn't be of any surprise), I long ago decided that my profile picture would always be me and just me. That's right, you won't see a profile picture on my page of any movement, team, cartoon, or even a group shot. Why? Well, I want people to know it's me they're looking for when they find my profile, not have to guess who I am based on a symbol or which person I am in a given group picture. So yes, you can always count on my Facebook profile picture (or any profile I have) to be of me and no one else. To each his or her own, but that's how I do it.

I definitely have considered it, so I was very happy Facebook introduced the "cover photo" option. That way I can put a group shot up or use a picture from an interest while still having my profile picture of me. I have put cover photos of my family, the Titanic, Kent, my sports teams, patriotism, etc. I typically stay away from movements or causes, though, because first, I see personal opinion things like that as very private, and second, they tend to just be lightning rods for debate, often between my "friends" who don't necessarily know each other. I'm happy to discuss my opinions one-on-one or here on the blog where I can really explain what I feel and why. Facebook tends to not be a place where we can go into greater detail. I mean, honestly, how many of us see a long post and skip over it? How many of you have done that on some of my long posts? Bottom line is, the people that really want to know will come read the blog or message me. Most of my Facebook friends are people I know in real life and many of them know me pretty well. I want Facebook to be something I enjoy checking once in awhile, not something I dread because I have to sit down and respond to a bunch of comments about this or that (especially negative comments).

I used to be very expressive on Facebook about anything, but over time I have moved away from posting or even commenting on most things political or otherwise controversial. In the end, I found I didn't enjoy getting on Facebook to find out if anyone responded and half the time, the responses were from people I didn't know or care about in any way, or people just took what I said completely out of context or applied a tone of voice in their heads that was never there. I was also disappointed when I noticed some "friends" would drop me because of a disagreement. I always try to disagree civilly and respectfully. Apparently, though, I have had Facebook friends that would rather not associate with me simply because we see a certain issue (or issues) differently. Whatever. That's their choice. I still use Facebook to express opinions here and there or just to vent, and recognize when others are using it for similar purposes. Hey, in the end, if you don't like what someone posts regularly, either end the "relationship" or just filter out their posts. I just find it somewhat ironic when people complain about others using Facebook to...well...complain. I tend to just filter out posts if I find I don't enjoy reading them (like overly political, constantly negative, inappropriate or tasteless, or endless random pictures), rather than deleting the connection.

A new level

Anyone who follows this blog and/or my Facebook page knows that my posts about This is Kirtland! are hardly infrequent. You probably also know that my involvement in this show stretches back to its beginnings. Outside the very first season of the show (2004) where my role was simply to assist my dad in setting up and aiming the brand-new stage lights and then taking them down and storing them, I've been in the cast. Every year since 2005 (except 2008) I've been in the cast. I've been about every male role in the entire show, with the notable exception of Joseph Smith. This year, though, represents a whole new level with the show as I'm directing it. 

Near the end of the 2010 show, I was asked to be part of the script committee, my first time doing more than just being in the cast, in preparation for the 2011 run. The following year, I was again on the script committee and also worked more with the music, as we made some more changes for 2012. Going into the preparations for this season, I had a feeling I might be asked to do more, but honestly never thought I'd be asked to direct the show. Sure, I had thought about the "what ifs?" but still, I never thought I'd actually get asked, mostly because this is a stake-level production and I am not a member of the Kirtland Stake. That said, I received an email that was gauging my interest in increased involvement, and answered back that I would welcome more involvement, but wanted to be on stage in some form. It was no surprise when I was asked a short time later to be the director.

The whole process has definitely been stressful at times, but not painfully so. In many ways it's a welcome distraction from the job search and life's other stresses. The biggest things are mostly making sure I have the right people where I want them and the commitments I need. I've noticed I have certain stages of development that I think "as soon as I get this taken care of, everything will be fine." I get it taken care of and then I realize there's something further down the road that needs to be taken care of that has me worried a bit. Step by step. So far, though, I can't complain. I have a fantastic production crew that has tons of theater experience and enthusiasm that has made my job not only easier, but fun.

I'm very excited about the show this year. The cast is great and I already mentioned the crew in place. This promises to be one of our best years in all aspects of a show: musically, theatrically, and in all the details. Those of you who know me personally know I'm a details person and that hasn't gone by the wayside in the least, even as we've just been doing music rehearsals.

Our first blocking rehearsal is scheduled for this coming Saturday. Since May 4, we have been doing just music rehearsals after having our informational meeting May 1 and our read-through May 2. Our dance rehearsals start May 21. Hard to believe we are already in our third week of rehearsal...time flies!

Special thanks to Nate Johnson for the photos, both of which come from our first cast meeting on May 1!

Movements

For the few of you who follow this blog or are connected with me on Facebook, you may have noticed that some things have been moved around a bit. After a long time of thinking about it, I finally created a main page for my domain www.jonridinger.com, so I moved this blog to lfk.jonridinger.com. I thought about moving it to just "blog.jonridinger.com", but in the end decided to use the initials LFK (Life From Kent) as the identifier for this blog since I have two other blogs.

The big hold-up for me getting this main page created was finding a design program that could create something I actually liked and was easy to change as needed. I have very basic and limited knowledge in writing HTML, so I can't just create a website without some kind of design program. Google offers a website maker, but the designs are very limited to the point that no matter what I did, I couldn't create something I liked. I finally did find a website called IM Creator, at http://www.i-m.co. Not only is it free, but they have several templates to choose from, all of which can easily be altered, or you can just start blank with tons of options. Seeing as I just wanted to create a good looking entry page to connect all my blogs and other websites, I didn't need anything more than some creative leeway and detail control.

The site does have some subscription options, mostly if you want to use it for web hosting and domain name registration/parking. Since I already have Google for the blogs and the domain name is registered there as well, I didn't need any of the extras, though I certainly would recommend them based on my experience thus far. To get around not being able to use my own domain name for the website since I'm not a subscriber, I learned a little about and set up a domain forwarding, so my JonRidinger.com domain redirects to the page's actual address, but it's a "masked" forward so the browser just shows my domain name. The same is true for any of the web pages that are published with this IM Creator account. So far I have done a new "About Me" page with it and I plan to move my resume page to this as well rather than have it as a sub page of this blog. The "About" page linked at the top here has always been more about the blogs themselves than me, so I plan to fine-tune that page again and make specific ones for each blog, and then have a link to the "About Me" page too.

My thinking is that I use the "JonRidinger.com" address as a reference all the time, not only for my professional email address, but also as a link in my email signature and in general. Now, rather than come to the website and land right here on my blog and whatever topic is most recent, instead a visitor comes to a page where they can see who I am and can choose which aspect they'd like to check out. I think the way it was previously, this blog was the landing point for anyone looking for information on me and it really has no real focus other than a way for me to express myself and share experiences. Now, when I refer someone to my site, they can see more than just my latest opinion piece or fun event. It also puts this blog in proper perspective of being simply one of my creative outlets as opposed to the total definition of me.

All that said, be sure to update any bookmarks you have to my blog. Simply replace "www" with "lfk" and the link will work fine. If there is no "www" in the bookmark, just add the "lfk" before "jonridinger.com".  Also be sure to check out the new page at www.jonridinger.com and also click on the "About Me" box at the bottom (trust me, you can't miss it!).

Kent progress

I haven't posted an update of all the construction progress in downtown Kent for awhile, so I figured I might as well do one now considering how much is done.

Davey Tree building

The first set of photographs here shows South Water Street looking northeast, now home to the building that is primarily the home of the Davey Tree Resource Group.  Each photo is looking at roughly the same angle, though not a perfect match.  The street lamps visible are the guide for each photo, as well as the trees around them.  The photo progression goes 2010, 2011, 2012.

This was taken September 25, 2010, showing the area just as demolition had started (one building on the right had already been demolished).  The 2-story building was once the home of Jacob's Wallpaper and the yellow building to the left is the former Kent Hardware.  They were torn down soon after I took this.

This is roughly the same view (same lamp posts and trees) taken April 23, 2011.  Construction of Acorn Alley II is going on in the background.  This site would sit largely empty for several months before construction finally started.

January 10, 2012, almost exactly one year ago to the day!  

December 28, 2012

December 28, 2012, a little further back.  Again, the same lamp posts and trees are visible here as well!

Acorn Alley II

The next set of photos is of Acorn Alley II, which was completed first out of this second (and largest) wave of construction (the Phoenix project, of which the original Acorn Alley was the last phase of, being the first).

September 25, 2010, just before demolition started.  This is roughly the same area as the next photos, a little to the left.

April 23, 2011.  This is a little bit further down Erie Street than the first photo, but the original Acorn Alley and the old hotel can be referenced in the background.

August 10, 2011

January 10, 2012, just prior to the opening

November 22, 2012

These next photos are also from Acorn Alley II, but from the S. DePeyetser Street side.

Looking north, September 25, 2010.  The rest of the photos are focused on the corner of E. Erie and S. DePeyster, which is the beige building on the right side of this photo in between the "Bar'N" and the old hotel (behind that little "One Way" sign).  

Acorn Alley II on the NW corner of E. Erie and S. DePeyster Streets, April 23, 2011

August 10, 2011

January 10, 2012

January 9, 2013.  While it's hard to tell in a night shot, the power lines are no longer present.  They were put underground as part of the reconstruction of S. DePeyster Street earlier in 2012.

Original plans

Ametek building

This is the SE corner of E. Erie and S. Water Streets, where Jerry's Diner used to be (adjacent to Kent Hardware), now home to what is known as the "Ametek building".

April 23, 2011.  The main fire station on S. DePeyster Street is the large building in the background.  The Kent Church of Christ is the white building immediately to the left of the fire station near the center of the photo

January 10, 2012

October 17, 2012

November 22, 2012

The end...of 2012

Another year has come and gone, so as seems to be tradition for my blog, I think I'll do another "year in review" post.  I've often thought about the change to a new year and how it's, in reality, rather arbitrary, but at the same time, you have to start somewhere, so why not there?  From an astronomical standpoint, the new  year typically falls right near the Earth's closest approach to the Sun, known as perihelion (which occurred late on January 1st for those of us in the US), so I guess it's not totally arbitrary.  In any case, it's a good time to reflect and organize the events that happened over a period of time.  2012, of course, had some of the build up to the belief that the apocalypse was coming based on a reading of the ancient Mayan calendar (and no, I never thought for a second that 2012 was "the end"), but it had its share of fun times and drama.  All in all, it wasn't a whole lot different for me than 2011, 2010, or even 2009.  I'm still waiting for that good job to come around and set things into motion.  Coming into a new year there's always some kind of optimism and hope that during this next 365-day period things will happen that change things for the better here.  That's how I went into 2012.  Can't say I'm overly optimistic for 2013, but that's not to say I'm just being negative; just more realistic and cautious in my optimism.  Even so, there were still lots of wonderful events that happened in 2012.  Here are some of the highlights:

New faces!

The biggest events of 2012 were the arrivals of a new nephew Ryan, born in January, and a new niece, Evelyn, born in August.  Not only were their respective arrivals exciting occasions for me, even being far distant from them when they were born, but I've had several opportunities to spend time with them this year (and my nephew Nate, born in 2009) both here in Kent and where they live.  As much as I look forward to the day I have my own family, I am perfectly happy in my role as uncle to three beautiful and healthy kids.  I have enjoyed getting to know them so much in 2012 and look forward to being a part of their lives!!

Nate and Ryan during my September visit to Indiana

Meeting Evelyn in September when she
was about 2-3 weeks old

New places!

I certainly haven't gone anywhere as far as a new address, but I was pretty excited when my sister and brother-in-law moved to Indiana this past spring from Utah.  I spent last Christmas in Utah at their house and while it was nice to visit, I maybe saw them once a year if that.  Now that they're only about 5 hours away via car, I have visited them in Indiana twice and they have come to Kent twice.  My trip there in September was particularly fun as I got to tour Wrigley Field in Chicago, something I've always wanted to do, along with finally touring Progressive Field in Cleveland in July.  The Wrigley Field tour was my first time actually going into Chicago beyond the southern suburbs (passing through on I-80) or the airport.  Of course I also made a few trips to Nashville, which I always enjoy.  During my trip there in March, I took a trip to visit friends in Texas and Louisiana, my first time driving in Texas since my mission and first time ever in eastern Texas.  Other than that, after some rather extensive travels in 2011 (New York City and Utah among others), I really didn't go all that many places in 2012, though the year did begin with me in Utah before I traveled home.

Wrigley Field press box

Cubs locker room at Wrigley

Progressive Field press box in July, just a tad larger (and nicer) than Wrigley's, HA!!

Here in Kent there's also been a lot of "new places" as construction was completed on several new buildings in downtown Kent.  2013 will see the completion of even more new buildings and the start of a few more as Kent continues quite the renaissance in the downtown area and on campus.  I've been doing my best to document the progress via regular photography of the area.  On top of that, Kent State athletics went to "new places" in 2012 as the baseball team made its first appearance in the College World Series after beating Kentucky twice in the regional round (along with beating Purdue), Oregon 2 out of 3 in the super-regional (at Oregon no less!), and then beating #1 Florida in the CWS itself to finish tied for 5th nationally.  On top of that, the men's golf team finished in the top 10 at NCAA national tournament and then football had their best season ever in terms of wins (11) and advanced to their first bowl game in my lifetime (last one was 1972).

Celebrating Kent State's win at Bowling Green back in November!

Some of the new development downtown Kent

Professionally, I ended my time subbing for the Kent City School District, choosing to not renew my contract at the conclusion of the 2011-12 school year for a variety of personal and professional reasons.  Instead, I added two neighboring districts, Tallmadge and Stow-Munroe Falls, and continued with Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna.  I have enjoyed my continued association with Maplewood and have enjoyed my new associations with Tallmadge and Stow.  I have subbed quite a bit in Tallmadge, at the high school in particular, and have really enjoyed my time there so far.  They have wonderful students and a great staff.  I have enjoyed my time in Stow too, though I haven't been there a whole lot yet.

I also attended my first Major League Soccer game this year when I went to a Columbus Crew game in September.  I had a lot of fun!

New roles!

A summer just wouldn't be complete without another stint in This is Kirtland!, my 7th time in the show.  In 2012 I played the role of Parley P. Pratt, which I ended up really enjoying, and had a wonderful time as I usually do.  Later in the year, I was asked to be the director for the 2013 show, which will be TIK's 10th season.  That will certainly change things up for me and prove quite a challenge, but one I am ready and excited to take on.

Scene in This is Kirtland! Photo by Rendell Ashton

Scene in This is Kirtland! Photo by Rendell Ashton

I also took on the project of planning and presenting a history program for the Kent Historical Society.  In September, the society celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Davey Elementary School building being dedicated in 1922 as Theodore Roosevelt High School.  The evening included a presentation with lots of photos and open tours of the building.  It was months in planning (like a year) and I felt it went very well.  After that program, KHS asked me to put together a display about the Kent City Schools, which I finished in early December.  I have decided, at some point, I need to write a book about the history of the schools.  It's something I obviously have a lot of interest in and know a lot about.

After my presentation at Davey Elementary School.  Photo by Brad Bolton

No year summary would be complete without mentioning my singing for the Cleveland Indians this past season.  While it certainly wasn't the first time I'd sung for them I sang far more than I ever thought possible.  After singing twice in 2011, I sent in a resume of past performances and the link to my Youtube page, hoping to get a chance to sing in 2012.  It wasn't 2 days later that I got called by the Indians to sing at the end of April.  What was interesting was that my game in April ended up being cold and rainy, so we had a 2 1/2 hour rain delay (I thought for sure it would get canceled) before I could sing.  That ended up being a blessing in disguise because while I waited, I let those in charge know that I could sing on relatively short notice, so they could give me a call if needed.  I didn't think anything of it at the time.  I thought, at best, I'd get one more chance later in the season, similar to what happened in 2011.  Well, I sang at that cold April game and did a decent job.  I got my first call less than a month later in May and ended up singing a total of five times during the season.  I sang almost once a month (April 28, May 22, June 16, August 6, and September 16th) and usually had about 10 days notice.  I was happy not only for the opportunity, but also that nothing in my schedule prevented me from being able to take advantage of each opportunity.  I love singing the National Anthem and it never gets old, but being able to do it for a Major League Baseball game was something else. I hope to continue that in 2013 as well as at Kent State and at other sporting events.  I tried out for the Cavs, but never heard a thing from them.

April 28th game

June 16 game...and yes, my first name is spelled wrong here

Other highlights!

In addition to all the above, some other things that just didn't seem to fit here that I wanted to mention.  First, was a wonderful visit from my aunt Brenda and uncle Rick from Utah!

My aunt Brenda and uncle Rick visited from Utah in September, in between my trip to Nashville for Evelyn's baby blessing and my trip to Indiana to visit Becky and the boys.  It was my aunt's first time in Kent in about 20 years, so we took her and Rick to see the sites in Kirtland and then showed them around all the new stuff downtown Kent

Grandpa showing Brenda and Rick Acorn Alley

I also got to visit my friend Michelle a few times, one of which included a trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan to see the Titanic exhibit on my way back from Indiana in September.  After that we went to the Toledo-Bowling Green football game at the Glass Bowl in Toledo.  I also went to the Kent State-Bowling Green football game (pictured above with Katie) in Bowling Green with Michelle.

Titanic exhibit...no pictures allowed inside (unless you wanted to buy one of you on the Grand Staircase replica!)

At the Toledo-Bowling Green game!

I saw some pretty cool fireworks shows during the year too!

Progressive Field in July

This was a cool fireworks show at Kent State's home opener in August.  They let fans watch it from the field

 And to top the year off, I got to spend it with ALL of my siblings and their spouses and kids right here in Kent!  Who knows when we'll all be together in the same room again, but it was a wonderful way to end the year and celebrate Christmas!

The first photo with the entire family together.  From left to right, back row: my dad Rick, brother Andy, Me, brother-in-law David, and my mom Linda.  Front row left to right: sister-in-law Heather (holding Eveyln), sister Katie (holding Nathan), and sister Becky (holding Ryan).