UPDATE

I've been thinking about blogging for a while but haven't gotten around to it until now. A six-month blogging hiatus is usually caused by a lack of bloggable material. I guess I can't use that excuse this time since I've had a lot going on over that time.

But let's see, where do I start? How 'bout the beard?

About a year ago Larisa and a friend of mine separately suggested I apply for the New Testament project the Church was producing. I figured "what the heck!?" (an expression of casual indifference, not to be confused with "what the heck?!" an expression of unexpected discontent) and filled out the necessary application. A few months later I received an email informing me that I had been accepted and imploring me to start growing out my hair and beard. So I did.

It wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be. Sure, the occasional mustache hair would leave the pack and climb into my nose or my longer hair would get into my eyes and ears, but it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. In fact, it seemed everyone else noticed it a lot more than I did.

By the time filming rolled around, I had quite a crop of facial hair. Here it is in progression: Of course, going to shoot the movie meant I had to leave Washington and the hospitality of David and Jeanne's family. I had a great time living up there and working on the fun property they have. This time Cooper and I weren't roommates, but we still did a lot together. He's quite the athlete and can almost beat me in billiards and baseball fielding drills. I coached him to flag football stardom and we even got to see a couple of Mariners games. Sadly, our favorite team had an historic slump in July--losing game after game. On Saturday, July 23rd they lost their 14th consecutive game, tying a franchise record. Cooper, knowing I was leaving soon, asked how much longer I was staying. I had planned to leave on Monday the 25th but I said "maybe when the Mariners win a game". I expected him to say that he wanted them to win their next one, but instead he said "Then I hope they lose a hundred in a row". That's when I knew we were real buds.

On July 27th, the Mariners 17-game losing streak came to an end. I left the next day.

After leaving Washington, I swung by Nevada for a bit. Whenever I'm in Nevada, I visit the Faveros, spend some time with them, and have a lot of fun. Then I go to the homestead, spend some time with them, and decide I should have just stayed with the Faveros.

Filming for the New Testament project began in late August and went through early October. A typical day started early in the morning and went for at least twelve hours. It was a really neat experience and the production seemed to be really quality. I would feel extremely ungrateful if I didn't thank Liz and Ryan for letting me stay at their place during filming--it was really nice to be reasonably close to the middle-of-nowhere set (It took me 45 minutes to drive each way but I was closer than almost anyone else). I was on set 18 different days as a background player. Some days I was a villager, other days I was a traveler (basically the same as a villager but you're dustier and carry a satchel), and a couple of times I was a temple guard. People keep asking me when they'll see the clips. I don't know the schedule but I do know they'll be showing some applicable scenes at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I'm in a few of those scenes for a couple of seconds.

After the filming was done I cut my hair and shaved my beard. I didn't even recognize myself. You know how when you lose a tooth and you keep feeling the empty spot with your tongue because it feels so different. It was like that with my chin after I shaved...except I kept feeling it with my hand instead of my tongue. I also thought about that one picture in Dad's scrapbook where he has a mustache and how hilarious I thought it was as kid. I'm glad I had an excuse to grow a big beard and think every man should grow theirs out at least once.

Anyway, after filming was done and my beard was gone, I began looking for gainful employment. This Monday I start my new job as the Marketing Editor for Silhouette America in American Fork. Here's a video of their main product. Basically, I'm going to be doing their writing.

Anyway, that should bring you up to speed.

Bye.