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The Promise Blog
Entertainment

The Broken Winch

For nearly a decade, we have relied on a steel cable winch to lift our swim spa cover up and off to the side, since it’s too heavy to for one or even two humans to lift in the space between our home and the neighbor’s fence. Over the past few years, it has slowly but surely deteriorated under the weather of snow, ice, sun, and being drawn in and out recklessly by all of us taking it for granted. The other day it finally gave out, no longer willing to budge another inch. I researched what could be done on YouTube, since that’s where we go now for the How-To issues of life. Confident with my newfound knowledge, having watched enough goatee’d, bandana wearin’, sleeveless shirt and tatted southern dudes drawl through the simplicity of replacing the wire cabling while filming from their home garage under a jeep on a lift, I armed myself with the necessary tools: Ladder Wire Cutter Bottle Nose Pliers Gloves Tobacco…since that was in the video…no, actually I just used Big League Chew, so I could feel like the guys I watched in the videos and chomp on something while I did the manliest

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October 18, 2023 6 Comments
Innovation

The Drinking Fountain Promise

  Most people only know that the drinking fountain spout sits one way. They may never think about any reason to move it, and so we lean over and stick our face under the spout to catch the flowing water, or place our water bottle angled just right to catch some of it. Such as this photo:     One of the great challenges for those of us who drink so much water we need to fill our water bottles mid-workout, is the angle of the spout never allows you to fill your bottle properly. You will lose about 1/3 of the water you could fill, if it weren’t for the angle, as it trickles out. If you have TikTok or Instagram, maybe you’ve seen this super handy trick, of turning this little fountain spout the other way:     Did you know you can actually turn a majority of water fountain spouts in order to have a perfect angle and fill the water bottle to full? Yes, the water is now going to spill all over the floor if you don’t catch it all with the water bottle, but how amazing is this? It’s an answer to many prayers,

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October 12, 2023 10 Comments
Business

The Weekly Audition

  Every Sunday at 7:30 AM, I teach an optional class for teens willing to forfeit sleep for learning. It’s not part of the usual worship schedule but operates in its own unique time slot—a time often criticized for being too early. Yet, it’s a time that, by default, surprisingly works, drawing an average of 11-20 eager (or at least semi-conscious) faces each week.   The Secret Sauce The attendees are often motivated by two factors: devoted leaders who escort them, and the scrumptious breakfast served by my wife, Tami. Why bring this up on The Promise Blog? It’s the epitome of commitment, requiring 5-10 hours of preparation each week.   The Thrill and Terror of Uncertainty And here’s the real kicker: you never know who’s going to show up. The stakes are always high because each class is like a weekly audition – One dull class, and I may lose them. One amazing class, and, well, I still may lose them to the lure of sleep or weekend activities. Even if I received a Saturday night standing ovation from thousands of people, and hefty amount of money the day before at a convention in Vegas, come Sunday morning, it’s

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September 25, 2023 14 Comments
Coaching

Leaving the Seat Up

My wife has been gone for a week. I miss her. The kids miss her. The dog Goldie misses Mommy so much I found her hitchhiking to find a new family. On the second day as we all came around to the reality of Mommy is actually gone, the cereal ran low (since that’s all I know how to make), and the lawn started to die (since she programs the sprinklers and I can’t find the panel), I wiped the tears away as I sent each child to school. Not their tears – mine. And the dog’s. The house quiet, I went to the restroom and realized as I walked out: I set the seat down! Hmm. For what purpose? She’s not here. No reason to do that now. I went back into the restroom and defiantly put the seat up! Kind of silly, but it felt liberating, and a little rebellious. No seat in this house remains up, but now the master bedroom restroom gets the bachelor pad experience. Proudly, I returned to my office and began to work. Devoutly, I pressed forth and could make little progress. Oddly, I could not stop thinking about what I had done!

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September 15, 2023 16 Comments
Engagement

eBikes, AI & ChatGPT

Recently I was talking among friends about my Health Promise and daily routine of going to the gym by riding my bike back and forth before and after a challenging workout. I love this routine, as it is downhill, takes 15 minutes, and is the perfect pre-workout exercise as I joyfully fly to my gym, VASA. I then push the weights in the gym as hard as I can for 30-45 minutes, sit in the sauna for 10-15 minutes, and instead of returning to the parking lot to my car (as I will in the winter when it’s snowing), I put my helmet on and begin the arduous climb uphill to my home on the bike, which takes about 20 minutes. My buddy razzed me by saying to our friend, “Yeah, but remember, it is an eBike!” They laughed in my face, both much more fit than me, as they would never resort to using an eBike due to their histories of triathlons, OrangeTheory and CrossFit, and it was a friendly dig among pals, but also certainly rubbed me the wrong way. I was surprised this was brought up as a subtle slight to my valiant efforts, as if I

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September 9, 2023 15 Comments
Books

Words to Remember

  As school starts back up for our children this week, it is Senior Year for our daughter, and we have 3 kids in the same high school this year.  Our youngest is also at the end of his elementary run. Unbelievable! It got me thinking about my fascination with education, how much I loved my school years, peers, teachers, and how thankful I am that it set me on the path to a lifelong love of learning. In reading classic works, I felt this week should be a shorter post, dedicated to beautiful words to remember, and hope this sparks some new Promises for your life, as it has mine. From Dr. Frederic Loomis’ “In a Chinese Garden”: “Enjoy yourself – it is later than you think.”  ~ These words above, from a brass plate two feet long, surrounded by the flowers in a garden, written in Chinese characters, translate to what may be the phrase any hard working person may need to read this day. It helped me recommit to this thought for myself: I Promise to be Present. I need to enjoy myself much more in the moment, as the rush of life, accomplishment, stewardship, responsibility, weighs

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August 19, 2023 6 Comments
Engagement

The Piano Guys: A Teacher and Student Promise

  A few weeks ago I reached out to my friends, The Piano Guys, Steven and Jon, to let them know about the passing of my Grandma Julie. We had made the connection years ago that she had been their music teacher at Highland High School in Salt Lake City, UT. That was a crazy thing for me to comprehend, since they’re world famous, classically trained, have billions of YouTube hits, millions of followers, and have made such a splash worldwide, and they always said how my Grandma was an inspiration to them, one of their favorite teachers, albeit terrifyingly demanding, but always fair. What an incredible thing for a silly guy grandson, a much different type of performer with a vastly smaller audience, to have these wonderful, down to earth celebrities say such amazing things of my Grandma. It was with trepidation and some prodding from others in the family, however, that I made a BIG ASK: Would you be willing to perform a number at her funeral?  I do all I can to not ask anyone to do anything…in fact, quite often to my own detriment and regret. Part of the reason I teach The Promise is that

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August 8, 2023 19 Comments
covid-19

To Be A Fan – Ode to Ben Folds

(I have something incredibly cool to announce, that I can barely keep a secret anymore, but must wait a little bit longer…so please watch for a SPECIAL email coming your way in the next few days.)  On to the Article! ~ My inbox just pinged me with a notification that one of my favorite artists in the world is coming to my hometown of Park City, UT. I already knew this, but hadn’t purchased tickets because I had a HOLD on the date for a client. It’s rare for me to be happy that a client changed their date, but that’s what happened, and now I just paid a fairly large sum for my wife and children to go see, LIVE and IN CONCERT, an artist I have adored for almost 30 years. Mr. Ben Folds!!! If you don’t know his work, it’s as if Billy Joel and Elton John decided to have a child with Weird Al (in terms of comedy lyrics), and Mr. Rogers (in poignancy and wisdom).  Alt-Rock, Indie-Pop, Percussive Piano…hard to explain, but the dude’s a genius, as we see in this video of him composing a piece with an entire orchestra here:     Yes,

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July 28, 2023 7 Comments
Family

Sandbags to the Rescue

  “If we don’t fill and place over 1,000 sandbags in the next week we could lose The Ranch.”  For over 100 years, our extended family has enjoyed the beautiful Pine Valley along the mighty Provo River east of Park City, Utah, considered by many to be the most pristine mountain valley in the entire State. Lush, green meadows, surrounded by massive pine and aspen trees of a protected forest service, many a hunter, fisherman, and surveyor have stumbled upon our oasis and wondered how could someone be so blessed to have a cabin or home in such a place? Our Great-Grandfather, Lester Hewlett, purchased 500 acres during the Great Depression just as hard times fell upon the country, and saved it from becoming public land or a reservoir in the high Uintah mountains. Leaving the legacy of this land to his children and grandchildren, AKA, The MSH Family (named after his amazing wife and our Great Grandmother, Margaret Stewart Hewlett), we have done our best to care for, and preserve, this rich heritage of property, spirit, and love among cousins. In the shadows of the biggest winter in Utah history, the runoff in spring would have the potential to

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July 7, 2023 14 Comments
Business

The Unavailable Barbell

Whether you can tell by looking at me or not, I workout every single day (except Sundays). If you accidentally touch my arm then you’ll know it’s true. Otherwise, just seeing me on stage, you’d never know that I live for the gym and to exercise. I LOVE IT. There’s a very simple move I’ve enjoyed for years, it’s for building your biceps/arms, called the Standing Preacher Curl. It’s where you stand behind a tall cushion, rest your chest against it, and drape your arms over the front of it with a barbell in your hands. From there, you curl upwards, keeping your triceps against the cushion, and get an incredible pump in your biceps as you bring the barbell to your chin. I have worked up to doing 4 Sets of 12-16 Reps with 50, 55, and 60 lb barbells. That’s a good amount of weight for anyone who is “natty”, meaning, Natural, and not poking their butts with the juice needle. Since summer began, something weird is happening at the gym – EVERYONE and their Mom seems to be there. Every hour, every moment, 5 AM, 2 PM, 5 PM, 11 PM.  It’s insane! But not everyone uses

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July 7, 2023 4 Comments

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