I receive a number of emails asking about photography and camera gear. I’m happy to help, but the responses can be a bit repetitive. I decided to make a new page solely for recent photos and the camera gear that I am currently using. You can find the Photos page here.
It’s true that “the best camera is the one you have with you.” However, I also support having a dedicated camera because the photos are so great. The iPhone has made a lot of progress, but it’s not there yet.
A few more simple thoughts on photos:
Take more photos that include the faces of people you love.
At least twice a year, take a panoramic photo of your kid’s room. Perhaps it can be one of your journal entries with a view. It will bring back so many memories.
One good photo will turn an activity into a memory that lasts.
I’ve formed a theory over the last eight years as I’ve seen struggle in the world, in families, and in personal lives. I call it the “Superior Theory.”
I know that’s a pretentious name. How can I come up with a superior theory when the best Einstein did was a theory of relativity?
To not see me as a self serving theorist, you should know that “Superior” is a pronoun in this case, not an adjective.
My theory is this:
“To avoid poor decisions that lead to difficult circumstances, a person needs a superior they trust enough to correct them.”
We live in a world where the idea of a “superior” has such a negative connotation. It should be noted that a “superior” can be that way in any sense and doesn’t need to be negative only. It could be a boss or a commanding officer. It could be a family member, your mother, or a church leader.
I’ve seen that many poor decisions are made when we no longer answer to anyone.
A person may be in one of the following circumstances:
Wealth has placed them where a boss no longer reigns in their schedule or work ethic.
Broken trust has removed their spouse as a source of caring and stewardship.
A parent has not kept their “sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to…observe the commandments of God.”
There are a number of situations that remove a trusted superior.
Superiors in my life
I have a friend who I’ve known since my childhood. In all our years of fun and growing, I’ve never heard him say a word of gossip or compromise his standards in any way. If he were to pull me aside and point out a lapse in my judgement, I would make the correction without any debate. With me, he’s earned that right. He is my character superior.
My wife is the most caring spouse in all the world. (Sorry to break it to you, but you all are welcome to argue second place. That’s not a bad spouse to have either.) In all our years, I have never seen hesitation from her to make our marriage and our family the top priority in her life. If she were to ask of me a favor or expect more from me as a father, I would respond without hesitation. She is my superior in kindness and dedication to eternal families.
How to find superiors
A superior is not forced. It can’t be. A superior is found and earned.
You need to build relationships with actual people. Netflix and candy crush are never going to lift you up and build a life long relationship. Surround yourself with good people. Receive church and work assignments and sit in council and learn about others. Serve neighbors. Be mindful of family members.
Look for someone you respect and has proven reliable and wise. Seek their council. Share your shortcomings.
Why we need superiors
It’s important to learn deference to others. Again, not in any unrighteous way. In an actual, humble, reverenced way. It’s an incredible relief when done right. It gives you courage to move along in life because you know you have people to catch you.
Who in your life do you trust enough to correct you?
As we continue to make our way through the book on modern manners for kids, there is another phrase that has been born in our house. It is used often: take time.
Candace and I feel mostly capable as parents. We’ve always tried to be there for our kids and I’m confident they know that. But as our kids get older and more capable, we are always encouraging them to do and learn for themselves. Not only is it a good habit to form, but I love watching their creativity come alive. They consider things that I have never anticipated.
So now, when a question is asked, we encourage them to “take time” and figure it out on their own.
It is helpful for little things like, “When does the party start this afternoon?” (After being reminded, they “take time” to look it up on the family calendar themselves.)
Or they might wonder about how to rearrange their room, or what a scripture means, or how to respond to an adult question, or which writing angle to take on a research paper.
I found that when I answer any of these questions, even if I’m encouraging them to learn for themselves, I end up adding opinion or direction. It sort of defeats the purpose.
So we just go with “take time.”
We’ve reached the point that they will ask a question and then, before I can respond, they’ll say “I should take time.”
This reminds me of a quote from Bruce R McConkie, a religious leader, and an accomplished thinker and writer.
“People eternally ask me questions, and they ought to figure them out themselves. I mean, I don’t have any more obligation than they do to know what the answers to these things are and they have the same sources to look to that I do.”
Bruce R McConkie
This is helpful as a leader in church, a boss at work, or as a coach in a sport. Encourage those you lead to “take time” so they improve for the future.
Learning to learn is a very useful skill. We should encourage our kids to grow early and often so they have strong habits for the real world.
Most people would look at the photo above and think it’s beautiful. I agree, but mostly I just think about the watery eyes and the sneezing I would do if I was in that field. I’ve struggled with allergies and hay fever my whole life. My son has the same allergies.
Allergy medicine works for me for a little while, but after some use, it no longer decreases symptoms so I have to find something new. I decided it was time to do something a little more long term: Allergy Shots, also known as immunotherapy.
The idea behind allergy shots is that after a series of increasingly potent injections, your immune system can be desensitized from triggers that cause allergic reactions. It takes many months, and even years, but it can offer some real, long-term relief from Allergies.
Recently, my son and I began the process. As usual, I’ve taken detailed notes so I can refer back to them and remember how the process happened.
When I had my PRK Surgery and Recovery fifteen years ago, I wrote a post about the process. There have been over one million views of that post. It turns out, people like to see real hand experience of medical procedures so they know what to expect and plan for in their own process.
In that light, I thought I’d share some allergy shot highlights here for those considering such a thing. Since this is a long process, I’ll update this post over the next few years so share the long term results. Be sure to subscribe to email updates if you’d like to see additions to the post.
Keep in mind: I am not a medical professional. These are simply my observations.
Starting the process
The first step is to meet with the allergist. They will give you an allergy skin test. The usual process is that they draw a graph on your back and needle prick you in each box, and apply a little bit of the irritant to see how your body reacts. Here is a drawing that I found online:
Allergy skin test
I’ll spare you a photo of how my back reacted. It wasn’t pretty. You know those little button candies that you eat off the paper? Imagine that, but all red buttons. My allergies included all sorts of weeds, grasses, pollen, and other things you find on a golf course. (One of my favorite places to be.)
There was also a reaction for dogs, cats, and horses.
For the short term, the doctor prescribed Dymista and OTC zyrtec to control symptoms. He also confirmed that allergy shots would do well for us so we decided to move forward.
Costs for the treatment
Costs can be so difficult to relay since insurance will apply different ways for different people. Many insurance plans will cover part of the treatment, while you may still have co-pays other other fees. For us, it has been about $2800 out of pocket for each of us This includes the cost to see the doctor and have the test ($800), the mixing of the serums ($1200), and a small co-pay for each shot. ($18)
The number of shots depends on how your body reacts so we just pre-paid a good amount.
Getting the Shots
We opted to get shots for all of the plant allergens and also the cat and dog. I don’t spend much time around horses so we decided to skip that one.
The staff at the allergy office will mix a serum specifically to your treatment. There will be one for plants and one for animals. This means you get one shot in each arm every time, and they rotate back and forth. (For us, the plants have been much more reactive so it’s nice to give each arm a break.)
The serums are then separated into five different color bottles, each one more potent.
Immunotherapy step up schedule
Each time you go in for a shot, they use a different bottle and dilution level. The first one one pretty much just water and then over time it’s more and more potent.
For the first four bottles, you just need to have 48 hours between shots. We decided to get through that process as quick as we (and the insurance company) would allow so we went three times a week.
The office makes it easy to come in for shots. No appointments are required. They just give you a schedule and you can come in anytime during those windows. Most of the time it’s not too busy.
For each shot, you need to take an antihistamine one hour before and also bring an epipen. (Which they will help you purchase.)
After the shot, you need to sit at the office for about twenty minutes. They’ll then ask to see your arms to be sure the reaction is not too severe, and then you’re able to go. (Apparently, most bad reactions happen in those first twenty minutes, though our staff said they’ve never actually had to use an epipen on anyone in their time there.)
Some notes on shots:
The first four shots are barely noticeable.
The fifth shot was the first one from the Silver bottle and it burned a bit. Or as our needle lady likes to say, “It gets spicy.”
On the sixth shot, I had a bruise on my arm. I was told it was normal and the needle probably just hit something.
Shots 8, 9, and 10 were getting more swollen each time. They were also itching. They decided that from that point on, they would “epicoat” my needle. This helped quite a bit.
Shot 12 had such large swelling that I had to repeat it. Luckily, Will was out of town that day so he didn’t get a shot ahead of me and we stayed on track with each other. When the arms swell, your triceps are massive. It doesn’t look terrible…
Shot 15 was blue bottle, you could feel that one pretty good. Spicy.
Shot 24 was red bottle, which was really starting to have some presence. Up until this shot, we were coming three times a week. With red, you can only take one a week so the process slows down a bit.
Shot 29 was pretty hot in both arms. We walked around looking like gorillas for the first ten minutes in the office. It starts to calm down after that, but the arm does stay pretty hot and swollen for the day. Usually, I’ll spend the evening with an ice pack on which helps.
Continued in a future update…
You have a bit of a forgiveness window with these red shots. You can take them as often as a week, or as far as two weeks. If you’re outside of that window, you’ll need to repeat the last shot again. (They give you a paper that explains all of this so you can figure out a schedule for yourself.
Now that we are thirty shots in, we’re getting close to the maintenance level. This is the last shot that they’ll step up to and you’ll take it as needed over time. It may start weekly, then monthly, then every few months, etc.
The Outcome
We are five months into the process and almost into the maintenance stage. I can already tell a difference in my reactions.
After shot 29, I asked the doctor if I could stop taking the allergy medicines (except for the single antihistamine one hour before the shot.) He said that would be fine.
I was happy to see that my body is already improving on how it reacts to allergens. It used to be that I was sneezing and stuffy by the third hole of a golf round. (Still worth it.) Now I only feel minor reactions.
Also, my breathing at night has become much better, which helps me sleep better.
All that being said, we’re still in the buildup phase and it’s not expected that real change should be in place. This is a process that can take a while.
I’ll plan to update this post every six months with the current situation.
Is it worth it?
The hardest thing about this process is getting started. It’s hard to commit to something that you know will take at least a year, and probably a few. But it’s alright to commit. Once you get started, it becomes pretty routine.
I’ve struggled with allergies my whole life and it’s not fun. If this was going to be a long term fix, it’s worth it. It’s certainly worth it for my son who still has a lot of life adventures ahead.
The cost is not small, but if it replaces buying allergy medicines for the rest of my life, maybe everything evens out.
If you have any questions, you can reach me from my About page. I’ll add any FAQ to the bottom of this post if I think it would be helpful for others.
Recently I passed an interesting mark in my own journal keeping. With 7300 journal entries, I have officially documented twenty years worth of days.
My journal entries actually go back 34 years, beginning in 1988. However, I wasn’t a daily writer the whole time. (I haven’t missed a day in over 8 years so I’m doing better lately.)
Having tried many different ways to journal over the years, I’m still big fan of Day One. I’ve enjoyed it so much that I’ve compiled all other journal formats into Day One. Writing from the pre-digital writing have been scanned, added to a backdated entry, and then also transcribed so it’s easy to search. It’s so nice to have everything in the same place.
As I’ve mentioned before, writing in your journal is a great way to reflect and motivate yourself:
There are only so many days in a row that you can write “woke up, went to school/work, watched netflix, leveled up on doodads of destruction (or whatever game), went to sleep.” When you have a daily reflection on your day, and how you’ve spent your time, you find a desire to do better and to be more.
Who have I served?
Have I spent my day on things most important?
How has my love grown?
Am I any better now than I was last year. Am I a better dad? A better disciple?
Brian Stucki Ward Conference Talk, 2017
And if you ever find yourself ungrateful, reading your past journal entries can be a great reminder of how blessed you’ve been in your life.
Boo porch pirates. Do you hug your mother with those arms? (Direct link to video)
We have lived in this house for nearly 8 years and this is our first porch pirate. Exciting morning!
Recently we upgraded all of our house lights to 4000k bulbs. It’s a nice way to brighten up a home. This package contained all of the remaining lights that needed to be upgraded. Bulbs of all random sizes and shapes. This will not be as exciting as he hopes. Maybe he can use the string lights as a belt?
He left his car running the whole time. At current rates, he may lose more on this caper than he gains.
Ironically, this happened at the exact moment that our family was inside having our morning family prayer. A friend suggested that perhaps we stop praying for “someone to see more light in the world.”
I look forward to drone deliveries someday that will drop the package in the backyard.
Joking aside, it’s too bad that people do this sort of thing. The money is one thing, but it also sets back our home projects.
Watching the double drive-by and turn around, it seems to have simply been a crime of circumstance. Perhaps some day he’ll mature and fall into better decisions. In the mean time, I hope that this doesn’t happen to anyone else, especially those already in difficult life circumstances.
Now that the kids are traveling on their own more, I’ve put together some travel charger packs for them to grab. It’s a lot easier than unwrapping the cables from the charging stations. (Note: our charging station is in a public part of the house. Remember, kids shouldn’t have their phones in their room overnight. When it comes to good sleep, help them help themselves.)
We made these packs because they are easy to grab and put into a travel bag. We also have a rule in the house: “No borrowing from the travel charger packs.” You need to know that they are always ready to use and not missing any parts.
We all have iPhones and an Apple Watch so here is what we did for our packs.
Zipper mesh bags: We purchased the 4x5in pack of five. It’s only $9 for a five pack of them. The zippers are high quality and the small bag fits everything. I also liked that you can see the contents through the bag. It’s an easy way to check everything is in there.
Anker 40W Dual Fast Charger: This charger is way faster than the charger that came from your phone. It has two ports so you can charger your phone and your watch from just one outlet.
(Note: If you’re still using your original phone charger at home, at least upgrade to the single fast charger from Anker. It will charge your phone so much faster.)
Anker 6ft USB C to Lightning cable: This is a solid cable. It will charge your phone, but will also charge your AirPods. When you’re staying in a hotel, it’s nice to have the 6ft cable because you never know how far the outlets will be from the bed.
Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable: This is the cable from Apple. Be sure to purchase the USB-C one so it’ll work with the charger listed above. It’s long enough to sit on the nightstand even if the outlet is higher or lower in the wall.
This is what the pack looks like when all zipped up.
We made enough for all of us. Everyone is in charge of bringing and returning their own pack.
Here are random things to post that don’t deserve their own post:
Sea of Galilee at Sunrise
Up to Jerusalem
Candace and I went to Israel a couple months ago. It was an incredible experience for the mind and the spirit. I especially enjoyed the Galilee area.
This one actually does deserve it’s own post. Many more thoughts and photos from this trip soon.
A new protein bar
Last Summer, I wrote about a selection of protein bars that we enjoy in our house. Since then, they added a new holiday flavor during the winter. It was so good that they have now brought it back as Creamy Crisp and it’s available all year long. It’s way too delicious to be a protein bar.
Watch your finances
I have now been using CoPilot for over a year. Still highly recommended, especially as everything seems to be increasing in cost and budgets need to be a little tighter. My full review is here.
On hesitating in life
“They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.”
Do you have an office at church or work? Purchase a box of these wipes from Amazon and hand them out freely. Put some in your travel bag too. Gift a wipe to anyone working on a messy iPad or squinting through dirty glasses. Even better, offer to do the wipedown for them.
A quick clean will make a phone feel new and the person will appreciate it. It’s a simple service that’s easy to do.
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At the beginning of the year, Candace bought a book called “52 Modern Manners For Today’s Teens.” It’s a spiral bound book that sits up well on a table or sideboard.
This book is really well done.
Each week over Sunday dinner, we’ll grab the book and read about a new tip. We’ll hold a fun conversation about why it’s important, reference people who are a good example of this trait, and talk about how we’ll try to focus on it in the coming week.
The next week we’ll look back on how we’ve done and then do it all again.
We have always tried to be parents who teach about important things like safely using tech and organizing finances, but this book has helped us introduce little phrases into our family. For instance, this one was early on:
Now we just say “pitch in” and everyone knows what that means.
Another example that was really helpful as school and sports picked up and friends helped us get kids to different activities:
Although there are 52 different “modern manners” in the book, there are no dates or specific schedules to keep. You can start the book anytime.
I recently returned from a trip to Israel. It is a beautiful country with wonderful people. The time spent there was enlightening and confirming for me and I’ll have plenty more to say about it in the future.
For now, a quick photography tip.
A couple years ago, Apple added the ability to add quick captions to photos. It’s incredibly useful. Sometimes during travel, you take so many photos that they start to blend together. The further you get from your return, the more you forget.
iPhone already adds metadata like time and location, but even then, some more info can be useful. I use “Captions” for this info and I think it would be helpful if more people knew about it.
A quick tutorial:
This tower looks like a hundred other towers in the Old City. As I clean up travel photos, I could easily toss it out. However, if you look closer, you can see the four architectural styles of the ancient builders. Quickly adding that to the Caption space is the perfect place to note that.
Choose any photo from your Camera Roll. Once selected, you can swipe up or hit the little blue information icon.
Just below the photo, you’ll see an empty space that reads “Add a Caption”
Type in your caption and then swipe back down. All done.
As far as I can tell, there are no character limits. These captions are searchable and will sync to all your devices.
