Life After Beards

The beard is gone. Long gone. And now I look at myself in the mirror and wonder what my face looked like before and whether the 2 months I went without shaving have somehow modified my face. My facial hair does seem different now, though. It seems to be growing in more fully and it looks much more even. I am kind of glad that I had this chance to experiment. It's worth for every capable man to give it a try every now and then just to see what happens. You'll never know unless you try. You just might be the 1 in 100 men to look amazing with a beard. Women will be lined up at your door, unless you're married, and every door will open to you; skittles will fall from the sky. Doesn't that sound worth it, I mean, Skittles! Anyway, there is life after a beard, just like there's life after every stage of life, and this for me was a very interesting stage. Oh, and there is definitely a better life waiting for you if you're hanging on to just a mustache. Let it go! It's not worth it!

The Stitches Are Out

Well, I just got the stitches out yesterday and I'm glad to be rid of them. It's nice to be able to kiss Brienne without poking her to death, although my facial hair has been doing that for quite some time. Anyway, there is very minimal scarring and the doctor assured me that if I keep chapstick on it, and don't let it get sunburned there won't be any scar at all. So I hope he's right. So for now I'm happy to be able to eat normal and sing normal too in addition to my romantic lip activity. There are still some stitches on the inside that will dissolve over the next 6 weeks. They are holding the muscle together, so that one side of my face doesn't droop for the rest of my life. I think it's best to leave them in there. So once they are dissolved the muscle should be all fixed and I'll be set. That's all for now. Here's a picture of my patched up lip.

AFTER


BEFORE

My Messed Up Lip

So I had a flag football game on Friday, November 9th and it started out as just a regular game.  We were in the single elimination tournament portion of the season so we were all pretty excited.  The game started out well.  We stopped them on defense with a goal line stand and then threw a deep pass to score a touchdown.  After that they got the ball back and came all back down and were right on the goal line when I intercepted a pass and ran it all the way back to just past midfield.  After that we scored again but didn't convert the two point conversion so we were up 14-0.  That's how the half ended and I remember starting the second half and how we had the ball and then threw an interception and were on defense, but after that I don't remember much.  Apparently on a play I went up for the ball in the middle of two guys on the other team and ended up on the ground.  We all got up and I started walking towards the sideline staring at the ground and my lip was cut way open. 

I don't remember any of this but then Brienne took me to the hospital.  On the way I kept asking her the same questions over and over again.  Then I kind of remember going into the emergency room and talking to a guy and a girl at the front desk.  Then I kind of remember going into a room with a nurse for a little bit.  And then I kind of remember ending up in another room where a doctor checked on me.  I was in and out a lot during this whole time.  So the regular doctor passed me on to a plastic surgery to do the stitches cause he had more expertise in that area.  So the first doctor numbed me up, which was by far the most painful part.  Then Dr. Todd Cook stitched up my lip with some white stitches on the inside muscular portion and some blue ones on the outside.  I am supposed to get them out in 10 days time and during this time eating solid foods isn't going to be a real possibility.  So we bought some yogurt and jello and that is going to be my diet for a while.  I think I'll make it though.  So that was my little crazy experience.  The good news is that my lip is going to heal with only minor scarring and my football team won 28-0.  So I'm not really in much pain.  The right side of my face is a bit sore, but all in all I'm feeling fine.  I just can't kiss Brienne as well as I used to.

Approaching 5 Months...

So, as I approach 5 months of blissful marriage, it surprises me that it has only been 5 months.  It seems as though we have been married forever, as if it had no beginning or end.  It's like when I was serving a mission and I couldn't remember what anything was like back home.  That's exactly how it is now .  Brienne asks me things about before we were married and I can't remember a thing.  It's almost as if I'm a completely different person now or something.  Deep....  I am pleased with that prospect though.  The prospect that I am so much different now as a married man, and so much more down to earth and mature that I don't even remember my former life.  It seems pretty cool.  As my parents prepare to leave on a mission I am grateful to be where I am; not having to worry about what will happen to me.  My future is sure now.  Regardless of where I go to school, or where I work, or how many children we have, or where we live, it's all just a bunch of details when compared with the constant fact that I will be happily married.  It's been the best 5 months of my life and I couldn't have planned it better.  Sure there's been a few unexpected twists and turns, but they haven't hurt us, so they must have helped.  All I can say is that I love my wife.  She's the best.  No matter what happens from here on, I know we'll be  experiencing it together.

Just Married

So it turns out that I just got married on the 25th of May, 2007. My wife's name is Brienne Hales Shumway. Ah, Shumway sounds so good on her. Anyway, she's been saying for as long as I can remember that 2007 is going to be a good year, and so far it's been the greatest year ever. I couldn't have asked for more out of being a newlywed. I am going forward with my schooling at UVSC, looking to go into some aspect of Digital Media. We'll see what catches my interest. Brienne is working on finishing up at BYU and should graduate next year in Travel and Tourism. We currently live in Provo just south of BYU campus in a little basement apartment. It's perfect for us. Other than that I am still writing quite a few songs on the piano and a few on the guitar. I hope to record some ASAP. I also hope to film a music video to one of them. We'll see how that goes. That's all for now.