Mikel Blake

I’m just making a general annoucement here that I’ve moved blogs to mikelblake.blogspot.com.

Soon this URL (mikelblake.com) will go directly there but I’m still trying to figure that out.  So for now you’ll have to do it manually.

Thanks for reading!

I just finished a phenomenal book: Where Have All the Leaders Gone by Lee Iacocca. The writing style is conversational which makes it a quick read but at the same time it’s very insightful. He talks about the desperate need for real leaders in this country, not only political leaders but business and community leaders as well. He gives 9 characteristics that he believes real leaders must have/be:
Curiosity
Creative
Communication
Character
Courage
Conviction
Charisma
Competent
Common Sense
He challenges us all to apply these criteria to those who currently lead us (”Maybe Congress should take year off and evaluate itself”…show us where it’s working) and to those who would be our leaders as the 2008 election approaches.

It was refreshing to hear the story of a prominent business leader who hasn’t run his company into the ground while becoming a multi-millionaire, one that values sacrifice, generosity, and character.

Since coming to Dallas I’ve been engaged in a new hobby: Road Biking.  Road bikes are not to be confused with street bikes which are motorcycles.  Road bikes are what Lance Armstrong rides…you know, those ones with the skinny little tires and the curvy handle bars.  It’s been a lot of fun and a great way to get some physical activity into my otherwise sedentary lifestyle.

My dad and I drive out to a nice lake trail near down town Dallas called White Rock Lake.  The trail goes around the whole lake and is about 10 miles long.  My dad has been making me start with the basics and work up.  We began by riding mountain bikes so I just borrowed my dad’s old one.  The fact that he is a full foot taller than me made for a rather uncomfortable ride.  It was a good work out and, not having any previous biking experience, I didn’t know any better.  After a few weeks of the mountain bike and continued aches and pains from riding such an enormous bike my dad decided I’d paid my dues and he got me my own road bike! 

After having the bike fitted to me and my petite 5′4″ body I thought I was in heaven.  I had no idea biking could be so enjoyable!  Now I even have some of those oh-so-sexy spandex shorts with the built in seat pads…it’s like sitting on a cloud (brick?)!  I have to admit, I love this new hobby!

So I have all sorts of unfinished posts for this blog that I just can’t seem to finish.  My main excuse is that we haven’t had the internet in our apartment for the last couple of weeks.  But I’m here at my dad’s so I’m going to try to make the most of it.

A quick update on our everyday lives: 

Dave got staffed here in Dallas, which was actually a pretty huge shock to us.  His firm only has one local case so we had made all our plans thinking that he’d be traveling all week.  While it was an extremely pleasant surprise to find out that he would be here, we have had to make a few adjustments.  One of the biggest being our car situation: we bought a car in March before we moved down here thinking that we wouldn’t need two since Dave is gone all week.  Had we known that we would need two we probably wouldn’t have bought our Subaru…a bit out of our price range for two cars.  Not to mention it has left me pretty stranded for the time being.  So we’re still working out a few little things like that.

But Dave is working very hard.  Too hard really.  For example, he had to work on Sunday, then he had to be IN the office the next morning at 6 AM, then he didnt’ get home until after 10:00 pm, then of course he still had some work to do so he got up before 6 AM again this morning to finish it.  And the most amazing part is that I haven’t heard one word of complaint from him.  How did I get so lucky??

And while Dave is off working 70 hour weeks I keep myself super busy with strenous tasks such as early morning biking, copious amounts of reading, deep cleaning (cause it’s tough to keep our apartment clean when I’m the only one that even really lives there!), running errands (which has actually been quite a bit more difficult now that I don’t have a car), practicing my violin (it’s extremely painful to listen to myself after all these years), and searching for a job that won’t take too much time out of my busy schedule.

So this is what real life is like…

I’ve been able to read a bunch of books this summer…it’s been a blast.  Here’s a quick list and brief summary of each (so far).

Rebecca: I very much enjoyed this one.  It’s about a young girl who married a widower and suffers the insecurities of being the second wife to a seemingly perfect woman.

Kite Runner: This one was also very good but also dealt with rather difficult situations and themes.  I was ve dealt with the contemporary history of Afghanistan. 

Price of Motherhood: This was the only non-fiction book I read this summer and I found it fascinating.  It’s about the economics of motherhood (both the pros and cons) and the social and political stigma that surrounds mothers.

Life of Pi: This one was a little difficult for me to get through until the last 100 pages or so.  I think it would have helped me significantly if I had read through the book group questions at the back of the book.  It’s definitely one that needs discussion.

Golden Compass: This one is a kids book, and we all know I love to read kids books, but it was a little slow for me, too.  It’s the first of three in a series and if my book list ever gets too low I imagine I’ll probably read the rest.  There is also a movie coming out in December that I’m pretty excited to see.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: I thought this was yet another triumph for J.K. Rowling.  Although it was a little slow at the beginning I thought it ended perfectly. I was very satisfied.

Eclipse: This is the third book in the Twilight series and it was my favorite of the three!  I loved it…even despite the teasings of my husband!

The Spy Wore Red: I just barely finished this one and also thoroughly enjoyed it.  It’s a book about a real woman who was a spy for the OSS during WWII.  It’s pretty amazing and you have to keep reminding yourself that it all really happened!

It’s been a little difficult to think of something to write about church yesterday.  Not because it was particularly boring or un-spiritual but because I was pretty darn sick.  I don’t remember much except having to introduce myself a million times (as it was our first time in this ward) and trying desperately to not cough all over everyone I met.

But through the daze I do recall the topic of Relief Society: Integrity.  There is so much to be said about integrity.  And I’m sure they did say alot but it seemed like there was a disproportional amount of time and energy spent on the importance of obeying traffic laws for the sake of our integrity.  It was as if that was the teacher’s main point on integrity.  One woman even went so far as to say that if we go even 1 mile over the speed limit the spirit withdraws from us and that if we stay within the speed limit bad things won’t happen to us while we are driving.  (No exaggeration, she really said that and more!) While I have no intention of arguing about the importance of obeying traffic laws, I just kept thinking, is this really the best we can come up with on the subject of integrity? 

So as I was thinking about the lesson a little deeper (especially now that my cold meds have kicked in) I think my own take-away from that lesson-after pushing past the importance of obeying traffic laws-was that ultimately our integrity is about our intentions and is between us and the Lord…Along the lines of the old saying “integrity is what you do when no one is looking.”  I think it especially has to do with two main aspects of our lives: the intent of our hearts and our efforts.  And that is where this lesson really hits home for me. 

I am definitely not saying that our integrity is not dependent on our dealings with those around us, because of course it is.  What I am saying is that if we make sure that we are square with the Lord, first and foremost, we can count ourselves as full of integrity.  It’s less about making sure that I am going exactly 25 mph in a residential area and more about making sure that my heart is honest in all my dealings.  Because I believe that our actions are a direct result of our thoughts and feelings.  I guess my point is, if my heart and efforts are in the right place and still my actions fall short (hey, I’m only human) I feel like I can still count myself as one having integrity.

All in all, as I was mulling all this around in my groggy little brain, I am left with greater resolve and inspiration to keep my intentions pure and act with more integrity in all aspects of my life.  And therefore I count yesterday’s Relief Society lesson as a success.

In case you haven’t heard…we moved to Dallas.  And luckily for me my hubby wrote all about it on his blog so I’m just going to redirect you over there.  Hopefully we’ll get some pictures up soon but we’ve been experiencing some technical difficulties!

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