Wayne's World

Sorry for the delay, but we are very excited to welcome the newest member of our family; Kate Linford. She was born June 15th at around 2pm. Autumn was amazing and did a stellar job. I was floored at had well she did. All I can say is that Autumn is simply amazing!




Autumn’s mom came and helped us out for about a week. It was great having her around. The week she was here was a very busy and stressful week for me so it was nice to know that Autumn had some support at home.



We are very excited to have you in our family Kate… We love you!!!!

Today we visited with a glass company called Guardian. We were able to see how glass was made from start to finish. It was pretty cool.


After the visit, we visited Bumrungrad, which is this world renown hospital in Bangkok. It was a great visit. They provide hospital services for 1/8th the price while providing five star service. Incredible.

Later in the day, our group had a dinner cruise on the river. It was pretty fun talking with all of my classmates on what we have learned on this trip. I had so much fun, but I will be really excited to come home to be with Autumn; I miss her so much.

Another travel day...

Today we woke up bright and early and headed down south to Thailand. Man alive is it hot and humid here. We checked into the hotel and then went on a boat ride to look at some sights around Bangkok; including some cool temples.




A couple of us then went to check out the markets. The markets here are not as good as the ones in Beijing or Hong Kong, but they are good.

This morning we visited Hong Kong Disneyland. We spoke with the VP of Park Operations – Noble Coker. It was very interesting to learn about some of the success and struggles they had in bringing a western icon to the eastern part of the world. It was great.



A small group of us then went to lunch at this Thai place. It made me very excited for the food I am about to have in Thailand.

We then just went to some of the local shops to browse. I have been getting some nasty blisters on my feet from all the walking lately; they look pretty cool.

Even though we arrived in Hong Kong yesterday, we did not stay long. This morning we left Hong Kong and headed back to Mainland China, this time in the southern region. There we visited a garment manufacturing factory (also known as a sweat shop). This region of China was very different from Beijing. The people were very, very poor. My heart went out to the people who day after day live and work in these conditions.

After our tour, we had lunch at the Mission Hills Country Club. It is this really “posh, posh” place where we had some Dim Sum. It was pretty good.



After lunch we stopped at the Hong Kong temple and took some pictures. Then we headed back to the hotel to change for the evening.


Our group then met up and watched the light show on the bay. It was ok. I guess I was expecting more from all the hype.

Our group then crossed the bay on a ferry and then took a tram to the top of Victoria’s peak. The view from up there was amazing. We only stayed for a few minutes then we came back to the hotel. Some friends of mine and I then wondered the streets of Hong Kong until about 1am. Man alive am I tired..

Sorry for the lack of posts. Communist China blocked Blogger so I was unable to upload my files. Nevertheless, I did track my postings each day and have posted them below.

Today, we had the opportunity to go to one of the local branches for church. I still think it is pretty awesome that there is a couple active branches in communist China. Blows my mind.

After church we went to the Temple of heaven. There was a ton of people there dancing around to some music. There were also tons of singers everywhere. Quite the experience.



For lunch we had peking duck at a local restaurant. It was hyped up quite a bit this trip. While it was good, it definitely was not the best think I have had on the trip. It was good, not great.




We then headed to the airport so we can catch our flight to Hong Kong. it is very hot and humid here, but I am excited to see what it has to offer...

Today was the day that we visited the Great Wall of China. But first, on the way there, we made a quick stop at the Birds Nest at the Beijing Olympic Park. It was pretty cool to see. While we were there, tons of people kept coming up to us and asked us if they could take our picture. I felt like a celebrity..



When we got to the entrance of Great Wall park, we took a tram up to the top of this small mountain to get to the wall. It was pretty amazing that they were able to build the wall in such a mountainous spot. It was very steep in some places and the steps were uneven. Needless to say, while walking around on the wall was an aw-inspiring experience, it also played havoc on my knees. It was worth it though.











We then went to a local restaurant close to the wall. The Chinese food has been the best food for me on this trip so far. In the restaurant, someone brought their dog inside and it was barking like mad. I think that it was the first time I saw a non-seeing eye dog in a restaurant.


We then visited the Ming Tombs. They are the burial place of the Emperors during the Ming Dynasty. It was buried deep in the ground. Interesting fact, when the Emperor died, they buried his wives and concubines alive with him, creepy!



The Silk Market was next on our list. Although I did not buy much, it was a crazy experience. I have never seen spo pushy sales people. They were grabbing and pulling all over the place. I decided to just have fun with the people and had a blast goofing off with them.

Kjell McCord, Jonathan Mecham and I then headed to a local restaurant for some Chinese food. I had some chicken curry dish and it was great!

Another jam packed day, and I would not have it any other way!

This morning we visited with Deloitte and talked about how business in China differs from other countries; specifically the US. Some very insightful information was shared on the impact of a government controlled economy and benefits and struggles of working in a communistic society.


After our visit, we headed to Tinnemans square. I really need to do more research on what happened there, but from what I can tell, some very bad stuff happened there in 1989. Our tour guide skirted around the issue and eventually told us that he was not allowed to discuss it with foreigners.



We then had lunch inside the Forbidden City. It was very cool to be eating Chinese food inside a place that was once “Forbidden” to most people. The food was very good as well.


After lunch we toured the rest of the Forbidden City. The place is huge. There are 90 courtyard in it. However, I firmly believe that if you have seen one courtyard, you do not need to see another. Very cool though.




We then headed to the Summer Palace. Very pretty place with a manmade lake. However, we were getting rushed for time so we were unable to stay there long.



We then came back to the hotel for 25 minutes to grab a quick bite to eat. We were then off to see The Legend of Kung Fu. It was very cool.

Ahhh, the sweet nectar of sleep. The one benefit of running all over Asia is that I have no problems sleeping at night. I am so tired I just crash and don’t wake up at all during the night. It has been some of the best sleep I have ever had.

This morning we visited the Hyundai headquarters and toured their Heavy Industry’s facilities. They focus on the heavy equipment side of Hyundai. They build many things at the plant but their biggest products are these huge, ginourmous ships!


After the tour, the Hyundai people were generous enough to treat us to lunch. We then headed to a Korean temple. This temple site is approximately 1,300 years old. We saw many people worshiping and even saw a real life monk meditating.


We then headed to the Busan airport to head to Beijing. Korea was great! Despite the nuclear and missile fiasco from the North and all the hub bub over their former president committing suicide, the people have been very nice and it was a great trip. I am not going to lie, the food for me was hit and miss. I am not a big fan of Kimchi. I think the smell is the hardest thing for me to get over. The food that was good was excellent. I am really excited to see what China now has to offer.

When traveling through Asia, there are a few things that can top a good nights rest and a warm shower. I was able to get plenty of sleep last night and even beat my alarm in getting up. I was so tired last night and this morning I felt great and ready to take Korea by storm.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we hopped on a bus and went to see the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. Our tour guide gave us a brief history lesson on the conflict between the two countries. I was shocked to hear that technically North and South Korea are still at war with each other even though they have signed a cease fire treaty many years ago. With North Korea being in the news as of late it was interesting to actually see North Korea from the observation deck.


We also visited these tunnels that the North Koreans dug deep underground into South Korea. These tunnels were very deep underground and very small. Those of you who know me may know that I am a bit claustrophobic. I was a little hesitant to go on this tour, but decided to be a trooper and tag along with the group. Man, I am not going to lie, I was a little uncomfortable being in that close of quarters for so long. However, I made it through the experience even though I had a few mental “freak outs” when I thought of what would happen if there was an earthquake.


They were very strict on what pictures we can and cannot take so sorry for the lack of pics..

After our tour we headed to a Korean BBQ place nearby. My Korean dining experience last night on the plane had me a little concerned of what laid ahead of me. However, I had nothing to fear; the food was absolutely great!



After lunch we headed to our tour with Samsung. It was a great visit. One of their executives came and spoke to us and was very entertaining. I have been quite impressed with the company visits so far.



After our visit, we departed to Ulsan which was about 6 hours away. Most everybody crashed on the way, but for some reason I cannot sleep that well on planes/buses. Nevertheless, we all arrived in Ulsan in one piece,,,

Some of our group members decided that they wanted to the Tsukiji fish market. However, as I mentioned last night, I got into bed very late and was absolutely sure that I would be too tired to get up at 4am to make it. As I laid in bed I could not help but think that I am in Japan and I will not always have an opportunity to see things like this; I can sleep anytime. So I decided to go and I am glad I did.

It was really cool seeing all the seafood to feed Japan come into this port. I was surprised with how large Tuna is. I thought they were only about a foot long, you know, like Charlie the Tuna. However, they were the size of large pigs; huge!

I returned to the hotel where I showered and ate a healthy breakfast of noodles, rice and octopus and I absolutely loved it. We then headed out to see Deutsche bank Asia. We met with some of the executives and then toured the trading floor. Having my bachelors degree in finance, it was kind of interesting to see firsthand what investment bankers were doing. I am not going to lie, I am glad I did not pick that as a career path.

After our visit, a group of us had some Kai-ten-zushi for lunch. This is where a group of us sat at a bar with a conveyor belt rotating around the countertop. The sushi chef would put sushi on a colored plate and then place the plate on the belt. If the sushi is something that sounded good you would simply take the plate off of the conveyor belt and eat it. You then were billed at the end by how many plates you ate. The plate color was associated with a price so some pieces were more expensive than others. This was some of the best sushi I ever had. It was great!

We then roamed the shopping district trying out different pieces of candy from various stores. At 5pm it was time to pack up and head to the airport for our next leg in Korea. I was so tired but could not seem to be able to get some sleep. Between the turbulence and the smell of the food it was a no-go. Speaking of the food, I hope the airplane dinner was not an indication of what the food in Korea will be like. It was not good at all…

Well, that is about it, I am not at the hotel in Seoul and will update you tomorrow. Until then…

Happy Memorial Day and Greetings from Tokyo…

This morning our group hopped a bullet train from Kyoto to Toyota City to tour Toyota. It was quite the experience. Throughout my undergraduate and MBA program I have read numerous case studies on Toyota and it was kind of cool to see it in action. The people at Toyota were very generous and kind.

After the tour we got back on the bullet train to Tokyo. I had no idea Tokyo was as big as it is. They have about 12 million people and they are all very busy looking for a place to go.

Later tonight, a group of us went shopping for some Japanese souvenirs and then had some Sukiyaki for dinner. It was pretty good. I still need to get some sushi though. If I leave Japan without eating some authentic Japanese Sushi, that would be not cool.

Tomorrow morning a group is going to the fish market and I am not sure if I can make it. It is now almost 11pm and I am beat. They will be leaving at 4:00am. That is early. I will see how I feel.

This morning our group got together for church service in the basement of our hotel. It was pretty cool. Afterwards we went on a sightseeing tour of some of the local Japanese temples. Some of these buildings were very old, I am talking over a thousand years.

For lunch we had a traditional Japanese lunch. Some people in our group didn’t like it, some thought it was ok. I however, thought it was amazing and I loved it! My knees did not agree with sitting on the floor for that long, but the overall experience was great.

Afterward we came back to the hotel and a group of us went looking for some sushi. However, a lot of the places were expensive (like $75-$100). So after an hour of searching for sushi for a reasonable price, we settled on McDonalds. I am not going to lie, it was great! I loved it..

We need to be up and ready to go at 6am tomorrow so I need to get to bed early. Stay tuned for more updates.

Hello from Japan!

Life has been very busy since I left Provo for my Foreign Business Excursion (FBE) to Asia. In anticipation for my long flight, I decided to stay up the night before so that I could be tuckered out and ready to sleep when we left LAX. I said goodbye to Autumn and left for the airport at about 5am. I don’t know why, but it was really hard leaving Autumn this time. Maybe it is because she is nine months pregnant. Maybe it is because this is the longest we will be apart since we have been married or maybe a little of both perhaps. Nevertheless, it was difficult.

We flew from Salt Lake to LAX and had a three hour layover. Our plane from LAX to Korea was huge! It was the biggest plane I traveled on. Because I was so tired, I was able to crash for 6 hours. This was nice since it was a 13 hour flight. On the plane I was able to try some Korean food and I was actually impressed; it was quite good. I was expecting some rotten cabbage or something, but instead I had some beef, rice, vegetable, hot stuff concoction. I liked it a lot.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!!

What a week. Earlier this week Autumn and I celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. It is a total trip. On one hand I cannot believe it has already been three years and on the other, it is hard for me to remember what life was like without being married to her. I am truly a very lucky man to be married to her.

Our anniversary festivities were limited due to school, work and whatnot. However, no anniversary would be complete without a late night run to Denny’s. I absolutely love going to Denny’s late at night. It is the best place to people watch.

Our crib also came in this week. When we went to Babys R Us to pick it up, we were shocked to learn how big of boxes those cribs come in. There was no way we were going to get that ginormous box into our tiny Ford Focus or Saturn Ion. Thankfully our friend Bart Taylor lent us his truck and we were able to get it home. Autumn and I (mostly Autumn) put it together on Friday and we love it.

With the addition of the crib, the baby’s room is really coming together. We still live in the dorms at BYU so we are not allowed to paint on the walls. However, Autumn, being the genius that she is, found a way to improvise. With a little bit of fabric and some starch, she worked her magic and put up a tree and some birds on the wall. We also painted the dresser pink and stocked the room with a bunch of stuff Autumn got at her baby shower. The room is looking great.

I only have one more week of school before our break for the foreign business excursion. Time is really beginning to fly.

Weight 234.2 lbs (-22.8)

Sorry for the lack of updates for a while. Tonight, Autumn and I went to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary. Our actual anniversary is not until Tuesday May 5th, but since I have work, school and so much more going on, we decided to celebrate tonight.

We decided to splurge and go to Chilis for dinner. It was fun actually having someone wait on us. After gorging myself on their chips and salsa, we went to see “State of Play”. It was pretty good, we liked it.

Autumn and I also bought a car seat and stroller for the baby. We have been looking for a while and finally found one that we both like. It is red and I think it is super cool! I have attached a photo of what it looks like. We are very excited. Only 8 more weeks…

Weight 237 lbs (-20)

During my MBA class tonight, our professor went over the logistics for our foreign business excursion to Asia next month. On Memorial weekend some of my classmates and I will begin a two week adventure visiting 5 countries and 10 companies in Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand. The preliminary itinerary appears very busy and we are told we will be running, running, running. I have never been to Asia before, so if anyone has any tips or tricks, please let me know. Autumn will be 35 week pregnant when I leave. I just hope our little girl does not decide to come 3 weeks early..

Weight 240 lbs (-17)

This morning we went to the baby blessing of one of our close friends; Lindsey and Forrest Parker. They have a cute little boy named Davis Ryan. It made me very excited for when we will have a little child of our own..

Weight 242 lbs (-15)

Today is a good day, for today is the day that all the freshman students leave Wyview Park and Audi and I can enjoy some peace and quiet. Autumn is a Hall Adviser for BYU housing. This job has huge perks, many of them being; no rent, no utilities, free tuition and most importantly; free food at the Cannon Center.

While these perks are wonderful, they are definitely earned; some moments more than others. Living next to 18-19 year old boys can be difficult at times. I am not making them out to be the bad guys, because hey, they are only 18. However, the paper thin walls and the accompanying loud music and rough housing can drive one crazy.

Nevertheless, today our building has been emptied for the summer and we no longer have freshmen in our midst. It truly is cause for celebration.

Weight 238.4 lbs (-18.6)

Autumn is amazing. Although, anyone who knows Autumn, already knows this to be true. She is one of the hardest workers I know. She is the smartest and brightest person I know as well. Very few times do I get the opportunity to know someone who is both brilliant and has a very strong work ethic.

Today Autumn graduated with her Master’s Degree from Brigham Young University. She worked so hard and achieved so much these past two years. I would like to mention some of the things she has done; this is where her amazingness comes in (sorry if I boast):

• She finished her Master’s Degree in a little over two years
• Maintained a 4.0 GPA
• Received many accolades from her professors on her superb work
• Won a couple of grants; one of which allowed her to go to Boston for primary research
• Published a paper that won2nd place at the AJAMC conference (Phd students from the top schools in the country won 1st and 3rd)
• Got an A in stats (she really struggles in that subject)
• Finished her thesis, comprehensive exams, and took two of her hardest classes while fighting morning sickness and tiredness associated with being pregnant
• Worked full-time during the entire process

Weight 236 lbs (-21)

Today I ran into a long lost friend. While on our way to a partner visit, my manager Brad Tovey and I decided to grab a bite to eat. As we cruised down State Street, we found it hard to find a place to eat. One place sounded good to me, but not Brad. Another sounded good to Brad, but not me. Others were too difficult to get to, too unhealthy, etc..

However, as we approached 54th south, I saw something that did not look right. I rubbed my eyes to make sure they were not deceiving me, but alas, they were not. There on the left hand side of the road was a Rubios. I love Rubios and use to eat there all the time when I did my internship in LA. They have the best fish tacos on the planet. Brad and I squealed like little girls and flew in there as fast as our legs could carry us.

Yes, after nearly six years of absence, I was reunited with a dear friend and it did my heart good to see that it was just as good as I remembered it…

Weight 237 lbs (-20)

Today I got my hair cut. Audi is graduating this weekend and I figured I should look my best for her very special day. In addition to my shag-like hair, I had these really cool red mutton chops going on; however, I am pretty sure Audi was not a big fan…

After work Audi and I went to the Motherhood store at the University Mall. They have some pretty cool maternity clothes but holy mole, what a racket!! I swear, I should go into designing maternity clothes. I mean, who seriously pays $35 for a t-shirt? Do you know how many packages of Top Ramen that can buy? Nevertheless, Audi was able to find some cute clothes and I really like them. I gripe and complain, but Autumn is totally worth it…

Weight 236.6 lbs (-20.4)

Not a ton happened today… It has been slow at work since a quite a few members of our sales team is in Las Vegas for Presidents Club. For those of you who don’t know, presidents club is a week-long retreat for the top performing sales representatives in our company. We usually hold this in a tropical location like the Caribbean or Cancun. However, due to the poor economy and budget cuts it was decided to hold it in Vegas this year.

Class tonight was good. We turned in our graduation application for August. Not going to lie, very excited about the idea of being done with school. 79 days (17 class periods)…

Weight 238.6 lbs (-18.4)

Tonight Audi and I went to our second prenatal parenting class. Tonight was the night they showed the infamous “Miracle of Birth” video. Wow, what a jarring experience; I think I will be scarred for life… As Autumn put it, “There is no coming back from that”.

That being said, it made me really appreciate what women go through all in the name of love. How did moms do that hundreds of years ago without all the modern marvels of medicine? Even with an epidural these mothers looked like they were being put though the ringer. It made me appreciate that I live in a time when such things are available. It also made me happy that I was born with that blessed Y chromosome (sorry girls). After witnessing what I did tonight, I think all moms everywhere should get an award, or at least have a day to honor them. We could even call it Mother’s day… What you think; good idea huh?

Weight 238.6 lbs (-18.8)

This afternoon Audi and I went up to my parent’s house in Salt Lake City to celebrate the birthdays of my brother-in-law Jared and my nephew Matthew; father and son born on the same day, how cool is that? It was fun seeing the family and catching up. It was especially nice getting to know Jenni’s new husband Cody. The weather was perfect and I am getting pretty excited for the warmer weather. It is about time that Spring finally shows up...