Meet My Groomsman pt. 3 - JJ Phillips

Hey Party People, welcome back for another wonderful edition of Pete Chat. Have you been wondering what I have been up to? Usually it comes down to just a few things. Working, eating pizza, or reading. With some bus travel and wedding planning to go with it. Not to shabby I'd say. The honeymoon is all squared away and the announcements are going out any day now. It's all very exciting.

In case you are wondering what I have been reading, I went absolutely bonkers for a Song of Fire and Ice. It is the book series that the show Game of Thrones is based on. When I got to Israel I wanted something to read that would keep me busy for the summer. I picked out a Storm of Swords which was over and thousand pages and I thought I would be set. In fact I was worried that I would have to commit to one book. Well I started reading and couldn't stop. The one hour bus ride to and from work certainly helped. I knocked it out, bought the next one a Feast for Crows, read that in a week, and other one thousand pages, took a week off because I couldn't find the next book, but then found while I was on my last trip and screamed through that. I read over 3000 pages in less than four weeks. If only my text books were so enjoyable. I was supported in my quest to read these book by one Jennifer Phillips, her husband JJ is the subject of the next MMG post.

When did you meet?

JJ moved to Whittier from Utah when he was in second grade. We were in the same ward growing up and did everything together except he was a year ahead in school.

Nickname
I have a few nicknames for JJ. They include Rage as in Jayge the Rage, and Random Taskmaster. He also responds to Holmes.



Where does he live? 
JJ and his lovely wife Jennifer live with their son young master Nolan in Tega Cay, SC but prior to that they had lived in Fairfax, VA. The funny thing was that they lived like two blocks from Shannon but they moved shortly after. I have not been to SC, but I plan on it someday.

Who does he root for?
JJ is a huge sports fan. I'm probably a big sports fan because of JJ as much as anybody. JJ loves the Cougars, the Jazz, the Rams and the Raiders, and the USC Trojans. He also hates the Lakers and the 49ers.


What does he like?
JJ likes movies, beards, cats, fantasy football, cruises, and inside jokes ( of which we have many). He likes Star Wars, Harry Potter, Michael Medved, Ben Folds, and Volleyball.

Which Star Wars Character is he most like?
Obi Wan Kenobi. JJ was a year ahead of me in school, so he always let me know what to expect. He taught  how to avoid being put in the trash can by the varsity which was akin to Ben teaching Luke how to use a lightsabre.

I asked Roo which character he would describe JJ as and he said Zuckuss or Mon Mothma definitely.*



Things you should know about JJ:

• JJ and I were always together in church until he graduated from the primary and took off for Young Men's. I remember him sarcastically wishing me good luck as I was the last one left there. JERK.
• The first time I stayed over at JJ's house his older brothers would ask me questions about sports. I knew a little bit about baseball ( not really a Phillips family favorite) from collecting baseball cards, I knew I liked Joe Montana, and I liked the Lakers. That was pretty much it. They would make me watch these NBA videos of the best dunkers and I would ask why there weren't any Lakers, and would be ridiculed. The Phillips brothers bowed at the alter of Larry Bird, and HATED the Lakers. They especially hated Magic and Kareem, who were of course the only two players I knew besides Kurt Rambis. I remember trying to be cool and tell them how Bo Jackson was so awesome that he once ran out of the stadium ( watch at about the 3:00 mark, heck watch the whole thing he was amazing). I knew if I was going to have any cred as a nine year old had to step my sports knowledge game up.
• From 1992 until 2003 I was a Jazz fan because of JJ Phillips. I freaking loved those teams with Stockton and Malone. JJ, Roo, Ryan Barber (you'll meet him next), and myself were the ONLY people at LSHS who rooted for the Jazz. When I met Jeff Hornacek and Matt Harpring at the Lakers Jazz game this year I had to tell them how much I loved those teams. Hornacek could not have been nicer.
• When I was in ninth grade and JJ was in tenth our friend KP drove us everywhere. Kreg was ( and I assume still is ) the nicest person there is. The guy was so selfless. He drove us to seminary, to school, everywhere. One day after school we were waiting by KP's truck and we where bored. So we decided that we would vandalize the truck, but we had virtually nothing to do it with. So we opened the gas tank, flipped up the whippers, and wrote a vaguely threatening note, and signed it PAD, which stood for Phillips and Dorsch. We wait and KP shows up ( he was often late so we knew we had time) and he starts getting nervous. he wants to know who did this, could it have been Jacob from his Spanish class. JJ and I played dumb and KP never figured out it was us.
• JJ's sister Nancee is one of my sister Jennifer's best freinds, and no JJ post would be complete with out a Roo mention. I am about the halfway between JJ and Roo in age so the three of us had many adventures. JJ and I were fascinated by Roo's way of thinking. He was big into building computers and we gave him names like Chaz. Roo was our setter and a really good one at that. One time JJ, Roo and I were coming back from one of our many trips to IN-N-OUT. Roo and I were arguing as usual because we had already finished our meals in the car. JJ was driving so he couldn't eat. Roo and I silently plotted against JJ, and switched IN-N-OUT bags. We faked an argument and had JJ believe that we had thrown his bag out the window. That is the only time I can ever remember JJ being legitimately pissed. He's like the calmest dude their is, and he was so furious at us. He stopped the car and told us to get out and get his food. We laughed and showed him that we had switched the bags.
• JJ and I played Volleyball together for three years in High School, and while we weren't the most talented group there was, we had so much fun. Our coach my first year was the worst coach (not a terrible human being) possible who at one point didn't show up to practice because he got hit by a car. He did not coach, he would call a time out and not help us with strategy at all, but he did preach two important life lessons that we both apply today. 1. Do what you know. 2. Why do we play volleyball? For the chicks.
• I lived with JJ and Jennifer for about two months when they first moved to DC. Although I was so poor, totally depressed and it was winter we still had a lot of fun. It was at this time that I found out about snap shirts, because JJ had one and I thought (and still do) that they were awesome.
• You know how sometimes you say something or get really passionate about something in front of the wrong crowd and you wish you hadn't. This happens all the time when you have guy roommates, You say something or have an opinion and you blurt it out and immediately regret it often times because it puts into question your manliness. One time JJ and Jennifer and I were sitting around watching TV and JJ with all the vitriol he can summon yells, "If Kevin gets voted off I'm gonna be pissed!" As soon as he said it, he knew he had said to much. Why? Because he was talking about this Kevin.

• For about the last eight years up until this year JJ and Jennifer and I had watched the Super Bowl together. Our annual tradition of Pizza, Chicken Wings, Lil Smokies, and IBC. 

Most everything thing I have done JJ has blazed the trail for me. Seminary, High School, Volleyball, College, Mission, and now married life.

*I got the answer after I originally posted.