Chain Rings and Fiddle Strings

2012-01-18T08:03:00.003-07:00

The top 5 pictures of my new old gun. My great grandpa John Williams won it from a punchboard.

Optimism can start a trend right?

2011-10-02T02:17:00.000-06:00

Top 5 things I will blog Top 5s about:

5. General Conference
4. Africa
3. Nursing
2. My hobbies (I may have hit on this one before, but some things have changed)
1. Media and media forms

It's been a goodly amount of time since my last post; I think it has been almost a year. The time has come for new beginnings. Seeing as how I will be having a new beginning pretty soon what with this being my last semester of college and all. I know, I know, you say to yourself, 'but you're so old...25!' I should have been out of college in April and working already. What I have to say is just that I started school late, took plenty of classes that weren't required (but enjoyable) and didn't get accepted into the nursing program the first time around. Big deal...I am just waiting for the job market to improve. :)
But, in the last year I have been pretty darn productive even if I haven't written. I have been to Peru, Kenya, and Tanzania this last summer, in December I started rock climbing and I have since acquired a small arsenal of gear, I have begun canyoneering a bit (again, lots of gear has been procuring plenty of stuff), and this summer has been good for reading...although I have been doing plenty of it well into this fall semester. If you'd like to see my awesome list of books you can go to my goodreads page and snoop around.

I'm about to go to bed because I have to be chipper and alert for the final two sessions of General Conference. It's the bomb, you should watch. :) Buenas Noches!

My blog is pictureless...that doesn't mean it's boring.

2010-11-13T17:22:00.001-07:00

Top 5 things about the MTC:

5. It's so dang close to my apartment
4. Mixing in funny things about yourself in the scenario you're given
3. The missionaries are awesome
2. The chance to really speak Spanish again
1. Feeling the Spirit

I guess I didn't say that this is based solely on the opportunity to give service to the missionaries. I went last night to volunteer at the Teaching Appointment or TA or Teaching Resource Center or TRC, whatever it is these days. It was very fun and amazingly enough, the two Elders that taught me are going to PARAGUAY! (Not my mission but the next best thing.)

I would have liked to have gone when my friend Katrina's missionaries were there but as luck would have it I am at work at that time. Maybe next semester when I don't have the same schedule...then again, she might as well. Whatever, it was a gay old time.

Top 5 video games:

5. Super Mario Bros. Wii
4. Halo ODST or Reach
3. Call of Duty: World at War - Nazi Zombies
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
1. The N-Game

In reality I don't play all that much but I was a little bored sitting in my front room and gaming popped into my head. We don't have a Wii, but Adam Murphy did. I think I only played SMBW once but it was a lot of fun. If I had to rank these in hours of gameplay I think that Warfare 2 is on top but it could be Halo. Either way I'm not that into them when others aren't playing. I only have a PS2 so when I move out of my apt. I doubt I'll play much of anything (hopefully).

One more top 5 before I go...
Top 5 things I've done in the past 2 weeks
(This will be tough, because I really like a lot of the things I did. I will also be treading on thin ice because several people mentioned here may read this...just know that I did not [necessarily{wow, I need a lot of disclaimers}] rank them as to how much I like the people, but by my love of the activity and how much fun that particular instance was for me.)

5. Went to the MTC to volunteer
4. Watched Gattaca with Gabby, Chely, Richard, and Alex
3. Went to Divine Comedy with Jeanette
2. Playing Mando, Fiddle, Guitar, banjo with my friends Katrina, Garrett, Alex, Steve, and many more
1. Rock climbing at the Quarry with Annie and Sophia

Interesting, the most fun was had while with friends. Also interesting is that I have been playing more music lately and I got a call yesterday from Katie Dellenbach's manager. He informed me of a gig in Price that Katie would like me to play so I will be practicing on Wednesday after clinical and performing Friday after work (I will actually have to leave work early to get there in time. I am supposed to be there at 4:30, I normally get off on Fridays at 5 and it's a 2-hour drive away. I think it'll be a great show; Jordan Rose is on the drums, Alex Vincent on the mandolin, me on the fiddle and maybe the banjo (I have to recover that instrument from Simon), and someone I do not know on the bass. Plus, the pay will almost cover my gas money (I am going to try to carpool).

wow, that was...well, not so deep

2010-08-20T02:36:00.000-06:00

Top 5 things about top 5's:
5. They remind me of a great movie I like. It's kind of a catchy idea.
4. They make it less pressure on me to write blogs.
3. They make it easier (and hopefully more enjoyable for you to read).
2. Not all top 5's are easy to fill...I need to get introspective and come to know myself better...or make up crap.
1. Some top 5's are easy to fill...and then some...again, I get introspective and hope I come away with a better idea of myself.

It's funny because numero uno is exactly what I have been thinking about a lot lately. I want to know what really interests me. I'll throw down my top 5 on this...just for kicks and giggles.

Top 5 interests:
5. Nursing
4. Music (making of, not listening to)
3.Traveling
2. Biking
1. Languages

That list was interesting. I am a nursing major and I thought first of putting Nursing as number 1 but thought about when Alia and I were talking about life and whatnot. Of course she noticed me getting more excited about the tongues than the tongue depressors. Nursing got pushed out of the way by most everything as far as sincere interests goes. But I also thought of making a couple of things 'hobbies' instead of interests. Anyway, I'm not all that sure about any of it...does that make me indecisive or what?

2010-08-04T23:13:00.000-06:00

Top 5 things about the book: Miles from Nowhere
5.Paradise
4.New Zealand
3. They travel around the world and pick up languages easily
1. It is about biking
1. I'm reading it with Alia

That isn't a typo...it's a tie.

Meet me: The Yogi

2010-08-03T23:18:00.001-06:00

Top 5 things about Yoga:
5. I can do it wherever I want...at least some form of yoga (breathing, meditating, learning, stretching, etc.)
4. It is something that I can work at for life.
3. It will help me become more healthy in body (which needs a lot of help), mind, and spirit (as it fits very well into an LDS philosophy).
2. There is a lot of help (books, youtube, yogatoday.com, etc.).
1. It is fun and challenging.

Top 5 things about being employed:
5. Money
4. Keeps your mind occupied...well, not my job, because I do laundry all day which is just repetition of the same thing over and over and over...
3. Gives you time to think. :)
2. Allows you to have income and thus create a budget. What a good idea.
1. Helps you to structure your time and causes you to need to use the time that you have wisely.

I have been getting ready to go for a long bike ride. a couple hundred miles. But I need to remember to ask my boss for the time off. I need two days or more. It will be a bike ride from here in Provo to Zion's Nat'l Park. There I will meet up with Joseph, Alia, and any or all of the following: Mallorie, Zach, Lauren, Liz, BreeAnne, and whoever else we feel like inviting. In order to prepare I have been riding an hour solid and will continue to do so at least 3 times during each week and hopefully a 2 hour ride on Saturdays. I don't feel like I will be in good enough shape but I know I can push myself through just about anything and in the end if I don't make it I will just have one of the people drive highway 89 and pick me up on the way down. That is why I am only taking 2 days off work. I will take off after work on Wednesday and ride until I can't see anymore...hopefully I will be able to camp on the side of the road somewhere. I will wake up early on Thursday and ride as long as I can see. Friday I hope to get to the Park sometime just after noon. I don't know when the others will get there but if they get there around noon we can all do a hike, do another on Saturday and go home that night or Sunday morning...depending on how much it costs to camp and how everybody feels. I'm excited.

Detoured

2010-06-29T13:53:00.000-06:00

Top 5 things about being back in Provo:

5. I'm sleeping on a bed...although, the mattress in Mesa, AZ was divine...thanks Chris!
4. Cool roommates/friends/acquaintances/strangers...though I am debating whether this one makes the top 5 because there were some AWESOME people in San Diego and Mesa that I hope I get to see sometime in the near future.
3. Hopefully finding a job soon.
2. Getting to ride my bike!
1. You knew this one was coming...Being with Alia.

It was great...I pulled into town around 8:30am on Sunday and when I went to S109 Alia was practically bouncing off the walls. :)

Top 5 things from the drive (not the one between San Diego and Mesa, but Mesa and Provo):
5. Listening to and screaming the lyrics of Good Charlotte with Mallorie.
4. Rising up and dropping down thousands of feet many times within a few dozen miles.
3. Missing the heat of the AZ desert because we took off at 8:30p (AZ time) and got home at 8:30a (UT time).
2. Driving for miles and miles under a full moon through the desert with the lights off (that's hypothetical...as if anyone would ever do that).
1. Stopping on the bridge over the east end of the Grand Canyon; throwing rocks into the air and waiting the 7 seconds for them to hit the water; the gunshot noise they made as the sound echoed up the canyon wall.

That was a great end to a great trip. And I am so glad we took the "long way home." Chris is the bomb, so is his roommate, so is Mallorie, so are Michael, Canada, and their families. I love you all.

Sprinting

2010-06-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

Crappy Californian Sprint salesman!

But first, my stupidity.

Top 5 ways to waste lots of money in SoCal:
5. Theme Parks.
4. Go to buy 1 new tire and buy 4 new tires and 2 new rims.
3. Get your brand new wheels aligned.
2. Buy a brand new phone at full price because you jumped in the ocean with your old one in your pocket.
1. Get swindled.

I walked in and was told that I would have to pay at least 230 for a new phone. Well a different sales associate wanted to help me (himself) out. There was a used phone in the back that he sold me for 40 bucks...cash...as we stood outside the store. Fine, but the phone was crap and the battery died almost instantly. I went back and said that I was just going to buy the new phone. There's a discount of 20% when you buy 2 accessories and when I said that he said, I'll give you 25. I looked for cheap accessories and couldn't find anything (I didn't want or need any of the crap). He said, "just get one and you'll get the discount." The cheapest thing was a 40 dollar sleeve that he said he'd give me for 20. Hmmm. In the end I paid full price for the phone (no 25 or 20% discount) and he stuck a 20 dollar bill (1/2 what I gave him earlier) in the sleeve. I just wanted out of the store. I think that if I had made him mad he would have canceled my account or something. Wow, hopefully my mom doesn't read this, she would be thoroughly disappointed in me.

I love California.

Top 5

2010-06-23T02:05:00.000-06:00

I've decided that (at least for this post) my blog shall now come in a series of top 5 lists.

Top 5 things that happened on my trip to California today:
5. I sunburned my left arm and not my right so that it now looks quite odd.
4. I found out that my car doesn't get 30 miles to the gallon...it gets 40. :)
3. I saw a lone but very bright and happy sunflower on the side of the interstate and it reminded me of Alia.
2. I made it to San Diego with out dying (which is quite a feat considering that I only have a driver's side mirror and my car was so packed with Canada's stuff that I couldn't use my rear view mirror for anything.
1. I consoled a crying child whose mother stepped outside. (At Mallorie's sister's house there were about 14 children under 9.)

Top 5 (and perhaps the only 5) things I ate today:
5. sunflower seeds
4. water
3. a bacon/egg/pepperjack cheese omelette
2. a double double (animal style), fries (animal style), and a vanilla shake...normal style
1. Phil's BBQ: 1st course 5 babyback ribs and potato salad, appetizer onion rings and baked beans, 2nd course a 'Broham' (a 3/4 lb or more of pulled pork on a bun), dessert another onion ring and a mint toothpick.

Top 5 things since my last post:
5. I learned to play Settlers of Catan
4. A stupendous bike ride up Rock Canyon and Squaw Peak trails...and DOWN AGAIN!
3. We had an excellent show for our final in my songwriting and bluegrass classes.
2. I bought a new pair of cowboy boots
1. I am now dating Alia Strickling

Top 5 movies...in the recent past...that I can remember:
5. Robin Hood (Disney cartoon)
4. Serenity
3. Toy Story 3
2.The Usual Suspects
1. Prince of Persia
P.L. I do not endorse watching rated 'R' movies without a filter or edit

A great post, if I do say so myself.

Lucky Crickets, some of them anyway

2010-05-23T03:00:00.001-06:00

Dude, tonight was great. Great friends, great music, great food from Tucanos, great milkshakes from Sammy's. So Alex Vincent's birthday was today (technically yesterday), Happy Birthday Alex! And he celebrated by practicing for a while this afternoon with Jasmine Low, Suzy Lind, and I. Then going to work, then we all went to the Springville Art Museum to play some folk music for a great audience. This is the second show where I've been called a "Lucky Cricket(s)" and it's startin to grow on me. It was tons of fun. Jas made cookies for Alex so we all got to partake (great cookies btw, thanks) and then we had some hungry folks. What better way to fill the stomach and soul than with milkshakes and sweet potato fries. MMMmmm. It was a fun night.
The day, though, was no less awesome. Chris Welton's back from Italy, and doesn't go to AZ for a bit so he's hangin with the boys (N106) and we went to Tucanos with Canada, Mallorie, Alia, and Kimberly (Stockli, Guerra, Strickling, and Crowther...respectively). What a blast.
I must say that life is good. I guess 1,000,000+ t-shirts just don't lie.
Paz

As always

2010-04-30T23:55:00.001-06:00

I have tons of things to say...write...type, but I always get the urge to blog when I also get the urge to sleep. Right now I know my priorities. Tschau.

Leading up

2010-04-18T03:05:00.000-06:00

It seems at the moment that everything with the band has been balled up and shoved in my direction...I like it. I like having time to practice and perform. And soon go record! Alex Vincent might not come down to CA with Emily and I because of work. If not we'll probably take a little extra gear from the band. I can't wait for the trip....For real.

Tonight was the Green House Effect concert. Great venue, great friends, great show. we followed "Truman" and another guitarrista, ten after us went Mr. Dane Brock. That was a good show too...I really enjoyed the first guy's song about Jim Jamal the pirate. Awesome. Also Emily Thurston, Keri Nelson and Rachel Bradshaw came to the concert. Life is good. :)

This morning I got to go help Pepe and Melissa Armstrong pack up for the move to Ogden. That was fun and I had some good cookies.

2010-04-16T00:58:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you start a post only to find that it's late and you would rather just go to bed.
Although tonight is one of those nights, I will forge ahead.

I went to the mall to activate the old Audiovox phone that Seth gave me that I think first came out in 2003. I switched phones because I have dropped my other one enough that most of the buttons don't work and I need to get something that will work. I have a full upgrade available so when I find the phone I like then I will probably get it.

The day was fairly unproductive as far as school goes but somewhat productive otherwise. I got some errands done and fixed my bike a bit. However, when I was at the mall I talked with Dana to get my application for the Footlocker finished and I forgot to text her my available hours until about 30 minutes ago. Doesn't bode well for my discipline, eh?

Katie Dellenbach has me in a musical headlock. I like it. I haven't really been playing my fiddle a lot but now that I have someone twisting my bow I am playing almost every day. We played an hour today, a few hours yesterday, and a few the day before I think.

I feel bad about standing up some mission buddies over a baseball game. I told Sean Castellano that I could go to the ball game today and I would have like to but we had a hometeaching appointment and I also had a ward activity at the bishop's house. It was pretty dang good. I had some good food, and a great time talking with a lot of the ward. Aubin Lewis showed up with Sammy Webber also. What a grand old time.
I have forged...adieu.

Should I stay or should I go now?

2010-04-07T00:27:00.000-06:00

I am considering pest control sales...if it's available in southern California. I would like to see my friends and spend some time in the sun. If that isn't possible then I could always just stay here and work for a footlocker part time. That would not be nearly as much money, but it could potentially be much more fun. I need a job either way you slice it. I believe if I stayed I could find 2 jobs. One on campus and one at the foot locker but it could be difficult. I would also have to juggle schedules with school because if I stay I'll be in classes. Maybe I'll just do that because I would like to do a lot of reading and outdoor recreation. Plus I would be able to get some stuff done for my research which is super important. As it stands right now I plan on taking 6 credits in the spring taking psych, religion, and music.
Today was a typical Tuesday, 6 hours of lecture, I wrote a 5-6 page paper, and had music the rest of the night. I am now just not getting to bed so I'll keep this post much shorter than the rest you may or may not have read...leave a comment and tell me what you think: Shorter posts, longer posts, whatever I want to do posts...

2010-04-06T02:05:00.000-06:00

What a long and arduous day. I could have easily planned it better throughout the last week but I instead put it off until the day before: N300 take-home mid-term exam. That was absolutely horrendous. So, that just put a kink in my Monday, but fortunately I have it done and I feel pretty good overall.
This morning was the BYUSNA binder exchange so that the new board can take over...or move over, like me. I gave up my 2nd VP binder for a newsletter editor binder. Hopefully I will be better at this than I was as a 2nd VP. I am not getting many people who want to take pictures for the "Stethoscoop" (which is, by the way, probably the dumbest name for a newsletter I have ever heard). And I am sure that I will have even fewer people who are willing to write articles for the scoop. I will try to get the name changed and hopefully encourage people to be in the SNA and get involved in all of the activities. Unfortunately, the SNA puts on activities and everyone comes no matter how many people sign up for the association.
It's okay, and I enjoy working with the SNA; I don't enjoy the class that I took and failed, but hopefully one day I will be able to get that expunged. It is a black mark on my transcript for sure. This semester and last were just despicable. I withdrew from a class this semester and failed a class last semester. It's amazing that 1 credit of F still takes you down 0.03 GPA points. I am just hoping that I can still get the scholarships and pell grants that I need.
This spring and summer are frustrating because it is the first time that I haven't gotten a full tuition scholarship in the spring and summer. But I hear that no one got a full scholarship. I believe BYU is trying to spread the wealth and the economy is doing poorly. I imagine that if I were from a different country I would get a scholarship. If you haven't heard of it yet, I encourage you to go to youtube and look up indoctrinate-u. It is a documentary about universities and their "fairness." It is really interesting. It is in 11 parts I think, or you can go to indoctrinate-u.com and download the digital DVD for 10 bucks. It's a good investment I think. My brother Colt got me into it.
I have been thinking about getting my car insured through the army and since I could put my address as his address in Montana, I think that it could work. I will have to ask him and get it done. It seems a shame to have to give up the great hunting and fishing of Montana too. But I don´t get out to do much here. Maybe I should just get the residency so that I can fish. No, no, I have to think of the bigger picture. It´s more important to have cheap insurance and cheap meat...yeah.

buenas.

Friends and Planning

2010-04-04T00:57:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was clinicals, but that was most definitely not the best part of the day. I had a little mission reunion. It was absolutely phenomenal. I really enjoy those people's company and I think they're all so awesome. They're spiritual, funny, intelligent, and happy people. It turns out that Shar Mumford married Derek Stokes so that is 2 sets of missionaries from the mission that hit it off because Ernesto Escobar married Leanna Dellenbach a few years ago I got to see their daughter Azeléa. She's gorgeous and super social. Cute. Matt Kiisel got married last year to Heather. Jack Christensen had a baby a few months ago with Sausha.

It was the best to see Sister Weipert. She is amazing and has been through a lot. I love her very much and hope I can make time to go to San Diego and see her again. She came up with her daughter. I didn't think I would ever say it, since he pushed me till I broke...literally, but I wish I could see President Weipert again. I know, though, that he's watching me and saying, "me tienes que rendir cuentas, Elder!"

That was a great day and after the reunion I gave Sebastian Palma a ride down to temple square. They are doing tons of construction for the new city center so I am sure that the conference goers are having a crazy time. It's General Conference weekend and the talks today were really good. It was funny that during priesthood session before President Monson gave his talk he stopped to say that this was one of the greatest priesthood sessions he's ever been to and that we would do well to remember and follow the counsel that we received. I really want to start reading the Ensign more. I hope that this summer I might be able to start doing that.

There are so many parts of my life that need re-vamping. I look at my brother Ross and think, "man, has he got it together!" Ross plays in 2 bands, holds down 2 jobs, is finishing his baccalaureate and working on his masters all at the same time! Plus he has a girlfriend. I don't know how he does it and still pulls off A's in all of his classes and doesn't get depressed. I think to myself, I am doing a course load of 16 credits, don't work, hate doing homework, get depressed on a regular basis, don't play my fiddle more than 1x per week, sleep less than 6 hours a night, and only get B's in my classes.

So tell me, how is it done? Am I broken? Where does my time go? I think if I tried really hard I could get things straightened out though. I would just need a different place to live where I didn't have as many distractions. I am going to get a job soon, probably working at the mall. I just need some sort of income. I live on my pell grant and student loans. I know they say that you can go into debt on schooling but I think I've taken it to an extreme, seeing as how I am not working when I have extra hours in my day that disappear.

The plan (which needs to be implemented sooner rather than the unreachable 'some day')

Start going to the temple each week at least. Start waking up and going to bed at a set time. Start preparing to go to bed at a set time. Start doing homework on campus and having set times for meals. Take lunch to campus and have a dinner planned out. Exercise each day. Start making sure that my prayers are being said no matter what. Start reading the scriptures in the morning and studying them for a set amount of time in stead of reading a chapter and forgetting about it. Start implementing latter-day revelation and current scripture into my study. Begin planning out times for study and setting goals that I can reach each day, week, month, semester and year. Go on dates regularly and do not stay out till curfew. Keep my room clean and organized. Take care of my health through eating, exercising, and relaxing (yoga, stretching, enough rest at night, good activities). Start working on fulfilling my calling well. Work on my family history.

So that is the plan. Not to be implemented someday, but this week, today...well it's too late to go to bed at a decent hour and such but I can try to get up at a good time and work on everything from there. Alright! (don't you just love motivation?) I just wish I had people around who would facilitate this all. I just have to do it I guess.

Ok, there is my spiel...as always. I rant on things for a while. I really want this one to work though.

2010-04-02T02:59:00.000-06:00

I made a new blog...and no you can't see it. As if you actually had any desire. Pshh.
So it will be the temple to my posts that are more "dear diary" than I would like you to see. Hopefully you are not offended at my secrecy because if so, there's nothing I can do about it because I don't know that you are offended. Anyway...
I find that I am a fan of ellipses...they just kind of make my day...but I also find that I am putting them into my
APA format papers...not a good idea. Okay, okay, I'll stop now.
It's 0240 on a Friday morning. That doesn't bode well for me because I have class at 0730 - in Salt Lake City. Meaning that if I am to get ready and go in the morning, I must be up and out of the house by 0600. It may be snowing right now, so I may be in trouble when I am driving. My car isn't the greatest, that and I don't have any gas in it right now.
I'm getting broker by the minute because I don't have a job and I haven't had one for almost 5 months. I'm thinking of applying to a bunch of different places, but I don't even have a functioning rèsumè. I haven't needed one for ages and even when I needed one I didn't really need one. I have never gotten a job that required me to submit a resume and I don't think that I have held any good jobs for long periods of time so it seems pointless to have one. I suppose my education and volunteer experience (as well as my love for jiu-jitsu) could be selling points.
I am thinking about my writing style right now. It seems a bit, shall I say, detached. I have short paragraphs, long paragraphs, ones that are not in the least bit cohesive. I have written about a dozen topics in the 3 paragraphs in this one post. I just don't think that writing is in the stars for me. I am trying to get better though. I am in my advanced writing class this semester and it is helping me a little. Unfortunately I don't have Sabrina Hewett's help. She was a writing fellow before her mission and she was absolutely phenomenal at pointing out mistakes, giving suggestions, and proofreading. But her main skill is empowering! She took all the things I did wrong and made me able to change them for the much better without really giving me a handicap. I can't even explain it. I wish that I could fathom what went on in her head. Plus she didn't even have to do that for me. I didn't take my paper to the fellows, she just offered to help me when I told her I had a paper to write. She's amazing.
Okay, so a perfect example has just been shown you of how bad I am at writing. But I think that with a little work, a lot of luck, and a team of proofreaders I can improve. But since this is just essentially a journal and I don't expect you to read it, it isn't as though I have to try to impress you with my abilities. It's obvious by the lack of comments that people don't feel the need to read this blog, so I will just not worry about it.
My day had a nice twist in it. At 1700ish Emily Romesser called me up and asked for help to surprise her roommate/best friend/MoH, Emily Davis. She wanted to do something nice for her on April fool's day because in previous years she and others have pranked her so bad that it has come up years later. Well, as soon as ED got home from school she was blindfolded, kidnapped, and whisked away to ER's boyfriend, Tyler Brown's truck. I was in the back seat, quiet as a mouse, we were on our way to the Olive Garden but on the way ED felt bad because she said that she would call me. Well, still blind folded, she called me and I decided to answer into her ear from the back seat. (I think to myself...I am kind of a creeper.) It all went well and we had a nice double dinner date.
The end.

A blog, a blog, we have a blog and we need no more blog!

2010-04-01T01:34:00.000-06:00

So I am thinking of creating another blog; one that is private so that I can use it for my journal. It would be so much faster and easier to manage than an actual journal and I think that it would benefit anyone who wants to read about me...they will actually be able to read about me. I am just envisioning that if I put anything really private on there that it will somehow be sounded abroad among the many internet-goers. I probably don't have much to worry about (it's not as though I have any truly deep dark secrets...at least not ones I would put in my journal). The other thing that worries me is that I would in some way lose all of the things that I have put into it. A journal seems too sacred an object to just leave to a digital steward. It is just much more tangible if it is bound in leather and printed in ink. I feel like I would be leaving something behind (penmanship) if I stopped writing and started typing as well. What if I should forget how to scrawl?!
Ok, ok, so I think that I will do it. But it will start with a little research. I want to find out the most user-friendly and secure blogging sites. I will most likely revert back to Blogger because it is linked to my google account, but if there is something out there that is spectacular in it's usability then I may just be converted.
For my posts, maybe I will just use this blog? Is that what bloggers do; write posts about anything and everything that is going on in their life? Or is a blog supposed to have a flow, an order, a theme. By doing this will I be committing blogsphemy? Do I care?

In my hand-written journal I always start with the day, date, and time, then I continue on to the oh-so-important life events. Fortunately, that is already done in the fact that I post this electronically and it is stamped with that information. So, here I go with my first post of my E-nal.

It's late...I am wasted, not the wasted where I feel tired, but the wasted where I could probably stay up for another 5 hours and have nothing to show for it but a lot of random webpage surfing. I woke up (and floated out of bed) at 0830 this morning, showered, and stumbled to class an hour late. It's a three hour lecture so 1 hours doesn't make much difference; I never study for the tests anyway. The amazing thing about the day was that although I didn't start sawing logs until 0500, I didn't have any desire to doze all day!
You may be asking yourself, "Why would anybody lead such a lifestyle - where 3 hours of sleep in a night is only achieved by waking up an hour late?" I confess, I can't do that every day, but it has been known to happen multiple times in one week. This time [I'm definitely getting fuzzy now, I just tried to wright, "this occlusion] I could blame the "nap" on a paper. My 18-page literature review that was due at 1700 but was turned in at 0430 the next morning. Luckily, I'm not sure how, I got in good with that professor and I can just turn in everything late without the threat of a good docking.

Wow, I fell asleep mid-blog...maybe I should be writing the date and time on my journal entries.

What a joke

2010-02-12T00:43:00.002-07:00

I looked at my last post...September. It seems like a lifetime ago. But this is the end of the first week of midterms. I took three this week. Nursing 300, 320, and 330. I got an 87, 85, and 83. I am satisfied. Especially since in the last month and a half I have read about 15 of about 40 assigned chapters and completed approximately 5 hours of study for tests. Oddly enough, the test that was supposed to be pretty tough I got the highest grade on. That, and I didn't study for it, nor did I complete any reading for the class the entire semester (upwards of 400 assigned pages).
Don't get me wrong, some people have accused me of being a genius or jerk. But I really don't think I'm either, I think that being relaxed and paying attention in class gives you a huge advantage over being stressed, reading without comprehension, and not saying that the class is boring.
I'm sure that by the end of the semester the pattern of doing nothing will probably come back to bite me in the kiester but I am having a great time now and I really enjoy life. Which may be normal for most but, it's surprising how many times I have felt that it wasn't that fun. I'm just trying to stay positive, get motivated, and be friendlier than I have been in the past.
On that note, I hope that right now, reading this post, you are relaxing and enjoying life. :) ...that's for you.

School

2009-09-08T23:57:00.003-06:00

The first week of school has come and gone. I feel like this is going to be my most productive semester ever. I have always just coasted through school and did the minimum that it would take to get me an 'A' (which sometimes was a fair amount) but I have already read more for two of my classes than I have for many others put together.
Right now I am staying up too late and considering some more reading. I have a book called "Life w/Big All" to read. I'm almost done but there is still a lot to go. Class starts at 0800 hrs and its 0003 hrs now.

interesting

2009-08-18T14:02:00.001-06:00

I have just realized why it is that I like my blog layout and theme so much. It is just like the In-n-Out sign but in green and gray. I love it!

So I came home, right?

2009-07-10T17:58:00.002-06:00

Wow. That is the best thing that I could say to describe the last week.

I decided to go on a study abroad before I had met Hayley Burch. But then in the course of my preparation I started dating her. Of course, she is the coolest thing since , but I still decided to go to Vienna. It was scheduled to be a 3 month and 3 day trip, but at about a month I was feeling pretty anxious to get home. Talking for hours a day on Skype is great but it isn't the same as being in person and being able to hold the person you love. So I figured it all out, I got in contact with the BYU travel again and I was surprised that only 75 dollars to switch my ticket around. I also figured out with enough time to spare that classes could be dropped and I wouldn't have any black marks on my transcript.

At first I didn't want to get Hayley's hopes up by telling her I was thinking of coming home and then not being able to, but then it turned into me wanting to surprise her. Of course. And it was a full two weeks of me trying to not tell her anything as I spoke with her almost every day on Skype for about 3-5 hours. The study abroad group new after about 4-5 days and then I also had to have someone pick me up from the airport so I had to tell someone at the apt. I asked Joseph Seth and Janette and they figured out to come get me at 11:30 at night. Of course, anything to help me surprise Hayley :)

I flew out of Austria on the 7th and got here 26 hours later even with the hour and 15 minute delay at JFK. Not much could get my spirits down. After getting home at 2:30, staying up for another hour and getting only 3 hours of sleep I was ready to go see Hayley.

I knew that she goes for a run with Canada every morning at 7 so I got out of the house at 6:30 and bought some flowers (orange roses). I had already brought home 2 pairs of earrings and an orange scarf from Vienna but needed a way to wrap it so I got a bag as well. I set all that up and then before Danny went to work I asked him to do some reconnaissance and he found out that at 7 she was still in bed. I wasn't sure what to do but I got online and looked to see if Canada was there but she wasn't so I went over to her apt. She was still asleep and her roommate didn't want to wake her up so I just went home to wait and worry. Well, I saw that she was online about 15 min. later so I chatted with her and went told her to stay in her apt. She knew then that I was going to be coming over and that I was back from Vienna. At her apartment we said that I would watch for them to leave to go running and then I'd catch up.

I waited and saw them leave, took the flowers and the present and put them on her table, then I took off after them all sneaky-like. Quite as a mouse and only taking steps when Hayley was talking, I came up behind her and put my hands around her waist. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not but after she turned around and looked like she was going to die she was just so excited that it didn't matter that I am a creeper. :) She couldn't believe it! I was there and she had just been chatting with me about 10 hours earlier. She said, "This is so surreal...you aren't REAL!" So she had a hard time looking over at me as we were running, or at least she was just so blown away that she had to look over every few seconds to see if I was still there. She even hit me in the arm to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. I was very happy with the whole event.

When we were done running we got back and she loved the flowers. I mean, she LOVES the flowers. I am glad, and she loved the other gifts as well. It was funny because she was really happy to get them but I think that she was just so overwhelmed by the fact that I was back that the coolness of the presents was toned down a bit. Be that as it may, I think that the last 3 days have been the best days of my life!

I love you, Hayley Burch.

Rain and dessert

2009-07-06T09:23:00.000-06:00

Today is a fun day. I am first off, thinking of Hayley, and then I also went out in the rain and walked around. It looked like rain when I left today but I just brought my umbrella. I wore shorts and flip flops and the rain wasn't cold. It was fun. The umbrella is broken a little bit, luckily there wasn't a lot of rain. Then I decided, what the heck, I'm going to go get a bit of Appel strudel since the several that I've had until did not give me a good impression. I went to a place that got high marks in Megan and Chelsea's book and I was surprisingly won over. The strudel was excellent and it came with vanilla sauce that was also amazing. And because it was raining I also got a bit of Hot cocoa that was, of course, awesome. I went a little earlier to the museum that McKay and the others went to as well. The ancient instruments/weapons/armor museum in the National Library. It was pretty radical. Now like most evenings I am wasting time at the institute before FHE starts. But of course it's not a complete waste because I get to chat with Hayley! ;)

Still alive

2009-06-22T18:42:00.000-06:00

Sorry for not posting for a while (for those who actually read this silly thing). I have been busy with school and whatnot here in Vienna. But now I'm in the week-long break between semesters and I am whiling away the hours with my beloved computer. The weather is rainy and so I can't go out and do my street music. Even if I had good weather I probably wouldn't do it as much as I originally planned because I stay up super late to talk to Hayley and sleep until the afternoon. I am okay with that because normally (in Provo and here) I sleep little and stay up late.

Right now my roommate and about every other person on this study abroad is on the road. They mostly in Italy (8 people) and a couple are in Spain, I think someone is in Germany. The only ones left here in Vienna are Anne, Leah, Emily, and me. I sorry for Leah, the only reason she didn't go with the others is because her ticket didn't come. Hopefully she'll be able to go somewhere else.

An update on the food...Charles and I found the greatest Döner known to man. It is a little place on the U6 called Kent. It's a real Turkish restaurant and it is worth it's price and then some. The kebap was only 3 euro and it was real lamb and it was seasoned to perfection. I was in some crazy Turkish version of heaven...maybe it was opium?! I'd do it again. I'm going to.

Well, tonight at FHE we had a good lesson by one of the missionaries and also there was a nice reflexology massage demonstration...and guess who the guinea pig was: Yours Truly! I enjoyed a little foot rub. Everybody else was too scared to offer themselves up. But the guy is a member and he is a professional. He was kinda scared that no one wanted to learn about it at the beginning because no one volunteered and when he started talking people started laughing. What he didn't know is that I (laying on the table behind him) made a scared face when he said that sometimes it causes some pain to have foot reflexology therapy done. He must not be very self-confident but that's ok. Afterward he talked to me (because I volunteered) and he is a really cool guy. He plays the guitar like a pro and sings really well. He likes blues and jazz and can play Sinatra better than Sinatra. It was amazing. So we're going to do a number for the talent show in a week or something. I also have a musical number to do next week in church. I am sight-reading it right now and it's not too hard but it goes up into 5th position (like all good violin songs) and that isn't the easiest to pull off when you aren't very practiced. Hopefully I get nervous enough to make my hand shake and then the vibrato will help me get into the right notes. :)

It's 3:11 am. I'm tired and need to take my contact out. I also need to exercise a bit before I go to bed. There is always so much to do that I forget to do during the day...gosh.

Vague for good reason

2009-06-11T20:28:00.000-06:00

You never know who might be an avid blog browser and stumble upon you one day when you least expect it. Well, I'm almost done with an all-nighter that started because I was pulled by McKay to go to Chelsea's for a movie. We ended up getting there late, waiting some more for other people who were even more late, and then watching two movies. It's unfortunate that the public transportation system doesn't just run 24/7. But we left Chelsea's just in time to catch the 45B and then we caught the U3 to the U2 (not the band, but close) and the U4. That was just to take Anne home but then we caught the last U4 and missed the last U6 by about 35 seconds. Big deal, we live so close to the Spittelau station that you might say I could spittelau to it from here. We got home at 1:15, ate, talked a spell, and got ready for bed...well, he did. I got on the computer and found, wouldn't you know it, the greatest person the world has ever known: Hayley! Of course you can't crack an egg w/o making an omelet so Joseph was there too, but what can you do. J/k, Joseph, you're are a good man, helping Hayley get a web cam and all. I owe you something good...name your price. Then I will tell you something completely different that I can afford, find, and care little enough about to give you.
So I talked for a while until I reminded Hayley that she had work at 7:30 (I told her at 7:36). She immediately left without saying goodbye. I'm not upset in the least, I just hope she didn't get in trouble with her job. But after she hung up I decided that I would just pull an all-nighter. Why you ask? Well, I have to be up at around 7 or 7:30 and hop on the train. It's for a good reason, but being vague now will build up the suspense! You'll like it.
Ok, have a wonderful, night, morning, evening, afternoon, or whatever.

Speise im Wien!

2009-05-28T10:31:00.000-06:00

I was thinking that I need to be sure to tell everyone which are the places that I have been for food and which places are the best. Ok, so there is this little würstel stand just off Kärntner straße that has really good kebab and dürüm. It is kitty corner behind the Sacher Hotel. They are a little more expensive than the place in front of the Augustina as far as Bratwursts go but the wursts are bigger and tastier.
Everyone who has heard of Vienna knows about the Sachertorte which is a chocolate cake that is supposedly amazing and originated in the Sacher Hotel. Well, I haven't had it from the Sacher but I had an even more expensive version from the oldest continually running restaurant in Europe, if not in the world, Griechenbeisl. It cost 4,90 Euro (about 6.75 USD). It was dry and overrated. My roommate McKay bought one from the actual hotel and he said it was the same.
Also at the Griechenbeisl I ate the apfel strudel. I heard from others that it was awesome but I think that was because it has a little lemon zest in there to liven it up. I thought it was alright but not 5,20 alright (about 7.25). I had the marillen palatschinken (Apricot Crepes) though and they were the bomb. Maybe even worth the 7.50 (USD).
I'll have to let you know about other steals, deals and yummy meals a little later. Bis dann!

I'm not complaining, I'm just busy

2009-05-26T09:00:00.001-06:00

I'm sick of trying to post pictures to the internet. I have had something crash almost every single time. I can't even get them to my computer before something goes wrong. I am just going to put stuff on facebook and not here anymore unless at some future time I become more adept at blogging.
I am actually debating whether or not to keep doing this. Maybe it would be easier just to keep what little thoughts I have right where they are. Oh well.
I have been doing quite a lot of traveling here. The subway system will get you pretty close to anywhere you need to go. The trouble is that I have small breaks between things that need to be done and I don't have much time to do homework. I have to leave the house 45 min before class, I have an hour and a half between classes, I have a few hours after class to do homework, shop, eat, or do whatever else needs done. Because of FHE and Institute on Monday and Wednesday I am cut short those days, I have a dinner with my host once a week and I don't know what day she'll be choosing, so there is a lot going on. My homework has been failing miserably. I am getting the page and a half written for McFarland right before class and I receive about 3-5 worksheets or something from each Peter and Veronika. That's a lot to do every single day.
That said, I'm going to go eat something.

First day

2009-05-14T03:43:00.000-06:00

So I woke up Tuesday morning even earlier than I normally wanted to. My alarm was set for 8:00 and I woke up at 6:30, laid in bed for an hour then got up. I used all of that day to get ready to go to Vienna. Actually for a couple hours right after getting up I got a gift ready for Miss Hayley Burch. I wanted to give her something before I left for 3 months. After that I packed some, and then I drove my little Toyota to Midvale. Now, when I got this car (it was free by the way, from a guy that I met about 2 weeks earlier) it shook when you went over 35 mph. I didn't know why but when I turned really sharp it also clicked. Well, I had to get to Midvale to pick up 2 fiddles that my mom had dropped off for tune-up/repairs. I drove 50 on I-15 and as I was leaving the fiddle place my left front tire blew out.
My very first thought was to be upset but I then realized that it isn't that bad, then almost immediately I thought, "you know, I could have been going down the interstate and I may have died. I'm glad that just happened." Plus it happened in the parking lot of a Discount Tire store. How convenient.
I got the tire replaced, and my tires rotated (it cost a grand total of 50 bucks) and took off down the street. Santa Vaca! My car drives like a dream now. It was all because the balance was off and that made the whole car shake. It is now a really fine automobile. I'm glad I got it for free. So the day before I leave my car works well. But I proceeded to continue my preparations.
My biggest fear was that I would have no camera. I was worried that I would be here in one of the most amazing historical cities in the world and not be able to document it. So I bought a camera at 1:30 in the morning at walmart. It is a really awesome camera. It's a kodak and it has 12x optical zoom with a lot of other nice features. It was cheap too because it is a little bigger than most people want. It only cost me 130 bucks. Sweet deal.
Well, I didn't go to bed that night (as you can tell by the fact that I was buying a camera at 1:30 am. I had to be out of the house at about 5:15-5:30.

Hayley gave me a ride. Hayley is a wonderful and extremely generous example of a girlfriend.

She gave me a ride at 5:30 in the morning when she had class at 9:00. I can't think of anyone I would rather be with than her. Alas, I am in Europe and torn.

Well, I flew from SLC to JFK and arrived at VIE this morning at 8:30. It was fun and the plane rides were good. A little loud but it didn't bother me much...at all. I have just been sitting here at the Austro-amerikan Institute since we got in. I was lucky enough to fly in with Dr. McFarland who knows Vienna like the back of his hand. I'm happy to be here and I hope that all goes well...and it will.

Hard to believe

2009-04-26T18:06:00.000-06:00

Michael McPhie is going to be leaving in the next couple days. He may not be back for a long long time. He graduated yesterday and now we no longer have the magical film genius to accompany us. take a look at this...

Finally

2009-04-26T13:13:00.000-06:00

I think that I have had too many good experiences not to write them down here. Now, unfortunately I have to go through my memory and try to extract that which has happened over the last year and a half. Well, I'll try to work backwards.

I am moving out, kind of. I sold my contract for the spring/summer at campus plaza to Seth, my roommate. He can't buy my contract really though because he has one for fall and CP doesn't want him to buy mine. He's paying me under the table so my name is here. That means that I can stay here if I want to. Which I do. I like staying at CP. The problem is that there isn't enough space for me and my things here. I am moving it out and I'll be giving it to my mom for the three months that I'll be in VIENNA!!!

2009-03-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that if I start doing something now I may actually come up with time to finish everything that I need to do. I just don't have much gumption so I think I'll spend my time equally wisely: I'm going to bed.

President Weipert

2009-02-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

On the mission I had a hard time keeping up with all the different things I was supposed to do. I never disliked President Weipert even though it seemed like he was the one setting the "impossible" standards. I really did enjoy his company and his attitude toward the work. It was inspirational the way that he led the Paraguay Asunción North Mission. He worked harder than anybody and demanded that we give no less. It was hard to live up to his standards and although I don't think that I ever really did ,it was an experience to have had. I love the man, I love his wife Jen and I will miss him a lot. I haven't really communicated with them since the mission and I feel bad about it. I plan on at least sending an email every once in a while to Sister Weipert. She is one of the kindest people that I've met and she would like for all her missionaries to always keep in touch.
I have never really lost anybody that has been close to me. I would actually say that this is the closest friend or relative who has passed away. I was sorry that I couldn't get out to the funeral. I don't have the money to travel much, but when I can I will go visit his grave and also his family. I wish that there were more that I could do. I will just have to pray for Hermana Weipert and her family. I know that I will see El Presidente after this life. I will live a life that is worthy of the kingdom he is in with our Heavenly Father.

der 20 Januar 2009

2009-01-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

So Today I woke up with 45 minutes until my nutrition class. Luckily I had finished the homework for that before I went to bed. I had two hours until my next class and I had to finish two papers and buy some things at the bookstore. I actually finished the second paper in class. I had to buy a scrub top and 2 name tags. That was surprisingly cheap. Then I went to my German class. I forgot the entire weekend to take a ridiculously easy quiz over the weekend so I finished it hastily before we corrected it and missed a lot.
In other news I am reading Voltaire's Candide and it's pretty hilarious.

2008-09-30T18:24:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning after having slept near the fan. I suggest that no person ever sleep near a fan because it will dry out the sinuses and in the morning the pain in the nasal passages will be unbearable. I still cannot swallow without a lot of pain and it's 6:30 pm. Right now we're having a break from my Art History class at the Salt Lake Center for BYU. It's interesting but I'm having a lot of trouble keeping my eyes open. Last night I went to bed at 4 and I woke up at about 9, so I'm beat to say the least.
Last night I was at home after family home evening and my friend left to get her phone. I thought she was coming back but when she didn't I texted her and told her I was going to the library to study. She ended up saying that she wasn't doing well and couldn't talk to me. I didn't know where she was or what she was doing and I was pretty worried. When I was in the library she sent me a message and I ran home to see her. She was really broken up about another friend of hers. I wish I could get her to see how good a person she is. She is having the problem of seeing herself as she thinks others see her.

Sego Chicken

2008-09-26T00:32:00.000-06:00

Riding the bus

2008-09-02T23:35:00.000-06:00

Maybe there is something out there that is worth staring at for hours at a time. Maybe not.
Today was my first day of fall classes at BYU. I've been here since last summer, taking a full load every semester except for the first.It started out pretty well but it morphed into worrisome all too quickly. I have my first class at 10 and it goes very well because I'm with a friend and I like the idea of becoming a better person. That Doctrine and Covenants class is taught by Brother Bott. My friend, Megan, who I'm with, took Mission Preparation from him and loved it. It has started well. Next I've got a 2 hour break until my Microbiology class starts. 1) I don't have the book and he has assigned several readings and 2) his grading system seems more complex than the nervous system. After leaving the class more than a little befuddled, I've got just under an hour to catch a bus that ends up costing me twice what I thought it would. I rode to Sandy on the Express 817 and proceeded to take Trax up to the Triad Center in Salt Lake where my art history class with Sister Howe would start at 5. Sister Howe is awesome. She's a great teacher and I had her for English 150 last fall. I enjoyed the first weeks worth of class jammed into 2 hours and a bit. At the end though I fell into a trap. Melina Jones had texted me in class and asked if I wanted to catch the bus with her down to Provo. Being the wonderful brown-noser that I am I didn't even look at my phone to find this out. I asked if there were going to be any of my classmates driving to Provo right after class and a lady, Kelly, from some small southeastern Utah town offered the ride. I stood around waiting for her to get her student ID when I could have been down at the bookstore buying the book for the class I'd just taken I didn't though. I wasted some time waiting and then thought about the fact that earlier I'd received a text . I checked and found what Melina had written so I gave her a call and decided to join her. I told Kelly that I'd be taking the bus. but as I exited the triad center I saw the Sandy Trax line take off from the stop. that would put me 20 minutes behind Melina and she had to catch the 8:17 of the 811 to get home on time. little did I know that the only other one that took off was at 9:47. I took the Trax anyway and right now, at 10:45. I'm rolling into Provo.

Post Post Script

2008-08-20T06:01:00.001-06:00

I decided against the peanut butter and marmalade...I've mixed brown sugar and peanut butter...I'm eating it plain.

Post Script

2008-08-20T05:57:00.001-06:00

I have a running book list on facebook and my profile is open to everyone, I think.

Another late ni...allnighter

2008-08-20T03:44:00.000-06:00

0344 hours is a heck of a time to start typing up something that may continue on for a while.
Since Friday the 15th (last week) I've worked every day. Friday I worked 16 hours and Monday I worked 16 hours. I'm thinking about doing it again tonight. But then, I probably won't. There are so much better things to do all night than work - such as sleep. I'm working all these shifts partially because I have to take shifts if I want people to take my shifts during my trip and partially because I want the money that will be coming my way.
I'm excited for the trip: Orange County from Friday afternoon until Monday noon. San Diego from Monday until Thursday. Wasatch-Cache Nat'l Forest from Thursday until Saturday.
The reason that all of this is going to be possible is because Grant Harward from my German 101 class last spring is going down to OC to visit family and wanted someone to split the gas money with. Michael McPhie just happens to be coming up a week later and has his gas paid for by the company that employs him. Having friends in SoCal doesn't hurt a thing either.
Not only am I going down there, but Brittany Brown and Sarah Schow are going to go with me. Brittany's never seen the ocean nor been to California. It'll be my second time in Cali and my 4th time at the beach.
Joseph Scoville and Danny Ng are going to be home alone for that time because Seth Winsor is in North Carolina with his family.

I just interupted my post for laundry. I figured that it would be an okay time to do it since I'd probably be up for a while anyway and I may as well get something done in the mean time. As I always do when I go downstairs, I sifted through the many second hand items in the DI Barrell. Every time that happens, I invariably find a book that at some point could turn out to be interesting. Well, tonight I found one that is not only mildly attractive but that is very important to me. I chucked the copy of So Many Books, So Little Time on top of a couple DVDs that I spotted and sent my wash through.
I spent the next few minutes looking at old clothes that people were throwing away and afterwards thought that it would be dumb to go all the way back upstairs when I could just stay another 20 minutes here reading so I picked up what I thought would be a little boring and began a journey. Granted, I'm only on chapter 4 of my journey but it's a journey none-the-less.
I'm not going to try to tell you about what the book is, but if you find yourself involved in books quite often and aren't really sure about which type you like the best, you should pick this one up. I do believe that I'll start reading more non-fiction now.

Life, again. It's now 0529 and I'm not really interested in bed except that I know in 8 hours I have to be to work again. Needless to say, I've decided not to work another double.
Random:
I tend to eat just about all of anything that I have. And in odd ways sometimes. I am looking back on what I've consumed in the last 24 hours and it's pitiful. I got home from a double at work and cooked an entire can of generic SPAM or as Seth enjoys, Luncheon Loaf. I just sliced it and fried it, and my intention was to give some to Angelica Mamani and Janette Toolson because Angelica wasn't disgusted with it and Janette has never had the pleasure.
They turned out not to be home so I wandered around the Campus Plaza apartment complex in a half-dazed way, in my PJs, holding a plate of cooked SPAM and munching away. I nearly devoured the whole can right then but because of the slight nauseousness that I get when I have too much grease I desisted with 5 slices left. I wanted to balance out the spaminimity so I had some frozen vegetables and conked out on the living room floor for the next 5 or 6 hours. ThEn, I proceded to polish off the can.
Because I was already late for work, I'm nearly sure that I didn't eat anything else except a chocolate chip cookie and approximately 2 cups of Rocky Road ice cream. At work I had another cookie that was probably burnt and a mug full of strawberry/kiwi and cranberry juice. Needless to say I was hungry when I got home and I mixed some tuna and ranch dressing together with corn niblets. Those I plopped on deli sliced turkey to make miniscule and odd burritos, maybe. Now only 5 hours later, I'm eating a spoonful of peanut butter dipped in orange marmalade...I feel that I've sunken to a new low...which is very low...for me.

so-so

2008-08-04T16:09:00.000-06:00

I've got a test on every anatomy term that I've learned in the last 9 lab classes that I've had. I've also just opened an email from my friend's brother that has some hilarious, amazing and disturbing images on it. I'm falling asleep in the middle of the day.

2008-07-30T02:49:00.000-06:00

It's late at night and for the last couple days I've been thinking about the blogging and journal writing. My roommate Joseph Scoville had a great idea that I think I'll do as well; rewrite the mission journal in digital form. I've got some friends with amazing things on their blogs, pictures, videos, fun posts and information. I thought it'd be nice to have the same, but different.

After a long while...I write little.

2008-06-07T00:23:00.000-06:00

I feel kind of like I've created a blog for naught. This is actually an ingenious idea, I've discovered. I just need to exploit it. I do wish that I had a camera in order to document the happenings in my life. Maybe I should just use this to be my journal. Well, today was just work and such so it wasn't too exciting. I'm a CNA at Rock Canyon Rehab and Nursing in Provo, UT. It's a heck of a job that I enjoy immensely. I'm in German 101 here at BYU and I just finished applying to the BYU nursing school. So, that's my life in a nutshell. Have fun with it.

Journal

2007-12-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

So, today was an easy day at the office, I had time to read a lot (all) of my MFHD homework for tomorrow, I’ll be finishing some more reading that was due last week tomorrow. I’m always behind but the class is super-interesting and pretty easy. I’m really glad that I have my teacher, and all my teachers for that matter. I enjoy all my classes. I learned today by reading the “QuickTopic” blog thingy of the Brown family that Courtney Moore (my cousin [Melissa’s youngest]) had her tonsils out just before Thanksgiving. Also that my aunt Stacy (Doug’s most recent wife [they’ve been married about a year and a half]) has been pretty sick. I think though that the chemotherapy is working for Darrell’s wife Debbie. That’s good news. Also, Andy, Jeanne’s husband had his second hip replaced and his legs are looking about the same length. I am blessed so much to be in the family that I am in. God knows what he is doing. I also was blessed to meet some pretty amazing people in the Church. I got a letter from Paul Jones who baptized me in 2003. I’m going to write him soon (when I get the chance). I also took some time to write a letter to the Mercado family in Paso de Oro, San Lorenzo. They have been awesome. I’m thinking about sending a letter to a few other converts and friends too. That’s one thing that I wish the South American’s had more of, email. There is some give and take here; you can go to South America and have tons of converts that you can’t really communicate with, or you can go to the States, Europe or Asia and be able to keep in touch with the very few or no converts that you have. Well, I know that the Lord blesses me every day with something and usually more. Today I feel like I’ve gained a greater love for my Paraguayan friends. Paz.

Kicked Out

2007-11-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

The Army of the United States is TAVY!!! They let me in and got my hopes up to pay for all my school and cool stuff, then they go and take it all away...haha jokes on them because I'm not giving back my backpack, shirt, or the 1000 dollars that my brother got for me signing up.
Really I was having second thoughts after having already signed up and sworn in but that didn't matter to them. They told me that it was going to be hard to get out now, if not impossible. With that, I resolved myself to just go with the flow and be an Army dude, you know, take what they would give me and get serve as if I really wanted to. Three days later they call me up and say, "The medical consult came back and we're not going to let you serve in the Army."
The only real drawback now is that I have to find some other way to pay off my school. I've been offered one of those jobs going door to door selling pest control contracts but I'm not too keen on that position. I'd rather just get certified as a CNA or EMT and do some work with a hospital or ambulance so that I have more experience with the field that I want to enter: nursing.
All's well that ends well, or in other words, God has a better plan for me than the Army. I'm sure that I would have missed out on something much better if I had gone. I love how He always takes care of me like that. Even when I'm not being my best...it's a help for me to do better also.

Life, the Universe, and Everything

2007-11-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm still just living here in Salt Lake City. My aunt and uncle are great, they let me stay and eat for free while I'm here. I almost feel bad about it, but I'll be out of their hair in Dec/Jan. My family is very fun and cool and although I don't talk to them much, I hope they know that I love them.
I'm also working here in SLC. I got a job a week ago working for one of the counselors in my bishopric. He was very generous in offering me a position and I'm very grateful because before that, I was working at a bakery. The Lion House Bakery. It was fun and I enjoyed the people I worked with but as you may know, bakeries open very early in the morning to start producing things for the day. I was having to go in at about 3-5 each morning, which meant that I had to wake up at 2-4 in order to shower and ride my bike to work. I wasn't going to make lots of trips back and forth over 32-33 blocks. I worked till noon each day and then Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays I went to class at night. One thing had to go: school or work. School (though it is evil) is necesary and I am still attending class at the extension center of BYU at the Triad Center in downtown Salt Lake. Work had to go. So I started at the bakery on a friday and the next friday was my last day.
Interesting thing--as I worked at the bakery, I met someone very cool. Her name is Kim. She had been working for a while and on my first day I said, "Hi." That was about the extent of our conversations for a bit. Then, on the last day I was going to work, we spoke for about an hour during our tasks. When she was ready to go home, she came back and said goodbye, which gave me the courage to ask for her number. The next Friday I took her out. (this was last Friday). And we've been together a lot since then. I really am grateful that she came back and said goodbye, I'm grateful that I've gotten to know her because she is a great person and an awesome friend. I really can recognize the blessings that God gives me every day and I try to write them in my journal each night.
I've also joined the Army Reserves. I'm excited about all these things and hope that my service won't interfere too much with my life. I know that it is just the reserves, but the prospect of maybe one day going to war is somewhat frightening.
Well, I'm falling asleep at the computer so I'll end with that..Tanks for readinng!

Che renda puahu

2007-10-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

Che ndairekoi kuri peteî blog mbouve. Ko'anga ko mba'e cheve gui ha'eta peteî blog ma'aporâ eterei! Uvei che ndairekoi mba'eve che amoîséha ko'ape ko ára. Ha'upei peê perekokena peteî ára porâ! Ejepa? Jajotopata!