Why the world doesn't need Kasey
I'm Skyler. Carrie got new slippers. There are a few things about our friend Council that many don't know...he is cursed. Allow me to explain. So he has his "Regression Line" theory and I would concur with that. My life's experiences further prove that CB is cursed. Here are a few short instances where I have reaped the benefits of his cursedness:
- When I was 6 CB convinced me that I could fly and so I jumped off a pool table and broke my arm.
- I broke my arm falling down the stairs and Kasey was at the bottom.
- Council was chasing me in a water fight and I tripped over a wading pool and the bone popped out of my arm, broken again.
- A 4th time that I broke my arm Kasey was again involved. He accidentally kicked my arm while jumping on the trampoline.
- If you thought the broken arms were bad, wait until you hear this: Playing basketball Kasey went after a ball and Skyler was in the way. So Kasey accidentally fell on Skyler into the corner of a brick wall and Skyler's head gushed open requiring 17 stitches.
- On a school trip to Chicago Skyler felt super sick and all he wanted was the window seat on the plane ride home. Eventually Kasey gave it up but it was too late...Skyler had appendicitis and missed school for over a month.

The injuries died down as we got older but even when I was thousands of miles away Kasey still affected Skyler's health...

- In Brasil Skyler had in-grown toe nails for most of his mish. How did Kasey influence this, you wonder? Well, in-grown toe nails come from bad shoes. Skyler got himself a pair of Havana Joe's because Kasey recommended them. Resulting in bad feet for 2 years.

Family and friends of the "Mexican Prison", I see a problem...Kasey. He has to go down, I must take him down...

Alma 24:21



Hey all. This is Dallas again. You guys should respond to my post. Whitney was the only to respond to my last one and i was a bit disappointed. Thanks Whit. You're a cool cat.

So today in church was amazing. Carrie gave a talk on goal-setting, and prior to this talk Carrie explained to us (her family) that she didn't know how properly pronounce the word "prostrated". This word was found in a scripture, so obviously she wasn't able to change the word because if she did, it would have been blaspheme and we would've had to to hang her. so all of this was happening on the way to church. Kasey, being the great guy he is, decided it would be funny to confuse her into thinking it was pronounced a different way: "pro-strated" or "prostratted". I even mentioned that it would be really funny if she did pronounce it incorrectly during her talk. As you can probably tell, this irked Carrie a bit, and began to be "frustratted" hehe, that Kasey was confusing her on the proper pronunciation of the word. Church began. Carrie's talk came up. She pronounced the word: "pro-strated". Kasey and I busted up laughing. We got some looks. It was great. We love our sister.

Goals, Goals, Goals...

Wow, Saddam is gone. Isn't that crazy?! In the past couple years, two brutal leaders have been imprisoned and died- Saddam Hussein and Slobadan Milosevic. It's just so interesting that in the world we live in, leaders cannot simply do what they want and expect no consequences. More and more leaders are being held accountable for their actions, I think that greatly improves international conditions.

I have so many goals this year. Most are personal, but a couple I'm going to try to get people to hold me to them. Dallas will help me with working out 2-3 times a week. I need someone to make sure that I'm running three times a week. I'm going to run in a marathon...I think the Salt Lake Marathon or the Moab Marathon. I should be done with my undergrad classes by the end of the year. 2007 is going to be my year!

I'm not sure what it is or how to overcome it, but I always feel so unmotivated at home and just feel like I'm not a good person. Hopefully a new semester will bring about new beginnings (isn't that a young women's theme or soemthing).

Well Texas barely beat Iowa. It was a good game, especially since everybody said Texas would kill Iowa. The final score was 26-24.

Life, huh?

Our new dog, Little Jerry Seinfeld

Hi, my name is Dallas and KC (Kansas City) was nice enough to let me write on his blog. I am very grateful for this opportunity to express myself in the form of the "blog". I've seen some of you before. You've probably seen me once or twice at Carrie's or Council Bluffs'. I am 5'10". Approximately 190 lbs. I have hazelish green, googley eyes. I like to wear plaid. I enjoy playing sports, such as football, baseball, ultimate frisbee, and racquetball. I am a freshman and am living in M. Smith Hall of Heritage Halls. I enjoy being involved in prank wars. I know how to write weightlifting programs. I like to read when I have time to do so. I will begin serving my mission this summer.
I've had a good Christmas break. I've had the wonderful pleasure of seeing many of my friends from high school. However, I enjoy being at the Y much better, mostly because my friends aren't involved in any dumb stuff.
I like being taken seriously and treated as an adult. I was in Freshman Academy this last semester and can't say I enjoyed it too much. Most of it was probably because of my required Student Development class. It was a pain to go there every Tuesday and being lectured on the proper way to take notes and the different techniques of doing so. I recall being taught a lesson on procrastination and how it's the devil. That's all fine and dandy I think if you're in elementary or junior or even high school, but i thought it was a bit ridiculous to be taught that in college. I didn't feel like I was being treated as an equal. I think I felt more grown up in junior high when we talked about the Bush/Gore election in 2000. I apologize if I've offended anyone regarding their Freshman Academy experience. Keep in mind, that I'm not making this judgment on the whole Freshman Academy Program. I know the program was a great experience for some. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to be one of those individuals.
I'm excited for this next semester. I'm hoping to do better academically. I figure, last semester was okay to not do so well because it was my first semester at BYU, and I wanted to focus more on having fun. This next semester, I'm hoping to be more focused on school and preparing myself for a sweet mission. I'm excited for my mission prep class because I have Brother Bott. I've read some of his books and have really enjoyed them. I've heard lots of good things, so that should be good. I'm taking Geography 120. Council Bluffs is going to be my TA. I'm thinking that could be a really good thing or a really bad thing. Either he's going to be really easy on me, or he's going put me to shame and try to make me feel stupid. We'll see how it goes. I got a lot of my friends to take it with me. Intro to Film should be fun. I don't think it'll be hard. American Heritage should be good I think. Elder Holland's son is teaching it again, so I'm thinking no matter what, it'll be a sweet class. I'm taking the second half of the Book of Mormon with Brother Parker. I've heard he's a really good guy, so I'm excited for that as well. I was kind of disappointed with my first Book of Mormon teacher, mostly because I was in a class of all girls, except for two guys, me being one of them. So naturally, she adapted her teaching style to fit their needs and directed her thoughts to future mothers--kinda weird when you're the one thinking about a mission and marriage isn't even a twinkle in your eye, but that's okay I guess. Perhaps I should quit complaining because really, it's the Spirit that teaches, and I did learn a lot that way. Last of all, I'm taking racquetball with Council Bluffs. I'm really excited for that one. It's intermediate, so I know I'm going to get my trash kicked, but racquetball is fun either way. So that's me in a nutshell. Sorry this is so long. When Council Bluffs asked me if I wanted to post on his blog, I jumped with excitement at the wonderful opportunity and answered with the affirmative. If you have any questions feel free post a comment on my post. That would actually make me feel pretty special. But hey, I'm peacin' out, so you guys have fun. Wiedersehen.

-Dallas (Councilito Bluffs)

Having Fun with Carrie's Memory Card

We got home safely, I still can't believe that people doubted us. A bunch of people owe me $5.















Dallas got Councilina a Superman outfit for a present. Too bad it wasn't a batman outfit...j/k. It's really sweet and it fits really well.




































So she took off and then we never saw her again. She was a pretty cool sister. But with Superlina out of the way, me and Kayla had fun.





















































So I went found some other good pictures on Carrie's memory card.

There is no better (secular) feeling than being done with finals. We leave tomorrow for CB. I have a lot to do over the next couple weeks. The game starts in an hour. I'm pretty pumped!

Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home. ~Carol Nelson

Merry Christmas!!

Blog wars

Let's see, what to write. So in political science, everybody dreads the 200 writing class. We have a paper a week, learn everything from grammar to working with statistical analysis. Well, I just finished the final and it feels so good to be done with that class. I'll admit, though, that it has been one my funnest classes so far. My professor was amazing; I'll be sure to take more classes from him.

Next semester I'll be a TA for Br. Emmett for Geography and World Affairs. Dallas is going to take it. Skyler and Julia might. We'll see. It fulfills a GE so I think more of my friends should take it. It's a really cool class.

Hmmm, this Thursday we're spending $20 at Walmart. We do it every semester. It's really fun spending money on things I don't normally buy but want to- like frosted animal crackers. A couple of us are going to buy nerf guns too. My co-worker says his apartment has never been the same once they got those. They are rapid fire nerf guns where you can put 6 nerf darts in the cylinder. Nerf is a funny word. It'd be sweet if everyone in park place had one.

I always look forward to a new semester...new classes, new professors, new people, etc. I'm pretty pumped about my classes: American Humanities since 1877, Principles of the Founding of the American Republic, Theory of Int'l Relations, Congress and Legislative Process, International Political Economy, and Racquetball with Cannon and Dallas. I'm also going to audit Spanish and Family Finance. I have some hard classes but not having a 20-hour job will be nice. It's weird, but I'm starting to see the end of the tunnel. I'll only have one semester of classes left after the winter semester. I think I'm going to go summer term, and then next year winter I'm going to do the D.C. study abroad and hopefully get a job that will keep me out there.

I think I'm starting to enjoy my blog more because it's becoming more of a journal entry and such. I think nobody should delete their blogs so they are around forevery. That way my great-great-great grandson can read Embarrassment, BitofWhit, My Crazy Life, The Fruit Rollup II, Some things my head thinks up, etc. Man, what are our kids going to think of us?!

There you are Peter

Wow! What a weekend! I tell ya, playin football in the snow was so much fun, I am dieing to do it again.

I think I'm getting deathly ill. So Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister just called for new elections in the Palestinian territories. Last January, Hamas, a more Islamic radical party was elected to office. Abbas and his Fatah party were pretty corrupt and weren't necessarily getting much done. The problem, though, is that once Hamas was elected into office, the world pretty much cut off all aid to the Palestinians. The Palestinians are pretty much entirely dependent on aid from other countries. Aid was cut because Hamas refused, and still refuses to recognize Israel. It's interesting how the world works with some terrorists and not others. Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister who had a stroke, is in my mind a terrorist. I don't necessarily agree with it all because the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are the second most poor people in the world. More than 80% live below the poverty line. Well, the situation is pretty desparate and internal strifes are happening between Fatah and Hamas. I'm not sure what will happen in the elections but Civil War is possible, which would mean that Israel would come in with a heavy hand and possibly reclaim Gaza and the West Bank. It's unfortunate because a solution was nearly possible. Israel was getting closer to withdrawing to the 1967 boundaries, but I doubt that will happen now. My solution for the whole thing is for Israeli forces to control the border between Gaza and Egypt, for Israel to withdraw to 1967 boundaries and for Jerusalem to be made into an international city, governed by the UN. It's worth a shot.

I figured out what I'm going to ask Santa for Christmas. More patience. Patience with myself, others, and God. I think I expect too much from people. There was a great patience talk in the last conference.

Lilian sent us some German candy. Es ist sehr gut!

Chelsea's backing out of the Tijuana trip...I even got work off!! Grr. I think it's because we ended the engagement. Actually, Kyle ended it with P-dub, so Chelsea ended it with me, me and P-dub got engaged, Gavin and Chelsea got engaged, I broke it off with P-dub, Gavin broke it off with Chelsea, and Cannon and Whitney got engaged, and then I secretly arranged a marriage between Jared and Heather...just kidding. Actually, I think Councilina and Chelsea are right.

Props to Wes and Julie on the music video. There was a lot that happened in the video that I approved of...like Cannon and Elizabeth hookin up. Check out Cannon's blog: www.feasible.blogspot.com.

Home. Home. Home. I want to go home and be with Jamie, Kayla, Colby, and Mom&Dad.

I'm Batman

I was asked an interesting question in the secret room today. I was asked what my perfect world would be like. It caught me off guard. Of course there are the usual things: Kyle and Chelsea would be together, so would Adam and Pottawattamie, Gavin and Blair, Cannon and Math Megan, Jared and Erica. But that was all I could think of on the spot. I'm still thinking about it, but here are some other things:
-There would be a del Taco right behind Park Place, replacing those trees that shed leaves all over our complex.
-You would be allowed to take pictures in del Taco.
-Moving walkways all over campus
-As escalator that takes you to campus
-If there were still trees behind Park Place, even with del Taco there, they would shed dollar bills.
-Park Place residents wouldn't have to take showers before entering the hot tub
-there would be trampolines and foam pits everywhere
-Bishop would have a facebook account and a blog.
-It would never be too cold to have a meeting in the shade
-There would be a high bridge behind the del Taco where we could throw off pumpkins
-me and Jane would have weekly missions all over the world
-Holland would be a half hour away
-We all had would have mutant powers

I'm still thinking...

I Spent the Night with Superman...and his Ex

What a glorious day! No more philosophy, no more political science writing! Actually I have really been enjoying my writing class and am sad that we don't have anymore classes. The work stinks, but the classes are awesome.

So the Saudis came out and said that if the U.S. left Iraq, they would finance the Sunnis in Iraq against the Shi'ites if there was a civil war. So basically those two groups and the Kurds are the main groups in Iraq. Saddam was a Sunni, who were and are the minority. Because the Shi'ites are the majority, they mostly control the government and the oil business. When Saddam was in power, he ruthlessly suppressed the Shi'ites and Kurds (he killed thousands of Kurds). So he was kind of a lid on this ancient animosity between these groups. Now that he's gone, these groups are fighting for power through suicide attacks on each other. Regional powers, such as Saudi Arabi, who are predominantly Sunni and Iran, predominantly Shi'ia are funding these groups. Iran and Saudi Arabia want to be the regional powers and Iraq is their playgrounds. Extremists from the region are pouring in to fight the American crusaders as well. It's really a black hole we're in. We've started a big mess there and if we left, that mess would get even bigger. I'm still formulating an opinion if I think we should be there. Originally they said we went in because Iraq was trying to develop WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction). We found some but not as much as was reported. There is speculation, though, that Saddam smuggled out his WMD's to Syria. Saddam was a bad dude, killing Kurds and just being a tyrant. I think it's important to get rid of leaders who extremely violate human rights. I also think a democracy smack dab in the middle of the Mid-East would be amazing. So, we'll see...

My poli sci professor is amazing! He ended class today by telling a story of his kid who decorated all the windows with peanut butter and poured koolaid mix all over the carpet mixed with milk. He asked his kid why he did that and his kid said he wanted his dad's attention. He emphasized how we show our love best by giving people our attention. He talked a lot about showing attention to people in our personal lives but the point he was trying to make was that politics is about recognizing that the world is going in a direction we don't want and doing our best to change that. We get involved with politics to help those people needing attention, those that are starving suffering. Anyway, I'm not good at expressing other people's feelings, but he really did a good job at summing up why I study political science, to help people. It was a good last class period.

Tomorrow is the party in the secret room. If you haven't been before, you should really come. In there we tell secrets that stay in the secret room. Today's discussion was a good one, very informative. I'd tell more about it, but it was secret.

I ate 12 tacos at del Taco last night. I have no idea why I did that, cause I felt so sick after that.

I noticed people like it when their name is mentioned. So here goes:
Adam, Alan, Amanda, Cannon, Chelsea, Councilina, Dallas, Gavin, Heather, Hyrum, Kyle, Jacob, Jared, Justin, Pottawattamie, Skyler, Whitney. If I didn't mention your name, then maybe you should comment on my blog, peace.

Why the world doesn't need PDA's

So Pinochet died. Kyle was happy. Pinochet was a bad dude that represents bad things the U.S. has done. We supported him, Castro, and Saddam to overthrow their regimes. They turned into oppressive dictators, more cruel and without ruth than their predecessors.

Pres. Bush is asking for advice from different people about what we should do about Iraq. It's good that he's asking the American people what America should do because this is a democracy, but the Iraqi prime minister is upset with some suggestions the people are giving him. It's interesting because there is more dialogue happening between Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Iran and Syria are supporting many of the terrorists that are fighting in Iraq. It has been suggested that we engage in talks with the Iranians and Syrians as well. I do support dialogue between countries because I believe there can be misunderstandings cleared up. But I agree with Glenn Beck who says that we should not go with the appeasement route that happened between Hitler and Neville Chamberlain, Britain's prime minister in the 1930's. Chamberlain and Hitler agreed that Hitler could have the Sudetanland of Czechoslovakia as long as Hitler would stop there. So they signed the agreement, but Hitler broke it and conquered most of Europe. We should not be seeking to appease Syria and Iran, but resolve differences.

Conversation, openness, and honesty are really the things that can solve international, domestic, and personal disputes.

I heard some good things in my political science writing class that are blog-worthy:
-Oliver Cromwell said, "In the bowels of Christ, I beseach you, think that you might be wrong."
-Regarding people as a means to an end is the source for many historic and present problems. That is the underlying feeling behind slavery, suicide terrorism, Risk, pornagraphy, etc.

My sister tells me that I should give a "general" report of recent joy ride me, Chelsea, and Kyle took. So us three and Cannon were talking about throwing that huge pumpkin in the Southridge parking lot after a bridge. We wanted to throw it off a huge bridge but there were none around. I said we could throw it off "the diving board" at the top of Half Dome in Yosemite. Chelsea said we should go. Cannon couldn't go because he had to teach Sunday School the next day. So me, Chelsea, and Kyle left. We realized in the car that we couldn't go to California because we didn't have the pumpkin, and we couldn't go to Vegas because P-dub didn't come, otherwise we would have had a double wedding. So we went to Cedar City instead, got stuck in snow storm, were visited by the Virgin Mary, and discussed how the world should be according to us. The whole thing is Chelsea's fault. It was fun, thanks Chelsea!

I've noticed that the thing to do lately is to state that the reason you're writing in your blog is because people pressured you. It's a sort justifying way to start out your blog, kinda like when you bear your testimony, mostly everyone will justify it somehow. It's not bad, just interesting.

Kyle and P-dub told me to update my blog, so I am. I have a lot to write about. So the other day Chelsea Wells proposed to me twice. Once in the secret room and again in her apartment with a ring. I said yes for the following reasons
1. I have a honeymoon that is expiring soon.
2. I'm tired of dating.
3. I don't think there is enough drama between R22 and F6. It's been a while since I caused a problem...this might do it. I have this theory that if there is anymore drama, somebody in F6 or R22 will die at the exact moment, so I kinda want to test that.
And the BEST reason... 4. She cooks good food and gives me brownies!!

In other news...
-Kyle and P-dub are getting hitched- congrats! Our honeymoon will be a fun double date.

-I really enjoyed Whitney's blog, it was very poet and made me think. It's interesting cause we all wish for those things. We have different wishes but are all pursuing the same thing- happinness. People are generally good. They are seeking the same things I am and just doing it the best way they know how. Unfortunetely we all make mistakes along the way, but those mistakes amplify the result.

-We're having a party in the secret room next Thursday at 11:00. I'm giving out the assignments to the regulars. If you're not a regular and want to come, ask me for your assignment.
Adam- Reese's pieces
Whitney- Reese's peanut butter cups
P-dub- Reese's peanut butter cups
Chelsea- Reese's peanut butter cups
Bret- Reese's pieces
Heather- Reese's pieces
Council Bluffs- Reese's peanut butter cups
Councilina- Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's pieces

-Adam and Ben were in the hot tub, I really wanted to go in but had to study. Next time it snows in the evening, I will drop everything and go in the hot tub.

-I saw the following movies recently: Malcolm X, Paradise Now, The Nativity. I really liked all of them. They all affected me and made think about things.

-I read a recent quote by Elder Maxwell.

Elder Maxwell:

I have not seen any perspiration-free shortcuts to the celestial kingdom

Homework from school is surely a necessity, but does mental work squeeze out spiritual work entirely? Your grade-point average is very important, but what is your GPA for Christian service?

Doing Church work can develop vital reflexes, and the need for this form of work will never cease. But are you merely going through the motions?

Family work is vital too, but does it really go beyond merely keeping your own rooms clean and picking up your own clothes?

Whatever the mix of work, the hardest work you and I will ever do is to put off our selfishness. It is heavy lifting!

I'm in Councilina's office right now. Nobody came today. She thinks that nobody likes her anymore.
Had practice with my 8th graders last night. I ran them all night! They're cool with it though, cause they understand that they need to be conditioned because there's only 7 of them and they have 40 minute games. We'll see how it'll go, I'm kinda worried about their season though cause a few of them don't know how to play basketball.
Plutonium 210 is popping up everywhere in Britain. It killed the former Russian spy and now a former Russian Prime Minister is very sick and some think he was poisoned as well. Scotland Yard is speculating that there is a Russian hit team doing all this. Russia has really struggled with democracy since the fall of communism. It kind of depends on the next election. Will Vladimir Putin give up power? Will he continue the trend and try to appoint his successor? It's all very intriguing.
Holy cow that was a good game!! 33-31. I still get choked up thinking about it.
I don't think I've ever rejected candy in my life. Nor brownies. Nor ice cream.
I'm thinking about taking Arabic next semester. It would be really sweet.
Carrie's laptop is playing a Kalai song. Whenever we hear it we think of when we drove through Dixie State Forest when we took a trip to the Navajo Indian Reservation about a year and a half ago.
I have to watch Malcolm X and Red Dawn for my history class. Both should be exciting. I also really want to see Paradise Now, a movie about Palestinian Terrorist bombers and their motivations. I've heard good things about it.
Agent Jane: the chicken is in the pot.

Aufwiedersehen, au revoir, hasta luego, tcau, tot ziens!

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving" -W.T. Purkiser

I feel like I should write in here although I don't really know what to say. Maybe I'll just say what I'm thinking right now. I was invited to participate in a program/conference on diplomacy in China this summer. It's really expensive but it would be an incredible experience. It would be good for my resume and I think it would help me jumpstart a career in diplomacy, government, international development, or whatever it is I want to do with my life. Lately things have been happening with my major, classes, and other things that are kind indicating the direction of my career. I think it would be incredible to actually be involved with something where I could help improve the world cause that's what I want to do with my life. But things could happen where I'd have to live in a big city and possible 50-60 hour work weeks. There's kind of two sides battling in my head: do I want to have an intense political career? or do I want the simple life? I wish I could have both where I do world-changing work from 8-5 and then go to my simple home in the suburbs, and play with my family the rest of the night. I really just want to be an awesome dad, always coming home with a flower for my wife and candy for the kids, wrestling with them all, etc. I think my marriage prep class is getting me to think of all this now more than anything. But I still feel like Heavenly Father has given me certain talents that He expects me to use to help others.

A recent survey was released that only 30% of people our age in the U.S. are happy, while nearly 80% or so of the people are happy living in Africa and other third world countries. Here are some other stats:

800 million people go to bed hungry every day.

Over 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day with nearly half the world's population (2.8 billion) living on less than $2 a day.

20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods.

There are so many people with so little. My problems are nothing compared to theirs, and yet I complain everyday about little things. I've been blessed with so much. I personally need to do better at being grateful for what I do have. I need to do better at showing God and others my love for them. I have lots of good examples in my life of people who give selflessly. All God wants is for us to love Him and His children. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I Did it!

I beat level 23 on Typer Shark! My new PB is a score of 6,265,204 and I got through like 1/3 of level 24. I think beating 24 is totally doable.

Here's Pres. Hinckley on frustrations with dating:
Do not give up hope. And do not give up trying. But do give up being obsessed with it. The chances are that if you forget about it and become anxiously engaged in other activities, the prospects will brighten imeasurably...
I believe that for most of us the best medicine for loneliness is work, service in behalf of others. I do not minimize your problems, but I do not hesitate to say that there are others whose problems are more serious than are yours. Reach out to serve those people, to help them, to encourage them.
Pres. Kimball:
Father in Heaven is aware of your anguish. One day He will bless you beyond your capactiy to express. Sometimes to be tested and proved requires that we be temporarily deprived-but righteous women and men will one day receive all-think of it-all that our Father has! It is not only worth waiting for; it is worth living for!

Bureaucracies!!

Not only do I not like spelling the word but today was an example of how ineffective they can be run! The School of Technology is having its annual Christmas party. So I sent out probably 70 invitations. The funny thing is that half of those invitations were to professors and we put invitations into their mail boxes here in the office. So we're wasting like $20 or something.
Bureaucracies waste money because they are given their budget each year. If it's close to the end of the year and they haven't spent their budget they will make unnecessary purchases so that their next year's budget isn't significantly smaller. Totally a waste of money!

I'm trying to think of someone to hook Heather up with.

Yesterday I was playing around on the BYU service website and it said there was an urgent need for a basketball coach for Meridian Middle School. I emailed them and said I'd do it, but didn't really think they'd take me serious. Well I got an email saying stuff like, "we're so excited," "the boys didn't think they'd have a team this year," etc. So it's looking like I'll start coaching a middle school basketball team in a couple weeks. Weird! I'm going to have Gavin help me cause I haven't played basketball since high school and forgot how practices should be run. My goal is to get kicked out of a game by a ref, and make a kid cry...j/k.

Uganda, Holland, here we come!

So I found out that there's a good chance that my flight to Uganda in the Spring will go through Amsterdam. So I'm thinking about making it a weeklong layover- the Spring is the best time to visit Holland because the flowers are all in full bloom. I'm hoping that'll work out, that would be awesome!
In Uganda I'll be doing projects like building houses, teaching English, working with Micro-credit, teaching Square Foot Gardening, etc. I'll be in Uganda from May 7th-June 17th (roughly) and then I want to do a week safari or climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. How cool would that be?!!! Skyler, Cecilia, and Sara are interested, along with a mission buddy and his girlfriend. Everybody should come!

Dallas is cool.

I'm glad to see that one of the relationships (Carrie and Bret) I received revelation for is working out. Now hopefully those other four will work out.

Gosh! I came so close to beating level 23 on Typer Shark, I got killed by the last shark of the level...otherwise I would have won. I have a new personal best score though- 6,000,000.

Crazy elections. Ya know, I actually am looking forward to the next two years with the Democrats in office. I hope they can get more done than the Republicans who have done very little the last six years with the Legislative and Executive branches. The Democrats tend to be more "internationalist" in their views. Meaning they are more about helping the world and be a part of it. I don't agree with their typical social agenda, nor the economical agenda. But a lot of the Democrats elected are moderate, meaning that several don't agree with gay marriages. I know it's hard to believe but I don't think there's a chance of overturning Roe v. Wade (abortion). I think we're stuck with that. Typically that's the only issue we (Mormons) look at. But Democrats are people too who want the best for this country just like Republicans, it'll be interesting.

Ha, Sky-don't be too alarmed. Be alarmed but we're just joking around too.

A joint statement from Amanda and Council Bluffs

Even though we are both stubborn and technically enemies, we have decided to be temporarily allied in a joint effort against Skuffs and Rebekah. They will pay. No reason to be alarmed, the world will not stop turning and random wrestling matches will continue. He doesn't realize the pains and humiliations he has caused the two parties in thinking that he, a Moticellan, can come across the parking lot and inflict prankage. Step off!

Shoot!

I almost beat level 23 on Typer Shark. I have a new personal best for my score: 5,200,200 about.

I've been thinking about this quote for like 3 hours:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

-Gandhi

Resist Them

Man, so much to say. First of all I approve of P-dub and Justin. I approve of Whit and Adam and think Whit should be more flirtatious and send more hints. I approve of Councilina and Bret, Carrie shouldn't go to Israel cause she has to get married in May. Bret needs to show more interest as well. Two girls this week just started talking to me about dating cause they had stuff they had to tell someone. It was really interesting what I learned. It's funny how everyone is SICK of dating and then we got this talk in Priesthood session about dating. There were some things I didn't agree with, but I do sustain them so I need to get goin. Because the Stake Presidency is really pushing dating and getting married, I think Bishop should start hookin people up. We've brainstormed this and came up with everybody in the ward writing down 5 people they're interested in. Bishop takes the results and encourages whoever he needs to, to ask out certain people.

I got chewed out by a billionaire with an ego on Monday. Funny story.
Yesterday I was trying to find who on campus could make a copy of a video. People transferred me all over and then I was talking with this one guy for like a minute and then we both realized who each other was. It was Skyler. We were both talking with our "professional" voices and didn't realize who it was. Ha, it was pretty funny.

Ugh, Bush is allowing a fence to be built on the America-Mexico border. The statue of Liberty reads: "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
I don't think a fence is the best way to represent our ideals.

Making Out--Typer Shark

Had a good chat today about making out with Whitney and Councilina today. They had a lesson about it in their marriage prep class as well.

Whitney will probably beat Typer Shark...she types really fast.

I'm going to end today's blog with a message to my apartment:
heeeuuouuuugaghhh, pulling finger out of mouth, ahhhoiiiuugghh, flicking finger to cheek

AAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

So we have this game at work, called Typer Shark, off of yahoo games. Anyway they let us play it at work cause it helps us type faster. So I've played this game SO many times and I've tried to beat it over and over. Today I was determined that today was the day. So I sat down and tried my hardest to accurately type fast. I was doing great, I had 13 guys going into level 21. previously level 22 was my PB (personal best). But I lost!!!! I lost 13 guys in 3 levels! I'm so frustrated now. I did get to level 23 but gosh! I want to beat this game so bad so I never have to play it again. I'll probably end up taking my frustrations out on my bros later during racquetball. Writing in here was good, I'm starting to simmer. My persistence is often a strength and weakness.

No Cell Phone

So I haven't had a cell phone the past week and a half and seriously every little problem or difficultly of mine lately has been because of not having a cell phone. BUT! I just bought one off ebay. The cheapest one I could find is the same phone I've had for the past year. I think our family will be getting new phones in April. Eventually, in like 5 years I plan on dropping a lot of money for a sweet phone that can do anything- detonate bombs, start cars, ya know. Do I have to say that I'm kidding? Cause lately the government has been busting lots of people who post things about breaking laws and stuff. Ha, Cannon's great, he accidently wrote in permanent marker on the board on the fridge, and it could have been pretty embarrassing for him. There's a squashed bug on the wall in the bathroom. Everyday as I'm getting into the shower I notice it. Councilina needs to know what Europeans motives were in making first contact with people from other worlds. Any ideas? She doesn't like any of mine. I don't like big font, it makes it seem like I'm shouting. I tried fixing it, but it wouldn't let me. I'm thinking about going to Homecoming Spectacular.

Good news! Japan won't try to get nukes in response to North Korea's pursuit for nukes. If you were worrying about it'll be alright.

Israel will be Israel
Bad news Jo, Israel looks like it's going to send in troops to the Gaza Strip to stop the movement of weapons from Egypt to Palestinians and that could delay the Jerusalem Center opening in winter. It kinda looks like it'll turn out like the Lebanon War--Israel has had enough with the terrorist groups threatening it and so they take it to them.

Ya know, I think Adam Channer is good for BitofWhit.

Did you know that the first official day of the United States of America government was April 6, 1789. Isn't that crazy?!! All these important things happen on April 6.

Crazy things

Crazy Hugo Chavez, I tell ya. He's the Venezuelan President and he is paranoid to death that the U.S. is going to invade his country. So he's been on this anti-America fling for several years and has been getting popular. He's kind of following in the footsteps of Cuba's Fidel Castro. But because of the anti-American stuff going on in his country, they took the missionaries out. He's a nut and I think the rest of the world is starting to see it because Venezuela didn't get voted on the Security Council and heavily campaigning for the seat. They still might get it, but in a way they got put in their place.

I really enjoy our ward...especially Sunday School. We had a sweet meeting yesterday which helped me out a lot. Saturday night I went on a double date with my cousin. I hooked her up with a mission buddy. They are perfect for each other; hopefully they see that also. Me and my date (I got a date and hour before the date) made a really cool haunted house jack-o-lantern.

Blah.

My uninformed sister

A lot of people I associate with have no idea what is happening in the world. I understand that she and other people just aren't that interested, but maybe I can inform you guys a little bit about what is happening because it is important.

North Korea has long been suspected of having nuclear power. Pretty much their dictator is a nut. We obviously can't allow nuts to have nukes. Last week the whole world was telling them not to test their nukes but they did anyway. China, pretty much their only ally, was upset along with every other country. Ha, what's interesting, though, is that now a lot of people think they just exploded lots of bombs but that their nuke was actually a dud. They haven't found any traces of radioactive material at the testing site. Still though, North Korea is trying to tick off the world and they did a good job cause now the UN is imposing sanctions on North Korea. The U.S. has had sanctions on them for a long time but now other countries...including China will impose sanctions on them. One thing, though, is that sanctions often don't produce the desired results. Usually they just starve the people. But it's not looking good for them.

A Word about Drama

Things seem to always work out.
In a few years there will be no drama for eternity!!!!!!!!!!! Eternity!!!!!!!!!!!!! F6.

P-dub, you're a good person.

Haha, "Council Bluffs, you're the cause and solutions to all of your problems." Ha, that's funny.

BLOGGING IT UP!!

First of all, how do I publish a title?

I have a rule that I will try to always abide by in my blogging action: If I have a problem with someone, I will talk to them, I'm not going to post it on my blog. So nobody should ever think that I'm trying to hurt them or that I have any other hidden meanings in my blog. I'm going to try to live up to that 100%.

"Having said that"... <~~~~nobody ever told me what the ... is called.

Apparently R22 thinks I know nothing about girls...although I proved last spring that I knew more than my sister did about a certain girl subject. Maybe they should give me "lessons on girls."

The next two weeks I have a couple blinde dates lined up, maybe I should ask out one of Chelsea's friends. In my defense about not having called her, when I try hooking people up, I arrange a double date or something and then I make sure it's cool with the two people I'm hooking up and then I have the guy call the girl a couple days before. That's how I thought hooking people up should happen. There are a couple of girls I'm interested in. I'm a pretty private person though, so I think that's why I don't really tell people about my life.

I'm a big planner and am always planning my life. Here's the latest plans: go winter semester, take French, go spring semester-take fun classes and Spanish, do an internship in Africa, come back for Fall semester, Winter semester of 08 do the D.C. seminar, graduate in April 08, get a good summer job and then go to graduate school (hopefully out East) and get a masters in public administration and another in International Affairs, and then land a D.C. government or interest group job, and then after 10 or so years move back to Iowa and get involved in local politics.

Jared should get back together with Erika. I think we should plan a little ahead and go camping in southern Utah in November-Decemberish when there aren't any good football games. We should also plan on going to Temple Square during Christmas season.

I actually really enjoy this whole R22-F6 thing. I hope everyone else does too.

What's with going to the library every night? You people are lame! I say we do a study to see if going to the library actually helps your grades. Come on peoplez...your homework will somehow get done...evenings are meant to have fun and stuff. We need some people to start dating between apartments...I'm going out with P-dub Saturday night (wink, wink).

Pizza is amazing. It creates solutions...and I guess problems. Me and my sibling are bonding right now...word.

The Wicked Cool party has been postponed.

What is the ... called? Cause I really like it. I recommend it to everyone.

Councilina's been slapped before...so has Ryan. Council Bluffs hasn't.

What can I do to create a better blog? I need to do homework and I'm not going to the library to do it.

Cause and Solution to all proplems

Today I want to suggest a solution to problems. I've noticed a lot of people lately have been stressed. Try something new...catch leaves as they are falling. It's pretty fun, brainless activity, and helps you enjoy Fall more. Is anybody up for driving around Sunday afternoon up one of the canyons (if it's good weather) and just enjoy the Fall scenery?

Tomorrow I think I'll cause a problem on here. Haha, be ready.

So lately I've been having some breakthroughs and I am realizing what really is important to me. That last posting of my sister, I actually meant Kayla by the way, had me pondering for weeks. I have take lots of things for granted, such as my family. I step back and realize that my hero is Skyler. The golden days were when he was my roommate and I could try and be like him on a more personal basis. He was my eyes when I couldn't see. He was my hope when I couldn't breath...come back man. STELLLLAAAAA!!!!!

So I have been thinking lately and I really miss the relationship I use to have with my sister. She used to tell me everything and vice versa, but I think I have distanced myself somehow. It just isn't the same anymore when we talk and I miss having that close bond with her. In fact I think I will chat with her tonight about my personal life. Man I love that girl. She is the best sister anyone could ever ask for.

I'm really excited for Sunday School, Chelsea and P-dub will be giving amazing lessons, hmmm, which one should I go to?

I just wanted to take back my comment earlier about Lady in the Water. I keep thinking about the movie and realize the genius behind it. It has good tempo with consistent theming that are punctuated with some comedic relief. The characters are nicely developed, and keep you guessing for a bit of the movie as it is not as predictable as you may think. All in all it was one of the more refreshing and original movie going experiences I have had in awhile. Maybe I will see it again. The music score was outstanding as well.

I love these late night talks, we talk about everything. Right now one of my roommates pulled out the insult generator.

The date tonight was awesome, except Lady in the water was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

So Europe is soo cool! We just went to Rome, Florence, Venice, Trieste, Italy and Salzburg, Austria (where Mozart lived and Sound of Music was filmed), Stuttgart, Germany, and now we are in Den Haag, NL. We have counted that in the last 20 days we have been in 10 different countries. Everything is so pretty. It is all I imagined Europe to be. It is crazy to think that half of the trip is almost over. So much has happened in the last 3 weeks. I wonder what the next 3 weeks holds.

Hey Everyone!! Sorry for the depressing blog, even though it was true. We are still in Europe continuing the trip as planned. We ended buying enough stuff to get buy for the rest of the trip from the underground black market. It was pretty cool. So last week we were in Israel!! It was amazing! I really cant describe how awesome it was! I wish I could write more but I dont have a lot of time. Sorry that I havent been writing a lot either we dont get to go to a computer very often and when we do it isnt for a lot of time. Gavin- did you get my camera? Dallas and Skylers were stolen so we wont have one for the 3 week period. if there is anyway you could get it to Ben Ure,then he can bring it with him, that would be awesome! Im sorry I chose to send it to you. Hopefully it isnt too big of a problem. Thank you soo much for everything! If it is too big of a hassel dont worry about it. I hope everyone is having fun!! Girls- what did you think of the music video? Hopefully talk to you soon!

We were robbed by the mafia. We lost everything.

So this is Councilina speaking... I have decided to take over Council Bluff's blog and turn it into a Europe Blog. So we are in Europe! Wahoo! We made it! Europe is soo cool. It is pretty much everything I imagined it to be. Right now we are in Leeuvarden, Netherlands. Some observations so far... 1) Guys wear girl clothes 2) Everyone is in shape 3) Girls are tall 4) Everyone rides bikes 5) Everyone speaks Dutch and English 6) Skyler would like to add that the Girls in the red outfits at the airport are hot. Well I will post more soon but this is all for now. Doei!

I hate blogs...stupid technology...it's way inefficient and run by bureaucrats.

Ok, so I was trying to comment on Kyle's blog the other day and as I was doing that I somehow accidentally created a blog. So, I wonder if anybody will read this, be sure to make a comment, cause that's fun.

Random FYI fact- I was wondering why people talk about Swiss Banks all the time. Well I found out that the Swiss gov't makes laws that make it illegal for the Swiss Banks to give out information. So tons of private bank accounts are through the Swiss Banks that make it impossible to track money trails. This is very attractive to the Mafia and terrorist organizations.

Peace out willis.