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!