Wow! Wow! Wow!

I have Sooooooo much to be grateful for right now. Holy cow, so much is going on, so much to write about, where to begin?

Ok, so I finished my last final last week Monday. About 12:00 noon, I walked up the stairs of the JFSB, put my hands in the air, looked up and yelled, "I'm done...whew!" I've seen a couple people do that after their last tests and so I decided to do it too. Gosh it felt good. It was my final for National Security Affairs. All my finals were scheduled: Civil wars was on Friday at 3, American Government was Saturday all day, Political Islam was Monday morning, followed by National Security Affairs. I studied Saturday night in the library and as I was walking home I realized that was my last time studying in the library, my last time listening to the creepy music that is played 15 minutes before it closes. It was really sad actually. I walked home, the moon was full, it was nice weather with a little wind, everything was set right to create a mood of nostalgia and remembrance. It was weird having one chapter of my life close like that. Sunday came and then midnight I pulled an all-nighter and studied for Political Islam and Nat'l Security. I'm guessing that'll be my last all-nighter. So yeah, school is over...done...for...ev...er! Well, maybe forever, right now I'm thinking forever, but I do want to get a masters in something or a law degree.

We all had to move out of Park Place #8 by Wednesday at 5 ish. It was kind of a fun end, we all had been cleaning and packing all day and then we just sat around, drank Big K's, talked about the memories in Moon Apts. and Park Place, and waited for our check outs. So now, me, Cannon, and Jared are in #7. It's alright, I dunno, it's just not the same, but give it time probably.

Graduation came and went. The fam came out, it was cool. It was weird being in the ceremony, getting my fake diploma, and wearing the robes of a false priesthood. Elder Bednar gave an awesome talk. It was really cool walking into the Marriott Center. The professors and administration were there at the entrances, kind of like we were being presented and accepted by them. You had to have been there. Lots of pictures and funny moments.

On graduation day, I heard back from Dept. of Veteran's Affair in Salt Lake, and I got the job! That was a relief. It felt really good knowing that that was now secure. But I didn't want that job as much as another that I had applied for. So the company is called Lane Links. It was formed out of D&H about a year ago. D&H is a fortune 500 company, or something like that. Let me tell you about Lane Links...there are companies like Walmart that have private fleets to ship goods from distribution centers to local stores. But on the way back, these fleets are wasting gas and money because they're bringing nothing back. Lane Links coordinates it so they bring back goods for other companies. It is a really interesting, innovative, creative idea where everyone saves money. As far as I know there is no competition and lots of market for this company. They have doubled a couple times and the CEO is projecting them to have 200 employees and $300 million in revenue in 5 years. Right now they have like 12 employees, but they are expanding rapidly. Anyway, they are located in Orem, but moving to a bigger office in Provo and are looking for Logistics Account Executive trainees. I love logistics! I've always been pretty good at remember small details and have just loved planning things and remembering all the things that have been involved. On my mission, on transfer night, the zone leaders would be calling each other and pulling out train routes, trying to figure out how to get the missionaries transferred everywhere so they weren't traveling or waiting alone. It was always really fun and funny seeing missionaries plan stuff, only to get it ruined the next day due to delays, postponed rides, etc. Anyway, so I thought it sounded cool, and then the HR lady emailed me and told me she was really impressed with my resume. She called me, told me more about the job, and how they are looking for people with an entrepreneurship spirit/leadership in them. I fell in love with the company from that first phone interview and she scheduled a second interview. It turns out that she was the old HR lady for HELP Int'l, who I went to Uganda with last year. So we knew the same people and such. Anyway, went in for the second interview last week Thursday and job shadowed, and met the CEO---awesome, humble, great guy. He's just a really nice family man. Yesterday I went in for an hour and a half third interview and I fell in love with the company. Seriously, I told my mom and Emily how I almost even felt the Spirit in there. Everything just felt right, it sounds like that would be an exciting place to work, LOTS of growth opportunity, excellent pay and benefits, and everything. And it would work out cause I really don't want to drive up to Salt Lake everyday and I could stay here in P-town and get a scooter to drive to work everyday. Anyway, so I REALLY wanted the job. I was nervous all day yesterday and this morning, cause she was going to call today to let me know. I even dreamed about it. Anyway, she emailed me that they wanted me! So I have my dream job! It all worked out so perfect, so fast, I am just so grateful for everything. Of course it doesn't have anything to do with my BA in political science degree, but I've always been a business guy deep inside and this job is perfect because it wants creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship/leadership type people. So yeah, I am super excited! It means that I will most likely be here for at least 10 years, so I'll be here when Dallas, Colby, Jamie, Kayla, and all the cousins come out here. I'll try to save up for a couple of years and then get a house with several rooms for all the family and friend visitors that are guaranteed will be coming. But yeah, it feels Sooooooo good.

Ok, there is so much more to write, but I'm really hungry right now, so I'll write tomorrow or Monday or something. I don't start work until May 19th, so I have two weeks to play. Me and Em are going to do some fun stuff before I become a boring businessman. But here are some things I need to write about still in my next entry:

-my last class period, my professor said we should ask for our money back because everything we've learned in political science classes isn't real...um, gee, thanks.

-My capstone project. My professor wants to co-author it and get it published in journals and thinks NGO's and IGO's like the UN would love the data I've come up with.

-NGO is officially started in Uganda. Empower Lives- Uganda. Lots of goals including teacher training and starting some schools. But right now we're working on a water sanitation project.

-Disneyland trip

-It's about time to buy a jet ski and a scooter.

-Those Dems, Obama is having HUGE problems.

Things I'm loving about college right now

Alan's blog format is pretty tight, so I'm going to copy it for this post.

1) Having fun. College is the only place you can play 8-player Risk- through the laptop, connected to the tv, watch a movie on another tv, have warcraft music playing in the background, while simoltaneously eating Buffalo wings because it's Buffalo wings appreciation night.
College students always complain about messy apartments, messy rooms, too much school work, no time due to work and such, and being tired all the time due to going bed REALLY late. With all that in mind, what did we do last night? Del taco, Risk, car racing, swing dancing, and took a picture of a HUGE snowman. I was getting ready to study cause I saw all my roomies on their laptops, concentrating intensely. They must be doing homework right? Jared was on facebook, Alan was shopping on ebay, Cannon was playing Risk. Luckily Amanda was there reading the Ensign...I think that kept our apartment from being struck by lightning.
Went contra-dancing last Saturday. That was a lot of fun. Check out Amanda's blog for pictures:
http://www.eatingtoadsandsuch.blogspot.com/

2) Games. Oh the games. Haha, they really are a lot of fun.

3) Figuring out what to do with your life. I just went to the career fair. Hmmm, do I want to work for the FBI, CIA, Army, Guardian Financial Group, Goldman Sachs, or a scrap book company?

4) Soviet meetings. I can't say anymore.

5) Distractions from the presidential race. I'd probably go crazy and into depression if I were home and just concentrating on the political stuff. Luckily other things are keeping me distracted in a good way.

6) Passionate professors. My American Government professor is a hardcore conservative. He's a really funny guy with awesome arguments. Yesterday we watched a couple minutes of a documentary on Civil Rights. At the end he was just bawling. You could just tell how passionate he was about this issue and how much he cares about people. Sometimes conservatives get the stigma that they don't care about people. Politics is about helping people. He articulated that well.

7) Snow. Everytime it snows I feel like Mother Nature is sticking it to Algore. Plus it's just fun to have all these extra toys around. We played football last week---So much fun.

8) Frozen pizza. Del tacos.

9) Paul Brogan NBA rap on Youtube.

10) Awesome classes: National Security Affairs, Civil Wars, Political Violence, Islam & Politics, and American Government.

11) How much everyone here loves President Hinckley. All miss him and realize how great a person and servant he was.

The grass is greener, the air is fresher, the flowers are prettier

That's right! Finals are over. Of course they always kick my trash, this year I had three study guides to memorize: they were 56 pages, 33 pages, and 30 pages. So yeah, that killed me, but it's all good now. The last week of last semester I was walking and I heard a guy yell real loud. I asked if he got an A, he said that he didn't care cause he was done forever. When I'm done forever I think I'll do that too. Finals is definitely one of the "three F frustrations of college!"

I got 5 shots today: polio, tetanus, menigitis, typhoid, and yellow fever. I still need to get pills for malaria. The downside is that I could still get those diseases and still have to watch what I eat. My arms are really sore right now and I'm starting to feel a little sick...just like the nurse said. I was supposed to get the yellow fever shot 10 days before I go. The nurse said they might not let me into Uganda for 2 days. That would be kind of cool actually, if they wouldn't let me into their country...I'm like a rebel or something. Maybe I'll get lucky they'll put me in some podunk prison. I wouldn't mind torture either. As long as they give me a cool souvenir so I can prove that I'm a rebel, cause I am.

We're leaving for Council Bluffs tonight. I'm really excited. It's going to be carefree, lots of eating, having fun, burning our school stuff, good relaxing time. Dyads will definitely be strengthened with everyone there (see the Jo for definition of a dyad).

I saw two businessmen on segways today. Wow, that was funny!

I have hardly eaten this week. Pretty crazy. Usually I can't do anything without food, but I haven't had an appetite at all.

I studied Humanities for like 4 hours today and actually I really enjoyed it. It was a good class that made me realize literature, art, and music are just as important to the world as politics. Well, almost as important as politics. One thing that hit me was what Emerson said about art. He said that art is not the creation but the process. And that it is a form of expression. Of course I've heard that art is expression several times but it also said how we all what to be understood- art helps. I don't think anyone can fully understand someone else, and that makes life exciting, but understanding one another helps out so much. Last semester in my political philosophy class my professor said something that disturbed me and has made me think a lot about. He said that if words can't describe what we're thinking, then we're not really thinking. I should look over his argument again but that can't be right. There is so much that I think and feel that cannot be described by words. Of course I try and sometimes make an idiot out of myself in attempting to describe my thoughts and feelings but that doesn't mean that my thoughts aren't thoughts. I've written lots of poetry, some is funny, most was written to export a certain feeling I had. I think that other people's art can explain our thoughts and feelings as well. And sometimes it doesn't, but you just enjoy it.

"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man." - Frederick Douglass
"It is not chaos or death- it is form, union, plan – it is eternal life –it is Happiness"
-Walt Whitman
"You can appreciate a single blade of grass for its beauty but it all comes from the same soil."
-Walt Whitman
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - Thomas Jefferson
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." -Founding Fathers

Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church have become two of my favorite artists. My last uploaded pictures didn't really turn out that great, but here are some of my favorites:

Church:
Church:
This paintings are Cole's empire series. They go through the development, pinnacle, and fall of an empire. The unique thing is that nature remains. The mountain is in every single picture:
Savage State:
Pastoral State:
Consummation state:
Destruction state:

Desolotation state:

Cole, two Indians paying respect to the Niagara Falls:
Neither one of these images came out that great
Church:

Church:


Cole, again, notice the little person in the center:
Church:
Church:

I might find some time to write in here before I go to Uganda. I'm not really sure what my email/letter situation will be like in Uganda or Holland. Hopefully I'll be able to get on here once awhile and give an update of my travels and experiences.

I'm going to go play Mario Kart 64...or Risk on Cannon's computer.

Well, I've taken two finals. I think I did pretty well with both of them. I have three left.

Somebody save me!!!!!!

John Adams

I'm writing a paper on John Adams. I haven't written in here in a long time and probably should find some time before I go to Uganda. John Adams was a stud. He's my hero. I think everyone should learn about him so that's why I included all this info about him:

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.

Be not intimidated... nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice.

The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations ... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.

“Government is nothing more than the combined force of society, or the united power of the multitude, for the peace, order, safety, good and happiness of the people…Be it remembered, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we have not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people who have a right from the frame of their nature to knowledge, as their great Creator who does nothing in vain, has given them understanding and a desire to know. But besides this they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible divine right to the most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers” (McCullough, 70-71). “Government is a plain, simple, intelligent thing, founded in nature and reason, quite comprehensible by common sense…The true source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think…Let us dare to read, thinking, speak, and write…Let it be known that British liberties are not the grants of princes or parliaments…that many of our rights are inherent and essential, agreed on a maxims and established as preliminaries, even before Parliament existed” (McCullough, 60).

“There is no king or queen bee distinguished from all others, by size or figure or beauty and variety of colors, in the human hive. No man has yet produced any revelation from heaven in his favor, any divine communication to govern his fellow men. Nature throws us all into the world equal and alike….The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation, it is impossible they should be enslaved….Ambition is one of the more ungovernable passions of the human heart. The love of power is insatiable and uncontrollable….There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty” (McCullough, 70-71). A.D. Morse, author of The politics of John Adams elaborates on this view of power that John Adams had and says that they are at the foundation of the politics of John Adams, “The first is that slavery and freedom proceed from one and the same principle in human nature, namely the love of power; later in the Discources on Davila, the more comprehensive phrase, “thirst for distinction” is substituted for “love of power”; but the change does not imply any departure from the orginial idea. A second view of the utmost importance to the comprehension of the system, is that this love of power is an “aspiring, noble principle, founded in benevolence.” From this it follows that the aim of a wise public policy must be not to extirpate “the love of power” in the human heart, but so to direct and regulate its operation that it shall issue in freedom. It is certainly one of the noblest characteristics of John Adams that he felt habitually a profound reverence for human nature, and finds in the primary passions of man the proofs of divine wisdom” (Morse).

Hmmmmmmmmm.

I did well on my midterm today.

Hmmmmmm.

Life is good.

Carrie says church was amazing yesterday...and it was.
Carrie's history professors are all geniuses. They're nuts. Mom's having a baby...j/k.

Fish sauce, a 1/4 cup. Mmmmmm, curry! This stuff smells disgusting. Fish sauce. It smells terrible.

Would you like an apple pie with that? Ewwwww. Take the cap off.
Carrie has no proof that I was ever a baby.

Carrie is the only one in R22-F6 that doesn't have a blog

Alan got a blog- www.alanbroadbent.blogspot.com. It's really a photo blog but he'll eventually probably write some things on there. If Chelsea could put Alan's and Becca's blogs on her blog, that would be awesome.
So we beat Air Force!! It's just sweet to think that we were tied with them for longest home game winning streak, and we broke it for them. And then to think that we beat a ranked team for the third time this year...and we win at least a share of the MWC Title and will be in the Big Dance! It's great.
I bought my ticket the other day to Uganda. I'll be leaving for Uganda April 30th. We have a 10-hour layover in Newark. Tamara, one of the girls I'm traveling with, has family in NYC, so they might pick us up and we'll go do something in NYC. And then we have a 4-hour layover in Holland. I really want to have a member pick us up and drive us around the tulip fields, but it'll be cutting it close, so we'll see. I'll leave Uganda June 13th and stay in Europe until the 25th. It's amazing that it was only like $100 to extend my layover a week and a half. I'm really debating what I want to do in Europe. Right now I'm thinking spend at least a day in all of my areas, maybe two, and also go to Germany for a day or two, and spend 3 days in Spain or Norway. I'm still trying to figure it all out.
Last night we had Kyle's birthday party. Happy Birthday Kyle!!!! Then me, Kyle, Alan, and Cannon had just the funniest time looking at the world map and coming up with this goofy story using just names of places off the map. For example) I was HUNGARY, so IRAN to eat some TURKEY, but it there was a lot of GREECE. YE(ah) Men, O-MAN!! It was a lot funnier than that.
I have been getting lucky with midterms. They were originally all clumped together but one by one they have postponed one. I got an A- on my IPE midterm!! I was so stoked! My Political Culture midterm was supposed to be last week, along with the IPE midterm that I had, but he postponed it til this week. My IR midterm postponed was supposed to be this week, but he postponed it til next week, and my humanities midterm was supposed to be next week, but he postponed it til the week after. Whew!
My humanities professor is just hilarious. We somehow got onto the topic of chick flicks and how they distort everything and give girls false impressions of what love is. And my professor said how he could write a chick flick in his sleep- girl is engaged to boring bob, and then along comes a scruffy, exciting guy who is in love with her from the beginning and sweeps her off her feet. I'd say that's a good summary of chick flicks.
The next squirt gun game started today. It's going to be a fun one. There are like 20 of us in the ward that are doing it. We're all helping each other and what not. I keep on telling myself that I shouldn't get involved and not be intense about it cause I already have my win. But it's hard with everyone else around me in it. So we'll see how it goes.


Frosted animal crackers are the best when they're melted together. It reminds me of Arizona and how everything melts in the car there.

The Ok Go song came on while we were driving...so we danced.This week we play Utah in Basketball. Just remember 33-31.



Date with Brittni

Quotes

I've heard two quotes recently, one is from the Puritans and the other from Pres. Packer. Who said what:

"The greatest battles of life are fought within the confines of one's own soul."

"Xerxes the great did die, and so will you and I"

Ok, so it's pretty obvious; our humanities class showed us what was in a Puritan alphabet book for kids, and that was in it, along with lots of other references to death and your worthlessness. I can't remember if I've talked about this or not but Mormons are often compared to the Puritans. We both stress the importance of being different from the world but we also don't want much difference within our societies. We also place religious significance of the founding of America and God's help in liberation from Great Britain.

We have a basketball game tomorrow at 10:00 at Timpview H.S. It's against the first team we played so we're doing a couple of special things because we know what's coming.

I really like my raquetball class and really think it's helping me improve. My instructor is really good and is teaching us his favorite serves. He really favors the lob, which was strange at first because I though raquetball was all about power, but he's teaching us that, like other sports, it's a mind game, positioning the ball, and playing to your opponent's weaknesses. It's like life. J/k.

I became a little worldly yesterday and finally bought some songs on itunes. Actually, I just really wanted the songs: I can only imagine by Mercy Me, and Devil went down to Georgia and Even Superman by Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband.

I felt really sick yesterday and am not feeling too well today either. I like being independent because I know exactly what I need to take care of myself and help me feel better: ice cream. I went to Smith's and bought butterfinger ice cream, came home and ate that while watching tv. I did feel better. Me and ice cream go way back. In high school and on my mission when bad things happened, I would get ice cream. In high school, my dad thought I was having a difficult time with something so he took me to TCBY treats. That was awesome! My throat was killing me, I was in bed for two hours before I fell asleep.

Three cheers for ice cream: hip-hip hooray, hip-hip hooray, hip-hip hooray!