Haha, these are pretty funny. I usually am not that entertained with kid stuff, (maybe that'll change when I have kids) but these are funny to watch at least once, especially 1 and 3.
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
For the love! It has been such a long time. Here's the thing, life is a little more complicated than before. It's tougher to find time to post in here when I'm working during the day and then playing at night. I haven't been able to find much time to do research or other things that I've wanted to do. But I have wanted to write in here for awhile now. Maybe I'll just do shorter posts for now on...as long as I'm putting something in my blog, huh?
Ok, so we planted a bunch of flowers in an inflatable pool in front of my apartment. They are sort of coming along. They haven't budded yet, so you can't see the actual flowers yet, but the green stems and leaves are definitely there. The poor sunflowers- I don't think they'll grow much more because the soil is really shallow. We planted pumkins, watermelons, cauliflowers, and cantelopes all over campus. Most of them have been picked and what not but we have one hope left with some pumpkins. They're growing quite nicely on the path on the hill south of campus. I really hope they grow all the way so we can throw pumpkins off a bridge.
Summer is really fun- a lot of frisbee, swimming, hiking, biking, traveling, anything and everything. I love it here.
Lately I've gotten quite a few comments on here and questions about who this girl is in a lot of my pictures. Well...this is Emily. We've been friends since October 2006 when we first talked about all the good drinking fountains on campus. We played steal the flag once, I put my arm around her so that we would be disguised as a couple as we walked to the enemy side. We went to a basketball game once which was our first date. After that we didn't do much with each other for the spring and summer. I was back home during the fall semester, but I came out with some friends and I made sure to hang out with her. We played werewolves with friends and it was fun. I moved back to Provo in January 2008 and I ran into Emily on campus, but we were both talking on the phone so we couldn't chat. We hung out a couple times, playing football in the snow or playing werewolves. I started liking her again but still thought that I never really had a chance. But something happened, something big...she silly stringed me as I was coming out of Del Taco. Oh the games. Still though, I was nervous to take her out. Then something else happened...we played Battle UNO and she rested her arm on my knee. Oh the games. So I asked her out for what I called a wicked cool date. A year ago I wanted to take her out after our first date and do a choose your own adventure date. I even planned it out but never got to it. So I decided to do it again. A couple hours before the date I discovered a new talent- sounding like the singer Aaron Neville, "And I don't know much." Gavin said he would give me $3,000 if I would talk like Aaron Neville for the whole date. I thought about it on the car ride over, but I thought that it was possible that I could mess up a good thing by doing that. I told Emily on the date about the bet and she was disappointed I didn't do it. $3,000 would have been nice, but we both agreed that the date was worth more than that. I can't remember all the options she had for the first part of the date, but because it was hard for her to choose which adventure to do, I gave her the option of phoning a friend. Carrie Robinson decided that we should play basketball. So we played bball and beat another couple at the RB. And that's when I knew she was a keeper...lol. For the next adventure she chose finding a recipe online and making it over begging for food, a bonfire, Chinese food, or the Movies 8 snackbar. That brought her to final stage which was to play UNO at the H-fac. We ended up talking instead of playing, it was easier to talk with me because I was Kasey and not Aaron Neville.
And from there, ladies and gentlemen, the rest is history. I honestly don't know how the last 4 1/2 months could have been any better. I have never had so much fun with another person, never been able to talk with anyone else like I can with Emily, never felt so "wanting to be a better person" than I do when I'm with her. I think of the 'perfect girl' and she is it. During the 4 1/2 months we've dated, each day I came to like and then love her more and more. Each day I realized more and more that I could not live without her and that she is "the girl of my dreams."
Yesterday, June 30th, I asked her to marry me and she said 'Yes.' I woke up yesterday knowing that it would be the last "normal" day of my life. We've of course talked a lot about getting married and pinky swore that we would. She knew I wanted to marry her and I knew she wanted to marry me. But I wanted to surprise her. Me and Emily had this inside thing that we would write out dreams and then try hard to dream it and meet up in our dreams. Well she wanted to dream that we would play PIG w/o the honor, we would go on a convertible ride through the mountains, we would watch the sunset on a beach, and then we would dance on the beach under the stars and moonlight. So yesterday she was studying and I got her to take a break, we went and shot hoops and she beat me in PIG w/o the honor, and then I surprised her with a convertible and took her away. I thought she would know what was going on when she saw the convertible, but turns out she didn't. We drove the Alpine Loop in the mountains and forests behind Mt. Timp...it was gorgeous- just perfect. We drove through Provo Canyon to Deer Creek Resevoir and parked on the beach and danced under the stars and moonlight. I try to get to bed by 10:30 everynight so we started going home but we wanted to go to "our spot" along the river. We went there and we "found" a dozen roses. I started kneeling on one knee and started pulling out a ring box, but "accidentally" got it caught on my jeans and then somehow threw it into the river. I tried convincing her that I was freaked out and she was freaked out for a couple seconds too but then thought it was all a joke until I completely surprised her with the real ring in my right pocket. I asked, she agreed...and then almost passed out. Ha, poor Emily, she didn't get much sleep the night before and gave blood that day but gave more than a pint because they kept having problems and blood squirted onto her shirt and stuff. She was pretty nautious and light-headed and then this about did her in. But it was perfect. We told our families, then enjoyed the convertible some more, cruisin, picked up some friends, and enjoyed our "engagement night" together. So that is Emily everyone. My favorite person in the world, my bff (best friend forever), mi amiga (?), my fiancee! I showed a lady at work a picture of us two and she simply commented that she can tell we are best friends. We are...and more.
Anyway, sorry if this is mushy and stuff. I actually don't like it too much when people talk about little things their significant others do for each other because it is just a "them" thing and the world doesn't need to know about it. I don't imagine ever being this public again about our relationship because it's an "us" thing. Can't promise anything and I apologize if I slip. But I am very happy and excited. It's been a fun and rough ride. Dating is the worst and the best. The past 4 1/2 months have been simple the best, but there was a lot of worst before that. I'm not sure what it was...but a lot of close family and friends have made fun of me for not being married. It's unfortunate that our Mormon culture is like that and that people carelessly make you feel bad for something that you really have no control over. I'm sad to say that I'm not exempt from making careless comments either. But it's a normal and sad thing to equate your self-worth with your dating success. It's unfortunate that it's like that, because it shouldn't be like that, but it's kind of a negative consequence that comes about from all the talk about families/dating/marriage, etc. It's sad, but I used to kind of believe that I must have been a bad missionary because I wasn't married. That was a long time ago that I felt that, but members of the Church are really good at making you feel unrighteous for not being married, and sometimes it can be a completely harmless comment where you simply mention marriage. Some people probably need those comments but for most of the people I've been around, the comments really aren't needed, even if it's joking. Ummm, so yeah, I'm not meaning to make anybody feel bad for saying stuff like that to me, I'm fine, but if you're ever thinking about making a comment about somebody not being married...think twice.
Anyway, I got a lot to say, I guess. I haven't written in here in awhile. I didn't think I had much to say at the beginning, but now a novel is coming out. We went on a hike last Saturday, we started at Rock Canyon and went up to just to the side of Mt. Y by going around the backside. I really enjoyed the last half...and not just because we were going downhill. It was really scenic and just made me appreciate nature and Heavenly Father's little blessings He gives us. I felt that last night too. To be blessed with somebody like Emily just amazes me--it just puts me that much more in debt to Him for his countless blessings.
It's looking like Mitt Romney will probably be the VP choice. That'll be good for him. He really is a good choice and hopefully it'll help him for 2012. I really don't think McCain has a chance against Obama, which is really unfortunate cause Obama will be a really bad president. He is the most liberal candidate ever and it's unfortunate that the Dems will have a hey day with him as prez.
Ok, so we planted a bunch of flowers in an inflatable pool in front of my apartment. They are sort of coming along. They haven't budded yet, so you can't see the actual flowers yet, but the green stems and leaves are definitely there. The poor sunflowers- I don't think they'll grow much more because the soil is really shallow. We planted pumkins, watermelons, cauliflowers, and cantelopes all over campus. Most of them have been picked and what not but we have one hope left with some pumpkins. They're growing quite nicely on the path on the hill south of campus. I really hope they grow all the way so we can throw pumpkins off a bridge.
Summer is really fun- a lot of frisbee, swimming, hiking, biking, traveling, anything and everything. I love it here.
Lately I've gotten quite a few comments on here and questions about who this girl is in a lot of my pictures. Well...this is Emily. We've been friends since October 2006 when we first talked about all the good drinking fountains on campus. We played steal the flag once, I put my arm around her so that we would be disguised as a couple as we walked to the enemy side. We went to a basketball game once which was our first date. After that we didn't do much with each other for the spring and summer. I was back home during the fall semester, but I came out with some friends and I made sure to hang out with her. We played werewolves with friends and it was fun. I moved back to Provo in January 2008 and I ran into Emily on campus, but we were both talking on the phone so we couldn't chat. We hung out a couple times, playing football in the snow or playing werewolves. I started liking her again but still thought that I never really had a chance. But something happened, something big...she silly stringed me as I was coming out of Del Taco. Oh the games. Still though, I was nervous to take her out. Then something else happened...we played Battle UNO and she rested her arm on my knee. Oh the games. So I asked her out for what I called a wicked cool date. A year ago I wanted to take her out after our first date and do a choose your own adventure date. I even planned it out but never got to it. So I decided to do it again. A couple hours before the date I discovered a new talent- sounding like the singer Aaron Neville, "And I don't know much." Gavin said he would give me $3,000 if I would talk like Aaron Neville for the whole date. I thought about it on the car ride over, but I thought that it was possible that I could mess up a good thing by doing that. I told Emily on the date about the bet and she was disappointed I didn't do it. $3,000 would have been nice, but we both agreed that the date was worth more than that. I can't remember all the options she had for the first part of the date, but because it was hard for her to choose which adventure to do, I gave her the option of phoning a friend. Carrie Robinson decided that we should play basketball. So we played bball and beat another couple at the RB. And that's when I knew she was a keeper...lol. For the next adventure she chose finding a recipe online and making it over begging for food, a bonfire, Chinese food, or the Movies 8 snackbar. That brought her to final stage which was to play UNO at the H-fac. We ended up talking instead of playing, it was easier to talk with me because I was Kasey and not Aaron Neville.
And from there, ladies and gentlemen, the rest is history. I honestly don't know how the last 4 1/2 months could have been any better. I have never had so much fun with another person, never been able to talk with anyone else like I can with Emily, never felt so "wanting to be a better person" than I do when I'm with her. I think of the 'perfect girl' and she is it. During the 4 1/2 months we've dated, each day I came to like and then love her more and more. Each day I realized more and more that I could not live without her and that she is "the girl of my dreams."
Yesterday, June 30th, I asked her to marry me and she said 'Yes.' I woke up yesterday knowing that it would be the last "normal" day of my life. We've of course talked a lot about getting married and pinky swore that we would. She knew I wanted to marry her and I knew she wanted to marry me. But I wanted to surprise her. Me and Emily had this inside thing that we would write out dreams and then try hard to dream it and meet up in our dreams. Well she wanted to dream that we would play PIG w/o the honor, we would go on a convertible ride through the mountains, we would watch the sunset on a beach, and then we would dance on the beach under the stars and moonlight. So yesterday she was studying and I got her to take a break, we went and shot hoops and she beat me in PIG w/o the honor, and then I surprised her with a convertible and took her away. I thought she would know what was going on when she saw the convertible, but turns out she didn't. We drove the Alpine Loop in the mountains and forests behind Mt. Timp...it was gorgeous- just perfect. We drove through Provo Canyon to Deer Creek Resevoir and parked on the beach and danced under the stars and moonlight. I try to get to bed by 10:30 everynight so we started going home but we wanted to go to "our spot" along the river. We went there and we "found" a dozen roses. I started kneeling on one knee and started pulling out a ring box, but "accidentally" got it caught on my jeans and then somehow threw it into the river. I tried convincing her that I was freaked out and she was freaked out for a couple seconds too but then thought it was all a joke until I completely surprised her with the real ring in my right pocket. I asked, she agreed...and then almost passed out. Ha, poor Emily, she didn't get much sleep the night before and gave blood that day but gave more than a pint because they kept having problems and blood squirted onto her shirt and stuff. She was pretty nautious and light-headed and then this about did her in. But it was perfect. We told our families, then enjoyed the convertible some more, cruisin, picked up some friends, and enjoyed our "engagement night" together. So that is Emily everyone. My favorite person in the world, my bff (best friend forever), mi amiga (?), my fiancee! I showed a lady at work a picture of us two and she simply commented that she can tell we are best friends. We are...and more.
Anyway, sorry if this is mushy and stuff. I actually don't like it too much when people talk about little things their significant others do for each other because it is just a "them" thing and the world doesn't need to know about it. I don't imagine ever being this public again about our relationship because it's an "us" thing. Can't promise anything and I apologize if I slip. But I am very happy and excited. It's been a fun and rough ride. Dating is the worst and the best. The past 4 1/2 months have been simple the best, but there was a lot of worst before that. I'm not sure what it was...but a lot of close family and friends have made fun of me for not being married. It's unfortunate that our Mormon culture is like that and that people carelessly make you feel bad for something that you really have no control over. I'm sad to say that I'm not exempt from making careless comments either. But it's a normal and sad thing to equate your self-worth with your dating success. It's unfortunate that it's like that, because it shouldn't be like that, but it's kind of a negative consequence that comes about from all the talk about families/dating/marriage, etc. It's sad, but I used to kind of believe that I must have been a bad missionary because I wasn't married. That was a long time ago that I felt that, but members of the Church are really good at making you feel unrighteous for not being married, and sometimes it can be a completely harmless comment where you simply mention marriage. Some people probably need those comments but for most of the people I've been around, the comments really aren't needed, even if it's joking. Ummm, so yeah, I'm not meaning to make anybody feel bad for saying stuff like that to me, I'm fine, but if you're ever thinking about making a comment about somebody not being married...think twice.
Anyway, I got a lot to say, I guess. I haven't written in here in awhile. I didn't think I had much to say at the beginning, but now a novel is coming out. We went on a hike last Saturday, we started at Rock Canyon and went up to just to the side of Mt. Y by going around the backside. I really enjoyed the last half...and not just because we were going downhill. It was really scenic and just made me appreciate nature and Heavenly Father's little blessings He gives us. I felt that last night too. To be blessed with somebody like Emily just amazes me--it just puts me that much more in debt to Him for his countless blessings.
It's looking like Mitt Romney will probably be the VP choice. That'll be good for him. He really is a good choice and hopefully it'll help him for 2012. I really don't think McCain has a chance against Obama, which is really unfortunate cause Obama will be a really bad president. He is the most liberal candidate ever and it's unfortunate that the Dems will have a hey day with him as prez.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Pictures of You, Pictures of Me
Such a funny picture
Hoover Dam
Vegas
The happiest place in the world!
Splash mountain with zombie faces
I honestly thought I'd pull it out this time
Graduation!!!!!
My building - the SWKT
Such a funny picture
Hoover Dam
Vegas
The happiest place in the world!
Splash mountain with zombie faces
I honestly thought I'd pull it out this time
Pirates of the Caribbean or Indiana Jones
Graduation!!!!!
My building - the SWKT
The stole makes a good tie
I am a graduate, like my father before me
I am a graduate, like my father before me
Moving
Leaving PP8 like we came in, minus Bravin, the gorlock and guitars
Leaving PP8 like we came in, minus Bravin, the gorlock and guitars
Baseball
Wheelchair basketball
Gosh, we should have totally done it. Drawn stashes on people as they are frozen in the flash mob
A sighting of Elder Kaiser
General Conference
Zombie faces
Bike riding
Freaky
Leaving the Festival of Colors
Don't worry, I got her pretty good too.
A sighting of Elder Kaiser
General Conference
Zombie faces
Bike riding
Freaky
Leaving the Festival of Colors
Don't worry, I got her pretty good too.
Awwwww, poor baby
I always like doing these type of pictures
Taking a picture of Em's building, the Widtsoe from my building, the SWKT
I've decided that McCain isn't such a bad guy. I mean I disagree with a lot of policies and stuff, but this article: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080508/D90H5S3O0.html convinced me that he's at least a good guy.
Taking a picture of Em's building, the Widtsoe from my building, the SWKT
Playing frisbee on top of the SWKT.
I've decided that McCain isn't such a bad guy. I mean I disagree with a lot of policies and stuff, but this article: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080508/D90H5S3O0.html convinced me that he's at least a good guy.Saturday, May 03, 2008
I still need to write more in here about stuff. Real quick, me and my professor have been running statistical tests all morning on the data and we have found a POSITIVE CORRELATION. Here's what he said:
"good news! i plugged in the basic numbers from Table 1 in the paper and did a chi^2 test, which is the right test to compare cross tabs, and it shows a very strong statistically significant relationship. i don't know if the formatting will change, but the table is pasted in below. note that the probability is Pr=0.000, which means we can reject the null hypothesis. so this is *very* good news. even without dropping the gleditsch and ward cases, there is a statistically significant relationship. we should still think about how we can explain the deviant cases, but statistically, we're ok. . tab var1 var2, chi var2 var1 0 1 Total-----------+----------------------+---------- 0 61 15 76 1 53 58 111 -----------+----------------------+---------- Total 114 73 187 Pearson chi2(1) = 20.0414 Pr = 0.000"
"k, i just did the chi^2 test with the table you sent and the results match perfectly with what i did (i essentially created fake data derived from the aggregate numbers you gave me). so this is great news. we definitely have a story to tell. next steps: 1. do a SSCI search for Owens/Straus2. figure out an option for the riot and protest data"
LOL, I feel so grown-uppy, political scientist-ish.
Um, so when we were taking pictures last week, a guy from the Salt Lake Tribune took a picture of me and it's in their BYU graduation slideshow:
http://166.70.44.68/multimedia/2008/byu_graduation/
Here's a picture of me and Kayla. She's graduating elementary school and I'm graduating college. When I graduated high school, she graduated kindergarten and so we got a cute picture, this picture was more a reenactment of that pic. Maybe I'll graduate law school or grad. school when she's graduating high school. If ya click on the pics, you can see them closer up.
Lol, yeah:
"good news! i plugged in the basic numbers from Table 1 in the paper and did a chi^2 test, which is the right test to compare cross tabs, and it shows a very strong statistically significant relationship. i don't know if the formatting will change, but the table is pasted in below. note that the probability is Pr=0.000, which means we can reject the null hypothesis. so this is *very* good news. even without dropping the gleditsch and ward cases, there is a statistically significant relationship. we should still think about how we can explain the deviant cases, but statistically, we're ok. . tab var1 var2, chi var2 var1 0 1 Total-----------+----------------------+---------- 0 61 15 76 1 53 58 111 -----------+----------------------+---------- Total 114 73 187 Pearson chi2(1) = 20.0414 Pr = 0.000"
"k, i just did the chi^2 test with the table you sent and the results match perfectly with what i did (i essentially created fake data derived from the aggregate numbers you gave me). so this is great news. we definitely have a story to tell. next steps: 1. do a SSCI search for Owens/Straus2. figure out an option for the riot and protest data"
LOL, I feel so grown-uppy, political scientist-ish.
Um, so when we were taking pictures last week, a guy from the Salt Lake Tribune took a picture of me and it's in their BYU graduation slideshow:
http://166.70.44.68/multimedia/2008/byu_graduation/
Here's a picture of me and Kayla. She's graduating elementary school and I'm graduating college. When I graduated high school, she graduated kindergarten and so we got a cute picture, this picture was more a reenactment of that pic. Maybe I'll graduate law school or grad. school when she's graduating high school. If ya click on the pics, you can see them closer up.
Lol, yeah:
Friday, May 02, 2008
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.
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.
-It's about time to buy a jet ski and a scooter.
-Those Dems, Obama is having HUGE problems.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, January 07, 2008
"Tongue hangin out of your head and you was swimmin"
Ok...where to begin. It was a good Christmas and a good New Year's day...a good bowl season, good times with family, but the caucuses weren't that great. I was so busy last week with running packets to precinct captaings all over Pottawattamie and Crawford counties, making a ton of phone calls, organizing volunteers, etc. We had about 20 volunteers from Colorado come in, 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Oklahoma, and 1 from Alabama. It was a really fun week actually. It was actually a really fun week, I was so pumped about the caucuses. There were about 5 precincts at the site we went to, so it was pretty big. The Ron Paul people sat in one section, the Fred Thompson people sat in another, and the rest of us were on the opposite side. We had two huge Mitt Romney signs and we gave stickers to people as they came in. It was fun seeing friends, family members, church members, and old friends at the caucus. We did our best to get the crowd into it, the Ron Paul people kept on chanting for their guy so I started our side (it was mostly Romney people) up with a Romney cheer. The back and forth was fun, there were a couple of Romney fanatics...I was just glad they were on our side. We basically rocked the caucus. Because ours was so big we didn't get to vote until like an hour into it. By then a lot of people had called me telling me that Romney won their precincts. Things were looking really good, and then we voted. Romney-74, Huckabee-31, Thompson-20, McCain-19, Paul-12, Giuliani-9, and Hunter-1. I wish I would have known who the Hunter guy was. So everything was going well until I heard that they had already called it and Huckabigot won. I was pretty disappointed because from our perspective, Romney dominated. And Romney did dominate Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie county. So we all did our part. So yeah, I was pretty disappointed Friday and then Rush Limbaugh spoke right to me. He said, "conservatives do not look to other human beings for answers to improve their lives." He went off on how conservatism is different than liberalism and populism. Ya know, he has an excellent point. We make our own futures, not others. We do not look to politics for answers. It was a good back to the basics lesson.
This week has been just awesome! Man I love school! I'm sad that this is my last semester cause there are too many classes I wish I could take, too many books I wish I could read, too many languages I wish I could learn, and too many friends up here I wish I could spend more time with. It's been a great chillin with roommates and friends and just having fun. This semester will be unprecedented, there's no precedent baby!
I got in an accident last week. It was a windy day in Wyoming, a few accidents off the side of the road, so I took off cruise control, I hit a patch of black ice, and while I was skidding around I hit a mile marker. This little mile marker did huge damage to Trichy and she might not make it. She might be totaled. It's too bad I didn't roll it, that would have sounded cooler and more of a reason for it to be totaled. In my defense, the tow truck guy said that's the worst stretch of interstate in Wyoming. So whenever I drive by mile marker 138, I'll always slow down and remember the time I owned it and took it out completely. Sure I was a little shaken up, but ya know, that's life. Things like that happen. Colby's car, Trichy, pretty much kicked my trash that day. She wouldn't open the little door to the gas tank, a big ole piece of rubber was hanging down in the front, and some semi-truck guy nearly ran me off the side of the road. That was kinda scary cause there wasn't anywhere else I could go so I was prepared to just take it. I sped off when he let me and saw a big ole lit cross where his headlights were. He almost sent me to meet my maker. So there aren't too many good things that come out of wrecking your parents' car, but the insurance is paying for a rental car. It's a 2008 Toyota Prius Hybrid. It's a pretty sweet car. It's very high tech and kinda confusing. The other night it took us 10 minutes to figure out how to even start the car to go to Del Taco. That was unprecedented. Man I love Del Tacos! That phrase is not.
I got my first ever fillings last week. It really isn't that bad letting the dentist work on your teeth if she's hot. Don't worry, she didn't have a ring on so I can say stuff like that.
"Another filling?...oh please, go right ahead, I don't mind."
In talking about Israel's control over Palestinian land, Bush called it an occupation. That is huge I think! I've never heard a U.S. President use those words. He's really pushing for a Palestinian state by the time he leaves office. I really want there to be peace in the Middle East, but the part of me that is familiar with Second Coming prophecies really doubts things will get better before they get worse.
I'm hoping I can make a big announcement on my blog soon, but I'll probably have to wait until March. Things could change after all. But I'm really hoping they don't.
This will be a fun semester, it's fun being back.
This week has been just awesome! Man I love school! I'm sad that this is my last semester cause there are too many classes I wish I could take, too many books I wish I could read, too many languages I wish I could learn, and too many friends up here I wish I could spend more time with. It's been a great chillin with roommates and friends and just having fun. This semester will be unprecedented, there's no precedent baby!
I got in an accident last week. It was a windy day in Wyoming, a few accidents off the side of the road, so I took off cruise control, I hit a patch of black ice, and while I was skidding around I hit a mile marker. This little mile marker did huge damage to Trichy and she might not make it. She might be totaled. It's too bad I didn't roll it, that would have sounded cooler and more of a reason for it to be totaled. In my defense, the tow truck guy said that's the worst stretch of interstate in Wyoming. So whenever I drive by mile marker 138, I'll always slow down and remember the time I owned it and took it out completely. Sure I was a little shaken up, but ya know, that's life. Things like that happen. Colby's car, Trichy, pretty much kicked my trash that day. She wouldn't open the little door to the gas tank, a big ole piece of rubber was hanging down in the front, and some semi-truck guy nearly ran me off the side of the road. That was kinda scary cause there wasn't anywhere else I could go so I was prepared to just take it. I sped off when he let me and saw a big ole lit cross where his headlights were. He almost sent me to meet my maker. So there aren't too many good things that come out of wrecking your parents' car, but the insurance is paying for a rental car. It's a 2008 Toyota Prius Hybrid. It's a pretty sweet car. It's very high tech and kinda confusing. The other night it took us 10 minutes to figure out how to even start the car to go to Del Taco. That was unprecedented. Man I love Del Tacos! That phrase is not.
I got my first ever fillings last week. It really isn't that bad letting the dentist work on your teeth if she's hot. Don't worry, she didn't have a ring on so I can say stuff like that.
"Another filling?...oh please, go right ahead, I don't mind."
In talking about Israel's control over Palestinian land, Bush called it an occupation. That is huge I think! I've never heard a U.S. President use those words. He's really pushing for a Palestinian state by the time he leaves office. I really want there to be peace in the Middle East, but the part of me that is familiar with Second Coming prophecies really doubts things will get better before they get worse.
I'm hoping I can make a big announcement on my blog soon, but I'll probably have to wait until March. Things could change after all. But I'm really hoping they don't.
This will be a fun semester, it's fun being back.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Fa la la la la la la LAA
Yesterday I watched Rigoletto, reminded me of something about 10 years ago. Me and Colby found out that this girl in Rigoletto, Natalie Hill, my age roughly, also was in a children's primary songs video as a little girl. Colby thought she was cute in that video, and I thought she was cute in Rigoletto. I'm pretty sure that's been the case in our family where two of us brothers fought over the same girl.
Ya know what, I think I'm going to try to graduate in April. Eh, why not?
Yesterday I watched Rigoletto, reminded me of something about 10 years ago. Me and Colby found out that this girl in Rigoletto, Natalie Hill, my age roughly, also was in a children's primary songs video as a little girl. Colby thought she was cute in that video, and I thought she was cute in Rigoletto. I'm pretty sure that's been the case in our family where two of us brothers fought over the same girl.
Ya know what, I think I'm going to try to graduate in April. Eh, why not?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Chiasmus
Do you ever say something and then really wish you hadn't said that? That happens all the time with me.
I'm getting really good at biking without hands after practicing everyday biking to work and then back home.
This week is the family reunion, I'm really excited to see everyone. I haven't seen some family members since before my mission.
When my kids want to read my journal or something I'll just tell them to go to my blog.
Can life get any better than 4-player MarioKart 64 Battlemode?! I think not.
K I know I've set a goal like this before, but I am really running a marathon in Sioux City in mid-October. Registration fee is a killer- $50. I'll be sure to write in here when I've paid, cause that means I am definitely committed.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love life? Seriously folks, it's gweat. I really am loving the uncertainty part about it more and more. There are so many exciting things to do and be a part of. I love how the Gospel makes life so much more certain. That certainty makes the uncertain more certain and makes you free.
There is a girl Kasey Beck somewhere out there that is stealing my thunder. I googled my name and she's winning all these athletic awards and what not. She must be in high school cause all these things are really recent. Google used to just show like 4 or 5 entries. Now my high school football stats are kicked to like the 3rd page. A couple blog entries have my name too so I might be mentioning my full name more often in my blog so I can get more internet space. Maybe someday she'll google her name and see my blog and read this very entry about her.....cool. Hopefully she'll leave a comment.
My family will be here all next week. We're going jet skiing. Jet skiing can be a spiritual experience.
I'm going on a biking trip sometime...if anybody wants in let me know.
It kind of REALLY bites that we're not perfect and make mistakes. Ya know we really need to be ourselves, cause that's who we are. But we also need to always be improving ourselves, cause that's what life is about.
Do you ever say something and then really wish you hadn't said that? That happens all the time with me.
I'm getting really good at biking without hands after practicing everyday biking to work and then back home.
This week is the family reunion, I'm really excited to see everyone. I haven't seen some family members since before my mission.
When my kids want to read my journal or something I'll just tell them to go to my blog.
Can life get any better than 4-player MarioKart 64 Battlemode?! I think not.
K I know I've set a goal like this before, but I am really running a marathon in Sioux City in mid-October. Registration fee is a killer- $50. I'll be sure to write in here when I've paid, cause that means I am definitely committed.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love life? Seriously folks, it's gweat. I really am loving the uncertainty part about it more and more. There are so many exciting things to do and be a part of. I love how the Gospel makes life so much more certain. That certainty makes the uncertain more certain and makes you free.
There is a girl Kasey Beck somewhere out there that is stealing my thunder. I googled my name and she's winning all these athletic awards and what not. She must be in high school cause all these things are really recent. Google used to just show like 4 or 5 entries. Now my high school football stats are kicked to like the 3rd page. A couple blog entries have my name too so I might be mentioning my full name more often in my blog so I can get more internet space. Maybe someday she'll google her name and see my blog and read this very entry about her.....cool. Hopefully she'll leave a comment.
My family will be here all next week. We're going jet skiing. Jet skiing can be a spiritual experience.
I'm going on a biking trip sometime...if anybody wants in let me know.
It kind of REALLY bites that we're not perfect and make mistakes. Ya know we really need to be ourselves, cause that's who we are. But we also need to always be improving ourselves, cause that's what life is about.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
W-A-B-A
I'm liking my job, it's fun doing so much with Dutch and getting a taste of German too. We reached our 2nd quarter goals so they took us to see Transformers last Monday. That's a pretty good movie. So is the 5th Harry Potter movie. Tons of us went to the midnight showing even though we all had to be up early the next morning. We all went to different theaters and then had a after-the-movie get together in the T of Park Place and talked about it. Our theater was really fun, everybody and their mom dressed up. People were having wizard duels and everything. I dressed up too, kind of. I bought a Harry Potter tie the week before so I wore that, and P-dub tried her best to draw the scar on my head...ha. I did a pretty sweet parallel parking job at the theater, but it still doesn't compare with the one I did at the wax slides in Omaha before I went to Uganda. There was only a space the size of a fist on both sides of the car between the two other cars. Bret still talks about.
A bunch of us went camping last weekend. I can't remember the last time I've been camping. It's definitely been way too long. After everyone was quiet I just laid there looking at the stars, the tall trees, the moon slowly moving across the sky, feeling that cool breeze, and listening to the trees, birds, and falls in the background. Nature is one big spiritual experience...all the time. The next morning Troy, P-dub, P-trip (Lora), and I hiked all the way up to the top of Mt. Timp. I was wanting to do it since I was in Uganda and was ready to do it by myself, but luckily they came and made it tons of fun. Challenges are awesome. We need good challenges that rough us up a bit every now and then. I love the feeling of accomplishment and seeing results. It was great being at the top and seeing everything. It was Lora's first ever hike. She'd hiked the Y before but Timp is not the Y. There were several really cool parts of the hike, but by far the best two were all the wild flowers along the trail and sliding down the glacier. There were wildflowers of every color. We were always amazed how the mountain just got more beautiful the higher we got. I don't remember the flowers from the first time I hiked Timp about 6 years ago. I also think there was a lot more snow than the first time, probably cause last time we went in August. It was a rush coming down sliding down the glacier, wearing shorts, snow getting everywhere. The first drop was so intense, no one could control their speed at all, we went so fast. It hurt a lot too from the cold snow and rocks sticking out. I'll have to try to put a video on here sometime, it's pretty sweet.
Oh the games...I love them. Sometimes ya hate em, but someday ya know you'll miss em.
We started a Sunday dinner group where we find recipes online and make em on Sundays. I'll be gone the next two Sundays but after that we're going to do Indian, African, and Mong meals...mmmmmm.
Faria is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, it's about time. Of course it hasn't happened yet, but he emailed me and told me August 15th. We found Faria in my second city, Heerenveen. Actually he found us. He had been taught in Portugal but then went back to Angola and really missed the Gospel. We were in a refugee camp one day and he started running toward us asking us to teach him. So we taught him, but he had so many difficulties with the Gospel, coming to Church, everything. He came to Church when I was in Leeuwarden, we had a great talk about everything, so hopefully he'll finally do it. I love that guy.
College would have been so boring without my roommates. Of course I would have probably gotten better grades from having gotten so much more sleep, but I love just chillin and chattin til 3 in the morning. Those have definitely been some of the funnest times too. In the fall we're going to install Skype on Alan's computer so I can still participate when they have those Soviet meetings.
An amazing quote from Elder Scott:
I'm liking my job, it's fun doing so much with Dutch and getting a taste of German too. We reached our 2nd quarter goals so they took us to see Transformers last Monday. That's a pretty good movie. So is the 5th Harry Potter movie. Tons of us went to the midnight showing even though we all had to be up early the next morning. We all went to different theaters and then had a after-the-movie get together in the T of Park Place and talked about it. Our theater was really fun, everybody and their mom dressed up. People were having wizard duels and everything. I dressed up too, kind of. I bought a Harry Potter tie the week before so I wore that, and P-dub tried her best to draw the scar on my head...ha. I did a pretty sweet parallel parking job at the theater, but it still doesn't compare with the one I did at the wax slides in Omaha before I went to Uganda. There was only a space the size of a fist on both sides of the car between the two other cars. Bret still talks about.
A bunch of us went camping last weekend. I can't remember the last time I've been camping. It's definitely been way too long. After everyone was quiet I just laid there looking at the stars, the tall trees, the moon slowly moving across the sky, feeling that cool breeze, and listening to the trees, birds, and falls in the background. Nature is one big spiritual experience...all the time. The next morning Troy, P-dub, P-trip (Lora), and I hiked all the way up to the top of Mt. Timp. I was wanting to do it since I was in Uganda and was ready to do it by myself, but luckily they came and made it tons of fun. Challenges are awesome. We need good challenges that rough us up a bit every now and then. I love the feeling of accomplishment and seeing results. It was great being at the top and seeing everything. It was Lora's first ever hike. She'd hiked the Y before but Timp is not the Y. There were several really cool parts of the hike, but by far the best two were all the wild flowers along the trail and sliding down the glacier. There were wildflowers of every color. We were always amazed how the mountain just got more beautiful the higher we got. I don't remember the flowers from the first time I hiked Timp about 6 years ago. I also think there was a lot more snow than the first time, probably cause last time we went in August. It was a rush coming down sliding down the glacier, wearing shorts, snow getting everywhere. The first drop was so intense, no one could control their speed at all, we went so fast. It hurt a lot too from the cold snow and rocks sticking out. I'll have to try to put a video on here sometime, it's pretty sweet.
Oh the games...I love them. Sometimes ya hate em, but someday ya know you'll miss em.
We started a Sunday dinner group where we find recipes online and make em on Sundays. I'll be gone the next two Sundays but after that we're going to do Indian, African, and Mong meals...mmmmmm.
Faria is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, it's about time. Of course it hasn't happened yet, but he emailed me and told me August 15th. We found Faria in my second city, Heerenveen. Actually he found us. He had been taught in Portugal but then went back to Angola and really missed the Gospel. We were in a refugee camp one day and he started running toward us asking us to teach him. So we taught him, but he had so many difficulties with the Gospel, coming to Church, everything. He came to Church when I was in Leeuwarden, we had a great talk about everything, so hopefully he'll finally do it. I love that guy.
College would have been so boring without my roommates. Of course I would have probably gotten better grades from having gotten so much more sleep, but I love just chillin and chattin til 3 in the morning. Those have definitely been some of the funnest times too. In the fall we're going to install Skype on Alan's computer so I can still participate when they have those Soviet meetings.
An amazing quote from Elder Scott:
Your peace of mind, your assurance of answers to vexing problems, your ultimate joy depend upon your trust in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Remember an unfailing, continual, ever-present source of peace and comfort is available to you. It is the certainty that your Father in Heaven loves you no matter what your circumstance, no matter what winds of trial, turmoil, or tribulation whirl about you. That certainty will never change. Your ability to access that support depends on the strength of your faith in Him and in His certain willingness to bless you.
Pictures:
This was in Gulu, we went to Noah's Ark, a place where orphans and street kids spend the night. It was funny cause the electricity was out and it was really dark out so we couldn't see each other, and then we took this picture and we could see what each other looked like. Kids there are fascinated with white skin, look at the kid touching my hand.
Albert, from Ghana and Cynthia, from China. A couple I taught . They are going to the Temple in October. I've never seen anyone who knows the scriptures like he does.
When you graduate in Holland, they put out a Dutch flag and your backpack.
Haha, this guy is awesome. One of my first days there he stopped me and asked if I like Liverpool. It took awhile to figure out what he meant, but he told me all about the Liverpool football team and made me a fan. I'd always go by his store and we'd chat. He's a funny guy.
Playing werewolves in our house. Those were some of the funnest games I've ever played.
Me and some Crane School kids. Ok, so Captain Frank is in the front, Honorable Moses is to my right side and Honorable Nsifa is in front, and Farhad (I forgot what he wants to become) is to my left side. Really cool kids, lots of fun with them.
We played Twister for FHE with Sis. Hasifa's family.
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