Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Embrace This Day
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Musings of a tired boy
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Er, 4 months of blogging?
I finally got to go camping with Andy's family. I'm rather jealous that he has a great campsite 20 mins away from his house. It was a fun weekend and we shot lots of cans.
On a Sunday drive I, along with 4 others, went for a drive to Tetonia. We stopped along the way a couple of times for pictures. It was a much needed break.
The blurry head is one of my fhe sisters. I don't know which one. I was mostly interested in the mountains, anyhoo. I really want to climb that big mountain.
The view. Almost worth the -20 degree weather in the winter.
And of course i couldn't leave out my fhe sisters. We had a lot of fun even though half of our lessons were spent harassing me.
I made many an excursion to take pictures with dates, friends, and by myself. Photography was my escape from going insane.
My other escape was going to the temple. It has been such a blessing having the temple only 20 mins away if I walked. (only walked twice)
Now seeing how its good ol' Rexburg, there isn't that much to do for fun. You have to get creative. VERY creative. I apologize to those with sensitive dispositions, but you chose to look at this blog, nobody made you. This was an 80's night date that was a lot of fun. It turned into an impromptu dance party that made our manager come up and tell us to be quiet. Ooops?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Life is Good
My teachers seem to be pretty cool and reasonable thus far and I am very happy with the class size because it is a very intimate teaching setting with no class larger than 50 thus far. I think that these teachers may actually CARE about our success, which is a rarity in the rest of the world. I had an interview with one of the Stake Presidency councilors and I’ve been called to serve as (I think) an assistant ward clerk. Or something like that. I figure I’ll just show up on Sunday and they will tell me what they want me to do.
The weather has been thus far-sunny to cloudy and warm to cloudy and cold to crazy intense thunderstorms. I had fun with that last one because I took a friend up out of town to get a spectacular view of the fireworks. Right now its windy and rainy and I have discovered that my brown shoes are not water tight anymore. You learn something new every day here!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Beginnings and Endings
The end of one thing is the start of another, or so some random person once said. Maybe not a random person, but i just don't have the desire to look it up. As I come to the end of this particular chapter of life, I find myself reflecting on the past two years and what has transpired. It seems somewhat unreal to think back on how many amazing experiences I have had. All of which has led to who I am today in one way or another. I had very specific goals that I have been working on and it has been very rewarding to see some personal growth. I've got a long way to go still (everyone does) but I feel like I've finally accomplished what I set out to do before I went to the temple with someone.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Mountains to Lakes
It was slightly hazy still, and the moon was out so the stars weren't really visible but we still shot away and got some pretty coolish pictures anyway.
Today we met at Donely Park in Turlock, after work, to feed the ducks and geese and boy did Jake enjoy that! His throw with saltine cracker was somewhat short but the people-friendly birds seemed to do alright.
The crackers in the water did more than just attract birds... fish! This is a shot I got of a fish trying to get the cracker from out of a Mallards beak. Either that or I stumbled on a private moment... awkward. haha
We had a good time playing around the lake and then the others went to the playground for a bit so it turned out well. I went to visit less-actives and was successful (YES!!) while the ABSs packed up and left for Riverside. In fact they should be somewhere around Bakersfield right now... Anyhoo, the next family on the list is the Haymonds in 3 weeks! Woot!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
My Family
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Cali isn't so bad in the spring
After a yummy lunch with egg-shaped sugar cookies we decided to head back down the mountain and check out the cemetery. Before we left we stopped and snapped a couple of shots of the beautiful view from the top.
As we got near the cattle gate, Bessy the cow decided that she didn't care for us much. She (a fatty fatty cow) first climbed up onto the road we were walking on and stared us down. When that didn't stop our advance she retreated to higher ground and proceeded to give us the most evil cow-eye I have ever seen. Evil cow!
We survived that encounter and made it to the cemetery. We noticed the "catalog shoot" (liars) had moved locations and we attributed that to them realizing that we were onto them... The cemetery was pretty cool but also sad because the majority of the people buried there were just kids... Came across a "Davies" there and I have been meaning to ask Emily if she is distantly related or something. From there we hustled back down to the parking lot and sped towards the exit. I kid you not, the park ranger came and locked the main gate about 30 seconds after we made it out. That was CLOSE. haha We headed back to esaclon and watched "New in Town" and spent the rest of the evening talking to each other with a Minnesotan accent. Not gonna lie, it was hilarious at the moment. haha Made it back to the house about 10 minutes before Adam and Liz arrived, and then crashed after a very fun, adventurous, eventful, awesome day. :)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Manresa Beach... was awesome!
For our regional YSA activity the Merced ward organized a beach trip. In winter. Yeah. On Friday the weather was bleak, gray, and very wet. However come Saturday morning, the weather was GORGEOUS. Got to Manresa about 12:30 and there were about 15 of us there in total. Turns out that the beach was really warm- warmer than the valley was that day. So unfortunately for everyone else on the beach, I felt like going for a run up and down the beach. Felt SO good. When I got back from my exercise, there was about 40 of us there so we started to play games. Made some new friends- Monique and Chantal, (pictured above- i already knew scott) and had a blast playing catch with a football.
Lunch was pretty decent, and you could not have asked for a more beautiful day. I went on several more walks accompanied by friends and I just had an all-around good day. :) The sunset was spectacular and its a good thing that I listened to Monique about getting my camera because I woulda regretted that BIG time. My car was packed to the brim with two additional persons and off we went. Made it home by about 9:30, stuffed my face with food, and then hit the hay. Good times!
Ps. I am no longer pasty white!!
Friday, March 12, 2010
My Passion
Since creating this blog, I have found that I feel a greater desire to share thoughts and feelings that normally I might just keep to myself. I guess its a good thing to see my thoughts written out because its like I am learning more about me.
Music is such a powerful thing to me. I know some individuals that music is practically meaningless to them and I just can’t relate to them in that sense. Take a powerful conference talk, put it to some beautiful music, and the message seems to grow in intensity. Take a miserable day and go for a drive or a walk listening to a favorite song and the world’s problems seem to melt away. Take a boy who is excited for the future and give him a moving and passionate score to listen to and his feelings become all the greater. Music is such an integral part of me- I just wish I could create the kind of music that inspires and uplifts others.
I have often mused what it would be like to have a soundtrack to life- every mood or situation would be mirrored by a brilliant score. As I write this, I am listening to a soundtrack that is a personal favorite and I feel motivated to go do something amazing. Its truly remarkable how it can affect me, and often does affect me. I am passionate about music, and life.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Future Looks Bright
Tonight I met with Brother and Sister Rawe to discuss potential careers that I might pursue and find something that I might be good at. We did not arrive at one profession that was "perfect" but I came away with a renewed perspective on life and a "can do" attitude. I feel like I literally can do anything! I finally have the right perspective- I just need to have faith that I will be led to make the right choices for me and for my future family. The gospel is so amazing and its such a wonderful feeling to feel that overwhelming sense of gratitude that just permeates your entire being. I love life. It keeps getting better and better all the time, and I can't even fathom what awesome experiences Rexburg might hold in store for me!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Stress, Fun, and Sun
My weekend started off on a less than ideal note with the car trying to die on me. I spent pretty much the entire afternoon trying to take apart the Pontiac to replace the valve cover gasket which appeared to be leaking. No luck. Not only did I not succeed but I noticed an orange, oily/watery substance in the resonator which led me to believe that perhaps the head gasket was blown. Yipee. I put the car back together and to my much dismay, it ran really rough, and died often. Yipee. So I called Bobby's (the mechanic) and he told me to bring it in Saturday morning. Brought it in, and he pointed out right away that a vacuum hose to the air intake manifold was broken so it wasn't giving the correct amount of vacuum. Sure enough, the car runs really smooth and the repair was only $100 instead of $1000 for a head gasket.
The car even was fixed fast enough for me to run down to Merced (late, of course) to go on an trip with my friend, Joy. AKA "felicity" to some of the fam. haha Our ultimate goal was Yosemite via the 140 but we took a more meandering route that took us to some really pretty places and some awesome vistas. We eventually made it back to the 140 and I must say that I really enjoyed the drive. It was really pretty and followed the Merced river for a ways. The 120 is pretty lame in comparison. Sigh. We went ice skating in curry village for a while (didn't fall ONCE), saw some mormons (a 14 year old wearing a BYU shirt...i asked him haha) and then drove around the park for a bit. We hiked around exploring random places until it started to get dark. At this point we decided to have an impromptu snowball fight that lasted over an hour. When I say "impromtu", I mean she threw a snowball at my face. haha I won. lol Started to drive back to Merced, stopped in Mariposa for some pizza, and then headed back.
Cameron and I had a good conversation on the phone on my drive back to Mo-town (used a headset, so don't worry) and I must say that I am getting REALLY excited to go to school next month! We shot the breeze for a while, caught up on each other's lives a bit, and talked about the near future. Im stoked!!
Woke up this morning to a cloudless sky and the sunlight streaming through my window. Not too shabby. I am looking forward to today seeing how it is Fast Sunday and for an added bonus there is a CES fireside tonight. So the weekend began on a less than ideal note but seems to be getting better and better as it goes. Tomorrow is career counseling with the Rawes (Bob and Kathleen) Im optimistic about what the future holds for me, and it certainly helps my optimism to have a freshly dry-cleaned suit for today! haha Now if you will excuse me, I do believe that I will go and listen to some Mo-tab and pretend like im the conductor. Gotta love it!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light , not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?-Marianne Williamson
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of god. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make and manifest the glory of god that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Clear Skies & Ice Cream Towers
Last night was the first night in a long time that wasn't overcast or raining or something so i grabbed my camera and ran out to the country in an attempt to take a picture that i have been waiting TWO WEEKS to take. I know, my life is SO hard. haha I took about 40 pics, maybe 5 of which i actually liked. I didn't get the "shot" that i had envisioned, but i got a few pretty ones nonetheless.(coolest word ever right there)
From there i ran over to the Ice Cream Co and met up with a bunch of friends and we tackled the La La Palooza (no idea how its spelled). What a mess! From there was a party of the "what if" game, followed by big booty, followed by ninja, followed by signs. Then a SECOND party of pictionary (boys won). Busy, fun night!
In case there may be those wondering why i just blogged about this, its to satiate the demands of those who feel that i have not been keeping up to date with current events. Enjoy!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday Morning Adventure
Today I went on an adventure with a friend in spite of the gloomy weather forecast. We headed out to Knights Ferry and went for a hike. After a failed attempt to locate a geo cache we just started hiking along the river. We passed up the beach that the parentals and I went to the year previous and went to the very end of navigable trail. We made a pretty cool discovery: the Stanislaus river has one pretty wicked rapid right above Knights Ferry. One slip and a bruise later (not me, surprisingly) we started to head back. In fact we pretty much went off roading for a bit while trying to make it back up the bank to the trail. As we made it to the top of the hill the rain hit. HARD. I had brought my rain jacket and an umbrella for just this occasion but after about 2 minutes, it stopped. I was glad it stopped but im not sure that 2 minutes of rain made lugging around that jacket for an hour really worth it. Oh well! The rain held off until I made it home, and is now pitter-pattering against the window. Had a really fun time and didn't die so today goes down in my book as a success.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Journey Continues
This past weekend was a lot of fun, and eventful. I turned a whopping 23 and have officially become the oldest bachelor out of the Slade boys. Don't panic, the ratio of girls to guys at BYU-I is something like 2-1 so im BOUND to find someone who might like old men. On Friday the momma and the poppa and i went down to Riverside to visit Adam and Liz and the boys. We relaxed from our 6 hour drive by hiking Mt. Rubidox and getting a pretty panorama of the city. It was a lot of fun and Liz and Mom blazed the trail while the boys tried to prevent Jake from jumping.