christmas

i remember growing up, christmas would start so effing early. 7 o'clock was about right. i'm loving christmas more and more as the years go on. a couple years ago we didn't want to worry about waking up early or anything, so we all opened all our presents christmas eve. everything. that was great. this year we decided christmas would happen just whenever everyone woke up. that wasn't until about 1030. but then mom had to run out to our aunt's house and take care of her cats. so really, this was the latest christmas ever, we didn't even begin until about 1130ish. and i was totally fine with that. loved it. i was also totally fine that it wasn't a white christmas. thank goodness it wasn't white. it was 40 degrees with not a hint of snow. grass was still greenish yellow. it was the first christmas in a long time i can remember that we didn't have a fire going in the fireplace, there was no need. it was so warm.
of course the weather in burley doesn't last that long. 2 days later as i was leaving, it was in the 20's and the usual 15-20 mph wind was hawking. yeah, it was brick. to me, burley is paradise. the hot, the warm, the freezing bawls cold. i love it all. every second i'm home reminds me of that. memory after memory floods back, those reminders help too.

nachos, not mine

christmas break, time to completely relax, right? oh, that's being done excellently. The last several days, how do me and the brohas unwind? um, we go to 7/11 or maverick late at night and get us some sodas and nachos. though, i'm reaching my limit. my gut is in a serious coma. waking up sick with a gut ache isn't what i'm wanting. so i'm faced with 2 choices. i can either stop getting these super greasy nachos late at night, or i can continue until i've built up that resistance/tolerance to them. yeah. it's christmas break.

                                     Heaven on Earth, Hell in the Belly

another one down

this semester has finally come to an end. so of course it's time to look back and see all the things i've done/accomplished during that time. and so the list goes on. I...
wrote over 100 pages worth of papers. worked with 2 businesses and their PR campaigns. started this blog! got 5 new pair of shoes ;) Did my own networking efforts. saw two of my favorite bands. traveled...a lot. this semester alone i've been to baltimore, Washington dc, NYC, Idaho (home sweet home), Las Vegas (3 separate times), Los Angeles (love road trips), and there's many more trips lined up for next semester. including another trip back to NYC. another highlight was throwing another kick A columbus day party with the bounce house again. a few different urban camping adventures. had an amazing time with intramural sports this year, our football team was great, and the co-ed "Brothers and Sisters" team was way fun. The best part was watching cheri dominate. I was able to go to the temple almost every week. My goal was once a week, but then school and life got me busy and time was hard to spare. Still, i treasured every time i went. I continued the tradition of hiking Mt. Timpanogos for the third time in as many years. this time with many more people. i was still able to golf several rounds early on in the semester. Something i've been missing for years, until now. I had a mustache. and then it went away, and now it's back.
I think the best part of this semester was just learning. Learning more about others, life, God, and myself. It'd be a complete waste if i hadn't learned anything. An even more waste if i didn't act on the things i've learned.

found when it wants to be

i am under the firm conviction that whenever you lose something, you find it only when that item wants to be found. a couple months ago i lost my chapstick and started looking in every pant pocket i could. nothing. so i just went and bought some new chapstick. a week later i lost that one too. again, i looked everywhere and couldn't find it. so i just settled and knew that they'd both be found when they wanted to be. well, today i put on a pair of slacks for a class presentation, and sure enough there was one of the chapsticks. then, i opened my backpack and saw the other one. i had checked those pants before, and i had been in and out of my backpack several times and saw nothing. this time however, my chapsticks wanted to be found, and sure enough they were.
another instance that proves this is last week Boy was looking for a text book. and frantically looking for it because he needed it bad. after he had looked everywhere for a long while me and tom both told him not to worry. it'd appear when it wanted to. the next morning, there the book lie, right on Boy's desk. on top of everything. and i'm pretty sure Boy had checked that very spot at least half a dozen times.
over the years i've learned to not get frustrated when i lose things. eventually they'll appear. but not until they want to.

center st. and 700 east

right now there's a few things that i really want to do. all been done before, and i've got one of those burning desires to do it again. on my list i've got urban camping, sledding down the deep tunnel up provo canyon, getting some rt. 44 cokes at sonic, going fishing, hiking somewhere, snowshoeing, and traveling. there's gotta be a way to incorporate all of that into something, right?

for those of you blessed enough to have been urban camping, you'll recognize that this is the site. my favorite.
and yes, that is a round-about. perfect for camping.

=w= in L.A.

Okay, besides being with family at home, what better way is there to spend Thanksgiving Break than by going to a couple of Weezer concerts in LA? That's exactly what me tom boy and cade all decided a couple months ago. Weezer is going on their "memories" tour playing their blue album on friday night and their pinkerton album saturday. So we bought our tickets a while back and have been looking forward to these shows this with eager anticipation.
Our journey began thanksgiving night when we left Provo at 1115. We got in cade's car, with me driving and we headed out. Made it all the way to Vegas without stopping. We got there around 3 in the morning, gassed up and then got right back on the road and drove to LA, getting there at 7am. my favorite line of the drive came between vegas and LA, when everyone was getting tired, and boy wanted to prove that he could stay up all night and be fine driving. so he says, "Come on, pass the rock to Boy, and let him prove himself." it was so funny. and eventually we made it. We were all so tired from driving straight through the night that we went to where we were planning to stay (just some girl's place that was a coworker of a friend) and knocked on the door, only to find it locked. After trying to call her and text her and getting no responses, we decided to go hang out somewhere that would be open, the mall. After all, it was black friday. so we went to the mall, only to realize that Arcadia is extremely asian. as we were walking around the place we all felt like giants. i wasn't tipped off at all to how asian it was going to be, because the place didn't smell like fish and fireworks nearly as much as i thought it would. around noon we were able to finally get ahold of the girl we were staying at, and so we went to her place and all just crashed, heavy on the floor for several hours. waking up just in time to go eat and then go to the first night of the concert.

                                        Boy shows ya just how tired we all were.
The show was incredible. It's been two years since i've seen weezer, and it was so good to be back. no kind of substance needed to enjoy weezer. ;)  they definitely know how to perform. the concert got over at midnight, so we went back and slept, and slept alot. none of us even woke up saturday before 1030. that was great, and much needed. we kind of just bummed around watching football and then watched the BYU/Utah heartbreak of a game. Cade had some VIP backstage tickets so we had to drop him off early, and while he was away, me tom and boy went on Brother adventures exploring the city. we went to the hollywood sign and hiked around there watching tourists come through on there segways. classic.

We also hung out downtown around the Chinese theater and saw all those people dressed up as cartoon villains and superheros. i wanted a net gun so i could shoot spiderman. we then decided it was about time we head off to the concert. it's at the Gibson Ampitheatre in universal studios. we were walking towards the venue about an hour early, and saw some old guy watching the gate to universal studios. we thought for sure we'd be able to sneak in, and sure enough we did. so we went on some haunted house terror walk through and then found the simpson's ride and went on that. it was so fun to be there for a brief time enjoying the theme park. Then we went off towards the venue and when we walked through the gate again, we just kind of smirked and said thanks to the old guy watching the gate, that didn't even realize we had snuck in.we then went to the concert and just basked in the sounds of Pinkerton. another great performance. and loved it.

after the show got out at midnight again, we decided it'd be better to cut our drive in half, by driving straight to vegas that night. so we did. again i got behind the wheel and drove to vegas.we got there around 530 in the morning and stayed at a dear friend's house. slept for a few hours and then went to church with her and saw some other dear friends. it was nice to see and talk with the sundell's for a bit. They're just great people. we started hearing warnings about a huge storm tat was going to be coming through, so we wanted to get on the road quick. well, not without stopping at farmbasket first. gotta have those clucketo's and gobblers. so we started driving and had no difficulties getting to st. george. but then it took us 2 1/5 hours to get to cedar city. and another couple hours to get to parawon where we met up with taylor again and when she got her car, i jumped in with her to ride the rest of the way. there were so many effing people on the roads that it was ridiculous. you'd come around a bend and see tail lights as far as the eye could see. and then you'd pass car after car after car that had slid off the road. so many people. or overturned semi's. the roads weren't even that bad, people were just being retarded. the ride home was fun. extremely long, but fun. in all, it took us 9 hours to get home from vegas. leaving there at noon, and getting to provo around 930.
still, so worth it. so worth the crazy drive to see one of God's greatest bands. so worth it to go on these brother adventures that we all enjoy. We've now got to start planning the next trip.

home

i drive the 3 hours to get home, and be there for barely a day. and it's so worth it every single time.
Home is...
joy. accents. taco bandido. the train bridge. the balcony at the burley theater. bountiful basket. steaks, always steaks. pears. the parents. midnight train crossings. business from those you trust. cold, seriously freezing. my ice chamber of a room that i love. first real snow of the year. mavericko. senior petrol. racquetball club. friendly faces. no judgements. freedom. relaxing. couching it. lots of burley smells. familiarity. being recognized. memories.
Home is everything.

spoykin

The other day I pulled one of my favorite sweaters out of the closet. I was eager to wear it, I haven’t worn it in over a year. When I pulled it  out, I noticed the collar was all muffed up and looking flabby. Ever notice how when you hang up a collared shirt or sweater, sometimes it gets all mashed up between other clothes, and when left for a year it’s fold is in the wrong place? Yeah, that just happened. One side of the collar was right where it was suppose to be. The other side was way too high up and not looking good. I couldn’t think of a name for this problem. After asking several people, nobody knew what it was called. So, I’ve decided to call it spoykin. That’s when your collar is not cooperating. It’s “spoykinned” so bad that you just can’t wear it, and the only option you have is to wash it a couple times and then iron the flat fold out. major hassle. not cool.

I.A.P

My guilty pleasure is the Biggest Loser. I learn more about happy living from that program than i do from almost anything else. My secret wish is to someday be on the show, though not really because then that means i'd have become the size and shape of a small city's water tower; and that isn't part of my wish. In this season i've learned something from Brendan, that i've incorporated into my "Individualized Awesomeness Plan." Essentially what he said was that he couldn't love someone else, because he didn't love himself.

This is absolutely true. If you don't love yourself, and love every part of yourself, then when someone comes along loving you, you have these inadequate thoughts and feel insecure. almost as if, "why would this person love me? I'm not that great." You need to be able to love every part of yourself, or at least love that you're working on things. Don't be afraid, it's just love that we're falling in. I love myself, but i don't FULLY love EVERY PART of who i am. there are always things to work on. Things are always changing. CHANGING FOR THE BETTER. And that, I love.

daylight savings...seriously?

all i've been hearing lately is the love for daylight savings time because "it's like you get to sleep in for an extra hour!" ok, great. enjoy that for 1 day, and then you're already adjusted. way to use it on sunday. somehow i can't take advantage of this day. i set my alarm so i could wake up sunday morning at 8:14, yet i just naturally woke up at 7:33 (still a great time, by the way). hmmm, go figure. sure, you get to 'sleep in' an hour, but what about it being dark before you've even had the thought to eat dinner. it's dark when you get out of church. it's dark when you're leaving work or school. I'd gladly give up a couple hours of sleep to keep my days light. what about in a few months when we 'lose' that beloved hour of sleep? can we just go without switching our time. These are my thoughts every single "fall back."

I wish I could stand on a busy corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted hours.That's daylight savings....

kWh

In Utah County it costs 6 cents to run an appliance for 1 kilowatt hour. my air conditioner in my window, when ran for 1 hour, uses 1/2 kilowatts. i run it 4 hours at night when i sleep. that's 12 cents a night. 30 days in a month means my lone a-con is raising our utilities bill by $3.60. Seriously? not a big deal. get over yourself, because yes, i am still pushing the blankets off me with it being 40 degrees outside and my windows left open.

Belated B-Day to Bob Ross

i'd feel like a horrible fan if i didn't wish a belated birthday to bob ross. He is the reason for my sunday afternoon naps for years. i remember coming home from church and, with my brothers, all sprawling out in front of the TV downstairs, turning it to PBS, and watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. His birthday was this past weekend, and i just have to give him a shout out. He would have been 68 this past friday.
              Bless your soft hands for the gentle strokes you mesmerizingly and methodically tickled the canvas. Your soothing voice was like a symphony conductor waving me to sleep. That hair of yours was beyond any 3D seeing magic eye that i could get lost in a trance in. And those powder blue shirts you always wore painted the sky's backdrop to my afternoon nap dreams. Thank you Bob Ross, happy birthday. And may you continue to create those landscapes that induce peace and serenity to the souls of all who gaze upon your canvas.

"I started painting as a hobby when I was little. I didn't know I had any talent. I believe talent is just a pursued interest. Anybody can do what I do."

simple things

The only thing better than leaving town for a few days with a clean house, is coming home to a clean house.

Unfortunately, living with 9 guys, this doesn't happen often...