worst blogger ever!!!!

So, probably I am the worst blogger in the world. I haven't blogged in over a month, and yet this month has been full of great things to blog about. The real problem is that the internet at my house has been down for several weeks and I don't seem to want to stay at school long enough to blog all my thoughts on life. Don't get mad at me and know that I will blog as soon as I get a chance... Maybe even tomorrow, cause I don't have to work and I am so excited about that!!! yeah, for me.

Peace out

Patriot's Day

I was going to just keep writing away with the marathon, but I know that some people get discouraged when my entries are so long, so the way to get around this is to just pretend it's a seperate blog... Well, really it is. My aunt, uncle and cousins had the sister missionaries over for dinner and a single mother and her son. It was a delicious dinner and a really fun evening (Remember that I had been sleeping all afternoon, and only woke up for dinner). Well, once the guests were gone and it was just the family sitting around in the kitchen I was pretending to kick my cousin Rylee in the face. Normally I would not be so mean, but lately this girl has got a bug in her and she always punches me and it hurts... Then, the real genious came out in me and I said to her, "I can kick as high as the fridge." So, I prepared myself, got in my stance and kicked my right leg up as high as I could. Sometimes I just amaze myself with power. I kicked so hard that while my right leg was in the air, my left leg lifted off the ground as well. Because I am so athletic, this would not normally have presented a problem for me. However, as my left foot came back down, I realized that I was wearing socks and the kitchen has hardwood floors, I knew I was in for! My left leg slipped out from under me and the rest of my body proceeded to be flung to the ground in disgrace. Yes, the whole family had turned just in time to see me flying through the air as a graceful bird and crashig to the ground. J'etais mort de rire! (I died laughing)! Before I was even totally on the ground my cousins and my aunt were laughing their faces off at me! It was the funniest thing that has happened to me in several weeks. My aunt thanked me for providing the entertainment for the evening and I proceeded back to my room to go to bed before I hurt myself anymore. My right butt cheek is still very tender...hahaha

MARATHON MONDAY

Here in Massachusetts, there is a holiday called Patriot's Day. Every year on Patriot's Day is the annual Boston marathon. A friend of mine from school asked me about a month ago to go with some students and volunteer at the marathon. Of course I said yes, cause I have marathon on my mind, so I knew it would be a great experience to get me motivated! So, my day started when I woke up at 2:36AM. That has got to be the earliest I have ever woken up for reals. Not only was it very early, but we were in the middle of our BIG Noreaster, which had stared sunday morning. It poured and it poured and it poured. Coming from the desert, I just keep thinking in my mind that in 15 minutes it will just stop and the sun will come out. Nope, it kept raining. So, at 3:00 in the morning, and in torrential rains, I drove into Worcester to meet up with my friends. There was so much rain on the highway, that I kept almost hydroplaining, and I frequently had to drive between lanes to avoid the natural divits. We met up with the rest of our group in Boston at our main school campus (which is much nicer and cooler than the Worcester campus). Our job really started once they shipped us to the starting line, which is 26.2 miles west of Boston (imagine that!). Torrential rains continue. I was fortunate to ride on a school bus next to a man from New Hampshire, who had moved his family to SLC to work for a little less than a year. So, we had a really good talk about the church and about our different situations. Him moving out there and me moving out here. It was really cool. Anyway, Sup, Jane, Susan and I were assigned to a bus together. Our objective was to collect the bags of the runners and transport them to the finish line. We put signs up in the windows indicating to the runners which window to drop their bag off at. All attempting to keep things organized. We put the windows down and just before the race, the runners throw their bags at us and run off to the finish line. It was super fun. We were assined numbers 11,000-11,500 and the only problem we had was that for some reason there was no buses with the numbers 10,000-10,999, so all of those runners took it out on us. By the way, torrential rains continued... The runners were freezing, so much so that they could barely close up their bags before giving them to us. I felt so bad for them. But, miraculously, just after the race began, the rain finally let up and it turned out to be a nice day. I hear the wind was still a little strong for the runners (40 mph). We escorted the bags to the finish line via a police escort and we made it just in time to see the first female runners come in!! It was so inspirational!! It got me so pumped up, I just wanted to go back to the starting line and run it myself. (I would probably die, but I really wanted to...). Anyway, it was so much fun and a great experience to wish the runners luck before the commenced their long journey to the line. It was only 3:00 in the afternoon when I got home, which meant I had already been awake for over 12 hours, and once I laid down, I was out...

"He Came for Me"

So, I know that I have been telling people this blog would be up a long time ago, I just haven't had the time to figure out how to blog with video. This is the song that I sang in sacrament for Easter sunday. Melba was nice enough to accompany me, Thanks Melba! I really love music! If I have one passion in life it is music and singing. I have always loved music. My mom and dad both sing very well and taught us how to sing and how to enjoy singing. When I was very young, my mom and her friend started a singing group for kids, "The Quarter Time Kids." Ever since then, I have been singing. Hopefully I will sing until the day I die. I don't think any thing would be harder for me to deal with than losing my physical ability to sing. It has been a huge help and success in my life. What would it be like to drive in my car and not sing at the top of my lungs? What would it be like to not be able to sing in a choir where you can just feel the power of the music? I just can't even imagine... The week leading up to the performance, I was wicked busy with school and super stressed out. So, instead of doing my homework, I would practice this song and it would make me feel more relaxed. Music is the best anecdote for almost any problem! I was really thankful for the opportunity to share what I love with others.

Ooops.... "He Came for Me"

I know that some people will appreciate this. Besides music, I like to laugh and have a good time! Have you ever been ready to say something and it is on the tip of your tongue, but it just doesn't come out like it should? Well, this is that situation, except I happened to be singing and not speaking. The line is "It'd been dark for many days, the storms had taken all we owned..." Well, I wanted to say 'days' but it just wouldn't come out. I had a split-second decision to make. 'hour' 'minute' 'seconds' 'weeks' 'months' and 'years' were all prepared to come out, but not 'days', it was being stubborn. So, logical as I am, I picked the next best thing (obviously years) and tried to keep singing as if nothing was different. It was only when I saw Melba's shoulders bouncing up and down that I could not control myself any longer and the laughter began. Times like these make life so much less complicated...

When did life get so complicated?

I had to write an essay for school 'cause I conditionally passed an essay test, but apparently I need practice. Whatever... Anyway, this thought has been on my mind so I decided to write my essay on it. (Note: don't read this and expect a good essay, just read it for its ideas and content)

When did life get so complicated?

As I got home from a long day at school, I was rushing to my room to put all my things down and relax for a minute. I noticed as I walked past the window that my cousins, whom I live with, were all gathered outside. It was a beautiful spring day and the sun was shining down pure happiness after a long winter. The kids had decided that it was time for a little home-made baseball game, 2-on-2. I looked on, watching them as they hit the ball and ran the bases. They laughed, they fought a little, but they were definitely having a good, carefree time.
I couldn’t help but reminisce of the times in my youth when I would come home from school around 3:00 and have hours to play with my friends. We played baseball, soccer, steal-the-flag and football. We jumped on the tramp, made ramps and rode our bikes off of them. We went to the “Rolos” for some adventurous bike riding. We shot at cans in the backyard. Occasionally, we found ourselves in trouble, but it never took long and we were back at it.
Life has changed so much since then. I go to school all day, I work at CVS, I volunteer tutoring French, I intern at Great Brook Valley Pharmacy, I teach a gospel doctrine class at church, I have choir practice, I have home teaching to do each month and FHE to attend each week. Much of the little spare time I have, I am trying to catch up on my homework that piles up because I have had 47 tests in the last 2 semesters. As if that is not enough, making and keeping friends along with dating can really make things difficult. Bad days, sleepless nights, anxiety, lack of exercise and bad nutrition (mostly just drinking too much Coca-Cola) all start to get to me. The days of the week are never long enough, and the weeks never go by fast enough…
So, as I watched them play baseball, I wondered whether I will ever make it back to those long days of youth: carefree, happy and easy. I dream of such days. Maybe when I am done with school, found my wife, started a family and found the perfect job, I will be in such a dream.

Spring Break

Spring Break 2007

So, last week was my Spring Break, and break I did not do! Everything else I did do... It was an awesome time. After working my butt off for the first 3 days of the week, I drove to the airport to pick-up Sarah for the long awaited "Tour of the East Coast."






















1st stop: New York City- I have never been to New York, so this was very exciting for me. It was freezing cold, so we just kept walking around, not really stopping unless it was in a warm building, like Virgin Megastor, the Empire State Building and the Bread Factory (which we visited twice the same day, delicious)! Since we had not planned anything in particular, we just looked at a tourist map, found the things we wanted to see and navigated to them. Time Square, The Manhattan Temple, Grand Central, Trump Int. Tower, Central Park, The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Ed Sullivan Theater were some of the stops along the way. Most the time I think I am a genius and of course I know everything. So, as we neared the Empire State Building, I was sure to recognize which building it was. The secret is out, I am a total retard. We walked several times passed it until Sarah convinced me that "this" building was indeed it. It turned out to be one of my favorite spots. We rode to the top in awesome elevators that go up 10 floors in 0 seconds and got to look out on the city just after the sun went down. It was cool (in more than one way). After taking a few blurry pics, my fingers were frozen and it was time to get back inside. I surprised Sarah with tickets to 'Les Mis' and it was so amazing. Just makes you want to be a better person and get up sing as loud as you can too! Then it was one more trip through Time Square, which has to be my favorite spot, especially at night when it is so lit up. The next day, we decided to drive in and park in upper Manhattan because the train ride the previous day had proved to be expensive and annoying. This day was dedicated to the sites of the lower portion of the City. We looked on at the World Trade Center site, which was a little dissappointing to me. (For those of you who know me, I have a really hard time with this, cause I was in the MTC during 9/11 and I still feel like I never got to experience it- Thanks to the MTC which pretended it never happened). Anyway, lots of it is blocked off and they have guards up so you can't really get a good view of the pit. The best view I got was from Burger King across the street, where I could look down into it. Its a weird place. We stopped in at Century 21, a massive discount clothing store (totally crowded to the max with people like me who want a good deal). Our last stop was batter park to get a view of the statue of liberty and then our journey to New York was over.





















The next day, we decided to drive in and park in upper Manhattan because the train ride the previous day had proved to be expensive and annoying. This day was dedicated to the sites of the lower portion of the City. We looked on at the World Trade Center site, which was a little dissappointing to me. (For those of you who know me, I have a really hard time with this, cause I was in the MTC during 9/11 and I still feel like I never got to experience it- Thanks to the MTC which pretended it never happened). Anyway, lots of it is blocked off and they have guards up so you can't really get a good view of the pit. The best view I got was from Burger King across the street, where I could look down into it. Its a weird place. We stopped in at Century 21, a massive discount clothing store (totally crowded to the max with people like me who want a good deal). Our last stop was batter park to get a view of the statue of liberty and then our journey to New York was over.

2nd stop: Boston After having a delicious bread bowl of New England Clam Chowder at Quincy Marker, we headed out on the freedom trail to see the sites of the revolutionary war. It was a beautiful day, so we stroled down the streets and did some shopping and just had a fun time! ***** READ THIS: This is my favorite story of the whole weekend. The beautiful saturday walking the streets of Boston was over. We had seen lots of great things, bought some cool souvenirs for Sarah's family and friends. We had the best clam chowder ever in a delightful bread bowl. And now we were on the T (the subway) going back to where I had parked the car, so we could go shopping for a few more things and then get back to my house and relax. We were both exhausted from our travels, but happy none the less and pleased at our vacation. Sarah put her head on my shoulder and we enjoyed the rest of the ride to Alewife, the last stop. When the doors opened, she stood up before me and I could see a big tear on her face that she quickly wiped off, of course. I didn't think anything of it until we were completely off the train and I realized that she was totally crying on the subway. Me, being the sweet guy that I am, says, "Are you crying?" She being the now completely embarassed girl that was when I brought attention to it, says, "No, I'm just wiping my eyes cause I am tired." I almost believed her, but I looked again and it was clear that she had something leaking out of her eyes and from my experience those are usually called tears, associated with crying. Again, I am so sweet, that I said loudly, "Why are you crying?!" "I'm not crying" she replied as she laughed due to her embarassement and as I laughed my head off and continually asked her, "Who does that? Who crys on the Subway?" Now, I will probably never know or understand why she was crying, but clearly it was hilarious that she spontaneously combusted on the subway of all places on the most calm, beautiful, relaxed day there ever was. Finally, about 4 hours later I got her to admit that indeed she did leak a few tears while riding on the subway.






















Thanks for coming to visit me Sarah, it was the best! (Don't cry, it'll be okay)