So many things

The last couple of weeks have been very eventful. Two weeks ago I spent a nice Sunday afternoon/evening with Juje, Matt, Nat, and Hayley as we drove down to Highland to celebrate the third annual Canadian Thanksgiving with McKay and her family. Highlights included Juje naming off every single thing on her plate and explaining why she loved it. Willy Serenading us. Ravoe being quiet because she didn't want us to think she's crazy. Hayley backing up on the freeway. Mostly just spending time with people you care about.
This last weekend I went on a roadtrip with Eric, Nate, and Rhodes to visit Brett in Gilroy CA. Garlic capitol of the world! The drive was ridiculously long. The only things that kept us sane were singing to Rage Against the Machine, holding our breath through the tunnels, watching contained fires that we thought were real, and harassing Eric's girlfriend over the phone. We had a lot of fun with Brett as our guide. There was much laughter and rejoicing all weekend, it was sad to leave Brett behind as we made the trek back to Logan.

On a random side note that's going to tie everything together, today I talked to a girl that I've been interested in for awhile and was told that she sees me as a "good friend". Those are always the exact words you want to hear from a girl you like.
After I talked to her I started thinking a lot about the things upon which we base our happiness. (it always sounds too proper to say it like that but that's how you're supposed to say it) Anyway, I was thinking about how quickly my mood changes based on outside influences. Not that I think it's good to fake happiness all the time but I realized that if I place all my hopes on things like how a first date goes or if my team wins or loses then I will always be manic, going from extreme highs to lows and back again.
In Spanish there are two ways to say "to be" one is a permanent state of being and the other is temporary. I believe that people who are "permanently" happy have learned to place their hopes and trust in more permanent things like God, family, and real friends. I also think that they are able to look at themselves and continually strive to become more, whatever that more is they find ways to constantly grow and improve.
It's just not worth giving up your happiness to indulge in short lived pity parties. Now I know i'll still be bummed when a first date goes bad or the Aggies lose another football game but that sadness doesn't need to make me an unhappy person. It's really all about perspective. If I'm not gonna remember or care about a certain event a year or even a month later then why stress about it now? Life is wonderful! There are so many GOOD things to enjoy in this world! I would love to play the guitar/piano more, write music, read for fun, travel, meet people, find new music, learn new skills, go hiking, play with my niece and nephews, listen to stories from my Grandparents, paint, watch documentaries, volunteer, start writing in my journal again, work out, learn to cook, etc..
It's easy to say there isn't time for things like that, I totally understand that feeling but maybe we just don't prioritize well. If something is important enough to you then you'll find time to do it. Seriously.
Well. i've got to finish this post so I can go read. for fun.

So Long

I was trying to think of a really good title for this post considering it's been over a year since I've blogged.. I realize that the title I chose makes it sound like i'm bidding everyone adieu. That is false. The intended meaning is that it has been such a long time since I've blogged or for that matter sat down and just thought about stuff. It's kind of sad really. I've taken some time to go through my friends blogs that I follow and it's crazy to think of how much has changed. My little brother is home from his mission. Gnomes have moved/married, my best friend is in law school. I moved home and am almost half way through my last year at USU. This year I'm involved with the Student Alumni Association on campus. It's been a lot of fun getting to know a lot of different people.

The past couple of days have been a great time for reflection. I always love being able to watch General Conference. President Uchtdorf's talk on pride was one of my favorites. "We don't discover humility by thinking less of ourselves but by thinking less about ourselves." Also President Monson's talk about gratitude was amazing. "If ingratitude is counted as one of the most serious sins then gratitude takes its place as one of the noblest of virtues."

I know that I can definitely improve on having an attitude of gratitude. I have an incredible family, awesome friends, and I live in such a beautiful place. It's easy to forget what you've got or start to focus on the negative. Brett posted this quote on his blog recently and it's one of my favorite quotes as well. It's from The Alchemist, "every blessing ignored becomes a curse." Another favorite of mine is from a book called The Noticer, "what you focus on increases." I've sure got a long way to go but it's important to enjoy the journey.

I think i'm gonna blog more. I enjoy it

What I Do

To the three followers that I have, I am back. I know, I know, it's been quite some time since i've blogged. I won't try and justify my absence mostly because I can't really think of a good reason except that I haven't made the time. To catch ya'll up on my life I was appointed as the Arts and Lectures Director at USU for next year. I'm really excited about that. The other night I almost burned the gnome home to the ground. Hence the picture of the fireplace.

I threw in a large piece of cardboard and the flames came spilling out as they began to reach for the mantle. It was crazy, Brett kept laughing hysterically, Riana was jumping around the kitchen looking for who knows what. I just stood there with the poker thing waving it back and forth through the flames that were spreading out of control. We had to evacuate because of the smoke, it was ridiculous.
Finals start next week and I've got a lot of papers/presentations due this week. I'm sick of thinking about it so I'm not even gonna go there. Needless to say I am SO excited for this summer. I'm moving into a house with some friends close to campus. It should be good times. I think I'll make a list of things I plan on doing.

-Frisbee Golf/Ultimate Frisbee
-Tennis
-Racquetball/Handball
-Volleyball
-Mt. Biking
-Hiking/Trail Running
-Camping
-Take Pictures
-Rock Climbing
-Temple
-Road Trips
-Music listening/playing
-A-team
-Sell Insurance
-Slack Line
-Havasupai (fingers crossed)
-Kickin it with my peeps
-Making shirts and other various crafts with the gnomes
-Family Reunions
-Random Acts of Service

I'm sure i'm forgetting a lot but that just gives you a taste of my plans for summer. Never Back Down Summer 09!

night-o-fun

Last night I dropped by the home of the gnomes. Riana was performing a beautiful piece on her accordian as she stood next to the christmas tree. There was much joking and laughter as we enjoyed good friends, good music, and a sometimes out of control fire. A few topics of the night were: Where do carrot seeds come from? Have you seen this youtube video? Rum. Thought provoking art. Willy was also a hot topic even though he was right there and could hear every word we were saying. I feel like right here I need to insert a good quote or poem about friendship or the importance of gratitude but I don't have one in mind and I really don't have time to google one either so sufficeth to say, much joy is had when you're spending time with people you care about.

Why are they so small?

This morning on my way to work I heard a loud popping noise. I thought that it might have been my tire but I was going about 65 and my car didn't swerve or anything so I figured it must have been something else. When I started to slow down I knew that the popping noise had definitely come from my car. I parked in my teacher parking stall,(I'm pretty important) got out of my car and sure enough, my back right tire had blown. Luckily my rim was ok even though I had just been driving on it at 65 MPH. I didn't have time to worry about it right then so I just tried not to think about it till I got off. I went out after work and discovered that my spare tire wasn't only the size of a bike tire but it was almost flat. I found a teacher at the school that had an air pump and we filled it to the max. I got a few looks as I walked around the halls with a spare tire under my arm. I replaced the tire, which was easier than I remembered. I had a lady pull up next to me and ask If I needed help. I told her I was very capable of changing my own dang tire. I was nicer about it though, but seriously? She was a nice lady so I shouldn't say anything. Anyway, I think I was more scared driving around on that bike tire of a spare than I was about driving on my rims. Who the H invented spare tires?! Can't they at least make them look kind of like a real tire? I felt like an idiot driving around with that thing on my car! I felt like I needed to park it next to a dumpster or a large tree to hide its hideousness. I shouldn't talk so bad about the little guy, it's not his fault. So I'm calling on all automakers to reform. I know that we're in an economic crisis right now and that all the CEO's are begging for billions of dollars to keep their companies afloat but c'mon guys, how hard can it be to give spares the respect they deserve?

Rock Out

This morning started out by getting the closest free parking spot on the street by the TSC. It was great. It almost made me forget that I was coming to campus to take 3 finals. It didn't take long to remember though. I walked into my first final at 9:30 knowing that the next hour and half was not going to be pleasant. It wasn't. I don't think i've ever left a test knowing for a fact that I had failed it. I didn't even answer half of the questions. F. That's what I got. I guess that's what I get for not studying. But I had done the math and I knew which tests mattered. The next final went a little better. It was multiple choice and I felt pretty good about it. My last final was the one I was most worried about. It was worth 50% of my grade in the class. I had studied quite a bit for it. I went into it not really knowing what to expect. We had never had an in-class test. I sat down and the heaters were blazing, I was already pitting out pretty bad so that didn't help. The final was handed out and I hurriedly glanced over all 12 essay questions. I knew them all. It felt good. Despite the fact that I now have that syndrome in my hands from writing too much I am really happy. Rock Out.

Beautiful Beat

I didn't have work today because it's the end of the trimester for the highschoolers so I had a day off. I was planning on getting up early and working out and then coming up to campus and studying my guts out. That was the plan anyway. I ended up waking up around 11:30 a.m. I had missed a call from the geek squad at best buy saying my camera was ready to pick up. I went there and waited in line for like half an hour just so I could sign a paper and take me camera. whatever. Then I drove up to campus not quite as gung ho (Is that how you even spell that?) to do homework as I had planned on being. But as I parked my car and started walking up to campus I was listening to Nada Surf on my ipod. The song Beautiful Beat was playing and for some reason i just thought, "dang, life is good!" Seriously though, maybe it was the weather or the song or just everything shmooshed together but it just hit me that I have things SO good. For the past little while I've found a lot of things to get upset or down about and that's just lame. There are so many things to be happy about. I think that just loving life for what it is is so important and something I need to remind myself of constantly.