Everything Noteworthy

Last But Not Least

2010-09-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

I guess I have been a little more attatched to things than most people. I'm not talking about things like, video games or worldy items...(and I'm not a pack rat either. Ug). I guess even simple things like a laundry hamper that you use your whole life seems like part of you. I used everything in here for quite some time. It has a face and a personality. They way the mirror is nailed to the wall always telling me how good I look or (more often) don't look. The way my bed has always been so inviting. The way the light stretches in between the blinds every morning stretching across the orange floor and up onto the wood cabinents. 'Toy Story'-ish. I know these things don't have lives, and I know they don't get out and dance and play when I leave. But I know how they would act if they did. Child-ish...I know. Reailty is cool place, but I wouldn't want to live there (all the time).

But something happens when you take everything down. It's like you took a vaccum and sucked the life out of that room. Naked white walls and clean spotless carpet is like an old bike that just doesn't fit anymore. Sure, you learned to ride on it for the first time, but things change and even though it was the perfect color, it's time to go. So I guess almost two years ago this room was shared. Two boys who fifty percent of the time fought, and fifty percent of the time tackled and laughed and shoved. I guess one was more into the realistic side of things, while the other was constantly laughing and finding new ways to create 'mayhem'. And then he leaves. The room is yours and you feel like a king. There's a single bed and much more space. I guess it was cool for a little while, but I missed him sometimes.

The walls are still a little patchy from nails and what not. Stapled posters of Drum Corps International and photos of friends and families. Taking it down can be a little hollow. I mean...there is nothing there to remind you. I suppose the whole point in putting those things up in the first place could be divided into two reasons.

1. The wall was blank and needed something to dress it.
2. For a reminder. To remind of good times and remind you of what you liked and I guess what your family looked like....if you forgot. If you forgot what your family looks like...well, I don't really have any advice. Except go see a counselor. I could reccomend a great one.

Other things I can't really fit in my luggage let alone use. So I suppose it's going to get two years older with no birthdays and sit in the corner.

Packing for two years is overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited to serve for two years in a country where people have nothing and are happy. So I guess putting everything I will need when I get back (minus clothes) in a 22 gallon tote makes me a feel like I'm doing a little better at not consuming too much stuff and becoming less of a pack rat. It's sad leaving everything I have known. It's more exciting to learn everything and arrive to something I don't know. It's a little fascintating going to a place where I'm not fluent with the language, familiar with the money or know of the customs. I'm going to miss Idaho. I'm going to miss my room. I'm going to miss my siblings. I'm going to miss my best friend. I'm going to miss homemade meals. I'm going to miss a lot... but one thing is for. I wouldn't trade this oppurtunity for the world.

I guess this is my last blog post for a while. Thanks for reading. I know not everyone reads this or even has the time to, but if you do, Thank You.

"Now Woody, he's been my pal for as long as I can remember. He's brave, like a cowboy should be. And kind and smart. But the thing that makes Woody special, is he'll never give up on you...ever. He'll be there for you, no matter what." - Andy

Truth Be Told

2010-09-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been asking me questions lately. Which is fine. I am a pretty social guy I suppose. In high school I felt like I was pretty outgoing and maybe even very social. I felt the need to be unique and 'different'. As soon as I graduated from high school, I also graduated from those feelings. I guess I don't really enjoy attention but I do like people to know my accomplishments. But being put on the spotlight for them makes me uneasy. I can ace a job interview and shake hands and look at people in the eyes. I also deal with cranky customers pretty well too. I'm not shy...I just don't seek attention like I used too. Like I was saying, a lot of people have been asking me questions. Questions that make me go...'really?'.
Let me set one thing straight. Going on a mission is something I have wanted to do my entire life, and outside of marriage, it might be one of the best things I can do for myself and the Lord. So when people say...
"What's the last restaurant you will eat at before you go?" or
"What's the last movie you are going to see before you go?" or phrase question like that, I squirm. Going on a mission will be far more exciting than any movie and restaurant I will ever attend. I am making these sacrifices because I want to serve...not because I'm being dragged into this by my parents. I guess I'm not attached to those like I am to family and friends. Trust me. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe that what I was doing and what I was preaching is right and true. I guess those kind of question throw me off because I am not looking forward to the parties and movies that go with 'pre-mission' activities. Rather, I'm looking forward to getting out in the mission field; teaching people who don't have the recourses to go out to restaurants for fun. People who don't have the luxury of seeing movies, let alone 'one last one'.

So when someone asks me "Jay, what will be the last movie you will rent before you leave?", I guess my answer is this. I could probably care less. I know this is an exciting time for me, but what is more exciting is that I get to spend two years serving the Lord! Yes! I don't want this to sound like something I am being dragged into. For what I have been blessed with, two years is nothing. I'm excited to go to Argentina. I'm not anti-movie or anti-restaurant. If you want to go see a movie or go out the eat with me sometime, let go! Sounds fun. I just would rather not think less about what I can't do and more about what I will be able to do.

I'm excited.

Lyrics I Wish I Wrote

2010-09-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Breathe and I'll carry you away into the velvet sky
And we'll stir the stars around
And watch them fall away into the Hudson Bay
And plummet out of sight and sound

The open summer breeze will sweep you through the hills
Where I live in the alpine heights
Below the Northern Lights, I spend my coldest nights
Alone, awake and thinking of the weekend we were in love

Home among these mountain tops can be so awfully dull
A thousand miles from the tide
But photos on the walls of New York shopping malls
Distract me so I stay inside

I wish the rockets stayed over the promenade
'Cause I would make a hook and eye
And fish them from the sky, my darling, she and I
We're hanging on so take us high to sing the world goodbye

I am floating away, lost in a silent ballet
I'm dreaming you're out in the blue and I am right beside you
Awake to take in the view
Late nights and early parades, still photos and noisy arcades
My darling, we're both on the wing
Look down and keep on singing and we can go anywhere
-Adam Young

Maybe Amazing Things Will Happen

2010-09-20T17:38:00.001-07:00

Maybe it's her daughters birthday. Maybe these blueprints belong to an amazing new building. Maybe she is getting a divorce. Maybe he is copying a resume. Maybe she is frustrated with her insurance company. Maybe they are ordering wedding announcements. Maybe his flash drive has files I would rather not open. Maybe he lost his house. Maybe this book is worth more than the copy machine. Maybe they have a mailbox here just for social interaction. Maybe they don't like the social interaction. Maybe they won't make any money off this. Maybe they will make a lot. Maybe they are from out of town. Maybe they thought that this color copy would be a lot cheaper.

Beyond these papers, boxes, flash drives, faxes, documents and e-mails, I cannot help but wonder where these people are from and who they are. How did they get this picture, why do they need a copy or what is in this box? How did they end up with this many receipts and why do they need a copy of every single one?
If you have been working in copy centers at least as long as I have, you will know that strange and even some off color stuff can pop up in boxes, flash drives and even regular copies. Making a normal copy is just as exciting as making one on Monday morning as it is on Friday Evening. The box is just as heavy weather you ship USPS or FedEx. Not everyone is the same...sometimes, you can tell a lot about a person by the fax you send or the blueprint you make. I hate charging someone for sending resumes. No one sends resumes because they like too. Plus, resume paper is the most spendy...(non-coated, text-weight) paper there is. Ugh. The copy world is a very promotional business. "Our business helps your business" sorta thing. So I see a lot of ugly looking promotions. (Not what we design! Always customer original artwork). But when I see ugly promotions or flyers I long to sit with the customer and say...

'Well Bill, it looks like you gotta a great promotion going on here. But the Impact font and the default clip art (that every one has) is going to be a flyer that ends up in the trash.'

But before that happens, Bill says this.

I would like 2,000 (very ugly) color copies of this flyer.
In which case I frantically and most excitingly say:

"No problem!!! When would you like them and I will make that happen!"

I treat him like a king, and his wish is my command.

My plans are normal. I don't plan to work with copies forever. One day I will go to college, fall in love, get married and start a family. Have talented kids, go to work. Come home and have dinner. Grow old, play scrabble with my wife. Invite the grandkids over. Of course, this is ideal. And I'm not the one too decide exactly how everything happens in my life.

Maybe she really does not want to make these copies. Maybe she didn't want any of this to happen but the court needs the paperwork anyways. Maybe this is a sad copy. Maybe this package he is sending is cute and romantic. Maybe it contains love notes and sorts of gushy stuff. Maybe this is a happy package. And then the customer pays and leaves. And thats that. A small little social interaction and he leaves. And then I get home and take of the blue polo and look in the mirror. Not in really a sad way, but more thoughtful... more pensive. Maybe he had a great day at work. Maybe work was more stressful and busy than he wanted it to be. Maybe his legs still hurt from running that same morning. Maybe he forgot to call a customer about their completed
order.

However.
Maybe he loved his job. Maybe he loved where he worked. Maybe he thinks his co-workers are hilarious. Maybe he will know that this was a tough job to leave. Maybe, now, he will have way more blue polos than he will ever need. Maybe it was the best job he has ever had so far. Maybe he was starting to get used to the nick name "Jay - Rizzie". Maybe he is so thankful that he had such a perfect job for him right before he left for a different country.

Weather you hate your job, love it, are looking for one, just quit one, just got fired from one, or started your own job, one thing is for sure. Work hard.

A quote by Conan 'O Brien appropriately comes to mind:

"If you work really hard, and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

How Children Fail

2010-09-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

I am on here not knowing what to type, only knowing that I promised to blog whilst I was eating my dinner. Speaking of dinner, holy cow. I don't know what it was but it was from heaven. Something like steaming italian sausage, with whole wheat penne, fresh parmesan cheese and a handful full of vegetables and herbs straight from our garden. Seriously. So friends, it's less than one month. I'm sure you are sick of hearing about my mission by now. For the sake of you, I will not blog about it in this entry anymore. But I mind you...less than one month. (!) New topic.

This the latest design. By no means am I a graphic designer...but I sure enjoy it. Every once and a while I will attempt to do some "designing" and just have fun. I have always been fascinated with this. This in one in particular was for my lovely aunt Silvia Hope, and her upcoming cake business. She is great at it too! Take a look at some of her work.

Like I was saying, I have always been fascinated by how manipulative design can be. Maybe it is because design, has always been manipulative to ME. I will stop and look at anything with good design and drool. Gross. But seriously, I once read a statement in an interview I read that I completely agreed with. It went..err...something like this. 'I believe that people buy into art. If the packaging is good enough, people will buy it.' So true.

One time, while being super nerdy and awaiting the release of a fictional teen's novel at Barnes and Nobles at midnight, me and my best friend found something marvelous. A tin can of herbal mint tea. It was so cool looking! And for some reason, I felt like buying. The tea probably would have been just as great as the kind you can find at your local grocer. That could be a problem. However, I would consider myself a pretty frugal guy. So....no worries. Other things I like?

Wine.
I love drinking wine. Gotcha! K, No seriously, wine bottles are beautiful. I don't drink wine, but it sure looks great! And trust me, the packaging will never convince me to purchase any. Just a sample. Ooooo.

Coffee...stuff.
I love drinking coffee. Gotcha...again. I don't drink coffee either...but everything about the packaging on coffee looks so comfy and fresh. I mean, even this silly napkin.

Book Covers.
I love drinking book covers. Sorry, I had to. Some book covers, ok, most book covers are hideous. But some are fantastic! Everything on this page is soo nice. I would own every one of those if I could. Mmmmmmmm. Definitely judging a book by it's cover. I especially enjoy 'How Children Fail' and 'Wildlife in Britain'. Maybe you can find them. Hahaha.

Tasty.

1, 24, 11, 60 and 2

2010-09-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

1 month until I leave for my mission.
Crazy. I knew time would go by this fast so thankfully I was prepared for that. For those who know me well, I hate packing. It has long been a pet peeve of mine, and one that I'm not sure if I can overcome. I don't think there is therapy for something like this. Maybe two years of packing and unpacking will teach me a lesson; either how to pack better, or not to worry about packing. I don't mind packing itself, as much as I hate the notion in my head that I could be forgetting something. It all boils down to me not making sure I'm prepared for everything, because I hate feeling unprepared.

24 hours.

Nothing is happening in 24 hours. Well, the Boise State game will be starting, but that's not what I'm talking about. I recently finished How to Hug a Porcupine: Dealing with Toxic and Difficult to Love Personalites. Sounds like a text book to me. It was actually a fantastic read. I really felt like I did'nt need to read the book personally because I feel like I can handle 'toxic' people pretty well. Hahaha, I was wrong. It's more than dealing with them. It's about becoming your most healthy and best self. It also teaches very much about critisicm. Dr. Lund helps you realize so many things, and even though I was just reading for leisure, it was still great! So, 24 hours. Near the end of the book, the author challenges you to go 24 hours without critisizing anyone...or yourself! Sounds impossible. He reassures you it is not. It is extremely difficult but easier some days than others. It's especially challenging at work, where I deal with some interesting customers everyday. 24 hours is hard, but I'm working on it.

11 shirts I am taking on my mission.
This does not include 'P-day' shirts. This does include short sleeved and long sleeved. Now why would you care about how many shirts I am taking. You probably still won't after this, but it still gives me something to write about. Whoever decided it would be a great idea to stick 20 or so pins and all sorts of plastic and cardboard into a new white shirt is made me frustrated last night. For guys who have bought new white dress shirts in packaging know; it can be frustrating to take these things apart. I'm not sure why it's necessary or if it's just for fun or what. I spent a good amount of time taking them all apart. But it's over now. Sweet.

60 dollars.
I can honestly say I spent 60 dollars on hygiene...and Melissa can attest to this. I didn't even buy anything special, just the basics. Toothpaste, shampoo, band-aids. Maybe this is crazy to me because I'm not used to buying those sorts of thing for myself, or enough to last me three months. For some of you that might be normal. Is it? You tell me. Anyways, sixty was the total. At least I will smell good for a while. Oh, and it also made me happy that in the Missionary Handbook, it outlines... "Bathe daily.". I'm so glad it mentions this! I know a few who don't believe that this is really necessary. Thank goodness for inspired leaders. Ha!

2 weeks left or work.

I honestly will miss my job. I am so blessed to have it. It is a great work environment, great pay, great hours, and it still gives me time on weekends and weeknights to do what I still love. Most of all, my work is satisfying. I come home and am excited what I accomplished. My co-workers are so funny, and my boss had a great work ethic. It is a really tough job to leave given the opportunity. I'm not one to brag...but my job is awesome. I am so blessed to have this right before I leave. Thank you to Copies Plus.

Hunger Games Cast

2010-09-03T17:40:00.002-07:00

I think that everyone who has read the books agree on a couple of actors/actresses to play certain characters. The actors/actresses that I suggest in the post may not be what you think they look like at all, but it is what I imagined. Also, a side note: my 'dream cast' is solely based on looks. Here we go!

Emily Browning as Katniss Everdeen

Emily is unsuspecting but fierce if she wanted to be. She would look smashing in a dress on a firw, and have to courage to lead Panem.

Peter Moseley as Peeta Mellark

Whenever I read about Peeta, this is exactly how I imagine him. Broad shoulders and floppy blonde hair. This one was easy.

Hunter Parrish as Gale Hawthorne

I picture him totally different than anyone else does. So don't rag on me for this one. I know he probably doesn't have dark enough hair but this is just what I guess I imagined. This one actually took me some research.

Robert Downey Jr. as Haymitch Abernathy

Make him drunk and messy. It's perfect. Although, I really would not mind if Hugh Laurie played him either. But it's hard to imagine Hugh Laurie not playing a doctor...for me at least.

Miranda Richardson as Effie

I grabbed her from Harry Potter. She is peppy, but she is not Kristin Chenoweth. Who I actually think wouldn't do a good job anyway.

Ben Kingsley as President Snow.

He is creeppy and would need a little more hair. He is the perfect age and with dramatic make up, he could give me nightmares. Google his images with serious faces and I think you might agree.

Molly Quinn as Foxface.

She looks like a fox. What more can I say?

Sienna Guillory as Johanna Mason

She looks annoying enough, but also funny enough to be Johanna. Again, I had to do my research to find this one.

Zac Efron as Finnick

He looks like a swimmer and he would be great with a trident. This picture screamed Finnick! when I saw it. I will stop there considering it might start sounding gay.

Evan Lysacek as Cinna.

I don't if anyone else really agrees on this one. Must be my imagination, but Evan is what Cinna looks like to me. Not to mention his outfit almost looks mockingjay-ish in this picture.

Judi Dench as President Coin.

She IS President Coin. This was another no-brainer.

Georgie Heneley as Prim Everdeen

Yet, another kid from Narnia. I'm copying/agreeing with my sister Erin on this one. Georgie could pull the part off no problem.

Sorry for some of the over-sized pictures, I can't figure how to do it on Blogger. So does anyone agree? Anyone not agree at all??? Tell me what you think.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

2010-08-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

Usually when I write a list of things I like, I can look back it at and squirm. I know this is cliche but what the heck. Of course, each year I look back at myself and roll my eyes. I tend to change. Who doesn't. While in reading the following list, I hope you get a glimpse of who I am.

The Story with Dick Gordon
Good Photography
Horchata
Catch Me If You Can
Eric Whitacre
Documentaries
Simple Patterns
A Good Voice
Nike
Percussion
The Office
My Family
Brown Paper
Owl City
My Best Friend
Acoustic Music
The True Church
Good Design
Overcast
Cinnamon Life Cereal
Calla Lillies
Thrifting
Printing...etc.
Jazz
Olive Green,
Purple,
Grey,
....not together.
Balderdash
Pigs In a Blanket
Pizza
Design
Toy Story
Dates
Good Smelling Shampoo
Sondre Lerche's Lyrics
Jonathon Livingston Seagull
PBS
William Joseph
BBQ Sauce
Dan In Real Life.

Short Post.

2010-08-22T15:42:00.001-07:00

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

I'm not one for quotes. I usually think most of them are too cheesy and irrelevant to me that I just don't care. I especially get annoyed with "Live, Laugh, Love". I'm not much of a morbid person but that one just gets way too annoying. Anyways, I read this quote (the one up top) and it hit me. It stuck with me. It applies to me and I'm forever grateful for good friends...friends who I have come to know and love. This is short post...but I just wanted to put that out there.

Floss

2010-08-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Sunscreen. Check.

Thermometer. Check.

Anti-fungus Cream. Check

Vaseline. Check.

Floss...

Maybe I am the only person ever who thinks this is funny. But I'm posting anyways. Today Me and Melissa went shopping for all the 'essentials' for the mission. No, nothing weird, just soap and sanitizer, and shampoo and so forth. It was my very first experience buying dental floss. For myself. I have used it before (duh). But who goes to the grocery store for floss? Usually I use get the free stuff in my goodie bag at the dentist. Yay (!?).

"I've never bought floss before...do you want mint or plain??", she said.

Hahahahahahaha!!! We both laughed.

"Mint, it smells better."

(It was hilarious....trust me.)

I'm going to miss having someone who understands my humor all day. It's great knowing someone like Melissa, who will laugh at my jokes even when they are not funny. Maybe I will have a few companions who will get some jokes here and there, or who used to be full time stand up comedians. That would be sweet.

Oh well. Either way, I'm going to miss it.

Me vs. Pizza

2010-08-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so indecisive. At least, in the last 20 minutes I was.

Today I cleaned the garage, put the iPod in and listened to some real great music. It's not a disaster but it sure is a mess! Wow. Almost all of the junk was cardboard boxes anyways. What a shame I don't recycle. Recycling should be made more accessible, yes? Even at Copies Plus we don't recycle, main reason being it's too expensive. However I do think we would get a lot more business if we were the only copy center that went "green". Wow, listen to me ramble. Anyways, I was cleaning the garage and I got sooo hungry. Particularly hungry for food that is fatty and unhealthy but terribly delicious. Ugh. My mother was out getting lunch with her sister, so I'm sure that If I called her and asked for lunch she would just bring me something back! Right? Hahahaha, no.
So I went to trusty Google. 'dominos nampa, id'. BAM. The phone number was pretty much in my cell phone already and Brian picked up the phone. 'Hello Brian'. After a 20 second conversation, I was informed that they will only deliever a medium pizza. Not a small. Not worth it!
So it was frozen burritos for me today :/ I swear, one of these days I'm going to be super sneaky and order a pizza all by myself. I mean, be honest. Which kid has not dreamt of ordering pizza when everyone is gone? Call me crazy.

On the upside, the garage looks fantastic.

19.

2010-08-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

When I turned 18, a year ago, I did'nt feel very different. At all. In fact I remember feeling just as normal as if it was another normal day. Yesterday, I felt different. Nothing magical or weird, but the fact I was nineteen took me by surprise I guess. I like birthdays, but I'm not a huge fan of birthday parties, my own that is. But If you are having a party please invite me. I like going to those! Yesterday was just what I wanted though. A yummy dinner, with Melissa and my family. I know it's not about presents, but let me express my thanks by telling you what I was given on my birthday.
Ana gave me a bag a gum balls and foudn batteries for my metronome. Sweet.
Marie gave me the new Jack Johnson CD. I have not had the chance to listen quite yet but I'm sure it will be great.
Melissa gave a me a classy tie, which will look terribly nice in a black suit. It's cute, and I am super excited to sport my new neck tie. I also got (drum roll)....a funnel cake maker! What?! It's so great, and it was totally unexpected! (: I can't wait to make me some cakes. Me and Melissa have a guilty pleasure of funnel cakes at fairs. Since most fairs are too expensive for me atleast, this was the perfect gift. NOM NOM NOM NOM. (Thank You!)
My parents gave me a beautiful journal. For my mission of course, but it has pages to write certain things and blank pages (obviously) to write in and take with me. It's really an amazing looking journal and I am looking forward to filling it out. One page of this journal started to make me laugh. On one side of the page is says Before My Mission, followed by a blank white box, where I'm supposed to insert a picture. The next one reads: (as you can guess) After My Mission. Hahahaha, for some reason I find that humorous. I hope I don't gain too much weight, but who evers idea that was, to add that in the missionary journal, thank you. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, and whoever celebrated with me.

*Oh. Special Thanks to Erin, Harrison and Penny for sending me the Dora the Explorer birthday card.

The front: It's Your Birthday! Es Tu Compleanos!
The inside: Dance around and sing out loud
Come on, girl, you should be proud -
you're another year older!
Of course, Dora is doing the tango and Boots is doing a hand stand. Sweet.

Camp.

2010-08-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

This last week has been refreshing. I went to cancer camp.

Ok, but seriously, cancer camp is an unbelievable place. Going there as a camper, for eight years, I loved it. We ice skated, shot arrows, rode bikes, raided girls cabins, ate camp food, sang at campfire. . . it was perfect. It was all glittery and great, an all of the above. I came home every year from the week long camp talking about it the next following months and a card full of pictures and videos. You are given everything you want. It's free and transportation is provided and its not about cancer. It's for cancer survivors, children in particular...up to the age of 17. I grew up loving every bit of camp. So I'm eighteen (Heck, I'm almost nineteen. . .scary). . . so now what? I volunteer, a junior counselor is what I am. The best way to describe the transition from camper to counselor is the metaphor that follows:

Every kid that goes to Disney World loves it. Disney World is the happiest place on earth. Or is that Disneyland? Well, either way, kids love it. It's fun, positive, crazy and even magical. Little do the kids know all the work that is put into making Disney World a magical place. Underneath Disney Land there is a break room, offices and lockers. People running the shows, the lights and most importantly Mickey and Minnie themselves, are demanding hours. There are labor unions, people hate their boss, people call in sick and so on.

At camp, people don't hate or even have bosses, but it takes so much work to put on a week long camp with kids who have suffered mental a physical pain due to cancer. I'm fortunate to have not been as hurt as some other kids have been diagnosed with cancer. I never thought of camp as a week get away where I can get away. I just liked it. Camp was great. It still is. However, now that I am a junior counselor, my role at has changed dramatically. Instead of my every want being satisfied, I'm satisfying the kids needs. It's sometimes a pain and I find my self anxious for bed time. Some of these kids come from homes where attention and love is scarce. That itself give me motivation to give the kids a week long camp full of love. Camp was great. We wrote songs, played drums, trashed the girls cabins and watched stars 'til three in the morning. I'm tired, and I miss the kids, and even sad that they have to go back to their homes where some of them don't enjoy life. Not a lot of people can really comprehend what camp is until you experience it yourself. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to give a week of my time to kids who need it. I feel refreshed and most of all, blessed.

My Folks

2010-07-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have so much to be thankful for. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could fit it all in one blog. However I am sure of one thing: that I will forget a few things. For reasons unknown, this week I have been constantly thinking about how much God has blessed me with a loving family, the opportunity to be born in the covenant and for the opportunities that have risen in my short life so far. When I think about it, everything I have accomplished or been blessed with, I can trace back to my parents as well as their involvment with staying strong members of the church. This blog post will be about them.
I can't thank my parents enough for making the right decisions in their life and keeping me in line. They love me endlessly and support me in all I do. My Dad has set an amazing example for me. He has accomplished so much, despite his circumstances growing up, and is still inspiring me to achieve more. He fulfills his church callings to it's fullest and believes in me more than you can imagine. Thank You Dad. Thanks to my Mom as well, for being fearless during the time that I was in the hospital. She is one of the bravest ladies I know. She doesn't let me do stupid things, therefore she sincerely loves me. She has this quote in her office and it reminds me of her, entirely. Thank You Mom.

20/20

2010-07-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have never written about this. Not on a blog, or in writing. Nor have I ever really spoken about it to an audience this small or large. I say that because maybe only two or three people are going to actually take the time to read this, however, I'm publishing it on the internet which the whole world could read if they wanted. It's not a big deal, but I realized I have never said much about it except for small talk with friends and co-workers. My eyes.
You want to know how I really feel about them? I'll tell you. I'll talk about what I hate, what I love and so on. If you know me well, you know why my eyes are different. They are different colors. To some people (i.e. customers, new friends, friends of friends), it's crazy. To some it is awkward and some just think it's cool. Oh, and every now they are pretty to some people...but whatev.

What I Like.
-I like that it sets me apart.
-I honestly like what it says on my drivers license about them.
-I like when people accept the fact that they are different colors and don't ask too many questions.
- I like when people know about my eyes but just don't recognize it anymore (:

What I do not like.
-Customers asking prolonged questions making it uncomfortable.
-People telling other people to look at them and therfore forcing me to look in there eyes (usually strangers) while they look at mine and yeah...weird.
-People constantly thinking I have some sort of vision problem.
-When people want to see what my drivers license looks like. I have honestly done this multiple times.
-Customers start by saying: I don't mean to be rude but.... or Can I ask you a personal question?

All the above are just awkward. I honestly am not sensitive about people talking about them. However, some people just ask some awkward questions and make the whole situation unpleasant. I am proud of them, but mostly depending on the person, it can be an awkward situation. Some people make really cool conversations and I have a great time talking to them about it. It's fun, and I leave the conversation with no feeling of awkwardness whatsoever.
One customer at Copies Plus came into pick up two different posters. One was blue/purple while the other was purple/blue. He complained about the color difference and asked me If I noticed. They were obviously different in color, and I told him they were two different files, therfore the color on each one will vary according to the file. He then proceeded to ask if he thought that the problem with the posters had something to do with my vision. I was confused for a second. "What do you mean Alan?" (he's a regular, so I knew him by name). "Oh you know...your eyes."
In my head "HAHA!". I was laughing out loud, inside. I hadto keep a straight face. It humors me sometimes what people say.
I am totally one hundred percent cool with my eyes. I am not sensitive about them at all, but if you make the situation prolonged and awkward, well, that's different.
In writing this, I hope I don't sound boastfull. I can see how that could be taken that way, but my main goal was to write it down. Put down my feelings that I guess I have never really published.

*One more thing to add to the 'What I do not like' list.
- "Oh! My friends dog has eyes just like yours!"

Hahaha....uhm. Thanks?

Lumber Jack.

2010-07-24T14:09:00.001-07:00

What's the deal with lumber jacks and flannel shirts? Sounds miserable to me. I went, this morning, to chop some wood for the needy. Oh yeah...if you think you can get by with just an axe, think again. You are going to need at least three men with chain-saws if you want any efficiency. It was a wonderful time indeed. However, I didn't wear any plaid or flannel. I'm ok with this. I received some gnarly branch scratches on my legs and some fine sawdust in my socks....lovely. You know, there is something good about hard work. Not that I have ever doubted it, but sometimes it just doesn't sound like the most exciting time, however it is the most gratifying. I'm so glad I was raised in a house where hard work was taught and practiced. As much as I hated this in middle school and maybe even high school a little, bit, my parents were never ones to get us any video games. They preferred entertainment through a different source and expected us to work hard. I thought they were crazy. HA. What a waste of time(video games). Seriously. I don't hate video games. They are actually fun (: Wii, and things like that are way fun at parties, get togethers and even occasional times for leisure! But those fantasy, battle, violent, law-breaking video games where boys get screen face and get mad when people tell them to turn it off? Disgusting. It's obviously so engaging and addicting that they can't interact with anything else besides the game system without throwing a fit. That is what I hate. One of the books I am reading now is called The Dumbest Generation. A good book explaining how much of an advantage kids have now to learn, and amidst the oppurtunities, they are spending money on video games and other useless media. Sure, not all media is bad, but it can get out of control. I could go on for a little longer. I sound like I'm complaning, so I'll stop.

But...I love Wii bowling. Hypocrite? Maybe.

*Honestly, I don't know if I could have found a more fitting picture for this blog. I surprised myself on this one. Click here.

New.

2010-07-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back! ...only for a little while. SO many things have happened since I have last been on this blog and I feel somewhat obligated to update. Besides the fact that I promised someone I would update it, I still feel obligated. So let me cut to the chase...

Number One. I have a mission call....A MISSION CALL! Crazy! I will be serving in the Mendoza, Argentina Mission. Speaking Spanish. It gives me the chills just writing it. Spending two years in a whole different country in a different language terrifies me. I haven't told too many people this but when I opened my mission call, I expected an overwhelming or spiritual rush of a feeling. This was not the case. I felt like a was reading any normal letter...with family surrounding me. Part of me was disappointed. How could I be? It was a mission call! An actual mission call, with President Monsons' 'signature' on it. I'm not sure if it was me or what but it just felt normal. It wasn't until a day or two when I realized that this was the place where I was designed to go. I can honestly say I love this gospel and having the oppurtunity to share of it in a country that has less opportunity than mine does, humbles me.
Oh yeah, I have way cool mission presidents. Check this out:
http://presandsislindahl.blogspot.com/

Number Two: I have a niece! Not sure if I have mentioned this on here before or not. Penelope was born in February and consumes most of the talk at family get togethers. She's the first to be born out of us five children. Pretty exciting. Did I mention she's terribly adorable?
Number Three: I can't stop thinking about this. So maybe writing this down help me get it off my chest? K.
I'm serving a mission. Great! Now what?
Sometimes when I'm trying to fall asleep I can't help but ponder over what the heck I'm going to end up doing 'when I grow up'. I love music...but I have always thought that out as an option. With music it's either make it or break it. Sure, you do what you love, but I will love my family too and I would like to do what is best for them. It's my calling and I don't want to settle for anything less. So that knocks down one pin. Hmmmmm...design? That's scary. Sure I love it, besides the fact that it's similar to music (as far as providing for a family goes), I have never thought I was actually good enough. Journalism? My sister Erin has me thinking about this for a while. Sure sounds appealing. What do you have to do to be a journalist?
I guess my main problem is that I will always underestimate myself no matter what I do. And that's a self problem...I'm working on it (: Give me suggestions, if you have any. Thank You.

Number Four: Ok...it's not that big...but it's kinda scary to me. My mission farewell talk. It just seems like it's supposed to be some big last proclamation before I go off onto this noble mission. Sure I love the gospel, but what will I say? Since my dad became bishop, he might let me choose a topic to speak on... I could make that one awkward talk if I wanted too. Ha (:

I believe I will leave it at number four today. No one is probably reading this, or even made it to this point. I'm not crazy good with words...maybe that knocks out Journalism too. Ha. But in the case that you have read this far, thank you (:

Be well.

splits

2010-01-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening, I went on splits with the missionaries. The lady we went to visit was very interesting and I'm sure she is the kinda person that I will meet on my mission. Not to mention 6 dogs, 2 fish tanks, 2 cats, 1 possum, and this white thing with red eyes. No joke. The house was a zoo, but we were there for a good reason. Everything we said, she would defend and try to prove us wrong. I'm not sure if she was truly interested in the message we had or truly interested in harassing us to make us break down. The fact that both the missionaries I was with were shy didn't help either. We had our meeting at 3:30 and did not get out til 5:30. It was a good conversation at start, but then we started going in circles and she started talking about how cows were happy but how humans weren't and it was just a mess. She had a bunch of different Bibles and theory's and things and it really caused me to think. I don't if that's how most people are, but it really got me to think about what I should study and what I should before I go out, because you never know interested people are in trying to prove you wrong about something.

Maybe 99%. Haha.

2010-01-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

I got on here not knowing what to type, but I'm here anyways. That's the case for most of these.If you have an account, every now and then you feel the obligation to blog. I almost wish my blog would write itself, but that could take many wrong turns.
After teaching the deacons for about a month or so, I've learned an important lesson. If you don't have a treat of sometime, then the likely hood that they will pay attention will be far less then if you didn't. Those boys are hard to handle, honestly. It's insane how much energy they have and unfortunately I can see my self in them...:/

I'm so happy I grew up. Some people don't, and it's really annoying. I'm not saying that I'm completely 100% mature, but I see people older than me who are still making stupid decisions and it baffles me. Oh well.

________

2010-01-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

I sure do enjoy good photography. There is something about good focus and lighting that makes pictures, this world a lot more interesting. These pictures by Kevin Russ are brilliant, as is all his work. The focus and color is not so normal and it really is good art. I watched a documentary titled Helvetica. You can tell the director was all about grpahic design, and so was the film. Helvetica is also a font. You see it everywhere believe it or not. Old phone booth's, street signs, and now on legal forms. It also got into depths about the psychology of it all. Adding that, it made a great film and I was lucky enough to catch it on PBS. This one isn't going to be long, but maybe some pictures can make up for that.

like a scared little boy

2010-01-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

I have so much ahead of me. The other day I was thinking, "What things would change had I moved out when I turned out (or been kicked out)?". Oh man, oh man. Too many things. The first thing I thought of was having to buy my own towels. So funny. Then I thought about laundry, then rent, food, food stuff, bed stuff, A CAR, gas. Oh my gosh...that is not even up to my pay check. I was just shocked. I'm scared i'll be clueless when I come home from the mission, with wondering how taxes, rentals, car payments, mortgages, and all that stuff works. I guess we'll see how I handle. I'm not sure if scared is the right word for that, but it's along those same lines to be honest.
I love the new job. The first week was very successful. There is only one thing I don't like about work. There is'nt always something to do. But honestly, it's clean, organized and everything. There are not too many orders this time of year, so trying to stay busy gets a little hard.

thanks for calling copies plus, what can i do for you?

2010-01-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

That's the typical answer I give whenever I answer the phone at my NEW JOB!
I've been wanting a change (and by change I mean more hours). Since nobody is hiring full-time I ultimately ruled that out and accepted part time work. About five months ago I quit Thorne Printing because it was literally 0 hours a week...yet I was still employed. ?? So I "left". I wrote down the names of all the machines and started a resume. Put them into all the copy centers close and got no calls. So I get a job at Big 5 Sporting Goods....and 8 hours a week. Awesome.
So I kept looking. I received a call on Saturday for an interview and got the job. I like it. I like it a lot. I pretty much know everything except their weird cash registers and UPS, FedEx, and USPS. But it shall come fast. I like the dress code and it's a lot better than wearing a full tie, slacks and shirt at a sporting store...? yeah. So I'm back in the printing business and it feels good.
This made me laugh today:
So our store gets a lot (20 a day?) of the LDS books. Manuals, Books, Etc. And if we mess them up we sometimes have to replace them if the customer is furious...so the owner went and bought a stack of Young Women Personal Progress books. We seem to mess those up because the glue that the church puts in those is really crappy. So if we mess those up, we have a good stack behind the counter to replace before they come back. Hahaha. You know you live in Idaho when...

new post

2010-01-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

I have had the most pathetic life here on the blog. Maybe now that I'm not in school, I will be on here more often. Cross your fingers.
A lot has happened and I feel like I should probably write it down so that my life is recorded one way or another. I'll try this again.

I Am Your Mother

2009-04-17T12:46:00.001-07:00

hello seattle!

2009-04-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

i love discovering new artists. it's especially satisfying when you can't stop listening to them for a good amount of time. if there's any genre of music you ask that i listen to i can't tell you one. i like lots, but mostly acoustic feel good. which brings me to new artist number one: Rye Hollow. from portland oregon, this music reminds me of sarah barielles with a guitar and better melodies. pretty cool, and she comes from somewhere very near. so that makes it even better. google her.

number two (which actually i have known for quite sometime now, but still underground): chris august! love this stuff. i could listen to it all day. i don't want to describe him, but go check this out for yourself. stranger is probably the best song on that page.

http://www.myspace.com/chrisaugustmusic

ultra-awesome!

number three is this solo project by a young man whose band name is called owl city. he's also awarded the best band name award. ha! because its a freakin awesome name...am i right? or am i right? this is small portion of my music library but it's still ultra-fun to listen to. this guy along with relient k are coming to boise this summer. cross your finger that i can go, and if i can't send me money so i can. hahaha.

writing it down

2009-04-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

i'm near the end of my high school education
it is getting so tedious. a lot of us are beginning to count days and even minutes as one of my school mates posted on facebook. don't remember the digits because i'm not as avid as some of them, but i have had four years and i'm ready to get out and hopefully start working. one thing i noticed about the teachers is that they don't want you to leave high school as smooth and relaxing as you want to be. i mean, they are going to keep you working as long as they can until the last possible day that they can keep you at school. senior skip day is coming up soon, and i have my ap lit class that i probably will not skip. however...choir, wind ensemble and seminary? maybe (: we will see. haha.

oh i almost forgot to write about today's holiday! april fools day. it's always retarted when people say obviouvs stuff, followed by an "april fools!" and then they expect you to be suprised or be fooled. it's rather hilarious. i'm a smooth one when it comes to them tho. even ask mrs.jenks...my neighboor down the road. she fell for three or four on our way to school. i also tricked my seminary teacher by doing a fake out hand shake. which sounds stupid when i say it, but it was rather humurous in real life. trust me. haha. another thing i have noticed...
me and my dad are alike. at times when i am not proud to believe it, i will find myself laughing at my own jokes or trying to make "witty" comments. JUST like my father. take a look at some of the comments he has left on my post. "witty" right? i guess i can't be making fun of the way he acts. i suppose that is probably making fun of my self.

teeth

2009-03-27T10:06:00.002-07:00

i have eaten so little and napped so much this week! honestly, i'm not sure if i have ever done it this much, besides when i was a toddler of course. however wednesday when i got my wisdom taken out of me, i was out like rock. but melissa came over and brought me ice cream and we watched bolt. which was very awesome and very sweet. i like doing things with friends, even when i'm not entirely mobile. i freakin loved it! watching bolt was the best part of my week, and then it was finally getting up and going to walmart! even tho i looked like a freak, my cheeks were swollen big and very noticeable. haha, my facial cheeks that is. my mejillas are quite noticeable now. hahahaha. oh man, i'm not sure why i thought that was so funny but ok. i've noticed that my spring break has been full of cyber communication. which is not all that great. i love it, but i want to talk to everyone face to face. haha. sometimes i wish i lived in a small small town where every one knew every one and it was just quaint. however, i also want to live where i have access to somewhat urban cities within reach. and i guess nampa is the perfect place for that.
today i am eating spaghetti-o's! how long has it been since i have had these things? i don't miss them all that much. but they definitely bring back memories. i forgot these existed. haha, wow. and yum.

break

2009-03-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

looking at things, i figured that my spring break will most definitely become a break. break, being defined as being exempt from all duties and some responsibilities. on sunday, i went to the emergency room because of some uncontrollable puking and some bursting of some blood vessels all over and around my face, but i wont tell you more, doubting you would like to read about that! that left me in bed all sunday, and all most of monday with nothing to do, literally. otherwise, i would have been driving, finding activites to do with friends. but no. so here we are on tuesday, which means tomorrow is wednesday...which equals...wisdom teeth removal!!! yay! another long couple days where i get to eat nothing but liquids and "soft stuff"...in bed. gah. what a way to spend spring break right? last night i went out shopping with my family, which wasn't that bad honestly, but when i got home i felt the need to crash and sleep another ten hours or so. tonight, i figured the best thing i can do is to get out of the house and do something before i am home-bound once more. so there is a cast party at a "fairy"'s house, and that will hopefully get my social wiggles out before tomorrow. this will also restrict my driving privileges....hmmm. yeah, this really sucks. hahaha. oh well. one week out of my whole life...not bad at all (: some people have it worse. i'm not nearly as home-bound as some people. maybe i'm even lucky to have a social life to look forward too after-wards.
(and all the emergency room stuff, its really not that bad so don't freak out) thank you.
i've learned to love the music of jason mraz. as of last night. i have always been looking for the artist who has the vocal abilities of michael buble, the acoustic-ness of john mayer, the simplicity of ben folds, and the raw homemade sounds like sondre lerche. jason got VERY close. If only he used stronger melodies! the lyrics are mostly fantastic and the titles of every song are just perfect. so if any one has any suggestions for the artist of all those qualities, give me a notice. songs that get me are the ones that have melodies that you can't get out of your head, but meanwhile, you like having them there. i think that for right now i will have to listen to all of his stuff before i can put him on top of my list.

many of you may recognize this song, but live, it kicks the album verison's butt.

2009-03-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

the opening night for the play is tonight. oh goody. idk if i should be excited because my energy varies from day to day. i will have to pick up some vitamin water, power-c tonight. that always gets me going. and then tons and tons of water! which is always encouraged. the play is based on shakespeare's a mid summer's night dream but its an adaption, and it's a musical. pretty entertaining if you know the story. if any of you readers are familiar with the story, i'm playing puck. so basically i get to wear glitter on stage...lots. which sucks when i show up the next day in class and i find glitter on my government paper because it's still coming out of my hair. gosh! its actually no that bad, but the eye make up can get rather irritating i will admit! wish me good luck, first time with large audiences in this production!

erin is making me something called "four-corners pasta" which is pasta, (obviously) with salsa and some south-western kick...i'm guessing. if it's good, i will pretend like i'm a culinary critic and write about it later. haha. so i ALSO just realized that dallan will be gone soon! gosh, what a kid. four years without him? seriously, that's just going to be hard. but of course all for a good reason. i mean, i am going for a year, with my own room (which honestly will be lonely), and the two girls. hmmm... i guess marie is really easy to talk to about everything. haha.
today i was in the news paper and i didn't even know it. i got home and found an article, but i honestly did not bother reading, it was for the play and looked un-interesting. maybe tomorrow. haha. and my picture looked hideous, but its newspaper printing, what could i expect? i love how i just blamed my bad looks on the newspaper. i'm ready to get off the computer now. time to eat!

sadie hawkins

2009-03-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

who seriously calls it 'sadie hawkins' these days. i think everyone just sticks with sadies now. because it's so much easier to say. regardless of the name, let me tell you about my sadies experience! i went with my best friend melissa, who i have probably mentioned before in earlier post so that should be kinda familiar.
we started off our actual date (i say that because we spent the morning at a fireside and making caramel sauce and doing make up, well her make up), at lexi's house where i think the first thing we did was fly kites. hahaha, we suck at flying kites! how simple right? no. there was even some wind, and we could not even get our kite high at all. but i'm blaming it on the wind and the kite. given the fact the wind speeds were low, and i don't know how to assemble a kite, thats probably why. otherwise we would have had our "backyardigans" kite up in the stratosphere. haha, oh well. it was super fun while it lasted. but probably one of the best parts was jumping on the trampoline. none of us have one, so trampolines are pretty special. hahaha! no seriously, it was the most fun i had in a long time. i could not stop luaghing. we were going so high, it was ridiculous, and ridiculously fun! gosh (:

we also ate pizza and sang karakoe. for a short amount of time. that was also fun. and then we took really cute pictures. dang, i'm so proud of my date, because we looked freakin good. haha, how un-humble was that? but seriously, we owned at the t-shirt portion of the date, i know that. haha.

pokemon have been me and melissa's favorite inside jokes, as far as making fun of it. she knows more than i do about the fictional monsters, and i think we both get a good kick out of it. woo! ok, so i have to go so i'll try to hurry.
we then went to this glow in the dark, black light, miniature golf place that was oh so rad. it was soo wicked and i didn't even know it existed. it was super cool looking and dinosaurs everywhere! i love dinosaurs. kinda. haha. and there was also a blue ape who glowed pretty vividly in the light. he looked like budah it was pretty funny actually. then we hit up the dance. i serioulsy think that was like the best dance of my life....so far. haha. it was super super rad!!! gosh, it was so fantastic. i wish i would have taken more pictures, but then i wouldnt be able to enjoy it all, but heck who needs pictures. i'm gonna feel bad if i left some part of the date out....hmmm. i don't think so. (:
i'm out

the visitor

2009-03-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

blogger won't let me chose font type or color anymore, so i guess this is the way it will look for a while til i can figure it out. (:

i saw the visitor last night. man. i can't tell you in words what that movie does to you. walter the main character takes in a couple who other wise would not have a place to stay. i won't tell you much more than that, however, it is one of the most well thought out movies i have seen in a long time. when the movie ended i just stopped, and stared. it left me thinking about a lot of things. and definitly brought out different sides of illegal imigration, and hapiness to me. it left me wanting to watch it again so so badly. go rent it or something, magnificent stuff.
speaking of renting movies...
me and melissa rented michael buble in concert. if you know me, or her for that matter, i am dying to see michael buble in concert. but the chances are pretty unlikley. so, we got as close as we could and rented it. man, that was so much fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7k2y08dSV4
(listen to his voice at 1:25, dang)!

i called the library earlier because i was trying to find it and they said the didnt. so me, melissa and ana found it in the library like an hour after we called them. ha. and there were two copies!!! librarians...jeez. i am so tempted to keep it 'til they make me pay for the whole thing or something. haha.
it was awesome. (: now i just need to go to his concert...for reals. haha.

it'e been a while

2009-02-21T21:32:00.000-08:00

it's been a while since i have done many things

-written in the blog
-felt inspired like nothing else
-talk to erin on the phone
-been stressed and happy
-worked twice a week

i think the main reason i have not written in here lately is because of the few exciting and not so exciting things happening in my life. so around earlier february i took a little trip-aroo to spokane. with two of my best friends ever, chelsea and melissa. we explored some really lame malls, but besides that, there was not a few five minutes that went by with them where i didn't laugh, or use the voice. (those who know me too well will know what the voice is) we went to a little thing called all nw. okay, maybe it's not all that little, but it was still rather amazing. allow me to explain, basically it an audition group pulling auditions from all across the northwest to create a band (in my case). they also had choirs there too. i was so happy, that my two friends came with me.the chances that all of us going together were kinda unlikely because i really didn't expect to make such a group to be quite honest. my director, gary green, has done many many numerous honor groups. including many all-state groups as well. he was sooo inspirational. it's going to be very hard to explain how genius this man was. he was very intense, but he knew music like the back of his hand. i mean this was a guy who was raised in a normal schooling and came to the top of everything. and those are the people i admire most. some quotes he said, made the band all teary.
'beautiful music can only come in direct contact with silence'- green
'use this [your head], and play from here [your heart]'- green
'no note is ever the same'- green
'music is the anticipation of what's to come ... and so is life.' freen
when he said these i was like.....BAM! smack in the musical face.
probably one of my favorite parts, (and experiences...ever) was playing lux aruqume by eric whitacre, one of my all-time favorite composers. i mean all time. this guy is the owner of beautiful music. and he's still young. it was such a beautiful moment playing that piece. even though it required no percussion, it was still my favorite piece. anyone who knows what all nw is, its a group that sounds so good that its unbearable. i cried three times in spokane when we listening to whitacre's piece. most of the time it was just glazy eyes, but still! good stuff. i could go on for a long time of some stuff i learned and people i got to see/meet (like z. randall stroppe, andrew boysen jr., garwood whaely) but it would take too much time. i would add some sweet sweet photos but blogger is being really stupid at the moment.

erin called me the other day and it made my day! we were just talking and me and her realized that she would be down in idaho during my play! how exciting! i more excited that she will be able to see it than i am about the play itself. i like the people, and the atmosphere of the play. we just are not getting the ball rolling to quickly. but i think it will come together. you have to look at it this way.

-half the cast has not been on a stage before
-we switched directors during the play
-we currently ONLY have two rehearsals a week.

given those three circumstances, i don't blame many people for how time-crunched we are for this show. but it is getting me worried. i'm partially at fault however too. i still think i have yet to break really into my character and i still need to finally roll of book. it's a slow start. hopefully the play comes along. the music is also driving the show. most shows, the dialogue starts and then heats up making the character break into song. this show however starts with songs and creates the curve of the story in between those. the play is entitled "dream". a musical adaption of a mid-summers night dream. puck, my character is a little creepy to honest. i have a lot of fun making people miserable (on-stage) but it's a very exhausting character. much energy is put into playing that little guy. i am stressed with the show and my ap class. haha, one of them is ap but no-one knows it is. haha. so maybe i should say my ap class. with no 'es'. ha.

so i usually work on tuesday(after school) and saturday (all day) every week at thorne printing. my job. but for the past few months they would call me during school and tell me i didnt have to come in. so i was like ok cool. but it happened over and over. i was starting to get worried. so i got called in for a meeting with my manager. she explained that the shop would be closing on saturdays (when i worked) and that they would just call me when they need me. which is like...never, right? maybe i should take this as a sign to find a new job or a cheap way of trying to lay me off? heck, i know i'm in high school and jobs don't matter too much since i'm not supporting a family or anything, but if you are going to give me the axe, might as well give it to me fast instead of a nice, slow one. gah, i don't even like the people i work with. i do it for the money so i can go serve a mish already. but then again, who does it for the co-workers, right?

and my last subject, i promise: sadies!
i got asked to sadies,,, i was so worried no one would ask me!!! haha, totally kidding. but i do know people who are like that and it annoys me a tiny bit. but i did get asked my best friend melissa. me and her have a fascination with making fun of pokemon. it's pretty entertaining. so she made me a dvd and read-a-long book of a pokemon tribute to me. she took the pokemon theme song and replaced the words askingme to sadies pretty much. i coud not stop smiling/laughing when i read the book. it was ultra-cheese! but ultra-cute and hilarious as well. probably the best way i have seen anyone ask/answer ever! hilarious stuff i tell you. :)

anyways, i stayed up waaay later than i had expected i thought i was tired until i drank water and now i am somewhat awake. luckily church is at two! i'm starting to use the keyboard as a pillow so i should probably head out. thanks for reading.

see ya later crocidile
in a while alligator
(said in the voice)...
HA! oh man that's funny

thoughts that came to mind

2009-02-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

on days like these when i have no homework, i usually like to be lazy. but i'm trying to break that habit, because sooner or later i really have to start using my time more wisely. the play is coming along. i'm almost worried as to how fast we will get the play together and how soon we can actually pull it off, but no fear, i have faith! i think it's kind of funny how all my peers develop their character more and more. it's very interesting, kind of funny as well. and as much as i hated the music at the start, i very much enjoy now. funny how things like that happen. but it happens every time. so....
valentines day is next week! how exciting, and it's not on a school day, which i'm sure some girls appreciate very much. my pal evann was telling me how much she loathed the girls who pranced the halls with flowers on valentines. high school can get pretty ridiculous with valentines. for example: the BESO club sells valentine "grams" on valentines day. kinda funny, how insincere and how "thoughtful" cough not really. it makes me laugh, and i also wonders if they put mexican chocolate in those things. mexican chocolate is actually good, and i wish i could explain in words, but you really just have to try it for yourself. once upon a time i went to maverick and got mexican hot chocolate, it was beautiful. maverick actually has some good food. i know that sounds kinda gross, but really. let me start with probably my favorite (and my family would agree): biscuits and gravy. holy freak, this stuff is stupendous. it's probably my third favorite thing in the world. i don't know whats second or first, but please go try some. and since i work right next to a maverick i get to test-taste some of what they make. they make these mean bread things, with cheese pepperoni and loaded with jalepenos. my saliva is swirling just thinking about it. that's also heavenly. those are probably my only two things that im really fond of there. the rest is jerky, alcohol, nasty candies, and really old donuts. gross.

duty to god, page thirteen, requierment nine.

2009-02-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

this requirement asks me to sum my life up in five hundred words. i'm not quite sure how to go about this, how hard it will be, or what to write really, but i'll try my best.

i never thought that my life has been all that interesting, however there are some things that i feel worth mentioning. a lot of work that went into my life was being diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer related to the nervous system. very very many priesthood blessings went into those two years of my life. fortunately, i don’t even remember all that treatment. for my parents i believe it was a real testimony and good trial for us both. i think when i was young that i never liked math, and never learned to like it since. so anything involving math, science, chemistry, and even technology, i wish i was good at. too bad i was lacking in that area. but i definitely get more satisfaction out of other things. In elementary school, my mother said i was always a problem with the teachers. i even remember mrs.mckellip telling me to call my mom and tell her i did something wrong. don’t remember exactly what it was, but i remember that fear i had going to call her. when i had a horrible score on a mad-minute i also threw it away, in hope that the teacher would just forget about it or something. wow. that basically sums up my childhood, elementary years, my personality at least. i always thought in middle school that it was cool to be like everyone else, or dress like everyone else. and i even went for that idea, hardcore too. i was probably even popular for a bit too, or, “popular”. funny how some people still have that mind set in high school. how frustrating. haha. now, i’m senior in high school, and i really can’t wait till i can get out and start growing up and meeting new people. i have four siblings, two older than me and two younger. i love where i placed in the family. i always wish i had a little brother, but sometimes i don’t. my main interest in life right now, are people and music. both of these have played a big role in my life so far. i think it’s very interesting to see why people do things and why they choose to live the way they do. that’s what my father does for a living. i always thought it was weird to do what my father did, but i keep finding out how much more i am like my dad than i thought. i think he probably knows me better than i know myself, which can be scary thought, but even more, comforting. some of my future plans include serving an lds mission. which i am oh so excited about. even when i get called to nebraska. come back, and start college right away to earn a degree in whatever i am going to do. i still don’t have a clue exactly what i want to spend the rest of my life doing. somewhere in there i’ll get married too. i think i have been very fortunate to grow up and accomplish what i have so far. my life hasn’t been too interesting, and i probably didn’t sum it up as well as i could, but i’m excited to make it more interesting as i go.

bam! 542 words, what an over-achiever. ok, not really, but thanks for reading. and you should do it too, even if it's for a duty to god requirement or not.

the family

2009-01-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

oh my goodness! i just realized how many things i am so involved in. i won't mention them all because i don't want too. but it's eating away my minutes left and right. it's crazy. i feel bad catching up on sleep in seminary. haha, not really. . . ok well really. but bro.hamilton hopefully doesn't mind too much. haha. i had an awesome adventure in seminary today.
we are rewinding my life right here:
a long time ago, one time during family home evening my family and i were singing "Families Can Be Together Forever". being in the family i'm in, we tend to get a little crazy singing our opening song. but this one takes the cake. in part of the song where it sings ". . . and the lord can show me how i can. . .", my brother and i (one of us, i can't remember) added a quick background vocal repeating "how i can" following that phrase. now that sounds confusing. but it's one of my favorite family memories. . . ever.
we are fast-forwarding my life right here:
so in seminary we sang famlies can be together forever and when it came to the part, i started busting up laughing and couldn't stop for a couple minutes. thank goodness i can be a quiet laugher sometimes. it was very enjoyable! so i texted all my family and told them. dallan told me i should sing the background vocals and erin told me it gets her everytime. same here, i won't be able to not think of my family when singing that song. not because we will be together forever but because of that stupid part we made up. kind of sad, but it makes me smile.
i love family memories, i remember one time we all had to day off and we, as a family played football for the first time. if you know my family, football is not neccisarily our 'thing'.
we traveled to boise and had a picnic, and did shopping and all that good family outing stuff. usually our family trips end up into some what of a fight, and the best part of this outing was that that didn't happen. i'll remember that day for many moons. hahahaha. but really, it was awesome. the morning before erin's wedding day we also had our very last family thing. ha. we went out to breakfast in my car (i drive i van, my teen dream machine), and had a blast of course. don't remember much fighting, so i suppose thats a good thing. it seems as tho our family is finally getting old. no offense to my lovely parents. erin's off, dallan will soon be off, and soon i am out of high school. i mean, aren't these all signs of a growing family? things like this make me appreciate my siblings more than anything in the world and help me realize more that they are some of my best friends. i'm known for being sappy so just bear with me. haha, i even just got teary watching dallan graduate. haha, i'm so cynical and such a pain with my family, but yet i still get sappy. i know, weird. but whatev.
thats a picture when we still lived in our silly duplex, which is like a house, except split in half. haha, between an apartment and a house i guess. thats the backyard we also had the power-ranger pinata in. that was fun. we don't have any really recent shots of us as a family except for the wedding pictures. i always wondered which ways our family would go, and now i am getting a pretty clear picture. being in the middle i kinda get a nice seat to just see both ends of the kids and where they are going. i don't know what i am going to do when i don't see dallan for four years, thats going to be hard. but most definitly worth it.
i remind you that these pictures are not recent whatsoever, so just don't look at my hair. hahaha. i'm just so happy that i was raised in a family where we were taught to find joy in eachother and not things. it makes life so much easier especially knowing you will have them forever, where things don't always last all too long. i'm glad i was raised in a family where when we were young, we were forced to hug one another if we got in a fight. ha! i'm glad i was raised i was raised in a family where my parents didn't care what they looked like, as long as they were raising us right. i'm also glad i was raised in a family where we were forced to eat dinner, even if we dont like it, because now i like mushrooms, aspargus, green curry, etc. haha!

mlk day!

2009-01-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

i have never celebrated martin luther king's day. usually i would celebrate by not going to school, however this time i believe i went beyond the usual. i probably had one of the best days of my freakin' life. . . well it was close. haha.
so the first part of my day really has nothing to do with martin luther king's day but it's still worth blogging about.

i started my day out wearing my frosted flake pajamas! i love these things! not the cereal, the pants. they are pretty rad so i would highly suggest going and getting a pair before they are ALL sold out. haha. i had a couple chores to do before i could head out on my adventure. so i did those, and i decided that i was going to go see bed time stories at noon. what a funny movie. not the funniest or the best, but worth seeing. me and melissa got in for free so it was not a waste of our time or anything. there was also a preview or two that were interesting so i am stoked to go see more. and i'm sorry you have to turn your head to see my picture the right way up. (: your face should look something like that. as i was headed to the movie theaters i totally forgot to brush my teeth. how gross. so me and marie rushed into walgreens and bought the most fantastic and pearadise tasting gum on the planet. i only used that word because thats what it is called. melissa hates these glasses. they have leopard print on the inside of them. oh yeah. totally sick. i think they are fun to wear, but i only put them on in certain occasions. i am almost out of this gum, which is not bad because it was only seventy cents. i thought because of the wicked packaging it would cost more but i think i found a deal. . . on gum. melissa took this picture, and she doesn't like those glasses on me. haha. that's mostly why i wear them. not to mention the leopardhaha. anyways, i decided that i would make a cake to celebrate that day. after all i wasn't doing anything all day so why not. and then, just as i was thinking about the cake i had a revelation. we would make marble cake, to represent the integration of african-americans, hispanics, and americans. in a cake!!! but wait. we would take brown frosting and cover it, and then top it off with a drawing of MLK in white frosting. i was amazed with my brilliancy. so me and melissa had to head to wal*mart to grab a few items before we could start. this is my tour guide, because i kinda didn't know how to get to wal*mart efficiently enough, so she kinda helped my get there. i was pretty excited to find this hidden road because it is a lot quicker to get there now that i know. haha. so we were in wal*mart and totally were too busy talking that we walked past the cake mix aisle, but we eventually found it. and then, when we got there we couldn't even find the marble mix. i was worried! some lady moved her cart and then it appeared. it was kinda funny. but we eventually found it. we were pretty happy because any normal cake mix wouldn't be all that cool. it was pretty neat-o i will admit. we felt like taking a ridiculous amount of pictures so just be prepared. so after buying our moist deluxe cake mix, we both saw a pack of diego cake. . . things. i don't know what they call them but i was really tempted too buy them because diego was african-american, or so i think. and i also could have drawn other races amongst the top of my cake too, but i didn't want to spend the money. but they were rather cool. but not totally worth. it. we went home and made the beautiful cake. it was looking way sick before it was baked so i just had to photo. it was so amazing! look at that! it looked like real marble, i think. except it was edible! thats the coolest part. melissa kinda had a problem with me licking the spatula, or the knife even tho we were totally done using it. haha. it was a pretty cool looking cake before we baked it so that was neat. so i have been in kind of in need of a hair cut, to reduce my poofness, i went to my friend chelsea. i've known this chick since i was probably two or younger. i think. i mean, she's that kid that you have known all your life, and are really freakin' good friends with. but its a brother sister kinda thing. so i trust her with almost my life. . . that's why i trusted her cutting my hair!!! i appreciate her style 100% and so i wasn't worried and just let her do whatever she wanted. me and her are going to probably know each other 'til we are wrinkled. gross. but my hair cut went prett fantastic. i sat in her kitchen and she cut away. i saw her cutting emmy's hair before and emmy's hair was looking hot, so i had no fear. chelsea actually fixed my hair instead of messing it up so i was excited. oh! and i met a new person named emmy. i told her to read my blog so hopefully she reads this and is proud of me. she was a pretty rad chick and we got to hang out for a good amount of time, but she was pretty cool. i mean, if she's chelsea's friend she might as well be mine. haha, just kidding em. but we had a wicked high five i'll admit that.
chelsea looks like a freakin pro cutting it. it looks so hot now. haha. but it will look even hotter when it gets a little longer so we can do more stuff with it. haha, yeah. so i was i decided to rush home so we could frost our cake. i had almost forgot about. luckily my mother was kind enough to take out the cake so it wouldn't burn. and with a couple genius's and some frosting our masterpiece was finished. . . .
going to try to do something like this again. and to finish they day, we took a cheesy smile picture. which actually kinda turned out good. beautiful i must say. it was about five or so, when melissa's family and the cincineros were invited to family home evening. it was loads of fun. holy cow. we played an awesome sentence game with not so awesome outcomes. somethings had to do with giving birth, bishops, dancing under tables and fish hatcheries. it was quite a long day, but it was pretty freakin' amazing. and of course i took even more pictures. i was in the mood anyways. i have never went to such full extents to celebrate such a holiday but it felt great! i am definitelyhaha, so happy martin luther king's day. and if you got the day off, then hooray.

work

2009-01-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

HA! my dear mother was going to bed and she just said "ciao[chow] for now". it was so funny, don't ask me why, it just was. mothers. . . they are so funny.
so i really don't know what i'm blogging about quite yet, but what i am sure of is i want to blog. i usually don't like writing daily journals or events because my life can get pretty boring. especially when you work and you have ridiculous customers. i've noticed something old people. . . excuse me. the elderly. they are very specific. it drives me up the wall, i swear. whenever a old buick pulls in front of my work, with two senior chaps i cringe. or i pretend i'm on the telephone with a customer so shirline can deal with them. they also try to get the most out of their money. which is not bad, but still. i think when people hear "cents" they think they have all the money in the world. that's mostly why restraunts and stores have 99 cent items on their menu's. well at thorne printing, color copies are 69 cents. that's all, right? if it's under the dollar amount might as well make millions of copies right? wrong. so when i tell these people that their total for 80 color copies on regular paper is $55.20? (no tax i remind you). they automatically question where i came up with a ridiculous price. like i'm trying to rip them off. their faces scare me when they get mad. urg. so it gives me somewhat of a delight when they pay with credit or debit because they don't carry that much cash. that sounded mean. another pet peeve is people and manners. i understand peoples love for pets, and especially dogs. i'm down with that. but don't bring your chiwawa into the shop and let it run behind the counter, past the press, bindery and into the break room. it's really not a fun adventure (yes, i'm speaking from experience). . . OR i hate those men who think they are big because they drive trucks. i'm not anywhere big myself so i probably should not be speaking. but they walk in and expect everything to be there way. when they arrive to pick up an order and i don't find it, they skip the counter and come in the back to help me find it. what a freak, seriously.

and my number one pet peeve. . . (insert drum roll). . .
stupid questions!

"do you sell american flags?"

"do you sell trash bags you can put in your car?"

"are you open on saturdays?" (on saturday)

"how much would it cost to spiral my priesthood manual?" (not everyone is mormon. . .jeez!)

and 1st place goes to. . .

"hi, i have an mp3 player i bought for my kids, i was wondering if you guys could put some songs on it for me, and i could just pay for the songs, can you do that there?"

these are a just a few examples of some of the things that happen at good ol' thorne printing.
i probably shouldn't complain though. after all, at least i have a job. ciao for now!

ricola

2009-01-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

holy cow, finals are over! what a relief. and i never get excited about how well i did, because when that happens, i bomb it and then i don't feel all that hot. so i'm not telling everyone how i felt. but i do have all a's for this semester, so far. haha. speaking of relief, i was introduced to a mind-blowing cough drop yesterday by my band director. yes, it's mind mind blowing! they call it ricola. they say it's natures way of healing your throat becuase its made with herbs. . . or something. i think i can't go back to any other way. it's everything it says on the bag. soothing, refreshing, and of course it relieves my coughs naturally. haha. i thought i would share my amazing discovery with all of you. sad thing is there are only 19 drops. . .at least that i can find. the picture says theres 21 but whatev. anyways, i'm headed out. i need to take a power nap before my weekend. go try some ricola, its mind blowing.

sunday morning post

2009-01-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

it's almost sunday, so this might be short before i go hit the sack.
if you look at my music up top the page, the last song on the play list by 'the very most'. yes, that's a rockin' band. and best part about it? their local!!! my old private teacher plays drums for this band as well as back-up vocals. musically brilliant. i sometimes wonder what would have happened if i never did music. i probably would have been a photographer, or maybe a broadcaster. seriously, i can envision myself loving both right now. i already love photography, but i never considered myslef a photographer. photographs show amazing things. i seriously can't get enough of good photography. these are some of the outcomes of me pretending to be a photogrpher. mostly my boring saturdays or days off. you may recognize one of my pictures as a background. i just decided that me and my friend chelsea are going to begin a graphic design and photography studio when we both graduate. ha!! and she does'nt know that, but that's ok. anyways, i must be getting to bed. so cheers. excuse the photo quality on the blog.

technicolor dreams

2009-01-09T19:17:00.001-08:00

i've been thinking about life. but then again who doesn't. so i am sure anyone reading this can relate one way or another. there are certain events that make you reflect upon life. it's like that feeling when you realized you just turned in a bad essay, and wish you could start blank again. haha, just a random thought here, but i love acoustic music. i think that's the music that makes me feel most down to earth. not because of the natural raw quality it has, i think its just the fact that the musician has nothing but a simple guitar, and a simple voice. i love that, i wish i could pull that off, and still sound good. so while i'm listening to acoustic music, i think about life. mostly because its so organic, that it puts me in this state where i am only thinking about my window of life. unlike other genres which encourage certain personalities. acoustic makes you feel at home, wherever your home is. i think life is more simple than what people make it to be. really. you can fill your life up with glamour and glitter, when in all reality, we all live on the same place. of course, you can have fun, sure. but don't do the unnecessary. i think we just work our way out to figure out who we are. which takes a long time. i'm really not quite there yet, although i like to think that every now and then. the more people i meet and the older i get (constantly), the more i realize that less people really don't care for your triumphs. and thats not intended to be depressing and negative. i'll explain. my family loves me and supports me, encourages my activities and celebrates my victories. outside of that arena, i think everyone else are spectators. not fans. ok, ill put friends and families in that arena. however, there are fans, and they are the only ones celebrating your joy! i am not a big fan of show-offs or braggers. i'll tell you that much. i sometimes wonder what they are trying to accomplish by displaying their abilities in un-welcome situations. i totally understand large ensembles, competitions, practice, showcases, etc. i've noticed that people tend to subliminally show-off or brag, at which in cringe! yes, cringe! i appreciate talent and ability, i just don't appreciate it when it's an insincere display of it.
wow, i'm really speaking my mind today. i guess that's what listening to acoustic death cab for cutie does for you. on of my favorite quotes, sung by sondre lerche and regina spektor explain this kinda well.

"forget all your technicolor dreams, forget modern nature, this is how it's meant to be".

yes! i love love love this quote. perhaps i am not reading this quote as it was written. but if i'm not, i like my own personal take on it. forget all your technicolor dreams: ok, this makes sense, right? basically, forget all your past dreams that are full of glamour and glitter. that's not how life really is. of course you can expect certain things in life, and how you want them to go, how you want them to happen, who you want to be with. but don't create a concrete image in your mind how things are going to happen. forget modern nature: referring to the current trends. forget it, do what you think is right, and what everyone else is doing. just because everyone is doing something you're not happy with, doesn't mean you have to participate. this is how it's meant to be. yes! yes! yes! this is how its meant to be, because in all reality its everything you wanted. if you were to live with your circumstances in a world of no 'technicolor dreams' and no 'modern nature' that's exactly what you would want. what a fantastic quote, brilliantly written. cheers to them. they delivered a great message! do what you want to do, and forget outside distractions. do what you know you need to do regardless of what situation you are put it in. we are all sent here at this specific time, because it's the best time an all the time in the earth's existence to be here. so i say do the best you can, and let yourself be the best you can be, we only have one shot. i learn things like this from amazing places, amazing music, amazing quotes, and amazing people.
thanks for reading,

im out.

friends

2009-01-08T16:15:00.001-08:00

when i started blogging i always felt the need to express gratitude for friends. of course i love my family, but i love my friends in a different sort of way. ha. ill just talk about them. but in no particular order. my good buddy, josh jarvis. i think i've know this kid since early early middle school, and we have always been friends since. me and him kinda get a little silly around each other but we do like to make up songs that we think are amazing. and then yeah. but he along with my other good friends make me laugh a pretty good amount. and then, along with him i have chris. idk even know when we stumbled upon eachother, but i guess we became friends. haha. he has probably given me many insights to many different subjects and been really silly. we like to do homework together but that never happens. and then we start ridiculous clubs that never really go far. and last but not least melissa. melissa is pretty freakin' amazing. known her since she was fresh in high school kinda. melissa always makes me smile, and even more so makes me laugh. but we laugh together. haha. she gets my humor and i get hers. which is probably one of the best things ever! i really appreciate her and everything she does for me, and thankful she is still my friend especially when i can be a real dork.
i'm thankful for all my friends, especially right now, senior year when i could use the support. it's awesome!

my thoughts about life

2009-01-06T18:30:00.001-08:00

I made my layout with the Myspace Background Maker. Get myspace layouts, graphics, and flash toys at pYzam.

title-less

2009-01-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

i never realized how much i freakin' love norah jones. who wouldn't want to listen to her voice, its magnificent. just needed to put that out there.

when i was younger, i went through many different points where i decided what my career would be. the furthest i can remember back was when i wanted to be a freakin' gymnast. not to proud of that one! at school they passed out free circus tickets and me and my dad. after seeing the people walking on ropes and being all flashy and stuff i knew that was my destined career. i even had my mother make me a gymnast costume for halloween. i'm not sure why she supported my dream of becoming a gymnast wearing leatards but that's ok. i was happy. it was bright teal, with silver sparkling sequences lining the sides and my collar. . . and sparkling footsies. yeah, i'm not sure why i'm digging myself deeper.

those were my two thoughts for today, hopefully i can blog something more interesting next time.

the radio

2009-01-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

in the car, i always listen to the radio. unless someone is in the car and they are more interesting than the radio, but if they are not, than i'll listen to music at a decent level of volume. OR if there are people that are annoying in my car and i can't stand but they don't know it, ill turn it to a gay station and leave it there and they tend to sing along. idk why i have given them rides but whatever. so i was bored in gov't class, so me and chris started listening to freakin npr. yeah, i know. the last thing i usually listen to is npr. turns out i freakin love that station. i learn the coolest things every day! i am amused and kinda pinching myself at the same time for not listening so often. perhaps the only segments of npr i have listened to before-hand was car talk, on saturdays. but since i work saturdays and my co-worker hates npr, i think i'll leave it on in the car. and if people complain about npr in my car, i'll throw 'em out my window and make them walk. not really, but ok. i have always had a problem with radios, they never play my kinda music. and that sounds self-ish but it's not. they really just don't play my music. back in middle school, i used to think it was cool to listen to classic rock, just 'cause i thought that was cool or something. . .?? i was kinda weird you see. but i really didn't like it. i just thought the lifestyle was cool. man, i was really weird.

this was me during my . . .' stage'.

so i tend to change my musical taste. you know your'e a true fan when you like the same band that you did in sixth grade, now. relient k is pretty freakin' rad. so i'll play them & npr in my car any day.

pottery

2009-01-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

i just had a brilliant revelation.

life is like. . . . pottery!!!
it's like one of those pots on those wheels,
and with every thing you do, or spend time with,
it's like putting a dent or crease in the side of that pot.
so by the end of life, you have this cool,
or not so cool-looking piece of pottery.
plus, its hard to get rid of those mistakes
but its still possible! and you can make it
look however you want, and no one is the
same. sorry if that's the lamest life metaphor
you've heard yet. but i admit it's better than
life is a highway.
does that make sense?
if not than i probably look like an idiot but ok.

and this what your life-pot would look like
if you lived a very boring life.

i get to make something!

2009-01-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

woo, i get to make more decisions! raise your hands if you hate decisions?

(i'm raising both hands quite high and they are both waving). because i hate decisions. unless of course it's like a choice between a nice car and a nice house. of course im taking the car. i wish there was an expression in text in which i could express some frustration, of course i could always make some up, but they might look weird on the screen. so whatever. here's the funny thing about decisions. let's pretend we are on a highway (only the perfect and most overused metaphor) life is a highway. . .anyways. but we are on a highway and there are two roads, and one road from the first road leads to another road which leads to another road. so if we are starting in nampa, one path could take me to new york and one could take me to austin texas. i know, it sounds so clichés. so basically i'm stuck in a car, at a rest stop waiting to decide what to do. it totally sucks. atleast i have narrowed down my options. i feel pretty tired of having to keep making them, which totally sucks because right now is when i have to make the most and decide who i want to be. it's ok though, ill do it. i know, especially now, that whatever do i can do with confidence. i really don't have to be dependent on anyone-else to make decisions for me, which is totally rockin'. not that i didn't before, but its good to know that i am not always asking for advice because i know what i want. hard to explain. stupid decisions, it would be cool if i could tell the future, figure out what i have already picked and then pick it. and if that doesn't make sense to you, then don't worry about it. my new life outlook: be who i want to be, and people who really care will accept it. oh and realy quick, kanye west is so cool, and so is his music.

go check it out.

im out.

sunday mornings

2009-01-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

sundays just got better! usually every saturday i do something, and don't follow my normal sleeping pattern because i don't have school the next day. last night me and melissa watched eagle eye, pretty interesting movie. my second time and her first, but i wouldn't consider buying it, and then after that i watched snl as well, so i was up later than my usual 'bedtime'. church used to be at nine, which isn't as bad as school, but still pretty early. . . for me. ha. but now church is at eleven and i was very pleased to wake up without restraint this morning it was very nice! so i went straight to the fridge (becuase i forgot dinner last night). . . and opened a yoplait, and when i was looking for a spoon ana reminded me it was fast sunday, and i totally spaced for the few minutes! so i suran-wrapped the cup and put it back.
there are two types of sunday mornings in my house, hectic or easy-going. today was easy going, partially due to the fact that we have two more hours to get ready! but on hectic days we end up taking three cars, arriving at three different times, and some of us forget scriptures. it's not very fun, especially when we have to fight for the shower, but today it wasn't bad at all, its went really smoothly, so good way to start the year (:
our shower has three settings: regular, massage and. . . i don't know how to describe it. . . let's call it "jetstream", because its in the center and it comes out faster. so i figured out how to make go in between jet stream and regular. it feels really freakin' awesome when i wash my hair, i don't know why but it just does, but yeah.
i also go back to school for the first time since christmas break tomorrow, we will see how that goes, and hopefully i don't have any test when i get back, that always seems to happen to me.

sick families, bad drama teachers and amazing boulevards

2009-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

this morning i woke up with a slight cold. i think it's my turn now, because my whole family has been sick at one time. it started with marie, who couldn't even down sprite. and if you know marie, not drinking sprite really means she's sick! then dallan, dad, and this morning my mom. poor thing, i felt realy bad for her. so today, i got all my chores done before eleven, made her tea and cleaned part of the kitchen. i don't mind when my family is sick but when they get sickt hey get grumpy sick. they don't lay in their bed quiet just waiting be good, they take it out on the family. me and my mother however just sit and wait for it to go away. it's a strange thing how sickness makes people act. so if i did work today, i would be able to because i feel pretty fine. but for some strange reason thorne printing closes three days around the holidays. so in jan, my work is close jan 1st, 2nd and 3rd,. . . yeah. everyone forgets that its even 2009 by the time that january third comes around, so either they are loosing a lot of buisness, or there is a line outside of thorne printing when i go back to work. haha, i begged them to switch me days because i now am in the process of doing the school musical. and if you have done one, you know it eats up like all of your time. our drama teacher here is on "adminstrative leave". . . he's fired. i guess he hit kids with a plastic bat and broke the bat, all out of anger. i think i'm officialy scared to work with that guy. of course, rumors went flying around like a wildfire, so i could be wrong. but he really did get arrested and all the admin. leave and stuff. so i don't know if we are ever really doing the play. my choir director says she will take it under her wing, but it doesn't seem like we have made any progress. and knowing the cast, it would be hard to pull out a quailty show before the end of the year. . .ha! maybe i am underestimating, myself and the art dept. but who knows. on monday i will probably find out what is going on (or i hope) and see if the choir director is being serious about the play. . . either way, if we do it or not, i'm totally ok. (:

*oh and let me not forget, there is this amazing boulevard called 'garity blvd'. (excuse my spelling if you need to) but it's my favorite one in nampa. . . hope that makes my aunt feel somewhat better. ha!

nampa

2009-01-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

i went to boise today, and because i went there i realized how much i love why i don't live there. i used to live there but eventually moved to nampa, obviously. i love it here. a lot of people i know tend to complain about this place, and that when they can they will move out! i disagree, nampa is so amazing. there probably isnt as many things to do entertainment-wise, however oppurtunity wise nampa is a thriving community. everyone knows where everything is, where 12th is, where Greenhurst is and where different buildings are located, unlike some cities or towns. or course, i would like to get out, and i dont wish to spend my whole life in nampa, but growing up, i think it is definitly a place for oppurtunity. nampa has a lot of things that most communities need, and it's not like we are deprived of anything that most cities do have. . . except for an ice skating rink. haha. maybe thats what i'll do when i grow up. . . build nampa's first ice skating rink called "j's skating corner". HA! no, that's just weird, anyways! nampa is a great place, thank goodness i still have a while before i have to leave!

v v v v nevermind those post, it was some stuff for my template (:

2009-01-02T18:54:00.001-08:00

I made my layout with the Myspace Background Maker. Get myspace layouts, graphics, and flash toys at pYzam.

2009-01-02T18:38:00.001-08:00

I made my layout with the Myspace Background Maker. Get myspace layouts, graphics, and flash toys at pYzam.

breaks

2009-01-02T09:26:00.001-08:00

it happens every time i have an extended break in the middle of school, christmas, summer, spring, thanksgiving, all of those. i get really bored and it just brings out how un-creative i can be. so today i am going to boise while my family watches hsm-three (i have already seen that twice) and i refuse to watch it again. first two times were great but i can only handle so much of one movie before i become irrated. so i am taking my mom's car and finding something to do down there.
on breaks i usually tend to clean my room a lot, and it has been happening these last few days, but somehow, sometime it gets dirty and i don't know how! its pretty frustrating but i manage. and since its break i stay up however late i want and dont worry about sleep anymore, so last night i watched eagle eye for the first time. dang! it was so packed with 'action' that there wasn't a minute in the movie that i really felt calm, because it wsa so intense. compared to vantage point this show is a knock-out. it was pretty well planned. i think you all need to watch it, and if you don't like it, thats ok too. (: so for these last few days of break i am going to sleep in and stay up as much as i can, and not worry about anything. hopefully i don't have a hard time going back to school and waking up at seven a.m. so far i have a had a pretty amazing break. (:

its january first!

2009-01-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

it's two-thousand and nine! that means another year closer to becoming grown up, kinda scary but i'll live. i figured out that sledding makes me sore...weird, i know. me and melissa went sledding with my family on christmas eve day and the next day we were both sore! i was laughing and i felt quite stupid when it hurt to tie my shoes. anyways, after that we played scrabble at the flying m and i learned some new words, thanks to harrison. "funder" and "vizit" are both new words, both with real meanings too! funder is a mix of fun and thunder. . . so if you ever need to combine those two words thats when you would. and vizit is just fun to say, but it's a spin on "visit", and with the z substitution, it makes the word that much more cool.

i've been reading (or looking. . . well both) at this amazing book. it is basically a collection of the best one-hundred photographs ever taken. it seriously amazes me, even when the photo seems random. many of them have to do with historical events throughout america's history, and sometimes even world history. my favorite photos are of marylin monroe, and not for that reason. she was such an icon that any photo of her kinda became a classic, idk, just that era must have been amazing to live in. thats just another thought.

so whenever i go to a good resteraunt i always think to myslef: "i could do this...easy". in fact i have always thought it would neat to own my own resteraunt but have never really had too much interest in the culinary field. i just kinda dream about it, but today those dreams were ruined. i made a batch of basic chocolate chip cookies today and didnt realize how much work it took. that sounded really lazy but anyways...by the time i was done cooking my black shirt was covered in flower and my hands were quite sticky. i had to wash all the utensils and sweep a little bit too. not that im lazy, i just never really knew how much work actually went into cooking i thought was so simple, or maybe it's just me. i was pretty excited that they turned out so great. . .mmmmm.

i decided to make a list

2008-10-12T19:36:00.001-07:00

i decided to make a list of things that make me happy, since i am in a good mood (: so here we go. maybe i will delete this post after i read it tomorrow and realize how tired i was...

soft cookies, taking pictures, dressing up nicely, music, cute smiles, my siblings, pretty food, the smell of girls hair after a shower, SNL, nice cell phones, big quilts, grand pianos, musicals, really good choirs, the church, when i remember the answer to a question on a test, my friends, my best friend, mcdonalds french fries, days off, scooters, nampa id, cool ties, DCI, fireplaces, fast computers, my drivers license, my van with purple spots, good singers, huge auditoriums, working out, american movies, cute songs, long hugs, getting mail (not from a university), and christmas music.

jay

smacatello

2008-10-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

i love marching band. thats why i am in it. we went down to pocatello this weekend to compete. now in marching band there are divisions , just like high schools are divided into...2a, 3a...etc. anyways...we were a 4a band. We took first in percussion, gaurd, music, and overall. visual went to some band from elko, but we kicked their butts, so oh well (: we performed in a dome, so it was really loud, made us look bigger than we really were. so it was way sweet!!! we beat a bunch of 5a bands, it was sweet. over all we took third...a very milestone for skyview marching band. i must give credit to mrs.call, she is a freakin awesome director. it was fun. my room stayed up till two in the morning watching project runway. i never realized how addicting a fashion show could be. i mean, four guys watching project runway? yeah, i thought it wouldnt ever happen ethier, but it was soo good. too bad i am missing the finale.

so in whenever my drum coach tried texting pocatello, it always came out smacatello. it was funny, so thats why its named that (: haha

it was freaking cold! it was all snowy and blizzardy and crazy. i was wearing three jackets and still a little shiver. it was crazy! (:

im in a really good mood (: i just talked to my good friend and my sister.

sorry everyone

2008-10-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

i havent written in how long? someone tell me.

well two reasons. number one: im a slacker, i start something cause i think its cool, and then i forget and let down everyone (: but i hope you all forgive me (: this blog was inspired my erin and melissa. melissa for reminding me about keeping on journaling, so i said why not whip out the blog. and erin cause she told me too. haha

number two: im busy, senior year, band....pretty crazy. so if you want a quick update thus far, ill try to keep writing. here we go:

start of school: great! busy, i am a senior, so it feels kinda weird. junior year was my favorite year tho i think.

marching band: i thought we were going to be horrible to be honest. but much to my suprise, we have taken first everytime (i probably just cursed us for monday)....but we are beating many 5A bands so thats cool.

homecoming: it was pretty fun (: we matched pretty well...we both wore black...ha! fun times.

my sister: she is married. it is awesome, he is awesome, and i heard their house was pretty awesomly cute. so yeah. sucks that they live so far, but thats good when your married. i should have written a blog about this a long time ago.

work: work is alright. its boring, and thats why its called work, but i guess making copies and laminating stuff twice a week is a pretty freakin good deal for being in school too.

so yeah, i hope that answers some questions. im so busy (: but ill try to start it up again...with all my...."free time" (: thanks for reading

JAY

congrats dallan!

2008-05-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

ahh! dallan graduated...crazy. im not going to have a sibling high school anymore. that is seriously sad. when i saw him walk i cross i started getting teary eyed. yeah, hes growing up way to fast. but im really happy for him, he graduated in the the top ten of his class, dont know where exactly but thats what we know. it was crazy tho, im definitely excited for him to serve a mission, but that means i wont see him for THREE YEARS.... ): thats too long, but its all for a good reason. ahh...
anyways...maybe i should look on the positive side! (: it was awesome, that kid is going farther and he is going to be richer than me for sure...haha

* congratulations again dallan (:

saturday

2008-05-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

what a day saturday was.
so i had parade america at nine in the morning, i forced myself into my cream marching band outfit and headed to the school. and we didnt have to wear jackets, so i had to wear my nasty marching band t-shirt (man, every thing we wear in marching band is just gross). I usually wear it for painting or something and i had a weird stain in in the middle so i didnt look to hot. but it was all good, i wasnt trying to impress the parade people or anything, i just wanted to get it overwith. good times. after sweating it up in the sun i took off my shoes to reveal my sore (and somewhat blistering) feet. it was....fun! and then i headed over to the park where my dad was running the "childrens mental health awarness day". i think him and the mayor are good buddies now, they were talking about guinea pigs when i heard them talking, so yeah. i guess thats cool.

oh dude, and it was so stinking hot after i got home. so i took a cold shower got dressed and then went to see prince caspian. man, that movie was killer! thought it was better then the first one, for sure. i really liked watching the movie with my friends. good times. and then i went home, ate a lot of food and went to bed. tiring day but it was still great (:

today

2008-05-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

oh man, today was sooo tiring. it felt like two days...
regardless...it was SO good! i wont tell you exactly why, partly cause i dont know why today was amazing. but it just was. i was so happy and ah, everything went right and the weather was gorgeous!! (:

idol finale

2008-05-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

ah! both davids made it to the finale! and now i have a confession...*gasp!
my inclanation is leaning towards david cook now. i appreciate his originality and his forced kinda voice.
but whoever wins ill be happy, and ill probably buy both of their albums anyways. so thats it for now.

---------------

2008-05-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!
i know its a day late...regardless, I love you Mom!

prom!

2008-05-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

*in honor of the red dress and my red tux, ill be writing this entry...in red as well. (:

prom was so much fun!!! it was freakin fun and it just made me more excited for next year.

so i picked up my date (melissa fitzen, for those who dont know) at her house. and we matched so perfectly. our shades of red probably came off of the same roll of fabric.

on our way to pictures my buddy chris was freaking out over directions as i tried to calm him down. we found it way fast, so no worries. and then i escorted melissa to our picture place. it was kinda fun cuz it was like a walk in the park, oh yeah. it was a very pretty park and the weather was absolutley gorgeous, to make things better. then we went to eat and after arriving there earlier then expected, we walked down town so i could show everrbody how freakin hot we looked in our outfits. i think we got tired of walking so we left to eat and the lasagna was mmmmmmm. but too filling too fast. i felt like a wimp only eating half of my meal, and chris sat next to me eating everything on his plate. but if i ate anymore i would bust, and i dont think melissa would have appreciated me busting. kinda gross. we met this really really nice old couple at the resteraunt. they were really interested in our date and were asking us questions and stuff. it was kinda cute. they left the resteraunt as we finished dinner. heres the cool part about dinner tho: after getting our bill, our waitress told us that that old couple had paid forty dollars of our bill! so the bill was only twenty dollars total! woo, it was really freakin sweet. if i had known it would have been cheap, i would have ordered some nice wine to go along with it. just kidding, thats horrible. but, it was really amazing. and the dance was pretty sweet as well. definitley pretty inside and it was cool to see everyone dressed up for prom and their hair done and stuff. i definitley saw some...interesting dancing too, but we wont go there. overall i had a freakin fun time. and it was fun going with her and going at a time when it seemed like everything was busy.

american idol

2008-05-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

1st performances...

David C- i was excited about the song choice, and then i was let down. out of all the songs he could have chosen that was bad choice.

Syesha- just ok...good vocals but the coreography looked staged and corny. she struggled to keep up towrards the end.

Jason- yeah...if you watched i think you would agree. horrible.

David A.- definitley best performance so far, and his vocal were killer. flawless note changes and no tone issues. way to go.

2nd performances...

David C.- really good when he goes high. really short, and there was definitley some tone issues towards the end. ok

Syesha- wow, towards the end it was really good. but it still wasnt a hot performance for me. i think she thinks that she did amazing but it really wasnt. judges liked it, but i didnt.

Jason- i liked it. it was'nt horrible at all. but my friend and the judges didnt agree, so i think im alone on this one.

David A.- haha, my dad predicted thats what he would sing. he did a goob job and was the beset performer of the night. hands down

mowing lawns

2008-05-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

i dis-like lawn mowing. especially today.
every week i walk down to a lady in ward's house to mow her lawn. i usually dont mind mowing lawns, but today was kinda a different story. i couldnt go two rows without having to tip it on its side, clean it out with my hands and then re-start it. besides that, it was being a gas hog today. it was empty before i could get half the back lawn done. urg! the grass was thick and it would'nt go in the bag, and if anything else was going to wrong i would give up. it started to lightly rain after that and the self-propel feature stopped working. now its getting really fun. i was about halfway-through the back when the mp3 player died on me. (: ...i cant wait to go back and mow next week...

taco trucks, astro jumps & crappy brownies

2008-05-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

oh man, cinco de mayo is crazy. I think that it is America's excuse to have burritos and have drinks cause honestly, that is all we do. If Cinco De Mayo were celebrated a bit differently than i might consider it a holiday. dont get me wrong, i love mexican food, tamales, burritos...mmmm. At my high-school the b.e.s.o club puts on some festivities behind the school. ( i think b.e.s.o stand for bi-lingual...uhm...something something ) anyways, they have dancers an astro jump and a taco truck. If there is anyone that can tell me how astro-jumps are mexican related i would be happy to listen. and the dancers were.... a little, to put it nicely i would say they were a little suggestive. haha, didnt want to say anything in case any of you dancers are reading my blog. In spanish class, we got to explore the festivities. I found some friends to talk to, that was fun. I didnt want to waste my time in line of the taco truck tho, it was soooo long. I would have rather went home, made some tacos and came back if i could drive. After i walked my friend backed to their class, i went to the band room and played the star-spangled banner on the piano. idk, if that really suited the occasion, but thats ok. its a pretty arrangment... (: oh dude, and then when it came time for dinner, we ate tacos in honor of cinco de mayo. it was pretty great.
so for family home evening we went to sonic and planned our week. it was........fun. i guess. i took two sips of my cherry limade and then that was it. i get accused of never eating from my friend melissa, but little does she know how much i eat when i get home. i think i had like freakin, three huge brownies when i got home...they are addicting. they have like marshmallows and pretzels and just a bunch of crap on them. well they arent crappy...they just look like it until you take a bite. then they are awesome tho. credit to my sister erin for making them on sunday.

just an FYI: i posted a song of no air on my blog home page....i dont think its the real version. forgive me. its like uhm...idk, it sounds weird. but w/e.

american idol is tomorrow. sweet...but i have to mow a lawn tomorrow too...not so sweet.

anywho, i think i should get to bed, it just turned 9:00... way past my bed time. haha

happy cinco de mayo

¡happy cinco de mayo!

2008-05-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

¡Feliz Cinco De Mayo, espero que cada uno tuviera diversión el comer del tacos, y mirar al club español demostrar a algún natural baila!

reasons i dislike math - for sandra

2008-05-05T14:03:00.001-07:00

one: x isnt a number, its a letter

two: after learning on thing, you forget it and move on to another. there is no universal rule

three: when will i use logarithimic change of base in the future?

four: if imaginary numbers are imaginary, then how can we use them.

five: it is just...yeah.

ah, the joys of math.

American Idol

2008-05-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Anyone else following Idol this season? Well im not a complete addict of the show, its just this random season that im following. I heard there was a mormon kid on it and thats when i started. It is down to the final four, and i can already predict the outcome to the top two. Its between two davids, d.cook and d.archuleta. They both kick butt, however im set on archuleta taking it all and soon becoming the next Idol. Another contestant is Jason Castro, who has nasty dreadlocks and girl face...good voice tho, and i guess thats all that matters. I believe the them for tues. is rock n' roll, but thats just what i have heard. If so, david c. will take it all and leave jason in the gutter. Maybe i shouldnt make predicitions before the actual show, cause if im wrong, ill look like an idiot. Oh well. I think that song choice doesnt matter as much as fan base does. Each contestant has created huge fan bases and now it just depends on who liked them before instead of the actual performances.

i dont know what to put here

2008-05-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

School has become easy this year. I'm only taking one AP class and it seems as though there is less and less to do the more we go into the year. So blogging will be my kill time for now. Nothing is more exciting than reading about other peoples lives, so i said "why not?". Right now, i feel like a baked potato...(is that spelled right?) Im really really hot and bored. However, with a little bit of ingredients, life could become exciting quickly.
Last weekend, i had state solo competition out in Boise. Man, there was some tough competition...i wasnt expecting to win tho. I heard some pa-retty amazing voices. I was suprised I even made it that far, the only reason I really did it was for my choir teacher. I guess I should listen to her more often. haha. It was worth the practice and drive. Its a battle right now for me to decide which i like better, band or choir. I am so much better in band and I can probably grow alot more than in choir. Our band program has really prooven itself worthy the last few years, however our choir...eh, not so much. As for choir, the people are a bit more...normal. I really like the people in choir and the kind of humor they bring. Band has created a culture of kids who think that its funny to eat mountain dew and pixie sticks all day...i find that gross. bleah. In choir we drink water, and only water. It is great. I am definitley not looking forward to anymore concerts this year, i think that we have overestimated our ability to perform...but i might be underestimating...one of those two. Which ever one it is, we are definitley in for some type of train wreck at eithier of the concerts. The only exciting thing about this next band concert is the announcement of the show, thats about it. I think ill be suprised, but still be delighted. We are loosing some very talented seniors this year, so hopefully everyone in band can do a pull up and step it up a notch.
Feliz Quatro De Mayo.