Family is Forever

I love my family, they are awesome, and so for this post I decided I would write about them instead of about me.

Starting with my Dad, He is amazing. Just a few of his talents are piano, guitar, vocals, origami, pencil art, painting, pottery, and creating inventive nick-names. As an employee for Disney he is able to provide our family with many wonderful trips to Disneyland and gets discounts on many valuable movies. He is a great example of financial independence for me, owning a credit card that he pays off completely each month and then uses the reward points from not being in-debt to buy books from Amazon. About a year a go he bought a car, paying in cash, and even has entrepreneured his own Personal Wealth Guru a self help program for managing money and spending less than you earn. My Dad is an interesting mix of no-nonsense goal setting and completely inane sillyness, but he is able to differentiate between the two and knows when to be have fun and when to work. I still wish he'd play video games with us more...

My Mom is probably the very most loving and caring person I know. So much so that I think if My Mom and Chuck Norris were put in the same room, the apposing forces, yet equal in proportion, of Violence and Love would react in such a way to create an explosion of cosmic proportions immediately forcing the entire world to voluntarily live the law of consecration, and the second coming would happen before its supposed to, which is why its a good thing Chuck Norris is afraid of my Mother (just try to wrap your head around that one). My Mom has taught me good standards of Honesty and Integrity, I still remember when I was about six or five years old and I had stolen my brothers cookie and taken a huge shark bite out of it (one of those large pink grandma sugar cookies). My Mom looked me in the eyes and asked me if I had eaten the cookie, I looked her in the eyes and said I didn't. I think she knew I was lying to her because she then told me that she "hoped I wasn't lying because the day I could look My Mom in the eyes and lie to her face was the day she would... (I don't remember the rest)"... I got away with my crime, but I will always remember the guilty feeling I got when I lied to My Mother like that, and whenever i'm tempted to lie, that moment in my life comes back to memory and I make the correct decision.

If you want to know about me, read my preceding and post-ceding blog posts, they will speak for themselves, or just talk to me personally, I'm not going to brag about myself here.

Bryce is the black sheep in the family, I mean that in the nicest way possible. Most of the family is messy, Bryce is neat, three of the brothers love video games, Bryce does not, basically, Bryce has every good characteristic most of our family lacks in addition then all the good ones we do have. He seems to have inherited my Dad's artistic talents, already having won money for some of his art work and is obsessed with music. I swear, he understands music on a level all his own and he will be going far in life. The first thing most girls will notice about bryce is his curly hair and his smile, a gene from My Mom's side of the family, Bryce can grow a natural fro, when his hair is longer he likes to go up to me and say "hey look!!! I'm an inch taller than you by a hair!!!" I then remind him that having long hair just makes it easier for me to take advantage of him in a fist fight, and he shuts up :). Me and Bryce have had our differences in the past, but we are working through them, something he's taught me to do with anyone who is willing to work with me and my many annoying mannerisms.

Nathan is amazing, I don't think there is anything he can't do. He started learning Suzuki Violin at a really young age so now he sounds like a virtuoso, and he's only fourteen!!! His goal is to be an Animator for pixar and he seems to be well on his way, like bryce, he is very good at art. Nathan is a very patient and easy going person and we get along together great. He likes to grab my hand and make me punch myself, I dramatically pretend that it hurts, then punch him back. We like to see how long we can continue this until My Mom makes us stop. One cool thing that Nathan an Bryce have been doing recently is making a game for the ipod, they plan to sell it on the app store, I think their goal is to finish it this summer. Nathan has a blog at http://www.enjoythyjourney.blogspot.com/ maybe he'd be willing to post progress updates there? i'm very interested to see how their game turns out, Its looking to be really legit.

Tyler will probably hate me for saying this, but he is still really cute. twelve years old, and I still think of him with his baby cheeks :) He is learning Guitar and is progressing very rapidly for the minimal amount of effort he puts into it, if he would work harder he'd be a Led Zeplin by the time he enters highschool. speaking of which, he is starting jr. high next year, I think he's a little apprehensive about that, but i'm sure he'll be fine. Tyler's favorite things to do are play video games and read books, not all that unlike me at his age, I'm hoping that eventually he'll grow out of video games a little, like i did, and he needs to get outside more and play sports. unlike me, he has amazing eyes and I think he could be very successful if he applied himself. It will be interesting to see what he does with his life in the next two years while i'm gone on my mission, I pray that he makes some good choices.

Zuki is our dog, her favorite things to do are sit on peoples feet, beg for food, and play with the neighborhood pets. Nathan named her after his tutelage, Suzuki, Zuki, get it? we think it's an awesome name. Zuki is an amazing pet, she doesn't smell, she doesn't bark to much, she doesn't bite, she knows tricks, and she comes back when you let her out of the house. We miss our old dog Nala, but Zuki is about as good of a replacement as can be found.

I'm so Hungry I Could Eat a Famine

This week I had the blessed opportunity to receive my mission call, unlike most eager missionaries, I put off my urge to open my call so that my family and friends could come and be there while i open it. Plus is was a good excuse for a party and in motivated my parents to finish their counter top early... :) I opened it at 8:34 p.m. on saturday night. I don't regret waiting that long because I was able to have over twenty of my closest friends and family there and several attending on the phone.

There was tons of good food, my Dad was gracious enough to smoke pork-shoulder and crock-pot some roast-beef, hence there was tons of food to eat. I waited until all my friends arrived then opened my call, afterwards we talked and socialized for a while and once all my family had left we decided to watch a movie. I watched Despicable Me for the first time, I was personified by either Gru or the Henchmen both of with i'm okay with. :) now my ringtone on my phone is a direct quote from the movie from when the henchmen are laughing while photo scanning their rear ends. :) It's funny, trust me. :)

On sunday I went to the Stake Priesthood meeting with my Dad, they talked a lot about good parenting and how to be a good Father, I listened as long as I could, but eventually the late night got to me and I fell asleep... The same thing happened at Stake Conference, I tried really really hard to stay awake, even doodled and wrote poetry, but after a few speakers my hungry stomach and my tired brain shut off and I was closed to any insight at all for the rest of the meeting... It would have been different if the choir had sung hymns between the speakers instead of all at the beginning, but oh well, it was still fun to be with my family.

After church I ate more food left over from the previous night. made a delicious sandwich and then washed it down with a glass of milk. Then I took a nap. I slept very well and woke up in time for a meeting with my Bishop to follow up receiving my mission call. When I got home an hour later my brothers were playing basket ball in the driveway. I immediately joined them, in my sunday cloths. I'm told i looked kind of silly with my knickers rolled up to my knees, in bare feet, and a suit coat, but I could care less, it was fun. I went in to change after a few baskets and got to talk to my Grandma/Grandpa in Brazil, they were nice enough to offer a check to cover some of the expenses of going on a mission. Thanks you Pots and Pans, your the Best!

Finally, the best part of the day, Dinner. For dinner we had left overs, and it was delicious. mash-potatoes, brocoli, and pork-shoulder and roast-beef. of course washed down with some milk. I went to bed feeling very relaxed, but not before watching a extremely funny, and very cheesy, old batman movie. It was hilarious, and its on netflix, so I highly recommend it, it's awesome. In other news, today is my Brothers and one of my friends birthdays, Bryce is turning 17 and Nicke is turning 20, Happy Birthday you two!!!

In closing I'd like to mention that I'll be serving in the South Dakota, Rapid City Mission. Thanks for reading my blog! :) I'm leaving on August 17th

Tulips

Tulips


Tulips are a special flower,
they bloom but once a year.
The bulb is planted in the fall,
but grows when spring is near.

A herald from the joys of sun,
It's message is that winters done.
The bulb springs up so tender and raw,
a gentle sprout to beat the thaw.

The flower grows but doesn't show
the color thats inside.
Until it blooms no one will know
the secret it that it hides.

I am the Gardener, the one who cares,
I am the Nurturer, the one who dares
to coax these flowers into bloom,
and bring them past their winters doom.

I pulled the weeds, to give you room.
I beat the sun, to melt the frost.
I worked to see you shine, no matter the cost.
For you are my tulip, and I shall see you bloom.

Stranded in a Sea of Technology

Tuesday, Journal Log Day 1#

I woke up to find myself stranded.

everywhere I look there is a sea of technology.

i'm in a boat, but there aren't any paddles.

why would someone have a boat with no paddles?

maybe the paddles fell out of their pocket on the bus ride home...

but If that happened, and i'm the only one in the boat,

why aren't I home?

Wednesday, Journal Log Day 2#

After a frenzied night full of nightmares and weird buzzing noises,

I wake up to find myself looking at a weird red plant/sprout thing with a leaf on top,

immediately thinking that if its red I should approach it and give it a tug

I find out that it's not really a plant but a small little plant-ish man with elvish features,

I shall call him pikman, because i picked him, and he is a man! bwahahah.. 

oh sorry, wrong journal...

Real Wednesday, Journal Log Day 2#

after a really strange nightmare about large mushroom monsters, plant men, and

malfunctioning spaceships named after an aquatic animal, I realize that I'm still stranded

in my paddle-less boat. I'm running out of breathable air, (oh wait, wrong story again, sorry), 

I can't last much longer, I get these phantom vibrations in my pockets as if a paddle might 

some how magically appear... it's cold out here in the wide open sea and my fingers 

are starting to grow numb from under-use... I hope a solution arises soon 

because I don't know how much longer I can last...

Thursday, Journal Log Day 3#

I'm beginning to lose hope, I must be done for. 

it's been what? 27 days and not one sign of a piggybank anywhere... (shoot, why do I keep doing that??)

the paddles have yet to surface also, I shall continue looking and

although I had already filed my lost and found claims on wednesday,

it doesn't seem like anyone is responding. 

Just as i'm about to close my eyes for the last time, a ray of hope springs

forth, it's a piece of driftwood, floating by....

I'm to tired and hungry from lack of food to do much more than call to it

and hope it will somehow find it's way into my boat, 

I lapse into unconsciousness...

Friday, Journal Log Day 4#

It's a miracle!!! Halleluja!!! somehow the piece of driftwood found its way into my boat

and not only that, it's not driftwood at all, it's a fully new, fully functioning, 40 horse-power

motter, with propeller attached :). I quickly fix it to my boat and speed back home,

ironically once I got there I ate some carrots, then found my piggy bank :) 

end of journal log

If you haven't figured it out by now, on tuesday I lost my phone, on wednesday I enjoyed a full day of finding similarities between the pikmen video game and losing a phone, and on thursday I had anticipated just getting an old, run down, slightly broken phone covered in a tulip textile, to say the least, not a very desirable phone. Instead my Dad offered to buy me a new one. My Dad got me this awesome brand new phone with a full qwerty keyboard, better organization, and a sleek new look. Thanks Dad, your AwEsOmE. AEOE stands for "An Example of Expertness", and thats what you are. :)

Unfortunately there are a few down sides, first, I no longer have anyones number, this means ANYone's number, so I ask this, if you have my number, and still want me to have yours, send me a text with your name in it, (yes sean, this means you too :) love yah!). Second, the phone will belong to Nathan eventually because when i go on a mission he gets to keep it as his, and third, it's quite likely to get stolen.

I figure that so far this school year i've had a phone break, and i've had a phone get lost. It follows that the next logical step would for it to get stolen, and of all the phones i've had this year, this one is the most likely of the three to be worthy of theft, so mark my words, if my phone gets stolen, don't tell me I didn't tell you so.

oh, and be nice to pikmen, they're cute and cuddly, but you don't want purple ones to sit on you.

The Finished Hymn, Finally.

I finally finished. believe it or not, here is my first Hymn.

Feel free to examine and give me advice,
I went  away from the conventions just a little bit,
 but I think most of them can be justified

Please take into note that it IS my first Hymn, 

don't be shy, tell me what you think! 

April Fools on U!!!

This April Fools was awesome. To begin, not a single person played a joke on me. After waking up at 9 o'clock because I had stayed up way to late the night before trying in vain to raise the quality of my hymn higher than I know how. I went to my music theory class so out of it that a simple "boo!" would have scared me out of my skin, no one said anything.

My music teacher took the entire lesson to teach us the mathematics of the harmonic series, then he played us a song very much out of character called "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor", a scream-o song that used the tri-tone predominately. lets just say that he closed the door to protect his reputation.

The second thing happened in rehearsal when a student (who shall remain nameless because I don't know his name and even if I did wouldn't share it because that's inhuman to his feel-goods) was kicked out of our rehearsal because he was talking when he should have been playing. He was told to meet our conductor after rehearsal and five minutes before four our conductor said he felt sorry for him because "he is soon to have the worst day of his life". I was surprised to see him alive in rehearsal today, more surprised that he was alive and less that he was at rehearsal. Our conductor isn't that heartless. (Incase he ever reads this, I hope he realizes my blog is 30% satire and 70% tired ramblings)

The last great thing about April Fools was the weather, it was a perfect day, nice, sunny, good breeze. Only day that week that wasn't miserable and crappy. Being at the U where there isn't a strict dress code, EVERYONE TOOK THEIR CLOTHES OFF!!! it was like fall all over again. Men were sitting on the ground all over the place like star-struck pigeons, chest bare, tanning. I assume the women were more discrete about where they sat tanning because although I didn't see many sun-bathing, I saw several girls with horrid sun-burns. Okay, so not Everyone took off their cloths, but their cloths certainly lost a lot of fabric around the neck-line and knee caps. With the recent chill yesterday and today it was nice to see everyone covered up again.

In other random news, and for the full sake of being confusing to all but two (or three) people: Sadie Wins.