Andrew Narrated: My Life on Paper

sigh Fine...

2012-01-22T22:55:00.001-07:00

You know...there was a while there when I thought I was done with this blog. It just happens that one can run out of things to say. I thought...well...maybe a year of blogging would be enough. I suppose not. I'm still waiting for something amazing to happen in my life that I'll suddenly have lots and lots of things to blog about. Yet...here I am writing nonsense all over again. *shrugs* (Yes Wendy, it was your comment that made me put a post here again. Pat yourself on the back)
These last two weeks have been pretty rough. This first one wasn't the best because the semester was starting which meant I was suddenly broke (still am) and I now have homework again...*shakes fist threateningly*. The "broke" part I'm doing my best to deal with for now until my tax return comes in a week. I need to pay tuition and I think I'm late paying it so there will be a fee. I'm still working on student loan paperwork and what not so I don't have to worry about it anymore (for now...) but that's taking some time. Other bad things include the recent downhill turn my laptop has been making. Just the other day it crashed 8 times in 20 minutes. I was more than just a little bit annoyed. It's been doing that a lot lately among other things, so I believe it's about time that I bought a new one. Hooray for my tax return!
Other bad things include my grandma being taken to the hospital earlier this week because they thought she had a stroke. She had been having a headache so bad that it was making her cry. :( Turns out it was probably the narcotics she had been taking for her lower back pain. They weren't 100%, but they put her on a different medicine instead to see if her headache goes away. She's home now, but she still has a headache. Things were looking a bit better, then my brother got in a car accident on Saturday. Some idiot ran into the back of his car then drove away and left him there. He had to go to the ER to make sure everything was good. Nothing like receiving a picture text from my mom with my brother in a neck brace. Anyway, that was just the icing on the cake to a bad pair of weeks. I'm just hoping that it doesn't become a trilogy.
My dating life is circling the drain currently. I don't think I've been on a date in two and a half months. I made a resolution this year to date more though. I think once every two months isn't enough. The down part is that January is almost over and I still haven't had one, nor do I have one coming up. The problem isn't that I'm a wuss and won't ask anyone, it's that I don't feel like I have anyone to ask. I won't give up easily though. I'm asking around for referrals and trying to put myself out there more. We'll see how it goes. It'd be nice to start it up again.
My other resolution was to get back into shape. (Very cliche, but what can you do?) That one has been going very well actually. I enrolled in a weight lifting class this semester, and I've been running every day that I don't have class. The results are already starting to show. The fat on my face is going away, and I feel less tired every day now. I'm excited to see the final results. I just need to stick with it.
Lastly...school. School school school. This semester is fairly simple. Weight lifting, Computer Graphic Applications, Institute, and 2D Design. So far 2D Design is my favorite. It's fun to be given art projects I can do in Photoshop that are different and test what I can do. I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester with that one. The thing with school this semester is that I have class from 1 to 650pm. (blech) It's weird to leave class and have it dark outside already. My week is usually pretty full with school and work, but oh well.
Anyway, yeah, I'm boring. All I can talk about is what's going on my life and how much it stinks lately. Sorry you had to read my complaining (if you got this far). BUT...as I've said before; Sometimes it's just easier for me to write it all out here and get it off my mind.
Good luck with life whoever you are reading this!

Where have I been?

2011-10-18T15:00:00.000-06:00

Well I'll tell you...I've been in school!! Yes yes, school is my life once again and this semester has already been a trek. Just a week or so ago I studied non stop for an American National Government exam. It was one of those where the professor gave us four questions to study, then on the day of the exam he'd pick two and we had to write a 2 page essay for each. Yeah...it was a little crazy. Fortunately, I aced it, and I feel really good about it. Goes to show that studying pays off. I'm also working on a research paper that is basically my whole grade for English, so that is fun also...but not really.
Other than that, life goes on. A couple weeks ago I started at a new branch for my work. I'm a loan interviewer yet again!! Hooray! I definitely like this job a lot more than being a teller. The great part is this time around I'm actually doing mostly loans, instead of last time where I only did new accounts. It's also good because I know what I'm doing better this time around, so I'm a lot more confident in my job. Also...I have THE MOST COMFORTABLE CHAIR!! Yeah, it's epic. I love sitting at my desk.
Anyway, just a small update. I don't really have anything specific I wanted to talk about. Just letting you know I'm still alive here.

P.S. I'm totally being a zombie for halloween!

The Hard Thing About Blogging Is...

2011-09-06T14:45:00.001-06:00

So I swear I haven't been avoiding this blog for the last month. In fact I return to it quite frequently. But I'll get to that in a bit. Life goes on at the moment. School started up again for me last week and I'm going into what may possibly be the most boring semester ever. Understanding Technology, English, and American National Government. Hooray for generals....all of them are mostly lecture only and a lot of reading outside of class. I really hope I can get into some of my Major based classes next semester and save myself from further boredom.

Anyway, back to talking about blogging. So yes, at least twice a week I log onto my blog with the hopes to blog about something. However each time I get to the point of writing something I decide not to. Here's the problem; the things I want to write about are things going on in my life or a commentary about someones actions to me or someone else. There are things I want to say about people that would probably come back and kick me in the butt later and I'll be in trouble.

I want to be able to say, "Hey this happened to me and it sucked..." or "this girl did this or that, or treated me badly, or snubbed me, or rejected me, and I think it's lame because..." or "Don't you hate it when someone does something like my friend here...". Stuff like that. I can't. People will get offended. I want to openly ask the people that read this for advice or what they think on thing that happen to be, but it would create more problems if I do.

It's such a temptation to create a whole new blog under a fake name and background and change peoples names and then write about what happened. I could then write about what's REALLY going on in my life, what's REALLY bothering me, and what I deal with day to day. The problem with that is no one I know will read it because they won't know the blog exists, or if they did find it and if they knew me well enough, they could probably connect the dots and know it was me. Then they'd know a lot I bet.

Anyway, yeah, there isn't really a good solution. So just know that even though there aren't a lot of blog posts put up, the thought is still there. It just takes a bit more to come up with something that isn't quite as problem causing.

Can I trust you?

2011-08-03T11:09:00.001-06:00

Well the response to my last blog was really interesting. Most of the reception was relayed to me by other means than commenting at the bottom of the post. Who knew creating a (incomplete) list of what I would like in a girl (other than organs) would create quite a stir? Such responses included laughter, saying it was like what little Beehive girls do when they are 12, disagreement (especially on my opinions on physical attraction), support, saying that the list was too general, or just the general "rolling of the eyes" attitude. I'm not quite sure how to respond to it all. I thought it was a good list...

Now that I've posted the list I have been pondering about other things that I could put on it. I'm repeating myself when I say it wasn't a complete list of what I'm looking for. It was just a general summary of things. Anyway, one that came to mind this last week is especially sticking out and I'm surprised that it didn't make it on there.

Ever since a bad long-term relationship in high school I've had a hard time trusting girls. Yes, I know, high school is stupid, and most of the time good healthy relationships don't form there, and there is loads of drama and nonsense. In my defense, that was my first experience of dating, and it left a lasting impression. Since then it's been sort of an interesting experience. (I'm sure you are tired of me referring to my dating life too) There hasn't been that many good experiences (in the end) for me when it comes to dating girls. I've been cheated on, lied to, and played (that one happens the most). All of it just continually adds to my dislike of dating at all. If it were up to me I'd almost consider an arraigned marriage to be rid of it, or just shave my head and move to India to become a monk. But I digress...

The point I want to make is that trust is a pretty big deal to me. It takes a while to build, and only seconds to destroy. I want to be able to trust the person that I'm dating, and not have those small negative thoughts that they are just going to treat me badly in the end.

Trust is defined as "to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something". Let me throw some synonyms out there with it.
Integrity, "Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character"
Confidence, "Full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing"
Honesty, "The quality or fact of being honest, uprightness and fairness. Truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness

Now, nobody is perfect, but can't one guy ask for a little trust? Someone who won't lie to me (by omission or to my face), cheat on me, or play me (use me for a little while then toss me to the side)? It's pretty simple, if I can't trust you, I won't date you. I try to work harder at not letting those little thoughts in, and give the benefit of the doubt. However, if I'm dating someone and find out they are doing any of those things, it's a deal breaker. Period.

Sorry, this isn't aimed at anyone specifically, just some thoughts. It's a big deal for me, especially because of my past. So yes, I want a girl I can trust (I would think most guys would agree with me). I can't say that enough.

The List (dun dun dun)

2011-07-27T12:36:00.007-06:00

Well I'm happy to announce I'm mostly stress free at the moment. I finally was able to meet with my academic advisor yesterday and plan the next 4 years of my life with my major, my apartment for the next year is squared away, and now I'm just waiting for the next semester of school to start in a month. About the only this that stresses me now is dating and being financially stable while paying rent and tuition.

Speaking of dating, right now at work I'm the only single person on staff. Everyone else that works here is married. The end result of that is I'm constantly asked how dating is going, who I'm interested in, updates on girls I have mentioned, etc since they no longer are in the dating mess. I've gotten used to it as this isn't the first branch I've worked at that puts me in this situation. It also doesn't help that most of the staff are girls. Anyway, the last couple weeks I've been asked what my "List" is, meaning what I look for in a girl and what not (looks, qualities, traits). Although most people wouldn't believe me, call me a liar, or say I'm kidding myself, looks actually only takes up a couple spots on this list. Even though an initial physical attraction is important, and usually is part of the first sparks of dating and what not, I look more into the other parts of that list. So I thought I'd post a portion of that list here for kicks and more just to see it here for myself jotted down. I'm not putting it here for attention or to imply certain things to certain individuals or anything of that sort. Just for fun. So without further introduction, here's part of the list. (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

-I want to date someone that is less than a foot shorter than me (I'm 6'3"). I've dated a couple girls that didn't fall under that, and it was just awkward, especially hugging them

-If I was dating a girl, and I randomly said, "Hey let's go skydiving!", the correct response would be "Heck yes! Let's do it!" or something along those lines. The reason being is not only because skydiving would be way fun, but because I want to date a girl that would be spontaneous like that. The girl I'd want to date would be willing to do things on they fly, and not be afraid to try new things.

-A really big thing for me is that I don't want to date a girl that is shy. It's not something that attracts me to a girl I'm afraid. (I refer again to the spontaneous point above) I want to date a girl that is willing to speak up in groups instead of being quiet on the side. Don't get me wrong, I have some great friends that are shy like that, and I know they are great.

-A girl would stick out a lot to me if she didn't fall back to all of the hints and games I talked about in one of my previous posts. (http://andrewbaham.blogspot.com/2011/05/dating-hints-and-games-lame.html) I want a girl to tell me how she's feeling about things instead of leaving hints and hoping that I get them and vis versa.

-About the only other physical feature that I'd put on here (but isn't required) would be the color of hair. Currently my favorites are redheads and brunettes. I dunno why, but I like them. I've never really dated anyone with red hair, mostly because they seem uncommon, but everyone else I've dated has had brown hair. It just seems to work out that way.

-You're probably also expecting this one too since everyone puts it on their list, but hey, it's important; Sense of humor. A girl that can take jokes and dish them out would be great. This also falls under the "not being shy" category.

-Anyone who knows my family or how we are would know how much we kid around or be sarcastic with each other. Each family meal is in itself it's own adventure. Usually when someone is getting to know me better I tell them that if they knew my family or saw me around them, they'd understand why I am the way I am better. We're all a little strange. My family is great, so if a girl is okay with how they are when she ever meets them, it's a good thing. (And believe me, a lot rests on this point, more for her than me)

-I also don't want to date a girl that is a "Debbie Downer" (taken from SNL). She should be upbeat, positive, and help keep me the same way. We all have down moments and I wouldn't expect her to be exempt from those, but if she's able to positively think her way out of those instead of dwelling, great.

-The biggest and most important thing I'd put on this list is her testimony of and willingness to follow the standards of the Church. Putting it bluntly I want to date someone who wants to and is working towards being married in the temple. If we end up getting married, I want them to be strong enough to keep those standards and testimony strong through family life. I want those standards to be important to her, not something that is followed just because.

-Lastly, (at least for this part of the list I'm posting) I'd like the girl to be smart. Girls that overuse the word "like" or have nothing else to talk about other than Greys Anatomy or what happened in the latest episode of the Bachelor aren't attractive to me. Sorry but it's not. As one of my friends recently said, I'd like someone who can carry on an intelligent conversation.

Anyway, that's the list for now. Yeah, I have high hopes, and the chances aren't the best. I'm describing the perfect girl for me. Usually when I share parts of this list with people they roll their eyes and say "Good luck", but I say when you dream, dream big. I know probably won't end up dating/marrying a girl that hits everything on this list (or the complete one), but as long as she hits some of them (especially the standards) it should be good. (Long post....sorry!)

P.S. If you feel like you fall under this list, are single, and I haven't asked you on a date yet, you have my permission to come up and smack me. :)

Large and In Charge

2011-07-22T12:09:00.001-06:00

Another day at work, and another blog posted. I'm really tired today. Thankfully I have a four day weekend starting tomorrow because of the 24th of July and I'll be able to catch up on some sleep. Speaking of work, I just put in for a position in the Provo branch, and I'd be a Loan Interviewer again. I really hope I get it. I'm so sick of tellering. It's just the same thing over and over again, but with loans there's at least a bit of variety and thought involved. So here's hoping that I get it.

My friend got home from his mission this past week and it was really neat to see him. All was great except one thing; the first thing he said to me was "Man...you got fat!". It's sad.

For those of you who knew me in high school know that I was the skinniest thing you've ever seen. I was usually around 140-160 lbs and just as tall as I am now (6 foot 3 inches). Right now I'm at about 210 lbs and I don't look the same at all. In fact, most people that I haven't seen in a while barely recognize me. Going back to seeing my friend at the airport, when I was walking to where he would come out I passed his sister and her husband (both knew me before my mission) and they didn't know who I was, and thought some stranger was just randomly talking to them. The thing is that I put on most of my weight before I left.

After I graduated I started going to the gym and taking protein supplements and I jumped up to 185. On my mission I went up 14 lbs (a stone) in my first two transfers, but then I lost it shortly afterwards and I actually came home just about the exact same weight at 187. My friends still don't believe that though, they say I was fat when I came home. In reality my face just filled out while I was gone and it was misleading. (I swear it's true!) Downside was I came home with a broken foot so I couldn't run for a while, then I had my concussion a month later and couldn't exercise for a bit. By the end of all of that I was out of the habit of exercising, and all the muscle I built up on the mission turned to fat, and brought me up to 225 for a time. For most of last year I struggled getting back to being in shape. (yeah yeah, "round is a shape") Since the beginning of this year I've been working on getting back to my 185 again, and I'm slowly making progress towards that goal. The BMI index said that 194 is the highest I can go to be at a healthy weight, so that's the first mark I have to hit, then I'll shoot for 185. It can happen. It will happen.

Anyway, yeah, this is a weird post about my weight. I'd like to be healthy and fit again. I'm trying to cut down portions and eat more vegetables and have less sugar. I'm also exercising more and trying to just sit around less. (It doesn't help that I sit down 10 hours a day at work.)

What I'd like to know is if any of you have suggestions to help me speed up the progress. What's worked well for you? I'd appreciate the input.

Andrew Narrated...Literally

2011-07-13T11:35:00.001-06:00

Another fun day here at work. I'm trying to recover from lack of sleep last night because I was up late watching Harry Potter 4. Good movie...but bleh, I need sleep. I also played a way fun game of Ultimate Frisbee yesterday which has added to my tiredness. Worth it though. Luckily for me I have the next two days off from work, but I'll be back in Kaysville yet again for various reasons (2nd trip this week) until Friday. Other than the movie last night, I feel like I'm barely finding time to take a break and rest a bit, not just physically but mentally. It's been non stop since last week; apartment hunting, working out my major at UVU, driving all the way to WSU to pick up a transcript, cleaning checks, etc etc. Mixed in all of that is trying to juggle all of my friends so I can spend time with them. It's frustrating at times. My mind is also recovering from some things going down with my friends having hard times and trying to help them out with it. So yeah, let's just say my brain is mush at the moment.

You know...I just realized a flaw in my blog title (it only took me a year to notice...). It says "My Life on Paper". This blog isn't paper. It's white electronic words with a brown background. There is no paper involved. Hmm....I can't call it "Andrew Narrated: My Life Presented via Electronic Document". That's just a mouthful. *shrugs* Do any of you have any ideas for a new blog title? I'm not even sure if it will let me change it, but if it does I'm open to suggestions.

For those of you who know me fairly well, you know that I'm a pretty big thinker. Not that I'm exceptionally smart or anything, but I think things out A LOT. I believe I've mentioned before that I'm an over thinker. It's definitely a flaw of mine, but I'm not quite sure how to remedy it. I feel like I look at all the small details and create something big from it that probably doesn't exist or is incorrect. Either that or I just create a ton of scenarios or possible outcomes of an upcoming event...usually dates or things involving dating in general, (I just don't want things to go wrong I suppose), and then stress a little.
Anyway, without trying to sound crazy or anything like that, usually when this over thinking happens it's usually like I'm narrating myself in my head. Do any of you do that? It's like having a conversation with yourself in your head. It's not like having split personality or something like that, and it's not outloud either. The more I'm writing about this the crazier it's starting to sound. It's sort of like in cartoons where it zooms in on the characters head and you hear what they are thinking. That's the best way I can describe it. I'm not quite sure why I'm talking about this topic really. I'm just bored at work and it sort of popped into my head, so I thought I'd present the idea of it to see if I'm not the only one that does it.

So yeah, that's about it for now. I'm quite chuffed (British for pleased) that I've had two blogs posts this close together. Perhaps I'll be able to get going again with this blog.

Risk Taking

2011-07-10T01:57:00.000-06:00

It's nearly 1am...and I can't fall asleep for some reason. *shrugs*

This week has been pretty good for me. Even though my vacation at snowbird ended over a week ago, I still feel like I'm on vacation somewhat. My work schedule has been set up in such a way that I keep having these 3 or 4 day breaks, and some of them have days that I get paid time off (like the 4th of July...booyah!). The sad part is I'm starting to run out of things to do. I still have a month left of summer break! I can't be running out of ideas yet! I still need to go wake boarding/water skiing this year! It needs to happen. Hopefully it happens. I have to have hope.

This week I worked Wednesday and Thursday, then I won't be back to work again until Monday. It's crazy to have both Friday and Saturday off...I honestly don't think that's happened (minus vacations) since I've been home from my mission, which is a pretty long time. I've been keeping myself pretty busy though. I've been looking at apartments yesterday and today, and I think I now know which place I'm going to move into. The complex is called Crestwood Apartments. I'll be paying around $320 per month (private room) for a year including utilities, and it looks LOADS better than where I'm living. I'll have a bigger room too! (and a private sink in there too *shrugs*) I'm crossing my fingers that this coming year there I'll make some great memories. This week I've also been working with UVU and getting my Major squared away. I'm now declared as a Graphics Design Major. Woo Woo! (I'm also crossing my fingers for that one) So yes...a productive couple of days off.

Anyway, enough of the update on my life. I actually have a decent topic tonight! Risks. For some reason that keeps being brought up in conversations I've had lately so it inspired me to mention it here. Here's some quotes to start us off;
"If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything."
"A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for." -John A. Shedd
"Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something."
"You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -Wayne Gretzky
Well I could quote you into oblivion about taking risks, but I won't. (Although there at TONS of great ones. Take a chance to Google some!)
The reason taking risks came up in my conversations lately is because the person I was talking to was afraid of something. Now, we all know that fear is one of the great things that affect us in our life. However, there's fears like the fear of spiders or snakes, and there is the fear of making decisions/fear of failure. I wish to discuss the latter. Too often I think we miss out of great opportunities in life because we don't take a leap of faith and take a risk in a decision we were afraid of. If not fear, it might be because we think we'll look stupid, or think it's a dumb decision. Such examples include asking a girl you like on a date, applying for a job, choosing a major (heh heh), telling someone "no" (or "yes"), taking out a loan, moving, etc etc etc. The list could go on forever.
Bah! I feel like I'm rambling. (this it why I avoid "topics" late at night). My point is that LIFE IS ABOUT TAKING RISKS. If we didn't, we wouldn't learn nearly as much, not to mention all the experiences we'd miss out on. Now there are dumb DUMB things that shouldn't be risked, like our integrity and values, (or taking the risk of "well I haven't tried smoking before, so..." and things like that) but I think as long as those aren't being compromised, why not take the risk if there is the possibility of a positive/rewarding outcome? Yes, I know, you're thinking "Andrew, you can't take a risk on every decision that comes your way...", but I say, if you give it some thought, and the only negative part you can think of with the decision is that you are afraid of it, build up some courage and TAKE IT! If you feel like you are one who lacks courage, seek to build it up so that you don't miss great opportunities! Take smart risks! If it turns out the decision you made didn't work out in your favor, or you did end up looking foolish, that doesn't mean you should stop taking risks. Think about what happened, and apply it to your thought process for next time. It will help your risks be smarter.
Think of the people who thought, "You know, just because I'm black doesn't mean I have to sit on the back of this bus..." or "What if I got on a boat and sailed around to prove the Earth is round?" or "Why don't I drop out of college to work on my computer invention?". If they didn't decide to take those risks, think of where we would be now. Yes, those are a bit extreme examples, BUT the example still stands. Never underestimate what can happen by having the courage to take a risk. Don't let it turn you away, but rather motivate you to take some!
Finally I'll just say in my own words (I'm sure it's been said before); You never know until you try, and if you never try, you'll never know!

Anyway, I know I jumped around a lot in there, but I hope some semblance of thought made it out there and helped you ponder on it a bit. If not, I refer again to the late hour.

I dunno what else to say.

One Year And Counting

2011-06-29T14:43:00.003-06:00

Well sheesh. I miss out on blogging for two months, and I missed the one year anniversary of it. Shame on me...or somenthing. This blog makes the total count to 54 in the last year. If my calculations are correct that means on average I get a new post out about once per week. For those of you who have been reading since the beginning know that is obviously not true (you also probably notice I begin most blogs talking about my blog or lack of blogging).

I can't believe it's been a year already. People say that a lot, but you know, it's pretty much true. (Thinking on that, perhaps we are all wrong. We all keep saying that time seems to be flowing fast, but if that happens so often, shouldn't we start calling it normal?) Just one year ago I decided to start a blog right before I left on vacation to Louisiana. Those were some good times to be sure. I did pretty well for the first few months, but as time went on, it's definitely slowed down from 20 per month to 2 or 3 (if that). There just seems to be less things to blog about lately. I'm sure you are tired hearing about my dating life, and sometime I find that I have to stretch to find topics to blog about. I'm not like those families (usually moms/wives) that can blog about the day to day of their family life, such as pictures of children, silly things the kids have done, or some art/craft that day I can show off. *shrugs*

So anyway, life has been pretty chill for me lately. I'm starting to wish I had done some summer classes for school, because I'm running out of things to do on my days off from work. I've been trying to work more on my portfolio as far as my photoshop projects go. I haven't done any lately due to my recent vacation to Snowbird, but the one I'm currently working on nobody gets to see because it's of my sister and my mother doesn't want me posting pictures of her anywhere on the internet. It will just be for my sister for fun I guess. She wanted one of her with wings (like Maximum Ride, if you've ever read those books...I haven't) so I've been doing that in some of my spare time. I'm still looking for ideas as to what to do next. (one person suggested having me photoshop them riding a bison...probably won't happen)

Well I thought I more to say today, but I suppose not. Perhaps it will come to me later on in the week. For now, I hope you all have a good day/week!

P.S. On a quick side note, I just checked the stats for my blog and I somehow have gotten over 670 pageviews in the month of June so far. It's unusual because I normally just get close to 200. I dunno what happened but thank you for viewing. I guess I get more views when I'm not posting than when I regularly do. :P

Dating Hints and Games = Lame

2011-05-02T11:15:00.002-06:00

This is another one of those blog topics that I find myself slightly hesitant in writing. However, I feel especially motivated to do so today, so I apologize in advance if I offend any of you.
I try to refrain from talking about my dating life in here, because, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, people read WAY to much into it or get the wrong idea about me. BUT this blog idea has been on my mind for some time now I think I'll feel better once I've expressed my thoughts about it.
As you can read front the title, it's about the games that girls play or hints that they try to give when dating. I'll bluntly say this; I HATE THEM!! I think they are the most ridiculous part of dating. I honestly think that girls make dating a LOT harder than it needs to be. Yes, I'm sure the girls who read this will probably say it right back to me for guys. But you know, even if guys seem to make dating hard, I honestly don't think we make it nearly as difficult as girls.
I've talked to several girls about this. They agreed that they "are weird" and "can make dating difficult". When asked why, if they realize what they are doing, they don't stop it. Their answer; "I don't know."
There's a great scene in Hitch (great movie for this point I'm making, by the way) where they are at a speed dating place and the main character, Alex Hitchins, vents his frustration at women. "Does it ever occur to women that maybe a guy might like to have a plan...because he's nervous? He's not sure that he could just walk up to you and you'd respond if he said: I like you. I LIKE YOU!!". Then you have the response to the men listening nearby. "That sounds good to me.", "True, you can't tell them you like them.","I tried that, it didn't go well.","I've crashed and burned on that."
Why? Why can't guys do that? I think most guys feel intimidated to telling girls that they are interested. If they flat out told the girl, she'd probably say "thank you" if she's nice, then she'd probably back away thinking you were really forward or weird or something. So instead, in the "dating game" us guys are supposed to plan out how to get the girl to understand we like them. The funny thing is that in relationship girls will get upset because the guy "isn't communicating enough". So why is it that we're supposed to rely on hints while in the dating process, but when there is an actual relationship we are open and communicate on everything. Does that make sense to any of you? It sure doesn't for me.
Here are some direct quotes from a friend of mine about girls and dating (she's a girl too):

"Girls are inexperienced at dating and for some idiotic reason we think it is easier and on the guy(which it totally isn't) if we just completely drop the ball and ignore them once we realized we aren't interested in that way. Its hard to suck it up and reject men to there face, and so we think its easier to sugar coat it until they get the hint, but that a lot of the time ends in us leading on guys. What is an obvious rejection to a girl, like her forgetting to return text messages and phone calls then coming up with lame vague excuses, isn't so obvious to a guy and so they continue thinking the girl is interested until a complete avoidance happens.

"It's not the guys fault, its the girls fault most of the time they are so subtle about it no one can tell they are loosing interest. The girl is the only one that really knows how she feels because she cant properly express herself and then she blows up and makes a huge deal about it because she doesn't understand why the guy is still pursuing her when to the guy she hasn't really made any hints at all that she isn't interested.

"So yeah...that's the girls mind from my point of view; a very confusing and deceitful place of wishful happy endings and broke hearts."

Anyway, I'll leave those thoughts for now. I'm sure I'll come back to the topic again.

British vs American English (Part 1)

2011-04-23T09:43:00.001-06:00

Most of you know that I served my mission in the great two countries of England and Wales (mostly England for my mission). My first month or so there I could barely understand what people were saying. Not only was the accent strong, but the vocabulary used over there is a lot different than ours. Sure they call it English that they speak, but so do we here in America. Thus we have the terms "British" and "American" English. By the end of my mission I had (and still am) convinced that they are two different languages. From that, I have decided that I am bilingual since I can comfortably understand both. I was thinking about it for the last little bit, and thought I would share some of the words and phrases from "across the pond" that you might find interesting. To all my friends from England or that served over there with me, feel free to comment and add some more if you like (or correct me if I mistranslated). I put "Part 1" on the title, because there are so many here, that I won't do them all in one post. I'll do another in a while. Also, these are just the translations as I understand them. I'm sure in different parts of the country they may have other meanings.

*In No Particular Order*

DODGE - "Not to be trusted". This is probably my favorite I picked up there. We'd usually say it if there was "dodgy doctrine" which would mean it was deep. Also we'd say things were "dodgy" if someone was immodest or say/do something....unclean.
FAG - Nope, it's not an insult. This actually is what they call a cigarette. So if you called someone a fag there, I'm not sure how offended they'd be.
TA/CHEERS - Either of those means "Thank You".
TAKING THE PISS/MICK - Generally this would mean that you are making fun or teasing someone. It's usually asked as a question, "Are you taking the mick?"
BISCUIT - This actually refers to what we call a cookie. This is also used to refer to crackers.
TARA/TERRAH/TADA - I heard all sorts of variations on this one while I was in England. It was often followed by "butt" or "love". This expression means "goodbye".
BUTT/LOVE/CHICK/CHICKEN - These are actually used as terms of endearment, mostly meaning "friend". I heard this a lot when people were thanking me. "Cheers butt!"
BANGERS AND MASH - This is a dish which is mashed potatoes with sausages and a type of sauce on top.
ZED/HATCH - These are the pronunciations of the letters Z and H in the alphabet. Zed sounds just as it looks, and Hatch is like how we Americans pronounce H, but with an H sound in front of it.
SNOG - Most of you have probably heard this used in Harry Potter. It means "making out" or "serious kissing".
FORKING - If you ever meet someone from Europe, and they hold out their hand in a backwards peace sign towards you (palm facing towards them, pointer and middle finger up) it's not a good thing. This is the equivalent to someone in America giving you the middle finger and it's offensive and rude. Sometimes it's called the "Two Finger Salute".
GUTTED - This means you are really upset or disappointed about something. For example you would be 'gutted' if your football team lost a match.
CHEEKY - This would be the same as calling someone flippant. In America we might say "are you being smart with me?", in Britain it would be "you cheeky little monkey!"
YORKSHIRE PUDDING - Pretty much the best thing to eat. It's not a pudding like jello or anything like that. It's a biscuit type food that's in a cup shape. You can just put butter or honey on it to eat, but the usual (and my favorite) way to eat it is with a roast and you fill it full of gravy. YUM!
PUDDING - This word just means dessert. "After dinner we'll have pudding."

Well that's enough for today. There are a LOT more that I left out, but these were some of my favorites. There will definitely be a Part 2, and possibly a Part 3. We shall see!

Degrees and Majors

2011-04-13T17:28:00.001-06:00

Don't you just love those moments of inspiration? I'm going to give credit to Wendy (who just commented a bunch on here recently, and thank you!) and just pure boredom at work today for making the setting right for it to happen. It's like setting the stage for evolution...dun dun dun.

Anyway, I've done a blog previously about trying to decide on a major in college, but I still hadn't made a decision. (At least that's what I think it was about) I've hopped around ideas for some time now, but I still couldn't make a solid decision. First it was Psychology with an emphasis in family work, then it was Communications focusing in Public Relations for businesses. After that I remained undecided, but had until now been seriously considering Seconday Education. I hadn't fully chosen that one yet because I couldn't figure out which subject I wanted to teach. I was thinking something in the arts (like theatre, or orchestra/band), or possibly a computer teacher. The only problem with teaching computers is it's an ever changing degree as new technology and programs come out so I'd have to deal with that.
With that, I've just been doing generals in school this semester hoping that I could figure it out. It's been kind of stressful though. I need to decide soon, but it's a life changing decision! It's intimidating to be sure. I want to be sure that I'm choosing a major that will lead to a career that I will enjoy, if at least a little bit, and that will allow me to provide for my future family.

Keeping that all in mind, I was perusing through my blogs and comments and there were a few comments throughout the blogs from people enjoying my style of writing, or said I'm a good writer. As I was reading those the thought came to mind of Journalism. I enjoy writing, and I think doing that would be a fun and rewarding career.
More props to Wendy for my next inspiration. I've done two posts here about my love of Photoshopping pictures, or just making some from scratch. (http://andrewbaham.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-look-old-hobby.html) Wendy commented on my most recent one saying they looked good and gave a link to her friend that does graphic design. The more I've been thinking about it today, the more I realize that I could try for that as well as a career.
As far as teaching goes, I think I'll take my stupor of thought as to what subject to choose as a subject to focus on. So now I'm seriously considering these two; Graphic Design and Journalism.

So what do you all think? I'd really like some feedback on this.

P.S. The request is still there to re-post my blog to your facebook pages. (Just click "share" at the top of the page) I'd love to have some more readers so the help would be much appreciated! (Bryson was the only one who reposted, thanks bro!)

Fetch!

2011-04-09T11:09:00.001-06:00

I'm blogging at work again. Yeah yeah, shame on me.
My thanks to those who replied to my last blog post (I found it amusing that half of you decided to remain anonymous) seeing if I should keep blogging along. I've decided to continue, so here we go. (See bottom of this post for a personal request)

I just finished reading an article on the Deseret News website about a kid in Utah who started a club called the "No Cussing Club" and the ongoing debate on swearing vs. clean speech.(http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700125591/Swearing-off-swearing.html)
The article mentioned that Utahns swear less than anywhere in the country. Surprised? I'm not. Although I bet if we replaced all of our fake swear words with the real ones we'd rank up there pretty high. (flip, fetch, crap, dang, etc)
For me, I give kudos to the kid who started this club at his high school. For one, it probably took a lot of guts to do that and stand up for what he feels. Also, I'm totally with him for being against swearing and profanities.
It's been an obvious trend that the standards once held years ago in media and the public have been continuing to drop significantly. The things we see now in movies and on television wouldn't be acceptable at all 30 years ago. I think the same goes for swearing. It seems to get more prevalent as time goes on, and people seem to become more accepting of it, or turn a blind eye to it if they don't swear themselves. There are a lot of movies I've gone to see that put in tons of profanity that is unnecessary. They could all be better movies without them in my opinion.
I think we've all become desensitized to it all, and we barely give recognition to it when someone does. I heard the F-word so many times while I was in England that I'm almost the same way with it. It's sad that it doesn't affect me anymore. The only time I cringe now days is when someone takes the Lords name in vain. :S

In my blunt opinion on it; I feel swearing is the attempt of an uneducated mind to express itself clearly. It's not neccessary. I think it's really lame when people use swear words as adverbs. It's always "that's f-ing cool" or "that's an f-ing awesome guitar" etc etc. How does that even describe what you are talking about? What sort of descriptive word is that? I don't get it. Why not "that's a good looking guitar you have there..." instead? Yes, I think swearing shows a lack of intelligence/education.

I also might add that when I hear a girl swear, it's very unattractive to me.

Anyway, in conclusion, although I support the right to free speech in this country we don't seem to have "free hearing" when it comes to swearing.

What do you think?

P.S. I'm trying to get my blog out there to more readers and looking for more feedback to what I write. If any of you feel so inclined, I'd love for you to link this blog post, any other posts I've done, or just my blog in general to your facebook wall/page. That would be great! Thanks!

Helloooooo?

2011-03-31T23:32:00.000-06:00

So I've been reflecting on this blog (and also why I begin a lot of things with the word "so") and I'm wondering if it is worth continuing. My thanks to Sarah for being the only one that comments on it anymore. Most of my page views are from random visits people make while blog surfing I've recently discovered. I'm not sure how many friends I have that actually read it. I don't hear much from my 14 official followers.
I mean, if there isn't much of a reception to it, do I continue? Perhaps it would be better just to start a journal and give up the blog.
I guess this is just a small blog wondering who reads this. Should I continue?

Let me know.

I am the Eggman

2011-03-17T23:53:00.000-06:00

Okay, first things first. Let's resolve a couple things. In the last few months of my blogging I've had comments come back to me about people concerned about what I'm saying, think I'm depressed, a whiner, attention seeking, etc etc. Also, comments come to me from people reading WAY too much into what I'm writing. I'm almost bugged that I have to explain this. For example when I jokingly put a paragraph about my fake happenings in life, I felt obliged to explain that I wasn't trying to be depressing and what not. Other things said to me recently were that I sound like I'm all dating and marriage obsessed. BAH!
This blog is just my thoughts for the moment. I talk about what's going on in my life. I talk about things that pop into my head. The End. That's it. I mean, the reason I talk about things like dating, trials, or how things are in Provo is because that's what people are always asking me about. So I figure, why not post it here and save a few questions? To me it's like that's what people want to read about or hear about from me is how my dating life is going. Yet when I blog about it, people all take it the wrong way.
So to set the record straight;
1. I'm not dating or marriage obsessed.
2. I'm not depressed, sad or anything like that. I'm actually quite content and pleased with life at the moment, and have been for some time now.
3. No, I'm not trying to add extra meaning to my blogs or hint that I'm in desperate need of attention. I start to feel like John Lennon when people were looking into deep meanings of his songs. He got so fed up with it that he wrote the song "I Am The Walrus" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnpil_pRUiw&feature=related) and said something along the lines of, "Ha! Let's see what they make of that."

So NYEH! By all means, keep reading my blog, I'm flattered that you do, just keep those three things in mind.

To break from tradition, I'll just leave a quick update and finish. I ate a bowl of Golden Grahams today. Also, I play Duke Frederick in a scene I'm doing. Also, it turns out, my room smells like dusty cardboard. Lastly, my roommate likes to build trains in the front room.

The End.

The way to my heart is...

2011-03-05T01:13:00.000-07:00

So here's the thing. I think I have this nervous twitch to blog nowdays. I'll get to my apartment after work, school, or whatever, sit down on my bed or chair, and think, "I should blog...". The thought process continues until I realize, "I have nothing in particular to blog about..."

This is a serious problem if you ask me. Have I run out of topics? No. Are there topics I could still be doing? Yes. Do I know what they are? No.

I really need to stop beginning my blogs talking about blogging...

I'm currently listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, II. Can I just say; To any girls out there...if you want to know one quick way to my heart, it's through classical music. This is especially true when it comes to music like the one I just mentioned, slow solo piano music, or music like Mozart's Requiem. In fact, most classical music will do. I can sit and listen to that genre all day and never get tired. The great thing about it is it's never in short supply. There is so much, so many composers, who did several several pieces of music. It's fantastic. If you can appreciate that kind of music, discuss it, or whatever, you have my attention. I think that to appreciate that kind of music shows intelligence. Man I miss playing music in orchestra. If I had only dedicated myself more with my instruments I could still be playing with people. I don't think I'm good enough, nor practiced up enough to play in the college orchestra, so I'm sort of stuck. I played in a community orchestra for a bit back home before I moved to Provo, but it just didn't cut it. I need a full blown orchestra like the legendary one I was in at Davis High. Man we were epic. Those were great days and great memories.

Speaking of classical music, let me tell you why it's so great. Not only can I listen to it all day, but it's great for just sitting back and just pondering over things. For me it helps me think extra clearly. If life starts to get stressful or I get nervous about things (such as dates), classical music is there to relax my mind and calm me down. Sure, different things work for different people, but this is what works for me.

According to a Stanford study, "...listening to classical music provides physiological rewards. Blood flow increases to several brain areas, activating autonomic, cognitive, and emotional centers, while another area of the brain releases dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that, among other things, affects mood and the ability to feel pleasure. This dopamine release, occurring as the other brain areas interact, allows a heightened sense of well-being."

Yeah...that's good enough for me. If you want some good ideas for classical music (or similar types), let me suggest a few songs you may consider listening to. I bet you've heard a few already.

Romance Larghetto, Chopin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrxGNupbB_0
Symphony No. 7, II, Beethoven - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBQvhKkG1x8
Requiem, Mozart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi8vJ_lMxQI
Ases Tod, Grieg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Di6vH7-Ds
Ave Maria, Bach (performed by Il Divo) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG2TUaeKBs0
The Planets - Mars, Gustav Holst - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0bcRCCg01I
The Moldau, Smetana - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8n-avUkyPk

Those are just to name a couple. Please take a look. (also, disregard the pictures in the videos. I found them for the music, not for the video)

Anyway, that's it for tonight.

A Happy Attitude

2011-02-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

It's past 2 in the morning. I'm still awake. Yes, this is when my blogs start to get really interesting. I'm hoping to not get TOO weird, but hey, weird is what keeps things interesting. Normal is just...well...normal.

First off, WOO!! 2,000 pageviews of my blog. I've come a long way since June of last year. Yeah, 2,000 isn't that much, but for me, I consider it an accomplishment. We'll see what this year brings.

Anyway, for those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning, on July 5th, I wrote a blog called "Attitude is EVERYTHING!!". Tonight, (or this morning I guess) I want to revisit that point for a moment, and do a bit of a "re-blog" if you will.

Lately, (and by "lately" I mean the last couple weeks) I've been in a pretty good mood. I took some time to ponder about it today while I was at work. I thought for sure there must be a specific reason why I felt so good. I tried to narrow it down to things that were happening in my life. The more I thought about it, the less I was able to put my thumb on it and say "Yes, this is what's happening that's making me feel so good." BUT, I couldn't. That's when I reflected back to that previous blog and I realized, it's just my attitude about life right now that's doing it. Somehow without realizing it, I just decided to be happy and positive about things.

I'll quote my last blog about attitude;
"It's the principles of attitude and desire. These two things fuel most of what we do. If we have a strong enough desire for something, or for something to happen, it causes us to act, to move, and to do what needs to be done in order to obtain our desires. If something happens to us, whether good or bad or whatever, our attitude determines how we respond, or go about it. When we can get these two principles in order, life will go well."
I think I kept hitting these bad spots in the last while, and I wasn't working to get myself out of them. However I started to build a strong desire to be happy and positive about things. This led to my action of just being happy, and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. (again, I'm not dying)

Another quote from that same blog;
"Every time a friend tells me they are angry at what someone did, I ask them who made them angry. The reply is always that the other party caused it. In reality, it is only us who chooses our attitudes and emotions. You've heard it before, but the only person who can make you happy, mad, sad, etc, is YOU. You choose how to react in a situation, not anybody else."

So there you have it. Just be happy about things. Just because life goes sourly doesn't mean you need to go along with it.

Laugh when you can,
apologize when you should,
and let go of what you can't change.
Life's too short to be anything...but happy

I won't lie to you...

2011-02-16T21:41:00.002-07:00

Ah yes, another blog. I'm actually not doing too bad this year with my blogs. I'm not doing nearly as well as I was last summer, but hey, improvement still counts for something, right? Right.
Anyway, as for my life update, it's actually taken a great turn for the better. I found out I'm doing really good in all of my classes, and may be eligible for a good scholarship. I also got a promotion AND a bonus at work this week. More money for me! Wooo!! Not to mention I found a better apartment than the one I'm in that's nicer, yet cheaper rent. I get to move in April! Lastly, I met this girl about a month ago when I started classes, and we've been seeing each other every night for the last month. I really feel like I love her, and she feels the same. Her name is Trisha. We talked about marriage Sunday night, and we're going ring shopping this weekend!! It's awesome.

Yeah...don't you dare think any of that paragraph is true, because it's not. I WISH that was true, but it's not. (and you better be laughing, I didn't write that to be depressing)

Well back to reality, today is my half birthday. Only six months until I'm 23. *shudders* I threw out my back a couple weeks ago, so I already feel old. Yeah yeah yeah, 23 is nothing, but hey, it's older than I've ever been. In fact, right NOW I'm older than I've ever been. It's weird to think about. But yes, if I follow my oldest brothers path, I should be getting married in the next year. That's even weirder to think about.

I don't really have much I wanted to blog about today. A quick update on the UFO stuff in my last post. KSL posted a story trying to explain what they were. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=14365462
They tried to pass it off as Chinese lanterns or radio controlled airplanes at night. Personally, I'm not buying it. I saw Chinese lanterns all the time on my mission, and they looked nothing like that, not to mention when we saw them they weren't moving. The same goes for radio controlled airplanes. My current guess is that it was something military. But who knows? Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, that's all for now. Yeah, I know it isn't much, but there you go.

P.S. If you thought I sounded depressed in this blog, I WASN'T. :D Just blogging along...

Randomness and UFO's

2011-02-13T00:55:00.001-07:00

Okay. I've been to this very screen several times in the last couple days, determined to blog. Yet, when I have done so, I either get distracted, or the desire to do so leaves suddenly, and no blog surfaces. So now, I'm just going to keep writing until something surfaces. Yes, that will work...I think. Or perhaps someone will give me a topic to write about, or inspire me to do so. Thing is, I'm in my room and it's midnight. The chances of running into someone while I'm sitting on my bed are very slim. (especially because it's pretty difficult to run while you are sitting on a bed)
You know...it's hard to blog about your own thoughts when there are a million going through your head at a particular moment. If I tried to do exactly that, I wouldn't make sense at all. Let me give you an example;
Cheese is good. I ate cheese today. It was on my pizza. That pizza went especially good with that posh ranch sauce I put on it. Posh. Hmm...that's an interesting word. It looks silly when I type it, yet it is pleasing to say I suppose. Well, I suppose I can say I suppose. I mean, I suppose I really mean it...I suppose. Who thought I could put the word "I" and "Suppose" so many times in a sentence. You know...can "I" really be considered a word? Is it even a word? No, I suppose not. It's more a letter. But I digress...
So yeah, there you go. I think that's a healthy portion of my mind. If you followed that, good job. I congratulate you on your success. I've now brought you to my level.
Ooo! Okay, I remember a topic I could blog about. I'll begin with the preface not to judge me by it. I'll reaffirm that I am NOT a nerd, nor do I consider myself as such. I'm well rounded in my interests. And that's final.
Anyway. It's about UFO's.
Let me say that I don't believe in aliens or or in their spacecraft or whatever. However, I do believe in UFO's in the sense of the acronym; Unidentified Flying Object, with the emphasis of "unidentified". Cast your mind with me as I share this true story with you. A couple weeks ago on January 26th, my co-workers and I had just finished for the night, and were leaving to our cars. Before we got there, one of them pointed to the sky and said, "What in the world?" We looked up to see these bright, glowing red dots in the sky. (it was about 7:15 PM, see inserted picture for what we saw) They seemed a lot brighter than airplane lights, and there were 4 of them I think, but they weren't moving. At first I thought it could be the space station passing overhead, but again, they remained still, almost as if they were really brilliant red stars. We stared at them in disbelief for a few minutes, then got in our cars and left. After that, I didn't give them much thought.
Fast forward to today at work when my supervisor comes back to me and says, "Remember those red things we saw in the sky a couple weeks ago? KSL is doing a story on them this sunday to explain what they were." This sparked my interest again so I thought I'd check it out a bit. Turns out lots of people saw the same thing, and they only stayed around from 715-730. Here's the link for the main story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5yZnL-qdBc&feature=related
As I was on youtube at work (yeah, I broke the rules a bit), I started to find several videos of people in American Fork (which is where I work) seeing what I saw.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb1EGsiRCMY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o18mLOyJIsQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCuZAcUPrsc
Next thing I know, I began to stumble on several other videos across youtube from people across the world seeing the same if not similar thing in their night sky all within a week or so of us seeing them in Utah.
Moscow, Russia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te117n8i-NE
London, UK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQs6FzP5iNY&feature=related
Lake Elsinore, CA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VwiN9a3cio&feature=related
There are several others I found such as in New York, Brooklyn, Mexico, and Oregon.
Honestly, I don't know what they are. Military operation? Possibly, especially since at the same time the lights were spotted in UT, a military base shut down at the same time not letting people in or out for several hours right outside Utah County. What do you think?
One last thing to add. One other sighting also happened in the same week in Jerusalem. Take a look at the videos. Weird thing is, when whatever they see jumps into the sky, when they look up, they see red dots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKzcmyf3vRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zPmZnXCOEk&feature=related

Anyway, sorry the blog got so long. You can make the decision for yourself. My conclusion? I have none. :D

A hopeless romantic?

2011-02-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

It's with a bit of hesitation that I'm actually writing about this topic tonight. It's not something that I would normally share for the public to view. However, it's been on my mind a lot as of late, and since this is my thoughts turned blog, I figure it couldn't hurt to get my view/feelings on this out there.
I usually begin my blog with an update on life, BUT...there is none. Same old, same old. Nothing particularly new in life, just working and going to school. Rinse and repeat. I am shampoo, it seems. Or the usage of it.
I've been living in Provo for close to two months now, and it's been really interesting to observe it, and the goings on of it all. Sure, there are a lot of rumors about it, and peoples misconceptions of how it really is, but I've blogged about it before, so I won't try to hit too much on it again. The thing is, since I've been here, there seems to be this feeling instilled in to me, (and mostly everyone else) to have this need to be in a relationship with someone. Yeah, I know it's weird, and you're probably thinking, "Typical Provo...". I'm not saying it's just me, and that I have some sort of desperate desire to be dating someone, but it seems to press on the mind while living here, and everyone seems to be getting the vibe and trying. Perhaps it that it's a major college town (seeing as it contains two universities) and there are all sorts of young people down here ready for the next stage(s) of their life. Perhaps there is something in the water. *shrugs* Hard to say why, but what I AM saying, is that the feeling is there, and it wasn't there before I got here.
Anyway, so now I'm here, with the desire to meet people, and, if possible, to find someone to date. This brings me to my next point. Lately, I've had several friends start calling me a "hopeless romantic", because I view dating as such a "non-casual" thing. I'll readily admit that perhaps, compared to the modern world, my views on dating are a bit "old fashioned", but heck, that's not a bad thing in my point of view. (hence the reason that I prefer it that way)
I guess in my mind I keep imagining this perfect dating thing to happen, and it working out great. No awkwardness, just flowing smoothly, and very few bumps along the road. I also keep trying to picture this perfect girl, not perfect as in flawless, but more perfect for each other. Yeah, I know it sounds cheesy, but when you think about it, doesn't everyone prefer it that way? (so it's only cheesy because I put it into words?)
Here's the next problem, and I'll preamble this with an apology to her if she happens to read this post. I won't use her name, but she probably will guess that it's her that I'm talking about. I hope she doesn't mind. My problem right now is that I keep comparing girls I meet and would consider asking on a date to another girl I used to date. We broke up on good terms so far as I know from my side. She had her reasons, which were justifiable for ending it. I also respect her decision and will leave her to it and not press the matter again unless she chose to. I have no ill feelings towards her whatsoever. Thing is, she was probably one of the most amazing people I have met. I thought we got along well, and, in my "hopeless romantic" sort of way, I thought things were fitting pretty perfectly.
Things are obviously over now, but now my problem is that I feel that if I meet a girl that I would consider taking on a date (or whatever), in my mind, it's like that bar has been raised to my ex's status, and I feel I would be settling if I dated them (not in a judging sort of way, more of the thinking of how well we would get along, etc). This has been troubling my mind for some time now, and I've been trying to figure myself out and what to do. (No, I'm not writing this blog to try and get something out of her, or whatever this is merely more of my feelings on my dating life) I have some good friends that I've talked to about it, and they all have shared great advice to me. But one of the best pieces of advice came from my friend/co-worker. When we talked about it a couple weeks ago, she said something that really made sense, and comforted me a lot.
Her words were along the lines of this; "It wouldn't make sense or be fair for God to have you meet this amazing person who you really connected with, only to have it not work out, and in the end you'd just have to settle on someone not as great for eternity. Rather, if would make more sense that when you do find 'the one', they will either be just as great, if not better than before." I thought that was really great.
So yes, still on the journey to find the right one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a terrible rush or hurry to find one, I hope I'm not coming across that way. Sure, a relationship and marriage would be great, and I feel that I'm ready in my life for that to happen if it happens, but if I have to wait, so be it.

New Look? Old Hobby.

2011-01-24T23:52:00.002-07:00

Well...I decided that my blog should get a change of scenery, so last week I thought I'd give it a touch up. Turns out, Blogger doesn't even offer my old format anymore. Go figure. So here's the new one (for now). What do you think about it? I'm not completely sold with the world map in the background, but I liked the color scheme that came along with it, so I settled. It's a work in progress, we'll see how it goes.
Another thing I thought I'd add was what books I'm currently reading. It was kind of a random decision, but there it is. I might add another one that lists my favorite songs of the week. *shrugs*
This week has been fun, lots of work and school. So I suppose not so much fun. (well that was a quick contradiction) Well....it wasn't so bad. I'll call it a neutral week, or as my co-worker said today, it was a pass week. It passed.

One thing I'm happy that I've started again is photoshopping. (For those of you that thought that meant I was shopping for photos, shame on you) I've been able to get a hold of Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 5, and I've been having fun with it again. I used to Photoshop a bunch before my mission, but, like my writing, it sort of fell out of practice once I got home. So now, a year later, I'm back at it again. Mind you, I've only done two pictures so far, but I think it's a good start, especially with how much time I invest in them. Each photo, if I want a good job done to meet my satisfaction, will take at least an hour. I've done photos in less time, but they don't usually turn out as good. (I'll post them at the bottom of this blog)

I enjoy editing pictures, and I'm sort of considering getting a decent camera to take photos with so I can continue to edit more. The two that I recently did I made from scratch, but building off of current pictures is great too. Also, if you want me to do any photoshopping for you, I'd be more than happy to do any. Just let me know what you'd like, and I'll see what I can do. I need more practice, and I want to learn more techniques too.

So here are the two photos. (click on them for a larger version)
The first is based off of the old original Tron movie. The second is based off of the newer Tron: Legacy film.

You aren't dying...

2011-01-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's true. I'm not dying. Well, I AM dying in the sense that everyone who is born is dying, but not in the sense that it's going to be sooner than expected. Make sense? Good.
The reason I mention that is the because I want to blog about the scare that I had these last two days. It made me super reflective. I always seem to blog every time I get reflective. Perhaps I should rename my blog to "Andrews Reflections" or something. Although...that sort of sounds like I'm putting in a submission for that contest that they have in high school. Nah, I'll pass. I'll keep the name as it is. It IS my thoughts after all. They just tend to be reflective usually. Well if you have been reading it for a while, that may be what you've come to expect. So yeah...
Anyway, on to my story.
This past Friday, I was out hanging with Ryan at his apartment with some of his roommates and friends. We were playing Mario on his Wii, and a game called Telestrations (I recommend it). It got late, so I finally headed back to my own apartment to sleep. I had a date the next morning, and was also heading back up to K-town for the weekend. By then I was starting to feel sort of weird, but I shrugged it off. It was almost 2am when I got to my apartment and when I got to my room door, I found it locked. In my apartment complex they have keys you can lock your room with, but you have to go to the main office to get your key, and I hadn't done that yet so I was in sort of a tricky situation. Thirty minutes later, and with the help of my roommate and a kitchen knife, I was in my room again.
I'll spare you the fine details on this, but I'll just say that shortly after I got into my room I started to develop some really unusual symptoms that I've never had before, and I'll tell you, they were scary. Since it was 2 in the morning, I didn't have many other options, so I went online to several different medical websites. (Yeah, I know, "don't trust the internet". These sites seem pretty legit though...) I typed in my symptoms, and the results came back on them saying "You might have cancer."
So I thought I was scared before when I started having the symptoms...now I was literally freaking out. I almost called my brother (who is medically trained) or my parents right then, but for some reason I didn't. I was having all sorts of crazy thoughts fly through my head. Some were that I wouldn't wake up if I went to sleep, or that I might bleed to death in the night, or that I only had two years left to live, etc. Yeah, I was scared.
Somehow I managed to calm myself down, and I went to sleep. Saturday morning I called my brother as soon as I was awake and he didn't answer. A while later I called my parents and talked to my mum (who is also medically trained) and she called to set up a doctors appointment after I talked to her. She helped calm me down, and I felt a bit better as she said it could be something minor, but that I should get checked out.
I got back home to K-town and we were off the doctor.
Thankfully, after I was looked over by the doctor, he told us what it was, and that it wasn't cancer. He said I was "too young for that type of cancer". I was pretty relieved. (stupid internet...) He said one part of it seemed slightly suspicious, so I might be called in again if it doesn't go away, if not, I'm good. Now I just have to take some medicine, and I should be good.
So yeah, pretty scary, but good ending. There are few times I've been that shaken up before, but I'm good now. :D

Now what?

2011-01-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

This blog marks #40. Woo woo! I think that's an accomplishment, even if you don't. So nyah nyah! (Yes, I realize that 50 is a bit more of an impressive and typically used number, but meh, 40 works too)

I've already mentioned that I'm living in Provo now, and I'm pretty much settled in. All that is left is for school to start and the transition will be complete. Will I become a true Provo-ite then? I dunno. Perhaps I would need to get married first after a one month relationship. That would do it...I think. There seems to be a terrible amount of ideas of how people are down here. (or UP here, depending on where you are reading this) Everyone seems to think people here are full of themselves. "Holier than thou art" I believe people say. I've only been here just about a month, and I haven't noticed anything like that. *shrugs* Maybe I'm like that too...*looks around* Uh oh...I hope not.

As the transition continues, I continue to feel more and more lonely down here. Yeah, I know, I need to make new friends down here. I'm working on it, I promise. School starting will help with that too I imagine. *shrugs again* I have a lot of good friends up in K-town and the surrounding parts, and they are easy to miss. I guess I just miss having people to talk to. My roommates typically keep to themselves, and I don't get much out of them longer than two minutes of conversation. To each their own I suppose. I've blogged about it before, but I want a texting buddy! I've had a couple come and go recently, but I'm left again without one. So in my need to find conversation, I text lots of people during the day to try to spark conversations...fail. Fail fail fail. Perhaps people are tired of texting me...hmm...there's a thought. Well, if you would like to be, I'm open to all applicants. :D

So anyway, I know this is sort of a repeat blog. I apologize. I'm hoping to find more meaningful topics in the future.

Cheers!!

The Old Shoe

2010-12-31T15:26:00.003-07:00

Two blogs two days in a row? *looks around* Where are the flying pigs? The four horseman of the apocalypse? Hmm...*shrugs* I think I'll blame it to the fact that I discovered that I can blog now at work. And since I basically just sit here and read all day at work because we are so busy that nobody comes in, I have plenty of time to do it. (Let's just hope my supervisors don't catch me, and I get in trouble.) Honestly though, most of my supervisors don't really care, so I should be fine. In actuality, it was one of my lead tellers that suggested that I do this specific blog today.

Today I want to talk about an old shoe I used to have.

Several years ago, I saw a shoe at the store. It wasn't my regular type of shoe, but my friend liked it, so he bought it, and wore it for a while. It seemed to suit him pretty well, but I became jealous of his shoe, and wanted it for myself. I expressed my desire to have his shoe, and I probably bugged him a bit by how I admired it. After some time, he got tired of the shoe, and parted with it. I found it a short while later at the DI, and I decided that I should buy it. However, only a short while later, I lost it, and couldn't find it for some time. At the time I was pretty sad that I couldn't wear it any more. But I moved on and returned to the store to find a new shoe to wear. I tried on a few pairs, and I thought I had found a good skate shoe to wear, but alas, my mind continued to think of the old and used shoe, and I couldn't really settle on one that I wanted.

More time passed, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I found the shoe again. I was definitely caught by surprise, and happily put the shoe back on. However, despite my happiness at having the shoe again, and time went on, I discovered that the shoe didn't fit quite as well as before. It gave me blisters and sores all over my foot. Even though it was uncomfortable, I kept wearing it with the belief that it would come through as before. My friends saw me wearing it, and could see how it was hurting my foot, and suggested that I get a new one. I didn't listen, and kept wearing it, and trying not to think about the pain. Time continued on and it really only got worse. I began considering throwing it away and finding a new shoe that would be more comfortable, but for some reason I kept it. That blasted shoe!

One day I went looking for it to give it a good clean up and give it some new laces, but I couldn't find it. I think it had ran away on it's own. (What a strange thing for a shoe to do!) I searched for a while, only to find someone else wearing it. That person I knew had some sort of foot fungus, and it made me want the shoe even less. Somehow and for unexplainable reason, I got the shoe back, and with much hesitation, I put it back on, and continued to wear it.

Something about the shoe felt even more different now. I don't know if it was the foot fungus or what, but something was there. I wondered often if there was a rock in there I couldn't see. On another day, I became so frustrated by the pain from the shoe that I took it off and didn't put it on for a couple days. But the familiarity of it pulled me back, and I couldn't let it go. My brother especially didn't like the shoe, along with the rest of my family. They said it smelled funny, and there were even times that my mother forbid me to wear it. She said there were better shoes to wear.

Finally, one day, I lost the shoe real good. For days and days I looked, but the old shoe was nowhere to be found. I even asked around my friends to see if any of them knew where it was. No such luck. After a few more days, I went to another friend, and he told me that he knew where it was. Someone ELSE was wearing the old shoe. Same guy as before, but it turns out, I was wrong. He didn't have foot fungus, just athletes foot. That was enough for me! I decided that I was finally done with the shoe. I can only stand having it used by others so many times you see.

My foot definitely felt better. Where all of the blisters and sores were healed and after some time, it felt good to walk on it again.

Time wore on, and I found several different shoes that were a lot more comfortable to wear. There were some Air Jordan's that were nice, and I even went to a nerdy converse shoe. Anything was better than that old shoe! I was a bit unfortunate that year though as my shoes wore out pretty quickly, and I went through several pairs as the new ones started to hurt as well.

A couple years later, I couldn't believe it, but I ran into my old shoe again! I thought I wasn't going to have to see it again, but there she was, ah, err...I mean there IT was. I wasn't surprised to see it was still being worn by the guy I previously mentioned. He seemed to like the shoe so much, that he made a smaller one that looked sort of like it. He even had cleaned up the old shoe a bit too. However, the shoe no longer sparked my interest any longer. I couldn't ever see myself wearing that thing again. Nowadays, I hear when people see it, they say, "Isn't that the shoe Andrew used to wear?" and even rumors that I'm still wearing it. Well rest assured, I'm not wearing a painful shoe any longer, nor do I have any desire to. At this moment in my life, I'm looking for the best shoe, and one that doesn't hurt my foot, and treats me well.

I hope you enjoyed that story. I can never forget that story of "The Old Shoe". :D

Huh?

2010-12-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Holy crap!! What a really weird week. Anything and everything seems to be going down.
Despite my past experiences, and my sincere claims that I only get sick once per year, I have been caught off guard this last week or so with a nasty cold and cough that won't go away. That makes it two sicknesses this year. EPIC LAME! So I'm hoping that it will count for next year, and that I won't get sick for all of 2011. That would be nice.
Christmas was good this week. I had some good times spent with the fam. For Christmas my main gifts were a George Foreman grill and a Magic Bullet. (It's a personal blender/smoothie making thingy...surely you must have seen the infomercials..."And in one, two, threeeeeeeeeee seconds, you have some salsa") The rest of my gifts were excellent as well. Over all, it was a good haul.
The end of this week got really crazy though. I won't go into details due to some of the readers of this blog, but from the 26th to yesterday, tons of different things just sort of got all messed up. I'm really caught by surprise too. As I've said before, and I'm sure you've all experienced it as well, life can seem all peachy, then someone grabs the snow globe of your life and gives it a good shake. *shrugs* Life moves on though.
Anyway, I didn't really have anything I particularly wanted to talk about in this post. Just sort of updating in my boredom at work.
One question I had to anyone reading this post; Can any of you see me becoming a lawyer? How about a politician? Let me know!

Just some thoughts...

2010-12-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

Somehow I knew when I woke up today that I'd be writing another blog tonight. It was one of those ideas that was in my head when I woke up this morning. What I'm going to blog about is still a mystery to me.

It seems like I usually approach my blog when I'm in a terribly reflective mood. Don't ask my why I'm in that mood today, it's just something that happens naturally I suppose. I can't recall exactly anything special that has happened today that would cause me to be so. Hmm...

Life for me has finally taken a different direction, and after much stressing, I'm finally in a different situation of life as well. I'm now sitting on my bed in my new apartment in Provo, an hour away from home. I've started at another branch of America F

irst and I'm working as a teller again, although I still do a bit of loan stuff when needed. That's all I can really say to bring you up to date. Nothing especially spectacular seems to be going on right now. Perhaps it's because we're in the winter months, and everything starts to slow down, unlike the eventful months of summer. *shrugs* I dunno.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I've realized why I've felt so

reflective lately. It IS because it's the winter months! I'm coming up on the last couple weeks of the year, and now I'm

looking back across this year and thinking about the things that I've done. The more I think about it, it feels like I've done a ton. If I just sit here and let my mind wander across it, I go to all sorts of memories. The thing is, it's not necessarily to events, at least, not just one at a time. It really just hops to different faces of people I've met or interacted with this year, and my experiences with them. Each one sort of has it's own twist to it.

Am I making any sense here? I feel like I'm sort of just rambling on, but you know, it feels good just to write what pops into my head.

So as these faces pop around in there, has it's sort of tale that tells the story of my year. I wonder if I skim over it some of you may catch on to what or who I'm talking about. That's sort of dangerous in itself. Although, my oldest brother dislikes it very much if I start getting vague, but then again, I'm not quite sure if he reads this blog or not. In fact, I have no idea if anyone still reads this blog at all. It's sort of thought provoking as I continue to write in here from time to time.

I suppose if I were to skim vaguely across my past year, I'd come to all sorts of names. It's just something interesting to ponder about. As they say, my life has been molded this year by the people I've met. Some good molds, some not. I've reached some amazing highs this years, yet there was some deep lows as well. "Opposition in all things" I suppose. There were several moments throughout this whole year when I thought my life was content, others when I thought I'd never be happier. On the other end, there were times this year when I've felt terribly sad, some when I felt my heart was broken, and some when I just found myself crying. I feel proud for the things I have accomplished, yet there are also several things I really regret about this year. Life is a roller coaster, no doubt. I seem to be recognizing that more and more in these last couple years. It must be that transition into adult life that I am beginning to feel more and more as time goes on.

I just hope now that I can see how things have gone this last year, I can look to the next, and see what improvements I can make. I feel better prepared looking into 2011 unlike how I was going into 2010. Let's just hope I can make this year a better one.

Thank you Terry

2010-11-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog today. (two in a row....wooo!)

Today turned out to not be the happiest for me. It seems that bad news usually comes at the most unexpected times.

I was at my brothers apartment when I got a text from Cami letting me know that a man I was able to tract into on my mission, teach, and have the opportunity to baptize personally passed away.

Terry Hallam.

I want to give a tribute to him here, and share my experience with him.

I was on exchange with my district leader back in the beginning of 2009. I was currently serving in the town of Stamford, and we had been struggling for some sort of success. We tracted into him, shared a short message with him on his doorstep, and he let us in. We taught him the first lesson, and also watched the Restoration film. We found out that he had found his mother dead a few weeks earlier, and he was looking to go back to a church so he could find some sort of solace. It was very apparent how badly her death was affecting him. He really took in our next lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and he prayed for the first time with us then. You could really tell that he was looking for peace and answers. The lessons continued on, and he even came with us to General Conference. He struggled for some time trying to give up smoking, drinking, and a few other things, but he accepted the commitment for baptism. He and I became very close as I kept pushing him further and harder to overcome what he needed to, because we both knew that baptism would help him a lot.

He called us a couple times each day asking for answers to questions he had, or even just for encouragement to do what he knew he wanted to do. Eventually the day came, and I had the great opportunity of baptizing him. We continued to see him often after that, and he came to church and was very active and a great member of the church. He would always brighten up when we saw him, and the members liked him a lot too. A month or so later, I was moved to another area, and that was the last time I saw him face to face. A month after that I recieved a letter from him with a picture of him standing outside the London Temple. I was SO happy! That was the last time that I ever heard from him. I wrote him twice more during my mission, but he didn't respond.

I returned home from my mission, and this past February, I recieved word that he was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was saddened for him, but I was also comforted hearing that he was still staying active in the church, and going on their temple trips when he could. A month or so later, I heard that he had gone into the hospital for an operation, and that was the last I heard until today. I don't know any of the details as to why he passed away, just that he did.

I just want to say that Terry is such a huge example to me of overcoming trials, and staying strong through them. He didn't renounce his faith when it hit him, he relied on God. He is truly one of my heroes. I have never seen a man change so much in my life. He went from one of the saddest people to the happiest through what we shared with him. My biggest regret is that I didn't write him since I've been home.

I've cried through writing this whole blog, but I just wanted to share it with you. He really was a great man, and I look forward to giving him a huge hug when I see him in the next life.

God bless you Terry.

Wanted: Texting Buddy

2010-11-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ah yes. I'm back here again ready for another blog. It's not quite 11pm at night yet, so I'm still mostly awake, so you should all hope for some sort of sane post here, as compared to some other times I have blogged. (Well...at least when I blogged more often...) I honestly need to stop doing this at the beginning of every blog that I do lately. I comment on my lack of blogging, talk a bit about what's going on with me, then get to the heart and topic of the blog that day. I'm not very...creative sometimes when it comes to that. Who knows? Perhaps I'll switch it up one of these days....today is not that day in case you were wondering.

Today seemed to drag something terrible, especially at school. Work did yesterday as well...I think something unusual is going on...I wasn't able to leave campus today until about 2:30, which is saying something since my last class ended at 12:20. So yeah. I'm trying to get my credits and test scores sent down to UVU, but they had me running all over the place. Back and forth and back and forth (at least 20 times I swear). Oh well...I got it mostly taken care of. Just one more phonecall....:S

Anyway, on to the title of this blog.

I had to make sure I didn't contradict myself in writing this one, so I looked back to my past post on texting. I'm safe. *phew* As you can see from my title, I'm in search of a "Texting Buddy". What I would describe that is someone that I can text regularly, and can respond most of the time. Usually when I'm dating someone, or make a new friend, we text quite a lot, and I enjoy being able to have someone I can talk to at the ready. Lately, I haven't really had that much. Some of you may have noticed I have been texting you a bit more than normal. That's probably me trying to get used to not having anyone to text regularly anymore. What I've decided is that I will either find one, (and right now it doesn't seem to be happening) or just get used to texting less. My guess is that it will be the latter. I'm still in the habit of looking at my phone expecting a text to be there, only to find that there isn't one. Now, I'm not trying for the pity vote, mind you, because I don't want a pity texting buddy. Those are lame. It's just nice to have one I suppose.

So if any of you are up to it, just let me know!

P.S. I've found this band I'm really liking, Windsor Drive. You should all check them out.

Also Known As

2010-11-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm here back again in an attempt to start blogging a bit more than once a month. I keep having all of these idea that pop into my head almost daily for something that I want to blog about, but I never get around to it.
Life for me continues to move on. I'm single again, and getting ready to move down to Provo to attend UVU. I'm pretty excited about it, because I enjoyed having independence from home, sort of like on the mission, plus I'm way ready for a fresh start. I think moving an hour away will allow me to do that.
There were a few things that I wanted to blog about today, but the more I think about them, the more I realize that I might offend a few people if I did. Contrary to what I said in my very first blog, I'm not sure how much name dropping I want to do, and even if I describe what is going on, they'll know it's them I'm referring to, so I have to be careful.
So instead, I'll just talk shortly about what I've been pondering about lately.
Back when I was 14, my best friend Ryan and I were hanging out at his house, and he was starting to learn the drums in school, and had recently gotten a drumset. We went down into his basement and he played a bit while I watched. It was then that I saw there was a white electric guitar in that same room, and I picked it up and attempted to play. We did this for a few times, and all I really could get out was rubbish, until one day I was able to play "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. Time went on and I learned a bunch of other simple songs, and my desire to learn began to grow. We even played at a retirement home for a christmas thing when I was 15. Eventually I was able to get my own red electric guitar, and I could play at home, and not depend on going to Ryans to be able to play. I continued to learn different songs from guitar tabs off of the internet, and my skill improved. After graduation from high school I bought an electric acoustic guitar of of my brothers friend, and I knew I was in love. I love playing that guitar! Once I had that, I learned more songs at a faster rate, and found much solace from playing it after a bad day.
Anyway, after my mission, I've now purchased a bass guitar too, and I'm starting to learn that as well. So now I have the makings off a band myself. In the last 6 months I've been really considering starting a band instead of soloing by myself all of the time. I think it would be a way fun experience. I've always thought music to be my main talent, and I figure it would be good to work on it a bit, and improve on it.
Now, I'm not amazing at the guitar, most likely because I haven't had any private instruction, and I've taught myself the whole time, so if I did, I'd probably start out on the bass to get myself going. There doesn't seem to be a lot of bass players out there, since most people usually pick up the guitar or drums, so I would hope that I'd be picked quick to join a band. It's possible that Ryan can play the drums with me since we'll both be down in Provo, so we'll see.
So yeah, just with all the music I've been listening to lately, and also the concerts I go to have just made me feel that it's something I want to do do.
What do you all think? Can you see me in a band? Just let me know!

P.S. "Also Known As" was one of our ideas for a band name (Ryan and I). Do you have any ideas you want a band to be called? Maybe we could use it....

Bleh...

2010-10-18T23:27:00.000-06:00

What a weekend....Better yet, what a week....I feel like I've been tossed all over the place and I don't know why. My mind seems to not be working properly or something. I don't even know how to properly comment on it really. Weird stuff. Ever have those feelings like something is amiss, but you can't put your finger on it? It could be anything, but no matter how you think about it, you can't really narrow it down? That's what is going on with me I think, and it's messing me up. It's almost like in my brain is the big blue "ERROR!" screen, and I can't get past it. I don't know what's going on. There are all sorts of things in my life right now that are...unusual.
Life has been messing me up, I suppose. I've got a lot to prepare for in the next coming months as I get ready to move down to Provo. The three main things are transferring to UVU, finding an apartment that isn't too costly (but not ghetto), and hopefully transferring my job at America First down there. If I can accomplish those three things, I'll be sorted. They probably don't sound like a lot to some, but they occupy my mind quite a bit. If one doesn't work out, I'm slightly in trouble, and may have to postpone moving down there, and if that is the case, I'll miss spring semester at school. It all seems like a mess. Hopefully it works out. I found an opening today at my work at an American Fork branch that I would move to in December, which would be perfect, and hopefully with better pay. If that goes well, a huge stone will be passed. It's my main worry to get a job down there.
*sigh* Anyway...I'm just...down a bit I suppose. I'll be fine though. Most things work out in the end, and no matter what happens, I can move forward positively if I choose to, which I should. It's easier said than done I suppose.
So sorry for sounding all depressed or something. I don't mean to, and I'm not really. I just felt like venting my feelings for a bit. Don't pay too much mind to it.

I miss blogging...

2010-10-14T09:57:00.001-06:00

So I'm sitting here in my English 1010 class up at Weber....it's a disturbing class. I still don't understand how it could claim to be an "English" class. All we discuss it torture, rape, and other disturbing things from a book called "The Lucifer Effect", which discusses why people turn evil. So yeah...it's weird.
As far as blogging goes, I really wish I would do it more. Right now I'm getting to about one per month, which is nothing like in the summer where I got about one posted per day. Thing is, I've had loads of things I'd like to blog about, but I never get around to it. I'd call it a mixture of laziness and being busy with school, work, homework, and my girlfriend Andrea. Saying that, I would think those four things are a bit more important than a blog, so I'm not terribly disappointed that I haven't, I just enjoy blogging. It helps me vent or talk about things that are going on.
Anyway, life moves on for me. Those four things I mentioned are really all that I do nowdays. I'm sure most of you my age are in a similar situation.
Nowdays I'm trying to decide on which major I want to aim for in college. When I got home from the mission, I had decided that I wanted to do a psychology degree aiming for either school counselor or family counseling. At the end of spring semester, I changed my mind, and now I'm working for a communications degree either aiming for public relations or journalism. This last week, Andrea and I were discussing it, and came up with some other options for me to do. I had been thinking to changing my major to something to do with computers such as web design or something like that because most things on computers come naturally to me, and I took several computer classes in high school and got A's in all of them. Andrea and I looked at the major list just for BYU, and a few other options came up. One I'm considering right now is to become a teacher, probably for junior high, or high school. If I did that, it would probably be for theater, music (band or orchestra), computers (any type of that class), or a science teacher. It's a bit all over the place for that one, but they seem interesting to me. I enjoy teaching and explaining things to people, so I think it would be a good option. Andrea suggested that I stick with counseling of some sort, probably in a school.
Anyway, I'd love some input on this topic. What do you think about those classes I'm thinking about? Is there any major you think I would be good at? Let me know.

Where is my hand?

2010-09-12T23:25:00.000-06:00

And if you look to your left, you'll see the blog that has been ignored to to lack of time, motivation, and school starting....

I think it's becoming a tradition that I begin every blog that way these days. What can I say? Life has become especially hectic since school started. However, life is going good, so I can't complain. I'm really enjoying the classes that I'm taking; English, Math, Public Speaking, and Kempo (it's like Karate, but faster hits, just not as hard). It's definitely a bit easier than last semester. Things with Andrea also continue to go well. We decided that seeing each other only once a week on Saturdays was not enough, so now we've both been putting a lot of miles on our cars to see each other. It's okay though, it's worth it. :)

The past little while has been a little weird though, and that's what I wanted to talk about today. I've been running quite low on sleep, and it's been difficult. Now, on my mission, I got used to being exhausted all the time, and usually getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night. This being said, I've been pretty much okay with getting up early for school and work and such. However, in the last two weeks or so, I've been lucky to get more than 6 hours each night. Some of you may be used that, and it's no biggie, but I suppose my body doesn't agree with it that well. The first while wasn't too bad, but as the two weeks continued on, my mind began to go downhill quickly. I began to not act like myself all the time. I often was easily irritable, or I would zone out a ton. Several times I found myself so locked in a stare, that I wouldn't even realize that someone was talking to me. It was really weird, I haven't had this happen before. I was really starting to lose track of reality.

It got so bad that I found myself drifting off to sleep easily. Normally once I'm awake, I STAY awake until it's time for bed. With this, my mind got so bad that I started to say things that I don't even know why I said them. I'd look back and think, "Why'd I say that?".,..not in a regrettable tone, mind you, but more of sheer oddity and confusion to myself. My mind got to the state that I would start to remember things that didn't happen, and if they did happen, it must have done so in one of my dreams. I would start to get confused with which was a real memory, and which one was just a dream I've had.

Then last night, while I was with Andrea, I began to drift off to sleep, and I started to speak. However, it wasn't in a dream...it was out loud. "Do you know what's scary about Provo to Orem?" I asked as I jerked out of sleep. I immediately realized what I had said, and started to laugh at how weird it was, as Andrea was in a state of confusion. A short while later, it happened again, "Where is my hand?". Yeah, it was getting pretty bad.

SO....I decided that my mind needed to be fixed, so I slept for over ten hours last night, and woke up at 1:10 PM today, and I already felt much better. It was such a good sleep, that I had a dream within a dream, and I can remember it happening. For those of you who have seen the movie Inception, that was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. I had a dream that I was hanging around with some friends, then fell asleep watching TV and onto a remote, and I began to dream in the "second level" of dreaming about going to a bookstore to look at things. After a while that dream ended, and I woke up in the first dream with my side hurting from falling asleep on a remote. After a while, that dream ended too and I woke up for real, and saw how long I had been asleep. It was crazy.

Anyway, I'm in no means complaining at all about my lack of sleep. It was purely by choice, and I don't regret missing out on sleep at all. I just thought I would share my experience with you.

What about you guys? Any of you have any sleep deprived experiences? What about dreams within a dream experiences? Feel free to comment.

Again, sorry for the lack of posting.

22!!

2010-08-15T23:57:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I think I'm overdue for a blog post yet again. I'm a bit worried that when school starts next week, I will only get one post a month in or something. That would be lame. Life has been going well this past week. I was able to go on a trip up to the Snake River in Wyoming with my singles ward to do some river rafting. It was good fun despite it being my 8th time going up to raft that river. We had some good times. (even though I was zip tied into my tent Friday morning and I had to bite through it because I REALLY had to go to the bathroom). I also had fun times yesterday at a party for my friend DJ, as he built a mud slide, and we had a good time on that. Today was good, as it was the day my family celebrated my birthday since I won't be around for the actual day. Andrea came down for the weekend, I got to speak in church on forgiveness, and my family came over for food and games in the evening.

Well it just turned midnight, so I'm officially 22 now. It's weird. 22 feels like an odd age to be. I'm now a year beyond the official "adult age", and all the birthdays from now on don't quite have that special meaning, or any significant ones that have a positive connotation. (30 and 40 are bad) This last year seems to have gone by super fast, but I feel like I've done a ton of stuff. So in this blog post, I thought I might reminisce on the past year, and go over things that happened to me, or that I've done.

When I turned 21 last year, I was still on my mission in Walsall, England, and serving with Elder Benson McKay. It was a good birthday, and I got a couple good parcels from home, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After being with Elder Mckay for a bit longer, there was another emergency transfer and I got Elder Spencer Wright, and I served with him until the end of my mission. It was good times.

I returned home from my mission on Nov. 25, and spent the next long while adjusting to normal life again. I worked to get my old job back, and also registered for my first semester of college at WSU. The following months in the spring went interestingly, but good. I came home with a broken foot, and once that healed, I had a concussion by crashing hardcore on my wooden floor. Putting my injuries aside, the semester of college moved on. I got my old job back at America First in February, and I'm still working there to this day. During that time I went on a few dates, but nothing especially came out of them in the end. I also found a couple new groups of friends that I met through old friends, and my social life began to flourish a bit more. Other than that, the time of that semester was pretty monotonous, and I was glad for it to end.

At the end of the semester, I moved up my hours at work, and took the summer off from school to prepare for the fall semester. It also gave me some time to think of what I wanted to do academically. I had previously been looking to go for a Psychology degree, but I have since changed my mind, and I'm now wanting to get a degree in Communications. With all of that, I looked for options to other schools I may attend. Right now it's looking like I'm going to move up to UVU next year, and try to move over to BYU in the years following that.

In all of that, I started to date a girl named Marlee, but that didn't work out in the end either, so after two weeks, I went back to single life. Soon after, my blog began here. :D I was able to go on a few good vacations to Louisiana and Snowbird, and I finished those up in the end of June. When those were done, I began to date Andrea, and we are still dating to this day. It's been really awesome. That's been the main highlight for July and also up to my birthday now.

So, it's been a fun past year, and I'm looking forward to the coming year as well. I plan to make it even more epic than the last. Let's see how it goes!

Adjusted?

2010-08-06T23:55:00.000-06:00

You see? I'm doing a bit better here. More than one blog per week. I'm starting to get back into it here. I'm just sitting here on my bed, and the thought kept coming to do a blog, so here I am. Don't expect anything especially special here though. Probably just rambling mostly, but hey, it's fun for me to do either way.

Tonight I FINALLY organized my mission photos. I found out that the total pictures I had including small movies was 1,323! I didn't realize it was so many. I suppose that over the space of two years, with around 730 days, that means I took on average 2 per day, which isn't too bad. It was the first time since I've been home (almost 9 months now...Aaaahh!) that I've looked through all of them. I definitely had a good laugh, but I also found myself missing the mission terribly. It's days like today that I really wish that I could go back and keep serving. On the "mish", or all missions for that matter, the term "trunky" comes up. To be Trunky means you are looking forward to going home, and usually are missing a certain part when feeling the trunky emotion. The term comes from one being near or thinking of their trunk (or suitcase). Well, since I'm home already, I now change it, and say I'm feeling trunky for my mission. I had so many good times there. Taking those two years out of my life, and dedicating them to the Lord and spreading the Gospel full-time was the best decision I ever made. EVER. I don't regret it at all. I had a BLAST! Sure there were hard days, when no one would listen, I didn't get along with my companion, or I was feeling a bit homesick, but I feel like I grew so much out there and learned so much. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Today I was having a bit of a downer day, and not feeling so positive. Life had become stressful and difficult lately with all sorts of stuff (friend drama, apartment finding issues, etc), that it was starting to wear on me. In the evening, I was talking to Andrea, and we decided to show our mission pictures to each other tomorrow. So tonight I began to go through them and organize them for that first time, and I immediately began to feel better. It took a couple hours, but it was well worth it to go through those memories again. Now I'm feeling great and positive. =)

Anyway, those were just my thoughts for tonight. Am I adjusted? I think so. Do I still miss the mission? Absolutely.

Epic Fail Again...

2010-08-03T22:10:00.000-06:00

What's happened here? I thought I used to be a daily blogger. Now I'm lucky to get one in once a week. I'm failing miserably here, and it's no bueno. I still have plenty to blog about, I just never get around to it. Boo on me.

Life is still going really well. I feel very positive about everything. My friends and I are really close to getting an apartment, I'm dating the most wonderful girl, and school will be starting soon. I also have a river trip coming up, which is exciting, and my birthday, which is a bit less exciting, since I'm getting old (yes, 22 feels old), but it should still be great. Other than that, life moves on. Oh! I'm also much much better. I'm no longer sick it seems. My throat is good, and I barely cough at all anymore. It's great.

Tonight I just wanted to mention a bit about my writing. I won't say too much. Even though I have this blog here, I still enjoy writing stories, and starting novels and such. It all started back my sophomore year in high school, when a friend approached me and asked me to write a random chapter for a book he was putting together. That chapter sparked a novel I began, and tried to write all the way through high school called "The War of the Elements". It was a basic fantasy story about some youth (based on high school friends) that go off and have an adventure. Sadly, it became too involved with my social life, and the story more or less got ruined. I guess it couldn't be helped, as I had never written anything quite so extensive in my life, and my writing was in much need of improving. I only got fourteen and a half chapters into it (each chapter being around ten to fifteen pages), but it got better as it got on, but still couldn't be saved. So I have since scratched it, and started over with a better storyline, no involvement of real life counterparts, and just generally better writing altogether.

Through high school, several other ideas cropped up that I tried to start. I had one that got three chapters in about marching band, and a secret war going on between rival bands (Davis and American Fork), but that one ended quickly as I ran out of ideas, and it was mostly ranting anyway about the rival band. That one was titled, "From the Eyes of a Band Member". Another that didn't get very far was called "Game", and was about virtual reality sparring games played by the whole world that are very realistic that involved medieval combat. Other ideas that never really got anywhere included one about an epilogue about the Matrix, or a romance story based on my high school girlfriend (yeah, it was lame, don't ask). I'm sure there were plenty of other ideas I played with, but none really came to fruition.

After high school I fell a bit out of practice, and didn't write too much for a while. One day, out of nowhere, I was in a writing mood, and remembered an idea I had for a story called "Erin", which was supposed to be a story about a girl with mental powers and how she went through life with them. This writing mood, however, came with a large sarcastic mood as well. I kept thinking about writing, and wanted to try "Erin", but it just wouldn't come. So, I just opened a blank Word document, and started writing. Then, "Brian" was born. Brian brought a whole new style of writing I hadn't done before, as I do the whole story in a first person perspective, as if HE is telling the story to you. The part I liked about it is his general sarcastic view on things, and he goes off on tangents all the time. I denied it for the first while, but Brian is loosely based on experiences I had in high school, and a general narration on them. I focused mainly on how ridiculous and/or dramatic they were, and make fun of them mostly. However, Brian is built with a twist that continues to build as I write it. I'm thinking of taking the story in two directions, and I very well may do that. We shall see. I've only gotten six chapters into his story, but my excuse is that to write him, it requires that I am in a certain mood that I've discovered cannot be duplicated or forced to come out. So it will take some time. I was actually surprised about his story, as it was pretty popular for some time, and my friends actually asked when I was going to write another chapter. This gave me a bit of hope for the future. Although I may not do it as a career, it will be fun to write on the side, and see where things go.

Other than that, the reason I'm talking about my writing today, is that I actually got into a "writing mood" this afternoon, and began another story. I've always been a fan of apocalyptic stories/movies, and wanted to write one, so I thought I'd start. I'm only three pages in, so we'll see how it goes.

I just really enjoy writing, as it helps let out frustration, or anything that I'm feeling at that particular moment, and I am free to express myself creatively as much as I want.

Anyway, I've probably bored you enough with talking about my writing. If you are curious at all, I'm more than happy to share ANY of my writing with anybody. I may be embarrassed with some of it, but I'll let you read if you ask. I still have it all saved since day one. Just ask, and I'll send it to you.

Feelin' pretty good....

2010-07-26T22:48:00.000-06:00

Life has just gotten pretty awesome in the last couple days. There have been a bunch of ups and downs, but I've finished so far back again on the up end. My sickness is getting a bit better. My throat started to swell up something fierce Friday night and it was terribly painful, so on Saturday morning I demanded that we go somewhere where a doctor could see me. (when you get that sick, you get a bit grumpy). I had gotten up in the night with pain, and looked in the mirror to find my left tonsil inflamed, and my uvula 4 times it's size. (It was a sign...that I was sick) Thankfully, we saw a doctor, and I was told I had Strep Throat, although the test came back negative. The doctor said she was pretty sure, so I'm still not sure if I have it or not...Then I got the biggest shot I've ever had, and that was it. The throat problem continued on until this morning, and now it's feeling much better.

The rest of Saturday went really well. Not only did I have work off (and got paid for it :D), but I also was able to go on another really great date with Andrea. We were able to hop over to "A Little Taste of Britain", and eat some native food from our mission. It was close, but not quite the same, BUT the battered Mars bar at the end made up for it. After playing Quelf with my fam, we lit off some fireworks (legal ones...mostly....), and finished just talking on the porch swing. It was great. Now we're officially dating, and I'm really happy about it. :)

Several blogs ago, I talked about how facebook is taking over every ones lives, and the world as we know it. This time, I want to put a plug in about texting. First, I want to start with a confession. I am quite the texter. I text6,000 most of the time, and I enjoy doing it. To put it clearly, in the month of June alone, the total sent and received texts from my phone were over 6,000. It's sad, I know...

So I decided (with help) to throw in some pros and cons here of texting.

Let's start with the cons.

Firstly, texting takes away personality from a conversation (minus the emoticons, but still). It can often be difficult to tell the tone that a person is presenting in those words. (much like a letter). There is also no body language involved, minus your fingers, but...they can't see those either. Also, texting takes you away from the world. It is very distracting, and you are paying more attention to your phone, than you are to what is going on around you (especially driving). When that beep goes off, a lot of people immediately drop whatever they are doing, and look at the phone. (like in a doctors office, classroom, work, family dinner, etc) Speaking of beeping, to other people, it can get incredibly annoying to hear it go off over and over and over (hence why they invented the vibrate feature). It also creates a laziness in language, and even is causing it to break down. Words and acronyms like LOL, ROFL, G2G, and TTYL didn't exist before this. Even in texting people abbreviate so much to the point of ridiculousness. "Hey bro, Hws it goin? Were gng to Jims hse l8tr. Cya!"....serious? Texting affects the educational world as well. Several students use the discreetness of their phone, to allow them to cheat, or again, distract them from the lesson. Also, combining with the language degradation, it has been causing writing abilities to go down significantly. (http://www.techlearning.com/)

Leaving the cons aside, there are also several benefits from being able to text.

Being discreet is also a positive part of texting. You can quietly have a conversation with someone without interrupting something else (as long as it is in an appropriate place. Texting also helps you get to the point a lot quicker than normal conversations. Instead of a whole build up to something, you can take off a small piece, and send it to someone, and you'll have your answer quicker. Texting also helps save the awkwardness of the ending of some conversations. In fact, you don't always have to end a conversation with someone while texting, it's almost like a continuous thing going. You can also have conversations with someone throughout the day, and still do the things would normally be doing. For me, I enjoy texting for that reason. I like to keep up to date with my friends and such, without having to interrupt anything, and they can text me back when it's convenient.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. What do you think? Are there any pros or cons that I missed. Feel free to comment!

Finally....Drugs!!

2010-07-22T21:57:00.000-06:00

You know you haven't blogged in a while when Blogger stops automatically signing you in, and you have to do it again. (man, those 5 seconds lost that I'll never get back....) As to the title here, I am still finding myself sick, contrary to what the doctor predicted, SO...he ordered me in a prescription today, and hopefully now my recovery will quicken. Thankfully...it's still just a cough. But you have NO IDEA how annoying it is. Some mornings it will seems like I'm all better, then around ten it comes back, almost like that annoying person that never seems to go away. No matter how far you try to separate yourself from them, they come back. And let me tell you, Bronchitis is a masterful hunter. Humperdinc would be most jealous (Princess Bride reference if you didn't get it...I'm not really sure how do spell his name). It gets embarrassing sometimes, I'll be in the middle of a conversation, and then right at an important part, the cough will come. The thing is, it doesn't leave me woozy either. I have a really bad coughing fit, so much that people will beginning to look at me, then I'll stop and look like nothing had happened. It's weird....

ANYWAY, on to the topic of tonight. I want to share with you my Most Embarrassing Moment. It still embarrasses me to this day a bit, although I can laugh about it, but I figure, the more I share it, the less embarrassed I will feel about it. It all starts back in band camp my sophomore year. Yes, I was in marching band. *sigh* Now I need to defend that fact that I'm not a nerd again. SO, most high schools generally feel that people in the marching band are "band geeks", and to be fair, they are mostly right. EXCEPT...for Davis High School. In Davis, it's actually a really cool thing to be in the marching band. I think the saying went, "if you weren't in the marching band, you were friends with someone who was. We had up to 300 members at a time. Even some of the SBO's were in the marching band. Also, Kaysville, the city of the Darts, LOVED the marching band. There were so many supporters at our competitions (especially Davis Cup) and parades and such, it was unbelievable. So my point is, Davis High Marching Band: cool people.

ANYWAY...(again), on the Thursday of band camp we usually make a trip to Delta to go swimming in the public pool. It's AMAZINGLY refreshing after many hot days in the sun, especially when it's your first year. The pool is pretty large, and we have all sorts of traditions there, like making huge waves, or whirlpools. It also has two diving boards, a high and low one. I prefer the high dive to the other one, so I spent most of my time on that. (Also, I want to add that I was 50 pounds skinnier then) That year I was sporting a swimsuit that only tied up in the front, and wasn't too tight around my waist. (can you already see where this is going?) After several jumps, I thought I should go for a straight dive in the water. I lined myself up, jumped, went vertical, and went straight down into the water with a lot of force. I got to the bottom of the pool, and had the strangest sensation, like I was missing something. I looked up, and there, floating above my head, was my swimsuit. (dun dun dun) I hastily grabbed it and put it on. After that, I hesitantly came to the surface of the pool, hoping no one had noticed, but from some of the stares and smiles, I knew I hadn't gotten away with it. I was embarrassed beyond all belief. Long story short, I was pretty quiet the rest of the pool visit, and I had a lot of looks the rest of the time swimming.
So yes, that was my most embarrassing moment. I hope you got a good laugh at it. That's it for now. I hope to post again soon.

5 Second Games

2010-07-19T00:38:00.000-06:00

Perhaps I have become the "blog every other day" type....I enjoy blogging. I really do, but since I've been ill, the desire to blog at night has decreased significantly. The doctor said I should be better in a week or two, and that was last monday, so here's hoping. Yesterday wasn't so bad, but today my cough wanted some attention, so it made itself noticeable.
Yesterday was very enjoyable though. Not only was I feeling a bit better, but I got to go up to Wyoming again to meet more of Andrea's family. It was really interesting to meet them, because I was strangely reminded of my own family in the way they made sarcastic remarks, and bantered all of the time. It made me feel a bit more comfortable in that respect.
One of the better parts was going outside and playing games with her nephews. We ranged from baseball, to hide and seek, to golfing, and we finished with a game of 500. With the baseball game, the rules can be quite interesting when you play with young children, especially with where the bases are. They would hit the ball (it was plastic) and run to a random place. I was so confused that I was unable to get them out. Even after over 10 years of baseball experience, I was owned by two young boys. Next came the game of hide and seek. Now, nothing against Andrea's family or where they chose to live, but there wasn't really any places in their open backyard to hide. I think we found a total of 4 or 5. With four of us playing, they were used up pretty quick. BUT, we played several times, so we had to get a bit creative. I ended up hiding behind her dad once, and another time I cheated and sneaked through the fence, and hid in the front yard for a while. The other games were equally fun. Sometimes her nephews would forget that they were playing one game, and start another before the other had finished (like the time I hid behind her dad...), and we would switch games every few minutes. It was a blast.
Also, how could one forget finishing with a few roasted marshmallows and some fireworks. Not to mention their family friend playing around with black powder on the fire, and almost losing his eyebrows. :D
Anyway, just thought I'd share that fun day with you. There were a lot of other things that went on (like Beyond Balderdash!!!), but those were a highlight. I really enjoyed myself.

Spiderman, My Friend

2010-07-16T23:41:00.000-06:00

Bleh, I just want to say that today took forever. I had another early morning meeting at 8AM, and worked until 615PM. It was a bit crazy at work too because they had me doing everything. I worked at my desk, then covered the receptionist desk while she was at lunch, then worked as a temporary teller on the teller line, etc etc etc. (I'm like a swiss army knife I swear) It just made the day interesting. The good part is it finished with a fun trip to a friends house to go swimming. I was also grateful because I didn't cough as much then, probably due to the water, and more importantly the steam from the hot tub.

Anyway, I've had more than one request to talk about my obsession with Spiderman, so I'll give it a go here. A long time ago in my younger years, I remember watching television with my brother, and a television show came on that was called Spiderman. (it was the newer one where Peter Parker narrates his life) This was my first introduction to the super hero. It sparked my interest, but not much came of it then. My favorite super hero ranged through the years for me from the Power Rangers, to the X-Men. Then one bright sunny day in the evening (yeah...huh?) my brother and I decided to go to the movie theatre to go see a movie that had come out that was also called Spiderman. We saw it in the Kaysville theatre so it had been out for a while, and was probably close to coming out on video/dvd. I was instantly mesmorized and enthralled. I LOVED THAT MOVIE!! It was great. The next movie came out in 2004, and I waited in line for over 11 hours to see the premiere. The third movie came out, and I waited in line for over a day to see it. I even had a Spiderman mask, web shooters, etc. It was amazing! Those movies, well, more specifically Spiderman 2, tie for first on my favorite movie list.

The reason I like those movies so much is that I feel that I can relate to Peter Parker in some ways. Not that I have super powers or anything, just some of the situations he's been in that I feel I have experienced....somewhat...in a different sort of way. It's hard to explain. I also like Spiderman a lot because I feel he is a bit more human-like that some other heroes in the sense that he deals with a more normal life. He's not a billionaire or somthing unrealistic (yes, I know spider powers aren't realistic either, but you are missing the point). He has to deal with a girlfriend (or love interest), getting and keeping a job, and making his way through school, all while dealing with a friend whose trust has been betrayed. You really start to feel bad for the guy in the end.

Now, I know Spiderman probably would lose in a fight against some other heroes/super powered guys (Superman, Darth Vader, Voldemort, etc), but that doesn't make him any less cool in his world. He's a nerd, yes, but "nerds are cool" -Andrea. I just want to say that I think Spiderman is awesome, and I am not ashamed to say that. Plus, there are some good thoughtful lines from the movies.

"With great power, comes great responsibility..." -Ben Parker

"Knowledge is a gift to be used for the good of mankind." -Otto Octavius (Doc Oc)

There are plenty others, but I've run out of time to blog.

So yes, Spiderman is my favorite hero out of all the rest. William Wallace comes in a close second.

I'm back!!

2010-07-13T21:39:00.000-06:00

Man, what a slacker I am. It's been almost a week since I've put a blog post up. However, I'm am fully prepared with a legitimate excuse which I hope those of you who had been asking why I hadn't put one up in a while will understand. (wow, that was a long sentance...)

I've been pretty sick with Bronchitis. It's super lame. It's given me plenty of annoying symptoms, and I have a few others that don't come with it, yet I'm guessing are related. The two biggest are that I have this really bad dry cough in my lower throat that won't go away (hence the annoyance) and it helps maintain this six day migraine that I've had that ALSO won't go away. Other syptoms include morning dizzyness, upset stomach (well, more just like a weird feeling, not to the point of blowing chunks), no appetite (I've lost 9 pounds!! Woo!!), body aches, general constant exhaustion, and the inability to sleep. Yeah...it sucks. We didn't even know what it was until we finally went to the doctor yesterday and he told us. Our ideas before ranged from as little as a cold to as far reaching as the swine flu and male menopause (THANK GOODNESS!!). The trip to the doctor was very interesting too. On my way there, I discovered that chewing gum was more effective at supressing my cough than the cough drops were. Go figure....Also, I was surprised to find that I had a fever of 101. I thought I had a long enough list of symptoms already to make some people think I was making it up or somthing, then I get there and they add two or three more! Weird...

The down side is that unless it gets worse in the next week, I don't get any medicine, the doctor just told me to trust in my immune system....*sigh* So now I just take two Extra Strength Excedrine Migraine and a Melatonin (it's a natural herb that helps you sleep) before bed, and that usually works. The whole day is like a roller coaster though. My symptoms come and go as they please, and I never know which one is going to stop by for a visit. (you'd think they'd give a bit of a notice or something. How rude....)

So here's hoping that I get better soon. I didn't mean this blog to be one generally for complaining, it's just fun to see what I was going through on paper (electronic paper, that is...), and to basically get caught up on everything. I should have a topic going tomorrow.

Also, in my absence from my blog, I've been able to formulate some good ideas for future blogs. Such ideas include "Spiderman, My Hero", "Like? or Lust?", "Drama, Is it REALLY Necessary?", "My Most Embarassing Moment". So here's to hoping that they actually get posted.

Fail...

2010-07-09T00:12:00.000-06:00

So I forgot yet again to do a blog post yesterday. I think I might give up the goal to blog everyday. I think I'll change it to "Blog everyday I can, and every day that I'm not completely tired." How does that sound? Good? Good.

Unfortunately, tonight is another one of those nights. I'm EXHAUSTED!!....and I don't know why. I worked from 845 to 615 today, just like a normal day at work. However, we were UNBEARABLY slow. (think I can CAPS enough words?) So you'd think that I'd have a bit more energy....but no, I don't. It's reallly weird. It's like my body is asleep, but my mind is awake. It doesn't really make sense to me. Maybe a doctor would be able to figure out. Perhaps it's those hot dogs in BBQ sauce my brother gave me last night that tasted a little funky. Who knows?
Anyway, I was planning on doing a blog about Spiderman, but I suppose that will have to wait. Perhaps tomorrow I will....if I'm not exhausted again. My stamina has been a little wacky these days. I'm tired a lot, have a few more headaches than usual, AND I'm thirsty all of the time. What does this mean? I dunno, but I think I'll go to sleep now. (Maybe those voodoo spirits will help me out...)

I remember....

2010-07-06T22:39:00.000-06:00

Today was especially good. (like salted pork....If you don't get that reference, I'll understand) I was able to go to lunch with a dear friend of mine. As a quick background story, we met years and years ago while at a birthday party for another friend, and everyone was downstairs. She came late because of a driving exam thingy, and rushed down the stairs and (I don't know why I was in this exact location) slammed open the door, crushing me behind it. That's how my friendship with Lindsie began. She stuck around with me through a really bad break up with a mutual friend of ours, and we enjoy good times together still. It's just great to have a friend to be completely open with and let everything out that's been on your mind without fear of judgement. Even though we only get to see each other about once a month these days due to one reason or another, it's still great to see her. We had a good time. :D

I only got one comment requesting a topic on my last post (I'll still accept requests on something you want me to blog on, just drop a comment by on any post, and I'll see what I can do) and it was asking about my very earliest memory. It's a little hazy, but here goes.

The farthest back I can remember is when I was four years old. I can't get and further back than that. I'm sure in the next life it will be fun to see what went on before that, and what kind of young baby I was. (my mum says I just threw up a lot, go figure) If I recall correctly, it is of me and my mum driving in a car in north Kaysville up to take me to preschool. I remember the colour of the seats were grey, and I couldn't see above the dash very well. I also remember looking to my right and seeing a tree. The preschool I went to was in a blue building, that looked more like a storage place. It was in this plot that didn't have much in it other than long dead grass, and a few trees here and there. Thinking about it now, it seemed a little dreary, but at that age I didn't mind. The playground was just a simple metal swingset, and a small wooden teeter-totter. I especially liked my first day of class because there were these small blue platform things on wheels (only about a square foot big) that we would lay on our stomachs, and push ourselves around with our feet. That's all I can really remember. All other memories come after that, but none other after that day. I hope that answers your request. (any others?)

"I'm going to make the sound of an elephant!" "QUACK!!"

2010-07-06T00:15:00.000-06:00

Ah yes, tonight was an excellent night, which finished off with a bunch of clips from the show "Who's Line Is It Anyway" that I watched with some friends. We mostly watched a part called Sound Effects, where audience members do the SFX for the two actors (Ryan and Collin). It was HILARIOUS!! My stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. I love it.

Unfortunately for tonight, I'm not feeling especially in a bloggy mood. (there goes that word again....is it a real word? Hmm....

I keep having these great ideas for blogs I want to do on certain topics (these all come during the day) but when I get to my computer to write, I don't feel up to writing a long, drawn out thing about them. I mean, yes, I'm sure I could do a short little blip about them, but if it's an especially good topic, I'd feel unsatisfied unless I wrote about it to the full potential in my mind (which, sadly, is only a few paragraphs). However, I'm especially fond of requests. If any of you who end up reading this, (and I'm really not sure who does these days) would like me to talk about a certain topic and my feelings on it, feel free to ask. I'll try to do my best. If it's something I can't talk a lot about, or there isn't much for me to say about it, I'll let you know. BUT, ask away. :D

Attitude is EVERYTHING!!

2010-07-05T00:02:00.000-06:00

Today was a weird day. 'Nuff said.

I have had the opportunities throughout the years to counsel my friends through thick and thin. At some times, I wonder if my secret calling is the psychologist of my different groups of friends. It's interesting...Don't get me wrong though, it's not like I'm upset by it. I find myself being grateful that they consider me a good enough friend to confide in, or come to with their problems. Now I don't by any means consider myself and expert at all when it comes to advice, or on any of the topics that they bring me. All I can do is give them my honest opinion, and share any advice I have. After that I try to stick by them and try to keep them happy. I just quickly wanted to expound on one of the biggest pieces of advice that I follow, and encourage them to do the same. It's two principles I learned before my mission, yet were reinforced a lot while I was out serving for two years.

It's the principles of attitude and desire. These two things fuel most of what we do. If we have a strong enough desire for something, or for something to happen, it causes us to act, to move, and to do what needs to be done in order to obtain our desires. If something happens to us, whether good or bad or whatever, our attitude determines how we respond, or go about it. When we can get these two principles in order, life will go well.

Everytime a friend tells me they are angry at what someone did, I ask them who made them angry. The reply is always that the other party caused it. In reality, it is only us who chooses our attitudes and emotions. You've heard it before, but the only person who can make you happy, mad, sad, etc, is YOU. You choose how to react in a situation, not anybody else.

When a friend tells me that life isn't going well, I ask them why, and what they are doing about it. Usually the answer can be "I don't know", (which means, "I don't care" or "I haven't thought about it". -P. Moffat) or a long list of things comes out of how everything has gone wrong for them lately, or one thing or another. Most of the time, they aren't doing much to fix it. This is where desire comes in. If their desire was strong enough for their life to get better, they would do something about it. No matter how many times they tell me that they do want it to get better, I always remind them of that.

True desire fuels action, and most of what we get in life is the result of our desires. Of course, things do happen that we didn't plan for, and they weren't our desires. That's when attitude comes in, and we choose how we deal and react to it.

These are just my thoughts, I could keep expouding on them, but I'd start to repeat myself, so I'll end here.

"Can she get a sample of that one?"

2010-07-04T01:09:00.000-06:00

Epic win. (I'll spare you the details. She's already upset with me about it as it is...)

I just got back from Provo, and yet another awesome date with this girl. (the one that is upset with me for winning the competition) It was our second date, and things are looking good (or at least I hope they are). We definitely had a good time.

Tonight I'm blogging about freedom, and how great America is seeing as it's that time of the year, and this blog will be posted throught the 4th of July. Isn't it great that we (all the Americans that read this) live in such a great country that affords us so many great blessings and opportunities? We get so much here that most countries don't have. It seems like too many people like to point out how many things are going wrong here, and fail to notice how good we really have it. Everyone like to point fingers at any of the presidents we have while we have them, or at congress, or the government, etc. Now, I don't mean to excuse whenever they do something wrong, but people should be grateful that at least they have a decent government. Our ancestors FOUGHT so we can have the country that we have now. The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and many other wars were fought to protect the freedoms we enjoy, and provide freedom for others. This is the "land of the free", the "home of the brave". OUR FREE COUNTRY!! And now, just like every year before, we get to celebrate that we have it. I for one, LOVE America, and LOVE the message that it gives the world. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

P.S. ..."One Nation, Under GOD..."

PONY! PONY! PONY!

2010-07-03T00:58:00.000-06:00

If you are already looking at me funny due to my title, I'll explain. Acutally...now you are probably giving even weirder looks because you can't actually LOOK at me, seeing as this is a blog post, and you are reading it after the fact. Not to mention that it still wouldn't be me anyway, since it's a webpage, but anyway....

Today at work I had to help a member who had some serious issues, and the whole ordeal took almost an hour. We were originally trying to get her and her sister a joint account together, but she had a bad past with America First and caused it losses, so we spent forever trying to resolve it, and a million other things she had to do, and in the end, they decided to give up and not open the account anymore, so yeah...BUT at the end of the day, one of the loan officers sitting behind me starting singing Lady Gaga, and her and all the other peoples on the loan side surrounded me (five people) and started chanting "Pony! Pony! Pony!" and presented me with this small, pink toy pony that you'd probably get in a McDonalds Happy Meal, and informed me that it is passed around the loan side to those who did the most member service for the day, or had a hard member to deal with. It was pretty epic...odd, but epic. They all cheered and had big grins on their faces. Not knowing how to react to such an odd situation, I decided to smile back, and pump the toy pony in the air and celebrate too. So now anyone who comes to my desk to open a new account, gets to see this pony with a toy comb in its' hair.

Anyway, that's all I'm really in the mood for blogging about today. It's late, and I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow; work, family get together, and a date. It's going to be great. So yes, I'll try to be a bit more bloggy another time. (bloggy?)

P.S. God Bless America

Pokemon and Cami

2010-07-02T00:38:00.000-06:00

What a day...I am EXHAUSTED!! I feel kind of bad for not putting a blog post up last night, but I got home late from wasting my time at the Last Airbender premiere. (super lame, I don't recommend it...at all) I only got around 4 hours of sleep, and I worked all day. It's been a bit crazy. I'm surprised I'm still awake at all now.

With the lack of an idea for my blog tonight, (again, probably due to my brain not functioning correctly in my current state) I resorted to outside sources for an idea to blog about. I was told to blog about Pokemon, and my good friend Cami.

Pokemon....the long, drawn out fad that seems to never die. I remember when it came out while I was in elementary school. It was the coolest thing ever at the time. Everyone started collecting the cards, and not a single episode on saturday cartoons was missed. Soon my friends and I would pretend we were Pokemon trainers, or just the pokemon themselves. Then we would right songs about them. (don't laugh, you know you did it too) Eventually, everything that we could find that involved it, we collected, bought, and traded for other stuff our friends had. I dare say it was the biggest fad of my generation. (beyond yo yo's, skateboards, and pogs) It pretty much ran our lives. Then the video games came out, and that reinforced everything again. (or was it vis versa? and the video games were first....I honestly can't remember) I'll never forget the day that Pokemon cards were banned at my elementary school. We were DEVASTATED!! No more "battling" at recess...no more gawking at other kids cards...how would we survive?? Well somehow we did...and the fad still didn't die. Then came the knock off shows that tried to make money off of the fad; Digimon, Monster Rancher, etc. Those caught on for a bit...then died too. Yet as my interest faded in the show, and soon the games, it still seems to stick around. This young boy that goes out into the world and tries to catch these creatures so he can use them to fight someone elses' creatures. They also never seem to stop finding new ones too. First it was 150, then another 100, then another...and another. It's getting ridiculous...(as if it wasn't enough in the first place.

I think it's well beyond the point, sort of like Power Rangers. The first set of them growing up were AWESOME! (for my age I mean) But those kept going on, and on, and on into oblivion as well. Has creativity been left by the wayside when it comes to childrens television? (I say yes, due to the fact that they made a show about Piniatas that are alive and have adventures....) Now were several years down the road, and it's still around and children are still eating it up. I mean I'm sure it's good business to keep something going that is still working, but the same thing happens every episode I swear! First we join the trainers as they go on their adventure, then they meet some person they become friends with for that episode only, then they meet a new Pokemon, then Team Rocket tries to steal it, then they get defeated, and the episode ends with the new friend thanking the trainers as they leave. The End. It's ridiculous. But oh well....

Cami Cami Cami.........Cami happens to be a Sister Missionary that I met on my mission while serving in England. She was a very dedicated missionary in spreading the Gospel to others despite having the occasional trouble with her leaders and her getting along (gotta love that CSP....I'm joking.....sort of). Cami also flew home from the mission with my group of missionaries, and we sat together on the plane. She was quite disappointed with me when I watched the movies on the flight home. Her and I ran into each other again in a random trip of mine down to Las Vegas. She prefers that I call her Sister Russell, like she was in the mission, but not everyone can get their way :P and I'm sure she will live. She also happened to train another Sister Missionary, Sister Andrea Winn, who happens to be the person who suggested the two topics for tonights blog. (coincidence....) They served in the same area as me for a time while I was in Birmingham. Really though, Cami is a cool person, and fun to get along with.

That's all for tonight I guess. I apologize for the randomness. You can blame Andrea for that one....ha ha!

P.S. Why shouldn't you take a Pokemon in the bathroom? Because it might Pikachu!!

P.S.S. How do you get Pikachu on a train? You Pokemon!!

It's a brave new world...

2010-06-30T01:41:00.000-06:00

For some reason tonight, as I was driving home, that line popped in my head, and I thought, "Hmm...I should make that the title of my blog...even though it doesn't make any sense at all...". So there it is, a line from one of my favorite TV shows, Heroes.

Today, since I'm tired, my blog will be short, but to the point. (I seem to say this every night...and I usually make them long instead, but at least I can say that my intentions were there...) I just want to make a shout out to the two best book series of all time, (If you dared think of Twilight when I said that....) The Belgariad, and the Mallorean, both written by David Eddings.

If you haven't heard of these, let me fill you in on a few details. They are both 5 book series (so 10 total) written about the same characters, following the same timeline, just two quests that they do. There are also 3 books that follow after them which are also the same storyline. Yes, they fall in the fantasy genre, but it's so much more than that. There is some amazing character development, and you really begin to love the characters in the story. It has suspense, thrill, humor (you will literally laugh out loud several times while reading each book, especially when it involves a character named Silk) and many other elements to get you involved and loving the books.

I don't want to give you a plot description, because I don't want to give anything away, and if I give just a small detail, it could give away a lot when you read them. (that's how good they are) Very vaguely, they follow the boy, Garion, as he grows up and goes through life and has many adventures as he figures out the mystery of who he is, and what he is meant for. They are based soley in a Dark Ages time (with kings, castles, magic, wars, etc).

I know of several articles published about them in reading magazines, newspapers and such that praise these books. I believe one said, "The Belgariad is one of the most UNDERAPPRECIATED book series of our time...". That's one of the problems, you won't find them advertised anywhere. For that, I'm not really sure why, because I know of many MANY people who read them. Perhaps they are so good, that advertisements are not necessary.

Let's pull a few quotes from various sites on the internet to further my point.

"The Belgariad series is by far the best ever written. Eddings' style appeals to the senses as well as the mind. If you enjoy any type of fantasy reading, this is a series you can't pass up." -Teenink.com

"I found each book held my attention...I never lost interest, the pages were easy to turn, and I would willingly read it again." -Evelyn Keys, Suite101.com

"David Eddings' Belgariad is an incredible, five book epic series...Eddings writing style is engaging and full of dry wit...These are the sort of books where you'll find yourself having to stop as you read to to read paragraphs aloud to people so they can also appreciate Eddings' sly humor. And once you start reading, you'll find that you don't want to stop." -Laurie Thayer, Assistant Book Editor, Rambles.net

The praise goes on and on. You'll be lucky to find a bad review anywhere on these books. My family loves them so much, that we all read the series at least once per year. (not all at the same time of course) SO, if you like to read, or are looking for something to read, check them out.(you should just check them out regardless) The first book is called "Pawn Of Prophecy". It's about 300 pages, and can be found at most book stores. (Barnes and Noble is your best bet)

Also, if you've read them already, please post comments on what you thought here as you also know how great they are to help further the point.

P.S. No seriously, go find those books and start reading. You won't reget it.

Success!!

2010-06-29T01:33:00.000-06:00

Today was a thrilling day. After many weeks of training and preparation, I opened a new account today at my desk, all by myself. (it sounds lame, I know, but trust me, it's not as easy as it sounds) I was quite pleased. I'm still rusty about it, but I'll get there in the end.

I'm feeling kind of dumb at the moment too. I just barely found the spell check thingy for this....

I honestly don't know what I want to blog about tonight. It must be one of those nights I suppose. (then again, it's also 2AM again...I'm officially naming it "Blogging Time") I just know that if I start typing without thinking, that a lot of weird thoughts are going to come out, and it's going to be horribly disorganized.

Let's see....thoughts thoughts thoughts. AH! I have one! Let's talk about Facebook.

Now this one is hard to blog about, because I'm part of the problem as well, but I'm going to do it anyway. Have any of you noticed how much Facebook (or Twitter, or MySpace, or whatever it is, I'll just use Facebook in this context, but I mean them all really...) is taking over the world? It's seriously like the new villian that a superhero is going to have to face or something. EVERYONE seems to be on it, and it's taking over their lives. (yes, you already know I'm on it as well) Some people spend HOURS on it! The media isn't helping either, nowdays you see ads about ANYTHING, and right at the end of the add you hear, "follow this product on Facebook". Even one of my favorite comedians, Stephen Colbert, spent almost ten minutes on one of his show once talking about how he was "Tweeting" something he wanted everyone to look at. I felt so betrayed. Now most phones have applications specifically for these sites (or just phone built just to use social networking sites). All websites now seem to have this bar that allows you to follow their website on all social networking sites. Even in the news now, they have comments that they put on from people "posting" about what they thought of a particular story.

Pretty soon the CEO of Facebook is going to be put in the oval office, and no one will notice the difference......(I bet Obama has a Facebook page that no one knows about....)

I seriously think everyone needs to give it a BREAK, slow down a bit, and stop letting it take over their lives. I didn't think it was THAT bad when I left on my mission, but when I got home, and older people began to use it (over 35), younger people began to use it (under 12), animals began to use it (like dogs), and even INANIMATE OBJECTS have started to use it (I'm currently a friend with "Nick's Bed").
Seriously, it's out of control. If you honestly take a step back and look at it, you'll see it.

But what do you think? What are your thoughts about social networking taking over the world? Feel free to comment and let me know! (I'm ending sooner than expected, but I'm falling asleep)

P.S. Just when the world thought it was safe...a new evil appeared....

P.S.S And before you say it, I don't consider my Blog to be part of thise evil. I do it because I like to write, and express my thoughts. In an odd sense, it's like I'm writing for a newspaper. This site just happens to be one that allows me to publish online.

TURTLE!!!

2010-06-28T01:20:00.000-06:00

I'm quite happy now. After looking through some of my friends blogs, I noticed that they had this "Playlist" thingy that would cause their page to have music. After much searching, and many trial and errors, I was able to figure it out, and get it on my page. (No, I couldn't call or text anyone to ask...it was too late at night....again)

Today went pretty well. I took another trip in my car down in a southern direction for a homecoming of a sister from my mission. It was so cool to hear her speak in church, especially because she used a lot of lingo from the mission that I had forgotten about! ("flogged" was my favorite) Other than that is was the wonderfuly pork roast dinner that my dad makes, followed by a movie night. (We watched "9". I recommend it, although it's a Tim Burton film, so be prepared)

I'm not planning on making this a long blog tonight. I really need to get some sleep, and it's hard to focus tonight. (this seems to keep happening...) I'll start with a definition from Dictionary.com;

Awkward: Lacking skill or dexterity; clumsy, lacking social grace or manners, requiring caution; somewhat hazardous; dangerous, embarassing or inconvenient; caused by lack of social grace, marked by or causing embarassment or discomfort.

I felt inspired by a good friend of mine to write the blog today about this. (I don't have a lot to say about it though.) Awkward moments happen a lot to us in our lives. It's inevitable, it's going to happen. (especially if your name begins with A-N-D-R-E...:P) For me it's usually when somebody does something that makes me uncomfortable whether it's something they say, or something they start doing around me or to me. (Like slapping my butt and saying "good game". You know who you are....-_-) On my mission, when an awkward moment would happen, (which it tends to happen a lot in the field, especially on doors) as my companion and I would walk away from it, we would make the sign of the "Awkward Turtle" with our hands (as can be seen in the above picture). For example, the other night I was with some friends in an apartment that our other friend was living in (Yes, I'm being vague on purpose) but that friend wasn't there, and it was just us four there alone talking. Well, the roommates showed up while we were, and our conversation quickly ended as it was blatently obvious that they didn't want us there. One of them even had these crazy eyes as she walked around the kitchen. They informed us that they were about to start watching a movie, but warned us because it was rated R. After they told us that, they just...looked at us. So...we left the apartment pretty quick. I made sure to make the "Awkward Turtle" sign as it was neccessary. (when we got outside, they locked the door...I think we weren't wanted or something...)

Anyway, my general feeling on awkward situations are that they are only as awkward as you make them. If something awkward happens, and everyone just sits there in silence and shock, that's PROBABLY going to make it more awkward. (Think I'm using "awkward" enough here?) However, if someone laughs, or breaks the silence humorously, the awkwardness is bound to leave sooner. One of the main awkward times seems to be on dates. There's always got to be SOMETHING that happens and makes the other uncomfortable. (like when your date plucks a piece of hair out of your head and eats it, then proceeds to say "there, now you will be a part of me forever...".............no joke, it happened to me. I'm sorry, but no laughter would have saved that moment from being awkward. I call it an exception) Usually it's both parties not really knowing each other well, or one of them likes the other, but isn't sure how the other feels, and they don't know what to do, etc etc. As for me, since I've been home from my mish, it's been my goal to try to prevent every date I go on from being uncomfortable and awkward. The best way that works for me is to have the attitude of "I'm going to relax and have fun on this date.". If I can keep that in mind, things usually go well. Dates are supposed to be fun anyway, (it's not like you're going out to take a final or something) and should be pushed towards that direction as much as possible.

Of course, as I mentioned before, not every situation can be saved from it's awkwardness, BUT...a lot of them can. It's all about attitude. Another way, just laugh at it. It helpes even more because most laughs are catchy, and when you attitude about it is right, it will be easier to and it will be a real (not one of those fake awkward laughs, that only continue to hinder the situation further).

P.s. Awkward number count: At least 14...(I skimmed pretty quick, so I could have missed some)

The Smallest Blog Ever!

2010-06-27T02:41:00.001-06:00

Blog.

P.S. Okay, it's really REALLY late for me, but a promise is a promise, so I'm here putting up a quick daily blog. I just got home from a really good date in Provo. We had a lot of fun. (but apparently there is this curse that I need to worry about....) The only bad part of the date, was as we were walking out of a building, I accidentally tripped a little girl. She gave me the WORST look. I felt really bad. Other than that, it was good. (The date I mean, not tripping the girl)

P.S.S Also, I have had reports that my kissing blog is showing some contradictions, but I just looked over it, and I can't find any...so...I dunno. *shrugs* Although...perhaps I can't see them, because yet again, it's really late, and my brain isn't working. I'll need to look at it during the day.

P.S.S.S.........Steph. (There, are you happy now?)

Can I keep you?

2010-06-26T01:13:00.000-06:00

Total Casper quote. (yes...it's still on my mind...that music is too...easy to enjoy...) I still can't get it out of my mind. When you listen to the music it makes you very...thoughtful. (Thoughtful: Full of thought) I'm getting pretty good at the main theme of the piano piece, but other parts I struggle with. At least I can hear it in my head...

It's really late tonight, so I'm going to skip my normal introductory randomness and get to my topic. Today I want to call it a "Special Issue". (you know, like comics or somthing, one of those things you don't normally get) I'm going to talk about KISSING!!

Now I know what you're thinking..."Andrew? Seriously?". I say, "YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!". I think kissing is a decent topic, I mean, why not? It's got to be a part of everyones lives in some way or another, especially between the ages of about 16-30. I designate those years (in my opinion) as the "dating" years. Those are the times when dating is a serious part of social life. It's how things move along and stay interesting. Not to mention, in the latter part of those years, it's dating to find a spouse, or it should be at least. These years are when kissing is on the brain.
Now don't lie to yourself, when you go on a date, or prepare to go on a date, at SOME point in time, the thought goes through your mind, "is there going to be a kiss somewhere in here?". (you know you do it....) If any of you have seen the movie Hitch, he talks about it in there. (no, I'm not going to go into the whole 90/10 thing...or how to show someone the magic....) I don't think it matters WHO the date is with, or how many dates you have been on with them, until that first kiss, it's thought about.
When you think about it...kissing is odd in a weird sort of way. I mean, who decided that was a way to show affection? We stick out our lips, and press them against another persons lips, and move them around a bit. (ever had it put that way before?) Why not rub elbows together? or touch toes or something? I looked it up on the internet to try to find and explaination, but I could only find a few things to help explain why the body wants to do it that way. Turns out, that just a small kiss burns 3 calories. So perhaps it's the body secretly finding ways to lose weight. (imagine how much you lose while snogging) Here's one, men who kiss their wives every morning live 5 years longer than those who don't. Crazy, huh? Seriously though, perhaps the reason is that our lips are 100 times more sensitive than our fingertips. Intense, huh? (downside, kissing exchanges on average 278 different kinds of bacteria)
Personally, I consider kissing to be an important thing, but also special. It's a great way to show how you feel, but I think the world has kind of ruined it for everyone. Nowdays, it seems like the world (especially the media) makes it to be a casual thing, tossed away, not important. I say LAME!! The world doesn't know what it's talking about (in my opinion, at least). I think it's so dumb when people kiss even before the first date, or ON the first date, even the second date is pushing it with me. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but really, when you think about it, what sort of message is being portrayed when that happens? Oh I know! *raises hand* LUST!! Where is the romance? Where is the build-up? My view on it is a kiss is even better when there is a longer wait for it. There is more emotion behind it. It has more meaning.
My least favorite thing to hear is people who brag their "numbers" of different people they have kissed, and it ranges above 20. I know someone who brags their number is well into the 200's. No joke. He did it for a competition spanning a couple years with his friends.
Well, I feel I'm all over the place here, and I might not be making sense. It's probably due to the fact that it's 2AM in the morning. Perhaps I'll make this a two-part blog, and continue on the kissing topic another time. To conclude for now, my point is, don't waste kisses and give them away like candy. When they DO happen, make sure it's not just with anybody. And on the dating side of it, don't spend the whole date worry about a kiss. It makes the date lame, and you don't have as much fun.
Anyway, that's enough for now. I may not continue the kissing topic tomorrow, but it will return soon.

P.s. A real kiss quickens your heart rate to above 100 beats per minute

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!

2010-06-24T23:32:00.000-06:00

With my lack of being creative tonight, I resorted to make my blog title the song I was listening to...(It's Weezer if you must know, but if I had to tell you that because you didn't know...shame on you....although....perhaps there are many songs titled that....so I may forgive....maybe...)

Well I'm back home now. I had to leave the comfort of the mountains to come home early because I have work in the morning. (boo....hmm....what's another word for "boo"?) So yes, no more vacations for me for a while. Without trying to be rude, it will be nice to be away from the fam for a while. I need some ME space. Now I return to working towards moving out, and finding an apartment to live in. My good friend popped by today, and we discussed a few things. Hopefully, it all works out.

Well, I was going to finish this blog, but I walked away from it for a while to talk to a friend, and to play the piano. (One Last Wish - Casper.....you know...the movie) So that's it for tonight.

P.S. If you want to destroy my sweater....

I used to be proud to be a "daily blogger"....

2010-06-23T22:27:00.000-06:00

So yes, I fail. I thought I was going to be able to blog everyday...but yesterday I didn't pull through. I call it improper planning and procrastination. (One of my missionary companions would always say...Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance...the Six P's....to those who might figure out who he was, all I will say is, "Did you make your CSP tonight? :P....he was great) I usually save some time at night to allow some blogging time, but since I'm on vacation, there are a lot of other things that seem to fill it up. Perhaps when I get home, I'll be a little more diligent in my blogs. (Too....much....vacation...........nah!)
Well, first things first....GO ENGLAND!!! I was very happy today to see them triumph in their World Cup game. Yes, I'm sure I should be supporting the USA team since I'm an American, especailly since now it is the first time they made it past this round since the 1930's....but meh. (besides...England is just.....amazing.....who can compete with that?)

Anyway, onto my randomness for tonight.

Have you ever been asked, "How's it going?" or "Hey, how is life for you?" (don't roll your eyes at me, I'm going somewhere with this...I think) I know, I know, it happens all of the time. In fact, I'd say most conversations begin with a question similar to that. Here's how it usually goes, "Hey, how's it going?" "Good, how are you?" "Good." Then the conversation begins. I was thinking about this today, and began to realize just how pointless it has gotten. It's almost like it's the opening credits to a movie listing names that no one pays attention to. And if you sit back and think about it, you'll begin to realize as well how many conversations you have begun this way yourself. Do you really care about that first question you ask, or is it just habbit? I see this a lot at my work. A lot of people come in, look at me, we exchange these few sentences, THEN they tell me what is going on. What makes it even more strange is that this exchange only lasts for about two seconds. I bet even if one of us added in, "My life is horrible, how about you?" it would still be overlooked by the other party. I guess my point in this is to bring to your attention how you begin conversations. Hopefully, now that you've read this, the next few conversations you will have will begin with a bit more thought than a traditional opening that has no thought whatsoever. (maybe it's just a chance for you to look over the person and decide whether you want to talk to them or not, and it gives you time to think of a proper exit strategy)
May I also mention the usually tone that is used, especially when it comes to businesses, (or credit unions...) is usually monotone. However it's not the typical low tone that you expect, but for some reason, it's a bit higher than normal. I remember sitting behind the receptionist at my work when I was training to be her back up in case she wasn't there. She ALWAYS did this! She also added a new part to it, SHE NEVER BLINKED. It was SO odd. (it was like she went into zombie mode or something...) When her exchange ended, she began to blink again. (I know! It was a trance.....the "opening a conversation" trance.....dun dun dun)

Anyway, just something to think about. (hopefully you'll think about it now when you do it) Let's just try to stop this emotionless part of our conversations. (We're not robots....I think)

P.S. I was just wondering...how many people read this blog? It seems to be more than I thought. If you end up reading it, could you leave a comment at the bottom so I can see who my audience is? Cheers!

P.S.S Ha! Bet you thought I was going to add something witty at the end, didn't you?

Working during vacation....

2010-06-21T22:45:00.000-06:00

So yes....today was expecially interesting, as I had to leave my vacation in the mountains, travel down the canyon, and go to work. (boo....) I got to work and my co-workers asked how my vacation was....my reply was..."I'm still on vacation!"

It was lame.

A good part of the day was that I finally got to work at my own desk that I got promoted to, and I was no longer training at the receptionist desk (I'm the back up receptionist when she isn't there). However, when you are at the receptionist desk, and people come to you and say they have a problem, you can easily put them in the lobby que, and not worry about it. Now that I'm at my desk, those problems come to ME. (boo again...) Today was especially interesting as our ENTIRE system died on us for the WHOLE credit union. Usually it's just one or two programs, but today, it was EVERYTHING. (Super boo....) It didn't help that I was working with a member with an especially difficult situation that she was less than pleased about. (Fortunately, I'm smiling about it now. Just having everything go wrong at once can be amusing....later)

Anyway, I don't have a lot of time to write the rest of my blog, so I will end here tonight. I was planning on writing a blog about dates, but I suppose I will save that for another time.

P.S. I'll just add another "boo" just for good measure....

A serious post?

2010-06-20T22:08:00.000-06:00

The vacation continues today, and it was a lovely one filled with relaxation. No rain, no cold, just a slight breeze through Little Cottonwood Canyon to keep things interesting. My family and I took a walk around for a bit to soak in the ambience, then played games and ate good pasta to finish.
I'm not really feeling up to talking more about my Louisiana vacation today. I'm in an unusual mood at the moment. It's a bit of a mixture of everything. Mostly frustration. My family has been butting heads for the last couple days, probably due to the fact that we've been with each other non-stop for the last week. Not to mention that we're still a little tired from our Louisiana vacation. It happens....It's just days like these that further fuels my desire to move out and live on my own.
Having spent two years serving an LDS mission, I became quite accustomed to taking care of myself, and making my own rules for things and such. It's been a bit of a struggle since I've been home. Not many people who haven't served missions realize how many expectations there are to Returned Missionaries. It's like a whole new "bar" altogether that we need to be at, and things we are expected to do, that we aren't prepared for at all. Don't get me wrong, I still strive to have missionary values, but when I come home and I'm expected to organize family scripture study time, (seriously, my mum asked me why I hadn't done that when I got back......shouldn't they be doing that already BEFORE I got home?), to not listen to rock music, or to watch violent movies like Iron Man or The Dark Knight, it's like I have to deny who I am altogether. I won't deny that a mission changes a person, and I really feel like I've changed and learned a lot, but I'm still ANDREW, and will do ANDREW things. Then comes the uneccessary comments from my family that don't help at all. For example, I went without shaving for two days, and I had a bit of stubble on, and while my family was driving to stake conference, my mum looked at me and said, "You forgot to shave? You know, sometimes I wonder if you are really a return missionary...." She wasn't joking, and quite serious about it. Really though, missionaries don't come home as perfected individuals. If we did, we wouldn't even make it through the plane ride home. We'd already be translated already or something. We still have inperfections that we need to work on too just like everyone else. It's already A LOT to handle as it is to try to adjust from mission life to home life, but to add a truck load of expectations to be met, no bueno.
*sigh*
Sorry, I'm feeling extra complain-y.
Maybe I'm wrong, and this only just happened to me, and all other RM's had it a whole lot easier, and there were no problems for them other than adjusting. All I have to say...is that I still wish I was on my mission. It was SO great. Coming home, not so fun, but oh well.

P.S. Daily Contact Man.......Legend....

How's all y'all doin?

2010-06-19T22:50:00.000-06:00

Yet another day comes to a close, and here I am sitting at my computer at night, typing up another blog. However, I'm in an alternate location yet again. ("yet" twice in two sentences...hmm...) Tonight I get to look out the window at the beautiful mountains of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The moonlight is shining and reflecting off of the snow, and touching the trees, almost causing them to glow. It's great. (no, I'm not normally a poetic person....maybe) It's very relaxing up here away from it all. The whole point of this vacation is relaxation, and I am determined to get it. We come up here every year on the same week as a family. (gotta love time-shares) So it just happens that it's pure coincidence that I have two week long vacations in a row, and I think it's pretty nice. It's just a shame I hadn't earned enough vacation leave from work to be paid during it all, so I'll be a little short on money for a while, but oh well, I needed a vacation, and I was blessed with two!
I think I was supposed to talk more about my vacation to Louisiana today. I'll talk a bit about my relatives. The main purpose for going down to Louisiana was for a family reunion, which happened the day after we landed, leaving the rest of the week open to do whatever we wanted. It's great to see that many Baham's in one location at once, because here in Utah, there are only just a few. All of the Bahams are in the deep south. Let me tell you, they have a really STRONG southern accent. Sometimes I couldn't even understand what they were saying, all I could do was smile and nod. If I had to be blatently honest, my relatives are what some people call "red-necks". You know, you always hear those jokes from comedians like "If your porch collapses, and kills more than two dogs, you might be a red neck..." or "If you finally get around to cutting your lawn, and you discover more than two cars, you might be a red neck..." (it's always "more than two" for some reason....) Yeah...that's my family EXACTLY. Tank tops, baseball hats, southern drawl, a whole fridge dedicated to just holding the beer (seriously, that was a lot of beer, I HAD to take a picture), and various other things. However, I'm not ashamed, I'm quite proud of my family members. They were really nice, and hospitable, especially when they cooked fresh crawdads for us (SO tasty!). They even had a cooler full of live one that we got to play with...right up until they poured them into a HUGE boiling pot of cajun spices. To eat them, you break off the head, suck all of the juices out of it (it sounds gross, but once you do it the first time, you are over it due to the amazing taste), then, using your thumb, you push from the bottom of the tail while biting the exposed meat, and pull all of it out. Yum yum! I had a blast! The heat and humidity was a challenge for my family to get used to (100 degrees+100% humidity=difficult). THANKFULLY, I spent the last two years on an island in the Atlantic (England) and it wasn't that hard for me to get used to again.
Anyway, that's all I'll put for now. I'm being asked off by my family since my laptop is lighting up the dark room that they are trying to sleep in. :P

P.S. I ate about 50 crawdads.....at least.

"We should be pirates..."

2010-06-19T01:45:00.001-06:00

Yes, I will explain that title in just a minute.
I've been gone for a week, (as you may be able to tell....for some reason that sentence seems blatently obvious to me...) No, I wasn't just being lazy with my blog, I was actually away from my laptop. I went on vacation to LOUISIANA!! I'd like to note that, whenever I told people this, they nod for a second from interest, but it is quickly swept away by the repeated question, "Why?". To be fair, it probably DOES sound like an odd place to go on vacation. Well, to answer, I went down there for a family reunion. Louisiana and the surrounding areas is where the Baham's come from. So all of those pictures you see of hicks sitting on the porch shining their shotguns, chewing on a piece of wheat or whatever...those be my relatives. :D
I will blog more about this vacation, I promise. No really, I promise I will. BUT, it's late, and I'm tired from traveling. I'll just add the pirates story real quick.
My family and I were traveling around the French Quarter (no, not a coin....and you know....I didn't see a single french person while I was down there....) in New Orleans (pronounced Naw-lins) for our first day, and my mother was following this guide to take us to the "cool and interesting" places. We passed the oldest cathedral in the US, and out of nowhere, my mother says, "We should be pirates." There was a moment of stunned silence, then my whole family (minus my mother) burst out laughing. Normally, random things like this fit into my family's normal routine, but for some reason, it was special this time. My mother had meant for us to go down a "Pirate Street", but she said, "We should be pirates." instead. Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me either, but it was hilarious either way.
Well, time to sleep. I'll blog again tomorrow night....I hope.

P.S. Another Nawlins quote, "I should change my name to Max Power..." Me (quoting The Simpsons I'll have you know...) "That's lame." -Sister

...Earthquake?

2010-06-10T23:45:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting at work today (I work at a Credit Union if you must know. I'm the "New Accounts Specialist"....or something like that....) and in my intense boredom (it's a thursday, these things are bound to happen) I being to look through KSL, the news website, (it's the only website in the Credit Union internet that we're allowed to access other than Credit Union affiliated stuff....had enough of these side notes yet?) and I find this BREAKING NEWS article about a 2.7 earthquake that hit somewhere in utah (utah county I believe, but I could be wrong). I immediately begin to expect the comment board to fill up with people saying "I felt it..." or "It did this to my house...", but no, the comments were just making fun of the whole thing. The first comment was "I was in the shower when it happened, there was water everywhere!". Another said, "My farts can cause a 2.7 shock, why is this important?". Obviously, the public wasn't impressed with this posting. On a serious note, I find these earthquakes to be somewhat alarming. We all know that the state of Utah is overdue for a HUGE earthquake that will completely reshape the face of the state, but since we are "overdue", I can imagine the public becoming less and less worried about it since it isn't happening yet. Yet with these small earthquakes happening more often, I wonder if we are closer than we realize.
Fleeing away from my serious note, I'm beginning to have these strange occurences in the morning that have me puzzled. Have you ever woken up in the morning with a song ALREADY stuck in your head? That seems to be happening to me a lot lately. I open my eyes and the song is half over. Then it repeats, and repeats, and repeats....as songs stuck in your head usually do. However, my mind is being weird and it picks the randomest songs ever to be playing. For example, a few days ago I woke up to Mylie Cyrus's "Party in the USA" blasting in my head, and this morning, it was a "This is SPARTA!!" remix from a video on Youtube. I don't understand it....
Anyway, that's all I have here for now. I thought I'd actually leave a conclusion here since my brother complained at how abruptly my blog ended yesterday. I won't be adding another one until at least next friday or saturday (June 18th or 19th) as I will be....away from my computer....in an alternative location. Yes, that sounds odd, but I'll explain why I needed to be vague in my next blog hopefully.

P.S....Comment: "I didn't feel anything..." Reply: "That's what she said!"

P.S.S. If you wondered what that was, shame on you. You didn't even read my blog.

I would say post, but that means "mail" in England...

2010-06-09T23:57:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm slightly proud of myself here. A second posting in one day...that's got to be a sign of my future dedication to writing this blog here. (not really, but I might as well say it anyway)
I wonder if these will continue to be written here at a really late time. Perhaps that's my "inspirational blogging moment". Or perhaps it's the only time I have to sit down and actually write one. I'm sure it's one of those....
ANYWAY, today has just been one of those days. (by the way, if you keep reading these, you'll notice my love for the word "anyway". It seems to appear a lot...most likely due to the fact that I get sidetracked on tangents all of the time. What can I say? It's a blog of my daily thoughts! What would you expect?)
I spent the whole day sitting at my house. I'm kind of disappointed at myself since I spent a good part of yesterday doing the same thing. I suppose that's what I get when all of my friends are busy with their lives on the days that I am not. Unfortunately that means that I ended up playing computer games for a portion of the day. If you must know, it was World of Warcraft.
I know, I know, how terribly sad of me to play that game. Well, in my defense, I still don't consider myself a nerd to be playing it. In reality, I don't actually play that often. It's more of a way for myself to get away from the world for a while, a second life, if you will. And yes, I know there are probably healthier ways of doing that, but oh well. It keeps me entertained. To further my defense of the "nerdiness", I would consider myself more well-rounded than nerdy. I take a little bit of everything. I do sports, I do music, I read, I go out and socialize, etc, etc. The good thing is that I even all of these things out together, with a hint of gaming in there to keep things interesting. So I'm not COMPLETELY nerdy, but I suppose we all have a bit of that in us somewhere.

P.S. Yes, that was another tangent....

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?

2010-06-09T00:27:00.000-06:00

Well, here I am, leaving my first posting on a blog I've been debating the creation of for months. (run on sentence? maybe...) I figure it can't be THAT bad of an idea to post about my life on here. To me it's like letting things out, getting things off of my chest and what not. It's almost like typing these words into cyberspace is like speaking to a good friend. I just hope that all of these posts don't turn out to be me complaining all of the time.
I imagine that what I put here will be a lot like a story I'm writing called "Brian". As much as I like to deny it, his character is based loosely on myself, and events that happened to me in high school. (although I didn't begin to develop psychic powers, much to my dismay) The writing style I use there is using a first-person perspective, like Brian himself is telling the story. He's extremely sarcastic, and it's like a hidden, alter ego from myself is narrating for him. So I would expect some similarities in this blog.
I don't know how personal I will get into my life with this blog. I suppose it will change as time goes on. I just fear that depending on who reads this, I might end up offending someone. If I do, it's only because I'm writing what's in my mind, and what I'm thinking. It's like standing next to someone who smells. In your mind you think, "Holy crap, this guys stinks!", but you never say it outloud. Thoughts like that may end up here, but you never know.
Anyway, enough about this blog, and let's get started. I'm currently a 21 year old living at home, and working my way through the summer. I'm attending college, hopefully working towards a degree in communications, and thinking of having a career in public relations. I just today broke up with my girlfriend of two weeks, and hopefully things continue to go well with her. It wasn't a BAD break up from my perspective, I just wasn't feeling right about it, and decided that it was best that we were just friends. I love to write, play music on various instruments (preferably the piano or guitar), and hang out with my friends. (is it just me, or is this blog starting to sound like a singles website profile thingy?) I would be writing all of this info in my profile stuff, but I figure if you are bothering to read this blog at all, you'll find out a better idea of who I am, and what my likes and dislikes are. So I figure I won't bother to fill those in for now.
Well, I feel like I've written in enough for now. As the days go on I'm sure my blogs will become more interesting (I hope) as I get more into my life and what I'm thinking. As you can obviously tell, this was that typical "introductory" blog to get things started.

Oh, and P.s., To those grammar and spell checker people who will start telling me that I did something wrong in my text; Don't Bother!