An eye-opening experience

Well, I figured it's been well since before Thanksgiving and I should update this thing soon. (Now that there's 2 more days till Christmas). I had a very eye-opening experience. Usually when it comes to flying home I'm not too worried about not getting there, until this time. The day before I was supposed to leave for home, my dad tells me that the Denver airport is shut down because of a huge snow storm. And of course my flight has a layover in Denver before it gets to Dallas. I hope that by the time my flight is the next day it will be ok, and I'll get to go home anyway. That evening, however, I learn that the airport will not reopen till after my flight so both my flights were cancelled. I was on hold with United and Travelocity forever, and my parents tried too. This was the point that I started to worry, well more than worry freak out. In fact, I started to cry. For the first time in my life, I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to make it home in time for Christmas. I then of course went through all the worse-case scenarios in my head. I would be stuck in Provo and have to either spend Christmas alone in my apartment, or worse with my Aunt and Uncle that live in Provo. It's awkward enough going over to their house for Sunday dinner, how was I going to survive Christmas! But, this fear of not being home in time for Christmas really helped me see how important family is at Christmas time, and really all the time. I know it's fun to be out on your own and experience things independently, but there are times, especially around the holidays that family helps make things better. So what if your family is crazy like on Christmas Vacation, deep down (maybe deeper for some) it's that crazyness that makes fond memories for years and years to come. Granted the thought I might not go home for Christmas didn't last too long, it still made me have a greater understanding and appreciation of my family. I am going home, for those that were wondering, it's not till Christmas Eve, but at least I'll be home for Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Where are you Thanksgiving? (Revisited)

So, I had just finished a rocking good Halloween time, and reunited with some old friends. After I had taken them home, I turned on my radio. It was midnight (so officially November 1st) and what do I hear playing on the station??? Christmas music!!!!!! What???? Are you kidding me??? Oh, and I definitely exclaimed this out loud in my car because I was in complete and utter shock. We haven't even finished off the halloween candy or taken our costumes off and we are already expected to start thinking of Christmas. Hello! We still have another holiday (and month for that matter) before Christmas! I know I discussed this on my xanga last year, but I decided it was time to revisit the article I wrote. Why? Because quite frankly I am mad. I enjoy Thanksgiving and it gets pushed aside like a scrauny kid waiting for his turn on the slide. Commercialism has turned one of my favorite holidays (and that is Christmas) into something that it should have never become: all about presents, and gifts, and money. It's about Christ's birth and celebrating that fact. Thanksgiving gets the short straw, and the raw end of the deal by many because, there is no buying of gifts or money to be had except for maybe the grocery stores. It's sad. Anyway, here's the "article" I wrote last year:

Where are you Thanksgiving?

Now that Halloween has come and gone, and we all have enough candy to last us for quite some time, what’s the next major holiday? I would assume it would be Thanksgiving, right? I was surprised to walk into the BYU Bookstore to find that my suspicion was wrong. Everywhere I looked there was garland with red and green bows, wreaths, and other Christmas merchandise. Even one of the radio stations has already begun to play Christmas music 24/7. What ever happened to Thanksgiving? I do feel very sorry for this much overlooked and sometimes forgotten holiday. When even searching on the internet, I found there were 49,808,107 more matches for Christmas than for Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and all that comes with it as much as the next guy, but it seems like Thanksgiving really doesn’t matter. It just gets lumped in with the “Holiday Season,” and we go from Halloween to Christmas or the “holidays.” I asked a fellow peer, Brittany Bowcutt, what Thanksgiving meant to her, and her reply was, “I get a lot of food.” Many other people when asked the same question respond similarly. Some reply food, football, turkey, sleeping, no school etc. Few, if any, answer being grateful, or about the background of this holiday. Thanksgiving is an integral part of the history of the United States. In 1621, the Pilgrim’s that had settled in the New World had had a successful, wonderful harvest after a very hard year. They had made peace with the Indians nearby, and they had enough food to last them through the harsh winter. This feast of harvest and of thanks became a tradition, and in 1863 Abraham Lincoln made it official and declared this day of Thanksgiving a national holiday. I really do enjoy Thanksgiving, and it is not just because of the food or the parades. Having a day specifically set aside to think about and truly ponder everything in this world that we are grateful for is wonderful. How often do we think of all the things that have blessed our lives? I know I have thousands of things I should be grateful for, and I am grateful that I have Thanksgiving to think of all them.

There is still goodness in this world.

I know it's been awhile, but I wanted to update on something that happened to me a while ago that reaffirmed to me that there are still good people without an angle. I was parking my car, parallel parking mind you, and I had found a spot, but it was rather tight. So I was trying to manuever my car so it would fit, and a very nice guy was walking by. He stopped and helped me back up telling me when to stop etc. Then when I was in my spot I waved, he waved and then he continued onto class. I don't know who he was (although I wish I did because he was also kind of cute as well as helpful), but whoever he was I want to thank him for helping my jaded view of life become a little less so. If you ever feel like the state of the world is terrible and you feel like there is nothing that is possibly good here, one thing that makes me think this is not so is Lost and Found. The fact that we still have lost and found places, and that people actually use it and return things they have found, is a testament that people still have a sense of honesty. Lost and found is always there to remind me that there is still some goodness in this world.

Time for an update...

Well, after someone complained that I needed to update, I decided I should probably listen. School is definitely well on its way and things are okay. I like my classes for the most part. My Shakespeare teacher is completely insane and I think he's on drugs. He just sings randomly and we are so behind that I haven't even read and I'm still ok. Spanish is going to kill me this semester, but hopefully I'll pass and then I won't have to take any more Spanish classes. School's going well, I'm working too at the Cannon Center stuffing mailboxes. Not the most exciting, but it's pretty relaxed. Let's see... what else. I tried out for Divine Comedy, but I did not make it. Oh well, I'm glad I tried out and I'm so excited for the first show. (Friday Oct. 13th) After moving farther from campus, I have come to know and despise the parking and traffic of BYU. In one week, I got a parking ticket, was told not to issue myself vistor's passes (dang it) and then to top it all off, my car got towed! It's a long story, one I do not want to revisit so I'm not going to. I'm getting used to apartment life, although a few of my roommates aren't exactly my favorite people. I'll just have to deal with it though. Not much going on, I want the semester to be over already and I'm not even a month in yet. My ward is truly not as much fun as a freshman ward, and it will definitely take more effort to try to get to know and meet everyone. I haven't met too many, but hopefully I will. Ok, I think I'm rambling now so I will stop. Hope everyone else is having a great week! TTYL!

I guess Xanga blockage was just on temporary leave.

Well, I suppose to start off the new school year BYU has now blocked xanga again. I don't know if it'll come back, but oh well. I'm flexible. I'm up for a change. Speaking of which, I have to move in a week... to an apartment. I've never lived in an apartment and I'm excited and afraid at the same time. I don't really know what to expect, and I'm trying to have a positive mood. We'll see how things go and I'm hoping that the fact that I'm the oldest in the apartment won't make things too awkward with my roommates. I've emailed my actual room roommate and she seems pretty nice. She's a sophmore and is from Salt Lake City. The other two girls in the apartment (also sophmores) were on the floor above me last year when I was an RA. Again, hopefully it won't be awkward. But, I found out that I can move in early into my apt. so I need to start packing so that on my day off next week I can just move everything over.

This week we didn't have any conferences so they made us do mindless, and sometimes tedious and exhausting projects for us to get our hours. The first day we had to go over to DT and move beds from the tower they are knocking down to another tower. I have huge bruises on my legs and I smashed my finger. It's not too bad, it's purple but not black. But, it hurts to type this... and yet I keep typing. But then, yesterday I got to paint the windows with a welcome sign which was fun.

Also this week, we revisted our CA quote board from the start of this summer. It was hilarious and we typed it up so we could all have a nice copy. I was talking with my fellow CA and bathroom buddy, Libby, about how much fun this summer was. I started thinking about what would have happened if instead I had just gone home this summer. I have a feeling it would have been fun at first, but I would have been dying to come back. But, having stayed here, I met new people and became really good friends with others. Sometimes it was hard, and there was drama, but we came out of it and grew from it. I learned more about myself and who I am and what my plans are. But, more importantly I had fun, and I know that this will be one of the summers I will always remember and cherish. I'm going to miss all my fellow CAs, no my friends, and hanging out in the CANC after hours, watching movies, midnight runs to Maceys, Walmart or Wendy's, all the laughs and jokes about the cafeteria food. All in all I had a blast, and I'm glad I stayed in Provo. Let's hope this school year will be just as exciting and fun as this summer. Here's hoping!

Not in a good mood...

I don't know what it is about today, but I have just not been in a good mood. I got to sleep in, I watched some t.v. and ate some noodles in my room. The start of a pretty relaxing day eh? But, then I started work, maybe that's why. I was just not in the mood. I was roving, which I hate doing, and I worked from 5 till midnight just roving. While I was roving I was supposed to be thinking of CA awards for the BBQ appreciation thing we are having on Saturday. Every time I got ready to think of something I would get called for a lockout or have to put a note on the door. Then when I did have time to think of stuff I couldn't think of anything. So then I had some of the other CAs brainstorm with me which was fine, we thought of some good ones. So, someone else was supposed to come help me with them and she was late. This did not get me too upset because she told me she was going to be. So anyway, we start narrowing down which ones we do, and I kind of felt like she was taking over even though this was my job. Then I kept getting called while we were in the middle. After we had narrowed down the 5 for people to vote on, we had to think of something for everyone. Every time I would try to focus on it, she would end up talking about something else and get off topic. Then she says she'll take 2 of these other people to get chips and salsa. I had to go do some roving thing so I said, you take them to the store and I'll go do this and then we can talk about it when you get back. Of course she takes the list of awards with her to the store and she never came back. I just got a call from her at 1 am asking if I had finished them. I told her she had the paper so I wouldn't have been able to finish them. Then she goes, oh yeah I do, well I'll just do them, or we can do them tomorrow. So she said that she was going to think about it and bring a list tomorrow and we can decide. Now, I know this is a stupid and ridiculous, insignificant thing to be upset about, but I am upset about it. I feel like she gave me the assignment to think of awards only to take it back so she could do them all. Then she was getting mad because I wasn't thinking of any "funny" stuff. I was not in a funny mood because I was mad at her. Ok, I just had to get it off my chest because I was angry about it. I'm going to watch a movie and calm down and I should be fine. To anyone who reads this, thanks for reading...

My Day Off...

Today is my day off from work, and what have I done? Absolutely nothing, which is pretty amazing. I slept, ate breakfast, slept somemore, ate lunch, and then helped Libby delete stuff off her computer. But, now that I have gotten my fair share of nothingness, I am now bored and want to go do something. The question is what? Let's hope I figure it out before the end of the day. Oh, exciting news: I was able to swing getting the whole day off for my birthday! WOO HOO! Hope everyone had a fabulous fourth of July yesterday. Sad to say mine wasn't too exciting. I worked and played Taboo with some CAs and 2 boys from the Lacrosse camp. It was fun and those 2 kids are hilarious! Well, hope everyone has a great day!

Maybe BYU just likes to freak me out...

So, I decided to just see if I could get on xanga today, like perhaps if they heard my complaint and decided to change it. And guess what?! It's working now. So I really don't get it. But, I think I shall use this blog more though so I can get used to it or what not. But, I'll probably use xanga to comment on people's. Ugh... BYU, why must you be so difficult?

Warm Welcome to all!

So, most likely the reason I have you here is probably because you found out that my xanga site will no longer be in use. And, you really care about me and want to know what's going on, and figured this would be the next best way to find out. Because of xanga I rarely used this blog, but now that I can't go on to xanga while on-campus anymore I will use this more frequently. If this gets blocked, I'll just find another venue. But, bookmark this page and add it to your favorites so you can check back and see what's up with my life. I'll try to update it as much as I can. All I can say is welcome, welcome, welcome.

Finals..

Well, I'm just trying to survive during finals and check-outs week. Let's hope I can make it through ok. I'm starting to pack which is good because I have a feeling it is going to take me awhile. I wish I had more to say but I don't... Sorry to disappoint for anyone that reads this (which is like no one).

1st post!

Just started... will update well whenever I remember I have this thing...