Where can I turn for peace
Where is my solace
When other sources cease to make me whole?
When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,
I draw myself apart,
Searching my soul?
Where, when my anching grows,
Where, when I languish,
Where, in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
He, only One.
He answers privately,
Reaches my reaching
In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.
Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.
Constant he is and kind,
Love without end.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Christmas Around the World
Well, As a few of you know, I've been involved with BYU's Folk Dance program all year. It's really been a lot of fun. Well, every December BYU has a program called Christmas Around the World. It's a big dance concert centered around Christmas and how it's celebrated around the world. This year is the 50th anniversary of the program so they are making a big deal out of all of it. So that means I have been rather busy with all of that. The performances are the first week in December, which is right after I get back from Thanksgiving break. So if anyone happens to be in Provo that weekend, you aught to see if you can get tickets to the show! Grant it, the cheapest tickets are like $12 and they go up from there. Also, they've been on sale for a while so I'm not sure exactly what all is left. At any rate, we had a performance last night at some 5 stake youth activity not too far from here. As part of the activity, we performed almost all of our dances that we have learned this year. So we got to perform the dance we are doing for Christmas Around the World. We are doing a Scottish dance, which means that we got all dressed up in traditional Scottish garb. So I got a picture of me in my kilt. It's great! I just thought I would share the picture and without a little bit of background the picture doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
想爷爷奶奶的家
I know that most of you who read my blog can't read Chinese, but whatever. We had an assignment in my Chinese class to write a short essay about a place that we love. No surprise for those who know me, I wrote about Grandma and Grandpa Adams' house. Perhaps I'll get around to posting an English translation of this within the next few days, perhaps not. Well, without further adieu...
想爷爷奶奶的家
假设你问我世界上最美的地方在何处，我只有一个地方可以提出：我爷爷奶奶的家。父母亲的家离爷爷奶奶不远，开车几分钟就到。小时候我们经常去看他们。无论是谁，大人好，小朋友也好，大家都特别喜爱拜访爷爷奶奶。
他们的农场有田，树林，山丘，一个水池，独木舟，和一个瀑布。夏天我们小孩玩得超开心。一整天躲在树林中跑来跑去。偶尔爬一棵树，偶尔建一个小堡垒。天气特别热时，我们去水池玩水或划独木舟。天黑了以后大家一起去瀑布旁边的壁炉烤肉。 没有云的话什么星座都可以看得很清楚，连银河都很明亮。
随着季节的变化，爷爷奶奶家的美也有所变。秋天来的时候整个树林的叶子便彩色，就像树林起了火似的。冬天带来雪。树林变成一个冬天奇景。春天让雪溶化，整个树林重生。夏天之绿战胜冬天之百。我期待回到那个叫做‘爷爷奶奶家’的天堂。
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Building a Firm Foundation
This week has been rather crazy. With everything I had to do for school, I was also asked to speak in Sacrament meeting for today. I went camping Friday night so between getting back home, swimming with friends here, chatting online with friends (and Nanc) from high school, talking more with friends here and texting all day, it was after 1:00 when I finished my talk. Then I had to be at a meeting at 7:00. But even with all of that, I still think it went fairly well. Then this afternoon, I was thinking and realized that even though I'm not afraid of speaking in public, I'm much more comfortable with the written word. So I decided to type my notes up and turn it into my talk (with minor variations). I'm not really sure why, but I just felt like posting it on my blog as well. I won't be offended if no one reads it, but here it is!
In one of my areas on my mission in Taiwan, we had an investigator who had been around for a while. Because he had known the missionaries for so long, he already knew quite a bit about the church. He already had his own set of scriptures, English and Chinese. He even had his own hymn book. He loved the hymns, especially hymn number 85, “How Firm a Foundation”. Every time we would go to visit him, we would have to sing at least one verse of “How Firm a Foundation”. Sometimes we would only sing one verse, others we would sing all 7. Sometimes we would sing in Chinese, others in English. He just loved this hymn. I don’t know about you, but there are a lot of hymns that I know that I don’t really know. I sing them in Church every week, but I rarely think about what they are actually saying. Well, previously, this hymn was one of those. I sang it, often times without even having to look at the words, but I couldn’t really tell you what it said, much less what it means. Since then, that has changed. I’ve thought about what it was that made this man love this hymn so much. After reading it, I think I can see why. I’d like to read the first three verses for you:
1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
2. In ev’ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.
3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
As we build our foundation upon the rock of Christ our Lord, this is what we receive. This is the same thing that Helaman was teaching his sons as they devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel. Helaman 5:12 reads:
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
Throughout the scriptures, we are promised that if we have Christ as our foundation, we will not fall. I think that is a blessing and promise that all of us would like to have. So now the question is how? How do we gain that sure foundation? If this sure foundation is centered on Christ then the obvious answer is that we must get to know Him if we are to have Him be our foundation. As we look into the Introduction of the Book of Mormon, we find:
Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
As we look at the Book of Mormon, we find that many of the prophets in the Book of Mormon saw Christ face to face. Joseph Smith did as well. When Joseph Smith states that by abiding by the precepts taught in that great book will bring us closer to God than any other book, I put a little bit of weight in his opinion.
I remember a promise that President Hinckley made while I was on my mission in 2005. As I read in Preach My Gospel, I found the exact same promise made nearly 20 years previous. He said:
“Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. . . . Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts . . . the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God”
When the challenge to read the entire Book of Mormon before Christmas 2005 was issued, I didn’t think too seriously about it until I found this quote and realized that it wasn’t a one time promise, but an eternal truth. Studying the Book of Mormon brings us closer to God.
Looking closer at Joseph Smith’s statement in the introduction of the Book of Mormon, we see that he doesn’t want us to merely study the book, but he wants us to abide by its precepts. Obedience is another way we build our foundation on Christ.
One of the greatest examples in the Book of Mormon of obedience is Helaman’s 2000 stripling warriors. We read that they were “they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.” (Alma 52:20) and that “they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness.” They had built their foundations upon the rock of Christ since they were young. It is evident that the Lord held up His end of the promise made throughout the scriptures that if we make Him our foundation He will not let us fall. Not a single one of the 2000 warriors were lost in the fight.
One last way that we are able to build upon the rock of Christ is through prayer. How can we have Christ be our foundation if we don’t know him? And what better way to get to know someone than by communicating with them? Prayer should not be us talking to a wall. When we start to think of prayer as a way of communicating with our God, we will find a power in our prayers previously unattainable. As we come to know Him better, we will have a stronger desire to rely on Him. We will find our will coming to align with His. We will find that Christ truly is our foundation.
As you sing the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”, the words you are singing are actually the words of God to those who have Him as their foundation. I truly love the other verses that we rarely sing. Christ promises us:
4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
I know that as we build upon Christ as our foundation, he will lift and support us. He will never let us fall. He is the one sure foundation we have to build on. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
In one of my areas on my mission in Taiwan, we had an investigator who had been around for a while. Because he had known the missionaries for so long, he already knew quite a bit about the church. He already had his own set of scriptures, English and Chinese. He even had his own hymn book. He loved the hymns, especially hymn number 85, “How Firm a Foundation”. Every time we would go to visit him, we would have to sing at least one verse of “How Firm a Foundation”. Sometimes we would only sing one verse, others we would sing all 7. Sometimes we would sing in Chinese, others in English. He just loved this hymn. I don’t know about you, but there are a lot of hymns that I know that I don’t really know. I sing them in Church every week, but I rarely think about what they are actually saying. Well, previously, this hymn was one of those. I sang it, often times without even having to look at the words, but I couldn’t really tell you what it said, much less what it means. Since then, that has changed. I’ve thought about what it was that made this man love this hymn so much. After reading it, I think I can see why. I’d like to read the first three verses for you:
1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
2. In ev’ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.
3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
As we build our foundation upon the rock of Christ our Lord, this is what we receive. This is the same thing that Helaman was teaching his sons as they devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel. Helaman 5:12 reads:
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
Throughout the scriptures, we are promised that if we have Christ as our foundation, we will not fall. I think that is a blessing and promise that all of us would like to have. So now the question is how? How do we gain that sure foundation? If this sure foundation is centered on Christ then the obvious answer is that we must get to know Him if we are to have Him be our foundation. As we look into the Introduction of the Book of Mormon, we find:
Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
As we look at the Book of Mormon, we find that many of the prophets in the Book of Mormon saw Christ face to face. Joseph Smith did as well. When Joseph Smith states that by abiding by the precepts taught in that great book will bring us closer to God than any other book, I put a little bit of weight in his opinion.
I remember a promise that President Hinckley made while I was on my mission in 2005. As I read in Preach My Gospel, I found the exact same promise made nearly 20 years previous. He said:
“Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. . . . Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts . . . the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God”
When the challenge to read the entire Book of Mormon before Christmas 2005 was issued, I didn’t think too seriously about it until I found this quote and realized that it wasn’t a one time promise, but an eternal truth. Studying the Book of Mormon brings us closer to God.
Looking closer at Joseph Smith’s statement in the introduction of the Book of Mormon, we see that he doesn’t want us to merely study the book, but he wants us to abide by its precepts. Obedience is another way we build our foundation on Christ.
One of the greatest examples in the Book of Mormon of obedience is Helaman’s 2000 stripling warriors. We read that they were “they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.” (Alma 52:20) and that “they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness.” They had built their foundations upon the rock of Christ since they were young. It is evident that the Lord held up His end of the promise made throughout the scriptures that if we make Him our foundation He will not let us fall. Not a single one of the 2000 warriors were lost in the fight.
One last way that we are able to build upon the rock of Christ is through prayer. How can we have Christ be our foundation if we don’t know him? And what better way to get to know someone than by communicating with them? Prayer should not be us talking to a wall. When we start to think of prayer as a way of communicating with our God, we will find a power in our prayers previously unattainable. As we come to know Him better, we will have a stronger desire to rely on Him. We will find our will coming to align with His. We will find that Christ truly is our foundation.
As you sing the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”, the words you are singing are actually the words of God to those who have Him as their foundation. I truly love the other verses that we rarely sing. Christ promises us:
4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
I know that as we build upon Christ as our foundation, he will lift and support us. He will never let us fall. He is the one sure foundation we have to build on. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Why Death Isn't Bad
One of the deepest, clearest memories I have of Grandpa is him playing his harmonica while singing Alouette to us grandkids. And now after saying that, Alouette is stuck in my head. What ever memories we each have of that great man, they will always bring smiles to our faces. With such a man as Grandpa Willis was, you would be hard pressed to find anything negative about him. All who knew him loved him. He was a great example to everyone around him.
This was supposed to be about death in general, but I couldn’t resist going on about Grandpa. This just attests to my view of death. Though it is hard and sad, it is also joyous. Though talking about Grandpa before would always bring positive thoughts and feelings, after his death, those memories and feelings are more poignant than ever. Memories that haven’t been recalled in years come flooding to the forefront of my mind. Funerals should not be depressing, but a celebration of the life of those who have passed.
As I prepare to attend my Grandpa’s funeral, I think of all the people that I get to see: Cousins I grew up with, siblings, nieces and nephews, my own parents and grandparents who are still here. With the exception of my little brother who is on a mission, my whole family will be there. Such an occasion is hard to come by. I will be driving home with one of my favorite cousins who I haven’t had much of an opportunity to spend time with in over five years. I will get to see another cousin who I grew up with and went to high school with. These reunions will be happy. Though we miss our grandpa, we know that they he is now with his other loved ones who have been waiting and anxious to see him.
Much has been said about the reunions Grandpa must be having with his family, including children and grandchildren who made it home before him. How wonderful those reunions must be! Greeting a grandfather, father, brother, cousin, son who has lived a wonderful life as he passes to the next world. They must be celebrating his arrival as much or more than we are celebrating his life. One who worked so hard in this life will surly not stop to work once he has passed through the veil. Let him be an example to us, in life and death, to put forth all of the effort we can spare. Let us live as he did so that we may be able to enjoy similar reunions when our time is come and we are called home. Let Grandpa live on through us.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
That Was Brutal
Well, that was the longest 'short' week of my life. School started on Tuesday. But my day started earlier than school. Why would I ever subject myself to work so early in the morning!?! I guess that the $8.80/hour had something to do with it. Luckily, they are going to give me a different job to do, thus increasing my hours. No complaints there. As far as school goes... I'm going to be busy. And that's no exaggeration. I'm taking the equivalent of 14 credits, though it is really only 7 (Spring and Summer are shorter, so you have twice as many hours of class and go through the material twice as fast as normal). My Chinese film class is interesting, it's just that it's 3 hours long, twice a week. And being at the end of the day, it gets somewhat hard to keep awake, much less focused. As for History of Utah, well, I'll just say it's not the most riveting class I have ever taken. Gymnastics and Clogging, however, are tons of fun! If only my body didn't hate me for abusing it like I have this past week. But it will eventually be all good. Even if I am nice and sore and tired, at least I'm really enjoying myself.
As if school and work weren't enough for me, I was called to be the 1st counselor in my Elder's Quarm presidency. So I'm going to be nice and busy with that. But I really like the other guys that I'm serving with. The president was my home teacher last semester and is just an all-around good guy, and I live with the 2nd counselor and secretary. I am really looking forward to working with them.
So all-in-all, I'm pretty stinking busy. Which is good. I like busy. Busy is more fun, though possibly somewhat detrimental to my health. Two nights ago, I went with some friends to a midnight showing of the new X-Men movie, good movie by the way, and I was somewhat tired the next day. Then last night, I stayed up with mostly the same group of friends and watched Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (very funny, I highly recommend it). After it was over, we sat and talked until about 3:00am. I sure appreciate the fact that I'm regaining a social life after a somewhat boring semester last semester, I just kind of wish everything hadn't fallen on me all at once. Oh well, I guess if this is what the Summer has in store for me, BRING IT ON! I'm ready for it!
As if school and work weren't enough for me, I was called to be the 1st counselor in my Elder's Quarm presidency. So I'm going to be nice and busy with that. But I really like the other guys that I'm serving with. The president was my home teacher last semester and is just an all-around good guy, and I live with the 2nd counselor and secretary. I am really looking forward to working with them.
So all-in-all, I'm pretty stinking busy. Which is good. I like busy. Busy is more fun, though possibly somewhat detrimental to my health. Two nights ago, I went with some friends to a midnight showing of the new X-Men movie, good movie by the way, and I was somewhat tired the next day. Then last night, I stayed up with mostly the same group of friends and watched Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (very funny, I highly recommend it). After it was over, we sat and talked until about 3:00am. I sure appreciate the fact that I'm regaining a social life after a somewhat boring semester last semester, I just kind of wish everything hadn't fallen on me all at once. Oh well, I guess if this is what the Summer has in store for me, BRING IT ON! I'm ready for it!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Amending the Revision
Ok, well, I figured out the problem why people couldn't see my paper. But I've fixed it. So if you still want to read my essay, click here.
Friday, April 24, 2009
I Love Books!
They got here! About 2 weeks ago or so I ordered 耶穌是基督 and the new 三合一 and I got them today! Ok, so probably not too exciting to you guys, but the first one is Jesus the Christ and the second one is the new Chinese translation of a triple (BoM, D&C, and PoGP). It is very exciting. AND!!! I start my wicked awesome fun (minus one class) Spring term on Tuesday. Those are only related because I will have a really cool Chinese film class. And I'm excited about clogging and gymnastics, not so much about History of Utah though.
I called a friend who took the Chinese film class a year ago and he said I could use his books, saving me about $40, pretty cool if you ask me.
I was at the book store, and they were out of the next book in the Ender's Game series, so I looked on line and found them and the parallel series, Enders Shadow, for cheaper than I could get them for the regurlar price, so I ordered them :-).
Like I said, I love books!
I called a friend who took the Chinese film class a year ago and he said I could use his books, saving me about $40, pretty cool if you ask me.
I was at the book store, and they were out of the next book in the Ender's Game series, so I looked on line and found them and the parallel series, Enders Shadow, for cheaper than I could get them for the regurlar price, so I ordered them :-).
Like I said, I love books!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Revision
Well, I revised my That's Absurd! paper and just wanted to get some feed back on which version everyone thought was better. Click here for the revised version and the original is just a couple posts down my blog. Oh, FYI, the only part I really changed was towards the end. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Fantoms and Phinals
Don't you hate the feeling of not having something that you have grown accustomed to? I've had the same watch for probably close to 10 years. It has been a great watch. But it broke. Granted, it's been probably 2-3 months since it broke. But I still get that blasted 'phantom watch' feeling on my wrist. I'll shake my arm to move my watch, which isn't there, down to its proper place. It bugs me. Also annoying is the phantom vibration of my phone in my pocket when it's actually in my hand or otherwise out of my pocket. Why does the body play tricks on itself? It's rather annoying.
On another, unrelated subject, I love a good book. It's been a long time since I just sat down to read a novel because I wanted to. I had never read Enders Game, so when I sold my text books back the other day, I picked it up. I highly recommend it. I started reading it today and would probably read through the night and finish it if I didn't have work at 5:00 tomorrow morning and a final or two to take tomorrow which I need to prepare for. Gosh darn school getting in the way of my college experience!
On another, unrelated subject, I love a good book. It's been a long time since I just sat down to read a novel because I wanted to. I had never read Enders Game, so when I sold my text books back the other day, I picked it up. I highly recommend it. I started reading it today and would probably read through the night and finish it if I didn't have work at 5:00 tomorrow morning and a final or two to take tomorrow which I need to prepare for. Gosh darn school getting in the way of my college experience!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Bad Play Project
I love theater. I especially love acting, but right after that comes a good play. Here in Provo, there is a community theater called the New Play Project. What they do is they give new playwrights the opportunity to have their plays acted out on stage for a first time. Well, some times, the plays that some people wright are just down right bad. A while ago the founders decided to do a compilation of the worst plays that people have written over the past few years. After the plays were selected, the directors were given one day to select the cast and put the whole thing together. Most of the plays were pretty short. When you bought your ticket to watch the "Bad Play Project", as they called it, you were given a complimentary bag of projectiles. The way we were to vote for our favorite bad play was to cast our projectiles at the actors on the stage. It was probably one of the most fun experiences I have ever had as part of an audience. The play that won was Pride & Predigest & Telletubbes: The Musical. It was pretty painful. Oh, but it was so fun to boo and hiss and throw things onto stage. What a great Friday night!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Personal Essay
Well, I just finished my last paper for my English class, and I must say, I'm rather proud of it. It's most definitely my favorite paper I have ever written. So I figured I would share it. If you are curious, click here to read it. Enjoy!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Humbled on Wednesday, Happy Today
Well, I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with BYU's Folk Dance program (probably not many of you), but it's something that I was introduced to this semester, and have grown to love. It was no surprise that I got onto one of the teams considering I'm a guy that tried out. Trying out was one of the main qualifying factors for guys to get on a team. Basically every guy who tried out made it to one team or another. Not to brag, but I have always considered myself a fairly good dancer. It's a talent for which I'm very grateful and enjoy very much. With that being said, the best Folk Dance Team at BYU is the Performing Arts Company (or PAC). To even try out for PAC, you have to have a special invitation. To my surprise, I was invited to try out! Now, keep in mind, there are only about 8 spots to be filled for guys and there were probably 25, maybe 30 guys there, many of which have been folk dancing for years and have lots of experience in other types of dance. All I have is a little bit of Social Dance background and a fairly quick learning curve.
Well, Wednesday evening was the first part of tryouts. They taught us four different types of dance: Ballet, Slovakian, Bollywood and Clogging. The Ballet wasn't hard, it was mostly just controlling yourself and your movement. We did a little bit of Slovakian in my class this semester, so it was halfway familiar, but still hard. The Bollywood was tons of fun, but also very hard. Wednesday when we were learning it, I wasn't getting it and was getting rather frustrated. Then we did Clogging... ha ha... I have never done anything even remotely like Clogging. About 10 min into the Clogging, I found myself wishing we would just go back to Bollywood, it was that bad. I was finally able to sympathise with the guys who just can't get dancing down. I had a nice big piece of humble pie for dessert that night.
Friday after dance class was over, my teacher came up to me and had to tell me that Edd (the man in charge of PAC and SPAC, Spring Performing Arts Company) on multiple occasions commented on how good I was doing and wanted to know who I was. That made me feel much better about Wednesday night.
This morning we finished tryouts. Not having really practiced much since Wednesday night, I didn't really feel too much better than on Wednesday. However, I did realize that my chances of making it on PAC are pretty darn slim, so I aught to just have fun and enjoy the fact that I even had the opportunity to tryout. So that's what I did.
Today was setup somewhat different than before. We all practiced together at first then went out of the room. We were called in by our numbers to dance in small groups so Edd could see us better. In each of the dances, I was called in in the first group to go in to dance. After attempting to just get the rhythm somewhat down for Clogging, Edd pulled me aside and asked how much Clogging I have done. Zero. Zilch. None. He said that I'm a natural dancer, but I really need to learn the actual steps. Wow, that was quite the confidence boost! After everything was over, we had an opportunity to show some of the other things we know besides what they taught us. So I went in and did a coffee grinder and a few flips. They once again asked how much dance I have done. Just a little bit of Social Dance. "Well, we had better see you next year" he replied.
I won't know until June ish if I made PAC or not. But I'm not holding my breath. I plan on taking some clogging this Fall. Perhaps I can make it onto SPAC for next year or possibly even PAC! Who knows. All I know is that I love dancing and it would appear that I at least have some potential in Folk Dance. So all I can do is keep dancing and doing my best and we'll see where it takes me!
Well, Wednesday evening was the first part of tryouts. They taught us four different types of dance: Ballet, Slovakian, Bollywood and Clogging. The Ballet wasn't hard, it was mostly just controlling yourself and your movement. We did a little bit of Slovakian in my class this semester, so it was halfway familiar, but still hard. The Bollywood was tons of fun, but also very hard. Wednesday when we were learning it, I wasn't getting it and was getting rather frustrated. Then we did Clogging... ha ha... I have never done anything even remotely like Clogging. About 10 min into the Clogging, I found myself wishing we would just go back to Bollywood, it was that bad. I was finally able to sympathise with the guys who just can't get dancing down. I had a nice big piece of humble pie for dessert that night.
Friday after dance class was over, my teacher came up to me and had to tell me that Edd (the man in charge of PAC and SPAC, Spring Performing Arts Company) on multiple occasions commented on how good I was doing and wanted to know who I was. That made me feel much better about Wednesday night.
This morning we finished tryouts. Not having really practiced much since Wednesday night, I didn't really feel too much better than on Wednesday. However, I did realize that my chances of making it on PAC are pretty darn slim, so I aught to just have fun and enjoy the fact that I even had the opportunity to tryout. So that's what I did.
Today was setup somewhat different than before. We all practiced together at first then went out of the room. We were called in by our numbers to dance in small groups so Edd could see us better. In each of the dances, I was called in in the first group to go in to dance. After attempting to just get the rhythm somewhat down for Clogging, Edd pulled me aside and asked how much Clogging I have done. Zero. Zilch. None. He said that I'm a natural dancer, but I really need to learn the actual steps. Wow, that was quite the confidence boost! After everything was over, we had an opportunity to show some of the other things we know besides what they taught us. So I went in and did a coffee grinder and a few flips. They once again asked how much dance I have done. Just a little bit of Social Dance. "Well, we had better see you next year" he replied.
I won't know until June ish if I made PAC or not. But I'm not holding my breath. I plan on taking some clogging this Fall. Perhaps I can make it onto SPAC for next year or possibly even PAC! Who knows. All I know is that I love dancing and it would appear that I at least have some potential in Folk Dance. So all I can do is keep dancing and doing my best and we'll see where it takes me!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
I must be a masochist
A few weeks ago, I went ice skating. While there, I intentionally went sliding down the ice Superman style, hitting my knee hard on the ice on the way down. While there, I went down on my knees multiple times attempting to mimic a cool trick I saw someone else doing (it wasn't perfect, but it didn't look half bad by the end of the night, if I do say so myself). I also succeeded in knocking my knee on the leg of a table while attempting to sit down to take my skates off.
Later, I bought a pair of roller blades. On my christening trip around Provo, they succeeded in finding one of the worst spots on Provo's already crappy sidewalks, thus introducing my knees and hands and even one elbow to the ground!
In Folk Dance, at the beginning of our dance, I do a dive roll. It's ok, my hip bone breaks my fall on the wonderful wooden dance floor.
Yet again in Folk Dance, we were doing a relay race (No problem, we were on carpet this time). My partner and I had taken the lead with a piggyback ride being the only leg left of the race. She hops on my back and we take off. Not 15 steps into it, I stumble and wipe my knee across the carpet. (there is STILL a scab from that one)
Oh yeah, also in our dance, on multiple occasions, the men go down on one knee. You guessed it! The scabbed, knocked up, bruised knee!
This afternoon, I was playing frisbee. Some one threw the frisbee beautifully right toward me. Instead of using my hands, I decide to catch it with my upper lip and teeth. The result: A fat lip.
Later tonight, we are playing a game for FHE where we have crackers tied to our belts and we are trying to break everyone else's crackers off without loosing our own. It was down to Nick (a room mate) and I. Everyone ganged up on me. I attempted an awkward backwards roll, succeeding in hitting my hip, tale bone and my already scabbed up knee. Not to mention scrapping up my elbow and overextending my thumb.
I can't WAIT to see what tomorrow has in store!
Later, I bought a pair of roller blades. On my christening trip around Provo, they succeeded in finding one of the worst spots on Provo's already crappy sidewalks, thus introducing my knees and hands and even one elbow to the ground!
In Folk Dance, at the beginning of our dance, I do a dive roll. It's ok, my hip bone breaks my fall on the wonderful wooden dance floor.
Yet again in Folk Dance, we were doing a relay race (No problem, we were on carpet this time). My partner and I had taken the lead with a piggyback ride being the only leg left of the race. She hops on my back and we take off. Not 15 steps into it, I stumble and wipe my knee across the carpet. (there is STILL a scab from that one)
Oh yeah, also in our dance, on multiple occasions, the men go down on one knee. You guessed it! The scabbed, knocked up, bruised knee!
This afternoon, I was playing frisbee. Some one threw the frisbee beautifully right toward me. Instead of using my hands, I decide to catch it with my upper lip and teeth. The result: A fat lip.
Later tonight, we are playing a game for FHE where we have crackers tied to our belts and we are trying to break everyone else's crackers off without loosing our own. It was down to Nick (a room mate) and I. Everyone ganged up on me. I attempted an awkward backwards roll, succeeding in hitting my hip, tale bone and my already scabbed up knee. Not to mention scrapping up my elbow and overextending my thumb.
I can't WAIT to see what tomorrow has in store!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Folk Dance
These are a few videos of some of the dances we have been doing in folk dance. I have a tendency to forget the names of the dances though... But the dance is still tons of fun!
I'm the second person in the line on this dance.
Third from the end on this one...
I actually remember the name for this dance... Hambo. It's lots of fun. It's somewhat similar to Vianese Waltz, but still different. I've spared you the whole song (I swear, it's half an hour long), but this should be enough to get the point...
And last, but not least, this is our Russian dance. I don't know what the name for it actually is, we just call it our Russian dance. This is the one that we are going to do for the Spring Festival of Nations on April 1. We just finished choreographing it today, and it's a work out! Hopefully someone will get a video of it when we are in our costumes so I can post the whole thing then. But until then, this will have to suffice. :-)
I'm the second person in the line on this dance.
Third from the end on this one...
I actually remember the name for this dance... Hambo. It's lots of fun. It's somewhat similar to Vianese Waltz, but still different. I've spared you the whole song (I swear, it's half an hour long), but this should be enough to get the point...
And last, but not least, this is our Russian dance. I don't know what the name for it actually is, we just call it our Russian dance. This is the one that we are going to do for the Spring Festival of Nations on April 1. We just finished choreographing it today, and it's a work out! Hopefully someone will get a video of it when we are in our costumes so I can post the whole thing then. But until then, this will have to suffice. :-)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Waiting
Well, I'm going on a date in a little bit and I've all but run out of things to do till it's time to leave to pick my date up. Then I realized that it's been nearly a month since I last posted here on my blog. Anyway, I've been working on a research paper these past few weeks for my English class. We had our proposal for our paper due today, and like normal, I ended up procrastinating actually writing the thing out for a while. So instead of staying up really late like normal, I went to bed at like 9:30 last night (that's unheard of for me, just FYI). And then I woke up at 2:30 to compile my proposal. I got it done and I was a little worried that it wasn't going to be quite up to par for where it needed to be. But I went and talked to my teacher just after 8:00 and as she looked at it, she said it looked really good and that she was really excited to see what my paper turns out to be. I was excited that she gave me such positive feedback. Anyway, I had a test this afternoon as well that I spent some time studying for until I decided that another few min wasn't going to make a lick of difference. So I went and took the test and it took me nearly 2 hours, most of it was spent writing short answer and essay questions... Needless to say, my hand was rather tired after that.
So besides all of that wonderful stuff, as I was doing some stuff on the internet after my test, I had a though... I am taking classes this summer, why not check to see if I can get into the gymnastic class? So I looked, and there was 1 open spot left! So I snatched it up as quick as I could! I'm way excited! I finally have the opportunity that I have wanted for years! I have it Monday-Thursday at 9:00am. So I have something to get me up every day, but it's not an 8:00 class. Life is good... :-)
Ok, well, that didn't take as long as I had hoped. I still have a few min before I need to leave. Don't you just love/hate that nervous/anxious feeling before a date? I really have missed going on dates until I got back here to BYU. Anyway, I'm out of things to ramble about. Later!
So besides all of that wonderful stuff, as I was doing some stuff on the internet after my test, I had a though... I am taking classes this summer, why not check to see if I can get into the gymnastic class? So I looked, and there was 1 open spot left! So I snatched it up as quick as I could! I'm way excited! I finally have the opportunity that I have wanted for years! I have it Monday-Thursday at 9:00am. So I have something to get me up every day, but it's not an 8:00 class. Life is good... :-)
Ok, well, that didn't take as long as I had hoped. I still have a few min before I need to leave. Don't you just love/hate that nervous/anxious feeling before a date? I really have missed going on dates until I got back here to BYU. Anyway, I'm out of things to ramble about. Later!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Worth it
Well, to start off, I'm an idiot for having an 8:00 class every day of the week. In my defense though, I didn't intend on having my schedule the way it is at the moment. In fact, I originally had a wonderfully nice,full schedule with awesome professors. Then I changed my life goal, thus messing up my perfect schedule. So now I'm stuck with a class at 8:00 in the morning every day. One of which, is my Honors 150, or freshmen writing class. "Freshmen?", you say, "I thought you were a Junior, what's up with that?" Ya, ya, I know. It's not a good idea to fail an introductory level writing class. Though I must say, I rather enjoy this class. It is 100x better than the non-honors section that I let myself fail. Well, anyway, being an English class, and an Honors section on top of that, I often have papers that I have to write. I tend to procrastinate. This becomes a problem when my paper has to be done by 8:00 in the morning. Tuesday we had a rough draft due for said English class. So I pulled an all nighter. I finally finished at like 4:30 or so, perhaps it was already 5:00, I'm not really sure. But I realized that I had a few hours before I needed to actually start getting ready for class. So I went to my bed and laid down for a nap... Bad idea. I woke up at 1:00 in the afternoon. The final copy was due this morning though so I stayed up a little later than normal putting some finishing touches on it. Come 6:45 this morning when my alarm went off, needless to say, I didn't want too wake up. So I hit the snooze a few times. 30 min later, I pulled myself out of bed, skipped my shower and took off to class. The 20-25 min walk to class usually does a fairly proficient job of waking me up in the mornings. Once I got to class, I remembered why it is that I enjoy my class so much. Crazy though she may be, Sis. Price (my teacher) is really a lot of fun. And we always have such interesting/fun assignments! So we are starting our research papers this week. The cool part though, is that she wants us to pull our topic from something in our family history. I think it's such a unique and awesome idea! What better way to find a topic that is meaningful and interesting! So right now I just need to think of stories from my family history that I could pull an argument out of. Wither it be something informative, argumentative or problem solving, 都可以. So if anyone has a favorite story from our family history, let me know (you all know how amazing my memory is).
Oh, and also, Sis. Price made home made cinnamon rolls for us this morning. 8:00 class? WORTH IT!
Oh, and also, Sis. Price made home made cinnamon rolls for us this morning. 8:00 class? WORTH IT!
Friday, January 23, 2009
School and whatnot
Well, I guess it's been a while since I updated my blog, hasn't it? Let's see... Where to start... I finally did get my stinking schedule all figured out. The only thing still missing is a job, which a guy should be calling me any day about. I have a pretty easy schedule, even if it does start early every day. I have a class at 8:00 every day, but I'm done by 10:00 except for Monday and Wednesday when I have the 2nd half of Book of Mormon at 1:00. I have an awesome teacher, Brother Bartholomew, and I found out the first day that some of my best friends are in the class too! Josh and Christie Foster, Kristen Foster and Christie's sister are all in there. It's tons of fun. Other than that, I have History 201, Honors 150 (same as English 150 except it's honors) and I'm on the 9:00 Folk Dance Team! My English class is actually a lot of fun. I had to retake English because I failed it a year ago when I just quit trying (bad semesters are NOT good for your GPA), and my friends in Nanjing last semester said that the Honors class is tons better, so I figured I would go with the Honors class. I have a really amazing teacher and it's a pretty small class. It is going to be a lot of writing and work, but I only have 9 credits this semester and I think I'm actually going to enjoy the writing, which always makes a difference. Oh, by the way Nanc, when you come to BYU in a few years, you have to take Honors 150 from this same teacher, you would love it! Besides, you'll probably be in the honors program anyway.
So the folk dance team... The first week of school I ran into some friends from back home who were trying out for folk dance and they told me I should try out as well. I figured, sure, why not? I love dance and I'm not in any dance classes this semester. So I went to tryouts and I realized that pretty much any guy that went to tryouts made it onto one of the teams. I've done dance before, but folk dance is totally different from social dance. It's still tons of fun though. Although, it is a wee bit more of a work out, which I'm ok with. We are learning all sorts of fun daces and at the end of the semester, we are going to have a performance that we get to be a part of. For that performance, we are going to be doing a Russian dance, and I'm really excited. We had an opening social for folk dance Wednesday night and it was tons of fun.
Well, I know that there's a ton of other things going on, but I'll write more about them later. Perhaps I'll actually get into a habit of posting on here, but I wouldn't get your hopes up :-).
So the folk dance team... The first week of school I ran into some friends from back home who were trying out for folk dance and they told me I should try out as well. I figured, sure, why not? I love dance and I'm not in any dance classes this semester. So I went to tryouts and I realized that pretty much any guy that went to tryouts made it onto one of the teams. I've done dance before, but folk dance is totally different from social dance. It's still tons of fun though. Although, it is a wee bit more of a work out, which I'm ok with. We are learning all sorts of fun daces and at the end of the semester, we are going to have a performance that we get to be a part of. For that performance, we are going to be doing a Russian dance, and I'm really excited. We had an opening social for folk dance Wednesday night and it was tons of fun.
Well, I know that there's a ton of other things going on, but I'll write more about them later. Perhaps I'll actually get into a habit of posting on here, but I wouldn't get your hopes up :-).
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year
Well, I'm back in Provo now. A HUGE thanks goes out to Aunt Terri for picking me up from the airport and taking me down here to Provo! THANKS A TON! Well, I got here with no problems. I got moved into my new apartment and have, so far, meet 2 of my 5 room mates. One of them is from Hong Kong and is going to the English Language Center. He seems pretty cool. The other room mate is from California, the Bay Area, he said. But, being me, I don't remember either of their names at the moment. It will probably not be until late next week before I can actually remember their names, if we are lucky.
So, I went up to campus to talk to a counselor to figure out my schedule and what not, then I realized that everything on campus is closed the 1st AND 2nd... Grr... So I'll just have to go back tomorrow, no big deal. But I did go and get myself a few things I wasn't able to take on the plane. I have my bags all unpacked, but not exactly organized. So that's what I get to do later this evening. But I did go over to DI and get myself a bike for $15! I think it was only $10 2 years ago when I got my last bike. But this one had a lock with it and the tires actually hold air. So as of right now, I have a working bike for only $15, no complaints here!
I know that this isn't exactly in any sort of order, except for the order that things come to my head. But anyway. I had TONS of fun at the Guison New Year Party. It was AWESOME! I saw SO many people that I haven't seen for EVER! It was tons of fun. People that I haven't seen for 4 months, people I haven't seen for 4 years (perhaps even more) and everything in between. It was a great way to end the year. It isn't ever fun to say good bye to great friends, but I am excited to be back here in Provo. Well, back at BYU at least. I'm really excited to start over. New year, new apartment, new room mates, new ward, pretty much everything is new. It's a great time get rid of old habbits and start new ones. Anyway, I'll post more later after I actually get to see what my ward is like and after I figure out what the heck I'm going to do about my classes this semester. Later!
So, I went up to campus to talk to a counselor to figure out my schedule and what not, then I realized that everything on campus is closed the 1st AND 2nd... Grr... So I'll just have to go back tomorrow, no big deal. But I did go and get myself a few things I wasn't able to take on the plane. I have my bags all unpacked, but not exactly organized. So that's what I get to do later this evening. But I did go over to DI and get myself a bike for $15! I think it was only $10 2 years ago when I got my last bike. But this one had a lock with it and the tires actually hold air. So as of right now, I have a working bike for only $15, no complaints here!
I know that this isn't exactly in any sort of order, except for the order that things come to my head. But anyway. I had TONS of fun at the Guison New Year Party. It was AWESOME! I saw SO many people that I haven't seen for EVER! It was tons of fun. People that I haven't seen for 4 months, people I haven't seen for 4 years (perhaps even more) and everything in between. It was a great way to end the year. It isn't ever fun to say good bye to great friends, but I am excited to be back here in Provo. Well, back at BYU at least. I'm really excited to start over. New year, new apartment, new room mates, new ward, pretty much everything is new. It's a great time get rid of old habbits and start new ones. Anyway, I'll post more later after I actually get to see what my ward is like and after I figure out what the heck I'm going to do about my classes this semester. Later!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)