Long Awaited Update

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I've updated this.  I'm really not half as good at record keeping as I used to be.  Perhaps I'll make that one of my New Years resolutions...  Everyone's favorite, right?  Anyway, there's only a million things that I could talk about...  The semester as a whole, folk dance, tap, Thanksgiving, Sam's wedding, coming home for Christmas, plans to go to Boston for New Years, Julie...  But let's be honest here, I know you guys, and as much as you all care about whatever fun things I'm involved in and what I'm doing, the thing that everyone wants to know about is if I'm dating someone, who she is, what is she like, how much do I really like her?  Right?  Well, I'm also pretty sure that most of you who read this will at least have heard about her before, wither it be from talking to me directly, facebook or talking to someone who talked to me.  But in case you forgot, Julie's from Pennsylvania, she's an Elementary Education major at BYU and we were in the same ward last year.    She's a lot of fun, loves to laugh and has a beautiful smile.  She's one of those people that is always smiling and is just genuinely a happy person.  She prides herself on her hugs.  In fact, she's had to teach a few guys how to give proper hugs (in her opinion, side hugs are not acceptable!).  She's very sincere and you know that if she gives you a compliment, she means it.  She can also be stuborn, especially when it comes to not believing half the compliments I give her.  But don't let her fool you, she is as loving as she is beautiful.

Now, I'm sure that most of you are wondering what our back story is.  Like I said, we were in the same ward last year and she was best buds with one of my room mates (the only other mostly sane/normal one).  Towards the end of winter semester, I was getting a little tired of my friends not doing anything and started hanging around Julie more often.  It didn't take me long to realize that aside from just being a lot of fun, she was really stinking cute too and I was starting to like her.  Unfortunately, I came to this realization just before finals, which means she would be leaving for home really soon.  You all know how intelligent I am when it comes to girls, especially when I'm starting to like them.  So what do I do?  I hold her hand and kiss her just a few days before she goes home (it still makes her mad when she thinks about it because that was exactly what she told herself she wasn't going to do).  We talked and decided to try the whole long distance thing.  I went out to visit her over the 4th of July and had really fallen for her.  After I got back to Provo, I could tell something was up with her and after asking her about it she said she needed to figure some things out.  A few days later she called me and we broke up.  It took me a while to feel ok talking to her again without feeling weird or awkward about everything, but by the time I saw her again when school started, I thought I had moved on.  We hung out a few times and I didn't feel like anything was awkward (not exactly her opinion).  But when she came over to my apartment one Sunday afternoon, I realized again just how beautiful she is.  I tried to convince myself that it was over and in the past, but a few weeks went by and the more I struggled to not like her, the more inevetable it seemed.  Conference weekend was the worst.  I knew that I really liked her (not sure if it was again or still), and I was pretty sure she liked me too, but we already tried a relationship and for whatever reason, it didn't work.  Well, I had decided that I was going to ask her to reconsider a relationship.  After going back and forth, making up her mind second guessing it and dealing with utter confusion, she decided to just do what made her happy.  There's a lot more to all of that, but I'll spare you the details.  As you all know, I have a way of taking a short story and make it long.  But considering that there is a lot to this story (some of it public knowledge and some of it more personal) I don't feel like I have rambled too horribly much.

But there you have it.  That is the (relatively) basic story of how Julie and I got to where we are now.  I would put up a really cute picture of the two of us, but neither of us are wonderful at taking pictures, so we're kind of lacking in that area.  And I would post just a picture of her, but she firmly believes that almost every single picture of her is hideous.  But since this post came after much proding from her ("Your sisters update their blogs, why haven't you even touched yours?" Etc...) I will leave the responsibility of finding a suitable picture to her (reserving the right, of course, to choose a picture of my liking if she does not provide one in a timely manner).  So there you have it, that is what has been occupying my mind and my time these past few months.  I hope you all feel informed.  :-D

Duh Moment

So, this morning while thinking to myself in the shower about my homework and all that I have to do today, I realized something that is very obvious. Prayer can help here too! I've been rather caught up in and thinking a lot about other aspects of my life that require a close connection with the Lord so my prayers of recent have been mostly centered around that. It's so good to know that the Lord can and will help with any and all aspect of your life that you see fit to go to Him for help with. Anyway, as the hymn goes, "Don't forget to pray."

Patience

Everyone's least favorite piece of advice to receive. Yet, it's something that I'm sure we could all use a lot more of. Even if you think you know what the outcome is going to be, there is still no way of knowing for sure until that answer comes. In the mean time, you're so distracted that productivity is completely out. Ok, so I could possibly be more productive if I weren't at home, but that might also foster less productivity than right now, but at least the distraction would be nice! Anyway, to quote Inigo Montoya, "I hate waiting."

Just Sayin'

Why is it that every time I meet a new girl that I think I might be interest in, she always turns out to be so much younger than me? Well, at least I haven't met any freshmen that I've been interested in this semester. That's an improvement, right? Whatever.

Musical Fireside

First off, our Stake Presidency here is amazing. Secondly, our Ward absolutely rocks. Now that I have that out of the way, we had a really cool fireside tonight. It was a musical fireside where they had a whole list of Primary songs up on the screen and they had a few people randomly pick which songs we were going to sing. After the entire group would sing the Primary song, the Stake Presidency took turns coming up to the pulpit and teaching or baring their testimony about what ever principle it was that was taught in the song. It was a really fun fireside and I think everyone really felt the spirit. I just want to share one thought that I had after we sang "Jesus Once Was a Little Child". First of all, the song goes like this:

Jesus once was a little child,
A little child like me;
And he was pure and meek and mild,
As a little child should be.

So, little children,
Let's you and I,
Try to be like him,
Try, try, try.

He played as little children play,
The pleasant games of youth;
But he never got vexed if the game went wrong,
And he always spoke the truth.

So, little children,
Let's you and I,
Try to be like him,
Try, try, try.


I remember when I was a little kid how this song made me think and try to imagine Christ as a child of my age. What would it be like to have known him when he was a little boy like me? It was exciting to imagine what life would be like having Jesus as a childhood friend. Well, I am no longer a little child like they sing about in the song. I'm 25 years old. It's been years since I've had those thoughts. But today, I was thinking, what would it have been like to meet Jesus when he was 25? There is almost nothing about his life from his childhood until he started his ministry that can be found in the scriptures. But at some point, he was a 25 year old man. He probably spent a fair amount of time working as a carpenter with his dad. But I'm sure that he had friends. He probably spent some of his spare time with him. Imagine, Jesus is one of your close friends. Everyone loved him, because he loved everyone. You knew that there was something special about him but you had no idea what it really was. I know that when he went back to Bethlehem during his ministry, many rejected him because they thought of him only as Joseph's son, but I would bet that at least some of them realized who he was and believed. How did Jesus affect lives in that time of his life? How would he have affected my life? How has he affected my life?

Anyway, like I said, it was a great fireside. I am so grateful to be where I am right now. I have so many great opportunities right here at my fingertips. And what makes it even better is having my little brother and sister here with me. I truly am blessed.

Michael Buble "Haven't Met You Yet"

I'm not surprised, not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times, I stopped keeping track
Talk myself in, I talk myself out
I get all worked up, then I let myself down

I tried so very hard not to lose it
I came up with a million excuses
I thought, I thought of every possibility

And I know someday that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, that I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

I might have to wait, I'll never give up
I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck
Wherever you are, whenever it's right
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life

And I know that we can be so amazing
And, baby, your love is gonna change me
And now I can see every possibility

And somehow I know that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work, so we can work to work it out
And I promise you, kid, I give so much more than I get
I just haven't met you yet

They say all's fair
In love and war
But I won't need to fight it
We'll get it right and we'll be united

And I know that we can be so amazing
And being in your life is gonna change me
And now I can see every single possibility

And someday I know it'll all turn out
And I'll work to work it out
Promise you, kid, I'll give more than I get
Than I get, than I get, than I get

Oh, you know it'll all turn out
And you'll make me work so we can work to work it out
And I promise you kid to give so much more than I get
Yeah, I just haven't met you yet

I just haven't met you yet
Oh, promise you, kid
To give so much more than I get

I said love, love, love, love
Love, love, love, love(I just haven't met you yet)
Love, love, love, love
Love, love I just haven't met you yet

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Nancyann

It has been nearly 6 years since I graduated High School and my family was an intricate part of my life. I gained a great appreciation for my family and came to understand how unique it was while on my mission, but I was gone. Even after I got home from my mission, any time I spent back in Missouri, my family was no longer involved in the most exciting part of my life to the extent that they were while in High School. It’s now been nearly two years since I have been home for more than just two weeks at a time. But even before then, even when I was home for the summer, I was working full time and heavily involved in Institute activities. This has been the first semester that I have actually had family even close to me while out here at BYU. And it’s not just any family, but Nancyann. I love Nancyann. Of all of my siblings, I think that we are the most alike. We’ve been buddies as long as I can remember. This is one of my favorite pictures of us together…



Having Nancyann out here this semester sure has made all the difference in the world! We didn’t spend as much time together as I would have liked, but in all honesty, we saw each other a lot. We had two classes together every Tuesday and Thursday. And not just any classes, but our Marriage Prep class and our Beginning Tap class. They were two of my favorite classes and having Nanc in there with me just made them that much better! It was so great to be able to practice with her for Tap and to talk about the things we learned in Marriage Prep. Not just that, but it made it a lot easier to do my projects when I had her to talk with and bounce ideas off of.

Aside from school work, it was so much fun to have someone to go to performances with. We saw a lot of shows, from a percussive footwork performance to the Shanghai Circus. We watched Tartuffe and As You Like It and went on quite a few double dates. From ice cream sculpting




To a photo scavenger hunt





To a percussion ensemble performance including a steel drum band, we kept ourselves rather busy. It was a lot of fun to be able to have someone to set some of my friends up with that I wanted to double with and more than that, someone that I could get input about the girls I was spending my time with from. There’s nothing like having someone who knows you and your history as well as she knows me confirm that the girl you’re crushing on is a great girl and more than worth pursuing to help you make up your mind. It sure helped that her and Julie hit it off right away and were instant friends! Aside from that, it was so nice to have her here to talk to about whatever it was that was going on in my life that I just needed to talk to someone about. Because she now knows all of my friends telling stories about them takes half the time because I don’t have to explain who they are and their personalities and why things are funny. She already knows the context.

I can’t wait for the end of June to get here! I’m moving into a new apartment complex tomorrow and only know a few people there. It going to be fun, but it will be so much better when she comes back and is in the same complex as I am! And what makes it even better is when she comes back out, Marshall is going to come with her! I can’t wait! This summer is going to be a blast! Here are a couple more pictures of us…

(EFY 2008)

(Hanging out with Nancyann, Marshall and some friends from the Institute some time back in 2006)