about a boy

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

2012-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Photo Credit: Megan Heaps

Today is a very special day.

My very best friend in the whole entire world turns 22 today!

So in honor of this holiday,

here are 22 things I love about Chelsea Wilson:

1. She is hands-down the most talented person I know.

2. She really likes being in charge. Of everything. In a nice way.

3. Everyone is always envious of her hair.

4. She's a Southern Belle at heart.

5. She wrote me every single week of my mission.

Except for the week she got hit by a car...

6. She's obsessed with her dog Marco.

7. She's in the top musical theatre program in the country. Go Wolverines.

8. Our first stage kiss was with each other for Thoroughly Modern Millie.

9. We're basically real-life adults and we still make each other mixes. On CDs.

10. Broadway is her dream but being an SLS IMT is her life goal.

11. We are 1,641 miles apart but still talk almost every day.

12. She's pretty much a big deal in St. George.

13. This video:

14. She always stands up for what she believes.

15. She is always kind but will still gossip with me. Ha.

16. She is my other half when it comes to music.

17. She believes in making things happen for yourself. (See #2.)

18. She is always down for a game night.

Hand and Foot, Wacky 6, Boxers or Briefs, you name it.

This picture was taken roughly one million years ago.

19. Her love of all things Alice in Wonderland.

20. She is the perfect listener.

21. She really will change the world. Just you wait.

22. She is the best friend I've ever had.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA! I LOVE YOU!

Life as a PR Major

2012-01-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

So, I never made any sort of big announcement on here

but back in October, I finally got a letter saying I'd been

accepted into the BYU Public Relations Program.

Then I had to wait 2.5 excruciatingly long months

but I finally started the program this semester.

I know it's only been 2 weeks but
I can't say enough how much I'm loving my program so far.

While it's not as widely-known around campus
as some other majors, BYU has one of the
top PR programs in the country.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to
learn from such incredible faculty,
who literally wrote the book on public relations.
(I'm not kidding, some of our textbooks were written
by BYU professors and are used in PR programs
all over the country...)

This semester I'm taking four classes:
Strategic Communications Planning
(aka PR Campaigns and Case Studies)
Communications Law
Pop Culture and Media
Marketing Management

While I've already spent more days than I can count
writing papers, putting together campaigns, and
being buried under mountains of reading and homework,
I'm learning so much every day and
get even more excited about working in PR.

I know it sounds cheesy, but it's just such a great feeling to

have found that place where you 'fit',

where everything just sort of clicks

and you know you're exactly where you're supposed to be...

Basically, I love my major.

Life is good.

Paint Party 2012

2012-01-17T02:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend was one for the record books.

First because I think this was the first three-day weekend in the history

of my college education that I didn't go home!

And the reason I didn't go to STG was this:

The Paint Party has been held in Salt Lake or Provo for

at least the past few years, but this was the first time I'd ever gone.

This year it was at The Complex in SLC so after pulling together

a completely white outfit, I caravanned up with about 35 friends.

BEFORE

The actual paint fight didn't start until after 11

so we had over two hours to dance/get nearly suffocated by

3000 sweaty bodies before the real fun started. I'm only half-kidding...

Eventually they started passing out water guns filled with the precious

glow-in-the-dark paint and things eventually broke out into

dance music-fueled, semi-controlled, multicolored pandemonium.

AFTER

Apparently Julia missed the memo that we were smiling ha

SO happy I got to see this girl for the first time in months.

By 1 in the morning we were absolutely exhausted but starving

so naturally, we waltzed right into Beto's for greasy Mexican food.

By the time we left, some people (or just Mickey) literally had to be carried out...

Charlie horse problems. Drink water, kids!

We finally rolled back into Provo around 3

and didn't go to bed until probably 5:30...

At least my first all-nighter of the semester wasn't doing homework, right?

Talk about a true college experience...

The Fifth Annual Christmas Reunion of The Six

2012-01-12T02:23:00.000-08:00

Once again, it's been a month since I've written a post. And also once again, my excuse was that I am waiting for pictures to document my wonderful Christmas break. But basically I'm just the king of inconsistency when it comes to blogging...

In the years since I graduated from high school, one of the things I appreciate more and more about Christmas break is the opportunity it gives me to catch up with friends from home. And my favorite reunion each December is with the rest of The Six.

I met these five amazing people in high school, and during my senior year we all became close friends, thanks largely to the fall musical and Mr. Saxton's advanced theater class. After graduation, Karly, Cami, Taylor and I went off to college and Chelsea and Trent stayed in STG for their senior year. It was during that year that we started the infamous 'Thread', which was a Facebook message that we all posted videos on basically every day about our lives. One day we WILL make a movie out of it.

My freshman year of college was also the first year we had a Christmas reunion and we've done one every year since, in one form or another:
2007

2008

2009
PHOTO NOT FOUND
But I know they had one because I've seen it...
It just seems to have disappeared from Facebook/Karly's blog...
2010

2011

This year we were sadly missing Karly, James and Taylor
(and it was also the first year the party wasn't at the Staples' house)
but don't feel TOO bad for them:
Karly and James were enjoying Christmas with James' family in Hawaii

Photo Credit: Karly's blog
And Taylor - or should I say Sister Brown -
is serving a full-time mission in jolly old England

Photo Credit: Taylor's Mission Blog

However, we were also lucky to be joined by Trent's wonderful girlfriend this year:

So the attendance almost balanced itself out...

After hopelessly attempting to coordinate our schedules,

we finally settled on a late night at my

parents' new house after Chelsea got

back from skiing in Brianhead and before

Trent went back to Ogden in the morning.

As we sat and chatted over Cami's famous no-bake cookies,

I couldn't help but think about how spread out we all are

and how many great things my friends are doing with their lives:

Chelsea is living in Ann Arbor, Michigan

and is a senior in the musical theatre program at UMich.

This semester she's playing the lead in a student production

of the rock musical Next to Normal,

and will be moving to NYC after graduation this spring.

Cami is in her last semester at Point Park University

in Pittsburgh, also studying musical theatre.

Last semester, she directed a one-act play

by Shel Silverstein called Click.

Right now, she's getting ready for her NY/LA Showcase

and will also be moving to NYC after graduation.

Trent is studying theatre education in Ogden at Weber State

and will be graduating around the same time as me in roughly 2050...

He's been dating Stephanie for 9 months or a year,

depending on which one you ask... :)

He's also directing another show this semester

and is still teaching after-school at a local elementary school.

Photo Credit: Malea Ellett, Tickled Pink Photography

Taylor left on her mission to Leeds, England in September

and has been out in the field for about 4 months.

She's still in her first area (Durham) with her second companion

and has already had quite a bit of success.

So proud of her.

Photo Credit: Karly's Blog

Karly is living in Newport Beach, CA

working as a video producer for OC Metro Magazine

(and the host of the online daily OC Metro Minute)

The biggest news is that she and James are expecting

their first GIRL at the end of April!

And I'm living the college life in Provo.

What was supposed to be a quick catch-up session

of course turned into hours and hours of chatting,

reminiscing, watching old DVD's from high school

and laughing till our stomachs hurt.

I'm so grateful for these five people in my life

and the impact they've had on who I am.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to stay in closer touch with all of them.

But, it's so wonderful to know that no matter how far apart our dreams take us,

our lives will always be connected and we will always have each other.

That's what I call friendship.

Until next year...

90's Child

2011-12-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was - as most ~~weekends~~ days tend to be - out-of-control busy.
With the semester quickly winding to a close, my friends and I seem to have
taken up permanent residence in the library.
(3rd floor. Snack zone. Feel free to come say hi.)
So by the time the weekend rolled around, we were ready to hit the town.
The perfect solution was to hit up the 90's dance party at the apartment complex down the street.
Of course we had to go all out and raided our closets to dig out
the best 90's clothes we could find.
As you can tell from the picture at the top of this post,
we basically looked like the cast of Saved By The Bell.
My favorite part of my outfit was definitely my neon pink MC Hammer pants.
If I could rock those pants every single day, I totally would...
We eventually got to the party and spent hours rocking out
to everything from old school NSYNC, Britney, and BSB
to Blink-182, MC Hammer and Sir Mix-a-Lot.
The party was the funnest thing I've done in a long time
and we all left asking the same question:
Why did we ever stop listening to this music?
I've been on a serious 90's kick ever since.

The other highlight of the weekend was a quick trip to Salt Lake.

I've always loved Temple Square during Christmas

and it had been years since I'd been there,

so it seemed like the perfect place and time for a double date.

First, Emily and I met Christopher and Nancy for dinner here:

And then it was on to here:

Photo via lds.org

We took so long enjoying dinner that by the time we got

to Temple Square, the lights were only on for about 15 more minutes.

But despite the time limit (and the FREEZING cold)

we made the best of it and had a great time.

I love this time of year and being able to visit Temple Square

made me feel especially grateful to live close to so many temples.

Now, with one week left of the semester,

it's on to finals and then Christmas break!

A Trip Down Extremely Recent Memory Lane

2011-12-05T00:40:00.000-08:00

Life seems to be moving at light-speed these days. And with the semester quickly coming to a close (thank goodness), I realized there have been a few things I've neglected to blog about recently. There is just so much constantly going on, I am perpetually behind. But these are things I really don't want to forget, so just enjoy this stroll down (extremely recent) memory lane:

The Sunday before Thanksgiving break, Julia had a bunch of people

over to her incredibly spacious apartment (I'm still trying to figure out why

we don't spend more time there...) for a Thanksgiving Before Thanksgiving

aka Friendsgiving, since we would all be spending the holiday in dozens of places.

You weren't allowed in the door without food in your hands

so we ended up with a gigantic feast that included grilled chicken, ravioli,

casserole, mashed potatoes, WAY too many delectable desserts and so much more.

And of course, there was plenty of picture-taking...

Todd, Tyler

Jake and I

Julia, Michele

Boy Band

Nancy, Emily, Ben and Cory. With Andrew and Mark awkwardly on top of them...

Stuffed.

I was really glad I had a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving early with

this crew because over the past six months, I've never been more

grateful to have found such good friends here in Provo.

A few of us also had the chance to go to the Lighting of the Riverwoods

a couple of weeks ago. Even though it was before Thanksgiving, the event

was a great way to get a headstart on feeling the Christmas spirit.

The Riverwoods is one of my favorite places in Provo and all the lights,

ice sculptures, music and shops made for an especially festive atmosphere.

John Schmidt even came to give a free concert, and of course with all

this Christmas music, we couldn't possibly keep from dancing. This

picture captures it kind of perfectly.

And finally...

Some pictures from the camping trip we took up Provo Canyon

way back in September were recently discovered and I

can't resist posting some of them...

We all look so tan! And strangely younger, even though it was only 3 months ago...

And now that this novel-of-a-post is finished...

It's on to the next adventure!

The perfect college experience? Yep, definitely having it.

Thanksgiving Highlights

2011-12-01T01:33:00.000-08:00

Again, I managed to forget my camera in Provo, so I don't have a single picture from Thanksgiving

But here are some of the things I definitely don't want to forget from the holiday:

Pie Night. My favorite part of Thanksgiving. 31 pies for dinner the night before Thanksgiving...
Specifically sour cream apple pie.
Homemade gnocchi. My favorite food on the face of this planet.
Ruining my sweater/jeans/shirt when the above-mentioned gnocchi exploded all over me.
Ruining my phone in the washing machine.
Thankfully, all the sauce came out....
Watching Memphis: The Musical after Thanksgiving dinner.
Santa's Workshop at the Dixie Center.
Meeting President and Sister Uchtdorf at Santa's Workshop...Crazy!
Durango's. Durango's. Durango's.
Cuddling with Sierra and Buddy every time I sat down.
Watching my grandpa hopelessly try to lead the discussion about next summer's family reunion.
Electing chairmen and sub-committees for said family reunion. It was very serious.
THE MUPPET MOVIE.
Singing along with the rest of the theater during "Rainbow Connection."
Getting to spend the afternoon with Monkey.
Drink runs with Shelley and Gramma.
Mom's birthday!
Dad's homemade ice cream.
Christmas lights at the temple.
The welcome home I got when I got back to 91.

Thankful

2011-11-29T17:10:00.000-08:00

I went home to sunny St. George for Thanksgiving.

And unfortunately forgot my camera back in the 801
and have no pictures to show for it.
I really love this time of year.
It's always beneficial to sit back and take stock of
how much you have to be grateful for.

November marked one year since I came home from my mission.
In a lot of ways, it's been completely different than I ever thought it would be.
But that's kind of what life is, right?
The past year has been filled with
highs and lows, successes and triumphs,
obstacles and challenges, hellos and goodbyes
and in the end, I re-learned what seems to be a constant lesson in my life:

You never know what's coming next.

I didn't do the blog challenge I've seen a lot of people do this month -
blogging every single day about something you're grateful for -
so I wanted to take this time at the end of the month to remind myself
I have so much more than 30 days' worth of things to be grateful for...

I Won't Grow Up

2011-11-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

Spending as much time as I do with these crazies

you never really know what's going to happen next.
For example.
Last week, Mickey and I decided to build a fort
in the living room.
We pretty much became a tornado of creativity...
flipping tables on their sides,
hijacking two apartments' worth of blankets
and using a mess of duct tape, golf clubs, books and 20 lb. weights
to construct the most epic fort you've ever seen.
We dragged mattresses out of bedrooms,
managed to incorporate the TV into the fort
and the end product was the coolest thing
I've ever ~~built with my two hands~~
watched Mickey build while handing him duct tape.
Prepare to be amazed...

Then, our "build a fort" goal turned into a three-day sleepover...
We watched plenty of this:

Played enough of this to satisfy the rest of my life:

(and by 'played' I really mean Glenn ran around and died while everyone else played...

I don't do video games...)

And ate way too much of this:

After three days, we finally - and sadly - knocked it down.
Sometimes the best thing to do is to live in a blanket fort
and just act like kids again...
Mission accomplished.

All Hallows' Eve

2011-11-11T00:25:00.000-08:00

After the Parachute concert,

the Halloween festivities officially began.

This year was the first year I'd been home for the holiday since 2007...

I went into the MTC two days before Halloween in '08.

and didn't get home until the beginning of November in 2010.

So, after three years of dressing up as a missionary, I was determined to celebrate.

As it turns out, I ended up celebrating mostly

during the weekend before Halloween.

Once we drove home, Emily and I met up with

a bunch of friends at the Alpine dance party.

Alpine is a little notorious for throwing epically raging parties.

To be honest, I don't really know how Karly managed

to live there as long as she did with all the craziness...

The party was definitely fun.

But I'm pretty sure we were by far the

most-clothed people in the whole shin-dig.

Another reason I was glad to be with a big group

was because we were also the only people in

the whole party who weren't there to dance dirty...

Keep it clean people!

But we made our own fun and ended up having a great time.

(Dysfunctional Couple of the Year Award goes to Michele and Caleb!

Her shirt says "All I Wanted Was a Backrub"...)

The next night, the party kept going

and we went to a house party on University.

Despite my excitement over this year's Halloween

I ended up procrastinating on finding a costume.

So I ended up throwing on a cowboy hat and owned my last-minute costume.

The house party was much less crowded and

much less dirty than the night before.

Since it was outside, it was also much more freezing.

But I managed.

I swore after two years in Canada,

I would never complain about the cold in Provo again...

For the record, I'm really trying...

And with this post, October is officially over.

ParaKate

2011-11-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, Emily and I drove up to SLC

for the Parachute & Kate Voegele concert at In The Venue.

Despite being stuck in traffic for roughly 5 centuries, we were able to

only miss the opening band. Thankfully, we had Sweet Tooth Fairy

to keep us satisfied on the way up...

(The entire concert, I was basically incapable of

making any faces other than this...)

This show was a dream come true for me.

After all, what are the chances that two of your favorite artists will ever

go on tour together???

I had missed the chance to see Parachute several times

over the summer - I even almost drove all the way to Zion's

with my dad to see them in July.

AND, I also missed Kate Voegele over the summer

on Natasha Bedingfield's Less is More Tour.

SO, when I found out they were planning their joint ParaKate tour,

(Thank you Twitter...)

I knew I had to go.

We showed up right in time for Kate's set.

I've loved Kate and her music ever since I discovered her back in 2007.

(I'd actually done an entire post on her on my music blog the week before,

as part of my 20 Artists You Need to Know series

check it out here.)

So even though not too many people in the crowd seemed

familiar with her music

you know I was singing along

at the top of my lungs

in heaven.

Her set was awesome.

Since she obviously planned it just for me,

it happened to include most of my favorite songs.

She also played a cover of "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars,

a amazing new song of hers called "Blue Sky Beautiful"

and closed with an awesome rock cover of Britney Spears' "Till The World Ends."

Then Parachute was up.

And as much as I love Kate,

there was absolutely no comparison.

From the second they started playing,

the room was filled with electricity.

Screaming.

Jumping.

Singing along at the top of our lungs.

The energy level never calmed down.

I told my parents the next day that Parachute's albums

just aren't ever going to cut it for me anymore.

They were THAT amazing live.

In between the sets, we bought t-shirts.

(I have this rule where I have to buy a shirt at every concert I go to...

when I'm old my wife can make a blanket or something...)

And, because I bought a KV shirt, we scored exclusive wristbands

for the meet-and-greet with her after the show.

I was speechless.

And probably almost passed out.

I was amazed at how tiny and beautiful and sweet she was.

Seriously, you have no reason to thank me 5 times for coming to YOUR concert.

She signed my shirt.

And even initiated a hug goodbye.

I drove home in complete bliss.

Babbling on and on and on.

Poor Em could hardly get a word in...

Nothing beats an amazing live show.

Music=Life

Happy Birthday Mickey

2011-11-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting for a couple weeks to write this post

because I didn't have any pictures and we all know how much fun

it is to read picture-less posts...

But they finally got put on FB, so here we go!

Two weeks ago it was Mickey's birthday.

He turned 27

He'll tell you he turned 24 but he's clearly lying...

Normally, Mickey says he doesn't care at all about his birthday.

"It's just another day" is his yearly excuse.

But since he has a particular friend who loves birthdays

more than anything on the face of this planet,

his friend forced him to celebrate all day long

and the Crew threw an awesome party.

Heres how you can throw an awesome party in 7 easy steps!

STEP 1: CROWN

Because wearing a crown obviously makes your birthday better...

Plus you can walk around and make everyone bow to you.

STEP 2: FRIENDS

Because it's never fun to throw a birthday party for yourself.

Alone.

Luckily, with this group that's never really an option.

STEP 3: DECOR

Every good party needs a theme.

As seen in the above picture,

this particular party's theme was "Festive Balloons and Streamers"

Emily was the self-appointed Decorations Committee Chairperson

STEP 4: CAKE

One of the whole reasons birthdays were invented

was to eat cake.

The cake should also be decorate to reflect

the interests of the birthday king/queen.

Hence the snowboarder.

Julia was an expert Cake Creator.

STEP 5: BIRTHDAY SONG/WISH

This step is essential.

The song needs to be as off-key and loud as humanly possible.

And when you blow out the candles, never reveal your wish.

Under any circumstances.

STEP 6: KISSES

Birthday kisses were a long-standing tradition

enjoyed by our ward during Spring/Summer.

Everyone got them.

Everyone gave them.

But apparently this tradition is something many of the

new additions to the ward since Fall started

don't seem to support....

Luckily Mickey still got a few from the old-timers...

STEP 7: PINATA

In order for the party to be a smashing success,

the pinata either needs to be REALLY cool

or REALLY embarrassing.

All I could find was Spongebob

and a Disney Princess Castle.

Naturally, I went with the Disney Princess Castle.

Another important pinata rule is that it needs to be filled

to the brim with the birthday boy/girl's favorite candy.

In this case, peanut butter M&Ms.

A note to future party-throwers:

Have the birthday boy/girl swing AWAY from the crowd.

Mild to severe candy-related injuries

will be avoided that way.

And for those of you wondering,

yes that is my crutch in Mickey's hand.

Happy Birthday Troy

-Abed.

October Adventures

2011-11-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

There has been so much lately that I've been wanting to blog about,

but I'm getting a little behind.

So, with it being the end of the month

I've decided to do a consolidated post about all the adventures I've been up to lately...

After the locksmith debacle last Saturday

I was not in the biggest party mood

But the Crew managed to convince me it was a good idea to go out and have some fun.

So, a bunch of us drove up to Thanksgiving Point to the

Cornbelly's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Fest

I had never been to Cornbelly's before and it was a ton of fun!

They had 2 different corn mazes constructed - one haunted, one normal -

a rock climbing wall, giant trampolines and several other 'haunted attractions'

(We went through all of them.

The clown-themed one was definitely not my favorite...)

We split into teams to race through the corn maze

Ben, Emily, Boyd and I won.

The other teams claimed we cheated by going around the outside of the maze

We're pretty sure they were just mad because they didn't think outside the box...

Then we found this guy and obviously had to snap a pic with him

We never did figure out if he worked there or was just

wandering around dressed like that...

The night ended with a spontaneous

dance party in this pumpkin patch to

"Black or White" by Michael Jackson

You never know when a dance party's going to happen

with this crew around...

The next day after church, we drove up Hobble Creek Canyon to Kelly's Grove

to take some "family pictures."

Here are a few of my favorites:

(I think it's safe to say I've mastered the art of posing on a swing)

(Huckleberry Finn-style)

However, the fun managed to take a turn for the worse

towards the end of our photo shoot.

I don't know whose genius idea it was but

this:

Managed to turn into this:

And before I knew what was happening, my knee decided to pop out of place.

SO, I got to end up on these for the next few days:

Long story short, I'm never doing a pyramid again.

My Afternoon with Jan the Locksmith

2011-10-27T01:14:00.000-07:00

Now that you've all had a chance to read about my Friday night,

here is Part 2 of the weirdest weekend of my life.

SATURDAY

So, after the whole police incident the night before,

I woke up Saturday STILL having absolutely no idea

where my keys were.

Julia checked her car.
Landon checked his.
I checked my whole apartment.
The KH clubhouse.

I even called the Maverik we went to for frozen yogurt.
No luck.

SO, in an attempt to quickly solve the problem,
I passed up a free ticket to the football game
inadvertently missing out on all this fun:

and decided to call a locksmith to get a new key made.

The first guy I called
(who for the record was Bilco Safe and Lock)
snottily told me it would cost $250 and would be at least an hour wait
just because it was a Saturday afternoon.
I'm sorry - I obviously intentionally lost my keys
on a Saturday afternoon to inconvenience YOU.
Right.

So, as I went further down the list, the price magically
got cheaper and cheaper.
$165...
$115...
$95...
I finally settled on a nice guy named Jan at
AA Lockout Specialist
who said he'd do it for $85 and be over in 10 minutes.
Cha-ching!

Jan got to my car at 3:30pm.
I had no idea at the time that he would be there for almost 5 hours.
First, he used the trunk lock
Which was so corroded that he couldn't figure out how to make the key.
Plus, even if the key was right, it probably wouldn't open the lock, he tells me.
I always thought it wouldn't open just because I had a valet key or something...

So two hours later, Jan decides it's a better idea to go through my passenger side door
and promptly begins to take my door apart until it looks something like this:

(not my car, but you get the idea...)

Mind you, I can't exactly leave this stranger with my car,
so this whole time I'm sitting on the curb
learning way more about locksmithery than I ever needed to know.

Jan says the door lock is much easier to use than my corroded trunk one.
But for some reason, no key he makes
(and he churned out about 7 of them)
will turn the lock.
By 7:45, it's getting dark, I've spent my entire afternoon sitting on a curb
and I am frustrated to the max.
That's when I get a phone call from Landon
"Dude, I just found your keys..."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Apparently my keys managed to wedge themselves deep into the
inner recesses of Landon's passenger seat.
They were also caught red-handed using an Invisibility Cloak.

So, I relay this news to poor Jan the Locksmith
who kindly begins to put my entire car back together
while telling me a story about how his truck got stolen when he was a student at BYU.
I guess it could've been worse...

The kicker came when Landon dropped off my keys.
Jan takes one look at them, shakes his head and sticks my car key in the passenger door.
The lock doesn't turn.
He walks around to the as-yet-untouched driver's side.
The key obviously works.
He then proceeds to grab the very first key he made 3.5 hours ago...
Opens my driver's side door on the first try.
All I could say was
"You've got to be kidding me."

Moral of the story:
CHECK EVERY DOOR

On the plus side, if anyone ever needs a good locksmith, I can give a great recommendation...

Keys, Cops and Caleb Blood: A Normal Friday Night

2011-10-25T01:06:00.000-07:00

WHAT a weekend. My Friday/Saturday/Sunday was an insane mix

of a perfect college weekend and a case of "you've got to be kidding me..."

Ready for the story?

This is Part 1

FRIDAY

Friday night started out perfectly great.

First on the agenda was dinner with Emily.

Introducing her to the joy of Pasta Factory turned out to

be more difficult than we expected. Neither of us were able to finish

our food. The worst part was that we had to skip the Never-on Sundae...

Then, Phase 2 of the night began here:

to meet up with some other friends for our former wardie

Caleb Blood's show.

Naturally, we insisted on being right in front

of the stage to cheer him on. Caleb is an incredible

musician - remember his name because he's going to be

huge one day.

After the show, we eventually made our way back to King Henry,

effectively distracted Landon from his homework and decided

to hit up Maverik for some frozen yogurt.

This is where the trouble started...

On the way back from Maverik, I realized I had

somehow managed to misplace my keys.

If you know me, this comes as no surprise.

I lose important things (i.e. keys, wallet, etc.) roughly

5 million times a week.

They always turn up.

But this time, the search proved fruitless - my keys had vanished.

By 2 am, I decided to check my car to see if I left them there

after moving it from the parking lot to the street.

(Note to self: BUY A PARKING PASS)

Without thinking, I walked to my car and opened the passenger side door.

My first thought was "Oh good they must be in here!"

Then the alarm started going off.

If you haven't ridden in my car, you need to know it's a little booby-trapped

and that since I was in a hurry when I parked,

I forgot to specifically lock my tricky passenger side door.

Since my alarm is already going off, I decide I might as well just look for my keys.

Turn the lights on, quickly search my front and back seats.

Nothing.

In frustration, I slam the door.

Finally, the alarm goes off, but I think to myself

"Why aren't the lights turning off?"

That would be because I didn't turn them off before closing the door.

Smart Glenn.

Now I have yet another dilemma on my hands:

Do I open the door, set the alarm off again and turn off the lights?

Or do I leave the lights on and not risk waking up the entire neighborhood

again at 2:30 in the morning?

In a stroke of inspiration, I remember that my key fob is

sitting on my desk in my room.

So I run back and grab it, thinking I've solved this whole problem.

But upon reaching my car again, I'm greeted by two of these:

Apparently someone called the cops because

it looked like I was trying to steal my own car.

I calmly explain the situation to Officer #1 while Officer #2 sits

in his car for back-up. Because I clearly look like a dangerous criminal

in my sweater and Snoopy PJ pants...

To prove my innocence, Officer #1 asks me to unlock the car with my fob.

No prob.

I pull it out of my pocket, click unlock...nothing happens.

Nervous laugh. Click it again. And again.

Nothing.

Now Officer #1 is looking at me like I'm an idiot.

The battery must be dead, I explain.

But here's my license! Just radio the license plate in, it's registered

in my parents' names!

Satisfied I've fixed this ridiculous situation, I sit back and listen as

Officer #1 radios in my license plate number.

The person on the other end radios back and it takes me

a few seconds to realize that

the names I'm hearing over the static are

NOT my parents' names.

Now it looks like I've lied to Officer #1 twice in five minutes.

At this point, all I can think is "This must be a joke.

Where's Ashton? I must be getting Punk'd right now."

Officer #1 doesn't think it's very funny.

Then all I could think was how I was going to

call my parents from a jail cell at

2:30 AM and explain that I got arrested

for trying to steal MY OWN CAR.

In the end, I convinced him to let me break into my car

one more time, turn off the lights, and grab the

registration from the glove box.

With my innocence sufficiently proven Officer #1 and Officer #2

(who never actually got out of his car...)

drove off into the night,

leaving me standing next to my car.

Alarm going off full blast.

Waking up the entire neighborhood for the 2nd time

at 2:30 in the morning.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Tweety Birds

2011-10-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, I've managed to develop a full-blown,
unabashed addiction/obsession with Twitter.
I first signed up for an account in December, about 6 weeks after coming home from my mission.
At first, I barely ever used it.
But around the beginning of summer, Twitter Fever hit
and I jumped in feet first.
Then, the recruiting process started and more and more of my friends started tweeting.
Now it's pretty much a prerequisite to initiation into the group: get a Twitter.

(Look! Someone found the Twitter bird!)
Half my tweets are in code.
Half are random observations about life.
I actually catch myself thinking in hashtags.
I can't wait to have a smartphone again so I can start Twitpic-ing
the 25 things a day I see and think to myself "I really wish I could post that to Twitter..."
It's clearly a really healthy relationship.
But until then...

In the meantime, follow me on Twitter by clicking on the link below!
Prepare to be entertained. Or just confused.

Kelsie's Farewell - In Pictures

2011-10-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

After the last post, I was looking through Facebook and realized there were so many great pictures from Kelsie's farewell that they deserved another post all to themselves.

My ward really is so great. I've said it a million times before but I have no idea how I got so lucky.

Ben, Emily, Todd, Rachel, Me, Richard, Mickey, and Julia before the open house.

Me and Audi

Allie and Jeff, my favorite newlyweds

Me and Marianne

Now for some of the headshots....

Todd aka Flynn Rider

Richard

Mickey

Julia and Rachel B.

It's always a party when this crew gets together - as you'll see in future catch-up posts...

Sister Missionaries

2011-10-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Once again, I find myself up early in the morning, feeling like I need to catch up on my blog. It's been six weeks since my last post...One of these days, I will get back into the blogging groove.

Instead of doing another insanely long catch-up post, I'm just going to do a bunch of posts about the most important highlights from Sept. 2 - Oct. 15. Yeah, we'll see how that goes...

One thing I've learned over the past several years is that saying goodbye to people is just a part of life.

It's never fun, and I never handle it super well.

But I'm learning ha.

Last month, I had to do it twice, to two very special girls.

The first was Miss Taylor Brown.

As most of you probably know, Taylor was my very best friend throughout high school.

(2007)

(2011)
From 2005-2007, Tay and I did pretty much everything together,
(including roughly 1,000,000 hours of restitution for all the times we ditched class...)
As 1/3 of The Six, we've always had a unique bond.
And ever since we graduated nearly five years ago,
our friendship has stood the tests of time, distance, my mission, and even a couple rough patches.
She's the only person in the world who can call me Glenny Poo and get away with it...

Way back in March, after swearing me to complete secrecy, she told me she was getting promptings to start her papers and go on a mission.
I was all for the idea,
and a couple months later,
she was called to the England Leeds Mission!

Tay reported to the Preston, England MTC on September 14
and, as of last week,
got to her very first area called Sunderland.
You can read all about her experiences at
sistertaylorbrown.blogspot.com

This is Kelsie Wadsworth.

Kelsie and I met in May, a few weeks after I moved to King Henry. From the day we met, Kelsie and I just clicked. I actually remember it really distinctly: I had spent my birthday weekend in STG, and I drove back to Provo on Sunday night. With my birthday crown my mom so lovingly picked out for me still obviously on my head, I walked into my apartment to find half my ward congregated in my living room. After a loud, surprise rendition of Happy Birthday from this group of people I barely knew at the time, I ended up sitting on a couch, crown still firmly in place, next to this girl who introduced herself as Kelsie...Next thing I knew, we had been talking for over an hour.

The rest was pretty much history, but needless to say we got really really close over the course of the summer. (This girl even got me to hike the Y - something that is now completely, utterly crossed off my bucket list, never to be done again...) When she told me she wanted to go on a mission, I was excited for her, but assumed she wouldn't be leaving for several months like most other missionaries. Little did I know Heavenly Father had other plans in mind...

Kelsie opened her call the first weekend of September. She was called to the Arizona Tempe Mission - Spanish Speaking! But there was more - she had to report to the MTC in 2.5 weeks. So, two weeks later, her family flew out from Ohio for her farewell and our friends turned out in droves to say goodbye to her.

There were so many of us at the open house afterwards, that the easiest place to take a picture was on the balcony, while the camera guy stood on the golf course that backed onto the house!

(I don't know why someone felt it was necessary to take this picture, but since it's on FB, I'm using it...)

Hermana Wadsworth is currently in the Provo MTC just a few blocks away. I never thought I'd be as excited to get a letter from a missionary as I was this week when her first letter showed up in the mail.

I'm so proud of Taylor and Kelsie for choosing to sacrifice 18 months of their lives to share this wonderful gospel with others. When I count my blessings, I count both of these girls twice.

To find out more about what they are teaching people in England and Arizona, visit mormon.org

What I Learned in School This Week

2011-09-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

The first week of school is officially over.

My class schedule this semester is pretty diverse.

I'm taking:

Book of Mormon

Doctrine & Covenants

Principles of Accounting

American Heritage (finally...)

Intro to Archaeology

I know, random.

But with it being my "dead semester" while I apply to my program,

I don't have any Communications classes to take.

It's led to some pretty diverse tidbits of knowledge

being stored in my brain over the past 5 days

such as:

Processual vs. Post-processual archaeological theory

Korihor's epistemologies

Managerial accounting vs. financial accounting

How to read balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements

The definitions of retained earnings, accrued liabilities and accounts receivable/payable

How to best find a balance in the Human Predicament:

Libertarianism, Classical Republicanism, Autocracy or Liberalism

And it's only the first week.

It's going to be an interesting semester...

Testosteronefest '11

2011-09-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, with it being the last official weekend of summer, a few friends and I decided to help it go out with a bang. So, Mickey, Todd, Emily and I packed up a van and roadtripped to Jackson Hole, Wyo. for some camping and whitewater rafting - officially named Testosteronefest '11.

No, I'm not joking. I know what everyone reading this is probably thinking:

There is no way Glenn would ever do that.

Glenn hates camping.

He hates it more than anything.

And I will concur that you are correct.

My mom's response when I told her what we were doing was

"Honey, do these people actually know you?"

But after a bit of convincing, I found myself sitting in the back of the van wondering what I was getting myself into...

The first stop on the trip was Preson, Ida. to pick up Christopher at his parents' farm.

Then it was on to Jackson.

We camped at a campground called Station Creek right next to the Snake River. Since it was just starting to get dark when we arrived, we quickly set up camp and spent the rest of the night around the fire. Smores, deep life talks, and plenty of picture-taking.

The next morning, bright and early, we made breakfast and then got the boat ready to do some rafting.

(I looked really cool in those sunglasses, right?)
Once we got to the river, I quickly realized how freezing cold it was!
(I'm talking Tahoe-level ice-water, people...)
But before I could give it a second thought, we launched the boat, jumped in, and were off.

We were (obviously) only able to take pictures on the boat during relatively
quiet sections of the river, but three hours on a river led to some maximum bonding time,
more deep life talks, and rafting lessons courtesy of Todd
(always approach a rapid sideways until the last second, and aim for the tongue.
See? I totally know what I'm talking about...)

I have to admit, I was a little surprised by how peaceful being out on the river was.
I've never been one to really appreciate nature all that much, so it shocked me when I
realized that I actually really, REALLY liked floating down that river enjoying everything around me.

On the second day, our friend Jarrett joined us, and it was an epic repeat of the first, except that by then we were old pros at this rafting thing, so we all took turns at the oars. The river was also challenging us a bit more the second day, with bigger rapids, less sunshine, and - in our last 10 mins on the river - a thunderstorm.

(clearly, you can tell by my tongue that I was concentrating SUPER hard)
After trying to wait out the rain (and hail) for a good 45 minutes, we decided it probably wasn't going to let up and headed home with Mumford and Sons and Nickel Creek blasting the whole way there.

Great trip, great friends, great memories, goodbye summer...

Dear Summer...

2011-08-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

You've been great, it's been fun, but I might be ready for your neighbor to move in for a while.

Shh, don't tell anyone.

Bring on the sweaters

Argyle

Hot chocolate

Classes

Leaves

Being more productive

Finding out if I get into my program.

Holidays

Carving pumpkins

Pumpkin chocolate chip EVERYTHING

(may have jumped the gun on that one already...)

Albums I only listen to during fall

(John Mayer, Chris Bryan and Michelle Featherstone are all just dying to be played in my car...)

Like I said Summer, it's not you, it's me. You've been good to me this year. I'm just ready for something a little more warm and cozy.

Sincerely,

Glenn

Provo Summer Nights

2011-08-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

Last week was a week I had been waiting for all summer: my best friend Chelsea came up to visit me!

I have to brag about her for just one second. Miss Chelsea is studying Musical Theater at the prestigious University of Michigan, and this summer she had the amazing opportunity to perform two shows in St. Louis here:

The MUNY is the country's oldest and largest outdoor musical theater. It seats about 12,500 people.

For 2 months, Chels performed in front of thousands and thousands of people (that's her on the far left) in Singin' in the Rain and Kiss Me, Kate, earning the big bucks AND her Actor's Equity card. She's pretty much a star. However, after the last show closed, I was glad to have her back in Utah for a while.

Originally she was only supposed to stay for a few days, but for some odd reason, her drive home just kept getting postponed...whoops. :) The week was filled with midnight movies, cookie dough, breakfast at Kneaders, late night runs to the hospital (for food...) and way too many games of my new favorite card game Hand and Foot.

Last Friday night, we went to the Joshua James Rooftop Concert downtown.

me, Elisabeth, Zac, Chelsea, Jenny, Mac

The Rooftop Concert Series is one of my favorite things about summer in Provo. On the first Friday of every month, there's a free concert on the roof of this big parking garage downtown. It always attracts hundreds of people and is such a fun event each month.

With my three best friends who ALL happen to live in Michigan. What are the chances? The connections between the four of us are crazy.

Chelsea and I: best friends from high school.

Chelsea and Elisabeth: roommates at U of Mich.

Zac and I: roommates in Provo.

Zac and Elisabeth: both lived in Japan and went to the American School in Japan (at different times).

Elisabeth and I: Hit it off since she's been at BYU for the summer as a visiting student. From the second Chelsea introduced us, Elisabeth and I have become best friends. Poor Chels has created a monster.

Chelsea and Zac: epic Hand and Foot partners, they managed to beat Elisabeth and I every round for three nights. I may have created a monster myself...

The four of us spent the majority of the week together and I absolutely loved it. I am going to miss these three like crazy when they all go back to the Midwest next month.

Chelsi, Ashlyanna, me, Julia, Stephanie, Marianne

Then, this weekend, there was a giant end-of-summer party for my ward thrown by my girls in Apt. 77 - otherwise known as Babe Heaven. Despite feeling under the weather, I stopped by for a few minutes to snap a pic with the ladies. These girls are definitely some of my favorite people ever.

I swear I have the best ward in all of Provo. I am really going to miss the friends moving out of my ward - Babe Heaven included - but am glad for all the people who are sticking around for Fall/Winter. I have a feeling it's going to be a blast.

With summer dwindling to a close, I'm excited for school to get started but have to admit I will miss these Provo summer nights!

The 9-Month Fast Forward Update

2011-07-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've been on here. It's now 3 in the morning. I can't sleep. I've done a significant amount of blogstalking and suddenly I wanted to blog. I've been getting the urge the past several weeks to start keeping a journal again, and I guess this is how I'm going to do it.

So, I've been home from the mission for just about 9 months and this is me now:

Life for the past nine months has been a crazy never-ending rollercoaster, full of ups and downs and it isn't stopping any time soon. I'll speed through fall and winter but here were some of the highlights:

Came home Nov. 4, 2010 in total shock. Everyone said I was quiet.
Worked at my dad's restaurant, the RiverWalk, for November and December. Everyone in St. George needs to eat there. (Also, click the link.)
Thanksgiving in Carson City.
Christmas in STG with family. Finally saw some best friends after 2+ years.
Drove my life up to Provo on New Year's Eve.
Moving into my new apartment was an adventure: dried blood on the mattress, black mold on the windowsill, Mom having a heart attack. My roommates liked to wrestle and blow things up. There was also a dead animal's skull sitting adorning our TV. Not really my aesthetic...
After a few days, my family left and I was really back at BYU.
Winter Semester 2011: unaffectionately termed the Black Hole Semester. I've tried really hard to block most of it from my memory. Post-mission adjustment was less than ideal. I got through it.

Fast forward to the end of April. After a difficult semester, I peaced out of my living situation and took one of my old MTC teachers up on his offer to move into his apartment in this famous complex south of campus:

Moving to King Henry turned out to be the best decision I could have possibly made. Thanks to Shawn's invitation, I've stumbled into a situation with the best roommates I could ask for, an amazing ward and too many incredible people and experiences to even begin to count. I can't say enough good things about the friends I've made here. Good thing I'm staying for fall/winter...

I feel like I'm finally having a real dream college experience, and believe it or not, I may even be turning into a bit of a zoobie! (But shhh!, don't tell anyone...)

I also took classes spring term and, as opposed to the Black Hole of Winter, it was a great experience. After exploring/agonizing over multiple options, I've managed to find my perfect major!

Public Relations

I started out at BYU thinking I wanted to go into print journalism, but eventually the thought of having to simply report stories didn't exactly sound like my cup of tea. Nearly four years later, I realized I was looking in the right general area, but not completely on the right track. During spring term, I took two classes: Intro to Public Relations and Media Writing, and quickly discovered I'd found my niche.

Amid learning about the basics of campaign implementation, advocating for your client, using social media, issue and crisis management, reputation management, investor relations, news reporting, writing press releases and a million other things, I also had the opportunity during spring to work for

as an account coordinator for two clients. Doing Bradley felt a bit like jumping headfirst into the deep end of the pool only knowing how to doggy-paddle! But it turned out to be a huge learning experience and I got my first real taste of working in public relations. Even though it was my toughest semester academically so far, I earned the best grades I've gotten at BYU and I am so excited to apply to the program in a few short weeks.

Summer is all-too-quickly drawing to a close, but I'm doing my best to cherish every moment of the next few weeks. Life is great. I really couldn't be happier.

And now you're caught up. Pretty much.

A Thought Before Homework

2011-02-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

The longer I've watched Glee, the more convinced I am that my friends and I were a few years ahead of a major national trend when we were in high school...

The way I remember it, we frequently broke out into song and dance in the halls, classrooms and parking lots of Dixie High School, as well as everywhere else in St. George. I swear Ryan Murphy stole the entire concept for his show from our lives....

And I promise, lots of catch-up posts are coming! My only problem now is that I'm missing my camera cord, so I can't put pics on my computer. The issue will soon be solved and I'll be back to full blogging capacity. I know, you just can't wait...

The Jukebox Troubadour

2011-01-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

Hello blogosphere,

Today is the day for a major announcement. You might even want to sit down.

Starting today, in addition to this desperately-in-need-of-an-update-t

hat-I-promise-is-coming-so-so-soon personal life blog, I've started a new MUSIC blog!

The Jukebox Troubadour

For those of you who know me, (which is essentially anyone bothering to read this blog), you understand why I'd want to make a music blog in the first place.

It'll feature my favorite artists, albums, songs, hot new finds, classic treasures and who knows what else! Check it out! (Starting tomorrow. Because that's when I'll start updating it...)

Home

2010-12-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while. And I've been putting this off for lack of anything interesting to say/pictures to upload. But I figured it's about time, so...

I am home.

I just spent the last 2 years in Edmonton, Canada as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I loved every minute of my time in the Great White North. My experiences as a missionary completely changed my life and went by WAYYY too fast. Then all of a sudden, it was over.

Seven weeks ago, I stepped off an airplane in complete and total shock. Ever since, I have been readjusting to "normal" life (I'm still trying to figure out what that is...), and all the surprises and changes that come along with being out of the country for 24 months.

Life is certainly different from the one I left in 2008.

As I get things figured out, I'll be back on my blog, documenting the whole adventure.

One of the Frozen Chosen

2008-12-17T21:13:00.003-08:00

s always, this week was craziness. Thursday morning Elder
Tengelsen and I drove down to Edmonton for Christmas Zone
Conference. I am becoming a bonafide pro at driving in the
snow. Zone conference was really fun. I got to see one of my
MTC companions, Elder Meacham (he flew down from
Yellowknife) and I didn't realize until I saw him how
excited I was to talk to him again. We ate dinner together
and spent all of our break time filling each other in on our
areas. We also had like a little musical program and Elder
Tengelsen and I sang "Elder, It's Cold
Outside" ha. It was a hit and it was really great to
perform for the first time in forever.

Looking through all the emails I sent, I've concluded
that while I'm telling lots of stories, I'm not
sharing enough spiritual experiences with you.

To be honest, the days before Zone Conference were
extremely difficult for me. That week was my first real
challenge. I was really homesick, we didn't have anyone
to teach, and accounting to my Heavenly Father every night,
I started to feel like I wasn't doing a good enough job.
I was struggling with feelings of inadequacy, like I
wasn't becoming the missionary I am supposed to be fast
enough or something. And it started to affect my confidence.
When someone would answer their door, I would feel like
running in the other direction. I stumbled over my words and
got shy during teaching. My personality and character
weren't coming through in my missionary work. It all
kind of freaked me out. Every night I thought "What in
the world is going on? This is not me." But I
couldn't figure out what I needed to change in order to
keep progressing, because it felt like I was sliding down
this spiral that I've never experienced before. Elder
Rowley, self-conscious? Shy? Nervous around people? What?

All of this is why I was so glad to have my interview with
President Rhodes. It took about five seconds for me to start
crying (shocker) and I just expressed everything to him and
how I didn't understand why I was feeling like this
because it simply did not reflect any part of me. And his
counsel fixed everything I was feeling. I wrote it in my
journal so I will never forget. Here's what he said:

"Elder Rowley, you are a son of God. You must never
forget the reality of that statement. Heavenly Father has
called you to this mission for a very specific reason, to
find specific people and bring them to the gospel. He has
blessed you indescribably with unique talents, abilities,
and character that others don't possess to help you
fulfill your purpose and your call. I promise you that as
you continue to do your very best and abide by the
principles in Preach My Gospel, you will become the
missionary Heavenly Father intends for you to be. Any and
all doubts and fears you may have will leave. Never forget
you are a son of God."

It was exactly what I needed to hear. It is so vitally
important for each of us to remember our individual worth in
the sight of God. And that is one of the things I'm here
to proclaim to the people of Fort McMurray. Heavenly Father
loves each of us SO much more than the mind can comprehend.
He understands exactly how we are feeling. He knows our
strengths and weaknesses and the desires of our hearts. All
He wants is for us to return to live with Him. He has
provided us the way, the path and the life back to Him.
Always remember that each of us is, in every literal sense
of the word, a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father. Each
of us has been blessed with innumerable spiritual gifts.
That is something huge that I re-learned this week.

Since we couldn't drive back to Fort Mac Friday night,
we got special permission to go to the Edmonton Temple that
night. I was so excited because I had missed going to the
temple SOOO much these past few weeks. The temple really is
my favorite place to be. And the session was amazing. The
Edmonton Temple is a mini-temple just like Reno and there
were only like 8 people including us in the session. I love
the temple. I seriously can't say that enough.

So everything else has been going really well since then.
Elder Tengelsen and I are getting a massive response from
the members for Living Christmas Cards. At this rate we will
end up doing around 70 by Christmas. And it so wonderful to
share the gospel as I sing to the friends of the members. It
was seriously the one thing I missed the most last year -
not getting to go around with Mrs. Snow and sing to people.

Oh before I forget this is REALLY IMPORTANT. I'm so
sorry I seem to ask for something every week but I asked
President Rhodes about acceptable music and he said that it
was up to my judgement as long as it was 1. spiritual and 2.
reverent. The two artists I immediately thought of were 1.
Adrienne and 2. Hilary Weeks. So Mom, Dad, and Adrienne can
you send me as many church cds as you can get your hands on
with the rest of the stuff? I know some are just in my room
with the stacks of my CDs or Dad could you burn me copies or
something? If possible I would really love
-All the Hilary Weeks CDs
-Everything Adrienne has recorded (Esp. You Stayed and the
new one if you have it :))
-All my EFY CDs (in the stacks or Alex has them...I know my
Look and Live CD busted in half)
Thank you so so much. All we have is instrumental music and
its starting to drive me a little cuckoo haha.

Well I think that's all for this week. Thank you for
your prayers. I know that Heavenly Father is strengthening
me through the prayers of others because I could not be
doing this on my own.

Love
One of the Frozen Chosen,

Elder Rowley

Busy Week!

2008-12-17T21:13:00.001-08:00

Hi!! It's been such a busy week. Ok first though, I got
a letter from one of the sisters in my MTC District who said
the letters to the boys and the Arvizus came back to the MTC
the day I left for Canada because I once again forgot to put
stamps on the envelopes. Sorry! Im so scatterbrained. But I
will write them again today. Promise.

And Mom and Dad, the package from you was waiting for me
last Wednesday when I got home from emailing you! Thank you
thank you thank you! The presents are all lined up right
under the tree Gramma sent. :)

Ok so, as the title of my email suggests, it has been a
total week of firsts here in Fort McMurray. One of the
coolest things was that I saw the Northern Lights for the
first time this week! Seriously they were the most beautiful
thing ever. None of the pics I got did them justice in real
life. Another first was that we had to plug the car in
overnight for the first time so it would start in the
morning. Yeah.

One of the most interesting and unique phenomenons that
happened to me this week was that I felt the inside of my
nose freeze. Yes. It's so cold that when you take a
breath through your nose, your nose hairs freeze. It's
seriously the weirdest feeling in the world.

We did a bunch of service last Saturday for a couple
less-active/part-member families in the wards. One of them
involved hanging drywall on a ceiling. To start off with,
you all probably know that I had absolutely no idea what
drywall looked like, nor did I know how heavy it was to put
on a ceiling haha. And keep in mind that its of course
freezing cold in this trailer addition because theres
obviously no heater. So Elder Tengelsen, Bro. Keyworth, and
I put up the first 5 ft piece and I'm like "OK that
wasn't too bad..." And then we get to this 12 ft
piece of drywall thats like 110 lbs. And here's the
funny part. Because I'm so short I obviously
couldn't reach the ceiling, so I had a little stool but
even with the stool I still wasn't tall enough, so I was
on my very tip toes to reach the ceiling. So we get it up
and I'm like "Oh this is a lot freaking
harder..." And then Brother Keyworth realizes he left
the drill on the other end of the trailer, so he's like
"Elder Rowley can you hold onto this?" And I say
yes because what else am I supposed to say?? And Elder
Tengelsen is trying to work on a corner or something,
I'm basically holding this huge thing of drywall up to
the ceiling by myself. On a stool, on my tiptoes. Just
imagine that for a second. I felt like Atlas. Seriously. The
next morning it honestly felt like I had gotten run over by
a truck ha.

Um yesterday, the HIGH was -34 celsius. I'm not sure
what that is in F, (I do know they meet at -40) but for the
first time the question realistically crossed my mind that
it might be possible for a human to actually freeze to
death. We can't stay outside for very long because we
can get frostbite. I'm so grateful I have the Lord's
protection because I completely know that I would not be
able to do this without Him constantly watching over me.
I've really noticed so many changes in myself already.
This week in companionship inventory Elder Tengelsen said he
admires that I never complain especially since I apparently
look so miserable. I honestly hadn't even thought of it
before he said anything. But Heavenly Father is keeping my
mind at peace and I'm not even THINKING negatively, much
less saying anything.

As far as teaching, this week has been more difficult than
the past 2 because we lost both of our main investigators,
Ashley and Sean, and it's been an uphill battle finding
new people to teach. One thing I'm working at overcoming
is how much I don't like tracting. It's so weird but
I get so nervous and stumble over my words whenever someone
answers the door. It's just something I don't like
to do, but I think I will get better with practice.

We found a man named Wenceslao this week. He is from
Guatemala and he was going back there Tuesday (yesterday),
which seems to be a reccuring pattern here ha, but he let us
in right away and wanted us to teach him. The most immediate
problem was that Wenceslao didn't speak any English. My
first thought was "Evelyn would be so mad at me right
now for not knowing the lessons in Spanish." haha. But
We got through a rough lesson on the Book of Mormon in
Spanish and set a return appt where we could bring a Spanish
speaking member. The return lesson went so well and
Wenceslao said he wanted to meet missionaries when he got
home. He said the Book of Mormon made total sense and that
the other churches didnt believe in it because they just
didn't know about it. :) It's amazing to see people
so prepared for the gospel.

All the other people we've taught have only been first
lessons so there's nothing much else to report. Oh
except one thing we are doing this month is called Living
Christmas Cards. It's so fun and I get to sing!! Members
refer their friends and we go over with a plate of cookies,
a Joy to the World DVD, and sing them a carol and read a
scripture. So far, they've been a smash with the members
and we are getting referrals left and right.

Mom, could you send me some stuff when you have time? I
could really use my Brooke White T-Shirt, another sweatshirt
of mine, and another pair of pj pants. Just whenever you
have time to send them.

I love you all and I'm so sorry I've been lax on
letter but I promise I will send some today.

Love,

Elder Rowley

"What is impossible for you is possible with God's
help in His service."
President Eyring

First Baptism

2008-12-17T21:12:00.003-08:00

Ok wow so much has happened this week I'll have to type
fast. The biggest news is that WE HAD OUR FIRST BAPTISM on
Saturday. Ashley got baptized!!! It was so amazing. I got to
be a witness, say the closing prayer, and be in her
confirmation circle. It was such a good weekend. Oh and
also, Sean left for Korea on Sat. which was sad but we
taught him every single day last week before he left and I
committed him to baptism. He said he would find the
missionaries as soon as he got to Korea. It has been such an
amazing experience to see him become truly converted to the
gospel. And in such a short amount of time too! He was so
ready to hear the gospel, all we had to do was find him.

Well, as I'm sure you're all wondering, it just
keeps getting colder. Today it is -27 with wind chill.
I'm not gonna lie I am freezing every single minute of
every single day. But I'm still alive haha. Basically, I
wear my thermal garments, regular thermals, slacks, shirt,
tie, sweater, coat, hat gloves and a scarf every day.
It's a challenge because I'm starting to look like
Randy from A Christmas Story "I can't put my arms
down!" hahaha. Speaking of scarves, Mom could you send
me all the scarves I didn't bring, because I can wear
them. They don't have to be solid colors. Gramma I got
your package! Thank you thank you thank you! I think my
companion was a bit jealous ha. The stocking is amazing. I
love it. And I totally lost it when I saw the back of it.
But hey, I lasted a month without crying so that's
pretty good right? In other news, (and I think this is a
little bit of a secret) President Rhodes has asked Elder
Tengelsen to start my "district leader training".
So I get to run the district meeting tomorrow and hes
teaching me how to do all of it.
One fun thing that happened this week was we got to do
exchanges with the zone leaders - Elder Kipp and Elder
McCarty. Elder Kipp served in Ft. Sascatchewan for like 9
months so he knows Brent, and Elder McCarty is from
Kaysville so he knows Abe's whole family! It was really
neat. Oh and also, Elder Kipp is from Sparks. Crazy right?
SO I went with Elder McCarty and we talked to this woman and
she said she was "born again Christian, going straight
to heaven and all that." When we asked her if we could
teach her she said "No you cant." And then as like
an aside she said " You Mormons are a false cult you
are." To which Elder McCarty responded "Well
ma'am that's not a very nice thing to say." It
totally stopped her dead in her tracks and made her look so
rude ha. She just walked into her house without a word. Kill
em with kindness right?

Well I think that's pretty much it. Oh except Mom and
Dad you can totally email me pictures because I can open
them and print them off on the library comps we use. If you
could send me a bunch of fam pictures, esp the ones we took
at the temple of all of us that would be great.

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Elder Rowleyrty is from Kaysville so he knows Abe's
whole family! It was really neat. Oh and also, Elder Kipp is
from Sparks. Crazy right? SO I went with Elder McCarty and
we talked to this woman and she said she was "born
again Christian, going straight to heaven and all
that." When we asked her if we could teach her she said
"No you cant." And then as like an aside she said
" You Mormons are a false cult you are." To which
Elder McCarty responded "Well ma'am that's not
a very nice thing to say." It totally stopped her dead
in her tracks and made her look so rude ha. She just walked
into her house without a word. Kill em with kindness right?

Well I think that's pretty much it. Oh except Mom and
Dad you can totally email me pictures because I can open
them and print them off on the library comps we use. If you
could send me a bunch of fam pictures, esp the ones we took
at the temple of all of us that would be great.

I

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-12-17T21:12:00.001-08:00

Ok first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLEY TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are
having Thanksgiving up here with a member fam from
California, so that will be good :) I do only check my email
once a week every Wednesday, just so you know. Let's
see...I got Sister Boyack's letter, I love her! I never
did get Sheri's letter, but maybe they forwarded it to
the mission office or something. But I did open my inbox
today with a bazillion emails ha, so I'm trying to
remember everything to answer. We have dinner appts almost
every night. Those have been sometimes amazing, sometimes
terrifying. On Saturday we ate dinner at a members house,
they were both environmental scientists... We had lettuce
and tomato salad with orange juice/softboiled egg dressing.
Yes. With salmon (Thank goodness) and this weird squash
stuff that tasted literally like vomit. I almost died ha.
Like really I was praying so freaking hard. Other times
it's really good, but either way I love teaching the
members. I'm staying warm and driving is going good.
Except for my wonderful sense of direction ha. This will
surprise none of you but my companion said to me today
"Elder Rowley you have the most fascinating mind. You
can remember names and faces better than anyone I've
ever met but you never have any idea where you are."
haha. Ft. McMurray is a very confusing town. And it's
all so different from St. George like I can't even tell
you. Just complete opposite of everything I'm used to
ha. Oh and the boys need to set up email accounts ASAP. ALEX
GOT HIS LICENSE!!! AHH! Have fun Al!

This week has been crazy. WE are so BUSY as missionaries.
Since we are both brand new, we knew NO ONE when we got here
so have had to meet all the ward leaders this week and
remember who is who ha. The members are awesome. They are
definitely in the minority even moreso than in Carson I
think, so the active members are all very strong. However
there are 3 inactive or less active houses for every active
one here in Ft. Mac. So there is definitely a ton of work to
be done with the less actives. We are teaching tons.
Teaching is definitely really fun. We actually have a
baptism this saturday for Ashley, the girl who the old
missionaries were working with! I'm excited.

Fort Mac is so incredibly diverse, I was honestly shocked.
For example, out of all the investigators we found and
taught this week, Ashley is the only Canadian and her native
language is French. Here are some of the other
investigators:

Shadrac: We went to Shadrac's house looking for a
former investigator who had moved, but Shadrac invited us in
and let us teach him and his roommates - Ayom and John. They
are from Sudan, how sweet right? At first Shadrac was a
little cautious to talk to us but then something way funny
happened and Dani you will get a kick out of this: We went
downstairs where his roommates were and they were playing
music on their laptop. The song that was on was Sim Simma by
I think Shabba Ranks but I'm not sure ha. Anyways,
it's this way black reggaeton song that Brent gave me
last year, not something you think I would listen to, and I
guess I was kind of singing along with the song and Shadrac
stopped and looked at me and was like "You know this
song brotha?" And I was like "Oh yeah I love this
song!" to which he replied "Well then you teach me
whatever you want and I will listen." Apparently it
made me legit haha. So we taught him the Plan of Salvation
and a return appt. It was good for me because he kind of
focused on me the majority of the time so I taught alot of
the lesson. Oh the things that open doors ha.

Sean: We street contacted sean last week outside the city
building. He is from South Korea and he's been in Fort
McMurray for a couple of months. And sadly, he actually
moves back to Seoul on Friday because his visa expires, but
here is the story. His English is...ok but there was
definitely a communication barrier at first. We met with him
last Friday at the library and taught him about the
Restoration. He was totally receptive and said he had been
looking for a true religion in his life for years but had
never found what he felt was exactly right. But that he knew
this was right. He said that during our very first
discussion! So he committed to come to church and he came
and he loved it. On Sunday it was amazing because he asked
the member who gave him a ride on the way over if there were
any other Asians who went to the Church, and there are
definitely not. But at 10:00 a couple of guys from South
Korea, a member and a nonmember friend he brought, walked
into the chapel. How amazing right? Apparently Jason, the
member had moved here a couple weeks ago and just decided to
stop by the church to see what time sacrament was. It was
totally an answer to prayer. They totally connected with
Sean and it made him feel so comfortable. He loved Church
and we taught him on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday I
committed him to baptism and he said he will find the
missionaries the second he gets to Korea to prepare to be
baptized. When he prays its seriously so amazing because he
has these really simple heartfelt prays that are so sincere.
In just one week he has been converted and yesterday he said
to us that he wishes he wasnt going back to Korea because
now hes found what hes been looking for. He stays up late
reading the Book of Mormon and says he brings it everywhere
he goes.

We also have a few other investigators, Mark from Poland,
Yvonne from Nigeria (I think), Javier from Peru who we are
committing to baptism this week, Tommy from S. Korea, and
Chaitee from India. Those are the main ones right now. But
it is seriously such a blast. We had 4 investigators at
church on Sunday. The work is definitely progressing and we
are working really hard. Heavenly Father is blessing us so
much in our work every day. I wish I could tell you every
single detail but I'm out of time. I love you all. The
church is true.

Love

Elder Rowley

D&C 46: 40-43 (I think. I dont have my scriptures but
it starts with 'And this is the gospel...")

PS. EMAIL ME!!!!!

PSS. Mom will you start forward these to Mr. Saxton and
Mrs. Snow, please? And Ms. Stucki, thank you! Oh and to
mattmehr@gmail.com & shawnrm08@gmail.com They were my
MTC teachers.

PSSS. Dani are you alive ha?

PSSSS. No, I havent gotten a package yet but I'm sure
it's coming. Thank you :) ILYE

I wish I could email everyone seperately but I just
don't have enough time. I'm writing letters today
though to everyone. Sorry boys you didnt get your letters, I
will rewrite them.

OH CANADA!

2008-11-19T14:27:00.001-08:00

The past week has been the craziest of my life. Seriously.
The end of my time at the MTC went by so fast I hardly
remember what to tell you. Needless to say, I'm in
CANADA!!!!! We got to Edmonton on Monday around noonish. The
flight was good and they didnt even offer Dr. Pepper on the
plane so that was easy haha. Ok I sent you a letter in the
mail on Monday from President Rhodes' house but I will
try to reiterate as much as possible so this makes sense. We
met President and Sister Rhodes at the Edmonton Airport.
They are so nice and they have the Spirit so strong with
them all the time. You can just feel it. So that night we
went to their house for some training, like "Welcome to
Edmonton" stuff and the mission cook made us
Thanksgiving dinner. It was so so so good. Then we had a
fireside with President and went to bed. I was exhausted
from traveling, it had been such a long day. The next
morning we got up at 5 because there were 13 of us that had
to get ready before breakfast. It took forever ha but
somehow I still had hot water and I was towards the end.
Then we had some more training about how to ask an
investigator to pray with the Assistants to the President.
And then it was off to the big event of the day - Transfer
Meeting! It was like getting my mission call all over again
ha. They called us up one by one to the podium to open the
envelope with our first transfer in it. So I'm the last
to get called up, I open the envelope and read:

Area: Beacon Hill
(Fort McMurray)

Trainer: Elder Tengelsen

Look up Ft McMurray on a map. Right now. It's 5 hours
NORTH of Edmonton. Yes. The only person who got sent further
north than me was my MTC companion Elder Meacham, who is in
Yellowknife, NW Territories. So I'm kind of freaking out
right, but thinking it's ok I have five hours to kind of
prepare myself. That's when Elder Tengelsen said "I
hope you like to drive!" Here's the story.
Apparently he got his driving privileges taken away for some
reason a while ago (I didn't ask why), so I had to drive
the truck FIVE. HOURS. through Edmonton, a city of over a
million people, to Ft. McMurray. In the snow. Hundreds of
miles away. I was FREAKING. OUT. I've never driven that
long of a distance before. And I've never driven in
snow. I don't think I've prayed that hard in my
entire life. But we made it without any incident. Oh and I
drove right past Ft Sascatchewan, where Brent lives. It was
the craziest drive because we just drove north for hours
through a total winter wasteland. I felt like I was driving
to the end of the world. And then all of a sudden, there is
a city of 100,000 people in front of you. It was the
weirdest thing. Except oh here was an incident. So we get to
Ft McMurray and we are supposed to have a dinner appointment
at 6. But we have no idea where we're going because my
trainer has never been here either. We missed the turn and
all of a sudden we're speeding up again and I see signs
that say "Oil Fields 120 km" and "Syncorp Oil
150 km" Freaking out yet again. Because by now it's
dark (It gets dark at like 445), it's snowing, we have
barely any gas, our cell phone has no service, and in case
you forgot, I'M DRIVING. this is like my worst nightmare
come true. Karly I'm pretty sure you're laughing
right now ha. But anyways, luckily, 30 mins later my
companion saw a turnoff for logging trucks so we turned
around and made it back to Fort McMurray. We finally found
the house and met Bro. and Sister Anderson who were feeding
us. They made a "Greenie dinner" haha. Everything
was green, like chicken/spinach/broccoli stirfry with
spinach linguine, pistachio salad, green punch and kiwi
cheesecake for dessert. It was all so good and so thoughtful
of them. We taught a short lesson on the Atonement and then
went and met the ward mission leader for the Beacon Hill
Ward. Apparently there is a lot of work to do here which is
awesome. There are two wards, Timberlea and Beacon Hill. My
comp. and I are the only missionaries in all of Ft
McMurray. So basically we're the only missionaries for
hundreds of miles. I thought Edmonton was cold. I was so
wrong. It is FREEZING here. I don't even want to look at
a thermometer.

My comp is awesome so far. He loves music and he played
tennis in high school. We had a lot to talk about on the way
up. This whole thing is just so surreal at the moment. Ft
McMurray is basically the oil capital of Alberta. Everyone
here is here to work for a few years on the oil something or
other, make a bunch of money and then move south. But
it's literally this isolated, thriving city in the
middle of Northern Alberta. Crazy.

Tonight we have two teaching appointments already set up by
the old missionaries, one Less active member named Tim
Sutton and a 19 year old girl with a bapt. date at the end
of the month named Ashley O'Neill. I'm so excited to
finally really teach. And I'm also excited to see the
Northern Lights!!!!! Um I think that's pretty much it.
Oh except here's my direct mailing address..we're
living in the basement of the Timberlea Ward bishop:

Suite A 116 Romar St
Fort McMurray, AB T9H 2V9

I would send stuff ASAP because I have no idea how long it
will take to get up here. Oh and please everyone email me
back because it will take forever to send letters. Thank you
for all the letters and packages at the MTC! Love you
all!!!!

Elder Rowley

PS. Dad - did the Arvizus set a bapt. date? I fasted last
Sunday. And ask them if they've gotten the letter I sent
them yet. Thanks.

PS EVERYONE: DearElders get sent to my email so you can
still send them!

Letter #2

2008-11-13T10:20:00.001-08:00

Ok I sent you a few letters with a bunch of pictures
yesterday so i will do my best not to repeat myself.
It's been a very busy week. It's weird that I've
only been here for two weeks because it feels like I've
been in the MTC forever. We are learning and teaching the
2nd lesson. The Plan of Salvation is much more complicated
to teach, to me, than the Restoration. I think that's
because almost everything we say can possibly open a huge
can of worms for investigators haha. Teaching the Fall is so
stressful because every Teaching Appointment and practice
we've had so far, we've gone off on this huge
tangent because of the investigator's questions like
"What kind of fruit was it? Did they really eat a fruit
or was it something else? Why would God give two conflicting
commandments?" etc. etc. But we are definitely making
progress as a companionship. I think the one thing we need
to work on is knowing where each of us wants to take the
lesson because I will have a specific plan in mind and then
one of my comps goes off in a completely different direction
haha.

What else? Oh here's an interesting story for you. The
other day we were in the Referral Center making calls and I
called this woman who had requested a Bible. We got to
talking and come to find out she was just getting back into
Christianity after 2 years of being a Muslim. I'm not
sure how that works but anyways, she was just desperately
searching for truth in her life and she was having a lot of
problems going back to her old Baptist church because when
she left, all her old friends and associates turned their
backs on her. Basically to make a long story short, She got
not only the Bible she had requested but a Book of Mormon,
she asked for the missionaries to come teach her and I
committed her to going to Church on Sunday. Oh and she gave
me 5 referrals. The Spirit totally directed everything I
said and it was just amazing. That same day, our district
had made a goal of 15 referrals in our hour at the RC. We
ended up with 37. It was an amazing testimony building
experience.

This week in my personal study I've been studying the
Sons of Mosiah. And I finally realized during my study this
week that Ammon, this amazing model of a missionary, was
also one of the sons of Mosiah who was seeking to destroy
the Church just a few chapters before. I guess I had never
really put 2 and 2 together.

Ok heres a funny thing about me in the MTC. I never
realized it before because I always had my iPod on, but I
literally have a song in my head every minute of the day
that I'm not specifically thinking about something ha.
It's got to be a mental quirk or something. It's
really weird that it's been 2 weeks since I listened to
music. I think this is the longest period of time ever that
that's happened haha. But apparently have the tendency
to sing along when I'm walking so my comps are always
like "What are you singing today Elder Rowley?"
It's pretty funny.

The weather has been way random the past few days. Right
now it's really drizzly but I'm surviving. Oh Dad, I
met a couple missionaries going to Singapore!! I'm kind
of just typing things as I think them ha. I have yet to
repeat a tie haha. That's another funny thing, I'm
the one in our district that has to be like perfectly ready
every morning haha. Surprised? I've had a really good
week though overall. A little bit of homesickness but like
the MTC mission president says, It's ok to be homesick
because theres a difference between being homesick, and
wanting to quit and go home. So I think it's good that I
miss you but I'm still loving what I'm doing. :)

I think that's all for now. You're letters should
come in a few days. There are 4 ha. I love you all!

Elder Rowley

"Faith is knowing the sun is there.
Hope is believing the clouds will move."

Favorite quote of the week:
"Every missionary in the field today is, in some way,
a direct result of the very work they are doing."

PS. Karly, if you want to send me no-bakes either Thursday
Friday or Saturday just that same day delivery thing, I
would love you forever.

PPS: Mom i'm not sure if Dani got your email because I
haven't heard from her at all since early last week. Can
you make sure you're sending this to her? Thanks. Love
you!

PPS. Adrienne. I want a letter from you.

PPPS. Al - I am so sorry about what happened this week. I
am praying for you and I hope you are doing ok. Don't
forget that i love you.

PPPPS...How was JOSEPH????

First Letter

2008-11-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! This is Karly Staples. I am going to be updating Glenn's blog throughout his mission so that all of his many friends can read about his amazing experience. I would love for you all to leave Glenn a comment and I will print them out and mail them to him.

Here is his first letter to his family...

Ok first of all it is freezing in Provo. Happy snow day.
Well everything has been going really well, I don't know
if you've gotten any of my letters yet. I've sent
two and put another one in the mailbox today. Anyways, the
past week has been such a crazy adventure! I wish you could
just read my journal and hear everything right away!
Teaching is getting better every day. Yesterday we actually
had our first "Teaching Appointment" and it went
AMAZINGLY! It was the first time I really felt the Spirit
directing what I said. It felt like D&C 100 coming to
life. If you havent gotten my letters yet, my first
companion, Elder Hawkins went home on Halloween. He just
couldnt handle it emotionally. It was really sad but at the
same time it was good for me because I couldnt focus on
being homesick or anything. I really have been fine. Which I
am so gratefulk for. It's been a total answer to prayer.
Iguess my farewell talk subject was pretty inspired from
Brother Olsen after all. We have 11 missionaries in our
district - 7 elders and 4 sisters. All in all, we are going
to Edmonton; Tempe, AZ; Riverside, CA; and Halifax. Canada.
So it's a pretty diverse bunch. I am doing really well.
All I heard before I got here was how long the days were and
they def. are long but I love the classes. We have really
awesome teachers. It's just so much fun being a
missionary. One of the other things I got to do this week
was work in the Referral Center, where you make calls to
people all over the country who have filled out pass-along
cards, requested a Book of Mormon etc. It feels kind of like
the Box Office haha. Anyways, I talked to one lady the other
day from California. She had gotten her Book of Mormon two
days prior and had tons of questions. We talked for about a
half hour and I was surprised that every time she asked a
question, the Spirit prompted me with an answer or a
scripture reference which I have never been very good at
remembering. What a blessing. And it was the most uplifting
and exciting conversation because she was so enthusiastic
about what she was reading and plus I was finally talking to
a real investigator instead of practicing! I'm very
excited to get out into the field and talk to more people
face to face.

So how is everyone?? I have loved getting your letters. My
district is kind of all jealous of me because I get letters
and packages every day ha. So far I have gotten 17 letters
and 3 packages just this week. Thank you for being so
thoughtful and remembering me.

Oh and guess what? I'm actually losing weight in the
MTC! I have been drinking nothing but water this entire week
and I can rarely finish my plate because since we eat
breakfast here, I'm never like STARVING for the rest of
the day. I am surviving Gym ha. The first day was absolutely
dreadful because you have to stay with someone from your
district so I ended up freaking running. Yeah. But the other
day we all got together and played volleyball which was
definitely more my style ha. It was really fun.

We got to go the temple today and holy cow the inside of
the Provo Temple is so beautiful, parts of it literally took
my breath away and it was pretty different than the StG
temple. Like you don't move rooms or anything.

Let's see. Mom, could you possibly send me a couple
sweaters I can wear under my suit coat please? And an
umbrella would be really nice if that's possible.
That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment.
other than the flip-flops but I already told you that in my
letter.

I love you so so so much. And I think about you every day.
I am trying to be the very best missionary and example of
our Savior I can be. I know that what I am teaching people
is the truth and that the people in Candada really need it.
I love my Savior and I am so grateful for the chance to
serve Him for 2 years of my life!

Love,

Elder Rowley

P.S. Could you forward this to Karly karlystaples@mac.com,
Chelsea misschelsea@mac.com, Dani creamcheeser@hotmail.com,
and all the fam. I've written them all letters but I
want them to get these too. And Chelsea or Karly, I
don't have Trent's email so could you pass this on
for me? Thanks! Love you all!

Oh and Dad I need the Avizu's address. I already have
two letters for them but I dont know what they're exact
address is. In fact, a full ward directory would be really
great.

Oh and to answer some of your questions from your Dear
Elders, my sleep schedule has been totally fine because I am
getting a full 8 hours every night so it's not like
I'm sleep deprived at all. I just had to get used to
waking up at 630 ha. But I am doing good with it. Dad, Thank
you for the cookies! The district loved them as much as I
did! Gramma, I wrote you but I will say it again, thank you
for your cookies too! Those I didn't share. They were so
amazing and arrived to me in complete cookies, not crumbs
haha. I am doing my best to write everyone when i have a
chance but I really am so busy it takes a while to get a
full letter done. I love you all!

Oh Canada!

2008-10-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I got some mission pictures done by Ali's sister, my amazingly wonderful friend Emilie Decker (who is also a very fun concert-going buddy by the way). They're not all done but this is just a sneak peek of what she sent me! Plus, check out her blog, Photo By Emilie!

Mary Jane...

2008-10-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

I didn't cry the day you moved away
Didn't think that I would feel this pain
Until I saw the stranger that was you.
Whatever happened to our innocence?
And that something that you said 'bout being friends...
Tell me how
Help me say the words out loud

Could it be that nothing's gonna change?
Cuz time has got a way of taking back
Everything you thought you had
Can you see the girl you used to be?
The one I lost when I let go of you
Oh whatever happened to Mary Jane?

I need to wake up from this state of mind
This situation is the staying kind.
I gotta get your memory out of my head
Would you catch me if I had to fall?
Would you even find the time for that at all?
Tell me how
Help me say the words out loud

Could it be that nothing's gonna change?
Cuz time has taken back everything I thought we had
Can you see the girl you used to be?
The one I lost when I let go of you
Oh whatever happened to Mary Jane?

Mary Jane...?

The Click Five - Modern Minds and Pastimes

Don't Vote...Really...

2008-10-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

A Couple of New Buzzworthy Blogs

2008-09-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, my dear devoted reader(s). Introducing a pair of brand-new blogs for your reading pleasure.

First up is the blog of my dear friend Miss Chelsea Wilson. (PS I just figured out how to make a link! Go me!) Chelsea in Wonderland chronicles Miss Wilson's grand adventures as a Musical Theater major at the top-rated and incredibly prestigious University of Michigan. Just in case you somehow missed the memo (which if you personally know me I guarentee I've told you) UMich is the #1 Musical Theater program in the country. In the entire U.S. of A. 10 guys and 10 girls were accepted out of the 700+who were invited to audition. One of those 10 was my best friend Chelsea. Yes. That gives you a tiny smidge of an idea how incredibly amazingly talented she is. Most days I still marvel at the fact that I know her, much less that I'm friends with her. Long story short, you should really read her blog because you will be reading the thoughts and experiences of a future Broadway superstar. Just ask Gavin Creel. Or Hunter Foster. Danny Gurwin. Andrew and Celia Keenan-Bolger. Pasek and Paul. Yeah. She's on a list with those people. Love you Chels.

Next up is actually a blog that is kind of about me. Dani, (hopefully you all know who she is by now if you read this blog), has started a blog about me and the other guys. My Boys will follow the 6 of us as we go on missions and Dani as she goes to AFRICA for spring and summer 2009. It should be really for fun for people to read as we spread out across the world and reunite in two years! SO you should check out both of these blogs! And comment on my post :)

Resignation

2008-09-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

it's been two whole years
since you and I shared fears
2:30 AM
talking til sleep inside that diner
and now in your eyes
i can't find You.

sorry that
i'm Taken Aback
but how I am, you never ask
and I don't need such sympathy
but a care would be so
nice to have, once in a while
you mean more to me
than I could ever tell
so sorry that
i'm Taken Aback
but I just can't Help it

someday this will go away
and everything I am will just leave and fade
And I hope then, that you will Understand
It's not everything I am
My Dear Only Friend.

So sorry that I'm Taken Aback.
But how I am you never ask...

You mean more to me than I could ever tell.
So sorry that I'm taken aback.
But I just can't help it.

Lyrics by Bryce Avary

An Unexpected Twist

2008-09-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

So I got an interesting update last night from my good friend Andy (above, right. obviously. since he's not me) who is currently serving his mission in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Due to the current political situation in Bolivia, all the missionaries have been taken out of the country. So at the moment, he and all the other missionaries have been taken to Brazil, and next week he will fly to Peru to get reassigned somewhere else for the remainder of his mission. Which means no more Bolivia. So crazy. First Russia, now Bolivia....the missionary force is losing ground! I'm just glad Andy and all the other missionaries are safe and taken care of. And I'm very grateful Canada is a relatively tame country ha. I'll be sure to post where he is being reassigned as soon as I find out!

Words to Live By...

2008-09-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

"Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want. Everything you want. Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true. You never know where the next miracle is going to come from, the next smile, the next wish come true. But if you believe that it's right around the corner, and you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it, to the certainty of it, you just might get the thing you're wishing for. The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it. So make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now believe in it. With all your heart."

- Mark Schwahn, Creator, One Tree Hill

We Were Here

2008-08-28T13:20:00.001-07:00

"and now i find myself back...back in my adventure. back in college. back in the choice i made, that cannot be taken back. not that i regret it. it is just...not as special. it's not as special as what i found...when i returned to the friends, who so lovingly take me in. who don't praise me or put me down. i am just a part. and no matter how minor or major role i play, it is where i belong. with them. it means the world to me." - A. McDonald

You have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...

2008-08-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

I finally got my call! I have been called to serve in the Canada Edmonton Mission! I leave October 29 and I am so excited! I can't wait!

The final and COMPLETE list!

Elder Christian Page: Pennsylvania, Harrisburg
Elder Andy Gonzalez: Bolivia, Santa Cruz
Elder Abraham McKay: France, Paris
Elder Kendall Tingey: Canada, Toronto West
Elder Brent Kamba: England, Leeds
Elder Glenn Rowley: Canada, Edmonton

The Hills Are Alive!

2008-08-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again! The only good thing about the end of the summer is the start of my favorite totally addicting, superficial, kind-of-pointless, yet somehow-always-relatable to the semi-dramatic parts of my life, reality show. (Hope you followed that!) That's right The Hills is back for season 4. I have always been an unabashed super-fan of The Hills. So I'm very excited for tonight's new episode. I'm especially hoping that Lo (above, right) will finally get promoted to main cast member. She is my favorite. Happy days are here again.

A Summer of...Reading.

2008-08-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

Due to lack of significant social contact and/or a full-time work schedule, I have turned to reading this summer as my primary form of escapism. I've always been a big reader. I'm even kind of OCD about my personal "library" (no one borrows. Ever.) However, it seems to me that I've read more books this summer than usual. These have been my summer adventures so far:

So yeah, I guess this list kind of officially makes me a nerd. A diverse nerd, but still a nerd. As if I didn't already know that.

Do Not Disturb

2008-08-02T09:09:00.001-07:00

It's Like "Week of the Missionaries" Down Here...

2008-07-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

First B, now Michel...to Milan, Italy. That's right. Milan freaking Italy. He leaves October 15th. I really hope you can hear the jealousy in my voice. But it's cool. I wouldn't even be able to begin to focus in Italy anyway haha.

On a completely unrelated note, this is Brooke Fraser. And this is the cover of her new album, Albertine. I am completely and utterly hooked on this girl's music. She's from New Zealand and she's an amazingly talented singer/songwriter. I've done some research and it turns out that the inspiration for all the songs on this album (most specifically the title track, but really all of them), came from a trip she took to Rwanda, Africa. It's seriously amazing. Check her out on iTunes or Youtube. And a personal shout-out: Karly, you would LOVE her.

5 Down, Me to Go!

2008-07-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

Brent got his mission call tonight! He is going to Leeds, England!!! Totally not what any of us expected but SO SO exciting and cool! He reports October 10 to the Preston, England MTC. Holy cow! That just leaves me. Here's the new list (which is almost done!):

Andy Gonzalez: Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Chris Page: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Abe McKay: Paris, France

Kendall Tingey: Toronto, Canada

Brent Kamba: Leeds, England

Mamma Mia!

2008-07-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am so freaking excited for this movie. It's kind of pathetic. But if unless you are related to me, you probably don't know that I was literally RAISED on ABBA (+ Beach Boys + early 90's country). I have countless fun memories of dancing around to ABBA on Gramma and Papa's 8-track (yes 8-track) every Sunday afternoon with Adrienne and Alex. We would literally play the music and dance for hours (we would even put the songs in order and make up little musicals... novel idea...) until finally a couple years ago the 8-track stopped working. So I know every word to every song. Like I said, it's kind of pathetic. But the best part of this whole thing is that the movie comes out when my family is visiting from Nevada. So I get to go see this movie with all my crazy family members who love ABBA as much as I do. I can just see my gramma and I rocking out in the aisles during the movie. I'm not joking. Seriously it's gonna be insane.

Funniest Show EVER

2008-07-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

So the other day I exploring hulu.com and I stumbled on this online series called "Dorm Life." And it is basically hands-down the FUNNIEST show I have ever seen in my life. It's like The Office, but it's about a group of college freshmen. It's HILARIOUS. I think one of the reasons I find it so funny is that I seriously go (went?) to college with people that remind me of these characters. Seriously. Each episode (there are 20) is only 5 mins long so you can watch the whole series in like 2 hours. There's also TONS of hilarious bonus features like webcam interviews (totally like our "Six" facebook thread), a facebook group (every character has their own profile and they accept friend requests), and even a shop where you can buy t-shirts inspired by the show. It's really my new favorite thing. Check out http://www.dorm-life.com and see for yourself!

My Latest Musical Addiction

2008-06-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

is the amazing Fiona Apple. I literally can not stop playing her music on my iPod. I don't know why I have been missing out on all her music for the past 12 years..where was I? Maybe it's a reflection of my current state of emotion or maybe something entirely different, but either way I am totally inspired by this girl's music. She puts all her guts and emotion into every note of every song and I am totally hypnotized listening to her. One especially favorite song of mine is "Window" from her third album, Extraordinary Machine. Thank you Chelsea for introducing me to my latest obsession.

London Calling, Miss Staples

2008-06-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Karly left for London today. She will be gone for 2 months for the BYU Study Abroad program. At the moment she is sitting on an airplane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Kar I will miss you so much. But I am so so proud of you! Everybody check out the link to her blog for updates from good old England.

Also, I'm starting to notice a pattern: my blog is all about what all my friends are doing. Sad.

God Be With You Til We Meet Again

2008-06-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today was a hard day. But one of us had to be the first to leave. And I'm so grateful for Chris and his example. This is a period of huge changes in life and I kind of can't believe it's happening.

Masterpiece in Progress

2008-06-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm kind of re-doing my bedroom. When I moved back from school, I decided it looked a bit drab so I've basically been doing everything but repainting!! My latest project has been creating a collage of pictures on this big empty space on my wall. Well, it started out relatively simple, but in the past three weeks it's kind of exploded and is now slowly taking over my entire wall. I think I've created a monster!

4 Down, 2 to Go...

2008-06-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry that is seems like this is all I post. But it's pretty much the most intersting thing I have to write about. We are officially 2/3 of the way there! Kendall got his mission call last night to Toronto, Canada. He'll be speaking English and he leaves September 10. Thank you Dani for all this information. Here's the new list!

Andy Gonzalez: Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Chris Page: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Abe McKay: Paris, France

Kendall Tingey: Toronto, Canada

Oh yeah...Graduation Happened.

2008-05-29T16:24:00.001-07:00

I totally forgot to post about graduation. It is so weird that it has been a year since I graduated from high school. As for this year's seniors, the people pictured below are the ones I really like (plus a few others), but for the most part all I have to say is

Congratulations Class of 2008

Breaking Traditions Since the Day You Walked into Dixie High School

PS This is my good buddy Joe Pikula. I am so proud that he charmed his way into graduating haha! Love ya Jojo.

I Can't Think of an Angry Enough Title.

2008-05-23T00:15:00.001-07:00

America, how could you? I still don't believe it was by 12 million votes. I hate American Idol. I love David Archuleta. I think Utah should secede from the United States of America. Seriously, I have never been this upset about an American Idol finale. Ever.

"For Good"

2008-05-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

Last week, my dear friend Chelsea Wilson had her graduation concert! The entire concert is now on YouTube, just search her name. It's incredible. For one of the songs, she asked The 6 if we would sing with her. Here's the link! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voy1aDwIOlA

Screeching Halt

2008-05-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

So...I realized I haven't posted anything in a long little while. And there's a reason. It's because I have nothing to write about, really. Oh yeah, I'm 19 now. But I didn't take pictures. So yeah. And I'm working. That's pretty much all I do. Sorry my dear devoted readers. My life is boring. And I now live in the same house as half of the people who regularly read my blog. This might be the end of my blog. Ha.

3 Down, 3 to Go...

2008-05-07T13:19:00.001-07:00

The latest in our little band of brothers to get his mission call is Elder Abraham Stone McKay. Abe will be serving in PARIS, FRANCE! How cool is that? I actually have a funny story about this one...Abe went to Europe the summer after our junior year and loved it. But he would tell me all the time how the one thing he didn't get to do in Paris that he wanted to (other than kiss a girl on top of the Eiffel Tower, (that's a different story), was to buy a loaf of French bread on the streets of Paris. Well, now he can buy a baguette every day for two years ha! He reports to the MTC on September 24.

So here's the newest list:

Andy Gonzalez: Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Chris Page: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Abe McKay: Paris, France

Day 5

2008-04-30T11:22:00.001-07:00

Day 5 out here on Survivor. And that pretty much sums up what I'm doing - surviving. It's not the worst of times, but it's not the best of times. I really miss BYU. But seeing my friends is nice. And Cami comes home on Saturday. I am surviving. Now if I could just find the Hidden Immunity Idol...

P.S. I'm thinking my blog will slow down considerably now, if not die completely, because I really have nothing super exciting to post anymore. And I'm living with 2/3 of the people who read my blog, so they already know what's going on. Just a warning

The End of an Era

2008-04-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

I am officially back from BYU. And it's been really difficult but I'm surviving. If you can't guess, I really miss, as Abe would call it, "our little posse". Saying goodbye to everyone was the hardest, saddest thing I've had to do for literally years. But we had a blast and really made the end of the semester count, so I have absolutely no regrets.

Last Saturday, we went out to dinner at Winger's

(Something was really spicy!!!)

These pictures are from our sleepover at Dani's house in Alpine.

And then, it was time to say goodbye. This from our last morning together before everyone left...

We also did lots of other stuff, like going to dinner on our last night at California Pizza Kitchen, played Rock Band at Best Buy for hours, and throwing a BBQ for Andy's 19th birthday! Looking back on the past 8 months, it has been the most amazing, life-changing school year of my life. I have learned so much about myself and the person I am trying to become. I made some of the best friends I have ever had and every day, I made new memories that I will look back on and cherish. It's really amazing because literally every day was nothing but pure fun, excitement and adventure. We had nothing but good times together, and while I miss them SO much, I am comforted in the fact that we will always be the best of friends, and I look forward to the time after our missions when we can move into a REAL apartment together and continue our amazing friendship. I love you guys. I am so grateful for this experience and everything you have taught me. I don't know what to do without you guys.

2 Down, 4 to Go...

2008-04-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

In the only positive news of the day, after 4 weeks of waiting, Elder Christian Dee Page has been called to serve in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Mission. Sadly, by the time he got his call today, everybody else had already left for home, but I was there representing! Congrats C! We are all so proud of you!

Andy: Bolivia, Santa Cruz

Chris: Pennsylvania, Harrisburg

36 Hours and Counting

2008-04-22T05:54:00.001-07:00

3 days left. I'm subconsciously (or is it consciously?) freaking out. I can detect all of my pre-moving behavioral shifts happening - not sleeping, constant anxiety, forgetting to eat, restless agitation when I'm alone, unnecessary cleaning of my room (SERIOUSLY). It all happened when I left for college and now it's happening when I'm leaving for home. Or do I, in some weird way, view this as a type of home now? So many questions like this take over my mind every minute of the day.I stress about balancing my time between spending it with friends and constructively preparing to leave (packing finally started for real last night during one of those sleepless periods.) Friends take priority 99% of the time. But that makes me worry that I won't be done packing when they're ready to take me home. I'm so disorganized. Who would have ever thought I would be this anxious/nervous/sick to my stomach about moving BACK home. Back to what I thought was my comfort zone. To be perfectly honest, I do not want to move home right now. I cannot imagine going through the next three months (not to mention the next 2 years) without the 6 people who have become the Cabinet to my President. Or the Entourage to my Vincent Chase (if you get that reference, I totally love you). Not that I'm the leader of the group, we really have no leader, but they are my circle of trust, my inseparable bros. (Yes that includes Dani.) I'm sorry. I'm totally stressing. And rambling. It's just that moving back to St. George at this point almost seems like a kind of step backwards. I don't want to go through last summer all over again because I already that a year ago. It was great, but I have no desire to do it again. Yet, what other choice do I have? ... Exactly. But if there's one thing this is teaching me is that something this virtually perfect (I'm totally serious with that adjective) can't last forever. I don't want to leave these people. And yet I'm moving on Friday. Someone please tell me how to deal with this because if you can't tell, it's kind of turning me into a total mess.

All Good Things...

2008-04-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Morning on the Balcony

2008-04-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is my good friend Kendall. This morning, I found K playing his guitar on the balcony of our building. In our pajamas, with nothing but that guitar and the brisk chilliness of a sun just starting to wake up, (this day COULD turn out to be warm, the high is almost 70) we talked for a good hour and a half about every random subject we could think of. He had never heard the infamous "moving to STG" story and I had never heard his "Kendall was a rebel until the 11th grade" story. It was a great morning, and a relaxing way to start off finals. A good memory with a good friend. Love ya K.

Something to Look Forward To...

2008-04-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

With all the confusion and stress of upcoming finals and moving home, I realized something kind of big had completely slipped my mind. We're going to have a 6 Reunion at the beginning of May! Cami's flying back from Pittsburgh before she starts her summer performing at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, and with Karly, Taylor, and I coming home from college, we will have 10 days of complete, uninterrupted time together. 10 days that are sure to be filled with fun things like the Drama Banquet (Cami, Taylor and I are presenters), my and Karly's 19th birthday, and an endless string of Golden Spoon, dance parties, afternoons playing games, going to lunch, movie nights, dinners, photo shoots, making music videos, etc. I'm so excited and it will help keep my mind off how sad I am to be leaving my friends up here!

Plus, these specific 10 days will be particularly special. Because, not only will it be the first time we've all been in St. George since Christmas break, it will also be the LAST time we will all get to be together for at LEAST 2 years - probably longer! Because after this reunion, Cami's going to VA and then back to Pittsburgh, Karly's jetting off to London at the end of June, Chelsea's off to pursue her big dreams at the University of Michigan, and I will be who-knows-where on my mission come sometime in August. So it literally will be our last summer together for a while.

And the prospect of that got me thinking...It's going to be very interesting for us to all sit down together and talk. Because it's been a year since the band "broke up" and four of us moved away from STG. In the past year, we have each had such drastically different experiences and we've all grown and matured and changed quite a bit. Truth be told, we each have our own separate lives and worlds now, and getting to reconnect with each other during this summer, no matter how short a time we get, is something to be really grateful for. It's going to be downright intriguing to see the evolution of each of us over this past year. How much can one short year change a group of friends? I'm really looking forward to finding out.

Life is Beautiful

2008-04-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything about my day-to-day goings-on in Provo lately, so here's a quick update... Oh and before we start, my trusty camera spent most of this past week visiting Megan's apartment, so sorry for the lack of pictures. Now to begin!

This past week(ish) has been total insanity. I have been nothing but busy finishing my classes, studying for finals, working on my mission papers, and fulfilling all the necessary ward/for-no-particular-reason social engagements. SO, starting with last weekend, here is everything that has been going on!!!

Saturday started with my ward closing social - a big BBQ at Bishop Rogers' house! Amidst all the great food and friends, the ward had voted on a bunch of funny awards the week before, kind of like Preference in high school. I was voted "Most Likely to Be the Next American Idol" which I found kind of funny since I never really sang for anyone in the ward! But it was really nice to be recognized in the ward of so many talented people. I also got nominated for "Most Likely to Star in the Singles Ward 3" (Kendall won) and "Most Likely to Marry a Celebrity Rolling in Dough" (Brent won and Andy was also nominated for this one), which I'm not sure are as much of a compliment haha! I don't know what it says about us that 3 of the 4 nominees for marrying a rich celebrity were from our little group of friends...ha. Abe was up for "Best Comedian", and the guys' apartment won "Best Personality" (which my REAL apt. was nom'd for too! My roommates seemed kind of confused). The best award we won as a group though was "Most Likely to Stay Friends and Have Their Kids Become Roommates." Now, it technically went to Felt 32, (Abe, Brent, etc's apt), but they said I was definitely included in the award since I'm Roommate #7. Since none of us voted, it was a really cool thing for the rest of the ward to recognize our group of friends.

Saturday night was the Heritage Invitational dance, which ended up basically being a college prom. But it was really fun. I went with Megan Knell and we went with all my friends and their dates (except Abe, who was in Kaysville). I don't have any pictures because they are all on Meg's camera but I will post those ASAP.

Sunday was the best Sunday I have had in Provo all year. In sacrament, Abe, Andy, Brent, Chris, Dani, and I sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." It went really well and I realized after we finished that it was the first time I had done anything in sacrament this whole year besides bear my testimony! Sunday also blessed us with 75 degree weather so after church, we decided with some girls from Fox Hall to have a big picnic out on the lawn. During the picnic, we were attacked by a rival picnic with a bunch of confetti-filled Easter eggs! It was such a beautiful day and it was so nice to just relax with friends.

The day didn't stop there! After the picnic, us six boys+Dani+Michel+Kelsey went to dinner at Chris's house. His mom made us the BEST homecooked meal and it was really cool to just be sitting around the dinner table with my best friends and reminisce about this crazy year that brought us together. We ended up spending almost 3 hours at his house laughing about good memories and good times. (I'm getting pics of this from Dani).

Monday and Tuesday were the last two days of classes for the semester! I can't believe I will have no more lectures, homework assignments, labs, quizzes and tests for two whole years!! The only thing left are finals, which start on Friday. Monday was a beautiful 80 degree weather and that night I went to Karly's to celebrate the return of One Tree Hill after a month of no episodes. On Tuesday, to mark the end of school, our tri-hall put together a "Kick Off Summer (After Finals are Over) BBQ. Except there turned out to be one little problem. It snowed on Tuesday. Yes, snowed. A day after the weather was 80 degrees. The weather is one thing I will not miss about this place. The BBQ was moved inside though, and we enjoyed the free food!!! Before the snow decided to descend on us, I played volleyball with Kendall, Abe and Andy, which was a blast, but also very chilly in shorts and bare feet. After two losses and a team switch, Abe and I beat Kendall and Andy. Which means I have finally beaten Kendall in volleyball, something I haven't done since his team won at FOL all the way back in August!

Which finally brings me to today. After spending the morning re-reading chapters of my chemistry textbook, I spent today once again with the guys (Dani is in STG with her family. So jealous.) We're really trying to spend as much time as possible together because a week from today, people will start leaving. Don't want to think about it. Anyways, to celebrate the end of classes and the first Reading Day, instead of hitting up the library like responsible college students, we got off-campus and headed to KFC with wardies Jordan Farley, Darrik Cheney, and C.J. Chacon. Seeing Brent and Mich put away an entire bucket of fried chicken in one sitting made my day.

So that was my week. With only one week left to spend with my friends, I'm finally learning to appreciate the here and now. I'm so grateful for my experiences here. This has been everything I wanted, needed, and then some. Life is beautiful.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

2008-04-10T01:19:00.000-07:00

Lately for some reason I can't get my mind off decisions I need to be making two years from now... SO, I'm thinking (and hoping) that maybe if I blog it out of my system, it will stop bugging me for a while. Where to start? Well, I suppose the best place would be the biggest issue. Which is whether or not to come back to BYU when I get back. That's the biggest decision. And I know I don't actually have to make it for like 24+ months and I could have totally changed my mind by then, but as of right now I really don't know the answer to this one. I like BYU but I don't love it. I knew this was where I was supposed to be for this year, and I've learned why. But I don't know if it's what I want to come back to. Alot about this year has been really difficult on me, and my grades this semester are going to be the absolute worst they've ever been. This horrible weather is my own personal living nightmare. I mean seriously! It's April and it feels like January. Seriously. On the other hand, I've talked a little bit with my friends about moving in together when we get back, and after a year of playing Roommate #7, I could finally get away from living with crazies and having to walk upstairs every night to go to bed. So my mind isn't totally made up. BYU? UVU? Somewhere else? And this isn't the only thing on my mind but I'm really tired so I'll add to this rant later.

Last Visit Home!

2008-04-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

I have officially made my last 4 hour drive back to Provo against my will! This weekend I went down to STG with Karly and it was my last visit before I move home! Some trip highlights include:

Going to Vegas with Chelsea for her voice lesson and dinner
The look on Chelsea's face when I noticed the Jazz game in Chilis and wanted to watch it
A Rocket Summer Musical (Chels and I are totally gonna do it ha)
Jordan's surprise b-day bash (so awkward with the class of 08, but so fun with Jacee Ashley, and Chelsea - we're totally the cool group)
Lunch with Mom and Spencer
80 degree sunshine! (I came back to hail and snow yesterday)
General Conference
And best of all...Whitney's baptism on Sunday!!!

What Will You Do With The Time That's Left?

2008-04-01T04:43:00.000-07:00

It is officially April. The last month of my first year of college. I have been dreading its arrival since about the 1st week of October. I move back home in 25 days. That is exactly 3 weeks and 4 days. That is hardly any time. I remember when I had 25 days left in St. George. It literally makes me sick to my stomach to fathom the end of this experience. And the funniest thing about all this is that it's totally unexpected. I didn't expect to feel this way about leaving. I had no clue coming into this that I would walk away from this schoolyear with 6 of the best friends I've ever had. That wasn't on my priority list at all. It just happened. And now basically the biggest concern in my mind is going back to STG without these people. My mom has tried to get me to just relax and enjoy the rest of my time here. Which is what I should do. But that's not how I am and that's not how I react when change is coming. I stress. I worry. I get emotional. I question whether I'm making the right choice to visit home this weekend, with such limited time left to spend with people in Provo. Hopefully in two years, we will all be back together just like this amazing year. I know I need to learn to be more accepting that change is a natural thing I constantly have to deal with. But this is just the way I am. I hate change. I hate goodbyes. I hate that nothing this amazing can last forever.

Lucky Number 13

2008-03-30T00:57:00.001-07:00

Ok so a very interesting thing just happened to me. I just came back to my room after watching a movie with the gang and some new friends. I walked in, sat down and was checking my email when my Buddhist roommate asked me these questions: "What does 'We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things' mean? What is the admonition of Paul? For about 5 seconds I couldn't think of what to say and had a little trouble processing that, after three months of silence, he was asking me a question about the church. And then my brain started furiously trying to remember anything I had ever learned about the admonition of Paul. Saying a silent prayer that there would be something written in the margin, I opened my scriptures to the Articles of Faith. Thankfully, due to some year of EFY or seminary, I had scrawled Phil. 4:8 next to the verse. It took a minute for me to explain as best I could, and I'm not even sure I explained it exactly right, but I did my best and he seemed to understand. I am so grateful that the scriptures helped me answer his question because when he asked it I literally had NO idea what the answer was. Thank you EFY counselor or seminary teacher or whoever felt compelled to explain that to me once and have me write the reference in my scriptures. Totally sweet mission prep.

College Pizza Party

2008-03-29T02:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight was an adventure. On a quickly decided whim, I went up to Salt Lake with Karly, Megan, Stephanie Abraham, and Karly's new friend Colette Covey for the BYU/Utah Gymnastics meet. After stopping at a Maverick for some amazing frozen yogurt, we met up with Eric Freckleton, a friend from DHS who goes to the U now. The meet was tons of fun. Maddie did good, not her best but good. We lost but that was expected. I was really shocked at how many people were there though. Over 15,000 people came to watch the meet! At BYU there are like on average 2,000. After the meet, Eric and Jared Golden took us to this awesome pizza place called The Pie and let me just tell you it was exactly what I imagined college life would be like. The place just had a totally "collegey" vibe to it. I swear, straight out of a movie. The pizza was so greasy but so amazing. I tucked away almost 4 pieces and I'm totally not a pizza person. Basically just a night of good food, good memories, great friends. It was honestly one of the funnest nights I have had this semester without the "Entourage." We sat around and talked/ate for maybe a couple hours and then decided to call it a night. I loved it. It's just funny that you can get to be such better friends with people after you graduate. I'm still trying to figure out why Eric Freckleton and I weren't best friends in high school.

Also, as a side note, after this night, I'm considering looking into the U for when I come back from my mission. Because seriously, it's like I always forget how much I love Salt Lake. It's like one of my favorite cities. I loved the feel of the campus while we were there, and the college part of town in general. I don't know, maybe the "seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake" to quote my fave Disney movie. But it wouldn't hurt to look right?

1 Down, 5 to Go

2008-03-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last night, one of my best friends, Andy Gonzalez (center) got his mission call! He has been called to serve in the Bolivia, Santa Cruz mission. He reports June 24th to the Provo MTC. So proud of him! It was way cool because he is the first one out of all of us to get his call. (We're all really young.) Chris is supposed to get his possibly next week and I will get mine hopefully before school is out. And can I just say how much I love this picture? It's the first picture we've ever taken of all 7 of us (not in Dani's little sisters' dress-up clothes haha.)

Dreaming Wide Awake

2008-03-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Ok for those of you who really know me, you know that my favorite type of music is contemporary musical theater. Thanks to Chelsea, I have recently discovered an up-and-coming composer from New York named Scott Alan. Earlier this year, he released his first collection of songs, Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan. Now, I have been dying to get this album for months. And thanks to the Easter Bunny, I finally have it! The whole thing is amazing and I am completely addicted to this man's music. So much of it is filled with uplifting, good messages, and the vocalists he uses on the album are a literal Who's-Who of Broadway. However, all of this is not why I wanted to blog about. In addition to all his other work, Scott has also recently begun to work pretty extensively with my absolute favorite vocalist, Natalie Weiss. (Also a Chelsea-find. What would I do without this girl?) Earlier this week, they recorded a new song for the Limited Edition re-release of Dreaming Wide Awake. It's called "The Distance You Have Come" and after this crazy, emotional year of college, I immediately connected with this song. I think everyone needs to remember this once in a while. Go to scottalan.net to listen to the complete recording and a bunch of his other stuff! Here are the lyrics:

The Distance You Have Come

I don't know where tomorrow finds me
The only thing I know is where I'm standing now.
In this life, there's never been a guarantee
Which seems to be the only guarantee I've found.
But keep your eyes upon the road
Keep driving
It won't be long until you see
A sign that says that you're arriving.

And when you reach that day
When you conquered what's behind you
Don't forget the fight it took to get you here.
And when you reach the top
Of the mountain you've been climbing
Don't forget the distance you have come.

It's hard when no one tells you if you're
winning
But just remind yourself how far that you've already
come.
And some days you may feel that there is no
ending
But if you give up now, you'll never know if you could
have won.
Keep your eyes upon the road
Keep driving
It won't be long until you see
A sign that says that you're arriving

And when that day has come
When you've conquered what's behind you
Don't forget the moments that have come before
And when you reach that place
When you're miles from where you started
Don't forget the distance you have come.

And there'll be days when the weight of the world will
bind you
And you're wondering if the world really needs
you
But keep on goin', keep on driving
Cuz the sign ahead will soon be behind you.

And when you reach that day
When you've conquered what's behind you
Don't forget the fight it took to get you here.
And when you reach the top
Of the mountain you've been climbing
Don't forget the distance you have come.

And when that day has come
When you've conquered what's behind you
Don't forget the moments that have come before.
And when you reach that place
When you're miles from where you started
Don't forget the distance...
Don't forget the distance...

Don't forget the distance you have come.

Sharing(?) a Living Space

2008-03-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm done with the hardest Chemistry homework I've ever done, I want to take a few minutes to blog. The above is a picture of my lovely apartment. Now here's the thing: I took this picture right after my parents left, when no one but me had moved in yet. Little did I know that after over 7 months of living with five other roommates, this picture would pretty much still sum up the feel of my apartment. I have finally come to terms with the fact that I have been placed in the most unusual, absurd living situation ever. I live with 5 roommates. But you wouldn't know it by coming to my apartment. You walk in the front door and rarely see anything but three closed doors. There is no interaction between roommates. There is no laughter or funny quote wall filled with inside jokes from a schoolyear of living together. My roommate Van and I don't really talk. The only time he even acknowledges me is when he doesn't understand a word/concept in English and needs an explanation. He's been at BYU for almost three months and I still know virtually nothing about him. Yet we share a bedroom... I can literally go a full week (from Monday night to Monday night for FHE) without seeing one of my roommates in particular. Because he does nothing but sit in his room and play World of Warcraft. I'm not being judgemental, I'm just observing that this is the strangest situation. It has made me vow to never live with strangers ever again. So it's a good thing I already have a pretty solid idea of who I will be living with when I get back. Thank goodness. Many other apartments in my ward became fast friends, immediately clicking and finding common interests. Unfortunately, I haven't really found any common interests with any of my roommates this year. It's not that we don't get along. We just have nothing in common. Or maybe they all do and I just don't know about it. Maybe the parties are happening when I'm not there. But with only one month left, I don't think I will ever find out.

I Want the Good Times Back

2008-03-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

I was looking through a bunch of old pictures the other day and came across these pictures from Les Miserables at Tuacahn in 2005. Looking back, this was by far one of the most impactful experiences I was blessed to have in high school. That summer, I was an excited, freshly driver's-licensed 16 year old who was so ecstatic to be a part of this inaugural program at Tuacahn. I walked away from that show with some amazing friends, countless fun memories, knowledge, experience, and an increased love of performing. It really taught me how to use my talents to reach out and serve other people. And I continued learning and trying to exercise this concept throughout high school under Mr. Saxton. My experience with musical theater in high school was truly life-changing. I don't know what I would have done those 3 years without it. It makes me realize how grateful I am for people like Mr. Saxton, Mrs. Snow, Jan, Andy, and all the other amazing, amazing people who directed me and guided me during those times in my life. They truly helped shape my passion, and made me strive to be a better person. I wish I could just build a time machine and go back to that time in my life. It's been really hard to go from having it be such a huge part of my life for 3 years to having it virtually not exist for me here at BYU. It's been literally 14 months since I've auditioned for a show and almost a year (CRAZY) since I did Little Shop. I honestly think that might be one of the reasons I've been having such a difficult time lately. It's like I don't have that release or escape or whatever you want to call it anymore, and I have yet to find a suitable replacement, so it's just school and stress and nose to the grindstone all the time. I miss this!

Dream Come True

2008-03-13T15:50:00.001-07:00

Today my best friend Chelsea Wilson was accepted into the University of Michigan Musical Theater Program, the top program in the country!!!! Chelsea, I am SO proud of you and I am honored to call you my friend. I told you that you were destined for greatness and now you're on your way! No one deserves this, or has worked harder for, this day than you. Never lose the light you have inside you. This girl is going to change the world.

Wish You Were

2008-03-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Another post about missing my high school friends. But only because I found the perfect song and have to post it.

Wish You Were
Gone away
Are the golden days
They're just a page
In my diary
Memories that follow me
Like a shadow, now
And I'm dreaming

And I've seen you act
and I know all the facts
I'm still with the person you are
And it ain't hard to see
Who you are underneath
But I'm still in love with who I know you are
I wish you were here.
-Kate Voegele

Let's Get Together, Yeah Yeah Yeah

2008-03-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend, 2/3 of the band will be reunited. That's right folks, I found out yesterday that my dear friends Chelsea and Taylor are coming up to Provo for the weekend!! Which means I will get to have a couple of precious, much-needed days with them and Karly. Plus, they couldn't have picked a better weekend to visit. Friday night there is a BSU (Black Student Union) Dance, which are always the highlight of my month, and Enchanted is playing all weekend in the Varsity Theater! It is going to be so much fun!!! There is only one other thing, well two actually, that could make this weekend even better - Cami and Trent, but unfortunately, that's not possible. I'm really looking forward to this weekend though. I miss my friends. Tay and I were talking the other day and we came to the conclusion that we can all survive pretty well independently from each other, but eventually it just gets to the point where we literally NEED to be together and kind of recharge. Seriously, the time has come. I can't wait for this weekend!

Fun Spring Weekend

2008-03-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here! At least for now...there's always a chance it could snow, but I'm trying to think positive! Friday night I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary and went to the BYU gymnastics meet with Brent, Abe, Chris, and Kelsey. After watching the meet, gymnastics is basically my new favorite sport. I always loved watching it at the Olympics, but watching it in person is a completely different experience! And to top off the fun, we very closely beat SUU! (Sorry Tay haha!) I spent most of Saturday with Maddie. She was hosting a recruit for the night and enlisted my help in entertaining the girl. After ice cream at the Creamery, we ended up watching Stick It (yet another gymnastics reference). Oh, I also had stake conference Saturday night, which I totally forgot about, plus Abe was speaking, so I ended up returning my Last Five Years tickets. Bummer!!! After conference, Kendall, Andy, and Abe went to Kaysville for a farewell, which effectively cut us in 1/2. Sunday brought more stake conference, singing in the choir for the big session, dinner with Chris, Brent, Kelsey and her roommates (Thank you for feeding us!) a surprise birthday party for Kelsey, and watching Hairspray with Maddie, Brent, Abe, Chris, and Dani. Ok everyone knows that this movie is one of my all-time favorites and I've seen it so many times I know the whole thing by heart, but this time was a whole new experience. Watching it with Brent was probably the funniest thing I've ever done. He liked the movie way more than he would admit once it was over. Good weekend. And a new week begins.

A Family Vacation

2008-03-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Being Grateful

2008-03-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

For the past few days, I've basically done nothing but miserably wallow and think about how ready I am for this semester to be over and to be back home. All I could think about was how much I missed my friends from high school and the comfort of St. George and how everyone and everything up here just didn't measure up. Every picture and song made me homesick for my comfort zone. However, after reading a post from a dear friend's blog (I love you!) and having a MUCH-needed homework-free, study-less night with the boys, I came to the conclusion that I should just be grateful for this time in my life because it's almost over and I will only have memories to look back on.

Like the Trace Adkins song says (Thanks Karly by the way!):

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this...

Don't Wait for Someone to Tell You It's Too Late Cuz These Are the Best Days

2008-03-04T05:44:00.001-08:00

Let's Make the Best of Tonight. Here Comes the Rest of Our Lives...

-"Best Days" by Graham Colton

I Miss You Guys.

Me and My Gang

2008-03-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

After almost 7 months, here's a peek at my life, my friends, and my little world in Provo...

Create Your Own

Seriously????

2008-02-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

Ok America, I am pissed. At American Idol. Today, along with three no-brainers, Alaina Whitaker, my FAVORITE girl in the WHOLE competition, got voted off. And it's only the Top 20!?! I am so angry right now. Hopefully she has a long successful career ahead of her. Because she is way better than Ramiele Mulubay, Asia'h Epperson, Amanda Overmeyer, Kady Malloy, and even Kristy Lee Cook (Sorry Abe.) and Syesha Mercado. I seriously had a difficult time covering her up with a pink sticky-note on my Idol Wall. America got it WRONG!!!!

Yes, We Can.

2008-02-27T03:11:00.000-08:00

This video is such a cool concept. The lyrics were taken from Senator Obama's speech following the New Hampshire primary. Love it. Check it out.
P.S. I will love you if you can name the guy playing the guitar...

Idolatry

2008-02-22T03:25:00.000-08:00

Well, season 7 of American Idol is officially under way. The Top 24 have been chosen and we're finally at the part of the show that I love. The real performing and voting!!! My best friend Taylor and I both love the show, so we came up with a wonderful idea. The picture above is my "Idol Wall". It's right above my bed. Tay has one too! Every week we predict who will get sent home and then once they are eliminated, we cover them up with a sticky note. We are seriously such nerds, but what else do you expect from middle of the night conversations between me and Tay?
Another interesting note on Idol: this year, there are two LDS contestants in the Top 24, and they are two of my very favorites!! David Archuleta is from Murray, UT and Brooke White is from Mesa, AZ. I definitely think they will both go a long way on the show - I think David could win it all, he is SO good. Way to represent!!

So there you have it, my yearly obsession with an amateur TV singing competition has begun!

Sick/Excited

2008-02-19T05:01:00.000-08:00

I woke up about two hours ago and haven't been able to get back to sleep since. I think I have the stomach flu. I hate being sick in Provo because quite frankly all I want is to go home and have my mom take care of me. But instead, I'm stuck in a tiny twin sized bed with no one but a foreign exchange student, who I don't think will even understand (or care) that I'm sick, and Doggy. I would die if Doggy wasn't here.

In other news though, I found out last night that one of my very good friends from high school is going to be getting baptized at the beginning of next month. It was so neat because she called me and invited me to her discussion and I hadn't seen her in about three weeks, and once we got there, she set the date with the missionaries and everything! I am so excited and so proud of her. It was so great to be there for that. And it was so good to see her and her roommates!!

Lesson Learned

2008-02-15T03:19:00.000-08:00

I've Heard It Said That People Come Into Our Lives For A Reason...

2008-02-13T03:05:00.000-08:00

Positive

2008-02-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

Don't you love it when you find a great song?

A Beautiful Life
You won't talk to me.
I guess you're pretty busy lately
But I'd like to believe
You're listening.
I'm starting to feel
All of my bruises imagined are real
And I'll get through each day
I dig through the bad ones
To get to the good ones
Who's keeping score anyway?

And this is my beautiful life
The only thing certain is everything changes
The lows and the highs
And all those goodbyes
As hard as it gets I know it's still amazing
To be alive
It's a beautiful life

It's hurts while it's happening
I wanna feel everything
How can you know til you try?
And this is my beautiful life.

Hometown Glory

2008-02-12T01:23:00.000-08:00

Just stumbled on this artist from across the Atlantic. Her new song is the iTunes Free Single of the Week, check her out. I really connected with some of her lyrics:

Round my hometown

Memories are fresh

Round my hometown

Ooh the people I've met

Are the wonders of my world

Are the wonders of this world

Are the wonders of my world.

New Music Tuesdays

2008-02-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

If you know me really well, you probably know New Music Tuesday is my favorite day of every week. But I haven't gone shopping for good music in a while! Here's my latest music wish list:

She's A Big Girl Now!

2008-02-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

Happy 18th Birthday to one of my best friends in the entire world Miss Chelsea Wilson. You are destined for greatness. Chelsea Wilson is going to change the world. Mark my words..

Goodbye, January

2008-02-01T03:19:00.000-08:00

I'm once again slacking in the blog department. I just realized I haven't actually blogged about anything I've done since getting back from St. George with the guys. Which was two weeks ago. Two weeks of no news for my dear devoted 1-2 readers (Mom and Karly). So, for those of you who care, here's a brief rundown of all major events post-Martin Luther King Day.

The biggest news is that our dear prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away January 27, 2008. I took his death extremely hard. I always felt a very personal connection with him. I got to hear him speak in person twice - once at a BYU devotional, and once at his last General Conference in October 2007. However, the most profound and special occasion I had with President Hinckley was when I got to sing for him at the Church Administration Building December of my sophomore year. I will miss him so much. He was the prophet of my childhood and will always be the prophet of our generation.

Another big piece of news is that one of my best buds, Brandall, left on his mission this week. He's going to the Brazil, Londrina mission and he reported to the Sao Paolo MTC on Tuesday!

A few other things: I had the flu earlier this week (luckily I'm feeling better), but my dear friend Karly is very sick with something called costochondritis. Feel better! I miss your voice!

The only other male in the StG Six, Trent, is staying with me for a few days! He's here for a high school theater conference. This also means that over 1,000 high school drama nerds have invaded BYU's campus and the Jamba Juice line is about 5 miles long.

My fave roommate Brock got his mission call this week! He is going to Stockholm, Sweden! He reports to the MTC May 28, he's speaking Swedish, and President Hinckley signed his mission call 2 days before he passed away.

Trent was lucky enough tonight to witness one of our many boys' only never-ending debates. They usually take place late at night in Brent and Kendall's room with us all piled on the two beds (representing the two sides...). This night was no exception, except for Trent was sitting in the middle representing the neutral ground. Our arguements are usually half sarcastic and joking/half serious. Tonight's started out on Lance Armstrong but eventually gave way to American patriotism, Canada, Hilary Clinton, water as a renewable resource, slavery, racism, the civil rights movement, religion, the Second Coming, and whether or not white people have "culture" (Andy made the mistake of saying caucasians have no culture like Asians and Hispanics. Don't even get me started.) and a vast majority of many other topics, until we finally leveled, agreed we would still be friends in the morning, and went to bed. I think Trent dealt with a tiny bit of shock haha. Anyways, I think that's basically everything that's gone on in my little BYU world lately. Oh, and it's technically February now!!! Happy Month of Love.

Self Discovery Through Life Lessons

2008-01-23T02:43:00.000-08:00

For the past little while, I've been thinking alot about growing up and being an adult. I know, weird right? But seriously, it's like I suddenly woke up today and I am an adult. When did that happen? Time is going by so fast. And it seems like there's nothing I can do to stop it. It's been almost half a year since I moved out. I turn 19 in less than 4 months. I'm already in my 2nd semester of college. I have friends who are engaged, married, and on missions. I'm taking 16 difficult credits at a prestigious university. I buy my own groceries. I don't have a curfew. I'm almost 300 miles away from any close family. How did things change so fast? It seems like graduation was just yesterday, but the picturesque world of high school is becoming an increasingly distant memory. On the other hand, there are parts of me that don't feel adult-like at all. All my friends know I still can't sleep without my childhood stuffed animal. I call my mom about 12 times a day either asking for help or on the verge of an emotional breakdown. I get so homesick that I can hardly handle two weeks away from St. George without finding some excuse to go down for the weekend. It almost feels like I'm stuck in a weird limbo of sorts.

Either way, looking back on the past five (WOW!) months I've been on my own, I feel that I've learned a substantial amount about all those things (true or not) I heard about life in college before I actually got here.

1. You find out who you really are in college.

This I've found to be kind of true, but worded incorrectly. In my case, I've always felt like I had a pretty good grip on knowing who I am. I have always considered myself to be driven, ambitious, hardworking, and very self-aware. However, I say that this "life lesson" is worded incorrectly for the following reason: moving to college gave me a chance to start over with a clean slate. I got a chance to change things I didn't necessarily like about myself and emphasize things I did like. No one knew anything about who I used to be so I could really focus on working on who I wanted to become. As of yet I haven't joined a radical political group, turned to hardcore partying or become a tree-hugging animal rights activist. I guess it could be really different for other people in the same situation, I was just lucky I didn't want to change too much!

2. You lose touch quickly with friends from high school.

This is another saying I consider a half-truth. Once again, I find myself very blessed in this department. I guess the right way to say it is that you begin to realize who is important in your life and who your real friends are. I have an amazing group of friends from Dixie, and we have stayed in close contact, involving each other in our new lives as much as possible. However, I've come to realize that our friendship never had anything to do with school. My friendships that revolved around school and other activities are the ones I have lost touch with. Already eight months after graduation, I really only keep in contact with a handful of people from St. George, and find myself calling less people to catch up with each successive visit.

3. You find your real friends in college.

As for the friends I've made in college, I honestly don't know what I would do without them. I don't think people fully realize that the function of friendship in college is on the entirely opposite end of the spectrum from its function in high school. In high school, I had plenty of friends, but at the end of the day, I always had my family to come home to. In college, my friends are the only people I have waiting for me at home. They are the only physical support system I have to watch out for me, share important experiences with, and be directly involved in my life. For the most part, we only have each other. They become a kind of surrogate family to you. As I have said in earlier blog posts, you have this incredible, new group dynamic that comes from spending every day together. They become an integral, crucial part of your life. To be honest, my group of friends were certainly not who I saw myself becoming best friends with, but they turned out to be exactly what I needed. I found this quote that sums it up beautifully: "I've learned that your college friends become a kind of family. You eat together, go to dances, games, social events, laugh, fight, cry and do absolutely nothing together until you can't seem to remember how you ever lived your life without them in the first place."

4. You learn to appreciate your family in college.

SO TRUE. The most important lesson I have learned over the past five months is how much I took my family for granted before I left. Without them, I'm virtually nothing. They are the only people I know I can count on 110% to be there for me every day. Other people think I'm crazy because I talk to my mom so much but it's so important to me that my family stays involved in my life. I just wish I would have learned this lesson long before I graduated.

Back From STG

2008-01-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

The weekend was amazing. There are so many funny things that happened and so much we did that I can't possibly write about it all. But here's a list to the best of my rememberance.

Warm Weather
Blue Skies
No Snow
KFC
Golden Spoon
Meeting Chelsea and Trent
"Housewarming" Party at Kurt Gardner's
Brant's Messed Up Mission Call
The Neverending Love Story of Mrs. Vanessa Beers Brereton
The "There Have Been A Lot of Funny Quotes This Weekend" Quote
Taylor's Dance Lessons
Brent's First Palm Tree
Brent's First Redbox
Hot Rod
Bonfire on the Strip
Spartan Zulu Warrior
Wrestling at 3 in the Morning
The Most Intense Tennis Ever
107 Pictures
Welcome to Karly's Mansion (haha)
Chelsea's Audition
Sharing Talents
Lasagna, Pot Pie, Brownies, and Cookies
You really can fit 5 boys in 1 bed
No One by Alicia Keys
SuperBowling on the Wii
Abe as Elton John but not gay.
Tay Tay and Brandall's Instant Love
Saying Goodbye to Brandall.

There is tons more, but I can't really remember everything. It was a great trip! Brandall, we miss you already.

Are You Ready?

2008-01-17T15:51:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the day we descend on St. George after literally months of waiting. It will be a much-needed Boys Weekend and a chance for my BYU world to controllably collide with my STG world. Only one question remains to be asked... Is the world ready for us?