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General Conference

Traditionally, New Years is the time we sit down, evaluate our life, and set appropriate goals. However, an even better time for this is coming up in just three weeks - General Conference weekend. For anyone not familiar with this event, General Conference is a semi-annual meeting in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where members from all over the world gather to hear the teachings of our church leaders. We believe these leaders to have the same authority and the same divine commision as the apostles and prophets we read about in the Bible. The teachings we receive during General Conference help us to know how we can face the specific challenges of our day and be better disciples of Jesus Christ.

Because conference is such a special event, I believe it merits extra attention and preparation. Here are some things I've done in the past to prepare for General Conference that I would suggest:

Before Conference:

1. Periodically watch, read, or listen to previous General Conference talks.

2. Come up with a list of life questions with which you need guidance. Without fail, as you sincerely listen to the speakers, you will find the answers you seek.

3. Study the scriptures. I especially recommend Mosiah chapters 2 through 5 in the Book of Mormon. See how King Benjamin's sermon mirrors the General Conference that we have today. Pay attention to how the people receive his teachings as he expounds the doctrines of the fall of man and of the atonement.

During Conference:

1. Go to Conference. If you live close to Salt Lake City, make a point to attend at least one session live at the Conference Center. Having a ticket is helpful but not necessary, as there are always extra seats to go around. I believe watching it live at Temple Square serves helps us remember what a monumental occasion it is.

2. If you can't go to Conference, still take the day off, dress in your Sunday best, and watch it at home. Be sure to remove all distractions, and avoid trying to multitask during conference.

3. Take notes. Even if a particular talk does not apply to you directly, writing helps you to stay focused. Last year I bought a Moleskine diary solely to hold Conference

notes. Any notebook will do, but if you are like me, investing more in a nice one will help you to value it more.

After Conference:

1. Sunday afternoon, find a quiet place to go ponder and review your notes. From your notes, make a list of the key ideas and quotes that you felt were most important for you.

2. From your summarized notes, create Conference Goals - specific goals for improvement based on what you felt and learned at conference.

3. Print your goals, stick them on your wall by your desk, and refer to them often throughout the coming months.

Hearing from living prophets and apostles is such an incredible privilege. On October 3rd and 4th I hope you will all take the time to "go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths" Isaiah 2:3

Full conference coverage can be found here: http://www.lds.org/conference/languages/0,6353,310-1,00.html

Have a great week - I'll post another update on my life soon.

Summer Happenings

...and just like that, summer's over. I don't know if I'm ready to move on yet - I feel like I haven't given myself a proper summer vacation since I've been working so much. Can't complain though when my daily schedule consists of consulting with clients at companies like Bain, Ameriprise, eBay and GM just to name a few, and also helping professors from across the globe at campuses such as the University of Adelaide (Australia), the Nanyang Technological University (Hong Kong), Harvard, and Berkeley. It is a breath of fresh air compared to a regular college job.

Here's some summer highlights -

July:

The Timpanogos Trip - Part 2

Earlier we had tried hiking Timp, but there was still too much snow. This time though, we were successful! I really like Timp. On a regular mountain, you get to the top, enjoy the view and then you just come back down. But on Timp, you get to the top, you enjoy the view... and then you slide down a glacier! Seriously that was more fun than any ride I've ever been on. I wish I could have done it more than once, but that would have meant another hour hiking back to the top.

resting at the top

the mighty glacier - watch out for rocks!

August:

More of the same stuff. The only August pictures I have are from a

bonfire in which three of us at Qualtrics happened to wear our company t-shirts.

I've been struggling to make time to get my business going. I have registered my business name with the state of Utah, but that's about as far as I've gotten. We also moved this last week. I felt bad for our new roomates when, after being there just one night we had a spontaneous pizza dinner with probably about 15 people there. I love the new complex so far. Our apartment feels more like a home than a dorm. We have a downstairs with the kitchen and living room, and then bedrooms upstairs. Unlike Glenwood, there are no holes in the wall or beds supported on cinder blocks, and the manager is the nicest person you will ever meet. Still though, I feel like my heart's back at the Glenwood. My roomates and I have been back there nearly every night this week. I'm sure we'll grow to love the new ward though.

So with all that said, here's my personal development goals for the new semester:

1. Communication - be a more interesting person to talk to

2. Organization - keep my room clean and my books and notes organized (I'm really bad at this)

3. Time management - limit my 'screen time' at the computer to only necessary tasks

Ask me how I'm doing next time we talk!

20somethingspotential

Part creative writing practice (can I become a decent writer?)

Part marketing experiment (can someone really draw a following and make money online?)

Part service project (can I help people live better?)

It's A 20-something's guide to living up to your potential, my new blog. It is a chronicle of my quest to set and reach goals and live up to my potential. I hope to also provide practical ideas based on my experiences along the way on having more meaningful relationships with those around us.

Phantom of the Glenwood

Here's the finished product of our video for the ward film festival. For full screen, click on the arrows next to the vimeo logo.

Pizza

I've been trying my hand at pizza for the last week or two, and have found some interesting recipes. One of my favorites is the deep dish pizza (but I'm probably biased since this is my own recipe.)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup warm water

1 tablespoon yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3-3 ½ cups flour

¼ cup butter or margarine, melted

2 cans tomato paste

1 can whole plum tomatoes

1 package Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage (be sure to get this exact kind - it is seasoned perfectly)

pepperonis (optional)

Mozzerella cheese - at least 1 cube fresh and 1 cup grated (the more the better - you can do all grated if you want to simplify things)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

minced garlic

minced onion

basil

oregano

salt

pepper

Dough:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.

2. Add sugar, salt and 2 ½ cups flour. Mix to form dough.

3. If more flour is needed, add up to 1 cup more. Mix about 3 minutes.

4. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

Sauce:

1. Cook sausage and drain grease

2. While sausage is cooking, in a seperate pan simmer finely minced garlic and onion in olive oil for a few minutes

3. Add 1 can plum whole tomatoes (drained), 2 cans tomato paste, and one paste-can of water. stir until well mixed. You will probably want to mash the tomatoes a little (but not too much).

4. Add the sausage (and pepperonis if you want) to the sauce. The sauce should have a very thick, chunky consistency - if it is thin, you will have a very messy pizza.

5. Add basil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble:

1. Spray a springform pan liberally with oil. Roll out dough and place it in the pan (so it covers the bottom and comes up the sides). The dough on the sides will be drooping down, but once you pour in the sauce this won't be a problem.

2. Cover the crust with thin slices of mozzerella.

3. Pour in the chunky sauce / sausage mixture.

4. Sprinkle additional mozzerella and shredded parmesan cheese on top.

5. Bake in preheated oven (probably around 425 - I can't recall) until the crust is golden brown.

Hope you like it. For more great pizza, you can try these amazing California Pizza Kitchen recipes:

Rosemary Chicken and Potato

http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/pizza/rosemary-chicken-potato1.html

BBQ Chicken

http://www.recipezaar.com/BBQ-Chicken-Pizza-California-Pizza-Kitchen-Style-155744

Glendog Millionaire

For FHE we were supposed to make a movie for the ward Film Festival. Our assignment was "Phantom of the Glenwood: The Musical", but we didn't know what to do with it, so we did what anyone who's seen Slumdog Millionaire would do - an ending credits bollywood dance.

Life Happenings

Life is good. I realize I haven't written in a while. Somehow I've managed to be extra busy even during the summer. Probably because I've been working till six every day, but it could also be the institute, FHE, mexican mustache parties, sailing, birthday parties, spanish practice, thursday bonfires, etc. Yeah, Glenwood is really fun during the summer. Our ward feels so much closer now that we all have time to do stuff together.

Last week I finally got the Fluenz software and started learning Spanish. I love it so far - esta muy bueno. Luis, my Mexican roomate is helping me too. My favorite exercise is the one where I'm supposed to carry on a conversation with the computer - I find it really amusing. Speaking of Spanish, somehow I've found myself trying my hand at Latin dancing (really poorly though!) lately. I think dancing is way fun, although I definitely need more practice.


I've been playing around with the idea of starting a business this coming semester. I'm not sure if there's really demand for it, or if it would be profitable, so I've created a feasibility study to test the waters (it helps to work for a market research firm at times like this). You can learn more about the business by previewing my study below. Just make sure you say "Yes I agree" to the confidentiality agreement, and say yes when asked if you have cleaning checks - otherwise you will get kicked out of the survey early.

click for Business Feasibility Study

I'm going to send this survey out over facebook to get a feel for the demand, and then I'll decide if I feel like going through with it.

After this last general conference, I made some goals of where I wanted to be spiritually in my life by the end of the summer. Honestly though, I kind of forgot about them until the other day when I was flipping through my general conference journal and stumbled upon them. I was so astounded to see how the experiences and opportunities I have had since then seem to have been directly catered towards me making the changes I was seeking. It reminded me of my mission, where I would pray to overcome a weakness, then forget about it until a few weeks later, when I would realize that all along the Lord had been there helping me along. I love the opportunities for change the Gospel affords us. Can I also just say how much I am enjoying the Book of Mormon? I haven't gone straight through it since my mission - most of my study since then has been topical.  Now though, I have started at the beginning and I am plowing through.  The people in the Book of Mormon are such amazing examples. I love how all of their experiences can be related to our lives.

Holi Festival of Colors

If I asked you what the most popular event of the year in Utah Valley is, what would you say? Pioneer Day Parade? The popular Rex Lee Run? Just ask any student at BYU and they can tell you - the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork. In just a few short years this has become Utah Valley's most anticipated and popular annual event - especially for BYU students and the local hippie population. Every year thousands travel to Spanish Fork to attend the Holi Festival of Colors at the Krishna temple in Spanish Fork.



This festival being directly related to one celebrated in Trinidad and Guyana (called Pagwa), I couldn't pass it up. So Saturday afternoon we loaded up the car, and headed down to see what it's all about. The traffic to get into the even was backed up all the way onto the freeway exit, but eventually we made it. We braved our way into the crowd, went to pick up some bags of colored chalk at the temple (more on that later), but all the chalk had already been distributed so we had to go find some friends in the crowd to borrow from.




The festival follows a popular Indian traditional story in which an evil witch named Holika tried to burn an innocent child but was burned herself when the child called upon God to save him by chanting "Hare Rama Hare Rama Hare." To commemorate this event, a huge pire is built with an effigy of the witch Holika, and as the crowd chants along, the pire is lit - symbolizing a triumph of good over evil. As the fire burns the crowd celebrates by throwing the 25,000 bags of colored chalk (just flour in our case)that were distributed in the air, or at each other, creating a huge clowd of dust, and covering everyone completely in colors - hence the festival name.

From Holi Festival of Colors 2009

(click above to see video - the last 15 seconds of this is the main part. Of course I had to shut off my camera before too many colors started coming.)

And after that it turns into a hippie-fest chant-a-long dance.



And there's crowd-surfing and crazy people.



But in the end we had a great time.

Life Update

Wow, it's been a while.  So I'll give an update on my life.

First of all, my life has gotten so much busier over the past couple weeks.  I started working at a place called Qualtrics Labs in north Provo.   They provide online survey software to over half of the nation's top business schools and to about 15% of the Fortune 500 (I added a simple 1 question poll at the end to try it out).  I am part of tech support, so I will be answering phone calls and emails from professors and market researchers across the country who have questions about the system.  Plus I might get to do some training here and there, showing people how to use the software.  I really like this job because for the first time I have a job where I can actually be creative and make a difference.

But, I'm still at the bookstore as well, so my hours have jumped up from about 16 to 24 a week.  Good thing I like being busy and stressed.  Golf class also started this past week.  My Thursdays consist of cooking from 9 to 12, work from 12 to 3, golf from 4 to 6 and public speeking from 6:30 to 9.  Nothing especially hard, but a full day nonetheless.

On top of all that, I've started a mentoring program where we go out once a week and spend time with a local kid.  It is so much fun.  Our child is really cool.  So far we've gone bowling and kite flying.  Next week I think we'll probably go ice skating or roller skating.

It feels so nice to have a constant flow of daily activities and hobbies now.  I remember in high school I never really had any (except computer games? but that doesn't count).  I am reading a book called How to Win at College which basically tells you how to approach college so that you have a killer resume that will get you any job you want at the end. One of it's tips is to always be working on a "grand project".  I thought about that, and I realized I have a whole string of them - learning to golf, learning to cook, improving my handwriting, learning Spanish, working out, becoming a great guitar player, etc.  Maybe that's why life feels so much fuller now.  I never wonder what to do next, because if I do run out of homework (which is a rarity these days) I always have something fun (and productive?) to fall back on.

Being home from my mission has been really hard and frustrating because for the first time in my life there is no set structure or timeline to follow.  On top of that I feel like a completely different person now - my outlook on life, my interests, even my personality to some extent.  Combine those two, and everyday events suddenly become an adventure as I try to figure out how the "new me" should deal with them. So all of the sudden life has become completely unpredictable.  But yesterday I was pondering and it occured to me, this is how its supposed to be.  On the mission we would always tell people to take steps of faith, and now for the first time in my life I, too, have to learn to walk by faith. 

I started studying 1 Nephi today because I think that of all people, Lehi must have learned what it means to walk by faith.  I am so impressed that in every chapter there are admonitions and promises that if we will be faithful and keep the commandments we will be led to a land of promise.  

I think usually the Lord lets us know the end result and sometimes he illuminates pieces of the path in front of us, but for the most part he asks us to just faithfully step into the darkness.  I love the song Lead Kindly Light with the words "keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me."  I am grateful that the Lord places so much trust in us.  I am comforted to know that we too have a land of promise in store for us if we will follow the Lord in faith.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Good Times

Life is great.  I'm really having fun with my new roomates and friends at Glenwood.  We've started a tradition of inviting different girls over for Sunday dinner to get to know them.  Last week was Mexican week, and this week was French themed (well, it was soup themed, but we thought that was too boring.)  We keep being pleasantly surprised how amazing the food turns out each week (since these are things we've never made before), and also how fun the girls are (since we try to invite apartments that we don't really know).  Each week seems to get better.  And, I feel like I know half the ward already, so that's another bonus.

So, this week I've got a lot on my plate.  Well, that is except for a date.  I don't know what I'm doing for a date this week.   But other than that, I've got a ton of accounting studying to do, plus other stuff.  Really, compared to accounting, my other classes are a piece of cake.  Speaking of cake, there's not much I enjoy more than leaving my accounting class, where we talk about debits and credits and financial statements, and heading over to cooking, where we have serious discussions about making sure your meal has a variety of color, texture, and temperature.   For a college course, cooking feels like such a joke, but I love it.  I also have a speech to give this week for public speaking.  We are doing recitations this week - choosing a piece of prose, and reciting it using a variety of tone, volume, pitch, etc.                                             

I'm considering participating in a program called Conexiones - where you have a Latino family in the area, and you and a partner go and read with them each week to promote literacy.  I think it would be a fun way to learn Spanish since that's something I really want to do, but I don't know if I have the time for it.      

Back at the Y

Life is looking up for me.  I recently moved to Glenwood, and I love the place so far.  Well, not the apartment itself - it's pretty ghetto, but the people.  Here's a few of the things I've done in the last week:

-Met a ton of people - I have a goal to be one of those people who always remembers people's names the first time, and then doesn't forget them.  Switching wards is great practice for that.  The people I've met are great so far.

-Had a bonfire -  I took an old pallet from work (with permission of course) and we went in the canyon for a big apartment group date.  I'd never done a winter bonfire before.  It's actually pretty fun.  I think the snow and freezing cold makes it better.

-Watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - an excellent french film that I would recommend to anyone.  It is based on a true story of a man who suffered a massive stroke and is resigned to complete paralysis except for the ability to blink one eye.  Very eyeopening in understanding those with disabilities.  I also saw The Emperor's New Groove this week, and it was seriously the funniest cartoon I've ever seen.

-Had Chinese dinner night - we had an apartment of girls over on Sunday for a chinese dinner, and it actually turned out great, considering we didn't know any of them, and none of us had ever cooked chinese.  This sunday is Mexican night.

-Got my new laptop (finally!) - I was such a wreck without it, but now it's here.  I like the upgraded network card that lets me surf the internet and download at literally 10 times the speed of my old wireless card.  Plus the webcam is pretty cool.  I'll be practicing and reviewing my speeches for public speaking with it.  Here's what I look like now, while I'm typing this.

-Went to amazing devotionals - I really appreciated seeing President Monson on Sunday, and Elder Holland on Tuesday.  I think their talks were a great strength to me.  I'm so grateful to be here at BYU at this time in my life.  There's so much to do, and so little time to waste!

OK, I'd better go now, I have class in just a few minutes.  Have a great week!

 

I spelled entrepreneurial right on my first try!

It's official - I'm moving to the hood next semester - the Glenhood.  My social life and dating life have fizzled down a lot in the last month or so, so I'm pretty excited about move.  It seems like a much more social place.  

But life's good right now.  I'm counting down my assignments I have left to complete before the end of the semester - I'm down to nine.  The biggest of those is a research paper for Management Communications.  I am studying the social networking site linkedin.com to determine if it is becoming a necessity for young business professionals.  So far the answer appears to be yes - when used correctly, it is a far more powerful employment site than anything else on the web, because it relies on your personal connections to find jobs.  So if you want to work at a firm, it will search and see if someone you know works there.  If none of your contacts do, it will search your contacts' contacts (the people the people you know know) , so that you can get a personal recommendation and introduction rather than just following the traditional method of sending in a resume blindly.  Companies are much more likely to hire someone with a connection like that.  I've actually been having fun researching this, even though it is a little time consuming.

Lately I've been feeling very entrepreneurial.  I'm bored with the current student job market.  Nearly every job simply requires you to do tasks that anyone else could do just as well.  I want to do something that stretches me - where my thoughts and ideas make a difference.  But it seems like the only independent work to do in Utah Valley is sales.  It's all about satellite dishes, pest control, home security, window cleaning, Living Scriptures DVD's, and the list goes on.  Why does everyone here insist on door to door?   If, while I'm a student, I have to do work that a robot could do just as well, then so be it.  I know there's immense value in keeping myself busy and making a contribution to society.  But, I insist on keeping my eyes open for other business opportunities.  

 So, I think I'm going to join the Web Startup Group at BYU, where people interested in internet entrepreneurship get together and make things happen.  I don't know the first thing about web development, but I'm sure I can contribute in other ways.  I would especially be interested in managing the finances of a startup.   

It's about time (Pt 3)

O gosh, I just realized that every single one of my posts is prefaced with "this might be boring" "this is awkward" "this is serious", etc.  What a horrible blogger I am!  From now on, every post will be "exciting" or "mysterious" or "funny", etc.  And if you don't agree (which is very probable), then I'm sorry. 

It's About Time (Pt 2)

Do you ever find yourself bogged down with a ton of books you are reading at the same time? Well, probably not  - this is certainly a first time for me.  Here's what they are:

1. Breakthrough Rapid Reading - So that I can read faster and get more reading in.  Ironically, I haven't touched this book in a couple weeks because I'm too busy reading other things.

2. The Eyewitness History of the Church - Volume 2 - If I had a book club I would recommend this one.  To me history is much more real and interesting when you look at it from the perspective of the ones living it.  This book goes through events in church history and gives correlating excerpts from people's journals and other written communications.

3. This I Believe - An essay collection from NPR where people (some famous and some just average americans) attempt to explain their personal philosophies on life.  Suprisingly interesting.

4. Practical Idealists - Discusses how to focus your studies and your career so that you will be prepared to be able to make money helping people.  Interersting so far, but I'm only in the second chapter.

5. The Art of Mingling - Do you feel awkward and out of place at large social functions, especially when you don't know anyone?  If so, according to the author, you (along with 90% of America) have "minglephobia."  This book is surprisingly fun and helpful to read, though you have to take it with a grain of salt, because most of the "tactics" discussed are geared towards having fun, sometimes at the expense of others, and not building relationships.

6. Crucial Conversations - This book keeps coming up in conversations - I swear it's the unofficial second bible for the Marriot School.  So I decided to check it out.  It teaches how to handle the difficult conversations in our life.  I'm sure it's helpful, but when you're reading five other books at the same time, something this mundane is never at the top of the pile, and thus I'm still in chapter 2 after three weeks.

It's About Time (Pt. 1)

Sorry, I really should post more often.  It's not that I don't have time (though I am usually pretty busy).  And it's not that I don't have anything to write about (my head is always teeming with ideas).  It's just that I feel like everything I could write would be too boring, so I end up not writing anything.

Last week I had a couple ideas but then I didn't post them.  So I'll give the brief versions here.

First, I was going to rave about the wonders of google docs.  Anyone remember the days of group papers that consisted of a bunch of "back-seat writers" and only one person doing the actual typing?  It was almost easier to just do papers on your own.  Well, now if you have a group assignment, everyone just brings their laptops and logs on to google docs, and you all modify the same document at the same time, with the changes appearing on everyone's screen simultaneously.  Then, if anyone later wants to make changes, they just log on from wherever they are and type.  Try it next time - it makes for really fast and efficient group work.

I was also going to rant about the credit crisis.  Debt is supposed to be used for investment - like starting a business or financing a modest car that will get you to work.  You borrow money as a means of procuring a financial gain that would not otherwise be attainable.  In my view, debt is meant to provide opportunities.  It is supposed to be a good thing.  And so I say to that person unloading a new plasma TV out of the back of his Escalade and into his $300,000 home (all paid for with the swipe of a credit card), I've got news for you - none of those things are going to pay for themselves.  If you can't afford them now, what makes you think you'll be able to afford them plus the exuberant amounts of interest charged later?  I think our country has given debt a bad name.

See, wasn't that boring?  But now that that's off my mind I can do a real post.

 

Passing Time Til Class Registration Time

It's 11:18 and normally I would be asleep right now, but I'm staying up till midnight so I can register for next semester's classes.  Here's what I'm tentatively taking:

1. Biology 100 - because I have to (its a GE)

2. Accounting 210 - to find out if accounting really is my thing

3. Information Systems 201 - required for the accounting major

4. New Testament

5. Music 101 - to fulfil a GE, plus you get to learn all about music 

  6. Golf - for my major (OK, not really, but it certainly will help.  And at least now I can justify buying golf clubs by calling it a textbook expense.)

EDIT: Cooking didn't fit in my schedule, unfortunately.  Maybe next semester.

So that's the plan.  We'll see how things actually work out.  I only have 1, possibly 2 more GE classes to take for the rest of my college career after this next semester.  That makes me really happy.

Oh, and guess what?  I got the most amazing side job this week.  Well, first of all, last week I thought I had the most amazing side job - I was going to be a movie extra for a couple of hours and earn 40 dollars.  But I would have had to skip class.  This week, though, I really did get another job - I am now an official taste tester for BYU!  That's right - they call me in, have me try something, and then give me 3 dollars.  As easy as that.  This week is chicken tortilla soup.  I'm really excited.  I'll try to remember and let you know how that goes.

OK, and that's it for today!  Remind me, and I'll put up a halloween picture or two (when I get them).  I think my blog must be really boring - I never have any pictures or anything interesting like that.  I'm just too lazy.

This one's For You, Kyle

This week's been pretty busy. Thursday I took a sick day and I didn't leave the house once. By the end of the day, I was getting really antsy to do something. Friday was better though. I went on a date with a really cool girl that I knew from my freshman ward. We went with a bunch of people all the way to West Jordan to do a corn maze and a haunted forest thingy. We had a lot of fun, but I was disappointed in the haunted forest. Everyone else thought it was scary though, so maybe I've just lost my imagination. It's hard to be scared when you remember that all the monsters are just guys in costumes, and they aren't even allowed to touch you. Well, I take all that back, the guys with chainsaws that came out of the corn field were pretty scary.

Anyways, I was having a conversation about money with my roomate, Kyle, the other day, and I decided to make that the subject for this post. Before my mission, if I ever wanted to buy something, I would usually just do it. Now that I'm officially poor though, I don't have that luxury. So instead, whenever I want to buy something, I do the next best thing - I just write it down. The idea is that whenever I look at this list, it will remind me to work hard in school so that one day I can actually afford these things. Here's a sample of what's on my list:

1. 22 inch widescreen monitor - OK, my roomate says it's excessive, but I think taking notes and doing my class reading at the same time on a tiny laptop screen is really frustrating, and having dual monitors would help so much (and movies would sure look better on a bigger screen, too).

2. Invisalign braces - To fix my crossbite.

3. Dave Matthews Band Anthology (guitar tab edition) - I love playing Dave Matthews on the guitar, and sheet music would really help.

4. 8 gig MicroSD card - So that my phone can hold all of my music, and not just a sample.

5. French Cuff Shirt with Cuff Links - What can I say? They just look better.

6. Don't Mess With Texas T-shirt - I used to think Texas pride was stupid, but now I think its kind of funny. I like to pretend like I have it.

7. Body Sculpting Bible for Men - Um, enough said. Just want to make sure my workouts count.

8. Practical Idealists: Changing the World and Getting Paid - My career goal for the past couple of years has been to do something that would make a lot of money while helping people in poorer countries. I didn't know if that was possible, but then the other day I stumbled upon this book while stickering at the bookstore. Too bad the library dosn't have a copy.

9. Wreck This Journal - Another one I stumbled on at the bookstore. If you're ever at a bookstore, flip through it (or click on the link to see what it's about). Basically I have this recurring fear that I'm losing my imagination, and this book is probably one of the best creative outlets you can find.

Let's all do the Reggae thing!

I decided that the last post was awkward (good thing no one actually reads this, right? except for you). So here's some reggae for you. This is a radio station created exclusively by me, so you can be guaranteed it's good.

you might have to make a pandora account to listen to it, but it's totally worth it (and they don't spam you)




http://www.pandora.com/stations/d39eeb488f62d7b8a7e7969abfa6816c3d02505b8421c31b#





A little music lesson, this station actually has two styles. The first is reggae, which is the most chill music on earth. The second is dancehall, which is what reggae-loving people listen to when they want something more upbeat and dancable (hence the name). Enjoy!

Right now I'm working on making the perfect 80's station, but it is currently too much Phil Collins and not enough Men Without Hats. It needs a little more pop feel to it. I'll post a link when I'm satisfied with it.

On a Lighter Note...

My last post was really serious, so I'll be sure this one is different.  So what's going on in my life right now?  Here's a travelogue of exciting events.  

Monday - Family Home Evening - I think we played flour tag this week - we threw socks full of flour at each other and if you get hit twice you're out.  Basically a sissy substitute for paintball.  But, who likes welts anyways?  I had fun.

Tuesday - No life... whatsoever.  Class, study, work, home, and then I watched Lost.  I am in season 4 right now.  It is so good!    I was shocked when I found out that Michael was still alive and suicidal- and that he was a spy for Ben on the freighter ship.  I was shocked when the freighter people held Ben and friends hostage at the barracks.  Ben's daughter was held at gunpoint, but Ben claimed he wasn't the father and let her die rather than give himself up.  (He didn't think they would do it).  I was shocked to find out that in the future Jack ends up with Kate, raising Claire's baby (it was interesting to find out how Jack ended up going crazy.)  I was shocked that Jack and Claire's dad, Christian (their relationship was also shocking in a sort of Luke and Leia Skywalker sort of way) was there in the cabin when Locke and Ben went to get answers from Jacob.  So is he really dead?  I thought Christian was a drunk who died in Australia, but his empty coffin was on the plane when it crashed, so does that mean he is really alive, or was that just a vision in the cabin?  I'm so confused.  Anyways, the moral of this story is, don't get sucked into tv shows.  Now after I watch the season finale, I have to wait until february for the new season to start up, and then is it really worth it?  I think my life would have been just fine without it.

Wednesday - Went to the gym.  I think I'm finally seeing results.  Went to class, went to work.  Went home, more Lost.  Worked on my speed reading.  I started last week at 350 wpm, and on my latest test, I got 937.  Not that I understand anything at that speed - but I haven't gotten to the comprehension drills yet, so I'll be patient.  Also practiced the guitar.  Right now I'm working on The Best of What's Around by Dave Matthews Band.  I can play it, I can sing it, but it sure doesn't sound good together yet.  I realized on Wednesday that maybe I'm going over the top with this self improvement stuff.  Right now I'm working out every day, learning to speed read, learning to cook, learning to write cursive, learning guitar, and studying Conversationally Speaking (a great social skills book - I recommend it).  But, I enjoy it, so I'll keep it up for now.  

Thursday - I was driving on empty all day - I have this thing where my gas tank has to last for a month, no matter what kind of driving I do (and this last month involved a Salt Lake trip).  Finally I gave in and filled up - two days short of a month.  My social life for the week began today.  I had a great blind date with a cool girl.  We (along with an old mission buddy and his girlfriend) cooked dinner together and then carved pumpkins.  Their's was great - a scary cat thing.  Ours was sort of a ghost that was graduating from college (because he looked like he was wearing a cap and gown).  But, we carved a star in the back, so when we lit them up, ours projected a cool star on the wall, and their's didn't.  Take that!  It was a way fun date.

Friday - Physical Science was my only class.  I didn't have time to do my laundry, so I bought a new pair of garments so I could postpone it a day.  Is that lame?  I was supposed to go camping that night with a bunch of people, but that got cancelled.  So what do you do on a friday night with nothing to do?  Grocery shopping... with your roomate!  Really lame.  But then we went to a foreign film on campus - Run Lola Run.  It's probably my favorite foreign film.  Lola's boyfriend lost a sack with 100,000 dollars on the subway, and he only has 20 minutes before his crime boss shows up and kills him for not having it.  He calls Lola and says he is going to rob the grocery store to get the money, but Lola says "sit tight, I'll figure something out".  20 minutes to get 100,000 dollars and get it to her boyfriend.  And she starts running.  It is a way intense movie.  I recommend it.  

Saturday - Rumor has it that the American Fork Deseret Industries is better than the Provo one (rich contributors and no college students to pick through the selection).  So after breakfast at Devon's apartment, we drove up there to check it out.   I got a really nice perfect fitting suit jacket to go with some of my slacks, plus two really nice shirts for 5 dollars each.  Is it worth the trip though?  Probably not.  The Provo DI is just as good.  After that, I cooked lunch.  This coming week is hamburger week - each day I am going to cook a burger in a different way (I'm trying to broaden my cooking horizons).  Saturday was Guacamole Monterrey Jack burger day.  It was pretty good.  After that, I went to play tennis with an old mission buddy (I really should have gone with a girl instead, but I didn't know who to ask).  The racket makes all the difference!  With my new Babolat racket, I was able to actually hit the balls in, and I won my first set since high school.  Saturday night, I determnined that I must do homework (lame, I know) but I did take a quick 20 minutes to go to the hottub and relax.

Sunday - Church.  Our apartment was assigned to set up chairs in all the rooms, and I freaked out when none of my roomates could come early for that, but luckily there were other people there to help.  The meetings were amazing... especially Gospel Principles.  The spirit was so strong as we talked about sacrifice.  I know it's something we all must do.  Funny, it seems hard, but every sacrifice we are asked to make ultimately benefits us and brings us closer to God.  I love the basic principles of the gospel.  After church was Bleu Cheese Burger time.  Nasty!  I try to like bleu cheese but I just don't.  Then I took a nap and went to the temple to meditate and read scriptures and call home.  And then I came home, and did boring stuff, and now I'm here, typing at my computer, and I really need to go to bed so I can wake up early enough to make it to the gym in the morning.

And that's a (typical?) week in my life.