"I write, therefore I am."

DISCLAIMER: This is going to be like testimony meeting, only ultra, uber longer, and way funnier. Probably the same on the spiritual enrichment level though :P Oh, and because of the length, it's not super edited either. Forgive me... When I left my house on Tuesday, I left 3 feet of snow and temperatures around Zero. Eee. I'm going to die when I get back. Because the weather tomorrow... the HIGH is going to -6. NEGATIVE SIX. Death. Anyway, December 17th, 2008 - Wednesday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The morning started off on Cuz Kelsey's couch where I was woken up by her husband, then by someone's phone, then the older girls on their way to school, then the other kids when they got up, and finally by Kels herself. Awesome. Needless to say, I ='d tired. We got on the road and got some "Milky Ways" (read: hot chocolate with caramel...now sporting the ripped off name of a candy bar) and went to Wally World, because genius (read: yours truly) forgot his...

"Forgive me Father..." "...for I have sinned." And gravely so. True Confession of my soul: 2. I am a closet Geo-Cacher . I love it. Alot. My older Bro got me hooked, and two days ago, I even broke down and bought myself my own GPS. For almost $300. Eee. Merry Christmas to myself?! My Aunt has been helping my habit as well, and now I'm close to catching my brother on finds. And have Travel Bugs of my own to trade. If you don't know what Geo-caching is, you really need to learn . 3. I secretly, against all naysayers, laughers, and people who make fun of me endlessly, here . Though, this one I enjoy also, and it needs more players, so if you like to write, join us. 4. I eat at Waffle House . And love the food. I won't touch McD's , but I crave Waffle House. I'm just...complicated, okay? 5. All these confessions were necessary as per my upcoming Travelogue Post...

"Forgive me Father..." "...for I have sinned." And gravely so. True Confession of my soul: 1. I ate at McDonald's last night. EW. I'm sorry. In my opinion, McDonald's is the lowest of the low as far as fast food goes. I mean, I even put it below Beto's. And I ate there. (It was either that or starve, so I rationalized the sin). I'm just... above McD's. I mean, I know they are working really hard to change their image and be "healthy" or whatever, but I will always think of grease pit when I eat there. Always. No matter how they change their image. Or their food. It's just ingrained. Don't get me wrong, when I was a kid I totally ate there as much as any other little kid, and totally loved it. Happy Meal = Dreams coming true. But somewhere in my growing up, I lost that childhood innocence, and now, now I just despise the place. And laugh at people wearing expensive business suits and having dinner there. Sucker.

Blogger Buddies, I AM GOING HOME! I GET TO SEE MY MOMMERS! (And Poppers!) I am so excited! AND SO APPREHENSIVE... My blog is a relatively new thing (but so about time, and let's be honest, you LOVE it!), but for those of you who were tuned into the extravaganza (read: drama-filled craziness) that was my life before this blog, you will know what going home forbodes. Last Christmas I went for 10 days and very nearly killed myself. I swore I'd only go back for 2 or 3 days at the max. Then I tried buying plane tickets. UGH. The cheapest ticket I could find was for 3 weeks. 3 W E E K S. Thankfully I have planned a 4-day trip to Ohio and am working on an excursion to D.C., for a wedding. When I first bought the ticket, my Mom asked: "Okay, but what is going to make this time different?" I have no answer. But it MUST be. I cannot survive another ordeal like that. Something, anything, must be different. It just has to be. So please hold my hand, wish me luck, and stay tuned. ...

Well, the kids certainly made up for the "normalness" last week with the antics of yesterday. Episode 5: Prophets, Computers, and Jesus, oh my! So this week I had two visitors, a 10year old, and his 6year old sister. The age range of my class just keeps growing... eee. Anyway, we were talking about Priesthood Preparation (even though I have no boys in my class who are turning 12... they aren't even 11). *shrug* So I wanted to talk about prophets, the organization of the church, etc. We started out by putting the names of as many prophets as they could think of on the board. Me: "Good job so far. And who's the current prophet?" Kid: "Nephi!" Me: X.x Seriously? Yes, one of my kids actually said that. Awesome. Second, I brought Joy to the World because I wanted to use the piece on prophets. I had this big box that we were going to use for a game, and I wouldn't let them look inside it, so one of my more rambunctious girls said, "Fine, then I...

Some updates: I have nothing to report from my Sunday School Lesson yesterday. It was a normal class (with misbehaving of course), and we played Hangman again. I started with the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" just to shove it in the face of the kids who wanted to hang the man... then did my lesson. Was that mean? I enjoyed it. Nothing remarkable happened in sharing time either. We actually had a normal Sunday! I have a spider living in my sink. It's Turtle's fault that I didn't kill it outright. At first I thought it was just hanging out, but no, it seems to have moved in. Been there for a week, though it does disappear from time to time. He was gone all day yesterday, but he's back this morning. I named him Spork. Do not ask me why... that was just the first word that popped into my brain after I thought to myself, what should I call you? Spork is a weird spider. He doesn't even have a web, just hangs out in my sink... This past we...

Class was better this week. More games. More attention-activities. I think we read one scripture (that's pretty much all we tried to do last week...) I had two visitors this week since it was Thanksgiving, and they were way smarter than all my kids. Even knew scripture references! I was pretty impressed. And wondered why my kids weren't at their level... did they learn before I got here? Episode 4: That's MY Church! So again, this one is from Primary, not my class. Because this week we talked about Faith, reviewed a bunch of gospel stories, (and some of the kids remembered the lessons/stories we'd talked about! I was proud) and then shared Faith experiences with one another. I even actually felt the Spirit in my class! Yes! Success! In Primary, the little brothers of the two visitor girls sat next to me, and they were 6 or 7. We were doing a scripture activity for the lesson, and the little man next to me saw the Bible I was holding out for him to use, and the followin...

Third week of class. Absolute disaster! Both of my boys insisted on misbehaving and playing football with anything they could find, and apparently came with amply filled pockets. To complicate matters, anytime I paid them mind, one girl would race to the chalkboard and stamp handprints all over it. The two usually behaved girls didn't want to pay attention either, just talk to each other. X.x *le sigh* My manual says don't acknowledge minor misbehaving because it will just give it attention and encourage it. But where do I draw the line? The lesson didn't even help. It was on why Moroni wrote on the plates, and left little room for games. The one activity I'd thought of, I didn't have the materials or time to put together. Bad week. But, not without it's shining moment. Episode 3: God is a sexist This one actually didn't take place in my class, nor was it one of my students. But it totally still counts, because it's classic. We were in the middle of sing...

As previously stated : I have of late, rediscovered the overwhelming joys of MEDIA (read: books and movies) which I did not have time for in college. Except for the required of course, some of which have remained on my list of excellents. Others however, I burned. Like Watt. Forgive me Samuel Beckett. I just really, really hate you. What an utter waste of paper that book is. So I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on recent viewings/readings. DISCLAIMER: SPOILER ALERT! If you're planning on reading/seeing any of these in the near future, you may not want to read my opinions... PS, not included in part two (though it applies): If you have thoughts/feelings/comments to these books and/or movies, chime in, I'd love to know if I'm way off on my thinking, or a pretty dang good critic (which I will believe no matter what you say). B O O K S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE: I am an avid reader. LOVE books to death. My taste in books differs sharply from that of movies, and I'm a lit...

In light of my last post , I thought I would just pour salt on the wounds of my many friends and tell you about some of my freedom over the past few weeks (which will also explain why I haven't been diligently blogging...lol). I have of late, rediscovered the overwhelming joys of MEDIA (read: books and movies) which I did not have time for in college. Except for the required of course, some of which have remained on my list of excellents. Others however, I burned. Like Watt . Forgive me Samuel Beckett. I just really, really hate you. What an utter waste of paper that book is. So I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on recent viewings/readings. DISCLAIMER: SPOILER ALERT! If you're planning on reading/seeing any of these in the near future, you may not want to read my opinions... M O V I E S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE: Not going to lie, there are like 5 movies that I adore (and own). And that's all. I am one TOUGH movie critic. And proud of it. Transformers - Grade: C. I wa...

Well, this is looooong overdue, and has been in draft form for about half a month now. Might as well put it down and crank it out for feasting eyes (hey, that's you!). ***DISCLAIMER: If you are currently a poor college student referred to in this post, you may want to wait two weeks to read this, so that you don't... hate me.*** Back in October when I went to visit Utah for my Mission Reunion and Conference, I of course went to visit all the poor children left behind at the B Y of U. As I drove around in my rental car, feeling all executive (cuz that was an amazing ride I was sporting, no? :P) I was enthralled by all the little college kiddies toting their bookbags and riding their bicycles, and I said, "Awwwww..." like they were second graders! Haha, suckers. I am just really grateful that I'm done with that! Most of my friends are currently in the final crunch before the week of death (read: finals!) and hating life. Not getting enough sleep, super stressed, etc...

Oh wow. So I am a very, very, very happy boy right now. With no voice. My absolute #1, top of my itunes, favvvvvvvvorite band ever ever ever ever played Boise tonight and you know I was so right there. Front row, dead center (okay there was one chick in front of me but I was taller than her). I was so close I could reach out and touch the lead singer. And the concert was amazing. Much better than the first time I saw them live. That time I was nowhere near the front. I sang and screamed, shouted, and had a freaking blast. And now have no voice. :) I even got the mic. TWICE. Because I'm just that fricking cool. I rocked out, head banged, and just had so much fun...I haven't been this happy in ages. Classic Crime has two albums and one EP, all of which I own, and I love some of their softer stuff (they like to rock HARD live). I knew they were playing something acoustic tonight, so I had a sign ready, and when he got the acoustic guitar, I whipped it out. Lead singer Matt then p...

I was going to bed like an hour ago...and then I got distracted. Yay for an ADHD mind. I don't even remember how I got there... but I found this . Apparently, November 14th is Domino day, and this was the 10th year of doing it. And the Dutch are INSANE about their dominoes. And have ZERO competition... All 10 of them are in Dutch so I understand very, very little, but it's still freaking AMAZING to watch. Yeah, I had domino rally when I was a kid, and I could never even get one whole bridge to stay up, so these people...yeah I idol worship you a little. They broke tons of world records, not just the most dominos ever knocked down. Like the longest single domino field? 1 million dominoes? What happens if someone bumps one...? Go waste 45 minutes of your life. It's spectacular. Here's the first one compliments of me to get you tantalized (Ps, don't ask me what that girl in spandex is doing at the beginning... I don't speak Dutch. I prefer to believe she is just w...

So, this was the second time I taught my kids. (The week before was Stake Conference, so I didn't teach). Episode 2: Hang the Man, Prophet Who?, and a Crash! This week the lesson was on the Jaredites rejecting the prophets, so we recapped the previous week's lesson, and dove right in. The kids did NOT let me down... One of our activities this week was Hangman, since that was voted by the kids in the questionnaires their fave game we could play in class. I only had 6 kids this week (one had not been there last week, so now I have 8 in all? I think there are actually 9). Anyway, three of the kids played Hangman the right way, but the other three decided to take the title literally. Their goal was not figuring out the word, but hanging the little man. They would guess Z and X on purpose. The best part was when one of them guessed "Q" and it was in the word. I laughed at him. A little. Oops. :P Anyway, so we were talking about consequences, then I started introducing the...

Really I shouldn't do this. Because it's just as bad as a forward. And I abhor email forwards. And delete them. Always. Oh Blogger. You have changed the venue, but not the game. *le sigh* Only to indulge Erika am I doing this. Because I love her. And one of her facts is my fault. I was the missionary who taught her family. :D So... 1. I love to read kid's books. Like lots of them. The bottom two shelves of my bookcase are all kids books. From little kid just learning how to read, to chapter books and choose-your-own-adventures, to the older teen books. 2. I don't drink pop. I try not to at least. Once in a while (read: every 3 days about) I break down and have a Dr. Pepper. But that's the only pop I will ever touch. If it's anything else, it's not worth the destruction of my internal organs. 3. I am a self-proclaimed bacon addict. I could eat it all day, every day. I just love the stuff. In the restaurant downstairs, our cook tries to keep some cooked alway...

Okay, honestly. I love to celebrate. Everyone. Everything. I finally broke down and made myself a nifty little google calendar, so I can finally get rid of the one I've been writing on since 2005 that's kinda out of date just a little bit. Before that the information was just scrawled somewhere. So this is your opportunity to be celebrated! Send me an email (don't leave a comment) with your birthday (the whole thing, month day and YEAR, so I can say how old you are) and/or Anniversary (with the month day and year you got hitched) and I will add them to my nifty calendar. :) Disclaimer: This is no guarantee you will get anything on that day (except an email or phone call of me celebrating).

Chapter 8 - Knee'd that? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ron borrowed the splitter again, and the splitting has resumed in recent days. Because there is so much freaking wood down there. Someone got a little saw-happy me thinks. We even started selling the wood to other people and delivering it to their houses, we had so much. Just a few nights ago, we were out splitting again, and Ron and Tobias were loading a truck to take to someone, and that left Spencer and me to split. I'd since learned to "drive" the splitter and was now quite efficient at slicing those things. Well, what I wasn't apparently efficient at was moving the darned thing. It's like straight up metal (about the size of a large go-cart), and has wheels just on one end, so you have to maneuver it carefully when you move it. Well, I was trying, but when I was backing up a log rolled from somewhere, under my foot, and I fell over backwards, still holding this metal thing. I landed on the woodpile which hurt i...

Chapter 6: Sticks, not stones, may drive some cars, but logs will always break my glasses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There has been this little yellow pickup out back for some time, just sitting there, because it had no engine. Well, Ron finally fixed it, and he decided I need to learn how to drive it (he just wants his jeep back). Only problem: It's a manual aka stick-shift. I don't do stick-shift. There was one attempt once upon a time, long, long ago (read: in high school, when I wanted to go to prom in a convertible), but my learning attempts were met with bucking and stalling. Once I got going, I was fine shifting and what not, it was that start/stop thing that was beyond my comprehension. But he deemed that I needed to learn. But while we are going for wood? Is this really necessary? I told him I hoped he was not in a hurry, and I was right. I think I stalled the thing 33 times before I finally got it to even move forward, lol. I'm no...

Chapter 4: Jeep Slider ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a few trips up, I was finally graduated to rig driver (read: jeep with a trailer) and I was super excited about that. Except when we were driving on mountain roads that had snow on them. I was last in line, with Ron right in front of me, and he was always careful to make sure I was still behind him. Well, then there was this turn to the right. I turned my wheel, but the jeep did not respond. It kind of just kept going. And I kind of super started freaking out. Spouting obscenities, I pumped the brakes, which put the rig into a skid, and I went right off the road and started down the hill. I alternately prayed I'd stop before I died, and continued swearing. I mean, these are mountains. I'm lucky this wasn't a direct drop-off turn (which there are plenty of!) But the jeep just kept going, and I really thought I was going to die. After I was a full three-jeep lengths down the hill, a log finally stopped my jarring descent. But whe...

Those of you who read my uber long update (either in its original email format or the revised, pilfered version here ) will know that woodgetting always seem to carry with it an edge of adventure. Danger. Something insane happening. (And that's also what I'm deeming "Adventures in Woodgetting - Part 1" for those of you who are confused). My co-worker always knows whenever we go up, that when we come back down there will be a story to tell. Sometimes, though, I wish there wasn't. Chapter 2, addendum 1: Super Strength ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (excerpt from the last recorded woodgetting when it was super storming) The rain finally abates and we've filled the pickups and are ready to fill the trailer. Ron asks me to go up the hill and get the trailer, but make sure I turn it around by hand. I was super confused by this comment since Tobias and I already had it facing the right way. So I go up the hill, lift up the trailer with both arms, and proceed to march the thing...

This post is by no means a complaint. In any way, shape, or form. It's actually more prideful than anything else, but what else is new? :P So, for years now I have had the excellent fortune to be believed to be younger than I actually am. I have always loved/enjoyed/gloated over this. But recently, my deviant age has reached new heights. Twice. Incident #1: Cascade Public Library ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Being that I am now a resident of Idaho, I needed to re-register to vote, which was fine with me (since I moved from a state where my vote didn't count to a state where...my vote didn't count). Anyway, I went to the library to print off the form at the beginning of October. The following conversation ensued: Me: "Hi, I need to print something real quick. Just one page." Library Lady: "Okay, that's fine. It's just 15 cents. Do you have a user agreement?" Me: "Um, no I don't think so. Was I supposed to sign that when I got my library ca...

Okay so very recently I've been called to teach at my church. Primary. LOL I have a class with a 9-yr. old, five 10-yr. olds, and an 11-yr. old. Eesh. So some of my blogs will be about the random/funny things they say. Because, they're kids, people. And kids are freaking hilarious. Episode 1: Life Goal I want our class to be as fun as possible. I mean, kids love having fun! So I wanted to take a few minutes and get to know the kids a little better in order to cater the class more specifically to their likes and wants. So I made up this little questionnaire I had them fill out with questions like, "Favorite Color," "Something you're afraid of," "Favorite scripture story," "A game you'd love to play in class," etc. So they are penciling away at these things and I'm writing my own on the chalkboard so they know me. Well the 9-year old looks up and raises her hand. Me: "Yes?" Her: "I don't know what to put for t...

***Origination date: Wednesday September 24th*** Dear [insert your name here to make this a special, personalized message just for you and only you], The time has come for a lengthy, long overdue update of zee life of SpAz. Rewind to April 08. Finally done with BYU. Finally done with school. Let the celebration abound! My pops and littlest bro Ryan came out to the party, as well as many of my extended family members (two of my cousins were graduating also). We had a shindig at my house (thanks to everyone that came) and I settled into life after graduation in p-town. Wasn’t much different than before, except now the only thing I HAD to do was work. Which was fine. I increased my hours, got a raise, and started in full-time at the hotel. All was well and I was content to continue there indefinitely. Sometimes, however, it did get slightly tedious. I mean when you are working a 14-hr shift, there is only so much Disney’s Gummi Bears you can endure before it’s just detrimental to...