Finals Week

Finals week is here!! I'm excited for the part about being done with school but I definatly have my apprehensions as well. Lots of things are up in the air with me these days, work, school, and other things as well. So rather than dwell on the things that are out of my hands I went and had a BBQ last night with Jason and his date Cami, Micah and his date that stood him up, and I was lucky enough to have Camille with me. So I took a few pictures and I'll post them on the blog so anyone that is hurting themselves studying can be jealous that we had fun.


Micah working the mountain man routine and getting our fire started on the 5th or 6th try!



Camille not sure if she's cold yet or if that is just the sensation of having FUN during finals ;)

Jason and Cami (aka jackie, trixie, and waffle). Not really sure what they were doing but Cami was laughing as always.

Micah still working the fire... Camille and Cami wondering if he'll get it started before they freeze to death.



:)

Well there ya have it! If you're not jealous you're not human:) GOOD LUCK TO YA"LL ON FINALS!!!

Another Season Soon Ends and a Chapter Closes

Do you ever realize that a chapter in your life is about to end whether you want it to or not? Well I've recently noticed that another chapter in my life is quickly coming to a close. I must say that this chapter has not included all the things that I had imagined it would at the onset but it has also included many things that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. So, although this chapter of my life still has approximately a week left I just want to take a few minutes to reflect on the things that the past few years have held for me. Lessons learned, lessons missed, mistakes made, friends made, friends lost, loves lost, understanding gained, and heaven felt are all part of this game we call life and I am so grateful to be able to be a player in the game and not just a sideline observer.

1- Friends gained and lost: I can't believe its been nearly 2 1/2 years since my best high school friend Eldon was killed! Time definitely flies past us if we aren't careful. I feel lucky to have had him in my life and am grateful that I haven't lost any more loved ones than him. Along with losing a great friend I have gained 3 of my closest friends in the entire world here in Logan. I count my blessings every day that I was put in an apartment two years ago with Jason and Micah. They have been such a great blessing in my life and I love them like brothers. We have had a lot of fun and interesting times together and have never had any roommate drama.... well besides that time I pushed Jason just a hair too far... whoops! The third friend will remain unnamed but she has literally been my salvation in the past year. I don't know what I'd have done without her! She'll probably never know just how much she means to me. I have also made many other friends and associates that have helped me so much in this chapter of my life. I will truly miss those that are moving on to new chapters of life and leaving me, especially Jason and Micah. Thanks guys!

2- I have gained a whole new understanding of who I am and what I am doing with my life. Its crazy how Heavenly Father will remind you that you're not going the direction you should be going and will help guide you to retrace your steps and make the right turns in your life. We really can't go wrong with Him in our corner. My testimony and understanding of the atonement and other essential Gospel principles have grown immensely. So grateful for the learning opportunities that God has put in my path. Its nice to have a more clear idea of where you want to go in life and how you intend to get there. Doesn't mean you wont have to work your tail off but it does mean that you can be certain that the hard work will actually get you someplace, not just anyplace but someplace you actually want to go.

3- The depth of love that I have for my family has really come into focus in this chapter of my life as well. In the past three years I've had the opportunity to hold 3 new nieces and 1 new nephew and I tell you what, holding one of those precious little infants is about as close to touching Heaven as I've ever come. The most recent addition to my family was this past Monday with the birth of Kyle and Becca's second child Abigale Kate (spelling?). I was so happy to be able to drive down and see her the day after she was born. Family is probably the most important thing in my life right now. I don't know when I'll be blessed with such blessings of my own but for now I am content with sharing these precious moments with those that I love.

4- The loss, gain, and eventual loss again of love has been a very active part of the last few years. I don't feel it is necessary to go into any great details on this topic. I hate the topic and have yet to have any lasting good experience so there is not reason to dwell on the losses right? I have seen the hand of the Lord in this aspect of my life. Sure it is tough when someone you become interested in leaves and goes on a mission but I accept that this is the right path for them and I am so jealous of them for being able to get away from the world and serve the Lord for their allotted time. I can't believe how soon one gets home and I wish the other all the luck in the world. She will be just as successful as the first. The one thing that does frustrate me about this part of my life is when a very amazing and steadfast friendship suddenly appears to be so much more. But I have also learned that when in the pursuit of a meaningful relationship one can never assume to know what the other is thinking. As the old antage goes, "when you assume you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'." I couldn't agree with this more. But every once in a while you come across another person who is as honest and straightforward as you are. When you find that person you need to fight for them like there is no tomorrow. I intend to do just that! Love isn't always fair and almost never makes any sense but I'm confident that it will all eventually make sense.

Basically I want you all to know that you have each touched my life in the past few years in a way that only you could have touched it. You are each important to me. I struggle to express these feelings and because of that inability I find that most of those that mean so much to me never realize just what they have done to touch my life. Thank you all! I hope many of you will be key players to some extent in the next chapter of my life!

I Guess it Means I Have Good Taste....?

Followers of my blog aren't used to me making short posts but this one is going to be quite short and to the point.

My mission helped me to clear up a very popular Mormon legend: "Sister missionaries are worthless."

Some of the greatest missionaries I had the opportunity of serving with were Sisters. Such hard working and dedicated Elders are hard to find. So I guess the "cream of the female crop" are those that go on missions..... If that is the case then I must be attracted to the "cream of the crop" but dang its frustrating! Sending one amazing girl on a mission was hard enough but I don't know if I can do a second one.... But for those of you that know me I always have a hard time getting between a person and something they feel very strongly about. I know how I feel when people do that to me so I struggle to do it to others. So basically I'm STUCK! What to do?

I guess I'll look at the bright side.... At least I'm attracted to the Cream of the Crop huh? RIGHT?

I'm Glad Michelle Obama is 'Finally Proud to be American"

As the title of this post might indicate, I am going to vent in this post. For those of you who are unaware of the titled quote from the great princess of the New America it was said at a rally towards the end of the Presidential Elections last fall. So what am I going to vent about? I am really disgusted that the French President Sarkozy has more backbone than our savior president Obama! Let me explain.

For any of you that are living someplace besides under a rock you have heard the buzz the past few days about the U.S. flagged ship that was attacked off the coast of Somalia this week. If you haven't heard anything about this, crawl out from under your rock and listen to the news, or HEAVEN FORBID read a newspaper. The sailors on this ship epitomized the spirit of America by fighting off the heavily armed pirates and at one point even taking a pirate hostage. As Americans these are individuals that we can be proud of! In the scuffle, as we know, the American captain was taken hostage by the pirates and currently they are sitting in a 'dead' lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with one US Destroyer on site and two more that should be there later today. So now that there has been some background on the situation let me explain my beef with our invertebrate of a president.

The first sign that we, as a country, are in trouble when it comes to security came yesterday when, following a Presidential briefing on the housing crisis a reporter asked the President about the current situation off the coast of Somalia. The Obama said, and I directly quote, "we are talking about the housing issue right now." He then folded up his papers and exited the room! Not even a, "we have specialists on site and we are working towards a peaceful ending. Our prayers are with the family of the Captain." So my blood has been at a simmer since that happened yesterday and now it has again returned to a healthy boil. The latest news reports are that they are negotiating a 2 million dollar ransom demand by the pirates for the captain. WHAT? There is very reliable intelligence that proves these Somali pirates are funneling a good portion of their money to known terrorist groups, our enemies, but rather than kill these worthless pukes of humanity and take back our captain we are NEGOTIATING WITH THEM? At the same time the French military stormed a French yacht held by pirates earlier this morning and killed the pirates and took back the boat. Its true that one of the french civilians on board was killed as well but atleast the French had the guts to fight back!

Now they are reporting that several pirate controlled ships are heading to the area and the standoff will soon become much more critical. Thankfully we have a President, Commander and Chief, that will NOT make decisions when it is critical and now unstead of just killing 4 worthless Somali pirates and moving on with life we are now involved in a situation that can only get worse! So much for the French being gutless. It seems that the shoes have switched feet and the U.S. is now the gutless nation and the French are willing to fight for what they believe in.

So, Michelle Obama might be proud to be an American FINALLY but I think right now I'd rather be French!

A Copycat or the Real Thing?

I very rarely go back on something I vow to do but times like these call for exceptions. For anyone who has followed my blog the past several months the Lucky Charmer was banished from my blog months ago. For those of you who are new to my blog I would recommend reading about this phantom of the night in my previous blog entries.

Why am I talking about the banished follower of my blog? I'll explain. Last night my favorite neighbor from BLAPT 13 was at my place visiting Jason and I and when we walked her to the door at a little past midnight we were surprised to see the LC's calling card (a box of Lucky Charms) sitting in front of our door. Those of you who are familiar with the LC will recall that each item that was left on my porch was littered with meaningless clues to nowhere in an attempt by the adversary to piddle my time away chasing false clues (it worked). Well, last night's 'gift' followed the same mo with the words 'Grow up' and 'time is running out' circled very prominently on the box. Today I decided to open them up and have a bowl of cereal only to find that this particular box of Lucky Charms was lacking the marshmallows! Upon further investigation I found that the perpetrator had opened the bottom of the bag, poured out the cereal, sorted out all the marshmallows, put the puffed poop leftovers back in the bag, and then melted the bag shut again! Once again, for those familiar with the LC's beginnings you will recall that it all started when I made reference in a blog post to Lucky Charms in a post dedicated to life and dating. In that reference I pointed out that while most of the time, in life, we are stuck dealing with the menial labors of life (nasty puffed oat pieces in LC cereal) once in a while we are blessed with sweet little morsels that persuade us to continue looking for love, success, education, etc (this would be the marshmallows). So, in essence last nights little escapade by the LC (or a copycat) was meant to show me that they have essentially taken it upon themselves to deprive me of the sweet moments in life. To me this is an act of war and I refuse to stand idly by while they do such things!

You may be wondering, "what can he do since he doesn't even know who it is?" That is an excellent question, and one that I have a very solid answer for. A very close friend of mine just happened to be out in the parking lot in his/her car that was parked very closely to my door and noticed the package being dumped on my steps! Yup, the LC was caught red handed! Well upon investigation we figured out who it was that made the drop last night and we are planning retaliatory measures that will, essentially make them cry. I have my doubts that last night was actually an impersonator that only wished they were the LC but regardless the war is on. The ONLY way that you can escape the wrath of BLAPT 14 is by admitting your actions. You might think that by saying this I am admitting that I really don't know who you are. In that case, you are absolutely WRONG and will suffer the consequences. Choose wisely.

If you are in fact the original Lucky Charmer I will gladly admit your greatness on my blog if you come and fess up. If you aren't the original LC then apparently you had nothing better to do last night so you pulled a flawed copycat prank (flawed since you were caught) after stalking my blog. Anyways, Copy Cat or "Real Deal" the choice is yours. If we have not heard from you by Thursday night you can expect a visit from us. Good Luck!

Is Having a Taste Better Than Ignorance?

Well, I'm still alive! Hopefully the majority of those that read this are glad to hear that news. Sorry I haven't written in so long. I have been really busy and really shouldn't have time to be writing tonight but for two nights in a row I am unable to sleep. Maybe I'll get back into the swing of things though.

It seems like all of my closest friends have been going through one hardship or another recently. Admittedly most of them have to do with relationships with the opposite sex. I was in the middle of a conversation last night with a dear friend of mine about her recent let down and the question came to my mind, "is ignorance really bliss?" I mean just about all of us have experienced some sort of situation in our lives where we feel like, at least for some short period of time, we were able to taste what the happiness of heaven might be like. We have also probably felt the sting of having that little taste of heaven ripped away from us, never to return again. Maybe this was a relationship, a friendship, or an outpouring of the spirit, but we have all felt the highs of life and the lows in some facet of our life thus far. If you haven't... get away from the computer and go live a life.

So, back to the ignorance issue. Since it was a broken heart at the hand of a boy that brought this question into my mind I'm going to focus on that. Anyone that has had a dating experience that seemed so perfect, you clicked with the significant other in every way possible, you felt like there was nothing negative about the experience, and, in the best of cases, he/she brings out a side of you that is so good it surprises even you to find it inside yourself. I've had a couple such experiences and, to me it seems like that's the closest thing to heaven I've had the pleasure to experience thus far in life. However, in the aftermath of the collapse of such relationships the pain is so immense you wonder if you'll ever want to clear the emotional rubble and date again because you just can't imagine finding such happiness with anyone else. At least that's how I've been following surprise breakups. This is where the ignorance question comes in.

Those people that have never had such an experience as outlined above are, essentially in a state of ignorance. This ignorance may or may not be of their own choosing but, nonetheless they are ignorant of the happiness and joy that such an experience can bring into their life and are left hoping that one day they might taste of the fruits thereof. At the same time there are those of us who HAVE tasted the positive fruits of a healthy, happy relationship but are no longer involved in one. For us the single life is bitter sweet. Sure its nice to have 'your own life back' but on the other hand hanging out with the fellas just doesn't have the same appeal that it once had (with each healthy relationship that appeal seems to diminish) and you may find yourself wishing, albeit on the inside only, for something more to brighten your life. Basically what I'm getting at is this: Those who are ignorant don't have first hand experience of what they are living without and as such can't fully understand just how good it really is. Those who have tasted, to some extent, the fruits (both good and bad) of the better parts of life are keenly aware of what they are living without and, in many cases, mourn its absence. This is applicable to nearly everything not only in life but in the eternal scheme of things also. So while I don't regret having the life experiences that I have acquired I still wonder if maybe ignorance in some things is the way to go.

One has to wonder what other things we as humans are living in ignorance of. For those things I guess all we can do is hope that someday we can taste of those fruits.

The Day I Hated the Snow!

I've always been one to love winter and snow. All of that changed last week... at least it changed for a few hours. I will try to put some pictures up of my little.... "incident" but let me tell the story the way I want it told.

On Wednesday (the 17th) Blanding had approximately 15 inches of snow and Mustang (where my family ranch is at) had a few inches more than that built up since Monday. My Dad asked me to go out and check on some of our cows to see if they were finding grass to eat and water to drink. So, me being the diligent and obedient son that I am, I got in our farm truck and headed out into the storm. I loaded up some hay and went off into the back country to find the lost cows.

The important thing that my dad forgot to inform me of was that the tires on the truck were about as bald as tires can get. FYI: bald tires don't drive very effectively in the snow. Anyways, I found the cows and checked their water and headed for a better spot to feed them, but I couldn't climb up out of the valley that I was in. I went every direction, through the brush, over a couple of small trees, into a few washed out ditches, and still couldn't get up the hill. About this time my blood pressure was going through the roof and I was on the verge of blowing my top when I looked out my driver's side window and saw 4 of our cows just standing there staring at me spinning the tires. I lost it! I rolled down my window and yelled, " You stupid cows! Don't just stand there, PUSH!!" Needless to say, the stupid things just stood there and didn't reply. I attempted to stare them down with the look I've been known to give when I've been pushed beyond my limits, but because cows are so incredibly dense they absorbed the look and were not even slightly affected.

I realized this hill was not going to cut me any slack so I backed down it and turned around to try the hill on the other side of the valley.... as the pictures show I didn't quite make it...

I had to climb out the passenger side because my driver side door wouldn't open (As you may notice from the one picture there is quite a gap between the snow and the bottom of the truck directly under the passenger door. You may have guessed but I slipped and slid all the way under the truck), threw the hay off to the cows and started walking.... Luckily I had my phone so I called my mom to meet me on the county road about 1.5 miles from where I was stuck. After I had trudged all that way in snow up to my knees you'd think I would have 'cooled off', I hadn't. I even went so far as to text Megan and tell her that I hated snow, hated winter, and hated the cold! She was happy to welcome me into her world!

My family says its not a vacation for Kendall unless he gets stuck so I just thought I'd christen my vacation early on and get it out of the way before I had anyone else with me.