Long Time Waiting

Well it's been a while since I actually wrote in this bog, not to say that I got lazy actually life just actually has just been a little bit crazy. In the middle of February the first round of midterms started and I really haven't had a rest since then. 
So what has happened since February well I am now a 24 year old, nothing too impressive about that, but I do have some real news. A week ago I acquired a new job. I am now a museum educator at the Bean Life Museum. What is this? Well a museum educator gets to give tours and do live animal shows, that's right I get to show people living animals, like a very large tortoise named Otis, and iguana name Duke, and a bunch of other reptiles. One of the best jobs on campus, I am so happy that I actually got it.
Other than that life has been normal, all I have to do is get through finals week and then I can relax a little bit.

Sleep, Eat, Study, Work, and Play: The Law of the Den

Well, when it comes down to it I am sometimes impressed by how little there if for me to do and at the same time how much I have to do. I think without a balance of work to rest you might just become a little lazy.
That being said lets discuss the . . . wait a second this is starting to sound like a research paper or something like that. Let me try the transition again . . .

All right so this is what went on this week. First thing I finally got my contact lenses last week, about time I think the glasses were starting to give me a headache. Lately life has been a little hectic, no there really isn't that much to do and that is what bugs me. I am the type of person who likes to be doing something, that can include watching a movie with friends; playing a pick up game of rugby, football, ultimate frisbee, soccer, basically any team sport; playing games with friends; etc. The only times I'd rather not is when I have homework and such. This is normally not a problem, in the summer everyone is out playing a game and people are generally more active, but right now it is cold outside (no, I am not talking about the song).
I have noticed that the cold has really cut down on the active part of the people, I admit it would be better if we actually had snow right now. Its fairly difficult to have a snow ball fight or go sledding when there is no snow on the ground. But I am trying to figure out what that has to do with the indoor social activities of people. I mean really, its cold so that means we all have to hide in our houses and not watch a movie or something like that. However, it does seem that the life force of the community is starting to pick back up again, I think people are starting to adjust to the work loads that the semester requires and are starting to relax a bit.

The only problem is that I am having a hard time adjusting to the new social life (and you though I wouldn't get back to the whole balance part from the beginning). I have just gotten used to the pace of things, and now I have messed up my sleeping schedule and such but hopefully I will be able to fix that. Does that mean that I don't want to be part of the social scene? Heck no! The whole social aspect is what keeps us from going crazy in the first place, in fact I think that I am more sane right now than I was a couple of weeks ago when it seemed I had less distractions from work and school.

What Happens When a Wolf goes Blind?

Well here's the story, last Wednesday I lost one of my contacts, no big deal right, WRONG! it was part of my last pair, luckily I had ordered a couple of boxes the Thursday before so I should only have to stand a couple of days of glasses, not so. I still haven't received them yet so the times keep rolling on.
In other news: it finally snowed, yes that's right there is the wonderful stuff on the ground which I associate with snow ball fights and snowboarding, while others associate it with cold weather, well interesting fact, in valleys, like the Utah Valley in Utah, and the Treasure Valley in western Idaho/Eastern Oregon, it is actually warmer when it snows. That's right snow usually means the end of one of those nasty inversions that trap haze and cause the temperatures to fall below freezing, Another thing, if it rains in winter then cools down at night the water that collected on the road will become ice, so snow is good.
Wait there's more, on Sunday I decided to play just dance, and yes it is manly to play just dance, especially when there happens to be girls present at the same time, my mother didn't raise no fool, back on topic now; it was fun socializing and all the only problem is that after doing the math I figured that we played for about four hours, so yeah I can barely move.
All I want to do now is relax, but I can't I have work in a little less than two hours and many other things to do, so life goes on, time to carpe diam.

The Wolfe howls at the Moon

Interesting title isn't it? Well let me explain, the past week has been a little interesting with the start of school and finding out I have a difficult teacher for World Civilizations after 1500 aka History 202, the good news is that all of my other instructors seem pretty cool. As far as interesting goes, I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, well I went to bed this past Saturday and all was well, but when I woke up on Sunday there was a huge crack running the length of it, luckily the people at Staples were good and I got a replacement. Well everything went well from there on out and this week I got a new guitar, a Martin Backpacker. It's actually a really nice guitar, has good sound and it wasn't too expensive. Maybe I'll actually learn a new song now.

Christmas on the Farm

Well it is now a new year which means that the end of the world is coming in December, just kidding. But on the old year, a lot has happened I went from being part of a trio of bachelors from my home town to the single guy. Switch from an engineering major to a History Teaching Major after calculus left me crying, went through several sets of room mates as I was the only one to stay in the same apartment through each semester. After a tough fall semester I was able to hit up home for the Christmas season and that is always a joy.

Now I like Provo, I really do, college is a great place and the town is great as long as you are not fighting the horrible traffic lights, but for a guy who grew up on a small farm in a small town graduating from a small high school, almost one straight year in Provo can be a little overbearing. I grow every year that I am there; as a student and as a person, but I don't feel at home in Provo like I do in Oregon. Coming home and seeing the family and when I say family I mean the whole family, during the Christmas break is a big deal for me. There wasn't a lot of stuff going on at my house on Christmas eve or Christmas day but new years was a blast. There where about 30 people in my House that evening while we watched the fireworks. These included my two sisters with their husbands and kids, 2 of my brothers with their wives and kids, another on of my brothers with his girl friend, my parents, one of my brothers in-laws, and myself. We had an amazing night as all of the little kids were running around and just having a good ol' time making a mess with the icing from cupcakes, my days as a boy scout returning to me as we had a long bout of indian leg wrestling where both young and those young at heart tested their strength. We finished the day with just the usual card games and such as we were starting to get tired and grumpy finally deciding that it was late enough and going to be at 4 in the morning.

I just want to take up a few more lines expressing my thanks for a great year in 2011, the Lord has given my a lot of blessing this year that I will not forget anytime soon. I know that God exists and loves every one of us. Have a happy new year and good luck with 2012.

Surviving the Winter Months

Winter in Provo means one thing, Finals!!! Now to some finals is just another test but to the rest of us it is the one week that can destroy our future as human beings. Ok so I exaggerate a little, but it doesn't change the fact that we hate finals. To be honest I don't think finals should be allowed in academia, test usually don't show a student's knowledge about a subject, so why do we take them, and why should one simple test have such a huge impact on my final grade, which could determine if I can get into the program that I want too. Maybe it's just the the whole idea of educational Darwinism, if you are willing to study enough to get a good grade on a final you might actually have a good work ethic.

Now that I got the whole finals thing out of the way there is something else we have to survive during this wonderful time of year, commercialization. With Christmas I always like to see the lights and the specials on TV but really, does ever single famous artist have to release a Christmas Album with every single Christmas song ever written. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas music, but that doesn't mean I have to hear someone like Justin Beiber sing Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire considering that Nat King Cole recorded a better one back in the day, and by the way Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer should not have an electric guitar solo in the middle of it. I you are an aspiring musician and want to hit it big, write an ORIGINAL and timeless Christmas song and release it sometime around the 10th of December, it worked in for the guys in the 50s.

Migration Season

It was a normal Saturday, I got an opportunity to play a little bit of soccer in an indoor field. Everything went well, I was enjoying my spot at goalie until the last shot. No, I didn't mess up and miss an important save, instead I made an awesome save, and I almost broke my hand doing it. It just hurt and my wrist still hurts a little four days after the fact.

Why did I title this port "Migration Season" if all I was going to do is gripe about my pain. Its because I am going to gripe about travel too.

Yesterday was they day for me to leave, the plan was noon, go to my Portuguese class turn in my paper and head out, the only problem is that I didn't have my paper ready to turn in yet, so cue the hours of computer time and the new adjusted departure time of 4pm. It was hard for me to believe how bad the traffic was in Provo, it took me 30 min to get out of town. Still no problems until I the freeway stopped, literally it stopped. There was an accident some where around Hill air force base, so cue a thirty minute delay, the rest of the trip at least went well, no problems no more wrecks and no more traffic. So all I have to say is it is time to relax.

For everyone who is traveling this week, have a good and safe trip and a happy thanks giving.