Its Friday!

This morning I was thinking of Rebecca Black's video "Friday." Its a hilarious song, and shows (cough cough) true talent! So I was woken up earlier this morning by Toby at 3 am and decided to take him out or he would never stop barking. So I decided to give him his way. When he's out there, he usually takes forever, and I stand out waiting for him in the dark in my garments, desperate to get back to bed because I usually dont get to bed (due to my own choice) until around 12:30 or 1:00 am. So its an adventure. He and I share a room. He takes most of the bed, makes me wake up at odd hours of the night to take him out, and makes my bed dirty and stinky. But i've missed this for 2 years, and now I am glad to have my buddy back. So for the second time this morning its still dark, and two hours ago I took him out, and he is off the bed, and barks by the bedroom door, and scratches. I really dont want to get up, but the thought of a screaming child comes to mind in the near future, so maybe this is preparing me for that future morning someday. The thoughts running through my head right now are: " 1. You just went outside two hours ago. 2. I dont need to go, so you dont need to go.... 3. you really didnt drink that much, 4. and so you must be hot, or you must have a really small bladder." So I take him out, and its still dark. Then I looked at the clock because I like to see how many hours left of sleep I get to have before my alarm goes off. So the alarm didnt go off, or maybe I didnt hear it because I was so tired. It was 6:25, and it turns out Emily wasnt out of bed either, and we both planned to be up around 5:45ish. So it was God filling up Tobys bladder so we could both get to school on time. So its the first time I was actually grateful for his annoying bark. So yeah. That was my morning. Later today I am going to go have a sleep over with a married man and woman, and I will be sharing the bed too with somebody special. Good stuff. Anyways, I will post more later. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!!

DAVID OSMOND

This morning I kept missing my bus and mom was nice enough to let me take the van. Parking is crazy here at weber. I always get spots in the most inconvenient places, but at least they are spots. I listened to David Osmond on the way down and was able to download some of his new work on itunes and reverbnation. He is one of my favorites that I look up to. He is the nephew of Donny Osmond, and his father is Alan Osmond. (Donny's older brother) I love his style, and his voice. I often wish I could do his work, but I am at the same time grateful for the blessings and talents that I have been given. I dont have room to complain. But I really like David. He is my favorite LDS artist. I would recommend his music.

Buy the Album at www.davidosmond.com

CHRIST PHOTOS

I just wanted to share a few pictures of the Savior to help us get through some of our difficult days. One of my two favorite quotes that bring me peace are....1. Everything works out in the end. If its not ok, then its not the end. 2. The beginning of everything is always the hardest.
(May not be quoted verbatim)

Institute Today

I just wanted to sign in quickly and share how I felt just barely in my institute class. I just came back from it, and thought that my mission spirituality would exceed the rest of my life; but I am feeling some of those same feelings over again. They are more mild, but they are still there. We read a scripture about the Savior pleading with each of us to repent so that we dont suffer as much as He did. He doesnt even want us to feel the smallest amount that He went through. I just felt His love today, and appreciation of how blessed we are to be governed and looked after by the two greatest beings in the universe. I am glad they rule, and rule righteously. Its comforting to know that this life is not reality. This is just for our short experience, and then we go back to reality. If we make it back to Heavenly Father based on our good decisions now, we will be exposed once again to the same great atmosphere that we had in our pre-mortal life. Just a thought.

First Cello Lesson accompanied by fun day!

Today Emily, Mom, and I went to McDonalds for breakfast and in my McGriddle I found a long piece of hair. My mom was grossed out and Emily couldn't stop laughing. I dropped her off at seminary (first day of school for her by the way) and got to Weber, walked down the hallway, and found a crawling cockroach. I took a picture of it with my phone and sent it to Emily to show her how my day was going. It was a good day. I went to the practice room and and practiced my major scales using four notes per bow and tried to concentrate on my consistency, tone, bow hold, and fingering. In my lesson Dr. Uzur was excited to see me and was really glad I was back. He told me I am a little more organized than before; but I agree with him that I was (in his words) "wild with lots of ideas, and no organization." He's trying to make everything logical and to get me to think logical because it will help me for my future music career choice. Patterns in arpeggios 0 13 2 1 3 2 13 etc. Teaching that 2 is the tonic, and that you start with the 3rd of the chord. Even though none of you understand all of that, I'm glad to be back and happy to work again with music. Hope that I wont give in to temptations of goofing off and using important time unwisely.

First Day of Weber as a Sophomore

I really enjoyed my day. I am so glad that I changed music theory teachers. Dr. Roberts really wants us to learn the concept of what we are doing instead of just chugging down information and regurgitating it later for a test. He has a wild sense of humor and fun that keeps you from falling asleep and said he's worked with the disneyland band, and directed for sea-world, and has a degree in music composition. He taught us a lot in one day, and told us that by the end of the class we will be able to write music, and  if we already can, that we will be able to do it so much better. Dr. Uzur has no negatives about him, but I felt like students had a hard time with connecting with his teaching style and understanding his accent.  So I am really excited about taking this class. Dr. Shannon Roberts told us to forget what we have heard from friends or other people about (silly face, and retarded voice imitation) "how awful music theory is, and how much of a drudgery, and how much it sucks. " He told us this stuff is fun! So I look to him for a fun class and help with things I want to understand better.

I had an institute class, and even though I'm never going to stop missing President Bulloch, Brother Alan Barlow is a nice guy who lives in Farmington and has a sense of humor. But its not the sense of humor I am seeking for, its the energetic, real spirit that teaches you and opens your views of seeing differently enough to change your behavior. My favorite quote is "true doctrine understood changes attitude and behavior." -Boyd K. Packer
This class will be studying Doctrine and Covenants Section 1-70. I took the class because I felt I had a good understanding generally about the Book of Mormon and didnt feel confident about the Doctrine and Covenants. So this will be good. I have Music Theory M, W, and F at 9:30. Institute on M and W, at 10:30. Psychology at 12:30  on M, W, and F; and Orchestra 2:30 on those same days, and also math on Wednesday at 6:30. So this will be a busy semester with practicing on the side, and hopefully a job. My dad and I have been looking into on campus jobs, and it looks like there are some good things there to apply for. I also filled out an application for Seagull Book, and am waiting for a recommendation letter from Ivy, and will try to turn that in as soon as possible. But they are not hiring till October for the holidays they said. I will try to come here daily and update you guys on how things are going. I am writing a new song, and I dont know how long it will be until its finished, but its not about time, its about quality. So ya, thanks for viewing my journal/blog.

Church at the Eagle Mountain YSA ward. (first time without Amy and Daniel)

Today i really enjoyed sacrament meeting. Brandt Andreasen gave a powerful, spirit-filled talk about keeping the commandments of God. He talked about Gods love for us, and how He wants us to return to Him again. He talked about how the Atonement covers all of our shortcomings instead of half. I guess some -like myself- think that we do our best and God does the rest, but He covers it all. He talked about how we can always find ways to improve and come closer to christ. He also at the beginning of the talk related keeping the commandments to cooking. He said if you follow the recipe of God, you will receive in the end a big batch of happiness. He helped me feel the spirit and want to be more patient and unselfish. That is something I am struggling with right now. I am always focussing on what makes me happy amd thinking of myself and pushing past the feelings of others. I committed to try harder this week to be more unselfish and christlike. Another young lady spoke on Pres Uchtdorfs talk about "stop it." I enjoy the ward and my new calling as the home teaching district supervisor.

Amy's Wedding!

It was such a beautiful wedding yesterday. It was nice to see the happiness on their faces as they walked out the temple doors greeting the cheering crowd. Amy wanted an untraditional wedding with only her and her prince, and the parents in line. Emily and I cut cake really good and bad for the people as they walked by the refreshment tables. (So you know who not to ask for cake cutting assistance if your family ever has a wedding) There was lemonade and pink lemonade. It was a fantastic, long, and somewhat tiring day, but all the preparation made it worth it! It was so nice to see the people who came and the support that was shown for Amy and Daniel. Amy made such a nice DVD that was playing in the foyer as guests walked in. I got some videos of the wedding on Facebook. I was so happy for Amy on her decision to be married in the temple. I've always trusted her choices, and I am glad to have Daniel as a brother, and excited to have him officially in our family.                                                                                                                                       

                                          

Wedding-Eve

Today I worked in Brother Hillams orchard for almost 9 hours. I've been working for him now for over 3 weeks. We got 37 boxes complete out of the request of 70 for the day. The trees didnt have enough to meet the request. I got back home, mowed the lawn, and then went with DaLee to help fix up the gym in the stake center for Amy's reception. Then after that dad and I went to Daniels bachelor party. His brothers, dad, and cousins were there. (Nick, Adam, etc.) They gave him quite a humorous gift that will remain unmentioned. It was a long selfless day, and it felt good. The only thing I got to do for myself is to type this message before going to bed. We Emily and I have to be up at 5:00am to be ready to leave with mom and dad. It will be an exciting day!

Amy's Endowment

Today was a wonderful day because it was Amy's endowment. I met Barbara Thompson- who was recently released as second counsilor in the Relief Society- was in the session, and when I got to the celestial room, I went up to her and asked if her name was Barbara Thompson, and she said yes it was. She asked for my name and I shook her hand and told her it was good to meet her. Daniel's brother Luke, and their mom was there, and Daniel gave me a warm hug. I felt a connection and a bond of brotherly love. I am so happy that Amy and him will be together forever. We went after the session to chuck-a-rama and had a nice meal. What a great day.

Recent Pictures