A Farewell to the Wounded

Hello world! It is I, Colin, once again to post, but this for the last time in two years! Because as of tomorrow 1:15, I will report to the MTC in Provo Utah! Yeehaw!

So for my last post I want to say a little farewell. A farewell to the wounded, in fact. To all those who will miss my ever beaming laugh, or to those who will no longer get to poke my nose. For my witty remarks, and sarcastic humor that many people seem not to understand, myself included sometimes. Tomorrow, I make a new path in my life. I step off the old familiar trail and journey into a new, less familiar trail, one surrounded by leaping and wailing, scruples and rubles. Actually, I am not sure what the Ukrainian currency is, but when I find out I will let you all know! Now you have something to look forward to! Or you and I could just google it, which would be easy, fast, and reliable, but due to lack of buildup and excitement, I think you should wait until you get a letter or email from me.

Again, I speak to you, wounded. You have been with me to the end. You have stuck your fist in the ground, and pulled up ripe apple seeds! I am not sure what that means, but it must mean something important. And you have all cared so much for me, of this I say thank you! You have all been such a good support to me! And when I say "you all" I mean the like four of you who read this. But thank you to you all!

And now, for my closing remarks. Life, as we all know it, is a circle, a circle of life. There is no beginning, save birth, and there is no end, save death. And even then, death is more worked up than it ought to be. Its really just a passage way to more life, so really life is like a line. It starts, with birth, but continues on forever! Past planes, plains, and Prussia.

Now for my real closing remarks because my last ones were just silly. Thank you everyone for supporting me. Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for being my sister (Laina- I think you get more shout outs than anyone!). Thank you for all the help you have given me throughout the years, and I look forward to serving my mission! I know that what I am doing is the most important thing I could do in my life. I want you all to know that my mission has been a life time goal, and that there is nothing I would rather be doing. This is the most important thing in my life right now, and I hope that I can become the missionary God knows I can be.

Goodbye for now, until we meet again!

Colin

My Travel List

Here is a list of ten places I want to visit throughout my life, just for fun. Again, these are not in order of importance to me:

1. The Savannah in Africa and go on a Safari. .
2. Travel to Iceland, explore, hike, and enjoy!
3. Germany. I have to visit the homeland.
4. Italy. It is Italy, you have to love the history and culture.
5. Greece. So far the list is pretty normal for most people, but normal is alright and so is Greece!
6. Jerusalem. Lots of history and religious significance.
7. Egypt. The pyramids would be spectacular and well, there are more than just pyramids there!
8. Australia. Its a land unlike any other place on Earth.
9.
10.

Now these last two are left blank because I am not sure yet. I want to find two places that will be fun for many reasons, so I will have to do my research on the matter and I will post them sometime!

A Mission And A Life

So my blog has been dying the last few months from lack of substance and posts! I will have to spill my heart out on these pages so that I can make up for lost time.

So recently everybody has been going on missions, that is everybody besides those who haven't, myself included. But life is strange for me right now. It is sort of like I am in a freeze frame while everybody else is moving on with their lives. Its not that I don't like this, it is just different. I enjoy looking at other people and seeing them plan for their lives and for next semester and their lives just carry on, but mine will be spend studying Russian, the gospel, and living in Provo for three months. I really am so excited to go, it just still seems forever away. But everyday it draws nearer, the shadow of a relatively unknown lifestyle looms larger. I am excited to go to Ukraine for mulitple reasons and these are them in no order of importance, just as they pop into my head. First, I have never been out of the country and this will be a great experience for me. Second, I know relatively little about Ukraine and I will become a pretty good expert on it by thye time I return. Third, I get to learn Russian, a challenging language, but a skill that will stick with me the rest of my life. Fourth, I get to be a missionary! This has been a goal of mine since I can remember, well actually maybe since I was about ten. Before that, the prospect of leaving my family for two years seemed unimaginable. Fifth, I get to teach a message that will bring true joy to others and that I love with all my heart. This could probably fit into number four, but I decided that it deserved its own number. Sixth, I will get to learn skills that will help me throughout my life. Cooking, studying, working hard, living on my own, living with other roommates so to say, having responsibilities, gaining social skills, and having to be obedient. Seventh, I get to live away from home! This has been a great desire of mine recently, not that I don't love my family and parents, but I see my friends who are living in apartments for college and they are having great experiences that I just cannot have at home. And I know I will be on a mission, but still, it will be living away from home, and when I come back I plan on getting an apartment as soon as I have saved up some money.

So there are seven great things to look forward to on my mission. I also look forward to hearing about people and how their lives are going back here in the States. Laina and Thane could move, Rudi could get married, Mieken and Mike could buy a house, mom and dad could move, friends could go to different schools, get married, etc! But I know that I am doing the right thing by going on a mission and I would not trade this upcoming experience for anything!

Deleted

So I wrote a post but then the internet signed me off right as I was about to press publish post. I don't really feel like writing all of what I said before on here, and it really wasn't anything worth reading so its not like you are missing much.

I will say that it has been quite rainy the last week which is good because I love the rain, but I am also looking forward to nice weather and sitting outside. I enjoy the sun and its warmth.

The Three Month Count-Down

Today is May 26, 2009. This means that in three months, from right now, I will have entered the MTC about an hour ago. For those of you who don't know what the MTC stands for, it stands for Missionary Training Center. While there I will learn Russian, study scriptures, eat, sleep, exercise, pray, and study study study some more! I am excited for this and I remember a month ago thinking, "wow, I still have four months." Not much has changed. Now I think "wow, I still have three months." Sometimes it seems like it will never come and that my life will just carry out in this state of limbo forever.

Also, to make note of, my missionary farewell will be the 23rd of August. I think this is great because as most of you know, I was born on the 23rd at 7:23. So there are lots of important 23's in my life. I sometimes think this is foreshadowing of some great sports achievement in my life. Jordan, Lebron, Colin.

I don't really have much more to say besides that I am sure the three months will fly by faster than I expect. Before you know it, there will be no more "The Wolfgang Story." Instead it will be Letters of Solice written by Elder Matthes as scribed from the MTC and Ukraine.

Ta ta!

Short Post

I haven't written on here in weeks! Not that a lot has been going on recently. Amberlee moved away, school ended, Laina had a baby, Rudi had a birthday, and tomorrow is pay day.

I actually don't really know what to say besides the last two weeks I have felt down and its for a few reasons I guess. I am starting to feel better now so life will be well in time! That is all I have to say.

Mission Call!

And the winner is... Ukraine! Ta da! How excited am I to go to Ukraine? Well if you want to put it in terms of analogies you could compare my excitement to that of the soul of a shoe about to be worn for the first time! Which, you say, might not sound very excited, but honestly, it is one of the greatest examples of excitement anybody in the history of the world could come up with! So my mission is the Kyiv Ukraine mission, or for you native english speakers, Kiev. I will be learning the language of love, Russian! Apparently the majority of people there speak Russian, but sometimes people are discouraged from learning it and are encouraged to learn Ukrainian. So some fun facts:

Ukraine is slightly smaller than Texas, my least favorite state, but Ukraine is now my favorite European Country! (sorry Germany, you lost your spot at number one a week ago!) How ironic!

There are about 47 million people in THE Ukraine. I will be serving in the western half.

The temperature is actually quite moderate, not as cold as one would suspect. Highs reach about 78 in the peak of summer and during the winter the highs are abuot 30 degrees. Not bad if you ask me! Or Jim.

The Ukrainian people are very friendly, though they don't smile much in public.

There are just over 10,000 LDS members in Ukraine according to the LDS Church Website.

A temple is under construction in Kyiv and is expected to be completed in 2010! How excited would that be if I was there for that!

I leave August 26th.

Anticipation...

Happy April 7th! What a fantastic time I am having in my life right now! Currently I have very mixed feelings. I am very anxious and excited to receive my mission call, which maybe will be coming tomorrow. But at the same time, I don't want to keep waiting for Wednesday's because each passing day draws closer to Amberlee's departure date. I am very saddened by this. She has made me a much better person and I feel the happiest I have ever felt in my life when I am with her. So these past three months have been amazing. So yes, I am excited to get my mission call, and I hope it comes tomorrow, but as for now, I am happy that it's Tuesday, and that I get this day to be with Amberlee. This was a very unorganized blog, but I just had to get some items off my mind.

Spring Break As Recorded By Colin - Part II

Hello blogging world! I was unable to type my whole story at work, so I posted the first half, and now I am getting ready to post the second half. And I figure it would be easier to read in two seperate blogs than one big long blog. So hold onto your seats! Here we go!

11:00 Friday Morning : After realizing that it was still early, but that our camper family had left their camp spot available to anyone driving by, we decided to make our way back to our beloved spot. With no real sense of urgency, we coasted on down the canyon until we reached Williams Bottom, where we spotted something askew. Our camp spot had been stolen! It was eleven thirty in the morning! Who would be looking for a camp spot at that hour besides us? Discouragement encompassed round about the vehicle and resentment for this fiendly camper entered our hearts. But it was short lived and we decided it would be best if we continued our search for a new camp spot. We decided to leave the road that lead to Potash, and travel to the other side of the great Colorado. We did so, and we found multiple camping spots, but we couldn't decide which one we wanted because they were all very open to outside viewers, and because Amberlee was fast asleep in the car after about five minutes of driving. How romantic. So with Amberlee out of the decision making process we couldn't adequately vote on a spot to sleep. So we woke her up. Problem solved, we decided to set up camp at Kings Bottom (who decided to come up with these names? Seriously!). We walked around like zombies and set up our tent without too much trouble, and the tent was about a ten person tent. It was giant. Hello portable hotel! Well we did that and then we decided to go and hike the Fiery Furnace back at Arches!

12:00(maybe we lost track of time after camp) Friday Noon, Arches --- We finally made it past the visitors center at Arches National Park! Now we were on to bigger and better things, like balanced rock! Ok, actually we got to Fiery Furnace and started our little escapade down into the winding canyons! We started walking and didn't get very far honestly. It was awesome in there, but every canyon we tried to make our way through lead us to a dead end, unless of course we were expert climbers, which none of us were. So we finally found a cool trail out of a canyon and it was fun maneuvering about so that we could fit through rocks and cracks and all of that good Southern Utah jazz! However, this was very difficult because we couldn't step outside of washes or rock flats because we promised not to ruin the habitat and the environment by stepping on the soil. This soil takes hundreds of years to rebuild and its important to the surviving ecosystem! And everytime we saw this soil, Amberlee and Kristi would sing their song about it "You better not bust the crust....you better not hurt the dirt" to the tune of Another One Bites the Dust. Well, we made our way in and out of the canyon alive, with plenty of water and sunshine!

4:00 Friday Afternoon: Fiery Furnace Parking Lot --- This was the most lazy part of the trip. We sat in the car, ate our lunches, and then sat. And sat. And sat. The heat of the day and our lack of sleep had gotten to us. I believe it was at this moment that nobody really said anything or anything that we did say made no sense. It was all kind of a blur. I remember eating a bagel at one point because I forgot to pack a lunch and I took a huge bite unnoticed, or so I thought, by anybody else and I was slowly fitting it into my mouth when Amberlee turned around and saw about half a bagel out of my mouth. Not a good moment for me. We decided to now just drive around and do some little hikes. Problem with that idea was that everybody in the car was super indecisive, and when one person would ask a question nobody would answer. Literally. It would just be silent. Thankfully it was Amberlee's birthday, so whenever that happened I would just say "It's your birthday, so you can choose!" and it usually worked.

Time Friday Afternoon: Arches National Park --- We safely traveled to a few arches and we didn't really know what to do when we got there. Nobody really wanted to hike, but nobody wanted to just sit in the car either. So we decided going on a hike would be the best option. However, this was after a ten minute nap taken by Kristi, inwhich she fell asleep in about ten seconds. Something about that family makes for good sleeping genes. Anyways, and always, we hiked the trail until we saw the arches which were really cool, and made our way back to the car. We decided we should leave and start cooking dinner, a most wonderful idea! However, along the way we stopped at every scenic view there was and looked. That was special.

Time Friday Evening : Kings Bottom Camp Site --- Alas! We made it back to camp! We decided to cook dinner, which was delicious. I love dutch oven cooking. And this taco soup was zesty! It was meatless but it was still delicious, and we had way too much. Its amazing how much food three cans can produce. After dinner we started a fire, which took ages to light, but eventually it sparked and took off. We also made two types of cobler. The black cherry cobler more looked like half powder half cake, because we forgot to add extra water. Yum. Also, the other campers in our group arrived! We talked and played a game, Werewolf, which I won. Its like mafia, only different. While playing this game, Amberlee, having a million nicknames for me, shouted out "Oh Coli Boy!" just as a slip. She claims it just came out. I believe it did. But that didn't stop other people from calling me Coli boy. How unfortunate a turn of events! From cobler to name calling. Everybody laughed. I laughed. Amberlee felt bad. But this name continued to stick with me throughout the rest of the trip.

Midnight Saturday: Tent --- For those of you who don't know, Amberlee and her family are strange when it comes to sleeping and sharing beds with sisters. The whole trip Amberlee and Kristi tried to make me feel uncomfortable by holding hands or wanting to share sleeping bags. I frowned upon this. Well, while I was in the tent, I heard whispering. For a second I thought they were just trying to be quiet so that they didn't wake people up. But then I heard one of them say "But we have to be connected somehow!" I looked up and slyly smiled at them. They both erupted in laughter. Their sneaking failed! Then I fell asleep.

9:00 Saturday Morning: Camping Spot --- I woke up that morning after sleeping well all night. I woke up thinking that everyone was still asleep, however when I looked around me, only Joe was sleeping still. I knew that was my cue to get out of bed and help with breakfast. For the next few hours thats all that happened: breakfast and more breakfast. 

11:30 Saturday Morning: Arches --- We made it to Arches as an entire group. You can call this trip successful! Our first visit was to the greatest arch of them all, Delicate Arch. What a beautiful site this place really is! And it becomes even more spectacular when you realize that there really is no cliff on either side, it is a lone standing arch. This is not my first time seeing it, but it still amazes me every time I see it. While on the walk Amberlee asked the group if Speedo's were awkward because she knows of my love for them. This has been a continual debate since January. Every single person in our group agreed with her and it disheartened me for a minute, but then realized thats what makes Speedo's so great! I finally sucked up my pride and admitted that she won the argument, but that I still adored my Speedo. She made a disgusted face. 

2:00 Saturday Afternoon: Lunch Area --- We ate lunch. It was windy and cold. 

3:00 Saturday Afternoon : Landscape Arch, Partitioned Arch, Broken Arch --- We saw all three of these. They were all very beautiful. I am getting a little bit bored of writing about these hikes, but all in all let me just say this was a particularly fun hike. 

6:30 Saturday Evening: Arches National Park --- What a trip this had been, but it was time to pack up and leave for home. We journeyed our way through Wellington and Price, even stopping for dinner at BK, and then we dropped off everybody in Provo and made it back to Salt Lake around 11:20. 

Well gang, I had a most wonderfully fantastic weekend! Nothing but smiles and month old catalogs! 

A Break

Well, it has almost been a week since spring break ended, but due to popular demand and many requests from The Wolfgang Story band wagon, I am writing another blog. As you could probably guess, I am going to write about spring break. And not just spring break the whole break, but spring break the last few days, including Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but excluding clips from each day.

8:00 Thursday Night : The Grocery Store --- After realizing that I had yet to pack any provisions for the camping trip, Amberblee stopped by and picked me up to go to Smith's Marketplace. We roamed through the isles and gazed at thousands of items of food. Luckily, even though so many foods were calling out to me, Nutrigrain bars won due to the fact that they were on sale! One box of nutrigrain bars, check! After that, I was pretty much stumped as to what to purchase. With such a wide variety of foods, which food would really fill me up? Cereal? No, not practicle for a camping trip without milk. Frozen pizza? Nope! Say goodbye to that extra thin crust! Then, on the end isle, sitting sheepishly and looking at me as cute as could be was a bag of blueberry bagles! Yes! This is what I had been waiting for! These bagles would lift me up to a new level, set me on a pedistool above the common man. Now, shopping was over. Time to head h ome and pack right? Wrong. If you have forgotten, Thursday was the first day of March Madness, so accordingly, I spent the rest of the evening watching that.

11:00 Thursday Night : My Room --- The games now over, and my realizing that I had to wake up in three hours, I decided that packing my belongings was a grand idea. It started with clothes and ultimately ended up with the packing of pad, pillow, and sleeping bag - sleeping bag case included! That was an exciting part to the story.

12:00 Midnight Friday Morning: My Room --- Time to go to sleep. And Amberlee's birthday! Happy Birthday Darlin'!

2:00 Friday Morning : My Bed --- Multiple alarms go off at decible levels uncommon to wake up to. Frightens me half to death, then I realize I need to get up and shower so as to smell and look nice for the day. And did I ever smell nice! I was complimented multiple times on it. Thank you Irish Springs!

2:30 Friday Morning : My Porch --- I walk outside with all my gear in hand when not thirty seconds goes by and Amberlee pulls up in her sweet Purple Chrystler. She is quite possibly the most punctual on time person ever. Its amazing. I put my gear in the car, say hello, say happy birthday, and we hit the road for Provo!

3:30ish Friday Morning : Provo Mainstreet --- Amberlee heads the wrong way to find her sisters apartment. We turn around and come back. We are lost. Amberlee almost runs a red light as we search for her sisters apartment and has to slam on the brakes and the car wheels screech. About a minute later, Amberlee runs a red light. We find her sisters apartment and help her pack up the car, where we stash our "crack" A.K.A. Chex Mix. Shhh. We hit the road again after a brief stop off at the local grocery store.

4:00 Friday Morning : Mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon --- We drive past giant windmills. They are awesome. We discuss why there is a red light flashing on them and how many birds die from flying into them. This concept confuses me but seems perfectly logical to Amberlee and her sister Kristi. Why not just fly above them?

4:30 Friday Morning : Spanish Fork Canyon --- We almost hit a deer. Kristi states she will go to sleep in the car so that she can take over for Amberlee and not fall asleep while driving. Kristi wakes up every five minutes to check on Amberlee to see if she is awake and doing alright. I sit in back and laugh. The moon looks awesome. Kristi and Amberlee switch driving, eventually arriving at Green River.

6:20 Friday Morning : Green River --- I drive to Arches while everybody else sleeps.

7:20 Friday Morning : Arches National Park --- We arrive and pull up to the visitors center in order to try and obtain a camp site. We are not the first hopefull people, but about the sixth. At seven thirty, they open the doors and announce that only the first three groups will receive a camp spot. Disappointed, we head back to the car and eat wonderful bran muffins. We sit in the car for a rather long time not really doing anything. Amberlee's phone happens to move around the car mysteriously. The car is already a mess. We decide to go and find a campsite after filling up our water bottles. Here is where the real problems arise. Instead of filling up our water bottles, we decide to leave the park, though not intentionally. As we are about to leave, I comment "weren't we going to fill up our water bottles?" The answer is a resounding "yes!" and so Amberlee attempts to reverse back into the parking lot. This is hysterical. Other cars wait as we try to maneuver about the lot backwards. We fill up our waterbottles and decide that its time to leave for camp. After about fifteen minutes of Amberlee making fun of me for just about everything I do, we finally leave Arches. But wait! We cannot find our ticket to get back into the park! We search the car, emptying seats and the trunk. It's nowhere to be found. Confused and aloof from coherent thought, we just sit there not sure of what to do and laughing from tiredness. We decide to check the bathrooms and anywhere else we had been at the visitors center. Kristi finds it in the orientation room where we had watching a most thrilling version of protecting cryptobiotic soil. So with a new found energy for finding a camping spot, we leave Arches!

9:00 Friday Morning : Williams Bottom Campground --- We find a beautiful, hidden little camp ground that would keep us in our own little world out in the wilderness, but there is only one problem: it is occupied. So the girls send me out to ask if it will be available that night. Using all the charm I can muster up I asked the man at the campsite if they will be spending the next night there also. He says no, and that we can take it in a few hours when they pack up. What grand news! Now we have two hours to go on a little hike or do whatever we would like. We decide to go look at old dinosaur footprints in the rocks. That was pretty cool. Everybody likes dinosaurs. At this time we also decide to throw rocks at cacti and across the road. Amberlee almost hits a few bikers. I throw I giant rock at a cactus and it smashes it. We all laugh. Take that cactus! Remember eleven years ago when you put spikes in my butt? Yeah, well so do I. We then move on to another hike because that didn't take so long. As we get there, we start hiking and there are a few people in front of us. The guy turns around sees us, looks forward and then does a quick double take. He turns to me and asks "Did you guys get the campsite?" I sit there a minute confused as to who this man is, but I realize its the guy that I had talked to earlier! We have a quick team meeting and decide to finish the hike because it's still early morning and its a gook hike. Now, I don't know if anybody knows this, but Amberlee is fond of creating nicnames for people. She already has a few for me. Well, while we are walking having a good time, Amberlee casually asks "Hey, Colin, can I call you CB?" I think for a minute of all the possible things this could mean. I can't seem to come up with any sort of meaning behind it. Then I hear laughing from Kristi. "Cactus Butt!" she says! And then it hits me! Amberlee has been telling her sisters many facts about my life, especially the embarrassing ones. I cannot believe that she thought of that before me. In fact, I was so shocked she even knew about it that I could barely utter out an objection to the nic name!

March is already zooming on by! I cannot believe it. I don't really have much to say on here besides that life is going well. I am loving every single day of it. Everysingle day. At one point in my life I decided that I wanted to wake up every morning and say "Today is going to be the best day of my life" and so far this year, I think that this is true. And it is also especially true in regards to Amberlee. Everytime I see her, I like her more. This has never happened to me before with a girl. For those who know me, usually I like a girl for not very long and then I move on, but not in this case. I am very happy.

Spring is in the Air!

Well, these last few days have felt fantastic! The weather had been warm, the sun shining, and the birds are starting to make their way back north! Everything about the spring makes me happy. The transition from jeans to shorts, the flowers blooming, the birds singing, the earth smiling, the rain falling, the heat arriving, the days lingering, my birthday happening, life living! Those are some of the highlights of this upcoming season, and I don't want to miss a beat! In fact, I have already had a picnic! What a wonderful spring time activity! Oh life is so good right now, I just cannot contain all of my happiness! It just seems as if everything in life is going well for me right now! These past few months have been two of the best of my entire life!

Baton Rouge

I am not thoroughly convinced that I will go on my mission to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but almost. Why am I so convinced? I have had two dreams that that is where I am going, and today, as I was looking at my coin map of the 50 states with their quarters in tact, I notice that Louisiana was missing. Coincidence? Maybe, but as for now I am thinking that is where I will get my call. Only time will tell though. Maybe it is just because of the first dream I had that I keep on thinking about it. I mean, this mission call thing is on my mind probably about three hours of every day. Maybe I am just paranoid and telling myself that is what is going to happen. Who knows, certainly not I. 

Kendal

I am yet to post in February. However, today, being the day that Kendal officially left for the MTC, calls for such an occasion! There have been so many good time with Kendal, starting back in elementary. Our friendship has always been a good one, and it started out the simplest of way. At the beginning of kindergarten we were sitting down in group circle and Kendal walked over and asked "Can I sit by  you?". Well thats all it took. Next think you know, we are best friends, hanging out every weekend, pulling pranks, having sleep overs, and making up stories. We always had a fun time when we were hanging out. I think Kendal and I understood each others sense of humor better than anyone else. And we talked about it all the time. We have so many similarities in our goals and concerns for the future. He will do great on his mission, I can tell. I am so excited for him and I will look forward to seeing him in approximately two and a half  years! Thanks Kendal, you're the best!

A Very Special Thank You!

I just want to say thank you to all those people who make my life great! Thanks mom for being the best mother I could ever ask for! I struggle to comprehend how anybody, even Heavenly Father, could love me more than you love me. And thank you dad for always being the comic relief that I need so much in my life! You always joke, literally, always. And I know that if there are ever any cookies I cannot wait more than 24 hours if I want to actually eat one. Thank you Mieken for always talking to me whenever you call. You are so fun to be around and you always invite me to go do activities with you and Mike. Even though I don't go most of the time, it still means a lot to me that you invite me! Laina, thank you for always being kind to me, and even teasing me by calling me uncle Colin, or your little mongoose. I am excited to meet baby Uli! I always look up to you as a good example in my life. Rudi, thanks for being my older brother and joking around with me. I can laugh harder with you than with most anybody else! There are times when somebody says something and we both just look at each other and laugh because we understand each other so well. Thanks for always making me smile. Thank you Mike for being that brother in law that always puts empty plates around me. I have always gotten along with you and its always fun when you are here for dinner. Thane, even though we don't like the same sports teams in pretty much any sport, its fun to have a brother in law upstairs. Thanks for talking to me and wanting me to be in your group for class, and for being so goofy.



Kendal, thanks for being my best friend throughout the years. I have had a lot of good memories with you and I am so glad that you have stayed strong to the church because it has helped me out in my testimony. Thanks for understanding my humor and for just always joking around with me. We share a lot of things in common and its so fun to have somebody to relate to all the time. I am ging to miss you, but have fun in Argentina!



Evan, you have been there along with Kendal. It has been great having you as friend to always go and play basketball, tennis, or whatever. I have always enjoyed our long walks up through the city. You are probably the funniest kid I know. Thanks.



Lindsay, we have been friends for a long time now and you are one of the most caring people I know. You don't have a mean bone in your body, and I want to say thank you for always taking the time to ask how I am doing. Thanks for getting on the level of friendship that we can talk to each other about anything. You're great.



Olivia, you haven't really done much to impress me. Just kidding! I know I give you a hard time all the time, but you are so fun and smart. If ever I have a question I know that I can ask you and you will have an answer. You are so kind to me, thanks.



Geoff. We have been friends since elementary also, and I have so many good memories watching BYU games with you. Thanks for always giving me a call to do something. Sorry I am not always free. But you are one of the funniest and best kids I know. You are a good guy. Keep going strong.

Caity. I want to say thanks you for being my super liberal friend! I enjoy our talks because we can talk rationally and logically about different subjects but still be friends. Not to mention I love joking around with you because its so much fun! You're also a genius.

Amberlee. I want to say thank you for making my 2009! Honestly, you have been so much fun to be around and I feel so comfortable around you! Whenever I am with you I just can't help but smile! Honestly, really all I really want to do these days is just go and see because you will be leaving back for Idaho soon, which makes me really sad. But thanks for being so nice, friendly, and happy. I feel so good any time I am around you.

And thanks to all those that I didn't mention in this blog, but who help me out along the way. I appreciate everything you guys (and gals) do for me!

Mission Day

Today is Monday. I don't have much to say besides that. I had a dream last night that I got a mission call to the Bayou/Baton Rouge. I was kind of sad, but excited at the same time. From all of my mission dreams I have come to a conclusion that I am going to go state side. Kendal leaves so soon! Its phenomenal

A Leg Length Performance

From the most unusual of circumstances come the best experiences of our lives. I am sure we have all heard that statement before, or something similar to it, but is it true? I don't know. Maybe I will find out someday, but for now, I am fine just sitting here guessing.

The past two weeks have been some of the happiest moments in my life. I can't seem to put a finger on all the things that have made me so happy, but I am trying to figure it out. Whether its my uncontrollable desire to eat fruit snacks and the actual consuming of them may play a part. There isn't much better in life than fruit and candy, so when you combine the two the results are electrifying! Maybe I am happy because school started up again, but I highly doubt that. Maybe its a combination of the feeling that spring is coming along and the fact that I am twitterpated. Who knows, whatever the reason, I enjoy it. Life is good. Sorry, I probably can't use that because its trademarked by Life Is Good company. Instead I will say, The splendor of life surrounds me!

The Date

So, for all your curious readers out there, I will tell you about my date with said girl from last post! So first off, to let everybody know, I really had no idea what I was going to do for a date until about four today, and so I want to say thank you to everybody who gave me ideas! So first off we went to Color Me Mine, which I had never been to before, and neither had she. So thats a big plus. So we get in there and choose go to the front and the girl working explains everything to us. So we both choose plates and get head over to the paint colors to see which would look good on our plates. I chose Indigo, some sort of deep blue, black, an orange, and I think thats it. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how well my art work turned out! Amberlee's plate was way cool though. She was able to draw cool patterns on it that impressed me. I couldn't have done that. Anyway, the painting was fun, but my favorite part was just being with her. I will tell you what, whenever I am with her I am so happy. Honestly, when I spend time with her, even just talking, I feel so good about life! This is honestly the happiest few weeks of my life in a long time, and I want to say thank you to Amberlee. I really want to spend every spare minute I have with her because it just makes my day. She is so pretty and kind, and she is unique, which really attracts me to her. I like how she can fit in with everybody, yet she is her own person and doesn't try to change for other people. Anyway, after coloring our pots, which by the way was incredibly cheap thanks for some unknown reason, we made our way to Red Butte Cafe! It was tasty and pretty empty. I guess it was a Monday night, and about eight, so not many people are dining at this fine hour. So the meal was fine, but it was good to just continue talking. I just like talking with her. She looked so pretty tonight, too! Her hair was straight and she was wearing a nice brown jacket with a yellow shirt, and cool earrings. She knows how to dress. I really like her, and at times I think she likes me too, but I am not so sure. I can never tell. However, she said she was very nervous prior to the date, which I think is a good thing because it means maybe she likes me. I don't know. Hopefully thats what it means. Oh, well I am just too happy right now, and I need to tell her that I like her but I don't know when or how to bring it up! Help on that part would be appreciated! Goodnight!


Oh P.S. I want to give a special thanks to my sister for letting me use her car, it was greatly appreciated!

Girl

Wow! What a complete opposite feeling from yesterday! Well, as you know, my last post was very sad sounding, but shortly after I wrote it, I felt better. And my feelings turned from deep sadness to ecstasy with a few short hours! Why was this? Because of Amberlee. Amberlee is currently living here and will until the end of March, but I can't help but feel happy when I am around her, and it is such a true feeling of joy that I always want to be around her, or at least talk to her. I have a date with her on Monday that I am way excited for. I don't know what to say, but I just have so much fun even just talking to her, I have never really experienced that before. I mean I enjoy talking to most people, but I would rather spend my time with Amberlee than anybody else. This last week we went ice skating, played cards, built a snowman, played Wii Fit, went to the temple, went to a fireside, and went on a walk together. And when we are not with each other we are constantly texting each other. And since we have started hanging out, I used to think other girls were cute, but now I could care less about them. I just am excited and I need to tell her that I like her, but I am kind of scared too! The very first time I saw her sitting at church I thought she was cute, but we didn't talk much that summer. However, this past summer she has grown to become one of my favorite people. I am just so happy when I think about her. We can talk and joke together, and she likes to go out and do stuff, which I also like to do, but my other friends aren't as "go out and get it done" as she is. I could keep on going on, but I think I will end now. Yay!

Ressurected Nightmare

Again, my hopes today were shattered. After an optomistic trip to the doctors, I left disheartened. I was told by my doctors assistant, and later retold by my doctor that I will never get to play basketball again. Not only that, but tennis, football, soccer, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, or in other words, any sport that requires running, jumping, and/or twisting. I can never even go running again. He told me this news for the first time on the first of December, but I still held hope that my circumstances would change, that I would somehow heal better than expected. And this time around, I felt as though he was more strict as to what I can and cannot do. Before he mentioned how I could play basketball once or twice a month at most, but this time he stated that I should in reality never play basketball again. Why? Because in the long run, if I use up my knee now, I may not have one for when I am older. The problem in my leg could get worse. This was honestly one of my worst fears. I remember talking with a friend one time, I believe it was Evan, and I mentioned to him how my greatest fear was being paralyzed, especially from the waste neck down. However, any form of paralysis would cause me pain and the more I think about it, the more I realize that in a way, I am paralyzed. I am paralyzed because I am struck by fear that if I don't do as the doctor prescribes, I may have a long and painful future. Sure, if I really wanted to I could go and play basketball, I could go play tennis, but at what price? Am I willing to sacrifice health for a few hours of fun? And on the other hand, what is the purpose of life if I can't have fun? Why should I have to say no to good clean fun, and say yes to dull activites? The doctor recommeneded that I ride a bike, go swimming, go hiking, walk, play golf. However, after having done all of these activities, none of them have the same power to release energy that basketball or tennis has. My parents say how grateful they are that I can still ride a bike because they know that I like riding bikes, but they overestimate how much I like riding. It is fun now and again, but I only like to do it as an added exercise. Biking is a nice complimentary activity, but as a main one it falls short. It is like peas and carrots for dinner. Yes they are delicious and go well with a good steak, but take away the steak and what is left on the plate of any substance? Where is my steak? Other than biking, walking is the only other activity he said that I could do that I truly love. I guess the problem with biking and swimming and all of that is that at the end there is no real goal. I could bike ten miles or one mile and I would feel the same afterwords. All I did was go a distance. Where is my competition? What is there to spark my competitiveness? With basketball there is the point system. If you score more than the opposing team or player, you win. With biking you ride, and thats all. I just feel like I have lost all of my outlets. I wish I could see this as an opportunity to grow and to learn to love my new life, but as of right now I feel like I have just lost myself. I don't even really know who I am because I associated myself with being active. I was an active kid, now I am a kid who sits around all day not knowing what to do with all of his spare time. I am lost.

About once a week somebody will ask me when I will be healthy enough to play basketball again, and up until now, I have said that in a few months I will be playing again. However, when they ask now, I have to get the courage to tell them that I cannot play, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

A Good Book

Today I finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo, the story of a man who seeks revenge on men who have betrayed him. Now that I have finished reading the book, I feel a little empty, like I have gained and lost a good friend in the matter of a few weeks. It truly amazes me how I can get so wrapped up in a book with emotions and feelings. I feel as though I have experienced what Edmond Dantes went through. I feel as though I met the people he met, and saw the places he traveled.

After finishing a good book, which is usually any book that I read, I always find it hard to pick up a new one because I want to keep in my memory that old book, and those feelings which I experienced during my reading. Sometimes, after finishing a book, I look at my life and wish it were like the book I had just read. I wish that I could have the adventures found in these old words. I wish that my life wasn't so bland, and that it would be vivid and full of color and life. I love a good book and the friends I have made from them.