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.