Call.

It started out as a feeling,
which then grew into a hope,
which then turned into a quiet thought,
which then turned into a quiet word.

And then that word grew louder and louder,
'til it was a battle cry

I'll come back
when you call me.
No need to say goodbye.


I guess the word "call" got me thinking about this song. It's really one of my favorites. For one, it's Regina, so that's a plus. It's also got a lot of orchestra, which is another big plus. And it was in Prince Caspian, which I loved. :)

So I got a mission call. If you didn't know already. Probably the only people that actually read this blog (if there are any. ;) ) already know. I just thought I would get on here and post it. For posterity's sake. Or...something. I got it in the mail on Wednesday (the day all mission calls come), but I wasn't expecting it for at least another week, maybe two. So naturally, I freaked out. I was on the verge of hyperventilating/passing out by the time I got inside.

Colombia Bogota North Mission!!! :) Spanish speaking, and I enter the MTC on May 25th, 2011.

Anyway...there you go. I'm pretty much really excited. :) Also, I'm using a lot of smileys. :) I'm just happy. :D

So...I kind of ran out of things to say. That's usually a good sign that I should end a blog post. But has that ever stopped me in the past? Pff. Of course not!

But I'm kind of tired of blogging today, so I'm gonna let y'all go.

Have a nice day, eh? ;)

-Moscas

P.S. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.

It's been a while...

I haven't blogged for a while. Then again, who ever said that I had to blog regularly? Nobody. In fact, most people I know don't. At least...not daily, or even weekly. With the exception of my missionary friends that have their parents post their weekly emails on their blog. All the same, I like to keep everyone updated about my oh-so-exciting life (that is...if anyone even reads this blog). Yup.

So, I'm home. Kinda weird, kinda cool, kinda sweetawesome. It's weird to be living with a bunch of girls again, but it's nice not to have to pay for food, and it's really nice to be back with my family. :) If I didn't love my family as much as I do, I might not be so excited about moving back home. But with my family? Anyone would be glad to be home. :) Also, it's nice to be able to go for a walk or a run and not have to be worried about frostbite or hypothermia.

Today is Christmas Adam. I've never called it that before, but today I heard some people calling it that, and I thought it was pretty funny. I'm still not ready for Christmas. I have a couple of gifts I haven't bought, and a couple that I still need to wrap. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Not because of the presents or the candy though (that's not to say I didn't enjoy those things...because I did). I always love Christmas because of the warm, fuzzy feeling of curling up with my family in front of the fire when it's freezing cold outside and reading a book, or reading Luke 2, or sipping hot chocolate, or whatever else we can think of doing as a family.

I love our family's Christmas traditions too. Like Shepherd's Night. Shepherd's Night usually happens on the family night before Christmas. We go and buy food that we think the shepherds would have eaten back when Christ was born. Things like unleavened bread, different meats and cheeses (we had lamb a couple of times...but that's kind of more money and work than it's worth. Most of the time it's ham or roast beef), and we usually have potatoes, olives, grapes, and honey butter for the bread. Also, we always eat with our fingers, and we use our wooden bowls. After dinner, we usually read Luke 2, and talk about different things like why the angels came to shepherds, or how the shepherds felt and how they reacted, etc. Then sometimes we'll watch the LDS Nativity video.

I love Christmas music too. My favorite CD is the one that we've listened to every year for as long as I can remember. I think it's called Come to the Manger. I think. It's by Orrin Hatch and Janice Kapp Perry. And you can listen to it at http://www.ldsaudio.com/shop/music.aspx?type=album&id=231. Actually, that's probably just 30 second previews. But you can buy it there. It's worth it, I promise. ;)

I feel like I'm using a lot of smiley's. I kind of go through phases. Sometimes I don't ever use them, and other times I want to use them after every sentence. :p

Besides being Christmas Adam, It's also someone's birthday. :) So, here's a poem for the birthday girl:

Today is Christmas Adam, it's your birthday.

You're older now, and maybe wiser too.

I bet you wish that you were even halfway 

to being done with school at BYU.

This poem doesn't really have much purpose,

Except to tell you "Happy birthday, dear."

My lamesauce rhyming skills and ADDness

make it hard for me to write a poem here.

So, happy birthday to you, Josefina.

I really wrote this poem just for you.

It's hard to rhyme with you're name, Josefina.

And...I think this poem's over anyway...

Happy Birthday?

Love ya!

-Joey

So, merry Christmas Adam, everyone! I'd better go wrap some presents now. They won't wrap themselves, unfortunately... :p

I love you all!

Have a nice day, eh?

-Moscas

I heart Rexburg

Whenever I start a blog post, I want to start it with the word 'sometimes.' I'm not sure why. Also when I start a blog post, it's usually not something I've planned on blogging about. It just comes out from my fingertips and sometimes makes sense. Probably more often than not y'all have no idea what I'm talking about or if there's even a point to any of this.

Well, I'm not keeping you here...

Sometimes I think I should just go sleep instead of trying to keep up with all of the crazy things going on in my life. Work, school, school, etc. Sometimes I think that sleep will be much better than a good grade in a class. Then I usually suck it up and go to class anyway. 

There really isn't a point to this post...just so you know. I just like to blog because it lets out the stress that's inside me. Sometimes my posts have a point. But today? ...not really. I'm just venting with my fingers. 

Rexburg is a wonderful place. There's plenty of snow, plenty of awesome people, but there's never enough oreos. At least...not lately. The first half of this semester my roommate and I would buy a few packages, and then go through them in a day or two. Lately...I've been using my money on other things, like...food that will actually keep me alive (I always said I could live off of oreos, but it's not really true, as much as I would like to believe it). Anyway...I think I might buy some today. 

The semester is almost over. I can't believe it's gone by so fast. And yet, it seems like forever ago that I moved out of the house. It's like it's been this way my whole life. Such a weird feeling. In two weeks I'll be back at home eating my parents' food and sleeping in their house. I'm excited to come home. :) 

I'm really going to miss Rexburg though. Maybe I'll get my mission call to Rexburg. Haha. That would be wonderful. :) It'll probably be more like...Nigeria or Greece. Who knows? There have been a few people that have said they think I'll go spanish speaking. I'm thinking that would be wonderful. But...I'm not going to count on it. 

Yesterday I got a TB test. That was the last thing that needed to happen for my papers to be finished. I just have to wait for the 17th of this month for my stake president to be able to turn them in. Aah! So exciting! I will probably have a mission call in less than a month. And then I can go to the temple, and start buying suits and other awesome mission stuff. Actually...then I can find a job and save every penny I earn for the mish. 

Then I'll serve for two years...and then I'll come home. I'll be an RM. Goodness. Life goes so fast. Then I'll get married and get old and then die. 

I'm excited for life. :) 

Bring it on!

So, anyway...have a nice day! I'm gonna go do the homework that I've been procrastinating by posting here. :p 

-Joey

P.S. I added this snow stuff...to make you feel like you're in Rexburg. It's magical, isn't it? :)

2 weeks notice.

In 2 weeks, school will be over.

In 2 weeks, I'll be living at home.

In 2 weeks, my mission papers will be in.

In 2 weeks, there will be 6 days until Christmas.

In 2 weeks, Alicia will be 7, Sophie will be 12, Dad will be 43, and Grandpa will be 70.

In 2 weeks, I won't have any homework to do. 

In 2 weeks, I probably won't have a job.

In 2 weeks, I can go to the temple for real. 

In 2 weeks, I will probably be getting to bed on time.

In 2 weeks, I will probably be eating healthier foods.

In 2 weeks, I'll be missing Rexburg.

In 2 weeks, I'll still be plotting to take over the world.

In 2 weeks, I'll be with my family.

A lot can happen in 2 weeks, eh?

Make the most of it!

(This message is brought to you by some hoser that lives in Idaho. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.)

Have a nice day!

-Moscas

I found a poem

Today is just a bloggy day. I dunno why. Anyway, I was doing homework (honestly, I was) and I found a poem in my Book of Mormon journal that I wrote during class. So...here it is:

Millennium.
One thousand years
of peace.
Under
the reign
of Christ
living
to the age
of a tree.
Satan is bound.
No temptation.
Still working
for exaltation.
100 years
and then
we are twinkled.
The morning
of the first
Resurrection.

There you go. :)

Have a nice day.

-Joey

Home...

I live in Rexburg, Idaho. I live here because I go to school at BYU-Idaho, which is also in Rexburg. Sometimes I go home to Lindon, Utah, but then I come back home to Rexburg. So...where is home exactly?

Home is where the food is. Or...heart. I guess it's where the heart is. The only problem is that my heart is in two different places. Sometimes I feel like I really want to be in Utah, and other times I am in Utah, and I want to be here in Rexburg. Even when I come home to Lindon for good, I'm not sure I will really feel completely 'at home.'

This is kind of a useless rant...I just really don't want this semester to be over, but in some ways I really do. Bleh. I'm almost tempted to just stay another semester, but I don't have the money. I need to be earning mulah for the mish, not spending it on education. See, it's not the 'good/bad' decisions in life that are hard. It's the 'good/good' decisions. Getting an education is a really important thing. Our knowledge is the only thing we can take from this life when we die. On the other hand, earning money for a mission is probably more important. It's not about what's good and what's bad. It's about what's good and what's better, or even best.

I'm not going to stay another semester, though I really would like to. I'll come back in a few years to finish what I've started here. :)

This semester isn't even over. Everyone's talking like we're done learning for the year (except my teachers, of course), but really we have 3 more weeks. Maybe 2 and a half...

Anyway, I'll stop talking now. Y'all can go about your lives now.

Have a nice day...

-Moscas

Have a prayer....

Right now I'm listening to Rodrigo's "Concierto de Arunjuez", and it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. It's honestly making me want to cry. But of course I'm not going to...I'm sitting in the front foyer of the Manwaring Student Center. If I weren't, I might just break down in to tears, it's so beautiful and full of emotion. I know...I'm kidding.

...kind of. :p

Am I a sap? I kind of feel like such a romantic sometimes. Then again...I think I am a romantic. In Mrs. Pierce's 10 grade English class we took the Romantic vs. Classical test thingy to see which one you were, and I was most definitely a romantic. 

Anyway...you should really listen to this song. It's amazing. 

Today is Tuesday. This means that tomorrow I have a music quiz in Humanities, two assignments due for Music, my test for Calculus opens, and I have 2 hours of work, 5 1-hour classes and a 1-hour group rehearsal for Men's Choir. That's kind of a lot. But I know that there are probably a lot of people out there that have even more on their plate for tomorrow, so this is for you. Those of you that are about to collapse under your load of work, I'm praying for you. :)

On www.englishdaily626.com it says that to "have a prayer" means "to have a realistic chance of something happening; to be able to do something." Example: "Eric doesn't have a prayer of passing the math exam today." Then it gives the etymology. It says "When something is very difficult, you might 'pray' for assistance. If something 'has a prayer', it might succeed if it gets a little bit of assistance from above. But if it 'doesn't have a prayer', not even divine intervention will help." 

So...in all of this craziness, just know that you really do have a prayer. Ask for that "little bit of assistance from above," and everything will turn out okay. :) Prayer really is the key to life. Especially when things get rough. Well...that and mint oreo's. ;)

Now, this doesn't mean that we only need to pray when life gets hard. Prayer shouldn't just be something that we turn to only in times of desperation. It should be an integral part of our life. We should pray when life is good as well as when it's bad. Even when life just seems kind of meh and nothing much is going on, Heavenly Father still wants to hear from us. 

Anyway...I'm feeling kinda preachy. Probably because I am preachy. This wasn't supposed to be a sunday school lesson...but I guess it kind of turned out that way. Anyway, this is for all of my awesome college friends, my awesome high school friends, and my amazing siblings, parents and other family members that might be going through some rough times. I love you, and I'm praying for you. :)

Have a nice day! :)

-Joey

(P.S. This is kind of random...but I guess that's kind of why it belongs on this blog. The song embedded below is one of my favorite songs ever! Enjoy.)

Rexburg: Home of the 8 foot snowmen.

Today it's about 34 degrees with some light snow falling. Perfect weather for just about anything. Unless you want to go wakeboarding. I'm not sure that would be very fun today. But for anything else, today is perfect. Like  drinking hot chocolate while sitting in front of the heater (we don't have a fireplace, or I would sit in front of that). You could also cuddle up in a blanket and read a good book (in front of the heater). If you're awesome, you'd go for a run, or build a snowman at the park. See? This weather is great for all kinds of things.

On Monday we got our first legit snowfall. It started snowing at around 7 in the morning, and it didn't stop until 10 at night. It was a wonderful day. :) Jaymes (my awesome roommate from Texas) and I went to Porter Park and started building a snowman. We were almost finished with the first snowball when Trevor showed up. Neither of us had ever met Trevor before, but he wanted to help out, so we let him. With the three of us pushing, we got the first snowball even bigger, and when we finally just couldn't push it any further, we made the unanimous decision that our snowman would go right there. The second snowball was almost as big as the first. We had a pretty hard time lifting it up onto the first one, but with a little grunting and some awesomeness and attractiveness, we got it up. After resting for a bit, Jaymes went to find some branches for the arms, and Trevor and I made the head. When Jaymes got back with the sticks and a random shirt that he had found in the snow, he helped us lift the head up onto the body. That's when Trevor realized that he had carrots back home, so he took off to get one. Jaymes and I went into the trees to find some pine cones for the rest of the face. Here's the finished product:

That's Jaymes standing next to Hosehead (that's what we decided to name him). If Jaymes if 6' 4", then this snowman has got to be at least 8 feet. Oh, and sorry about the bad picture quality...it was my lamesauce camera phone...

Rexburg is wonderful. I'm loving it. Biking in the snow isn't the coolest thing ever, but snow just adds such a magical feeling to life. It's the beginning of the Christmas season where everything is merry and bright. I need to stock up on hot chocolate and take lots of Vitamin C.

College is still lots of fun. I think I'm learning to budget my time a little better. I've been getting to bed semi-on-time, and I've been doing my homework. Life is great. :) Calculus is still painful, but we just started applications of integrals, which is really a pretty awesome subject. It gets harder as you get deeper into it, but for now, it's great!

Random story...yesterday I found out that Camille Saint-Saens is a guy. All my life I thought he was a girl. You can't really blame me though. I mean, with a name like Camille? How was I supposed to know that Camille was a guy? Anyway...that was random, but...it kind of just...threw my life off balance. Oh! I remember how I found this out. I was trying to find his third symphony, because it's on the movie Babe and I wanted to hear it. I think I happened upon a picture of the guy on Wikipedia or something. Anyway, you should listen to that song. It's great. :)

I should probably go get ready for class now. Humanities, here I come!

Have a nice day, eh?

Go build a snowman. Unless you don't have any snow. Then you can just sit at the front window and wish more than anything that you had as much snow as Rexburg does. ;)

I love you all,

-Moscas

Octobeard?

If you're ever in Rexburg, just know that Z103 isn't a very good radio station. Even if it does have some good music, it's deceiving. Don't fall for it.

Sometimes I wish I were a returned missionary. But most of the time, it's nice to just be able to make friends, and not have all that pressure to get married.

I'm kind of just having short, random thoughts tonight...my roommate is watching TV, and that's always a little distracting. P.S. don't ever, EVER waste your time watching TV. It's just plain not worth it.

Also, if you ever go to Craigo's Pizza, get the cookie dough pizza. It's the best!

Have you ever been to China?

Sometimes I wish I lived in China. "My mom says that if you eat standing up...it gives you gas."

...if you didn't get that one...just don't worry about it. :p

Sour. Sweet. Gone.

I've officially decided that lipsinking is one of the most retarted, painful things to watch ever. That reminds me...my uncle sang for a guy that was lipsinking in a movie. Like...it was his voice, and the actor was lipsinking.

You know what's a really good song? "Hey Soul Sister" by Train. It's one of my favorites.

My finger keeps hitting the d key. I think I erased them all, but...in case I didn't...I'm not retarded. I think...

"I'm bulemic." "You can read minds??"

I think I should probably get to bed. Work in 7 1/2 hours.

I love you all.

Have a nice day!

-Moscas

Bears. Beets. BYU-Idaho.

It's been about a month since I moved out of the house. I feel so...self-sufficient. I got payed today, and that helped even more with that feeling. Other words that I would use to describe myself would be tired, tired, and...happy.

So college makes me tired. I'm sure I'm not the only one that gets tired from college.

On the other hand, college is a very happy experience. If you ever get the chance to come visit BYU-Idaho, I would strongly recommend it. There's just a special spirit here that you don't feel on any other campus. It's a spirit of togetherness. A spirit of purpose. A spirit of happiness. It's a wonderful thing.

Yesterday was an amazing day. Why, you ask, was it so amazing? FHE. Obviously. Our family consists of me and my three roommates, and 2 apartments from carriage house with six girls each. ...that's BYU-Idaho for ya. ;) Anyway, the guys had the lesson, so we taught about Captain Moroni's fortification of the cities and how we can apply that to our own lives. It was a pretty good lesson. Afterward we made ice cream sundaes off the balcony. So, one person lays on the ground with an ice cream cone in their mouth, and then we drop the ice cream, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles from the balcony and try to get it in the cone. It was way fun. But...it was a big mess. So, after we washed up with the hose, we played ultimate frisbee at the stadium. We met a guy named Ben that threw the frisbee really hard, which made it hard to catch because our fingers were freezing from the hose water...

When we got bored of the turf and stadium lights, we went to Porter Park to play frisbee in the dark. We taped a bunch of glow bracelets to it so we could see it, and then threw it back and forth in the dark. After we got bored of that, we started breaking them open (like the mature, responsible college students we are...) and spreading the glowy slime everywhere.

That's when the real fun began. ...kind of. We covered the frisbee with the glowing goop and then played catch for a little longer. We ended up breaking probably 40 of the 50 bracelets we had...covering ourselves and the ground and...pretty much everything in sight. haha. It was a blast. Until we got it in our eyes. That hurt like CRAZY!!! Also, if it got in our mouths. That was gross. It kind of burned too... I do have to say though, seeing someone's tongue and teeth glowing inside their mouth was pretty sweetawesome. :)

Afterward, we came back to our apartment and watched The Italian Job. So good! I love that movie. I've wanted a mini cooper ever since I watched that movie. But I think pretty much everyone that watches that movie ends up wanting one.

So that was yesterday. Today we washed all of out clothing that smelled like chocolate syrup and glow...stuff.  haha.

yup.

Have a nice day. :)

-joey

Random college metaphors...or something.

Sometimes when you have a TON of homework and you're really tired from walking 7 miles in one day it's a really good idea to buy some cheeseburger chips and Sunny D and just get yourself wired so you're more excited about being alive. Then maybe doing homework will actually be possible.

I had a funny thought earlier. It might have been yesterday. Anyway, I think that everyone that goes to college has a mullet. You know...business in the front, party in the back. That one. Well, I decided that some people's mullets are just longer than others. Some people party way more than anything else, and then there are those that care about the business part of college more. Their mullets are shorter. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "joey, you're a complete and total idiot!" Well...you're probably right. But chances are I'm more attractive than you anyway.

How long is your mullet?

If you're ever in Rexburg around September, go find the apple tree on 2nd north. It has some of the most amazingly delicious apples you will ever taste.

Also, the D.I. here gives out copies of the Book of Mormon for free. Just...if you ever need one. You know, to read or give to someone...they're all free.

I had another random metaphorical thought about college, but I can't remember what it was. That's disappointing. Well...I'm kind of dead from eating so much sugar a couple hours ago. So...don't judge.

Oh! I remembered. I think there should be a way to declare intellectual bankruptcy. I don't really...just when I  have piles and piles of homework...I think it would be nice to just say, 'nope, sorry. I can't do any more homework. I'm intellectually bankrupt. I don't have anything left to give.'

Yup.

Well, have a nice day, eh?

I need sleep...

-Moscas

Advice for college life:

Here's a list of ideas and advice for you if you're in college. It's just a start...I might add more to this list later.

1. Sleep.
2. It's okay to have a social life as long as you can fit it in with the 20+ hours of school, that many or more hours of homework, and church and other activities.
3. College is approximately 700% easier without a social life.
4. College is approximately 700% more fun with one.
5. Eat enough food to last you through ALL of your classes, not just the first one or two. And if you can't eat that much, pack some along with you.
6. Sleep!
7. Don't forget to read your scriptures. There's really nothing better for your spirit than a break every day from all the chaos of school and work and friends.
8. Call you're mother. Often. Not only does she greatly appreciate it, that's just pure spiritual brownie points. ;) (I guess this only applies if you've moved out. Oh well. It's still cellestial advice.)
9. Don't ever, EVER stay up until 2 am watching your roomates play Age of Empires. You'll just go to bed wondering what on earth you're doing with your life, and you'll wake up wondering why on earth you wasted a good night's sleep on that...
10. SLEEP!!! (are you getting the point yet?)

Well, I think that's all for now. Don't worry...college really is a party, you just have to party the right way. Only on the weekends after you've done all your homework and only for a little bit or you'll fall asleep in church the next day and everyone will laugh at you and you'll be really embarrassed.

Have a nice day!

I love you all. :)

-joey

End of week one, and going...strong?

I'm done.

With week one, that is. Only...14 weeks to go? Something like that.

Work is going well. It's two hours a day right before my Music 101 class. I've only been late to class once. But it was on the first day...so it was pretty embarrassing. Have I told this story already? Oh well. I'm starting to get the hang of things at the campus post office. I know, I know...I work at the post office. So, if you ever send a letter to someone at BYU-Idaho, including people in the dorms, it goes through me. I feel like I have so much power and control. Mua ha ha haaaaaaaaaa! Okay...not really. But it is kinda fun to look at all the different letters and packages and periodicals. Speaking of which...I never understood the spanish word 'periódico'. It confused me. But now...it makes sense. Blame it on the post office. It does things to you. Oh! Story time. Ready? Yesterday we got a box full of baby chicks in the mail.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like without homework? I have. And you know what I think it would be like? Pie heaven. It's like heaven, but tastier.

I went on my first legit college date! And people said that no one would pay attention to me because I'm a premie (is that how you spell that?). You hear that term a lot as a freshman. In case you didn't decipher the clever code of demeaning upper-classmen, it means that you haven't been on a mission yet. Like me. Everyone says that until you've been on a mission, the girls don't want anything to do with you.

...so much for that idea.

I once heard a song that I kinda liked. Then I went and found the music for it, and played it through a couple of times. I didn't really do much with it after that...it just filled up space in my music binder. Then one day I was talking with a girl that happened to like that song, and we were close to a piano, so I tried to play it.

I wish I had learned it better...

Did you know that there are sand dunes like 20 minutes north of Rexburg? I did. Well...since I moved here, that is. But I knew it before you, so HA!

Also, if anyone owns any ATV's or dirt bikes that they would be willing to donate to a good cause, I'd be very grateful.

You wanna know something cool? I'm still really super ADD even though I'm in college. Like, I do this thing where I'll be talking to someone (normally a girl...I know, I know. I talk to girls), and I'll get in this 'random question' mode where nothing that comes out of my mouth has anything to do with anything that we had been talking about. It's wonderful... And...in case you hadn't noticed, I blog that way too...

Also...I'm really not obsessed with girls or anything. I feel like I've been talking about girls a lot. There are a lot of girls at BYU-Idaho. So...I spend the majority of my time with one girl or another. Just...thought I'd let you know...? Um, yeah. Now we can get back to...ME!

I'm really disappointed that Rexburg doesn't have an In-N-Out Burger. I'll have to find somewhere else that sells strawberry shakes.

Well, my gargantuan pile of homework awaits. I'd better go take care of it before it eats someone...

Have a nice day! And remember to drink your Ovaltine!

-Joscann

I'm tired.

That is all.

The library. My new home.

So...yeah. I pretty much live here. Since I don't have my own computer, I spend all of my homework time here at the David O. McKay Library. It's wonderful. I get to use these wonderful campus computers...printers...chairs...desks...it's almost as if I own the place. Because...I would really want to own this place. :p

Actually, it's a pretty awesome place to be, I just...spend my ENTIRE LIFE here. Well, the last 2 days, anyway. But unless I buy a laptop, I don't really expect to switch things up a whole lot. What it is.

Also, I get to share these computers with the other 10,000 students here at BYU-Idaho. I know, I know. Your college has more students than that. Wanna know what I have to say to that?

Nothin.

But that's not the point. The point is...I have to come here either before any classes start, or after they're all over if I want to get a computer to use. Before is a little bit difficult, because I work at 8 every morning. So...after it is. I just finished two essays and read a talk by Elder Bednar (which was really good, btw. All about "learning by faith"). Pretty much my life exists as a part of this library, and my 4GB thumb drive. Anything else is irrelevant. Except my bike. That's a big part of my life too.

So, what's new? Not a whole lot. I was late to my first class today. It starts at 10:15, and I get off work at 10:00, but today I worked a little later than usual, so I got to have the incredibly awkward walk down to the front of the lecture hall to the only available seat left.

Other news, I got into Men's Choir! Yay. All I had to do was sing "If You Could Hie to Kolob" a capella, and then sing a few scales. The guy was really nice. He knew Mendy, so we chatted about PHS and their choir program for a bit, and then I was done. :) It was wonderful. Not awkward, not weird, not nerve racking. It was just chill. That's how every audition should be. :)

So...this is my life. I think I'm going to go home now and watch some Brian Regan with my roommates and some friends.

Have a nice day!

-Library-going, bike-riding, 4GB Tenor.

Checking in.

Class starts tomorrow, and I'll probably have a lot less time to be on here blogging. So... here I am, just checking in. I made it to Rexburg alive, and I'm doing well. My roommates are nice and not even very quirky. Except for the guy that microwaves his bananas before he eats them...ew.


Anyway, I'm doing well. I'm eating a lot. That's probably thanks to the miles and miles of bike riding and walking I've been doing. :) It's great mission prep, eh?

I love you all! Don't party too hard without me...

Oh, and...have a nice day, eh? :)

-Joey

Lessons in patience...

Do you ever have one of those days that are just full of...learning experiences? That was yesterday for me. It seemed that everything I did took longer than I wanted it too, and sometimes didn't even work out. I drove/rode in a car for probably 7 hours total (including a 45 minute drive through Labor Day traffic from Provo to Lindon). I went to get a movie ticket, and waited in the forever long lines to find out that it was sold out. It took me until I was stuck in traffic on Geneva for 30 minutes to realize how impatient I was being. That's when I decided that I had better learn something from all these experiences. Maybe someone up top thinks I'm not patient enough. ;) So that's when I cranked up the radio and started singing along, and smiling, and waving to people. You know. Stopping to smell the flowers. But...I didn't actually stop, or It would've taken me 3 hours to get home. :p So...that was yesterday. Patience. Sometimes things just take longer than you want them too. So make the best of it. :) This world is full of wonders. Don't gripe about how you're stuck in a 5 mile line of cars when you could behaving uplifting, happy thoughts. Happiness is a choice. There you have it. 

Be happy!

Um...all of this advice is really for me. You can take the advice if you want, but...I'm the one here who needs to hear all of this. :p 

I'm moving tomorrow. That's so weird. And sad. And super exciting. And...yeah. Can you tell I have mixed feelings about this whole thing? I'm gonna miss all of my sweetawesome Utah friends and family. It'll be good for me. In less than a year I'll be who knows where, preaching the gospel. This is just preparing me for that, eh? :) I'm excited. I really am. I just can't say I won't miss Utah (and Utah's weather, as crazy as that sounds). 

Well, off I go. Don't party too hard without me, eh?

I love you all! 

-Joey

There and back again...

Once upon a time, Bilbo Baggins wrote a book about his adventures. He called it 'There and Back Again'.


This is pretty much like that. Except...I didn't travel all the way to Smaug's lair and come home with trunks full of gold and silver...but I did have some adventures of my own.


Okay, so my adventures on the way to Rexburg, Idaho weren't anything compared to Bilbo's. Pretty much all that happened was that we drove to McCammon, stayed the night, started out for Rexburg the next morning, got lost trying to find Highway 20, remembered that we had an atlas in the trunk of our car, found Highway 20, and then finally got to Rexburg. 




So...is anyone else bored out of their mind?




I am.




Usually blogging is pretty entertaining for me. Today I'm just kind of feeling...bleh. meh. eh...


I've had a tummy ache all day. Maybe that's why...


Oh well. 


I'll say a poem. Ready?




GOD says to me with a kind 
of smile, "Hey how would you like 
to be God awhile And steer the world?"
"Okay," says I, "I'll give it a try.

Where do I set?
How much do I get?
What time is lunch?
When can I quit?"

"Gimme back that wheel," says GOD.
"I don't think you're quite ready YET."




There you go. 


I'm going to go play now.


Have a nice day!


-joey

I'm not ranting.

Today is Thursday. I was outside for a total of about 10 minutes. The rest was spent on the living room couch. Or the family room couch.

Yesterday was Wednesday. After I went to the dentist, the total amount of time I spent outside was however long it took my dad to help me from the car to the front door. ...side door. Whatever. We use it like it's our front door.

My diet: 5 powerades, a can of Spaghetti O's, a bowl of yogurt, a butterscotch snack pack, a few soft fish sticks, and a bunch of water (for the pills. yay).

This is me:

No laughing now...that's not polite.

Okay, honestly if I were you, and I was reading this, and looking at how ridiculous I look, I'd be laughing my head off. The only reason I'm not laughing is because it hurts. :-/

There was this one time when I smiled so many times in one night, that my cheeks started to hurt. It doesn't take much at the moment...

You know what's the best?

Fresh air. It gets so stuffy in here. Aw, man...I didn't go watch the sunset. I was gonna. I glanced at it out the window, but I forgot to go look.

If you had a get out of jail free pass, what would you do?

"We are all on drugs, yeah..."

Don't ever do drugs. Kay? Not on purpose. Drugs are stupid. They don't make you happy. That's what the gospel and family and good friends are for. They'll keep you happier than drugs could ever make you.

Oh, and one more thing about the puffy cheeks...I was reading a scripture, and it said that you should "let your soul delight in fatness". So, don't make fun, kay?

"O hail, Provo High..."

You know, most of the time I'm pretty ADD when I blog. But...tonight is especially...random. "Why can't we ever just have like a salad?" "Be grateful, Juan Pablo. Today is especially delicious. Mira."

I'm gonna go sleep.

Night!

-Cheeks

"O, be wise..."

I just wanted to get on here and say some grateful things while I have the chance. Well, at least, before I can't be grateful for them anymore. Not for a few days anyway... :-/

I'm grateful that I'm not in any pain.

I'm grateful that my face looks pretty normal. Well, normal, as in...how my face usually looks. If any of my sisters were here, they'd tell me that my face is anything but normal. ;) They're probably right...

I'm grateful for the fresh air. Especially when I'm cruising through it on a bike at 45 mph. 

I'm grateful for wisdom. Whenever I think about wisdom, I think about it compared to knowledge. I've always understood knowledge to be the facts. What's right/wrong, true/false, that kind of thing. But wisdom, on the other hand, is putting that knowledge into action. We're smart if we know how to tie our shoes, but unless we actually tie them, that piece of knowledge really isn't any good to us. "What is the number one problem in our community today? Untied shoe laces."

Um, so Flint Lockwood is a little more wise than all of us with his "Spray-on shoes!!!" But...whatever. He's a super genius, eh?

I remembered a quote earlier...oh yeah! I thought of it when I was theorizing about wisdom. Why was I doing that anyway...? Oh well. Here's the quote: "It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man."

I don't know why I thought of that, I just did.

Now I'm gonna go die.

Not really...but...close?

I'm really not very excited about today. Can you tell?

I can.

But...I am me...

Well, Jack Heaton always said, "What doesn't kill you only prolongs the inevitable."

Happy trails!

-Moscas

...and my feet got a bath.

Today I woke up around 9:30. I got out of bed, went upstairs, ate a piece of toast, washed a few pans, and then went for a bike ride with my sis. I think some other stuff happened too, but I don't remember.


It's late, okay? And I'm tired.


And I just remembered a quote: "I scrambled to the top of the precipice where Nick was waiting. "That was fun," I said. "You bet it was," said Nick. "Let's climb higher." "No," I said. "I think we should be heading back now." "We have time," Nick insisted. I said we didn't, and Nick said we did. We argued back and forth like that for about 20 minutes, then finally decided to head back. I didn't say it was an interesting story."


Yesterday I went to lay sod with Jenny Williams. It was pretty nice after the sun went down. There were nice clouds, and it wasn't hot. Really awesome conditions to work in. Well, we were almost done, and out of nowhere came about 500 kazillion mosquitoes. We left pretty quick after that, but the little hosers still managed to get me 13 times in those 4 minutes.


After I got home from the bike ride today, I called Jack Heaton. We hadn't done anything together in a long time, so we had decided that today when the sun was at it's highest, we would meet somewhere in between our houses and do something. Well, that something happened to be going to the Pick-a-Part junk yard and getting some things he needed for his van (and looking at all the awesome trucks. Duh!). This was probably the most fun I had had in a long time. I know, I know, I sound like such a guy. Well guess what? I am one. 


"You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!"


Um...yeah. Anyway, I'm a guy. I enjoy taking things apart. I enjoy it even more when I don't have to put them back together. ;) So, we had a blast. After we had all the parts we needed, we were just browsing around, looking at different truck styles and engine parts, and Jack was explaining to me how a clutch worked. Now, this was something that had been explained to me several times before, and I still didn't understand. So, in order to understand how a clutch worked, we found an old manual F-250 and took out the transmission so we could see the clutch ourselves. Now...um...that last sentence was about a 2 hour job. So...don't go thinking it was easy or anything. We were under that truck getting covered in dirt and grease and sweat for 2 whole hours. I don't think I've ever been as black as I was today after taking out that transmission. Every so often Jack would burst out laughing. When I would ask what was funny, he would say, 'We're dropping a transmission. For fun. Hahahahaha!' It was a pretty funny thing to do. Later, we both decided that it was the funnest waste of a day we'd ever had. Anyway, when we finally found the clutch, we took it out, and he explained how it worked again, but this time I actually kind of understood. Well, a little more than kind of. Like, it makes a lot more sense to me now, but if you asked me to explain to you exactly how a clutch worked, I probably wouldn't be able to do a very good job. 


So, triumphant at last, we took all of our spoils back to the check out counter and payed a grand total of $5.50 for everything we had picked-a-part. I kept the clutch, just to have something to show for all that work we'd done. Maybe I'll hang it up on my wall... 


Afterward, we went to Jack's house to, um, revert back to our original race. Once I had removed about 75% of the grease and grime, I called it good. I had scrubbed for so long, and so hard that if I had gone on any longer, I would've started seeing my bones...


Work was from 5:00-11:30. My legs and shoes were still pretty grimy, but oh well. I wasn't making sandwiches with my feet. Ew. 


When I finally got home to take a shower, the drain was full of my sisters' hair. You see, the thing with sisters is that there are approximately 200 million things about having sisters that are good, and there are probably only 5 that are bad. Well...hair in the shower drain is most definitely one of those 5. So, I took a shower, and my feet got a bath.


Moral of the story?


Never play chicken with a semi full of rocket fuel.


Have a nice day!


-Moscas

Today I love Utah.

There was a lot of rain today. And also wind. These two things plus a temperature of about 69 degrees, and I was in heaven. I rode my bike for about 20 miles, just loving the weather. My behind is a little sore now...but I'm sure it won't last long. 

Buzz Lightyear: "Who's behind?"

Slinky: "Mine."

I took a nap just barely, which I probably shouldn't have done, because it means that I'll have trouble getting to sleep tonight. But, I woke up, and I think the fluids in my ears were messed up. I was standing straight up, and it felt like I was leaning to the left. Then I leaned to the left and I almost fell over. Not cool. I wanted to Puke... Well, kind of.

"Laura got all offended when I used the work puke, but to me that's what her soup tasted like."

My dad told me I was a failure today. We went to see Karate Kid (Which is great btw), and we were talking about Letters to Juliet, because it was one of the movie options, and he asked me if I had taken a girl to see it yet. I told him no, and he said "Fail!" I guess I fail. The only way to redeem myself from this would be to take a girl to see it. Good thing it's in the dollar theater.

Okay, I'm really not that cheap, I just...haven't enjoyed spending money since I saw the price to rent my apartment this fall...

""I can't stand cheap people. It makes me real mad when someone says something like, "Hey, when are you going to pay me that $100 you owe me?" or "Do you have that $50 you borrowed?" Man, quit being so cheap!"

Um, my brain is kind of in random quote mode. Sorry about that. :p

"She got a tan and I got a sunburn"

That's the song I'm listening to right now.

Now I'm gonna go.

Goodbye.

Have a nice day!

Go jump in some puddles or something, eh? :)

-Moscas

Not 17.

So, I don't usually like confronting police officers. Most of the time I'm happy not to have to talk to them at all. Tonight was different. Know why? 'Cause I'm 18!!!

I went to a party at the Lindon park with a bunch of awesome people from my singles ward. This party was just to hang out one last time before we all moved off to college. Some of us are moving out Thursday, some in a week, others a couple weeks. I think I took the cake at 2 weeks and 4 days. Go BYU-Idaho, eh? :)

Anyway, the party was fun. We played the hugging game, which I had never played before, but it was pretty fun. haha. It's like a more mellow version of spin the bottle. But...there's more running. And no kissing. Ew.

We played frisbee, ate dark chocolate peanut M&M's (which, I decided, were AMAZING!!!!!), and sat and talked, and laughed and had a good time. :)

The sprinklers came on at 11, but we were safely secluded in the shelter of the pavilion before we actually got wet, so that was...fortunate. I think it would have been an adventure if we hadn't known, and we all got soaked. Oh well. Maybe some other time...

At around 11:35 a police car drove up (actually it was a truck), and the guy came over and asked how old we all were.

'18!' We all said, with pride. Can't pull your curfew card on us, now can you, mister policeman?

'The park closes at 11, so you guys have to go.'

Darn.

But at least we didn't get written up or ticketed for being out past curfew. Yeah!

So we left, but I was happy. I had to be home soon anyway, so it was a good excuse to break away from all of my awesome single (18 year-old) friends.

Moral of the story? Be 18, and you're automatically awesome!

Have a nice day, eh?

(Also a moral...if you're not 18 yet, don't be out past 11, eh? At least not in Lindon...)

-Moscas

Can Aida?

I'm pretty sure Aida can. At least, that's what Josie told me once. We must've had a boring day in zoology. Or...we were just yapping or passing notes to each other like we always did. :p

Um, so yeah. Canada. Pretty much like the U.S. but there are more...hosers. Plus the occasional 'a-boot'. More often it was 'a-boat', which, by the way is probably the most attractive thing I've ever heard a girl say. I know, this is kind of third gradish of me, but when you're listening to a girl talk, and she's talking completely normal, and then out of nowhere says 'a-boat', it just...I don't know. Maybe I'm just a sucker for awesome accents, but it's different than listening to a British girl, or an Irish girl. Um...yeah. Sorry about that little...side note.

The first thing we saw coming over the border was a big field of elk. But...they were fenced in. I guess they grow them there. Raise them. Whatever. Not much in Canada was different than here. They still had Subway, Red Lobster, Motel 8's. You know, the works. Red Lobster is so good, by the way. We were trying to find someplace a little cheaper, but everything else was closed. After Red Lobster we went to my great-aunt Lynne's house. We met and talked with a bunch of family members that I've known my whole life, but had no idea they were Canadian...

So, about the reason we went to Canada: Jeff Jacob (my great-uncle) passed away on August the 6th, 2010, after a year-long battle against pancreatic cancer. My grandparents weren't able to attend the funeral because of the mission they're serving in Berlin, Germany, so we went instead (we being all of my grandparents' children, plus me). The only reason I was able to go was because I got work off to be dewisdomized (that is, be stripped of the four large objects taking up space in my mouth), but my mom had to reschedule for the funeral, so I had the perfect alibi to take off to another country for a day or two. Uncle Jeff was not one of my close relatives, but family is family, and I wanted to support. Yeah, I wanted to see Canada, but I was really glad to be able to go visit with family and attend the funeral.

One of the biggest downsides to this trip was the drive. We didn't have money to fly, so instead we left at 4 in the morning, and got to Calgary, Canada at around 8 pm. We stopped a few times for gas and food, but other than that, we went straight there. That was probably the...funnest...drive. Ever.

Have you ever said something sarcastic to someone, but they totally took it straight? That's never a very good thing. Either they're extremely offended, and you have to pull yourself out of the huge hole you just dug for yourself, or they just, believe whatever incredible story you just made up, and you have to tell them that, no, it wasn't actually true. Then they're offended anyway, or just embarrassed.

So...that was kind of a long...something, just to say that it wasn't really the funnest drive ever. Funnest isn't even a word.

I'm gonna shut up now.

So, there you go. Canada was great. I couldn't find a tuke to buy. I was disappointed. But...it was August, and the average temperature during the day was probably 85. It's so funny to me, all of the sweeping generalizations we make about Canadians. I do it too, don't worry. I'm probably worse than most. It's just funny. We really have no idea what Canadians are really like. They're probably just like us. But more humble. They don't think their country is the best in the world, and they don't really care. They just hate us for overshadowing them all the time. Also, they think we're dumb for thinking they're so dumb.

I was gonna shut up, wasn't I...

Canada is pretty sweetawesome. That's all I have to say.

Oh, Canada...

Have a nice day, eh?

-Moscas

Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.

So...Saturday was an interesting day for me. Not good, not bad...just, thought provoking. Oh, and scary. That too. I know, I know. Me, scared? Absolutely. I think you would have been too. But that's beside the point. What is the point? Um, I'm alive. That's the point. And more than that, I am grateful to be alive. Very grateful. I think it's all too often that we take life for granted. Well, this experience helped me see how fragile life really is (see title). So, if you gain anything from reading this post, I hope you learn that life is a gift, given to us by a loving Heavenly Father. So be grateful, eh?


So, here's what happened. This will only be like, the 27th time I will have told this story in the past two days. Oh well. Word gets around fast. My cousin from Idaho Falls emailed me just yesterday wondering if I was okay. And...I guess he's a little closer to me on the grapevine than it would seem. Idaho Falls is pretty close when you've got family there. Same with Germany. Or California. 


Um, I'm rambling now. I'm just gonna tell you the story now. Ready? 


Last Saturday I went to work. Just like any other Saturday, it was pretty slow. I had been there for about an hour, give or take. Ryan was taking the trash out, and I was hungry, so I went to make myself a sandwich. I had just started when a man in a hoodie with a bandana over his mouth and nose came in and walked straight behind the counter toward me. He was holding a knife, and told me to give him all of our money. I instantly went to the register to open it, and I forgot to put in my number before I typed in my password, so it didn't work. He raised the knife, and said "open it!" I told him I was opening it, and I typed in my number and my password. It opened, and he began to take the money. Ryan came in right then from taking out the garbage, and the man told us to get in the back and lay down. We did so, and Ryan was confused as to what was going on. I told him "We're being robbed." He suggested that one of us sneak out the back and call 911 or our manager. That's when the door dinged letting us know the guy had left. We called 911 right then, and the nice lady asked me a bunch of questions. How tall was he? (about 5' 10") How long was the knife? (3-4 inches) What race was he? (white) What was he wearing? (a grey hoodie and a bandana over his mouth and nose. He might have been wearing jeans, and I don't know what kind of shoes he was wearing) Was there anyone with him? (no, he was alone) Which direction did he go when he left? (I don't know, I was laying down in the back)
 When she ran out of questions, she told me that she wanted to keep me on the phone until a police officer got there. That's when a manager from another subway called asking if we were having any trouble. I told him yes, and he said he'd call my manager for me, and come down to our store. I told him thanks. That's when the police got there, and the nice lady let me go.
 The police asked me all of the same questions and more. Each probably about 4 or 5 times. Then they had us write all of our personal information down on a police report with details about our experience and sign it. Our manager got there, and showed them the tapes, then our manager's manager's manager got there, and burned a disc of the tapes. They couldn't get any finger prints, because I guess he was wearing gloves. And come to find out, it was a blue hoodie, not a grey one. Uber manager told us we could make ourselves a free sandwich, and go home for the night (I get held up with a knife, and I get a free sandwich. Yay). Thankfully, someone from a Provo Subway came in to take over. I don't think I would have been able to close that night after what had happened. I was so shaken up. 
 On my way home, after dropping Ryan off at his apartment, I said a prayer of gratitude. For the fact that I was alive, that I hadn't been hurt, and that everything went so smoothly. I mean, we got robbed, so that's lamesauce, but as far as having a knife pulled on me, I came out fairly unscathed. I am grateful today to be alive. The title of this post was a quote that I saw at Wilson's house Friday night. This experience was a testament to its truthfulness. Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.


So, there's the story. I'm alive. Traumatized for life, maybe, but alive. 


I'm actually doing quite well. And honestly...I kind of want to just forget the whole thing. I had trouble getting to sleep Saturday night, because I would keep thinking about what happened, and then my heart would be going a million miles an hour again...which just isn't very helpful when you're trying to sleep. 


Anyway, I found a scripture that night that gave me comfort. It's D&C 122:9. It says, 

"Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."

So there you go. I guess I must have more things I need to do in this life, eh? 


Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.


Have a nice day! (hope it was better than mine...:p )


-Moscas

Cove

Walking all day
in the frigid cold
not stopping,
for fear of never starting again.
Mother sick,
but walking anyway.
Father barely hanging on
to life, or
what's left of it.
 
Sister crying,
wanting to stop
and build a fire
to warm her hands 
and feet.
Brother saying
how much he misses
our home back east.
There, we had so much
that we don't have
any more.
 
Pulling, and pulling,
never resting,
always pulling.
 
Thinking
about life
about family
Singing
under my breath
Searching
for the strength 
to continue on.
Pulling,
and pulling.
 
Talk of rescue.
Wonderful news that lights
a fire in my heart.
The warmth spreads, it seems,
to my fingers and toes.
A place of refuge
from the wind and snow.
There could be nothing better.
 
Tired and hungry,
we reach the cove.
Fires already burning,
Men take the cart
from my hands,
and help set up our tent.
Life has entered
back into the hearts
of the saints.
We have survived
another day.
We have the strength
and the will
to press on.
 
Whether or not
we reach the valley,
We will give our All
to this Cause
that we Know
to be True.
We will give our All
to the Lord.