Single, wake-boarding nerd...

Today I went boating with the Oak Canyon Singles Ward. It was pretty fun. We had 4 people that brought boats, so there was plenty of fun for everyone. I went wake-boarding, but I mostly just kind of chilled on the boat for most of the time. It was a nice day. The water was nice, wake-boarding was fun, and Tyler, Julie and Trent were there to hang out with. I also met Heather who I guess is in our home ward. I didn't know. :-/ I had seen her in the singles ward before, but I had never officially met her. 

So, now that you know my life story and, stuff...here's a fun little nerdy tidbit of...my life. Or something.

Last night I was doing some experiments with my collection of 3D glasses. If you put on one pair of glasses, and then take another one and turn it around so it's facing you, and put it right up to the other glasses (...did that make sense?) then everything looks pink and blue and yellow. It's really cool. So, I took one pair apart, and placed two sets of lenses inside, and then tried to glue it back together. It didn't glue very well, but it held good enough. Anyway, then I had a cool pair of 3D glasses. They're not very useful for sunglasses, because they stick out too far from your face, so you can see almost as much outside the glasses as you can inside them. They're just cool to look through. 

Anyway, that's the past day or so for ya. Yup. Pretty much. Blah...

Have a nice day, eh?

-Moscas

Camping and camping and camping and camping and camping...(just pretend that this goes on almost forever, okay?)

It's been ten years since I first went to Camp Taylor (some camp up in Idaho near Inkom). A lot has happened in those ten years.

Tanner (my awesome cousin that's only...5 years younger than me. But he's amazing, and he's pretty much my best friend, so no worries about the age difference) and I have found 5 or 6 hide-outs/club-houses and have abandoned almost as many.

We made bows and arrows using some sticks we found and an old shoe lace.

Using this same bow and arrow, I actually shot a deer. No, I did not kill the deer or in any way injure the deer. It pretty much just bounced off its side and scared it away. But it was pretty cool, all the same.

My uncle got married. Now they have five children and another on the way. :)

We went on a hike and found some chickens roaming wild. Unfortunately, our dog got to one of them. Sorry, chicken.

While digging around in some sawdust, we found a bunch of shiny, marble-like gem things...that was cool.

We hiked up to the top of a really high mountain overlooking camp.

We also biked that same trail. (Biking was harder...but more fun on the downhill.) :p

We found a skunk in our camp. And...the same dog that got the chicken also made friends with the skunk. Or...something like that. It smelled really bad.

This year we found another skunk in our camp. But don't worry, I scared it away. Emilyn thinks it ran away when it saw my face. ...that's probably not too far from the truth. At least this face is good for something.

We woke up one morning with a bunch of cows right in our camp. But...Idaho, remember? So...no big surprise.

I broke my dad's Walmart bike doing a wheelie... Sorry, Dad. But...Walmart bike. It was bound to happen eventually, right? ...maybe?

We happened upon a nest of angry hornets. That was an adventure...

A couple of my siblings learned to ride a bike. Some of them still know how...hee hee. ;)

We slept out on the grass on numerous occasions and watched the shooting stars until we fell asleep. Those were some of the most amazing shooting stars I've ever seen. :)

I went for a run to stay in shape for Cross Country.

I practiced the piano to prepare for a lesson.

(Those things only happened once, even though they probably should have happened every year...)

We found a huge termite's nest in one of the cabins. Ew.

We found a nest of baby robins. Cute little things. :)

We ate and slept and played and hiked and laughed and sang and talked and explored until we had to go home... :'(

But there's always next year. :)

Well, for everyone else. I will likely be on a mission in a year. So...three years. It's worth the wait though, don't worry. :)

That's pretty much all that's happened in the last ten years of my life. Well...at least during this annual 4-day family reunion. Isn't life just wonderful? :) :) :)

Have a nice day!

-Moscas

June 12, 2010...

...is the date today.

I've been out of high school for 2 weeks and 3 days now. I don't think it has really hit me yet, or if it ever will, that I'm officially done with that cute little place we call PHS... One of these days I'll be out buying kitchen supplies, or laundry detergent, and it will occur to me that I'm really moving on with my life. One of these days...

Until then, I'll just act like I know what I'm doing with myself. I don't have any commitments except work and various family/church obligations, so my life feels kind of...empty. I feel like I need to start a project or something. Take a class. *Gasp!* I know...I'm thinking about educating myself...on purpose?! 

Yup.

Then again...that's really how my whole educational experience has been. My mom pulled my siblings and me out of grade school after I finished the 5th grade, and she home schooled us for four years, give or take. I honestly learned more in those four years than I've learned before or since. I didn't necessarily learn more facts or knowledge or skills, but I learned one thing that would become one of the most valuable pieces of knowledge I would ever have. I learned that my education is my own. Just because the state requires that we send children from 5-18 to school doesn't mean that it's the state's responsibility to educate them. They may require them to go to school, but they can't force a child to learn. There have probably been more students than the state would admit that went through 13 years of school and didn't learn a thing. That's why I was so grateful for my insightful mother, that saw how much school was getting in the way of my education. Those four years did me a world of good. During those four years of home schooling, I was given the liberty to study whatever it was I wanted. Anything I was interested in. Just think of the possibilities...

At first, I didn't want to study anything. If I got to choose, then I'd choose to study nothing. I think anyone right out of public school would have done the same thing. And then, after a few months of learning about paper airplanes, or building a makeshift stage in our basement and putting on shows for the family, I began to see how fun learning could be. I began to realize that school wasn't all about memorizing facts and dates of what happened when, but that it was more about applying myself and becoming something. 

That's when my education became my own. I could now see how valuable education was, and that it wasn't going to happen unless I did it myself. Not just because I was home schooled and that there wasn't a teacher there to spoon feed me, but because no matter how many hours I spent in a classroom, I wouldn't learn a thing unless I chose to. I wouldn't learn a thing until I invested myself in what was being taught. 

Education can't just happen on the outside. It's got to be internalized before it can really become a part of us. We can go to school for 13+ years and not learn a thing until we open up our eyes, ears, and hearts to what's being taught. Learning to love learning made this so much easier. Events like the revolutionary war weren't just a bunch of names and dates on a page anymore. They were things that really happened. That war was a real nation of real people doing their best to defend themselves and their families. It really did happen. 

So, my education became more of an adventure, a quest for knowledge, instead of some dry, boring thing that I "had" to do or the state would come looking for me...or...something like that. 

Those four years were some of the most valuable of my life. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Yeah, it was "weird" to be a home schooler. I honestly didn't have a ton of friends during that time. Most of the people I interacted with were other home schoolers that were just as "weird" as I was. Okay, I wasn't really that weird. It just seemed that every time someone found out that I was home schooled, there was some little switch that flipped inside their head that said, 'Wait a second, I can't be talking to you. You're one of those "weird" people with no social life. Is it even legal for me to be talking to you right now?' 

So I like to exaggerate a little. Sue me. 

Not really...I don't really ever want to be sued. The point is, those four years were worth all the 'trials and persecutions' in the world, and I wouldn't trade them for the world, because my education is now really, truly, my education. 

Thanks mom for pulling me out of school and turning me into a social misfit. ;) I couldn't be more grateful. Really. :)

Have a nice day, eh?

-Joey

AllergAACHOOO!!! ...allergies...

So, summer brings only two things for me. ...Okay, three things.

1. Heat. I prefer the cold. I'm moving up to Rexburg this fall where it's winter for...9 months out of the year. Yeah. :) My body is one that likes to start sweating at around 75 degrees. Turn it up to 95? I'm dying. Not that I don't love the sun. I absolutely LOVE the sunlight. That's really one of my favorite things about summer. Long days. Then again, as a child, I was always confused...and kind of sad/mad...when my parents put me to bed during the day time. "It's 8 o' clock" they would say. "Time for bed." I learned eventually about the earth's orbit around the sun and how it's north/south axis is on a slant, which gives us seasons. Phew. So...long story even longer, I don't really like the heat of summer, but I love the long days.

2. Allergies. Ever since I was about 7 years old, I have had seasonal hay fever. I am allergic to pretty much anything that grows. Okay...not really, but close. I am allergic to pollen, which comes from every green thing on this earth (some more than others...), and dander from animals (mostly the animals with hair). So, summer equals heat, which equals growing plants, which equals LOTS of pollen as these plants are doing what they've done since their creation. Reproducing. Their sole purpose is to continue the existence of their species through making baby plants. So, now that we've had 2 science lessons...here's a third. Okay, not really. Animals have a LOT of hair. Especially during the winter. Cats, dogs, Sea otters (Random, I know...but I heard once that sea otters have as much hair in one square inch as a german shepherd has on its entire body), etc. So, when it gets hot in the summer (I won't explain that one again...) these animals start shedding. Their hair and the stuff on it that I'm allergic to (Whatever that is) starts floating around in the air, or getting on people's clothes (I love you Mariah) and then it gets in the house. Needless to say, the summer is not a good time for me allergy-wise. My nose starts to itch, my eyes start to itch, and the second I touch either of them...any of them... it itches 10 times more, and the more itch it the worse and worse it gets, until my eyes are bloodshot, and my nose is running off my face. Not the most pleasant experience, I can assure you. There is such thing as allergy medicine, but I have never found it 100% effective... It does help, however, so I use it. Also there are eye drops to help a suffering person that has already started to itch their eyes. I find that the best remedy is to lay down in a cool, dark room with a cold, wet cloth over your face (mouth, nose, and eyes), and just lay there for a few hours. Another preventative measure one with allergies can take is to wash your hands (up to the elbows) a LOT. The more you wash, the less dander/pollen there will be on your hands, and the less it will effect you if (when...?) you touch your face. Oh, that's another thing. Don't touch your face. EVER. :D sigh... Other than that, allergies are just great. You get to chew on sagebrush. I mean, how cool is that? I bet you've never chewed on sagebrush, have you? It tastes like an orange peel. Yum!

3. Um...I can't remember what number 3 was. Maybe it was boating. I love boating. I've only done it...4 or 5 times, but I'm not too bad on a wakeboard. I was never very good at the whole water skiing thing, but I love to wakeboard. Also, getting sunburned in the shape of a life-vest is great fun too. What's even more fun, is putting your handprint on your chest with sunscreen and getting a...painful but cool looking burn. Life is just great!

Anyway, I hope Y'alls have a sweetawesome summer!

Have a nice day.

-Moscas

Sin and Sunburn...

A wise man once said, "When you can't go left, go right."

Okay, I don't actually know if a wise man ever said that, and it has absolutely nothing to do with this post. I just...I don't know. I was feeling random.

Yesterday was fun. I went swimming for the first time this summer. The water was nice, there weren't too many annoying kids, and I only had to watch over two of my younger siblings. It was very relaxing.

Before I got in the water, I applied sunscreen. To my front, because it is WHITE, to my back because...well, same story, and to my arms. I didn't put any on my legs or feet because I am a runner, and I pride myself in my tanner-than-the-rest-of-my-body legs. After that, I jumped in the water, completely forgetting about my face, ears, and neck. These three places happen to be where I get the worst sunburns, the most often. Maybe it's just because I forget about them, I don't know. Anyway, I was fine pretty much the whole day, and then it was time to go to sleep. I had taken a long, relaxing nap earlier in the day, so I was pretty sure that I would have a hard time getting to sleep. Yeah...that was an understatement, to say the least. I got in bed, turned on my iPod, and tried to sleep. An hour later, I still couldn't sleep, so I got out of bed and came upstairs to the computer. I tried to start a post here...but nothing was coming. So I just chatted with my friends for couple of hours, and then went back to bed to see if I could sleep. After rolling around a bit in pain, sleep finally came. 6 hours of it. Not bad, I guess...but during the summer? I think it should be illegal to get any less than 8 hours of sleep. Okay not illegal...just, dumb. So I'm dumb, alright.

Anyway, about the title of this post. I was at a Seminary morningside where Brad Wilcox was speaking, and he said something like this. This is all paraphrased...it's been a couple years... "Sinning is like getting sunburned. It's always painful, but we forget how much pain a sunburn actually causes us until we get burned again." I'm really botching this...sorry... "We would never say, 'I can't wait until this heals, so I can go FRY AGAIN...'" So, there's my...thought for the day. Next time you're in a situation where you might be tempted to sin, just think of the last nice, pink sunburn you had and how much fun it was. :)

I'm gonna go now. The cousins are here!

Have a nice day,

-Joscann

Summer!

So...it's been an entire week since high school officially ended, but it feels like it's been at least 3. A week ago I was on my way to the David O. Mckay Events Center to practice with the choir for graduation. So many things have happened since then, but I think more than that, I have had a paradigm change. A week ago, high school was my world. It was my world. There was nothing outside high school except family, which I regret to say, wasn't as much a part of my life as they should have been. I was always off somewhere with my high school friends, doing something that I'm sure was productive, or at least not destructive...but I didn't spend enough time with my siblings, with my parents. That's what I need to do this summer. Spend a lot of quality time with my family. Anyway, this paradigm shift that I've had...it's an amazing thing, really. One day I'm in high school, hanging out with my high school friends, and the next day, I'm not in high school, and I'm hanging out with friends that are no longer my high school friends. We're going to college this fall, we're going on missions, we're moving on, and we're done with high school. Forever. What was our entire life just one short week ago, is now gone. Out the window. Never to return. Is this a bit saddening? A little. I really enjoyed high school, but more than sad, it's liberating. I feel like I'm my own person. I no longer "have" to go to school. From here on out, my education is officially my own. Anything I want to learn, I have to pay for it, and I have to invest myself, because no one else is going to make me.

So, that's my paradigm shift. I don't know if that's even the right phrase to describe it, but that's as close as I'm gonna get. I'm done with high school, and all of a sudden, I'm a different person. I'm the same person, but different somehow. More responsibility, more weight on my shoulders...but FREE. I am my own person. That's what's important.

At the same time it's a little bit scary. My parents aren't going to be there to tell me to pay my tithing, or study my scriptures. Then again, they haven't really done that for a while. I've done those things on my own for quite some time. I just don't know how I will act without them there. Suddenly not paying my tithing has become an option. Or...it will when I move out this fall. I have done it my whole life, but they've always been there watching. They've been at tithing settlement and have heard me declare myself a "full tithe payer". So now that they're not there, will I still act the same?

I hope so. I sincerely hope so. I am confident that when I go out into this world, I will take with me not only their examples, and the memory of their faithfulness, but also my own testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. I know for myself that if I pay my tithing faithfully that Heavenly Father will be watching out for me. He'll have my back, so to speak. And if things don't always go so well, I will know that whatever happens, it will be for the better. As long as I am in the right place, doing what I know to be right, then whatever happens will "give [me] experience, and shall be for [my] good." (D&C 122:7)

So with that, goodbye high school, and hello world.

Have a nice day,

-Moscas