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