3 baby girls, giant turkey legs, and space ships....... oh my?

Today I applied for my housing for the upcoming Spring Semester back at BYU-Idaho and I realized something. 
I have been starting to miss my old roommates Evan, Chad, Bryce, KC, David and Andrew.  It is going to be a little crazy next semester, because it sounds like we have more guys who want to room with us and so we are now going to be in two apartments sadly.  Though from the sounds of it will be Evan, me and some guy I have yet to meet.  I am starting to wonder what it would have been like if I would have stayed in Rexburg instead of coming down here to Florida.  But in the end I needed to get away try something new, and hopefully make some money.   Though if they keep selling soccer jerseys for such good prices and the ever enticing outlet mall I may never make some good money.  Thankfully I have been getting some actually good hours even though this week I will be working at Electric Umbrella instead of my usual Sunshine Seasons.  Which the people there are really cool but I do not like the place nearly as much as Seasons.  I mean in the end the work at either is really not that great or enjoyable, but seasons is more tolerable.  But there are some benefits at Electric Umbrella like they have apple juice there I can drink for free which is always ever so enticing :)  That and their Television in the break room is way better then outs in the Sunshine Seasons.


I found this picture on Reddit today and was blown away by its beauty with the reflections of the Milky Way on the water.  It amazes me that how many stars out there and almost endless possibilities of the different landscapes and climates on them for one not to think that we are the only ones in the universe is a little naive in my mind.  Even for the purely scientific minds with the purely looking at the odds of which are possible there are other already reported livable planets just in our small view at the planets around us.  Every time I see pictures like this or talk about all the different planets it makes me more and more wish I had a ship like Serenity from Firefly and could travel through out space and visit other planets.  Or I wouldn't mind having the Millennium Falcon or Slave I the Fetts ship........ Just saying.

So I decided now that I am feeling better it was back to the p90x and so it continues and it is as painful as it ever was before.  Why I ever even thought there was a chance, has now been crushed, but on the good note I also have been running after work.  And it actually felt really good to run to rite aid and back.  I really have no idea how far away that is.  Hopefully its pretty far and not just like 1 mile lol.....

I was rudely woken up at 8ish in the morning one morning this week by the sound of our smoke detectors going off in the apartment.  Me and Chase ran out to find out that something had gotten stuck to the oven and got all smoky when the oven was turned on.  Thankfully we were able to get it to stop it before destroying them and then passing out again.  I then finally decided to get up and go with Janelle, Emily and a couple of Emily's friends from work to Magic Kingdom.  It was a pretty good day I enjoyed going to the Magic Kingdom and enjoyed going on some of the rides that I have not gone on.  But there was some that well lets just say I was bored or it sucked.  Such as Buzz Lightyear's ride was awesome because you get to shoot stuff and twist the cart around to get better shots at the different Zerg targets.  It also keeps track of your total score and can compare to your passenger, I was losing to Janelle most of the ride but pulled a win near the end.

The Haunted Mansion

 Another ride I actually really like even though this is much more of a kids ride, I know a kids ride in Disney World, this was the Haunted Mansion.  I mean it was no means scarey to me, but some of the visual effects were amazing where it would project what looked like 3D images in open space of ghosts.  I guess from a nerds perspective I am curious how they do it and why not more often?  I have a friend that is getting a tour soon of the ride so I will find out eventually.  Its also cool because its a continually moving ride with the cars on constant rotation and riders get out and on the ride with a conveyer belt.  Now if we could only do that with the bus system then we would be set. 

I also went to a resume writing workshop with my roommate Chase and got some good information and some that was alright.  Probably one of the most useful things for me was the piece of paper at the start that I received that was a sample of a well structured resume.  Then little tidbits of information here and there through out the workshop.  Overall I thought it was pretty good and worth while going even though some bits of if were a little boring and I was falling asleep in.  I guess as I get older meetings I go to are not quite the same as the pep rallys of my highschool years.  Though I still do struggle to stay awake in meetings, poor sleep schedule may have some part of this, some of it is because I hate sitting still.  So as a general rule I usually try to take notes even if I never look at them again to help focus on whats going on.

 

Lily

Addison and Olivia

These are my three newest nieces and although I have not had the privilege to meet them in person I am excited when I can.  It would seem that in my family that whenever a bunch of women are pregnant at the or near the same time they seem to have either all boys or girls.  Such as when I was on my mission I had three (that number sounds familiar) nephews born while I was gone.  So I am excited to see these three beautiful additions to the family.  Its amazing that a new child can seem to always brighten up someones life.

I finished off my deployment at Electric Umbrella which was interesting and the best part was that I grew a beard there and the managers were actually cool and lenient about the new beard rule.  Then of course my first day back to Sunshine Season I get ratted out by a stupid culinary chef to one of my managers.  It is sad that even though all the managers don't care except one, but since he is the most outspoken and full of douchebaggery.  (yes I added douchebaggery into the dictionary so it doesn't have red squiggles under it.)  Well whether I liked it or not I am now clean shaven and will stay the same way until I graduate from BYU-Idaho.  Well can't say I am not atleast used to it.....  When I get pictures back from Nicole's birthday party I will post my five days of growth. 

A recent quote that I rand across on was "Don't only practice your art, but

force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine."  

Ludwig can Beethoven

Although many would at first think that this is merely just for music and of the arts, I know that it can be applied to all facets of life.  That is something I have been trying to do more and more, but carefully with balance.  I have to make sure that I do not over exert myself or I will get frustrated and go back to old habits and the desires will fail.  I guess it goes back to the do not try to run faster then your legs can take you.  I am glad that I took this three month break from school to help me get my mind straight, and now I can look forward more to school.  This because with a better understanding of why I am there, and not because I just know I know its good. 

Massive Turkey Leg it was amazing!

It has also just become another Valentines day that has begun with me being single.  That's alright I really am not bitter about it.  I know that I will have one day to celebrate it with in the future, but for now it is just another day I like to tease by calling singles awareness day.  I guess I like to think that I would rather be single and want to spend it with someone then with someone and want to spend it alone.........   So I will just take my time and not be overanxious and it will happen when it happens.  Well I am running only only a couple hours of sleep from the night before so I better get some sleep.

 Because I love The Lord of the Rings and I have lately been getting into orchestrated music lately, but with a new age touch. 

Disney adventure continues.

Nicole, Emilee, Me, Janelle, Heidi in Hollywood Studios

 

 

So the epic adventure at Walt Disney World continues with just as much excitement.  I have finally now ridden most of the rides or atleast well known rides through out the parks.  I will just start from the beginning how about that.  One of my favorites with little surprise was of course Star Tours.  It is such a great ride I have been on it multiple times already it was such a blast.  Although it jumps around in the movies a lot and chronologically doesn't make the most sense, I don't even care.  I have to say this is probably the best 3D graphics I have ever seen that does not have head tracking involved.  The greatest part of this ride is that it isn't the same twice in a row there is quite a few different combinations of the experience, even the times I have gone have always been different.  And I plan on riding it over and over until I am the rebel spy...... And maybe a couple times after. 

Then there is the infamous Hollywood Tower of Terror which is without saying an amazing ride.  I have gone on that one a couple times and every time it still gets my heart pumping.  Especially since this last time I brought my Yoda backpack on with me and he started floating as we plummeted several stories.  This is one of my favorite rides because of its origins with the Twilight Zone.  I really like the part were it shows you going into another dimension just before the drop and also when it opens up and you can see outside into the park.  That and it has just a such a cool and creepy atmosphere which is one of the things I love about Disney is that they really go all out on having a great atmosphere especially in the waiting lines which most theme parks just are not willing to do.  This ride is a great example by its cob webs and the practically exact recreation of the lobby as it was in the show.  Also fun fact about the Tower of Terror is that it is specially colored the way it is and with the type of roof so that it can blend in with Morocco in Epcot so that when you are across the park it just looks like another building in Morocco next to the Sultans Palace. 

I will give more descriptions of rides in a later blog since I still have a couple months here in Florida.  I have recently finished Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins and overall it was a great book and trilogy.  But I feel the ending wasn't quite as good as I was hoping.  I mean I will admit it wasn't bad but for how great the series was I felt that it could have been a little better.  The one thing that did make me a little angry was that one of my favorite characters died.  Spoiler alert!  I thought Finnick Odair should have not been killed because he is a total BA.  I think of all the characters he was by far had the most depth and overcame the burdens that were put upon him.  I am still not sure exactly what I should read next I am debating of going back to the Dresden Files, World War Z or Star Wars Red Harvest.  Decisions decisions..... 

I have decided that I really want to do this sometime and wish that I had the means to do so.  After being down here and going swimming and water parks makes me remember how much I really love the water and miss going to it like I used to when I was younger going to the Columbia River so much.  


Well this is enough blogging for one night goodbye and goodnight. 

Disney

Well I finally made it to Disney World after a horrible plane trip with 3 lay overs that lasted 14 hours in all...... so yeah it wasn't very fun.  But I finally got to Orlando and finally got picked up by my hotel which was actually pretty nice.  I thought I was going to have to get one with two beds because that's all they said they had but when I got there I was able to get one with just one king size bed and when I laid down and just passed out.  I guess that's what happens when you try to sleep on a bench inside of the airport for 4 hours ugghh.  When finally I got to Disney it seemed like all I was doing was filling out paper work, doing background checks, and getting interviewed all day for 2 days before I finally had time to myself.  Much of this was actually standing in line to do these......After finally getting that done and even having to go the the Social Security Building to specifically get a new card because I forgot mine...... I finished and moved in.  I have 3 roommates Chase, Sam and Dallan. 

From Left to Right Emma, Emily, Sarah, Tonya, Me, Nicole, Chase, Charity, Carissa, Sam and Dallan

Since I have finally gotten to Disney I have made a group of friends, also from the BYU schools, pretty quickly that I run around with.

The Great Castle of Disney

The Angel Gabriel

 

The Pagoda in Japan and the Sultans Palace in Morocco  

 

 

 

 

Brenna, Me, Nicole, Sarah and Carissa just before watching Illuminations in Epcot.

Brenna, Me and Allison on the teacups.

  

The creepy statue lady that just wouldn't let go and the dragon from Pete's dragon just before he breathed a bunch of smoke.

Me and Nicole attempting to catch the water Stitch squirts into our mouths.

Me, Kira, Emma, Pirate Goofy, Brenna, Sarah, Allison.

Street performers in Magic Kingdom

Emily, Tonya, Buzz Lightyear, Me and Carissa

Some of us playing in the fountain in Downtown Disney I ended up getting pretty wet from it and felt like a kid.  But it was far to worth it to ever regret it.

A picture truly worth a thousand words.

While here I have promised myself that I would take more pictures, because as a general statement I suck at it.  Though I think there would be motivation if I didn't have a 5 year old point and shoot, but in the end that's just an excuse.  Thankfully I have been improving and these are just some of the pictures I have been taking and some are from my friends cameras too.    I wish I could get more into photography, but I think I would get more motivation if I took a class.  But until I can afford those it will be just another fun half accomplished projects of mine. 

I finished the book "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins which is the second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  And now I quickly moved on to the next and final one of the series "Mockingjay."  Its a a great series a little gritty, but it has a great idea behind it and really makes you think of where society is going.  Although the whole putting a bunch of humans in an arena and have them fight to the death isn't new.  (I mean look at the ancient gladiatorial matches of Rome.)  It is slightly scary about the thought of a government getting so powerful that it gets to the point being in absolute power and the general population is in just depths of slavery and fear.  Though reading these books really gets me in the revolutionary mood.  I probably shouldn't watch V for Vendetta anytime soon.....


I guess this whole SOPA doesn't help with this that really has me feeling a little disgruntled with the whole idea of the government having a little too much control over the internet.  Thankfully with this there has been such a public backlash that even the large companies like Google and Go Daddy to change sides.  Finally after a large black out of the internet the bill was then stopped in Congress and is being reviewed for another draft.

I now am deciding as it is getting so late that I will stop doing these long huge drafts, but actually try to get back to my small every day entries that I kind of miss doing.  Though just like exercising its going to be tough habit to get back into.  I really wish I had a more focused personality, but in the end it is only my decision of what I want to be like and nobody can stop me.  Except for myself.  So bring it on. 

 A song I have been listening to a lot lately to motivate me is Good Feeling by Flo Rida and my favorite part is this verse

The mountain top, walk on water
I got power, feel so royal
One second, I'ma strike oil
Diamond, platinum, no more for you
Got adrenaline, never giving in
Giving up's not an option, gotta get it in
Witness I got the heart of 20 men
No fear, go to sleep in the lion's den
That flow, that spark, that crown
You looking at the king of the jungle now
Stronger than ever can't hold me down
A hundred miles feelin' from the picture smile
Straight game face, it's game day
See me running through the crowd full of melee
No trick plays, I'm Bill Gates,
Take a genius to understand me

I guess that is to me is just that have a great outlook on life and live better then all those around you don't keep consistently comparing yourself to those around you.  If you really do that you will rise above and become something truly amazing, your full potential. 

I felt like this video was applicable to my post and well its just awesome and I highly recommend it. 

I suck at this sometimes.....

Well it has about 2 months since the last time I posted in this with a combination of finals, traveling home, Christmas/New Years and well lets be honest just laziness.  So lets see I finished off the semester with generally good grades though my physics class wasn't quite as good as I wanted but I only have one more and the labs and I am free of Physics thankfully.  I also finished off the last of my Calculus classes and besides my Discrete math I am done with all of my math classes which is a relief.  Though I am not looking to discrete math because that is supposed to be a really tough and pretty much the last of the weed out classes for the Computer Science major.  So I figure if I can only have to take it once and not come out with too bad of a grade then I will be doing great hopefully it doesn't mess up my GPA too terribly bad.   I finished off my work for the semester being a Tech which is great and I have the job guaranteed for next semester which is really exciting I feel like I am learning a lot and enjoying working with my boss.  I guess it just shows you really have to go through a lot of crappy jobs and bosses before finally landing one you like.  I just hope this doesn't restart once I get more into my career because that would suck.....


I then headed home for the little break I get before heading to Florida which was filled with a lot of fun times with my family and my many nieces and nephews.

Nathan and Parker doing uhhh actually not sure, but its cute.

Me Christmas morning waiting for the presents to be passed out.

So we decided to do a white elephant with the kids with stuff from the dollar store and since me and Greg are single we were deemed to be part of the kids.

As they get bigger wrestling has gotten more intense heres me on the bottom of the dog pile.

Here is me working my way up the pile of bodies.

Now I am on top of the pile and victorious. 

This break was really great for me I really needed the time to relax and unwind and play some SWTOR that is.  Surprisingly I have not being putting nearly as many hours in it as I expected though that could be its still pretty glitchy and that bugs me occasionally though its not surprising its still brand new.  So far I am really enjoying it. I also recently got Skyrim which is a lot of fun because the game enables you to play with an x-box controller on the computer I went out and got one which I was going to get one soon anyways because FIFA 2012 also allows you too which is next on my to purchase list.  But until then I have been playing around with the demo.  I also got the game Bastion as a gift recently from my friend Matt which I plan on trying to start sometime soon when I can it looks like a fun little RPG.

Abed and Troy when they do their Spanish rap.

Lindsey Stirling

I also recently got addicted to the show called community.  (mainly because I am caught up on the current season of castle :(.......)  But so far I am like the show a lot I am am just about done with the second season and must say that the Troy and Abed make that show amazing though the rest of the characters are pretty entertaining as well.  Some of the things they do remind me of things me and my roommates do or it makes me want to try next semester.  Probably the best is when they create a huge tent city in the dorms that expands full dorm halls and creates a society in it.I also recently got pretty much all the seasons of the show House which I have watched occasionally but never in order by any means.  I also am going to try out American Horror Story after hearing good reviews on TRS (Totally Rad Show).  I have also been getting really into a youtube artist, I guess you would call her that, named Lindsey Stirling, she plays the violin and dances and does not only traditional classical music, but also does pop and rap music and it overall is amazing.  Including doing some scores from the Zelda franchise which of course has always been close to my heart. 

This is a video of her doing Silent Night to wrap up the holidays.





To start the new year right I made my new years resolution and hopefully do better then i did last year.

1. Exercise Daily
2. Read my scriptures daily
3. Update my journal daily and my blog weekly
4. Read 10 books.
5. Drink more water.
6. Run in a 5k race.
7. Take more pictures.
8. Keep a 3.0 GPA these upcoming semesters.
9. Build a new computer
10. Actually make a bucket list and complete at least 2 things on them this year.

its been a while

I understand that it has been a while since I have done a larger entry but today I decided that I am going to try to weekly update urban wayfarer and try to update my private one as much as possible.

Well this week I started working out everyday which although I have been very sore, but I have been loving it.  It all started this week when I was reading the scroll just before a Devotional an article said don't keep saying you will do stuff or let your goals fall by the way side.  Bit to dust off your bucket list and get to work.  So with that I started writing my list and this is what I got.

Bucket List
-Run a half marathon.
-Finish the Standard Works.
-Graduate with a bachelors degree.
-Build a new computer.

I figure that to be able to run that half marathon I better start training now if I expect to be able to do it well ever. I really have been enjoying it and I even had KC come with me a couple times.  I really hope to keep this up because I would like to be active and fit my whole life and I would hate to ever be held back from doing things because I am not physically fit enough.  One thing that I would love to get more involved into would be mountain biking.  Sadly by the time I realized how much I liked it from going with roommates to the trails outside Pocatello.

I also really have a desire to rebuild my computer again and I went on newegg and picked out the parts that I would love to put in it.  But as of now I really do not have the money to pay for said computer sadly.  But in the plus side I do have a job currently and will have one for the winter in Disney-world which I hope I will actually be able to make a substantial amount of money instead of just spend it all.  Though I think it is ironic that I just finally got an actual legitimate job and I'm going to be working fast food it sounds like again at Disney.  Well money is money I guess and I wasn't able to get my job here on campus full time during the winter semester.

View from the temple

I also went to the temple this morning with Ashly and Kelsea which was really good except for the large amount of snow coming down and already on the ground.  Though surprisingly it was still pretty full and they even didn't need my help so I was able to stay with my friends the whole time which is a first.

Last night me and my roommates went to wingers with all of my roommates except for Andrew who was on a date.  They had a special for endless wings and we really tried to put it to the test and I ended up eating 18 in total.  Though those last two were very difficult.  I really like nights like those it just feels food to be with a good group of friends in college that is one thing I will miss when I graduate from here.

Most of the 10,000th Fibonacci Sequence.

I was also able to finish my Fibonacci Sequence program thankfully this weekend even before it was due which is this upcoming Monday.  I actually did pretty well on the program and didn't need that much help from the lab assistants which is cool it feels like I am making progress.  I was even able to have the program move pretty fast and was able to calculate 10,000 Fibonacci sequence in about 1 second.  Which I believe is nearly as fast as my teacher Brother Ercanbrack.  Hope fully that bodes well that I can make it through this week with a program due and a test for my programming class.

I also have been watching a new web series called Dragon Age Redemption which so far I actually have been really enjoying even with its lower budget.  Hence being a web series that's offered to its viewers for free.  I really do wonder that if this medium will ever start to make head way against cable companies and more shows will end up finally going to the internet instead of solely on a cable basis.  Also watching this show makes me want to finally finish Dragon Age Origins.....  Sadly this will be pushed back with the the release of SWTOR, also a Bioware game, is coming out.  In this series the writer and also main character is played by Felicia Day which is actually becoming one of my favorite actresses from the show the Guild and guest starring on other shows I have seen such as Lie to Me.  I also have been watching a lot of The Big Bang Theory and the Walking Dead both of which are great shows and I highly recommend.

I also watched a music video today for one of my favorite artists and is actually the number one played song currently on my iPod.  Linkin Park's, Waiting for the End.  I really like this song I generally listen to it when I need a boost and to keep moving.


My favorite line from the song is, "This is not the end, this is not the beginning"  I try to remember that we are already knee deep in our life and we just got to keep going and never look back.