What's inside Ed's head?

Update 2011

2011-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Or just the one person who still reads this haha. Just thought I would drop a line and give you an update on my life as of late.

A lot of things have happened in the last while, such as graduating from BYU this last August and moving to Denver, CO to work! It's been a crazy but fun transition so far and I really, really like it here. I'm working full-time at Clearchoice Dental Implants as an implant consultant. Basically what I do is answer the phone and talk to people about dental implants. I answer their questions and help set up consultations to see the doctors if the customers would like. Even though I'm not exactly hip on the idea of talking on the phone all day, I really like the job and the company as well. They are very professional and well organized, and the people I work with are great.

I live in a nice town home and have met a lot of great people and friends. Safe to say I might be here for a while, especially since baseball season is coming up. Definitely going to go to a lot of Rockies games! Stay tuned and I'll post pics of my new place/bachelor pad.

Later

Dogs.

2010-05-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've decided that after I graduate this August(YES!!!) that I am going to get a dog. Yep! A dog!! I can't wait. :) I've thought about this quite a bit, and call me crazy, but I really want one of these!:

Yes! A Great Dane! Still, in reality that probably won't happen...we'll see. I think they're soooo cool though!

I will probably be getting a Seppala Siberian Husky(like my sister Sadie's dog) or a Catahoula. What are these dog breeds you ask?? Well I get that question a lot, so allow me to provide some pictures and such(ahem):

Seppala Siberian Sled Dog(Huskey)

I was looking and I thought I had a picture of Sadie's dog, but I guess I don't. She named him Shadow. He is such a cool dog!! And smart too. Sometimes too smart for his own good haha. Seppala's are the main sled dog used up North.

Catahoula

Growing up, my family always had a Catahoula. They are excellent family dogs, you can train them to hunt if you want, and they are good cow dogs too. :) They are originally from Louisiana where they are used to hunt wild pigs and herd cattle. They also have webbed feet so they can swim and walk on marshy land...interesting eh?

Anyways, tell me what you think. Any other dog breeds that you like or have heard of? I'm up for suggestions! Later.

Concerts!!(continued)

2010-05-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I went to another rockin' concert which featured fun., a new band with the former lead singer of The Format(another one of my favorite bands). Here's pics!

I was really impressed with them!!

Next up was Relient K!! Another band that I have always really liked.

They really rocked it and if you can see in this picture, there is a red metal baseball bat back there that Paramore's drummer actually played on in one of Relient K's songs. Crazy haha.

Finally, the main event of the evening: Paramore!!!!

Hayley Williams was freakin' amazing!! I would love to take her out haha.

They rocked really, really hard. Definitely one of the best bands I've seen as far as that goes. I would totally see them again. Needless to say, I'm now a HUGE fan!!

Later.

Concerts!!

2010-05-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sup people?

So lately I have been to quite a few concerts which have been absolutely AMAZING!!! The first concert I went to was Muse. Possibly the greatest live band alive...they were, dare I say this...even better than the Killers!!(Wow...that took a lot to admit!) They came with Silversun Pickups, but due to horrible traffic we weren't able to see them. We did arrive just in time to see Muse though. They came out playing in the three towers(seen above) and rocked the whole night long! Here's some pics!

Matt Bellamy was amazing. Nuff' said.

As was Christopher Wolstenholme.

Amazing light show!

So near the end of the show they dropped these giant balls from the ceiling. Turns out that they were like giant beach balls made to look like eyeballs, and when you popped them tons of confetti would come spilling out.

Later.

Good Stories

2010-02-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

So I didn't really know what to write today, but I found this story that I wrote for a class awhile back so I figured I would post it until I figure out what to write. It's a good one :) Enjoy! Later.

Monday, October 15, 2007
Okay, so over the weekend I had a take home question for my test in the History of Creativity class that I'm taking. I had to write a Greek tragedy that had characters with tragic flaws like those in the Trojan war. Anydangway, for those of you who have heard in full or in part, my crazy stories that I tell, I dedicate this to you. It's not near as funny as the others (this one is a tragedy afterall) but I tried to put in little tidbits of humor where I could. Enjoy it.

Hector the Hare
or
The Battle of Sagebrush

By TJ

Persons Represented

HECTOR, Major General of the Hare Army
BARNABAS, Hector’s brother and second in command
TIM, the Hare Prophet
PRIMER, the Hare Army scout
The Hare Army men/hares

Scene, after a successful battle enter The Hare Army to the base known as Bunka Hill. Enter Hector approaching his brother Barnabas.

BARNABAS Hail Hector! The glory of the Sun shines upon us this day!

HECTOR Hail Barnabas! Victory is ours yet again! Another Human farm is no more, and we bring the spoils, or what we didn’t eat, back to feed our families.

BARNABAS Indeed the war is going well!

HECTOR Indeed it is! The Humans think that they can make a living here. Ba! We need only continue to eat the food of the Humans and then they no longer have any substance to live on. That turns them to failure and they must leave their homes here on the range and return to the cities from whence they came. As long as we continue to ensure that they will not have any food to store up in winter, they will fail!

THE HARE ARMY Hail Hector!!!!

BARNABAS The morale is good and your Hare Army follows you anywhere you ask.

HECTOR Yes! They are brave souls worthy of any cause! (HARE ARMY Hoorah!!) They would follow me to the ends of the earth! (Hoorah!!) They are like family and brothers to me! (Hoorah!!, Hoorah!!!)

BARNABAS Indeed they are! I would follow you as well. You know that brother.

HECTOR Of course you would. I’ve known that since we were young. But come now, men! Return to your camps and enjoy the evening festivities. Get rest, for tomorrow we go to wipe out the last of the crops and send the Humans back begging to the cities!!
THE HARE ARMY Aye!!!

Exeunt The Hare Army.

BARNABAS Brother, it is good to have you back. What of the Humans and their weapons; their guns??

HECTOR Useless against our numbers. It is true that we lose many faithful men and our hearts go out to their families and numberless children. But, in the end it will be worth all that they have given. It will be over in the morning. The place the Humans call the Farm of Thanksgiving which is located on Sagebrush Hill, is all that they have left. It is true that it is the largest of the farms, but it will not matter to us. In the end, my men will follow me and we will conquer.

BARNABAS What if they don’t, brother?

HECTOR Of course they will! Are you mad brother? Why, they have seen greater dangers than that of gun and pitchfork; you know that! You all fought beside me as we entered the dens of the Wolves of Bismark to rescue our children! You all supported me during the Campaign of the Jackalopes! You personally know how fierce the Jackalopes fought! None of you would ever..

BARNABAS But there is a rumor circulating among the men! They grow uneasy of the prophecy of the Fog!

HECTOR There is no Fog Barnabas!!! It is an old man’s dream!

BARNABAS He may be an old man but this is not just another of Tim’s dreams! I’m sure of it. Tim the Prophet said that in a vision he saw the green Fog devastating our armies and eventually killing us off until there were virtually none of us left. The men are uneasy, I tell you, and their faith in your decision to go up tomorrow is waivering.

HECTOR No one’s ever seen it. It’s just a dream, Barnabas!

BARNABAS Don’t you think, though, that the Humans will use the Fog tomorrow to protect their biggest farm? It’s their only option. Nothing else has worked.

HECTOR It doesn’t exist!! And I will have no more of these rumors spread. They will all follow me, and you will too. You know you will.

BARNABAS I suppose so.

Exeunt Barnabas, Exeunt Hector.

Scene, the morning of battle below Sagebrush Hill. Enter Hector, Barnabas, and The Hare Army.

HECTOR Behold men!! Victory is in your sight! The last farm of the Humans will soon be overtaken by our numbers and they will flee! (HARE ARMY Hoorah!!) I have sent Primer the Scout into their fields to search the situation. He will return shortl..

BARNABAS He is there! He is hurt! Men bring him here!!

Enter Primer.

HECTOR Primer! What has happened! Speak!!

PRIMER Ffffooooooggggggg!......

BARNABAS He is convulsing! He has vomited! He is dead!!! The Fog is here!!!!

HECTOR Shut up you cowarding spleen!!

Enter Tim, the Hare Prophet.

TIM It is true Hector. What I have forseen has come to pass. You will all die if you go up to battle this day.

HECTOR You bumbling old fool! You know nothing! This is a mere scare tactic of the Humans! We will conquer! My men will follow me!...

TIM Will they, Hector? Look into their faces. I do not believe they will. This is something much larger and more dangerous than mere Jackalopes and Wolves.

HECTOR This is my army and if you do not leave I will have you killed for your foolishness!

TIM Very well.

Exeunt Tim.

HECTOR Men! Brothers! With me!!

HARE ARMY (Silence)

HECTOR What is this??!

HARE ARMY (Silence)

HECTOR Fine! You bunnies! We shall go on our own and conquer!

BARNABAS Brother! You are outraged!!

HECTOR You will leave me too! You of all hares! You are my own brother! We’ve been through everything!

BARNABAS Hector I can’t ddd…..

HECTOR You will come or I will make you come!!

BARNABAS (reluctantly) As you wish brother….

HECTOR Fine then. On to battle!! CHARGE!!!

Exeunt Hector and Barnabas, we see them perish as the green Fog overtakes them and the Hare Army scatters into oblivion.

Starting Again...and Wolverine...

2010-01-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

So I'm starting my blog again. I haven't written for a long time as you can tell. But I feel like I really want to because I enjoy it, it gives me something to look forward to, and Alicia likes the stuff I write. :) So here we go again...

Today when I was walking to my class on campus here at BYU, I was reminded of my childhood in a way. See, long before all the X-Men and Wolverine movies and hype, I was a huge Wolverine fan. Yeah I was kind of a little nerdy, comic book, Star Wars/Star Trek lovin' little kid. I did like many other things as a kid, but yeah I was a big fan of all those things.

Anywho, I remember as a kid constantly going acting like I had Wolverine claws. I would make the little "SCHNICKT" sound and pretend they would come out, and then I could pretend like I was hard core and slash things! Which on many occasions probably ended up being Orrin.(sorry bro! haha)

So yeah back to when I was on campus today, for one second I caught myself pretending I had Wolverine claws. And I laughed to myself. Haha. Later.

Peace

2009-08-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

I know this is video looks a little big on my blog, but I don't care. This is so beautiful and so amazing to me. It is filmed at the world's second largest aquarium in the world, located in Japan. I really feel so peaceful, and so...in awe when I watch this. I love it. Make sure to watch it in HD, and in full screen mode. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Later.

In Desperate Need of an Update

2009-08-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Yeah so the last time I updated this thing was........too long ago. But I'm starting fresh now. :)
So yeah, let's talk about my life as of late. This summer has been a good one. I'll have to post some of the stuff I've done. I've went to the Timpanogos caves, golfed, played some baseball, "dunk hoops", floated the Provo river 3 times, and even had a short trip to Bear Lake. It's been a pretty good summer.
Lately, I've gotten a new job speaking Chinese on the phones at Nuskin here in Provo. It's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it helps me with my language(and it pays really well!).
The band is breaking up, unless we can get a record deal that is. We've had a few notable people look at the EP we recorded, but no takers yet. You can find the newly recorded stuff at www.myspace.com/counterfeitdigits. Let me know what you think.
I'm still going to school in the fall here at BYU. Still studying Biology, but maybe considering changing my major to Chinese...we'll see. Any input?
Anywho, not much else going on at the moment. This is short but at least it's an update, right?! I'll keep you all posted, literally.

Later.

Counterfeit Digits 2!

2009-04-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hey there! We are playing again this Saturday night at 8pm in The Velour. Same place as the last concert. We'll be headlining the night with Dane Brock, and The Question playing before.

If you missed our last show come to this one! We have a couple new songs, and some new covers. Make sure and come as this will probably be our LAST SHOW ever. Later.

Where The Wild Things Are

2009-03-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you have read this book. I love it. Go here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/

and watch the movie trailer. Everyone is saying this, but it seriously brings tears to my eyes. Enjoy!

Elevators

2009-03-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Elevators can be kind of awkward. Sometimes when you get in them with other people you think you should greet them, especially if it's in the morning time. But of course you usually never do. More so if they are your peers. Sometimes you'll get in with a nice older person or with a family and you just can't help but say hi or something.
Anywho, yesterday morning was my first day back to work and school for like three days almost as I have been nasty sick. I walk to work everyday since it's not too far and only takes me about 15 minutes. On my way to work I have to go up a monsterous hill and I have multiple ways of approaching it. I usually choose to go up through the Tanner building on campus, busting up the 7 straight flights of stairs all the way to the top. It gets my heart pumping a bit every morning. However, due to my total lack in energy and a killer sinus headache, I opted to take the elevator.
As I approached it, of course there was someone there waiting to ride to the top as well. It turned out to be an older gentleman, probably a faculty member who worked there in the building. He was a kindly man with a rather large nose.
So the elevator came and we both stepped in, he asked me where i was going and I politely told him the fourth floor. A small kind of awkward pause and then with a smile he said, "It's too bad that the weather turned cold again. It was really nice for those few days." I returned the smile, said I totally agreed with him and thought in my mind to say that hopefully the warmth will come again, but I didn't. Then he enthusiastically said with a motion of his fist, "It will come back soon." Then with a chuckle he bid me a good day as I left the elevator and said the same.
It got me thinking though, how I was actually kind of down and forlorn over being sick, but also that I had missed the good weather, and that my attitude toward the whole thing was just a "hopefully" that things would get better. That made an impression on me of how a lot of times we, including myself, are so constantly worried about the things that go on around us that will eventually and definitely change and get better no matter what we do. We wonder if the sun will come out again, or if we'll get over our sickness, or if things really will work out in the end. The answer is yes, of course they will. We need to not worry about the things that are constant. The things that will change no matter how we feel or how bad of a day we had. Just one less thing we have to stress about. The sun will rise in the morning, Spring will always follow Winter, and there is an end to hard times and suffering. Thanks for the elevator moment. It helped me go a little bit higher. :) Later.

Counterfeit Digits

2009-02-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Counterfeit Digits has a show this Saturday and all of you who read my blog should come!! I'm the lead singer in the band and we are planning to have a smashing show. It's in Provo so come if you can, but it will be a good time for all. Here's the flyer with the info on it:

Come and enjoy. We are headlining and will be able to play as long as you want haha. Later.

Water Is My Early Morning Coffee

2009-01-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

Kinda weird eh? But it's true! So you see it in your favorite movie or hear people talk about it or you might be the person who stumbles like a zombie out of sleep, and drags themselves to the kitchen for their early morning cup o' coffee to help clear their heads of those early morning cobwebs. Now I've never been a coffee drinker myself, and I'm not pointing fun at anyone, but I am saying that I'm kinda the same way. Especially on those mornings where I wake up super tired and don't want to go to work. On those days (today actually being one of them), I somehow know that if I can successfully navigate the hallway through my half-closed eyelids into the kitchen to have a drink of water, I will be functional in a matter of seconds. After that first cold glass of water, my eyes focus, I figure out what day it is, and my head becomes a whole lot clearer. Weird I know. Maybe I'm addicted to water? Who knows. But it sure does give me that kick I need to start the day haha. (Yeah I'm so weird...)
Later.

Quick hello and an update

2009-01-22T11:40:00.000-08:00

So I figure that I should write something of an update about my life right now since I have some down time here at work. I had a great Christmas in Alaska with the fam. I actually went down a month early to hang out with Mom and Dad, and then Orrin and Ally came a couple days after Christmas. We all had a really good time together and it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be actually.
I am currently still here in Provo going to school full time studying Biology and working part time. I work with wonderful people at the Gordon B. Hinckley Visitors Center and Alumni House. I know it's a lot to say. I'm a tour guide for BYU and I get to drive little golf carts around and tell people about the campus. I'm so grateful that they let me come back. I really like it here and have missed it.
The band has started practicing for serious again haha. We hope to be playing some shows starting in February so we can play for all ya'lls. Our goal is to finish our CD by April. Cool! Yes.
I've been reintroduced to a cool girl named Alicia Denney and we have been dating for a couple months. She is really cool and sweet. It's funny because we actually played little league baseball on opposing teams, and then on the same All-Star team, and we went to Middle and High School together. She's awesome and I'm glad we're together. Kinda sucks that we only see each other on the weekends, but it works. :)
Anywho, I'm about to sign off work so I'll catch everyone on the flip side.
Later.

Beads!

2009-01-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hey there....so yeah, it's been like two months since I wrote a blog post. But I promise there will be more to come in the very near future. I just wanted to put in a plug for my Mom and Ally's new bead blog! My mom does really cool stuff with beads like make bracelets and other stuff. The blog is really cool too and was designed by my new sister-in-law Ally. All in all it's pretty tight. It's called Poppybeads and can be found at www.poppybeads.blogspot.com. Check it out!!

So yeah, I'm going to start posting more frequently from now on. Thanks for being patient. Hopefully I'll keep writing stuff that is interesting ha!

Later!

Wedding Bells

2008-11-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

Nope. Not mine. My brother Orrin and his fiancee (?) Ally are finally getting married this weekend after being engaged 7 months!! Wow. I won't be doing that hopefully. But I want to say congrats to them and that I love them and that we are going to be having the biggest freaking party you have ever seen in Denver! Sa-weet!! Congrats you guys!

Later.

Michael Crichton

2008-11-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

So I was shocked to find out today that Michael Crichton passed away. It's very unexpected for me since I've grown up on his books, and many of the most popular movies and TV shows of our time have come from his brilliant mind. Things like Jurassic Park, The Lost World, The Andromeda Strain (a personal favorite), and even ER. Wow. Well the world will miss him. I'll miss him. Later Mr. Crichton.

Election Day 2008

2008-11-04T09:47:00.001-08:00

It's Election Day today.

Get out and vote.

Bone

2008-10-17T18:39:00.001-07:00

I want to tell you about one of the best books I have read. Actually many people might not consider it to be a book at all, but I do. It is a 1,332 page "graphic novel" called Bone. I borrowed it from my buddy Jon Howe to read, and I will readily admit that I was very skeptical about it at the time. Even with Jon and many others telling me that it's great. Well, now I join them in not only saying it's great; it's awesome!!

Here's the very short synopsis that is included on the back of the book:
"After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. It will be the longest - but funniest - year of their lives."

I know that's not enough to go off of, so i'll expound it a bit more. As previously mentioned the main characters, the three Bone cousins, find themselves cast out of Boneville after one of Phoney Bone's hairbrained schemes goes to pot. I know, sounds goofy but bear with it. They soon come to a great valley where there find dragons, a lost princess and tons of other stuff. So it's a kind of fantasy tale but there is plenty of humor to go along. For instance, there are these two "rat creature" monsters and their continuous obsession to turn Fone Bone into a quiche is hilarious.

Anyway, I would definately recommend it to guys and gals to read. It has plenty to offer to both parties. It has a nice cute touch with the main characters and it also has some cool action and battles. A classic good vs. evil story that has tons to give and leaves you with a sense of lonliness after you're done. It becomes a good friend.

So read it already. You'll enjoy it I promise. Later.

(Enter post title here)

2008-10-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

So I got a haircut this last Wednesday thanks to my good friend Rachel DeFreese(here's a plug for you Rachel :) ). She is awesome with hair. I kind of feel like a girl announcing on my blog that I got a new hairstyle, and judging by the amount of hair that was on Rachel's floor after she was done you would have thought that a member of the female gender had just gotten their hair chopped off. But the change is kind of drastic as seen in the difference between photo A. and photo 2.

And of course you can tell that this is me because I somehow unknowingly made the same exact face in each of these pictures. What a nerd.

Anywho, there you go. Long to short in just minutes! I feel like a new man.

On another note, what is everyone going to be for Halloween? I was going to be the Joker but I'm pretty sure there will be like a ba-gazillion people doing that this Halloween. I'll have to come up with something else I think. Later.

4 Years Today

2008-10-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Wow. So four years ago today is when I returned from my mission. Crazy. I thought that it was three years, but I was thinking about it the other day and I realized that I got back in 2004. Now it's 2008. And you know, looking back on all the stuff that has gone on in these last, short four years, I'm really glad and thankful to be where I am. A lot of things have gone on/happened. A lot. But I truly am grateful to be here now, in the circumstances that I go through everyday, here. I'm glad to be here. :) Cheers!

Bless You

2008-10-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been forever since I've written here!

So since mom and dad have gone to Alaska, I've had to change tons of stuff. Practically my whole life, ha. I got a new cell phone provider, cell phone, now pay my own car insurance, and I've had to acquire a Utah driver's license. Bummer, I know. Oh well.

Yesterday I actually went in to get my license and register to vote in the State of Utah. Of course I had to take the written driver's test which was 25 questions and took me 45 minutes to complete. It was open book so it wasn't hard at all. I did miss the question about motorcycle helmets, which was a random one. So you know, people under the age of 18 are required to wear helmets while operating motorcycles. No idea why they don't make everyone wear them. Oh well.

So I'm sitting there taking the test on a computer, and about half way through a lady sits down in front of the computer on my left to do the same thing. A little bit later she sneezes, "Achoo!" and immediately says, "Bless me!" I stopped for a moment and laughed to myself. Can you do that? Can you "bless" yourself? ha ha. I've never blessed myself after I sneeze. I always thought that was for other people to do. I don't know, maybe she was quietly wanting to make me feel bad about not saying "bless you" to her. Who knows. I just thought it was funny. Ha. Later.

Airport Days

2008-08-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

So in a recent excursion to pick up two of my best friends in the world at the Salt Lake airport, I realized how much I like to pick people up at the airport. Kinda weird I know, but if you think about it, if you're picking someone up at the airport you probably haven't seen them in a long time. Which means that you are excited to see them, and you can't help but smile when you see them no matter who they are. As I sat there waiting for my friends I looked around at all the other people-picker-uppers picking up their friends and loved ones.(I'm a people watcher. That's all there is to it.) There were people smiling, hugging, and even kissing(I know. Mushy, but cool.) as they met their acquaintances once again. Some cried, or laughed, or cheered as they watched the people they came to pick up come out of the terminal. I don't think anyone was mad or sad to see someone that they came to pick up. It's just not possible.

As I think about it, life is like that a lot. People come and go, but it's always a good day when we see them again. Especially after a significantly long period of time. We can call these good reunion-type days, Airport Days. They're something to look forward to especially as we say goodbye to someone very close to us. When we think about the day that we will see them again and hug and embrace and laugh and cry and maybe even kiss, it will help us to say goodbye for a bit, and help us through all the hard days to come when we wish that they are there to stand by us, hug us and cheer us up. It's funny, cuz in a way, they still will be there. And we will see them again. That is for sure. Whether it be in a week, in two years[ :) ] or in my family's case, the next life, we can be assured that we will see them again. And it will be a very good, happy day. It will be an Airport Day. :) Later.

我爱奥林匹克运动会!

2008-08-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

Wow. That's all I have to say about Michael Phelps! Just amazing.

I really love the Olympics and always have. I can always remember sitting around the TV every couple years watching them with my family. Both winter and summer games, we would watch as much as we could. I remember watching Kerri Strug do that last vault, breaking her ankle in the process to get a gold medal. I remember all the hype about the Dream Team. I remember listening to and laughing at Jeff Foxworthy's comedic takes about having the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia("...you know we're gonna screw that up!"). I remember KISS coming out in the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake games. I also remember that I wanted to be on a bobsled team. Yeah, it never happened, but I still think it would be tight! So yep, I love the Olympics. I especially love this year's Olympics because they are in China and I happened to go to Taiwan on my mission. Ha! I didn't even need an interpreter for the opening ceremonies(which were amazing even with all the stuff that they dubbed and the fake fireworks).

It has sort of saddened me about how many people don't care much about the Olympics. A lot of people I have talked to haven't had much interest in them. I think that's a bummer. Call it pride for your country, call it patriotism, call it just plain ol' loyalty, I don't care. But there is just something about cheering for the USA in the Olympic games that gets to me. It's fun, it's electric, it's ecstatic, it's awesome. I always have a sense of special pride when the athletes are standing on the podium and the national anthem is played. It's very emotional for me.

My family has always been very patriotic thanks to my parents and their parents before them. I'm very grateful for them for teaching me that and for their great examples of loving their country.

I love the United States of America. I love the Olympic Games.

Me.

2008-08-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a few rarely known facts about me. :)

When I was a kid I was in love with dinosaurs. So much in fact that I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up. (someone who digs up dinosaur bones) And my favorite dinosaur was Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Also in my youth I was a "Trekkie". Although this is socially unacceptable now, I readily admit that I was an avid Star Trek fan, and will probably see the new Star Trek film coming out next year. Ha! I have also loved Star Wars my entire life and still have all my Star Wars toys in storage for my retirement fund. :)

As far as musical instruments go, I played piano from 2nd grade to 5th, the trumpet from 6th grade to 8th, and the guitar for the last 2 1/2 years. Singing? Kind of a funny story. I always liked to sing.....by myself, ha ha. I just didn't think that guys were supposed to "sing like girls". I thought that my ability to hit high notes and my inability to sing bass was embarrassing. Then, my senior year of high school, I decided to try out for the school show choir mostly because a cute girl I liked was going to also. Turned out that I made it and found out that a guy "singing like a girl" was okay afterall. Ha. Unfortunately, the girl thought we were joking around at the time and didn't even try out. Oh well. :) Still one of the best things I ever did in High School.

I've always been a comic book character fan. My favorites are Batman and Spider-Man.

I keep two Christmas songs on my iPod and I listen to them quite regularly even when it's not Christmas. They are both by the Killers (surprise...) and called "Great Big Sled" and "Don't Shoot Me Santa".

Mom and dad never would let us kids watch the Simpsons when we were young. However, in High School our nightly family ritual was spent watching the "Yellow people" as Sadie called them, for a half hour. We still get a big kick out of the Simpsons.

I started shaving in 7th grade. Had to get rid of the Mexi-stache. Nuff' said.

I'm a real cowboy. Grew up riding horses and pushing cows all my life in Idaho. A lot of people don't know that surprisingly.

Speaking of cowboys, my dad is hardcore. He is so tight. We would be riding in the truck going to check the cows and always he would have chocolate licorice to munch on. I LOVE chocolate licorice.

I also played a cameo in last year's Cosmo movies that were played at BYU Lavell Edward's stadium right before the 4th quarter of football games. I play Lavell Edward's chauffeur. Check it out. (Shout out to the Canasian!)

Well, I'll probably think of some other things and write them down another time. Later.

Pictures of Sadie

2008-07-20T18:49:00.001-07:00

Sadie Sue

2008-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Some days I really miss my sister....

For those of you who don't know, my little sister Sadie passed away a year and a half ago. She was born with a genetic disorder which caused her metabolism to function improperly. She never grew very tall, or had very much hair, but mentally she was just fine. In fact, she was sharp as a tack! :) She had to take a lot of supplements in order to keep her body in check and was sick quite often. However, she was always bright and happy. She almost never complained about anything and she really was the light in our family. She was with us until she was almost 17 years old. She passed away due to complications she had after contracting pulmonary fibrosis and hypertension.

Of course I miss her all the time, but some days I miss her more than usual. One of those days was last Thursday when I was at work on BYU campus. I work as a tour guide in the brand new Hinckley Visitors Center. I give tours to all sorts of people and get to drive a sleek blue golf cart. Anyway, I will be moving on to another job soon, but I had a moment and I couldn't help but think about how Sadie would have loved to see where I work, and how much fun she would have had riding next to me on a cart. She would think it was so cool.

Today was another day. I have been thinking about her all week. I went to church today to find that the lesson in Priesthood meeting was entitled "Words of Hope and Consolation at the Time of Death". I found that interesting to say none the least. (The lesson is Chapter 14 in the book Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith) It was a hard lesson to go through for me personally. I cried to myself through a lot of it. But I did find consolation and peace in a lot of things that the Prophet Joseph Smith said/taught.

The Prophet Joseph and his wife Emma experienced the effects of loved ones passing on many times. Only five of their eleven children grew to the age of adult. Seeing what my own family has gone through, it boggles my mind how Joseph and Emma could have seen so many go and kept going themselves. If anyone would know how to bless and help others in this type of need, it would be them.

I loved what Joseph Smith said here about a question that I have asked myself, "I have meditated upon the subject, and asked the question, why it is that infants, innocent children, are taken away from us, especially those that seem to be the most intelligent and interesting. The strongest reasons that present themselves to my mind are these: This world is a very wicked world; and it...grows more wicked and corrupt...The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall soon have them again..."

I don't know if this fully applies, but I think it does a little and I thought especially of my loving mom when we read a quote by President Joseph F. Smith which said, "Joseph Smith taught the doctrine that the infant child that was laid away in death would come up in the resurrection as a child; and, pointing to the mother of a lifeless child, he said to her: 'You will have the joy, the pleasure and satisfaction of nurturing this child, after its resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of its spirit.'"
One of two sisters in the church that had both lost a young child recalled Joseph Smith telling them they "should receive those children in the morning of the resurrection just as we laid them down, in purity and innocence, and that we should nourish and care for them as their mothers. He said that children would be raised in the resurrection just as they were laid down, and that they would obtain all the intelligence necessary to occupy thrones, principalities and powers."

I also was reminded of what I learned when Sadie passed away about how there are a lot of things which we think are of great importance, that really aren't. There are many things which don't matter in the big scheme of things, but we may think they do. I'm working on not getting distracted from the important stuff.

Again I was reminded of Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement. How without His unselfish sacrifice, I wouldn't get to hug my sister again and laugh with her. I love Him for that, and am grateful for it every time I am in the car singing by myself, and wishing that Sadie was there sitting next to me and singing with me too. I love my sister and I know that my Father in Heaven knows what is best, even when it's really hard. Make sure to have fun with and really love the people you love. :) Later.

Here's a cute clip I found of Sadie accidentally pushing the record button instead of taking a picture. :)

Good Morning Sunshine

2008-07-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

You might find this a good laugh.

So, I've always had a dry face. By that I mean that my skin is dry especially after the shower. Naturally I put some face lotion on to help with that little problem. So I went to Target to get the kind that I like made by Clean & Clear, and it's called Morning Burst or something like that. Anydangway, I'm looking for it at Target and I don't see it anywhere. I'm kind of bummed out, but there was a new kind there called "Morning Glow". I look and assume that it's kind of the same stuff, so I get it. (We all know what assuming does right?)

Fast-forward to this morning, I get showered and ready to go to work. Before heading out of course, I take time to put some of this new lotion on my face. I get to looking at myself in the mirror, and I notice my face really is shiny....like almost glitte - AH!! Yeah, the lotion itself contains tiny pieces of glitter in it. I guess when people want their "Morning Glow" they aren't fooling around..... And we all know how hard it is to get glitter off even with water. So needless to say I went to work today sparkling with happiness to greet the new day! Eww. Later.

Hair cont.

2008-07-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's the pic. Let me know what ya think.

Hair

2008-07-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

So the other night I had a dream. I had gone bald. Yikes. I was so freaked out by this that I started to cry in my dream. Then I woke up and it took me like five minutes to realize that it wasn't real. Wow.

In real life I am not bald thankfully. In fact I'm not even starting to go bald. I'm just fine with that! :) My hair right now is the longest it's been in forever, and for a bit there I was going with the beard look too. I didn't shave during our trip to Alaska. I would show a picture, but the blogger won't let me do it for some reason. I'll get one up though. Later.

Bubbles

2008-07-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

So here I am in Homer, Alaska sitting in a laundromat waiting for our clothes to wash and dry. Crazy! We got here early this morning after driving for 70 straight hours. We all signed a pact that we'd never do anything so crazy again. The drive was really nice and scenic. We saw tons of wildlife including rock sheep (a lot like big horn sheep), elk, black bear, caribou, etc. BUT, the roads, especially in Canada were sooooooo bumpy. Terribly so in fact. Blagh! I did get a little car sick, but never too bad. Now we're just all so exhausted!

In other news, we are renting a house from a exuberant hippie lady while mom and dad's new house clears. This lady is quite the person, and her house isn't too bad, though the big reason why we're here at the laundromat is to wash a bunch of stuff from the house. Ya know, like blankets and sheets and stuff. So it's been an adventure to say none-the-least.

Has anyone else been in a car for 70 hours? Don't really recommend it, although it does force wonderful family bonding time, like singing Billy Joel's "The Piano Man" at the top of our lungs; and me laughing so hard at Jeff Foxworthy that I can't breathe hardly at all. Good times. :) Well, now the laundromat is playing "Everybody Plays the Fool" by The Main Ingredient. Great tune! Later.

The Last Frontier

2008-06-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Alaska. Most people think of Alaska as a "cold, dark place where eskimo's live." While that may be true in the northern-most reaches of the place, it is totally not true otherwise.

My family and I LOVE Alaska. It's seriously like no other place on earth. In fact we love it so much that my parents are moving there! Sweet, eh? We're stoked! My dad decided to change his occupation at the end of last year. Instead of ranching, which he has done most of his life, he is now going to be an Alaskan State Trooper. He has been up in Alaska, more specifically Sitka, Alaska, since March at the State Trooper academy. He literally went through it all including being tasered, maced and jumping into 30 degree water. Brrrr......

Anywho, last week he graduated from the academy as the oldest person ever!(48 or 49 years old, I forget) Yes, my dad is freaking tight, and needless to say, literally really can kick your dad's butt!! So he will be officially done this weekend when we go and pick him up at the Salt Lake airport. I'm excited. I haven't seen my dad for over 3 months. Wow. We're going to have a party on Saturday and then Sunday morning we are going to drive up to Alaska as a family to help send mom and dad on their way. Hopefully a 3400 mile car drive won't tear us all apart, ha ha! But we do get to go halibut fishing on Friday!! Later.

P.S. The pic is of Orrin and I after a day of fishing on the Alaskan ocean last year near Seward. In fact that may have been the day I puked my guts out..........

Hallo!

2008-06-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

So I've been wanting to try this whole blog for a while now, and here I go! Not sure what to say at the moment but come back often to check out what's up.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, the name "Ed" is what my parent's called me every now and then growing up. :) Later.