Delayed Christmas Present!

For Christmas, I received some cash from a few different sources.  I have been wanting to get one of these for a while (especially after seeing my sister's), and hoped to get one for Christmas, but I figured it was a little out of my parents' (or Santa's) price range, (since they told me it was).  So, combining the cash gifts I received, and supplementing any further expenses out of my own account, I purchased something to help me through the rest of my schooling:

Here it is!  A 7 X 10.3 inch Netbook, with up to 10.5 hours of battery life!

I'm pretty excited. 

If any of you have any extra Microsoft Office licenses lying around, let me know.  :)

The Dating Race!

This is exciting stuff!  For the month of January, a couple of friends from my ward and I are having a friendly competition called the dating race!  We are seeing how many dates we can go on in the month of January, 2010.  Each of the dates will be blogged about, and you can read all about it at the blog: 

http://thedatingrace.blogspot.com/

Please check it out, become a follower, and let all your friends know!  If you have any friends (Requirements: female, between the ages of 18-28, someone you think I would get along with) then e-mail me at kappyt3@gmail.com with their information (name, number, and anything else you wish to share).  I'm pretty excited.  Even if I don't win, I'm excited to get into the habit of dating a lot for the year 2010.  Also, I'd love to hear your comments or suggestions!

Cliche Christmas Post!

For Christmas every year, we draw names in my family to buy each other gifts.  This year, Chelsey drew my name, and she got me such an awesome present!  It's this Cateye Strada bike computer, which will help me monitor my speed and time, and the distances I've gone on my bike (once I get it back).  I'm really excited because it's very small so it won't be bulky or weigh my bike down or anything.

I drew Celeste's name.  For the past few months, she's kind of been obsessed with a website called "My Life is Average".

So when I got her name, I wasn't sure what to get her, but then as I was reading on this site, I saw the link "MLIA swag is here" or something like that, so I found out they have t-shirts for exactly what our set limit was!  It was a Christmas miracle!  So I bought it, and waited for it to arrive, so I could wrap it without her seeing it.  Then, on Festivus, (Dec. 23rd), I was leaving work, and saw a huge box lined with tons of bubble wrap!  If you are familiar with MLIA at all, you'll know that many "average" people are enthralled and overly excited about bubble wrap, so I wrapped her shirt in it.  I was so excited to see her face, and it was better than expected!  My sisters rock.

This is the coolest gift of them all (I think).  So as adults, we don't expect as "large" a Christmas as we used to as kids.  We each got our stockings, the exchange gifts, and then one gift each from Santa.  After it all wound down, our Dad handed out to each of us kids a small bag with nothing but a couple of pieces of paper in them.  One was a set of instructions, the other was a clue we each had to follow.  They were hard clues, but finding the small, rolled up pieces of paper at the place the clue described was sometimes even harder!  Each clue had a piece of a drawn, burned map wrapped around it.  After each of us had gathered about 8 or 9 pieces of 4 different maps, we combined our efforts to put the maps together.  They involved different allusions from The Lord of the Rings, Princess Bride, and some other made-up, similarly fictional landmarks.  We each followed the map to try to decide if the "Cliffs of Insanity" were the outside wall of our house, or the banister in our living room, if "Mount Doom" was the oven or the grill outside, or if the "Blowholes" were the heater vents or spouts in our downstairs shower.  We then found our individual, wrapped presents.  Mine was a wooden turtle-shaped box, similar to this one, but much cooler.  Inside, I found some Christmas cash and a note from my parents telling me how much they love and appreciate me.  I'm sure my sisters received the same.  My parents are so creative and so willing to spend time to serve us kids.  I'm very grateful for them.

Even more, I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loved us so much He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for me, and for each one of us.  It's a gift I can't comprehend fully, but I'm grateful that during Christmas, I have the added opportunity to spend time pondering that sacrifice, and think of ways I can try to show my gratitude.  Oh, how I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!  (See top right widget for more inspiring thoughts on Christmas.)

Fixed!

It works again.  I knew I just had to call it out.  You can still feel free to leave your comments.

Hit Counter

It's broken.  I haven't been able to see how many people are viewing my blog since the last time I looked at it for a few weeks now!  Oh well, you'll just have to leave comments to let me know.  That's all.

Another Dating Story

This year, I met a girl who I thought was very beautiful. I didn't talk to her for a while, but then we started talking at a fireside. She was telling me about how she was training for a short race that weekend. We decided to go running together early in the morning before I had to go to school. So we did! I ended up asking her out, and she agreed!

So we went on our first date, and I had a great time. It was very casual, and we just had a nice conversation the whole night. A few days later, I called to ask her out again, and she told me it sounded fun, but for her, it would only be as friends.

Of course, I was sad that she wasn't as interested in me as I was in her, but I couldn't help but feel grateful for her honesty. It is so much less stressful and difficult to just know how a person feels than to continually have to guess. I'm still very impressed by this girl, and I think sometimes that maybe she'll "change her mind" and give me another chance - (probably not :) ).

So to all those who are honest in your relationships, I commend and thank you. :)

Connections

Being LDS, having served a mission, and having friends that have served missions, and knowing quite a few friends in Provo provides ample opportunities to find out connections between people. If I meet someone in Salt Lake, I can usually find someone that we both know fairly well. The world just becomes a small place. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise when I find out someone I know knows someone I know. (Hehe, I like that sentence.)

However, there are those times when the connection is kind of bizarre and really cool.

Today, I was talking with a girl named Rhiannon, who is in my major and we've had a few classes together. We came to find out that both her dad and both of my parents had grown up and/or gone to high school in a little place called Morgan, Utah. I decided to ask my parents if they knew Rhiannon's dad, and Rhiannon did the same. Well, later, she sent me a text saying "Did your dad have a brother named Reed?"

Side-story: The answer is yes, I have an uncle named Reed. He passed away before I was born, when he was 13, having been struck by lightning along with my grandpa (who lived) on a golf course. I always remember seeing his picture on my grandparents' wall at their house, and I always felt like, if he were alive, he and I would have gotten along very well. Not too long ago, I mentioned this to my sisters, and they said they had felt the same way! Kind of cool.

So I answered yes, but that he had died when he was 13. She sent me this: "Yes! When he was struck by lightning on the golf course... Holy cow. He and my dad were best friends growing up. My youngest brother is named after him."

How cool is that? I of course was kind of blown away by that, so I told her, and she responded with "You can imagine how I felt, hearing 'Dave Carruth? [my dad's name] Yeah, he's actually Reed's brother.' I've heard about Reed my whole life, and I go to school with his nephew!" [Me].

Anyways, this was one sweet connection to a somewhat random person. Who do you know that I know? :)

Midterms, Madness, Mercies

This semester has been a really stressful one. My classes are not easy, and there's always something due in at least one of them. This week has been especially rough with 2 midterms and a large project due tomorrow.

I've been trying to organize my time better so that I can get more done, including homework, cleaning my room, preparing scholarship applications, serving in my calling, and having time to spend with friends. However, organization is one of the weaker points of my personality, and I can't seem to figure it out. This week I've just gone to school, then work, then as soon as I get home, I pull out the books and study until I go to bed. Kind of crazy.

This morning, I had to wake up even earlier than usual to get to school on time for one of the above-mentioned midterms (Differential Equations). I've been relying a lot on divine help to get me through this week and in general through my schooling. I've noticed a lot of help on exams and homework assignments, so much that I know that if I do my part, I'll be blessed. But this morning, Heavenly Father decided to reassure me of His love and willingness to help me in my life. I know this might sound so simple and coincidental, but to me it wasn't. I went out to my car, and as I was pulling out, I stopped for a second to close the garage door. In that second, I looked up at the bright, almost-full moon right outside my car window, and in that one second, a shooting star went flying right past the moon. I drove to school with a smile on my face.

I'm just thankful for a Heavenly Father who sends us tender mercies, even when we feel like we'd do OK without them.