God's Fireworks

A lot of my posts lately have been of a more spiritual note.  Cool.



So on Sunday, I came home in the evening to see my parents sitting on the front lawn.  I thought "my parents rock".  I thought they were just sitting out there enjoying the grass and the nice weather.  In a sense they were.  But I sat down next to them, and my dad said "Check out the sky".  I looked up and my mouth probably dropped.  The sky was mostly covered with huge bright clouds of varying colors - yellow, pink, white, blue, gray, purple, red.  Some were sinking down and looked like an upside-down cobblestone road with huge stones.  Others looked like an upside-down slow-shutter-speed picture of a waterfall coming over a huge boulder.  Off in the distance were the ginormous cumulo-nimbus that Russell from Up is so knowledgable about. So we sat out there for about 30 minutes just watching the sky change slowly and every second of it was beautiful.  At one point, my mom said "Isn't it wonderful for God to put on a fireworks show for just 3 people?".

Today there's a sweet summer thunderstorm outside.  It reminded me of a video \that my friend posted a little while ago.  Here it is.  Watch it, it's pretty cool.

So... who says God's fireworks are better than man's?

I do.

Leaf Day

Today was leaf day. For those of you who aren't in my family. Here it is:

Every year, this tree in our backyard waits until the very last moment to shed its leaves. It's almost always after the first real snowstorm of winter. All of the other trees lose their leaves over time, but this one dumps them all in one day. So it's become a sort of holiday in our family called Leaf Day. Traditions? Enjoy the beauty of falling leaves onto a blanket of snow!

Business

I mean business as "busy - ness", and I mean business.

There's just too much enjoyable in life to let it slip by without making the most of every second. I've been amazed at how much it's possible to accomplish in the short period of 24 hours, including the 7-8 hours of sleep that I (attempt to) get. Here's a "run-down" (hilarious office episode) of one of my busy days:

6:10am- Wake up, eat
6:30am- Go running/excercise in some way
7:00am- Get ready (Breakfast, Shower, etc.)
7:40am- Rock out to some tunes on the drive
8:30am- Class (Biostats)
9:20am- Study/Work in Research lab
10:30am- Institute
11:40am- Institute
12:55pm- Class (Physics)
1:45pm- Ride bike back up to car
2:00pm- Rock out to some tunes on the drive
2:30pm- Work
5:30pm- Go home, eat dinner

From here on, my days vary from one to the next. Here are some suggestions (to myself?) of the best things to do at this time of the day:

-Water-skiing
-Ultimate Frisbee
-Dates
-Homework
-Ward Activities
-Chill with the fam (watch psych, talk, make cool stuff, water-skiing [I can put it as many times as I want], etc.)

10:30-11:30pm- Prepare for and go to bed!

That's not even that busy!

Isn't it amazing how much we can do? ("Yes" is the correct response.)

My Sisters

Since I have the best three sisters in the world, I figure it would be a good idea to post a little tribute to them here.

Chelsey.

Super power: Mind-reader/Telekinesis.

I wouldn't put it past her. She's super-smart, and talented. When she plays the piano, it's like the nerve signal doesn't have to travel all the way down her arms to her fingers, it's just immediate processing.

She also reads books. Lots of them. Fast. This, along with other things, is what, in my opinion, makes her so exceptionally smart. Not that she wouldn't be without it, but all the reading makes her just that much smarter. She's almost always cheerful, and she's been a great example to me throughout my life.

Chels and I talk. Every once in a while, I'll head down to Chelsey's room at around 12:30am and just start talking with her. She's an awesome sounding board for me, and takes the time to listen to what I have to say, and then gives her ingenious input for my life. I don't know if she thinks it's as awesome as I do, but it really has been a blessing to have her to talk to.

Thanks Chel!

Christine. Super power: (Take it as I mean it, please :) ). Christine is like the Jaggernaut on X-Men.

She has momentum that is unstoppable. She's not some huge ugly guy with a ridiculous-looking helmet. She just doesn't stop for obstacles. I mean this both literally and figuratively. Although this picture isn't of her, it looks a lot like her. She's number 1 on the BYU women's lacrosse team, and there have been several instances both in lacrosse and in soccer when she has taken on girls much larger than her and just ran them over like a bulldozer. Also, when Christine puts her mind to something worthwhile, she doesn't stop until she feels like she's satisfied about the job she's done. She can run right over any obstacle. Not to say that it doesn't jar her sometimes, but she keeps trying, and that's as inspiring an attribute as I've ever seen.

Christine and I play hard. She's always been the one that I can count on to play sports and do fun things with. Like snowy hikes, water skiing at 6am, and running a half marathon. She helps me have more motivation to reach higher ("to be that shining star").

Thanks, Christine!

Celeste.

Super power: Lifting spirits of those around her.

She reminds me of a mix between Alice and Jasper from Twilight.* She is very good at making people laugh, which, (I have experienced this) can cure any illness or bad feeling. If you ever feel down on yourself, or sick, or bored, give Celeste a call, and within a few minutes, you won't remember any of those things. She just clears them away like the sun clears dew.

Celeste and I laugh together. She's nice enough to laugh at my lame jokes and make me feel like I'm funny even when I'm not. We watch Psych together (easily the most hilarious tv show ever made, with The Office at second), and have about a gazillion inside jokes.

Thanks, Celeste!

So those are my sisters. Please don't mistake them for my girlfriends. :)

*Yes, I have read the Twilight books. I thought they were good, because of what the vampires could do. I had to take breaks to stop dry-heaving sometimes at the ridiculous girly parts, like when Edward's skin sparkles. What's up with that? Yeah, that made me gag.

The Begog

This is something new for me. I don’t know if my life is interesting enough for other people to read about, but it’s something to do in the very little spare time that I have, and it’s a good way for me to remember my life. I’m pretty bad at keeping a journal, so I thought maybe I’d try this whole blogging thing. My sisters really enjoy blogs, and have their own. You can check their blogs out too - cxclax.blogspot.com and c-bop.blogspot.com. You’ll soon find out that they are the coolest sisters ever (including Chelsey, even though she doesn’t have a blog “BLOG!” yet).

My parents are amazing as well, so put us all together, and you have the coolest family ever made!

Seriously though, we are the best.

Anyways… to start this thing off, I figure I’d better tell you how I got to be where I am now. I’ll keep it brief:

I was born in Ogden, Utah on January 28, 1986. I grew up in Murray, Utah all my life. I went to Murray High School, and then went to the University of Utah for a semester. I then served a 2-year mission in Donets’k, Ukraine. Now I’m back at the U, studying BioMedical Engineering. It’s such an exciting major. I love all of the classes that I’ve taken, and I’m excited for all the others I have to take!

I love waterskiing. It is my favorite hobby ever. I’ll probably put a few pictures on this of us at Lake Powell and elsewhere, enjoying glassy water. It’s ok to be jealous, just try to do your part to keep the water that way. I also love playing Ultimate Frisbee, and most other sports, including running, mountain biking, hiking, soccer, football, etc... Music is a big part of my life, and of course, the Church plays an important role in defining who I am.

So that’s me!