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.

How long has it been?

So...

I've been pretty busy lately.  Sorry to not update all of you on my life.  Basically, I started a new job last week, it's going well, but I'll be tired for the next several months, and I'm trying my best to stay on top of school work.  Sorry it's short!

Here's a picture to make you happier:

Tell-Tale Heart

This was so crazy, and a friend of mine told me to post about it.

So the other night, I was sleeping (cool, huh?), and usually I don't wake up in the middle of the night.  But this night, I did.  I also don't usually sleep on my back, but this night, I was.  So I woke up, wondering "Why did I wake up?  That's weird."  Usually if I wake up it's because of noises or motion.  So I started listening really attentively.  What did I hear?  A knocking sound - in the constant rhythm of a heartbeat.

Yes, I was creeped out.  I thought of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe.  Yeah, kinda crazy.  I wondered "what kind of animal could be right above my head and have that strong of a heartbeat?"  But, I couldn't think of any.  So I felt my own heartbeat.  It was exactly in sync with the knocking heart above my head!!!  I moved a little, and my back came up off the bed for a second, and the knocking stopped in that second.  I finally figured it out - my heartbeat was causing my bed to move just enough to make my helmet (which hangs on my bed-post) to hit the wall!  After this, I was no longer creeped out, but amazed at how cool this was!

So I discovered that I have a really strong heart. :)

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.  :)

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? :)

Feast or Famine

It's never a consistent meal-plan.

Anyone else experience this? (I'm not talking about food.)

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!

Tribute

To awesome dates!

Sometimes, it's easy to get tired of going on dates when you don't see a lot of "fruits" from your efforts. By "fruits" I mean getting along with someone well enough to see a relationship grow.

Then, there are those times when you go on a date, and it's just refreshing to be able to talk with someone, and because you're similar enough, you can understand each other and just have a great time. It is my experience that these types of dates are rare, and should therefore be treated as such. I think that's what most single people are looking for.

So this is my thank you - to those whose personality "rings" with mine.

Post-Fall Break Post

Last week was fall break at the U. I love fall break. Especially when you have an awesome Dad that picks that week and the week of spring break for your houseboat share for the year, and you get to go waterskiing in October. How awesome is that??? I had a great time. I think I'm skiing better, I got all the way around on a backflip again, I got a nice pre-winter tan (along with slightly bleached hair), and discovered what I'm going to be for halloween. Plus, I got to sleep in and relax with very little homework to do. Did some sweet rock-climbing, played on one of the best sand dunes I know of, tried to flip a kayak, played with my little cousins, and got to spend some quality time with my family. That's the best possible scenario I can experience right now, and I loved it! I'll try to get some pictures of our trip to post on here.

So it's kind of hard to come back to school and work and just... responsibility. lol. But life doesn't stop for a vacation, so I've gotta get back into the grind of working hard every second of the day and going on little sleep and food.

And finally, this is kind of a funny story, and I hope you enjoy it:
Today, I found out that I wouldn't be able to do anything in my research lab, so I headed over to the institute to get some studying done in the couple of hours before my institute class. After a little while, a couple of girls came into the place I was sitting, and I recognized them, I had seen them before in the same place on a Monday. They wore white uniform shirts with some sort of badge on the arm that I was too far away to read. One of the girls, I really thought was beautiful, and seemed very nice. I spent the next hour and a half reading a paragraph, then looking up at her, reading another paragraph, taking another glance, etc... So for the last hour (not joking) I sat there thinking about ways to go and talk to this one girl without being too strange or awkward, or making her friends laugh at me, or getting rejected and embarrassed. I racked my brain, and nothing seemed like it would be normal. I hoped maybe her friends would leave before my class started, or that she would get up and walk past so I could pull her aside and ask a "curiosity question" about their shirts or something. Of course, neither of those things happened. I tried getting up the courage as I gathered my books, but I just stood up and walked downstairs and into my classroom. It was empty, and I put my stuff down and started hitting myself in the head for not talking to this girl! lol, this story's making me laugh as I tell it! So, I knew I would feel so stupid if I didn't, so I went back upstairs (a different way, to give me more time to prepare - [this ended up being useless]), and after a couple of hesitations, I walked back there without my stuff, walked right up to the table and said "Hi. I was wondering what these shirts are for." or something like that. I didn't get names or anything, I just blundered along through my words, and then said "Well, see ya." and I left. So girls, if a guy come up to you and asks some stupid question, and looks like an idiot just standing there not really knowing what to say, it means he thinks you're attractive and would like to get to know you better. Anyways, it wasn't a total disaster, but I just wish I had gotten up the courage earlier and not waited, or that I had spent just a few more minutes and at least gotten her name or something. Now I can only hope to see her again and have another chance. So guys, get up the courage, and remember that Nike was right when they coined the phrase "Just do it" (and the apostolic addition - "Just do it right").

HAHA! So, immediately after finishing this story, I got into my car to drive home and plugged in my phone, which is on shuffle. The very first song that came on was "My Stupid Mouth" by Jon Mayer. It's not exact, but I feel very similar...

tfehT

It spells theft backwards. Why? Because I'm getting my bike back!!!

The amazing campus police found my bike (and a few others that had been stolen) in a pawn shop. They had been sold for $50 a piece! That's it! Can you imagine stealing something in order to get 1/16 or LESS of its worth? Ridiculous. Anyways, I'm just really excited to get my bike back. And you can bet I won't be taking it to campus anymore, that's what 20-dollar D.I. bikes are for.

So, this is me today:

Theft

Someone stole my bike today.

I know that there are a lot of much worse things that could happen to a person, but still, getting something of worth stolen from you is awful. I bought this bike about a year and a half ago, and have loved it the whole time. I've taken it riding up in the mountains several times, and at Lake Powell. Plus, I ride it around campus every day, which makes it possible for me to get to all my classes on time. So today, someone decided to deprive me of my mountain biking "pride and joy". I'm amazed that some people think that they have a right to take something, even if they haven't worked for it. When I noticed that it was gone, I just felt sick.

Really, it's like this person just stole a bunch of money, time and love from me. Because that's what the bike represented for me. I spent a lot of time working on it, enjoying riding it, and earning the money to pay for it. All of a sudden, it's gone.

Anyways, I'm trying to keep a smile on and remember that it's just an expensive piece of metal, and that there are much worse things that could happen to me that haven't. I'm hoping it will turn up (unharmed) somewhere, and that I can get it back. If not, I guess I'll just have to start saving up for a new one in a few years.

Moral of the story: Don't steal. It's rude. Not to mention it's one of the 10 commandments! Sinner. lol

Frustration vs. Optimism

I guess this is kind of an explanatory post. If any of you have noticed that I haven't been quite my cheery self as of late, there is a reason, and it's not that I'm depressed or struggling a ton. Really, it's mostly from school, and then it effects the other aspects of my life.

So, as explained in my previous post, I have kind of a hectic schedule right now. The main classes that are getting to me are Biostats and Differential Equations.

Let me start with Diff Eq's: The professor is obviously amazing at math, and luckily, he's american, so I can understand every word that he says. I just don't always follow what the words mean. He assumes that we know a lot more than I think most of the class actually knows. For homework, he requires a very strict format, including a form of the question, every step written out, with explanations of those steps, and then an answer check at the end. It usually takes longer to write the homework than to actually do the problem! Anyways, it's a hard class.

Second, Biostats. For the first couple of weeks, I thought this class was going to be a breeze. Then we got a homework assignment, and I realized that I had no idea what I was doing! How frustrating is that? So I stayed up late trying to figure it out, with little success. Luckily, (again), he gave us some extra time to finish and turn it in, because he realized that very few people in the class understood how to do the assigned problems. So really, I should be grateful and excited because of the two "luckily"s.

On a happier note, I think I aced the physics exam I had today, and my other class isn't really too difficult - Strengthening Families. Anyway, I occasionally (meaning about once every year or two) have to set a goal to just BE happier, without expecting things to MAKE me happier. So that's what I'm doing now.

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.)

10:00

I've decided 10:00 is a crucial time of the day. I will try to explain why:

10:00am-

This is the point of the day that determines how happy you will be for the rest of the day. If you wake up early, exercise, eat right, do some service, or get some productive things done by this time, and have a good attitude, I think that the rest of the day will take care of itself. If you're still sleeping at this time (literally or figuratively), you'll probably be in a similar state of mind for the rest of the day.

10:00pm-

This is the point of the day that determines how you will spend your night. If you're already out and about with friends at exactly 10:00pm, you'll probably stay out 'til midnight or later. If you're not doing anything at all, and you're not on a date, and 10:00 rolls around, you might as well go to bed.

If you're on a date - two options -

1. If you're already doing something really fun, you'll probably end up saying "whoa, where did the time go?" when you see that it's midnight or later (which is a good thing).

2. If you're not doing anything, you spend the next couple of hours worrying about what to do.

I don't know why this is, but 10:00 is an important time of day (and night).

On Blogs

So, after doing some minor research into the world of blogging (as this is still fairly new to me), I've discovered that a couple of things help make blogs more interesting:

1. Pictures. Even kids understand this concept. If you're going to read a book to them, there'd better be some illustrations in there, to help their imaginations to soar. It's the same on blogs. Unfortunately for me, my camera got soaked at Lake Powell and doesn't work anymore.

2. Using either eloquent or dramatic speech. This one's harder to explain. For some reason, when things are typed on a page, and you can't hear the person's voice, it can get really monotone in your head. So when people embellish their words and throw out some crazy awesome analogies, it sounds more fun and energetic, and easier to read. I think font type and using some bold or italic fonts would help too. This would have to be something for me to work on, because I just say things the way they are, and I don't like to sound exaggerated. The sad thing is, in a blog post, non-exaggerated sounds bland.

If you have any other observations on what makes a blog a fun blog, let me know!

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!