Summertime

I just love summertime.

It's made for me.  I think my body's natural habitat is some desert with a nice clear lake nearby.  I love the hot, dry air, and so does my skin.  Basically, Lake Powell is where I belong (or similar places).

Last summer I took classes at the U, trying to accelerate my acceptance into the major (which did help).  However, after going to school constantly for over a year and a half, I decided that this summer I would not take summer classes and try to enjoy it as much as I can.  I've been looking forward to being out of school now for a year, so I can enjoy summer.

Two problems:  1.  It's not really summer-typical weather right now.  It feels more like March in May!  However, that's not the main problem.  2.  I don't have any structure to my life!  I have all these awesome plans of things to do, but then I end up not doing them.  I was worried that I might fall into this pattern.  It's hard because I'm working at nights, so I don't get to hang out with people (who mostly work during the day), and during the day, there's only so much that sounds fun to do by yourself!  I also have an expensive car repair coming up, so I don't want to be spending tons of money on anything.

So, I need to figure out some way to be more productive that will keep me going on a good, healthy schedule.  I think I'll start going up to the research lab almost every day for a few hours.  I don't like feeling lazy.

Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break.

It was SO nice to get away from school!  For the first half of the week, I stayed at home because I had to work each night (still from 9pm to 1am - I don't think I've blogged about my current job yet, maybe I will someday...).  So I realized that if I weren't going to school, my life would be fairly boring!  I slept in almost every day, (one day 'til 11:30!!!)  I never sleep in that late, so I felt pretty lazy.  I went up to the U to work in our research lab a little, and I did some shopping and stuff, but overall, I just played music and enjoyed not having a ton of things to do!  Then... on Thursday... I went... to...

LAKE POWELL!!!


Pictures are from past trips - that's why it looks so warm and calm.  I don't have a camera anymore because it got soaked on this trip

I love that place.  Even though this trip was a little different:  1. I was only there a couple of days, whereas usually I've been able to go the whole week.  2.  It was windy and cold, so I only got in one ski ride (usually I ski at least twice a day).

On the way home, we had a fun experience.  It was me, my bro.in law Paul and my sister Chelsey.  We were just driving along, everything was fine.  I was driving and we were following a truck towing a trailer.  All of a sudden, some black thing comes flying out from under the trailer, flailing around on the road, so I swerved to avoid it, not knowing what it was, and we started fish-tailing, did a 180, and slid off the side of the road sideways, into the near side of a ditch.  We were extremely blessed that we didn't roll or damage my car or get injured.  About 10 different groups of people stopped to help us.  We got towed out and continued on our way.

Two things:  1.  Prayer works.  That morning we said a prayer to get us home safely, and I know that things could have been much much worse for us, but they weren't because Heavenly Father was watching over us.  2.  People are good.  Sometimes it's hard to believe this when you get cut off on the freeway, or people are rude in lines or places.  I was so amazed at how many people were IMMEDIATELY there to help us out.  My faith in the human race was strengthened because of that.

So anyway, it was an eventful, relaxing Spring Break, and I'm so glad that we have it at the U every year.  Now, I can't wait 'til June for our next Powell trip, and for Moab and whatever other things I'm going to do this summer!

The hardest thing about Spring Break though,

is going back to school.

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...

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.)

Who loves summer weekends? OOH! OOH! ME!

So.

Friday at around noon, I left work. That was when it started. I drove my car (pre-packed the night before, with tent, bag, sleeping bag, AIR CHAIR, etc.), with Shayla up to Bear Lake for our HUGE Stake Boating activity. Seriously, there were 500-600 people up there! It was crazy. Anyways, so we got there, waited around a few minutes, then decided to head down to the beach to take out my air chair, which is why I went. (See previous posts.)

We got out to the beach, and lucky enough for us, President Plumb's brother and his son were there with their boat, beckoning (well kind of, they were pretty tired of being out on the choppy water, and I'm sure they were hungry too, but they were nice enough to take us out) for us to come onto their boat. So, they let me ride my air chair. I jumped a couple of times to get used to the tower, then tried the backflip again - no good. Then I decided I would try the flip off the wake, because I usually get more air that way - again, no good. So I rode it back toward the shore (I had ridden for quite a while already). As we were coming back toward the beach, I realized my turn was just about over, so I decided to try it one more time outside the wake. I cut out, waited for the slack a little, pulled back, jumped and threw my head back. I kind of expected to land on my head again, or my stomach, since that's where I usually do, but I landed on my butt! I landed it! I had the rope in my hand! It kind of caught me by surprise, and water was splashing me in the face, so I kind of unconsciously let go, as I heard the people in the boat cheering. It was awesome!!! I can't wait to go again, and hopefully get it more consistent. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera. For second witnesses, ask Katie Kelson or Shayla Dickson.

So, from then on, it didn't really matter what else I did, I would have had an awesome weekend. The rest was awesome too, though! We headed back for a free steak and baked potato dinner that our Stake had made (yes, for 500-600 people, they provided STEAK!) Then, we drove up to Lava Hot Springs to camp out. Sat around the fire with a nice little group of friends from our ward, and laughed until about 2:30 am. The next morning, we ate a cold breakfast, went to the hot pools, floated the river, swam in the pool, ate lunch and drove home! That night, I washed my car, watched a movie and listened to awesome music.

Sunday I slept in (always a bonus), then woke up to prepare a lesson for Elder's Quorum (yes I procrastinate, but this time I was told I would be teaching late Saturday night). At Church, our ward boundaries were changed, and we got a new bishopric called into our ward. It was definitely an eventful Sunday.

And overall an eventful weekend!

Towers

There was once a time when I never really thought I'd say this, but I wish we had a tower on our boat. Lately, if you can't tell from reading my posts, I've been kind of obsessed with air chairing. Only those of you who have actually "flown" on the thing realize why this is. Maybe some of you who have cleared the wake on a wakeboard can come close to understanding, but the air chair/sky ski is just a whole new level of fun. It's amazing to be able to jump wherever you want, and even though I don't get way high all the time, it's even better to land, and not be jarred by hitting the surface of the water. Every time I switch from a boat with a tower to one without, or the other way around, I'm amazed at the difference that it makes in how easy/hard it is to fly. So, since a lot of people aren't familiar with hydrofoils, I've decided to give a little info. on them:

I'll summarize here, but for the full article, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofoil

So the concept of a hydrofoil is very similar to an airplaine wing. As water passes over the rear blade of the foil, which is angled slightly downward, the front wing is tilted upward. When the water passes over the front blade, the water going over the blade has to travel faster, and the pressure above the blade is reduced, thereby increasing the net force upward, providing lift. (Sorry, I have to sound scientific when I talk about stuff like this.)

Because of this physical property, some genius people (including Alexander Graham Bell - see above article) realized that they could lift a boat up out of the water, reducing drag, and increasing speed. Which is what they did. Several hydrofoil-equipped boats were made, and used in the military. Because the blade rides beneath the surface of the water, turbulence is almost eliminated, and it really feels like you're flying.

I'm amazed that there aren't any postings on wikipedia for hydrofoiling as a water sport, for air chair or sky ski. So, I had to gather the rest of this info. from their respective sites:

http://www.airchair.com/rider/history.htm
http://www.skyski.com/

Basically, it took a few years to get to the types of foils they have today. I have a 5-6 year old sky ski, and I love to ride it!

I've posted a few videos of one of the best air chair gurus in the world - Geno Yauchler (see below - just ignore the break dance instructions). Also, you can watch these:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoGqdZNdb_o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpbCQp9vlEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBYuDgt05Pg&feature=related

And you can watch one of my several attempts at a backflip on my facebook page.

If you or anyone you know wants to try it, let me know!

Except, we don't have a tower... ;)

Backflips!

So, I know you're all wondering, "Was Eric's weekend as good as he hoped for???".

It was AWESOME! So, as stated, we drove up to Morgan on Friday night (me, Celeste, and Jill). My Granparents were so nice, and made Jill some dinner (Celeste and I had already eaten, but we ate a little with her too). My Grandpa is hilarious, he gave her some raspberries, and then said, "You want some cream with those, don't you?" and she just had to agree with him. Our Grandma came in saying "Stephen, kids don't eat berries with cream anymore!" It was hilarious. But I tried some too, and it was actually delicious! My Grandpa is funny though, he kind of forces you to agree with you by saying things like "Now isn't that just the best thing you've ever tasted?". So that was fun. Then we headed over to where my Aunt works, at the "Dance Shack" in Morgan, where she teaches dance and tumbling. I had her watch my backflip and teach me how to do it better. At first she was correcting some things, then she said "Wait, you don't use your arms!" I said "Ok, how can I fix it?" and she said "No, that's awesome! Most people aren't able to do flips like that." So I was kind of happy about that. I still had some form issues, but it was cool to hear. She also showed me how to do a front flip, and I did it! (Just fyi, front flips are harder.)

That night, we slept out on the trampoline, and in the morning, headed up to the lake! We got there around 6:20 and I skied about 20 minutes later. Here's a picture. It was pretty nice water, but freezing cold air! Right after I skied, there were some dark rain clouds coming over, so we grabbed the cover to our boat and just chilled underneath it for about an hour, waiting for the ward to come up. Oh, and David and Andrea were there early too, so they were in the boat with us.

It stayed cold all day, with clouds and wind. I rode our Stake President's wave runner, and afterwards I couldn't stop shivering for about an hour. Finally, at the end of the day, Bro. Linton took me out behind his boat on my newly polished sky ski, which really improved its riding capabilities. And... I almost landed the backflip!

I tried it three times, and the 3rd time was the closest. I'm planning on going up to bear lake this weekend, and I think I'll be able to land it then! I can't wait.

So then we drove home! It was a fun trip up to East Canyon. I'll let you know when I land it. :)

Weekendish awesomeness!

I just finished summer semester today. Can you say "AWESOME!"? That's what I thought. So to celebrate, tonight, Celeste and I are driving up to Mor-Gan to sleep at my Grandma's house! lol It's gonna be sweet, and then in the morning we're headed to the lake for some water playin' with the ward. I'm excited to try out my sky ski after I polish off the tarnish that's been building up on it. I'm really really really hoping that it fixes the problems it's been having. If not, I'm probably going to have to sell it and look for a better one... :( I love the weekend, especially one right after the last day of finals!

Also, I realized that I haven't posted this or told many people, but on Sunday I was released as Ward Clerk (bitter-sweet), and called as Ward Mission Leader! I'm excited for the change, but it's kind of sad to not be able to work with the Bishopric as closely, even though they're being released soon as well. It's going to be fun to get back into the missionary mindset a little bit, and help the missionaries look for people to teach. Know anyone? :)

So I'm not having a lot of success with getting into a research lab up at the U, and it's getting kind of frustrating. I have a meeting pending with the professor with whom I would like to work - (check out that English) - but I have to wait a week for that one, and even then I'm not sure if he'll want to have me work for him like I want to. I'd really like to get something set up BEFORE fall semester starts, but we'll see if that actually happens or not.

Ahhhhh...

Saturday night we got home from Powell. Late. I went to my room, laid down on my bed and exhaled. I love that place. It is without question my favorite. Not to mention that I went with my awesomest family and the Shoells, which just made it that much more enjoyable. I could live there.

Of course, it wasn't all just smiles. I did get my camera wet, and it won't turn on anymore, and my sky ski isn't working quite as well as it should. For some reason it keeps just randomly turning on you and stuff - kind of frustrating. I got some scrapes, but overall, we had an awesome, enjoyable trip, and had a lot of fun and time to relax! It was great!

So now I'm back to working and schooling! Hopefully I can catch up on all the stuff I've missed this week in my organic chemistry class and in lab. Because...

I'm going camping this weekend too! Vacation time all over the place. This is the annual guys camping trip with friends from high school. It's going to be sweet. Sadly, I can only go friday night to saturday morning, but it'll be fun anyways. We're headed up to the Uintahs!

Powell

Next week we are headed to the BEST PLACE ON EARTH!!! For any of you who don't know where this is, it's in Southeastern Utah/Arizona, and it's called Lake Powell. We are lucky enough to get to go there about twice a year, and every time, I get so excited! This year we're going with the Shoells, a family friend that we've known for a very long time, and we get to go for the whole week! It's gonna be great! Here are a couple of pictures of what we do there:

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!