The JOY of numbers

My accounting professor. Just thought you would enjoy a glimps into my life.

A NEEDED AMENDMENT

My last blog has seemed to have stirred up a couple unneeded emotions, THUS I, the author, am adding an amendment to the recent divulgence of my pet peeve of people "talking too much."

I stand by my comment, but explanation is in order. I DO enjoy speaking to people whom I love and respect regardless of how little or how much they have to say. I love speaking and listening much more than the average Joe. I love learning from others and hearing what they have to say and what they have learned. Specifically, I love speaking and listening with both of my brothers-in-law. My "pet peeve" is introduced when I feel "trapped" by a public speaker into listening to the full measure of what they have to say. I believe a good speaker should be aware of the attentiveness of their audience. If they are drifting off or, in general, have become slightly jaded one should tailor their comments and spice it up or wrap it up. I do not doubt this stems from MY attention deficit, but it is real none the less.

I hope that this has been an informative look into my psyche and any tender feelings from the before mentioned post have been addressed and resolved. Thank you for your time and interest in this matter.

Kickin it with a monkey

Okay so here she is....MEGAN THE MONKEY! Yes, brothers and sisters, this is my stuffed friend and I am NOT ashamed. You see, she is riding in the car with me to school. Today for my public speaking class we had two minutes to give a description of who we are and we needed to bring a visual aid. I brought the monkey! WHY, you ask? I will tell you.

It sums me up in three ways: One, it was given to me by my beautiful wife (to whom which the monkey is a namesake) to remind me what I looked like when we first met back on Dec 4, 2004. (Seussical the Musical at RMT) Two, my random overactive personality. Three, that it went with me to remind me of my wife while I was in Nauvoo. My time in Nauvoo speaks of my love for the arts, talent expression, confidence, and mostly for my passion with the Restoration of the Gospel and the lives of the early saints.

I am not going to lie, it went well. In fact, most of the other were quite disorganized and I was a little let down. I was excited to learn some new things about people. BUT I was given the job of SPEECH TIMER! Here are my two cards; one yellow and one red.


Yellow was for 2 1/2 minutes and red was, well, shut up and sit down you're boring us (three minutes).

This was the PERFECT calling for me. I have this other little aspect of my personality. It actually stands as one of my biggest pet peeves: when people talk too long (I am a culprit, but I am the one with the pet peeve so I can and you are not bothered. Got it?)

Anywho, you better believe that if someone did not deliver a quality talk, I cut their time and gave the yellow card at almost 1 1/2 minutes. For one girl, I just went straight to the red. I figured that it was my responsibility and calling to keep the rest of the class from pain. She gave me a surprised look, but I gave her the look back of, "Hey don't judge ME, YOU are the one giving the boring speech here." RED CARD!

This is freedom of expression at its finest.

I REMEMBERED THE ALAMO!

So there I sat myself at good ole LDSBC. I had to dedicate my free time, normally dedicated to lunch, to New Testament homework and solving the mysteries of the kingdom. With only ten minutes to go to my accounting class, and heaven knows I can't make it through that last class without a little substance, I walked myself down to the bookstore.

There I was set on a Lunchable, but as I rummaged through the pickings I came across this!

Normally, you see, I would have passed this "homemade", boxed, and Saran wrapped sandwich by without hesitation. (This prejudice is based upon the "INCIDENT OF 2000" after a craving was wasted at the local 7 Eleven.) HOWEVER, this SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH ON SPROUTED WHEAT BREAD caught my eye.

I was apprehensive at first. I figured the corn bits and freeze dried peppers would make me heave, but LOW AND BEHOLD this sandwich, brothers and sisters, was delicious. It was fresh, tasty, and I found myself investigating as to find out how I could create such a treat. As you can see it is brought to us by the good folks at BYU SANDWICHES. Whether it is talent or prayer I am not aware, but whatever the cause it was delectable.

SO next time you think of turning YOUR nose up at a pre-made boxed sandwich look first for the BYU seal of approval before you passing judgment and "judge not, lest ye be judged."

THANK YOU

Taking a STAND

Below is part of an email I recieved today from my dear sister. It is something that I feel VERY strongly about and would like to see some action taken.

Internet pornography is a growing problem that receives little attention in our society. Studies show however that pornography can be as addictive as drugs and alcohol, exerting similar effects on the brain. Many criminals, specifically sex offenders, indicate that pornography played a role in their turn to a life of crime.
Pornographic material is available to anyone with an Internet connection – and is particularly dangerous for our children. That is why I support the efforts of the CP80 Foundation. CP80 has developed a solution to zone the Internet that will allow us as the consumer, rather than the producer and web publishers, to choose what comes into our homes.
CP80 is working on legislation to enforce this solution. The foundation is also developing strategies for communities and states to address this problem. CP80 offers free training for parents to help them understand the effects and reach of Internet pornography.
Please visit the CP80 website at http://www.cp80.org, and tell your friends and family about this initiative. We deserve the right to decide what sort of materials and content are allowed into our homes.

The world we live in is so remarkable, in so so many ways....BUT there is OPPOSITION in all things....all that good has a whole lot of evil to contest with.

I have already gone to the above site and joined! Please take a stand with me. Stop this "disease" from spreading ANY farther. It has consumed too many.

Teach a man to fish.....

As they (I don't really know who "they" are and I am probably just making it up) say, "All beautiful things in life must never die" Megan and I passed on the timeless art of GUITAR HERO on to our social realm. Almost ALL of them had NOT played (SHAME!) and we (my wife ROCKS at Guitar Hero) took it as a very personal resposibility to show them the way. They all ROCKED! Even the pregnant one (Our friend Brynna) ROCKED! Steve was by far the ROOKIE OF THE YEAR! Having NEVER played GH in his LIFE he was jammin' out to tunes on the HARD LEVEL. This may be attributed to his guitar teacher status, but still an accomplishment none the less. At 1:30am and will near bleeding eyes Steve, the wife, and I called it quits for the night, but not before committing to each other that we would ROCK once more in the near future.

For anyone reading this blog who has not ROCKED to GH please comment to this post and my wife and I will see to it that you experience the fullness of what life has to offer by allowing you to ROCK with us!

We hear you Brother King

In honor of our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I, along with my Meg's family, brought new meaning to his infamous "FREE AT LAST FREE AT LAST" speech as we all pitched in to relieve the distressed maiden (our pregnant sister Brooke) from a driveway of snow.

I am not going to lie, snow removal in the past, has not always been my favorite, BUT the time spent with family was a lot of fun. We all pitched in and got it done lickity split. Even Uncle Nate, along with cousin Emma, in their most charitable way came over and snow blowed (HEAVEN BLESS THE SNOW BLOWER) the deep parts. To wrap it all up Bill finished with a thick layer of Ice Melt that will rival even the likes of the Salt Flats.

Great Memories with friends and family are the things life is made of.

LISTEN HERE BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

Okay, now listen here........this is an adorable baby.......got it?


I am not sure you quite understand. My niece is adorable. Take this picture that I KNOW melts your heart and add some coo-ing noises and giggles. Make sure you have your proper quipment to now mop yourself off of the floor!

Ava: "Jump"......Greg: "Done...next request please"



In other news stay tuned for some pictures of Guitar Hero battle-offs and more adorable niece and nephews in the snow.

Daddy still GOT IT!

So over the past two days I have learned one very important lesson.....DADDY (that's me) STILL GOT IT! Not that I ever really thought that I had officially lost it, but there was some question over the past couple of months.

Friday was shaping out to be your regular, run of the mill, kind of days. I got off of work at about 10pm. That's when it happened.....I was asked to chaperon.....A VIEWMONT HIGH STOMP! Now you need to keep in mind that I was NOT initially asked to do this. I am not that old nor do I wear keds with tapered jeans, BUT I was filling in for my innocent and naive mother-in-law. We just didn't think that her pure outlook on life should be subjected to such nastiness. We were right.

ANYWHO, my father-in-law and I walked in and all I could think of was, "MY LIVER!" (Once in Junior High my science teacher told us that if someone was exposed to too many micro vibrations from the bass on speakers that it would slowly pop the small air pockets in your liver in turn LIQUEFYING IT! I don't know if this is true, but it sure scared me straight.)

As we walked in I was wondering if this was an 80's theme.....no......just the new crazy style of the day. I even found a kid dressed like a bumble bee.

That's right brothers and sisters a bumble bee. At first I wanted to exercise my newly anointed authoritative disapproval, but then his little scoot scoot move that he did for the remainder of the evening made me laugh. I thought, "Carry on my wayward son."

It also seems that the amoral nasties are a still staples at each of these stomps. There were a couple times I found only a couple pieces of clothes keeping some kids from near futures of child support and alimony. I should have brought my water bottle to hose these nasties down with.

It was nice; however, to see that the same groupies are still there. For instance:

THE PRETTY PEOPLE

These are the those that hang out up front at every stomp. Required is a pretty face, pretty body, and a status of popular. The apparent dance consists of one arm in the air and showing your teeth. The men are required to thicken their necks.

As you can see from the picture I snuck, their consists some strange energy that keeps them bound together.

THE CORNER CROWD

We all know them. They just try their hardest to dance like the pretty people (see above), but then they give up and end up having more fun than then rest with their spongebob impersonations and "tag" competition.

and finally.....

THE FUZZ

These are the hardcore cops that were fortunate enough to be assigned to the local high school. They keep these stomps safe from harm.

As Dano here passed me he gave me the LOOK. It was a crusty that said, "Look here punk little high school boy. Your in MY world now." He thought I was in high school. That's HARDCORE!

The most rewarding part of the evening was when I had a fantastic realization that affirmed my FILL IN chaperon status, remember NOT originally called. DADDY STILL GOT IT! I didn't dance, but I really wanted to. AND I could have.....nicely and with style and funk. Thank you.

And in conclusion I have learned through this experience that you should never grumble about what opportunities are placed before you. They just may teach you that Stella (or Greg in this instance) not only has their groove back, but actually never lost it. Refreshing really.

IDEA!

So I was thinking of some way I could possibly attempt to convey what I experience on a day to day basis with the people here in cyberspace......I think I have an idea.

SO because my wife and I don't have any kids and I go to school, thus keeping me at work late hours, we don't really generate those great kid stories or interactions much between friends, BUT we have a fun life. My experiences each day really are quite interesting. I think that I am one of those people that apparently were chosen by fate to be part of daily awkwardness, hilarity, and/or random musings. I, for one, can say that i really do enjoy my days for the most part. I am actually quite entertained by my surroundings.

SO I have decided to go undercover as a decent person pursuing lives normal course; HOWEVER, I will be doing it all with my stealthy smart phone equipped with a CAMERA! When I road the bus (specifically BUS 70! YIKES!) I would LOVE to take sniper shots with my camera to accompany the great stories and experiences that I was having. NOW I would like to share those all with you! SO let's give it a go. I will dedicate myself to taking more pictures with the phone (they actually turn out quite nice) if you promise to enjoy and NOT judge me for sneaking pictures of people and their dogs and anything else I run across.

Starting.....tomorrow.....

The verdict is in......BORING

So as i was trying to blow about twenty minutes before class today I was, as they say, "surfing the web." I decided to visit a little site known as GREGANFAMILY.COM.......BORING. People we need to get one thing straight. WE ARE NOT BORING PEOPLE! We are fun, funny, outgoing, and a good time. Please do not hold us captive in your minds as the "drab marrieds" based upon our input on our family blog. I really desire to get this up and going AND soon compete (at least sadly on my own) with the hits that are made on blogs such as SANSOMFAMILY.COM and other great places to be on the web. (You see I can't even made the word sansomfamily.com underline itself thus creating a link to the mentioned website. I will get there.)

THUS I have decided to scramble and find a picture of me on the web that I have saved on GOOGLE! I LOVE GOOGLE! I think everything that I need to accomplish in a day can either be found on or instucted about on GOOGLE. SOOOO... you get this really great picture of me visiting ALABAMA with Mom and Grandma back in May of 2006. We were eating lunch at the famous DREAMLAND BBQ in Birmingham. The sign in the background says, "NO FARTING". If that isn't straight forward and honest I am not sure what is.

Random, you say? YES you are right, HOWEVER it is a post and one post closer to becoming an A+ blogger. Thank you.

REBUTEL BY THE HUSBAND

So here's my take on it all.....D.I. BABY! I figure we will most likely be audited in the next three of four years when the IRS sees all of our tax deductible donations. ALSO when you put two overly OCD people on the same task of packing, unpacking, and reorganizing you finally get one big result: days of stressing followed by a one major D.I. run. If it doesn't work in our space it doesn't work for us.

"Space is Money"

Alright....this is where I draw the line. We, meaning Greg and I, have been serious slackers at this whole blogging ordeal... AND I think you all deserve to know why! (not that it is anything huge or fantastic! It is just life in general!) Whoever said that "life slows down a bit after engagement" is COMPLETELY wrong! I have never felt so thinly spread and exhausted in my life. I like to think that I am a person who can handle many tasks and responsibilities; but I am quickly learning that there are just some of those tasks that do not mix well with others!

We have had quite the month! Between working, finals, and ALL of the Christmas and New Years hullabaloo, we have also been and are in the process of moving! I say ARE..because I live amongst boxes and boxes of THINGS!!! That brings up a question.....How is it possible for two individuals, whom are only six months married, to have attained SO MUCH STUFF? Has anyone else made this discovery during the tedious task of packing up your lives? Maybe Greg is too much of a perfectionist in his packing technique, but as he boxed and organized he had to make sure that "kitchen things" went with "kitchen things" and "bathroom stuff" went with the other "bathroom stuff". It only makes sense to pack like things in the same box right?! Well... what he ended up with were lots of half-full boxes. So...I had a good go at re-packing Greg's boxes. I couldn't believe what a ninny packer my man was! I mean...come on...I fit 2 of his boxes in 1.

Lesson of the day....While packing...SPACE IS MONEY people!