Thanksgiving

This week I got to come home for Thanksgiving break. It's been so fun to be here with so much of my family. I couldn't ask for anything more. ^_^

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'd like to list a few of the things in my life that I'm truly grateful for:

• The awesome country that I live in
• My friends in all areas of my life
  
• My roommates, a.k.a. the best roommates in the world
• My job and the amazing people I work with
• My family; I love them more than anything
• Being able to see some of my family at school and in Provo
  
• The church I belong to; it brings me happiness
• The opportunity I have to serve as a missionary for my church

My life is greatly blessed, and I am so grateful for the things that fill it.

Band Practice

So, at band practice today, we worked on part of our show that we're doing joint with the University of Utah band. The U game is on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so a small group of people (myself included) won't be going to the game because of Thanksgiving break and the traveling that goes with it. So while most of the band was learning drill and practicing the new tune we're playing in the show, the small group that's not going to the game got to stand around on the sideline with nothing to do.

Half of us ended up playing a game called Ninja Strike for the first hour of rehearsal. Then we stood around talking and watching/listening to the band for another half hour. And then we split up for sectionals to work on our new music, and those of us who aren't going to the game don't have to pass it off, while everyone else does. So I just got to leave!

One hour of Ninja Strike. Half an hour of standing around talking. Go home. Best band rehearsal ever.

Mission Call

After a very long week of waiting for my mission call to come, it came in the mail on Thursday!

I wanted to open it with my family, so I had to wait until the time that worked best for everyone, which turned out to be 8pm Thursday night. It was a long day, but the time finally came.

Though the original plan was to open it at Jeffrey and Debbie's apartment, we decided that afternoon that we would all just come to my apartment for the event. So the crowd ended up consisting of Jeffrey, Debbie, Trevin, as well as my roommates Jessica, Serena, and Lyssandra (plus Mom, Cody, Chanelle, David, and Sammy all on the phone). With great anticipation (to the point where I was actually shaking a little), I opened my call. I had to cover up the lines and just go one line at a time, or I know my eyes would've skipped ahead. :P So I opened it and read it, and...

...I'm going to BOISE, IDAHO!!

And no, I'm not kidding. Though I do think it's hilarious that out of all the missions there are out there, I got the "joke" mission. (Thanks, Singles Ward.) Not that I mind; I'm really excited to serve in Boise. It's going to be amazing. I report to the MTC on February 3. Which is just perfect - it gives me about a month and a half at home before I leave, and I still get back in time to go to school again in Fall 2011.

So, that's the exciting part of my life right now! ^_^

Passing the Time

The past month has been pretty awesome. My job and coworkers are awesome. My ward is fun. My roommates rock. Overall, life is good.

A couple weeks ago I was playing Capture the Flag with some friends from my ward. Jessica and I mostly went to hang out with people, not necessarily for the actual game. So we were kind of expecting to be sitting in jail for most of the time. But we ended up finding a stick and a tennis ball and tried to hit it in the dark. Fun stuff. The second round, on our way being led to the opponent team's jail, we ended up climbing a tree. The poor guy taking us to jail didn't know what to do with us. But it was a lot of fun, and we ended up having some visitors in our tree.


Last weekend we had a tri-ward dance, the theme being "Old School," meaning you could basically wear something that represented any decade you wanted. Jessica and I made up a lot of our own dance moves, and we had fun dancing with a bunch of people. It turned out to be quite the workout, too.


Things like these make being at BYU super fun. :)

In other news, I'm still waiting eagerly for my mission call. I just found out that my call was actually put in the mail today! I'm hoping that I'll get it within about a week! I'm just so excited. Thinking about leaving for a mission for a year and a half is sometimes a scary thought, with everything that will be so new and different and with everything that I'll be leaving behind for that time. But I'm excited to be able to go out and share the gospel. I've found so much joy in it, and I'm glad that I have the chance to give even just a piece of that to others. And now that I know my call is in the mail at this moment, it's all I can do to contain my excitement! I'll definitely be posting again when I find out where I'm going! ^_^

Things That Have Made My Day Today

• Downloading Owl City's album Ocean Eyes (and getting it cheap using Amazon store credit)
• Eating a volcano double beef burrito from Taco Bell for lunch
  
• Watching this video
• Finding out that they're remaking my favorite generation of Pokémon games for DS
  
• Seeing a good friend from work who I haven't seen in over 3 months
• Seeing someone on campus wearing the Red vs Blue shirt that says, "It's not pink. It's lightish red."
  

Back to the Grind

My last few weeks at home were awesome. I had a lot of fun with my family, and got to see David and Sammy (and of course, Ashton and Hannah) a couple times before I left. I didn't hang out with a few of my friends as much as I would've liked, but hey, nobody's perfect. Also... Chanelle turned 13! It's just insane! My little sister, and baby of the family, is now a teenager. She is growing up so much faster than I was prepared for. :P (And even more recently, Cody just turned 18. Crazy, I tell you.)

This is how Ashton says "Cheese!"

Me, Chanelle, and Ashton. He's got such a cute little grin.

And adorable Hannah. She's a pretty happy baby.

A week before school started, I had marching band. And don't get me wrong, I love marching band, but that first week is killer. We have rehearsal from about 8 in the morning until 10 at night, with breaks for lunch and dinner. Not only that, but it's a 30-minute walk from my apartment to where we practice. Needless to say, I didn't do much that week besides eat, sleep, and marching band.

Sarah got married on the 28th... will the insanity never end? I was lucky enough to get out of band rehearsal that night to go to her reception. It was sweet. :)

Once school started, band became much easier - only two hours a day, three days a week. Classes are another story... but all in all, things are going fairly well here. My job is awesome, and I frequently hang out with people from work and play games until the late hours of the night/early morning. Not to mention, my roommate Jessica is awesome. We met at work during the Spring term, and living together is really fun. On top of that, our other two roommates, Serena and Lyssandra are also super fun. We all get along, we all love being crazy and having fun... what more could you ask for? :)

Preparations for my mission are going well; I've done everything I can do, and now I pretty much wait until it can all be submitted in early October. And then I have to wait for the call to come. :)

I have my moments that feel like I'm riding an emotional rollercoaster, but things are going overall pretty well. And that's what life's all about.

Mission Prep

So, I've recently decided that I want to serve a mission. This is news to some, and old news to others, but now it's official. For those who are unfamiliar, I would serve as a missionary for my church for 18 months, most of which would be spent in whatever location in the world that I'm called to. It's been on my mind from time to time for the past few months, and I've decided that it's something that I want to do. As I'm working on the paperwork, I'm getting excited about the whole thing. ^_^

But the preparation stage has its downsides.

Today I had my physical examination, most of which wasn't that bad. But I had to have a couple shots, as well as get blood taken. And anyone who knows me really well knows that I absolutely... hate... needles. Call me a baby, but I just can't stand them. *cringe* Needless to say, it wasn't the most pleasant experience. My mom can testify to that, too; I was very dramatic about it afterwards. :P

Aside from that, things are running smoothly- I'll be receiving my passport in a matter of weeks, my dental stuff is done, and I have most of my paperwork done; now I mostly just need my interviews. I'll be leaving for BYU in about two weeks and I'll be up there for Fall semester, and then I'm hoping to leave for my mission in January. Time sure does fly! :)