...hm

Is this world even real? Are the particles in this keyboard really solid or is there something in my mind making me think they're solid?
The people are real, there is no doubt in my mind about that, but i'm not so sure about all the "temporal" things.

just kidding.

but, seriously.

New Mission Blog!

http://www.hermanamayhugh.blogspot.com/

Sweet Victory

I've been listening to the same song over and over since 7:30 this morning (it is now 10:30).
I suspect this will continue throughout the majority of the day.

I think I'm totally going to keep a blog on my mission. I'll start a new one. I'll start it right now, it will be full of my preparations and anticipations of going in to the field.

Then I'll just keep this blog for fun stuff, or I'll stop writing in it altogether (probably the later).

Man, this song is really good.

Welcome to the future. Faggots.

A man I work with came up to me today. He's a strong, faithful catholic and he's always got some story to tell me or some topic to discuss. I love it.

Today he started talking about different shows on TV that he used to, or currently does, follow. He said how some specific shows are just pointless and there's a lot of cursing going on (which is funny, because he totally curses).

I agreed with him but then he got into specifics, and I got lost. I told him, "I don't watch TV, like, ever."

He looked at me and kinda squinted his eyes, "What do you do?"

Man, that's a good question. What did people do before there were TVs and video games? They must have just stared at their living room walls, cause that's all I do.

Facebook Status?

These are a few I hate:


"...is thinking his fiance is the best fiance in all the land."


"...is going to a country concert and wishes Sarah could come..."


"...is working 14 hours today! But worst of all is how much he misses his love."


"...is spending the day with Annie. She's 18 today!"


Grow a pair and start acting like a man. I hate how boys have so much emotion these days.

"Oh, I love you."

"Don't say that, you hurt my feelings."

Freakin' stop crying and shut up.

Last time I checked,

it was August.

Time is nuts.

I barely have time to think these days.

Nauvoo The Beautiful

I went to Nauvoo this past weekend w/ Natalie, Lindsey, Junior and his family. It was amazing. Junior's family is super nice, everyone was so courteous and just... good. I never had to worry about anything. On Monday we went to the Nauvoo temple and did baptisms. We were the only group in the temple; every turn we made there was another temple worker to guide us on our way. The temple President was even there and spoke to us for a little bit.
It was awesome.
We went through Old Nauvoo and saw a lot of stuff, but even being there two days didn't allow us to see everything. I noticed this time in Nauvoo that they've started to leave their testimonies at the end of their presentations. They even compare a lot of things in their demonstrations to the gospel. It's really interesting. I found out that the missionaries in Nauvoo aren't allowed to proselyte due to harsh feelings still there from the early period of the church. It was a deal we made with Nauvoo; if we could restore Old Nauvoo, we wouldn't proselyte.
This new way of giving tours, however, will initiate more questions and spread the gospel a little faster. I like it.
While we were at Carthage, the sister who gave us the tour knew me from BYU-I (I didn't know her, but she knew me). She said she'd had a hard time when she got her call, and even at that point she was struggling to know that that's really where she needed to be.
It was good to talk to her.

We went caving yesterday. It was awesome. We were covered, completely covered, in mud. It was better than all the caves i've been to in Leavenworth and Idaho combined.

Now I'm back home. I like being home. All my friends are going back to Idaho and starting school next week. I thought I would be sad, but I'm not. I'm completely content. What I'm doing is what I need to be doing. That's a good feeling, to know that where I am and what I'm doing is exactly what needs to be taking place.

I'm so excited to go to the MTC. Someone tried to tell me that I'd be homesick during the holidays... NOPE. I'm pretty hardcore about anything I do.
I came to a very significant conclusion a few weeks ago. I hope I never lose sight of what I'm doing and what I'm doing it for.

Told You So

One thousand five hundred and seventy two.

I’ve decided that that’s my favorite number.

“Everyone’s different” he said, “… it took me two months.”

BAM! There’s proof.

Doin’ it.

I Love

• seeing Dads walk their daughters to school
• hearing Laura compliment everyone
• watching my Dad insult the Chinese people in the Olympics
• watching my Mom get mad because my Dad is insulting the Chinese people in the Olympics
• seeing baby Wesley smile
• running
• waiting for Erin to have her baby
• mountains
• knowing that Ian comes home tonight
• seeing the "you're an idiot" look on Brooke's face
• cuddling with Buster
• singing
• reading Zen's one-liners on Monique's thank-you cards
• having conversations with my boss about the over-throw of the government (ok, thats not exactly what we talk about, but almost)
• having dance parties with June
• the song "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers
• fireflies
• seeing people help eachother
• the new deodorant I bought that makes me not sweat at all even when I run (if you really know me, you really know this is a big deal)
• matching
• laying in grass
• learning Spanish
• swinging by myself
• being part of something bigger
• laughing. really laughing.
• rain. watching, walking, or running in it.
• songs with a choir in the background
• never coming to the end of my thoughts because a chasm opens up into a whole new realm of possibility
• the simplicity of it all

98%

I'm burnt out on learning spanish.

I can't imagine what the MTC is going to do to me...

No, it's fine. It's just today. I'm just tired.

Rosetta Stone has the sweetest foreign language courses ever. I'm retarded and things make sense to me.

I'm so going to be speaking Spanish in, like, a month (of course that's an exaggeration).

A friend told me to focus more on the doctrine now, though. And that makes sense. Who cares if I know the language if I don't know what to teach? I can do both, of course, but I think a little more of my time should be put to PMG studying.

Yup. Life is good. Life is so stinkin' good.

A Day in the Life

My brother in law (Lanny) just walked into the room i'm in like a robot. With every step he took a "mem" sound beeped out of his mouth.
He approached me.

"I want your headphones."

I reach into my bag and pull them out. He continues to stand beside me, not moving, not speaking.

I place the head phones in his hand.

He turned his body around, while keeping his arms in position, and proceeded to do the robot (accompanied with the "mem" sound) all the way out the door. I then heard him continue in the same manor all the way down the hall and into the living room, noises and all.

It's midnight and we are the only ones awake. He is doing this purely for self entertainment. And it doesn't help that he's on really strong pain medication.

The weird thing is, that this isn't out of the norm for him, with or without the drugs.

Welcome to life in the Mayhugh household.

I know, right?

Could you tell me the next time that you're choking?
Cause I'll rush right over to shove some dirt right down your throat
It's nothing I have against you You're just a creep and you can't remember the last five years. What's a bond if it dissolves in water? I took a piss that lasted longer than you and your manipulations.
I called my mom last night, she said, "Sweetie, you don't need someone who's more fleeting than fall"
'Cause don't you love those leaves? Don't you wish the orange stayed forever And Crickets sang in the night all through winter? And I thought, slow down, think of all the time this jerk has messed you up and left you down. And hey, I choose my company by the beating of their hearts not the swelling of their heads.
Besides, I'd rather forget the days we spent than try to stay afloat in shallow water.

...and it feels so good.

I finally feel like I'm home.

This weekend I went to Miami, OK to see Meghan Burrows (!!) and Zachary Paul Gibson. It was fantastic. I love the Gibson's. They all have so much personality.
Meg's reception was friday night. Everything looked beautiful. It was so totally Meghan and Brady; non-traditional, elegant, but carefree (at least for the guests- the family was running around crazy keepin things going).
Saturday was the family/awesome friends pool party. That was sweet. I ate two bites of ribs. They were... good? Yeah, I don't know what to think about that.
There were slides at the pool. We all went down this huge, steep one. I screamed the first time. We also jumped off the twisty slide. We went to the first curve in the slide that was about a foot away from the waters edge and we jumped off the side of it. It was sweet. It was really shallow though and I landed on my knees... I have a cut now.
Oh and we played disk golf (not frisbee golf, but disk golf). I sucked. Well, dangit, no I didn't. I kinda sucked the first time I threw it, but I got the hang of it. Brady and Austin were pretty kick A at it.
I jumped off the diving board at the pool, too. I did a front flip. It was pretty awesome. ...even though nobody saw and I really have no idea what it looked like. It felt awesome, though.

Yup. Good weekend at the Gibson's. I feel good about being home now.

Going to the single's ward at the branch helped, too. That branch is full of the most amazing people I've ever met. It's just a powerhouse!
I get sad when I leave Idaho, knowing I'm coming back to Leavenworth, but once I get into the swing of things here, I realize how awesome it is. It's a very good environment for me, one where I'm able to grow.

I realized how grateful I am for my family recently. They're solid as rocks.

Yup, that's all I'm gonna say about that. This weekend, again, kicked major A.

Home:

a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household.

Or, In the words of Joe Dirt, "you like to see homo's naked."

Yup. I'm back in Kansas. I don't know how I feel about that.

I finally cried when I said goodbye to Erin, Rick and June. They always get to me.

I just need to stay busy while I'm home. Today was my first full day back. I slept in till 11. Called my old boss. Took a shower. Went to wal mart. Now I'm going to FHE with the singles ward. Yeah, not too productive. I did alot of creeping on facebook, though, that was sweet.

Just kidding. I hate facebook.

I read an article in the August Ensign by President Monson about acting Today rather than tomorrow. I need to institute that concept into my life.

Yup. I'm not in Idaho anymore and there's nothing I can do about it. It's really going to start sucking when everyone goes back and I stay here. That makes me want to throw up.

Whatever. I am where I am. I might as well have fun.

Here I come, Kansas. Prepare for destruction.

Got It.

Friday July 11, 2008 I received my mission call.

I was chillin' in the library with my friend Dan when I got a phone call. It was Natalie. Natalie never calls during the day. If she needs to tell me something she'll text.
I knew it was here.
I answered the phone and she confirmed my thoughts. Lindsey and Janiece were in the background laughing... I loved it.
I immediately hugged Dan and ran into the stairwell to call my family.

The rest of the day went by super fast. I barely had enough time to finish all my stuff before I opened my call at the set time (5:30).
Everyone came. The Camden Six living room was full of the coolest people on the planet (my friends).
I got everyone on the phone: Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Friends in Kansas, Friend in Florida.... everyone was waiting.

I picked up the envelope and tore it open. My entire body immediately started shaking; I couldn't hold myself still. (I heard people around me talking about it, but I couldn't look up to see who it was, all my focus was on the packet of paper in my hands).
I managed to cover up the letter with the packet they gave so I could see only one line at a time. I managed to read the first line (my hands shaking all over the place), then I moved the packet down revealing the next. My eyes went straight to the call:

Chile Santiago North Mission

I screamed. My legs crumbled as I fell to the floor. I looked up and saw Megan Allen. I yelled where I was going but only she understood.
She screamed. We grabbed each other and I almost came to tears. (I didn't, though, which really surprised me). We released each other and Megan sat down. I didn't know what to do so I jumped on her again, curling up in her lap. I shot back up and stood there for a second. Everyone was staring at me. Zach said, "where are you going!?"
I answered. Everyone was excited.
I came back to where the phones were and tried, as calmly as I could, to tell them all where I was going. It took forever for my mom to hear. I think she was just in shock, though, so she didn't want to hear it (she was really hoping for Temple Square).
Everyone eventually heard and they're all excited. I'm going to take a Spanish class before I head out (since I haven't had any instruction concerning that, or any other foreign language).

I'm so excited to serve. It's going to be a long 3 1/2 months till I report to the MTC (I go in November 5th), but its ok, I need all the time I can get to prepare.

I can already feel the difference of having my call. I taught yesterday in Relief Society and I was more able to speak from my heart, my tongue is loosening up. And while that is the case, I am also feeling more pressure from a lot of things. My friend Michelle said, "now that you have you're call you have that added protection, but Satan is also working harder on you."

I feel the power of both sides already and I know I need to be on my guard more than ever. I can't just slack off and go into the MTC unprepared. If Satan can do nothing except keep me exactly where I am, then he has succeeded. If he can just stop me from progressing than he has won. I can't let that happen. I won't.

once upon a time..

..there was a little girl. She was expecting her mission call on wednesday but it didn't come. She felt really nauseous.
"Maybe tomorrow," she thought, "maybe tomorrow."

If not, look out, cause she might shoot someone.

Scripture/Talk Of The Day

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward."
-Hebrews 10:35
(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Liahona, June 2000)

Tuesday Devotional

Today's devotional was wonderful. A female spoke and she did typical things female speakers do: had lots of visuals.

That, however, is not what I'm going to complain about.

The speaker today focused on 4 things we can do to aid in our growth. They were all the typical, yet crucial, things focused on in church meetings, i.e. have a positive attitude, focus on how you serve not where you serve, etc. One thing she spoke on really got me thinking. It's another typical concept we hear very often but I think it should be dealt with from a different angle.
This concept concerns the love God has for us. For ME. Over and over we hear these talks about how God loves YOU. He loves YOU and ME and He listens to YOUR prayers.
I think, however, we would have a greater understanding of His love if instead we weren't focusing on His love for US, but His love for THEM. Instead of realizing he loves and is aware of "me", maybe we should emphasis the love he has for the person sitting next to us. He wants them to be happy just as much as he wants you and me to be happy. That is what this life is all about, is it not? We must learn to love eachother. We must learn to love them just as He loves us.

As I was walking to the library after devotional that thought kept running through my mind. Every individual is loved by God, He wants them all to return to live with Him. If He seeks for their happiness, how much more am I obligated to do so? That, I believe, should be the focus of His love. Not just towards us, but towards the person in the next seat over.

Almost.

Today is Monday. Thursday is about 3 days from now. Hopefully I will have my call by then.
I bought new scriptures saturday with Sister Mayhugh written on the front.
There's no backing out now.

My idiot classmates.

I am so pissed right now.

I just got out of Philosophy.

We’re discussing Ethics.

Today we had a debate between the Ethical Relativists and the Ethical Objectivists.

I’m an Objectivist.

The relativist standpoint states that there is no moral truth. The truth we know depends upon our culture and the time in which we live.
Objectivism says there is an objective moral truth. People may or may not know about it, but there is a moral truth, nonetheless.

God exists. As members of the True and Everlasting Gospel (true and everlasting, huh, that means eternal, never-changing, continual…), we know that God is our Father. As members of this restored gospel we know that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. Jesus Christ atoned for all the sins of the world. If little Billy in Africa never heard about Jesus Christ, does that mean the atonement doesn’t apply to him? Does that mean Billy is forever damned because of his ignorance?

The atonement of Jesus Christ covers every soul who has lived, now lives, and will ever live in this mortal state. Just because Billy doesn’t know about it doesn’t make it any less real.

There was one point that the idiot relativists could have brought up that actually would have had a huge affect on the argument. They didn’t do it, however, because they had no idea what they were talking about.

God’s commandments change. He commanded to kill, to destroy nations, men women and children. Now He has commanded not even to hate. He commanded to steal; Nephi was commanded to take the plates. Now we cannot even covet. These laws are changing depending on our time and culture, they are objective.

But, it’s all according to our capability of fulfilling certain commandments. God will not give us commandments we are not ready for. He will not condemn us with greater laws than we have the ability of carrying out. We gain knowledge and with that comes greater responsibility. Eventually we will come to know the all of the eternal law and commandments which are written upon.

There is an objective moral law. Whether we know about it or not does not make it any less real.

Operation Domination

BEEP BEEP BEEP

My eyes shot open and began to dart around the room in bewilderment. What was that hellish noise drowning my thought process?

No sooner after I found the source my hand slammed down upon it ceasing the god-awful blare.
I stared at the alarm clock as a big 3 a.m. stared right back at me.

I was pissed. What the hell was going on? Why the hell was my alarm going off?

Then I remembered. Joy and excitement quickly filled my body leaving no room for the uncontrollable anger I’d felt seconds before.

I opened my bedroom door just in time to see Lindsey’s light turn on. We met in the hallway and proceeded to wake up the rest of Camden Six. Three Zombies, dressed in black, dazedly shuffled out of their rooms. We congregated in the bathroom and put mascara under our eyes. We then placed the finishing touch, matching camouflage hats, on our heads, and moved towards the kitchen.

We each grabbed about 6 bags of the trash we’d been saving for the past week and went out to Natalie’s car. Amy, Janiece and I, carrying the trash bags, began the long trek from Camden 6 to Shelborn South Tower. Lindsey and Natalie got into Natalie’s car, full of trash from Natalie’s family reunion, and drove it over to the Shelborn parking lot.

We all arrived at the same time and set the trash in a big pile. The light from 16’s living room window beamed down on us. I decided to take a risk. I crept up the stairs and found their door wide upon. No TV on, no one sleeping in the living, everything appeared to be clear. I came all the way up the stairs, grabbed the door handle, and slowly pulled it shut. All systems were a go.
I came back down the stairs and Camden Six was ready, trash bags in hand. One by one, we made our way up the stairs of south tower and handed the trash to Janiece as she strategically placed them in front of the door of Shelborn 16.

It was beautiful. We created a masterpiece.

There was about a foot between the top of the trash pile and the top of the door frame and there was about a foot from the pile of trash to the edge of the balcony. There was no doubt the trash would come falling in on the poor sucker who first opened the door in the morning.

Camden Six returned home with smiles on their faces and a new disposition about life. What a beautiful world we live in.

Operation Domination was a success.

Truth?

If we lack belief the council given is to act in faith and soon we will obtain a belief.
If we act in accordance with the commandments given, the blessings will come, and we will recieve a witness. We only receive a witness after the trial of our faith.
If we only have a desire to believe, let that desire work within us and we will believe.

So, submerging ourselves in something or acting in a certain way will bring about belief in that principle or action, right? If we have enough desire to believe in God and to believe that the LDS church is true, then we will believe it, right?

If we can will ourselves to believe in God, though, can we not also will ourselves to believe that molesting little children is not only acceptable, but good?

Young men were brought in and trained, or maybe brainwashed, into becoming Nazi soldiers. Young men are brought in and trained, or maybe brainwashed, into become missionaries for the LDS church. If we submerge ourselves in a culture or set of beliefs we soon live and believe according to that culture in which we were submerged. The doctrine in the LDS church even teaches this. If we surround ourselves with people who cuss, drink, and smoke and don’t have any direction in life, soon we will begin to cuss, maybe we’ll smoke, maybe we’ll drink, and we’ll lose the direction in our life. Maybe this is the tactic of the LDS church; we pull individuals in with our kindness, submerge them in our beliefs, and soon have them thinking exactly what we’re thinking. It’s all the same thing, right? Submerge them in “good” or submerge them in “evil” and pretty soon they will become just that. So what is truth, then? How do we know what is real? Some of the Nazi’s really believed what they were doing was right; Hitler really believed he was refining the human race. Some of the Mormons really believe what they’re doing is right; Joseph Smith really believed he was called of God.

Just something to think about.

Angst

“One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi… ready or not, here I come!”
With no hint of hesitation she tore into the newly sealed floor heading towards the furnace closet.
Sally hadn’t played this game in years, but the furnace was always the first place she went, hiding or seeking.
As she grew closer to the closet her frantic run halted and she converted her movement to a graceful tip-toe. There was no need to alarm the hider.
Sally reached out her arm and gently let her fingers fall upon the doorknob. Once she had a firm hold she twisted and pulled in one fluid motion. The door flew open causing a gust of wind to throw back Sally’s hair. Her wide-eyed “I found you” look evolved into a squinty-eyed stare as her eyes focused in on the empty closet. Her body turned and her left eyebrow came up as her mind began to strategize.

Victory

Remember how I dominate at everything I do?

BAH!

Ok, I know who I appear to be. But that's not who I am. I don't want to attract the kind of person I look like I am. I'm throwing away all my band shirts.
People think I'm all into music and stuff. I'm not. I could care less.
I act like I'm into it sometimes.... I guess I should stop. I want to start throwing stuff away. Clothes and music. I'm getting too old for this crap.

I want to attract someone who is smart and takes care of himself and doesn't spend his time downloading "cool new music". I don't want to attract people who have earphones in their head all the time blocking out the rest of the world.

Why do I attract people like that? Is it because I wear vans!?

This is dumb. I'm an idiot.

I'm so tired and irritable right now. I'm going to start being mean to some people.
Oh, AND.... when you call someone twice, leave a message, then call them twice the next day, write on their facebook wall twice and GET NO RESPONSE, wouldn't you think, "hey, maybe this person doesn't want to talk to me..."? Yeah, you should.

I'm not hating on one particular person, don't worry. There's a few of you.

freakin a.

.the Answer.

Mosiah 3:4

______

That's what my mind looks like right now.

Blank.

I get so exhausted listening to philosophical conversations.

By the end of class I have no room or energy for thoughts of my own.

I'm trying to study for a test tomorrow but it's doing me no good.

I need sleep or food.

I won't have either of those things for quite some time.

A.K.A.

I'm screwed.

Concert:

a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate.

I went to Nofx this weekend. I had fun. Except I'll probably never go to a concert again.
Maybe Rancid, probably not.
Why?
I got the crap beat out of me. I used up way too much energy (I'm getting old and I need to be better at conserving it). It's a perfect example of "thrill seeking" from Pres. Clark's devotional. And they insulted my God and my beliefs.

I need to put my time, money, and energy into something productive.

President Clark's devotional at the beginning of this semester broadened my understanding of the baptismal covenant. I know my body is not my own and I need to take care of it, i.e. don't get tattoos, eat and be healthy, etc.
but I'd never considered "shoot(ing) guns at canisters of propane" or "jump(ing) off bridges into shallow rivers" to be breaking those covenants.

"You are under covenant to take care of your bodies and use them according to the Lord’s will and purpose.... You do not have to break your covenants in order to have a good time."

Putting myself in situations where I know the spirit cannot dwell and placing myself in danger is contrary to covenants I have made. Engaging in those activities will only deter me from my goals and my real purpose.

I have things to do and I can't let these minuscule distractions derail my progress.

Yup.
And I'm going to Jackson Hole this weekend. I'm going hiking. It's going to be awesome.

"Plato's Allegory of the Cave"

Philosophy is very interesting, but it is also very insignificant.
All Philosophers do is break down questions and arguments resulting only in confusion. A point is trying to be made but then questions are asked, definitions are skewed and nothing is ever concluded. The end conclusion of why Justice or Faith or the Priesthood is real is because it is "good". But what is Good?

Plato came up with a very interesting allegory. The Allegory of the Cave.
Inside a cave are people. They are chained to the ground and it has been this way their entire lives. Behind these people is a high rock wall. The chained people cannot turn their heads to see what is behind them, so their only vision is towards the stone wall in front of them.
On the other side of this stone wall is more people. These people walk back and forth holding statues that reach up over the wall, casting their shadows upon the wall that the chained people can see. The chained people's reality is based upon these shadows and the voices they hear as the shadows pass. As far as they know, this is what's real. The voices and sounds they hear as the people pass come from the shadows.
Beyond the statues is a fire which casts the light to cause the shadows.
Beyond this fire there is a staircase which leads to the outside world. Outside is the sun, the real horses and real trees, etc., etc.

We are in the cave chained to the floor. Our vision is limited to the shadows we see on the wall. The statues (what is in the world) make up these images of what we perceive as real. The fire is the sun.

Take a horse for instance. The shadow of a horse is what our minds have decided a horse is. We see pictures, watch movies, and read books about these animals and make up a reality in our minds about what these animals really are. The statue of the horse behind us is the reality of the horse on this world. The reality being experienced by those who own the horses, they know all the labor and hard work that goes into raising and training horses. They know what the animal is really like.

Beyond our world, though, is a much greater world. We only see shadows and statues, only mere representatives of what truly is. Like C.S. Lewis has said, "Christianity is a world that is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumor going around the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life."
Moses 3:5 says, "...For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth..."

So, yes, it is true. Plato is correct. There is something much greater, something beyond our comprehension, that is taking place. We are given only glimpses of what reality truly is.

So, we have these theories. We have these explanations of what the world is and why people do what they do. People need this. They need answers. People need to think and come to conclusions for themselves, not just give in to the world around them and base their beliefs upon their immediate surroundings. Each of us are so limited in this aspect. We need to experience, learn, and reason our way to belief.

But why is Philosophy, this concept of reality and wisdom, such an important subject? I understand that people need answers, but what is the purpose when you already know the answers to these philosophical questions? It all parallels almost perfectly with the gospel, but then the gospel takes it a few more steps. So why do we waste our time questioning and reasoning with things we already know? Isn't there something of much greater importance to ponder and to learn?
So many questions of man are answered in the doctrines and teachings of the gospel, so why would we waste our time reading about what man thinks of the issue when we could go straight to the source?
Other aspects of learning, like biology, chemistry, math, and english aren't doctrine and are important to learn. I'm not interested in many of those things, though. I like learning about philosophy and sociology, but a great majority of its content seems pointless.

I'm still sticking to it, though. I like the ideas and maybe if I dig deeper I'll discover things I didn't know before.

Or I'll just write my own theories.

Dungeons and Dragons

Best FHE ever.

We walk in. Lance is sitting on the couch watching TV.

"You guys can have some chips if you want," he says, pointing to an open bag of tortilla chips and a tablespoon of salsa in a gallon sized bowl.

He turns off the TV. We sit down.

Red headed James walks in with his bluetooth earpiece perched comfortably on his right ear. He was wearing it at church on sunday too, except when he blessed the sacrament.

"Whats up, dude?" I say, trying to play it cool. "We brought some cookies."

I throw them on the livingroom table.

"What're we going to do tonight?" Janiece said.

Silence.

I decided to take the reigns.

"Janiece, say the prayer."
She says it.

Aram walks in. He's Mexican. A big one. "Hey guys!" He says on his way to his room.
He walks back out with a recorder and proceeds to entertain us with latin songs. We requested "Green Sleaves". He played that, too.

Mike walks in. He looks young. He is young.
"Hey Mike," we say.
"Hey everyone," he says.

We sit around for a few more minutes listening to Aram's Latin serenade.

Natalie comes up with an idea. "Let's play two lies and one truth!"

Perfect.

We go around the group, each taking a turn telling two lies about ourselves and one truth. The rest of the group would then pick what they thought was the truth.

It's Aram's turn.
"I'm an illegal allien and jumped over the boarder and swam to get here. My car was stolen in high school along with my aunt's ashes which were in the trunk. I wet the bed 'till I was twelve."

His car was stolen with his aunt's ashes.

Lance went next.
"Both my parents are canadian. I broke my arm 3 times in grade school. One time, when I was twelve, my mom put the cat in the washing machine."

All of Lance's were lies.

Mike went after that.
"I have 13 gaming systems. I've been to Alaska twice. I've lived in six different apartments."

He'd only been to Alaska once and he has 12 gaming systems, not 13.

The other Mike came out at this point. "Sorry guys, I was asleep." He took a seat.

We continued playing the game untill everyone had a turn. We got to know eachother pretty well in that 20 minutes.

"Well, what should we do next week?" Natalie asked at the end of the game.

Everyone thought for a moment, then Lance came up with an idea. "I know," He said, "let's all wrap tin foil around papertowl tubes and go to the park. We can have a war; warlocks against the knights. We can sword fight in the park and someone can be the princess we can save. But there has to be rules. If you hit someone in the arm its 5 points and if you hit someone...."

I caught Natalie's eye. Her face turned scarlet red. I couldn't hold it in anymore. This guy was serious, dead serious.

Laughter erupted from Natalie's sweet mouth and I followed immediately with no shame.

He stopped talking and looked down at the table of cookies and salsa.

We kept laughing.

After a good 5 minutes of laughter and shame things finally started to settled down.

It got quiet, but Natalie and I still had huge grins on our faces. "Or..." I said, "we could do something else. No swords."

James took that as his que. He went back into his room returning seconds later with 2 huge swords. Real swords. Metal, sharp swords.

I spent the rest of the night stabbing a kleenex box.

58 minutes after we arrived I recieved a text message from Natalie who was on the other couch.

"Let's go," it said.

2 minutes later we left.

Next monday, 7, Porter Park. We'll all be in dresses waiting for our knights to save us from the evil warlocks.

discovery

I figured it out.
Attempting to block out certain experiences in my life has caused me to forget pretty much everything.

weird.

I guess that happens to people sometimes.

"She says Idaho is calling you home"

-The New Amsterdams

Wednesday. That is when I begin my trek back to Idaho.

Before Idaho I'll be going to Portland for Paul & Brenda's wedding.
Friends + Beach + Marriage = AWESOME.

Afterwards we'll be road tripping it back to little Rexburg, Idaho for the summer semester. This semester will probably be the best one yet. I've got alot of goals. It'll probably be my last summer before I head out on a mission for the LDS church.

I've been looking forward to this since I was 12.

This semester will be full of bike rides, flashmobs, bridge jumping, road trips, running, temples, learning, late nights & early mornings, NO caffiene, singing, dancing, etc., etc...

I still have a lot to do before I go. I'm super excited to leave, but I do wish time would decelerate a bit.

Wednesday. Thats when I go, but the adventures start now.

GUM

This morning I decided to educate myself in the medical field.
I began researching "problems" closely related to malfunctions in my own body and found it very interesting. Slowly, however, interest turned to disgust and fatigue.
The more I read, the more nauseous I became.

I had to get up and walk around for a while. Lamorris (the awesome black lady I work with) was looking at me all crazy like.
I decided I'd better sit down.

Absentmindedly I reached into my purse and pulled out a piece of gum. Not a second after my jaw first clenched together did a surge of melony mint relief permeate through my entire body.

"victory" my body seemed to exclaim.

What was this sweet goodness that saturated my body? What was this liberation? What is this stimulant we call gum?

I. Don't. Know.
But neither does anyone else.

Benefits from chewing gum are known, but most of the causes behind those benefits are not.

The U.S. Armed Forces has supplied soldiers with gum since World War I because it helps improve concentration and relieves stress and tension.
Recent studies have also shown that chewing gum can improve one's mood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum
Gum is clinically proven to prevent acid reflux and heartburn.
http://www.howard-winn.k12.ia.us/projects/ind_study/ac8ind/gumtoo/benefits.html
Gum also has been proven to enhance memory.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2039

wow.

I haven't come across any articles relating exactly to my own experience with gum, but it is definately a note worthy occurance.
Gum is a gift from the gods and I encourage all of you to better incorporate its benefits in your lives. You will be less stressed, your concentration will be improved, and your memory will greatly be enhanced.

Amen.

So It Begins

A few people told me I should start a blog. I didn't/don't want to, but since I sit at a computer for 8 hours a day with almost nothing to do, I figured it wouldn't hurt.

So what do people write about on these things? And who actually reads them? Not many people care what you say or think in real life so why would they care on the internet?

Yeah, people are faggots. ...Just kidding. I say things sometimes that I don't mean. And by sometimes I mean alot of times. Well, I usually mean things when I say it, I just change my mind every 10 seconds.

Yup. Well, that was exciting.