This was my first Christmas in Virginia. The first year the family was out here, we all met in Iowa at my grandparent's (on my mom's side) house. The second year, last year, I stayed in Utah with my sister. This year, it took a lot to get us here, but we managed to make it home. So far, it has been fantastic.

Last Friday, we visited the oldest sister, Amelia, her husband Max, and the wee little baby, my niece, Lydia Elizabeth.




This was the first time Mike and I got to see her. As babies do, all she does is eat, sleep and poop. Amelia lives in Columbia, Maryland and just a couple miles down the road is a very quaint village called Ellicott City.



Ellicott City has small, local businesses all along the road that runs through it. It is a historic little town and was very fun to walk through and stop in at the shops. The weather when we went was ideal. It was cold, but a very light snow fell, creating the perfect mood for walking through town.




Saturday, we took care of some errands around town. We sent a package to Annie on her mission. I picked up a package and a gift for a friend. We chilled around the house. I napped. That has been one great advantage to having few obligations. I have napped between 1 and 5 hours every day. It is glorious. I just lay in front of the wood burning stove with the dog and sleep.



Sunday, we went to Camilla's young single adult branch and watched her sing in her Christmas program. She is quite the singer. Amelia, Max, and Lydia came to stay from Sunday through Wednesday and were at church with us.

Christmas Eve Day we awoke early and headed out for a 9 am showing of The Hobbit in IMAX 3D in high frame rate at the super huge mall in Tyson's Corner. We went early to avoid the masses that were descending for last minute shopping and because the 9 am showing was only $12. Watching in IMAX 3D in the high frame rate was well worth it. I would have to pay about the same price for watching on a small screen in 3D in not high frame rate with not so good sound in Logan. That afternoon we played games and then had Christmas Feast #1. I like a ham meal, but we had turkey for this one. The ham will be for New Years and at some point I was promised the old German Christmas meal too. Christmas Eve night we did all our story readings and nativity re-enactments, which is always interesting. In between most of these activities I napped. I'm serious...I have napped a lot. It snowed a little Christmas Eve Day, but nothing stuck.

Christmas morning dawned foggy. It looked really cool.



















We all got up and opened presents. I got a nice card with a little money from my grandma (on my dad's side), a soon-to-be-well-used "NO" button from Max and Amelia (we found it in Ellicott City and they went back and got it for me!), the usual in the stocking: socks, candy, cereal, and this year sunglasses (much needed too), and our Santa gift was a helicopter. You know, the ones you've seen flying around every mall. I haven't opened mine yet because there have been 5 helicopters flying all over around the house. Adding mine would be hazardous. The rest of Christmas Day we spent playing games, napping (just me, the dog, and the baby napping, as usual), Skyping Annie on her mission in South Carolina, and we watched a movie.



It snowed in the night and this morning, the day after Christmas, we actually had a good half inch or so of snow on the ground. It turned to a slushy mix and ended up pouring down the rest of the day. The snow is there, but it is bogged down by a good inch of rain. It is extremely slushy. Not much unlike a Slurpee, though I don't think you would want a Mother Nature flavored Slurpee.





During this snowy, rainy day, we planned our upcoming 2 day trip to New York City! We leave first thing in the morning. We also played more games, I napped twice, and Lance and Camilla went and saw Les Miserables. I want to see it, but I will prolly wait a bit.




I'll be in New York for two days, so look forward to that! This will be my first trip there.

Song of the Day is  "Carol of the Bells" by the Piano Guys.

Life on the farm is a big change from, well, anywhere else I've lived. The first rule you have to learn is don't drink the water. Our water comes direct from a well and is ok for showering, washing dishes (if you dry them), laundry and such, but it is not safe to drink. For drinking and cooking, we have a water cooler with hot and cold spigots. Also for drinking and for brushing your teeth, we have small and big water bottles.

The house has no central air or heat. In summer, window AC units cool your room at night and windows stay open to try to cool things. With the humidity though, it does little to help. In winter, a wood burning stove in the front room stays stoked all winter. My dad installed a fan system to improve the efficiency of the stove. To keep the air from drying out, a kettle with water serves as a humidifier. We also have a space heater for use in the far reaches of the house where the heat of the fire does not go. In order to keep a fire going all winter, the family, with help from the missionaries and friends, spend the year cutting wood.

We have no house to house garbage service. Each Saturday, the garbage and recycling folks come to the elementary school and everyone brings their trash there.

While my house in Utah is decked out with a home theater and all sorts of technology, we are a little more low-tech here. We have a custom built, fast computer, a small tv, a wii, and surround sound, but for entertainment, we're more likely to be on the piano, walking around the farm chasing rabbits with the dog, shooting .22's by the barn, or playing a game. When the sun sets though, we'll click on the netflix.

We live on a farm, but civilization is only a few miles down the road. Our house sits in the Rural Crescent, a nickname for the area formally protected from urbanization by an Urban Growth Boundary. Back as far as the 1970's efforts have been made to steer population growth to areas where public services such as water and sewage could be provided more efficiently. In 1998, the Urban Growth Boundary was established to prevent over development. While there are a few exceptions in some areas, only one house is allowed every 10 acres, which restricts new building significantly. Our farm is actually owned by developers who pay someone to grow crops, rent the house to us, and are waiting for the day that they can build a subdivision. It will likely be many years before that happens though, as the fight for the Rural Crescent is an intense one. Every year, proposals go before the county board to try to bust the Rural Crescent.

Anyway...just down the road is the edge of the Rural Crescent and within 10 miles we have a Target, Chick Fil A, and other places we don't usually go. We do our shopping a bit further away and being only 40 miles from downtown DC, there are plenty of HUGE malls and IMAX theaters to have lots to do. There are also loads of Civil War sites. In fact, a small battle that set up the Second Battle of Manassas happened right here in August 1862. The Battle of Kettle Run likely had some fighting that happened right on the property we live on. The historical marker for the battle is a mile down the street.

I'll take some pictures of the farm and put them up on here later this week.

Song of the Day today is "Back Home Again" by John Denver.

Weeks of planning, a day of packing, a lifetime of driving, but we made it safely and soundly to Virginia. The trip was full of surprises and at a couple points we thought me might die, but in the end it was mission accomplished.

The most important factor I watched in the days leading up to the drive was the weather. For weeks it was clear, ideal winter driving weather. Then, at the worst possible time, a winter storm hit. The storm was first forecast to last 5 days and clear up Wednesday morning. If we left Wednesday and drove straight through, we would avoid the storms that would develop later in the week along the rest of our drive. Each day, I continued to monitor the weather across the entire 2,100 mile stretch. Knowing things could change quickly, I made sure all of the final preparations for the trip were done by Monday. I loaded half of the car Monday night and told my brother and Myles to be ready to go at a moment's notice. By late Monday, it looked as if there may be a brief window Tuesday to leave. The storms would hit hard Monday night but be clear Tuesday, then would slam east Wyoming Tuesday night and then Wednesday and Thursday would begin to hit even harder along the rest of the path. I told everyone we would leave at 3 pm Tuesday when I was off work.

Tuesday morning, I looked at the weather and at the road cameras along Wyoming. We had to leave ASAP. I went into work hoping to be off by noon and leave by 1. Jeff said I could leave immediately but I knew Myles and Mike weren't ready, so I called and gave them an hour's notice. At 10 am, I went home and finished loading up and by 11 am we were on the road. If you ever wondered what a mess it looks like with 3 guys packing for a two week trip, here's a picture.





Normally, my room is very clean. I promise...










The roads in Utah were clear and dry all the way to the border. We hit a snow flurry heading up into Wyoming but it passed in seconds. Everyone tells horror stories about I-80 through Wyoming, but things looked good as we hit Evanston. Then we began to realize something. Wyoming really does not do much to clear their roads. All the way through Evanston we drove through slush on the road. There were tracks where everyone else had driven, so I put my tires in those tracks and drove. Right outside of Evanston, it got worse. All of a sudden, what was just slush became packed snow and the tire tracks were almost non-existent in areas. Then it got even worse. The road was covered in ice. For the next 100 miles from Evanston to Rock Springs, the road was ice. For about half of it, we could put one side of the car in a track that had less ice. For another quarter of it, there were times there were almost two full tracks to drive in. But, for many more miles than I ever want to drive on again, there were sections, including one especially frightening downhill stretch, where we were driving on nothing but packed ice. Here is a picture of what the roads looked like in the better stretches.

Through that 100 mile stretch, we saw eight 18-wheelers who had gone off the road. Almost all of them had completely turned around as their load swung them around and off the road. We also saw a couple small cars and trucks, usually ones with light trailers (which were banned through Wyoming during this weather), that had also wrecked. You could feel us slide a bit here and there, but through divine intervention, I managed to keep calm and navigate the impossible roads for 2 hours.








When we hit Rock Springs, the roads became much, much clearer. They were dry mostly with a couple slick, icy spots you could see.







 The further east we went, the less icy spots. As I mentioned before, we had a window to beat before the weather hit again. We were within probably less than an hour of missing that window. When we hit Laramie, it began snowing. The snow itself was not blowing, but the nature of this snow was such that when you drove over it, you kicked it all up like dust. You could see the road for the most part, but when the 18 wheelers would pass, visibility went to about, well, zero. The cloud of snow they blew all over almost sent us off the road several times. We would have to slow down rapidly to let them pass and even trying to stay on a straight course, by the time we could see again, we would be on the opposite side of the road. Thank goodness for the rumble strips. They saved us at least once. It did not take long to realize we would not make it very much longer in life without taking action. I realized that the blowing snow pushed to the right, so, I did what usually is the wrong thing to do. I stayed in the left lane and forced every 18 wheeler to pass me on the right. When they did that, not a bit of snow blocked my view. There may have been a few truckers that cussed me out, but, honest truth, that very easily may have saved our lives. We stopped for gas in Cheyenne and having driven through 2 hours of ice and an hour and a bit of blowing, near-death snow, I let Myles drive. I pulled up the weather satellite and found we were in the heart of the storm but the edge of the storm was only 20-30 miles down the road, so, I told Myles to stay in the left lane and we would beat the storm. Sure enough, as we neared the Nebraska border, the snow lightened and pretty soon the snow was gone. We had beaten the storms and slipped through our narrow window.

In order to stay ahead of the weather, we had to drive straight with minimal stops. Myles drove through the night, then Mike took over, then me again and we switched as our tired eyes needed. After Lincoln, Nebraska, we cut down to a more southern route to avoid any chance of snow along I-80. We drove through Missouri and across the grand Mississippi River.



Here's the grand Mississippi. On the west bank is Hannibal, Missouri. It is a quaint little town with lots of Mark Twain history and I recommend stopping a few hours if you are ever here. On this trip, we couldn't, but our family stopped before. On the east bank is a nice park you can have a picnic on the banks of the river.





Not much of consequence happened through Illinois. Ok, actually, that is not true. The highlight of our trip was in Decatur. We were getting weary from driving so I figured we needed a good hour stop. We could either stop at a truck stop and shower, or stop for a good breakfast. No one in their right mind would really want to shower at a truck stop, so, as if my guardian angel wanted me to find it, I happened across my Cracker Barrel map in my glove box. Lo and behold, a Cracker Barrel right off the interstate in Decatur. We stopped there and enjoyed a HUGE breakfast of good country cooking.





Eggs, ham, steak, biscuits, gravy, grits, hashbrowns, fried apples, juice...oh yeah..I love me some Cracker Barrel.









After Illinois there was little of consequence.







We drove through Indianapolis.
















Into and through Ohio.










Then in and out of West Virginia, through a bit of Pennsylvania, back into West Virginia, then we ended up on a scenic route through who knows where really on the border of West Virginia and Virginia. After that odd delay, we found our way to main roads again and around 12:45 am rolled into Nokesville, Virginia and onto the farm. Only my sister who we called upon our arrival knew we were coming that night. Everyone expected us Thursday night. We snuck in, set up our beds in the downstairs living room and went to sleep.





I left this sign on a chair blocking the way into the living room. It says "SURPRISE! WE'RE HOME!"

They also didn't know Myles was with us.







Thursday morning, one by one as they got up, they came down. My mom was first. She walked in, looked, counted 3 bodies and laughed as I told her we brought Myles. Then little sister Angela came in. She had to go to school and was mad she would have to leave when she knew we were here. Finally, my dad came in. He too was surprised to see us and even more surprised Myles was here. Camilla, the sister who left the door unlocked when we got here, knew we were here but was still surprised because she didn't know Myles was here.

Once again, I managed to surprise my family when I came home. Some may remember, others missed it, but in May I came home for a week and no one knew I was coming. I planned it so I got here while they were at church. I sat on the lawn with the dog and waited for their return. That was a complete surprise, but this time around it was still just as good coming a day early and having Myles with us.

Well...there is a lot to do here in Virginia, so I'm off to enjoy my break!

Song of the Day is "Feels Like Home" sung by Chantal Kreviazuk.

Well the final preparations are being made for the long, 2100 mile road trip home to Virginia. A 5-day winter storm began Friday in Logan, so Saturday morning after work I took my car in to get new tires. I researched tires a few weeks ago and the tire folks already knew what I needed, so I just brought it in, gave them the keys, turned a movie on my ipod and about 2 hours later, I was out of there. With the winter storm on break for most of Saturday afternoon and the roads in excellent driving condition, I drove to Murray to meet up with Mike and pick up some stuff to drive home for Grandma Meier. Also, we weren't able to see grandma and grandpa at Thanksgiving, so we really wanted to stay a night before going home. As usual, we have been well taken care of and have been able to help them out with a few things around the house.

I always struggle on how to word things pertaining to time on here, because I generally post late at night before bed, so it's halfway between yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I guess I'll stick with what I already started and just refer to the names of the days of the week. Sunday, the weather is supposed to dump several inches of snow in Logan, so we will leave Murray around mid-morning to noonish. Hopefully by then any snow will be plowed and ice melted so that even if more is falling, the roads will be a little better. In Logan, I have a couple more preparations to make such as cleaning the car, applying rainx to the outer windows to help reduce rain, snow and ice build-up, apply a different rainx to the inside to prevent fogging, and things of that nature. We have to hit up Sam's Club to get snacks and finalize our primary and alternate driving routes. I also have to work a bit this week, which is why we haven't already left.

While still a few days out, today we were able to get a general idea of the weather that will cross our path this week. Essentially, the winter storm out here will effect the mountainous areas but will clear out when we leave. Once we hit the plains, it should be dry roads and clear skies. The further east you go and the further in the week you go, a front moves out of Canada, bringing small chances of rain, possibly snow, but our calculations put us missing that at this point. There was nothing major in the forecast that worries us...yet.

Anyway, just about everything is go for launch. I am excited to take my first break in a while. I have been home a couple times for a few days, but this is a good, solid week and a half at home and it will be nice to have some down time.

Also, two matter of blog business. First, I am once again happy to announce a new follower. Chelsey Hawkes, a member of my ward, is now a follower. Welcome! Second, in the unlikely event that there is a post you really want to share with your friends and family on Facebook, I have included a convenient share button so you can do so. The Facebook share button is right below the "Followers" widget on the right side. You can't miss it.

Song of the Day today is "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by: John Denver.

Sorry I am a little delayed getting back on here. It has been a busy week!


Our ward Christmas dinner was a phenomenal success. Here's a recap. I went to the church around 10:30 am and began preparing things. First thing that had to get made was Jell-o. Everyone I talked to about having Jell-o was skeptical, but I believe the world loves Jell-o, they just don't remember until they eat it. I made 2 gallons of raspberry Jell-o. With that setting up in the fridge, I panned up our baked beans to be heated later, then began peeling taters for au gratin taters. A few minutes into that, my roommate Aaron showed up to help. We peeled, diced and soaked the taters in salt water to sit until later, then I prepped the yams. Everyone says they hate yams. Reason? Most people eat canned yams. If you want truly delicious yams, here's what you gotta do: get fresh yams! The easiest way to cook them is to bake them like a baked tater. Just put 'em on a pan and bake until they are soft like unto a baked tater. They naturally have lots of sweetness in them, so when they bake, some of that will secrete out, but that's why you have a pan there. When they are done, you pull them out, they will be easy to peel, then dice, lay in a casserole dish, top with butter, brown sugar, and a touch of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and the real kicker here is not to top with normal old mini mallows. A few places, particularly Wal-Mart, sell gingerbread marshmallows. They are shaped like gingerbread men and taste really, really good when you toast them on top of your yams. Anyway, after I prepped our yams, which I actually diced before cooking and cooked with the spices and topped later (not as quick or easy as the described method), we ran around town finishing our other preparations. We picked up tablecloths from work, centerpieces from work, and 2 insulated cambro boxes to keep our food hot when it was ready. We also picked up a dresser I bought at DI, which I'll talk about later. Back at the church after our trip, we put our au gratin taters together. The secret to a good au gratin tater is lots of bacon, lots of cheese, plenty of seasoning (I used Lawry's seasoned salt), and enough cream. With all those ingredients in, we put them and the yams in the oven and then began setting up the room. We set 12 tables with 8 settings and for decoration, we dimmed the lights, put up a fireplace projected from behind a sheet on the stage, we set the tables and had the gift bags at each spot, and then we played easy listening instrumental Christmas music in the background. The food took longer than anticipated to cook, but in the end, we got it all out in time and everyone ate tons of food. Here are two pictures from the night.



Here is what the table settings looked like.Each gift bag had 3 Hershey's kisses, 3 Hershey's Nuggets, 2 homemade cowboy cookies, and one candy cane, all wrapped in cellophane gift bag and tied with green curling ribbon.












Here is what it looked like with the fireplace and the ward eating.











As you can see in the picture, we had lots of people come. Our last couple meals the numbers seem to have increased. I generally try to get a count, but I was busy changing pans out and such and did not get an exact number this time. We had 96 place settings though and only a few were empty and at least 1 table sat more than 8, so I would estimate we had around 85 or more attend. One funny thing that happened is halfway through setting our tables, another ward showed up. Apparently the building was double booked or someone did something wrong, but thankfully the building we were in was a huge family stake building, so they were able to use the other half of the gym without any problem. Even funnier is that their ward kept coming to peer in on our setup and the high councilor in our ward came in and said, "There's another ward over there...but our stuff looks way better." The food turned out really well. We ended up only having a few servings of a couple things left. The au gratins were scraped completely clean. The most gratifying comment I like hearing is when people say "I usually hate (insert food here), but I had some of those and I loved them." It's a big part of why I love cooking for people. Not for the glory of being able to brag about making people love foods they didn't like before, but just being able to provide them with a meal they truly enjoy, to me, makes it worth it. Seeing my ward go back for seconds and thirds and fourths and with all the thank yous and high fives, and even a hug I got, I know it was mission accomplished. During a week of finals and preparing for all the hustle and bustle that's coming, we all were able to sit down and relax with a good meal and good friends. There is nothing better in life.

Now, about that dresser. I was at DI looking for a sheet for our fireplace projection when I saw a very nice dresser at a very, very nice price. So, I bought it. I would like to sell my current dresser and use this one, but if it doesn't end up fitting, I will just re-sell the one I bought. It is nice enough it will be an easy sell. I had intended for it to go in our new house, but due to the high cost of and stress of moving out right now, even though we got the house and had the lease and just needed to sign, we opted to stay where we are. Here is a picture of the dresser.










 It is well built, about 4 and a half feet long, and looks nice. 
















This is the mirror that attaches to the right side of it.










So that, I believe, is about all I have to talk about today. I will visit my grandparents in Murray this weekend, get new tires Monday, and set off for Virginia in a week. I am beyond ready for a little rest and relaxation.

A couple Songs of the Day. First is my favorite version of "White Christmas", by the Drifters (Home Alone anyone?). Second is "I'm Gettin Nuttin for Christmas" sung by Billy Pressman.

Here's a bonus too. Since this was uploaded while I was writing this post, here is the latest from the Piano Guys. They are going all sorts of awesome places to film now! Enjoy!

Well, things are getting real very fast.

Work has become busier and busier and will peak over the next week and a half.

Plans for the drive home have come together and final preparations are being made over the next week.

My ward's Christmas Dinner, after several weeks of planning and altering and more planning, will be Monday. It will be awesome.

Most of my time is spent working on these things, so the time is going by quick. Today, I did have two opportunities to unwind a little before it all becomes true chaos.

This morning, I spent a couple hours out at the gun range shooting skeet. It was about 30 degrees with a strong, steady wind making it feel closer to 20. But a couple jackets, ear muffs and gloves helped a bit. It was a good day of shooting. We are used to throwing the clay pigeons from right next to us and these were being thrown from 15-20 yards in front, so we were shooting at them 30-50 yards out. It took a few shots to get used to them being further out, but at the end of the day, we hit plenty. I hit 2-3 out of every 5. Normally I would want to do better and usually I might be better, but, considering the strong wind, bitter cold, and sometimes having to wait a minute or longer between each single shot, which I learned really throws your groove off, I am happy with my shooting. I'm happy anytime I get to shoot off some shells. I went through 45 of my own 12 gauge shells and also shot a real small shotgun a bit for fun.

I went straight to work from shooting and had a fairly easy day in the kitchen. After 5 hours there, I ran home and changed and a group of friends and I went up to Idaho to the hot springs. We had a good time up there. As usually happens, when I get to a hot spring, I enjoy just unwinding and de-stressing and I do a lot of thinking while I soak. The people I go with generally enjoy being a bit louder and playful, so I always end up breaking off from them for a bit to clear my mind. It feels fantastic sitting in hot mineral water left alone to my thoughts for a bit. Good for my muscles, good for my mind, good for me. Tonight it was nice because a light snow was falling through the evening and that just made it really peaceful. It was also 20 degrees out, so getting out and walking around felt good before hopping back in and thawing out my frozen hair. All in all, it was a worthwhile trip.

In the morning we will bake off some cookies for the ward party, then after church put the cookies in small cellophane bags with some Christmas candy tied off with ribbon for each member of our ward that comes to the dinner. I cannot divulge all the things I have planned for this party, but I planned for weeks so that I could get the absolute most out our budget and make this the best dinner we have made for the ward. This time, everything will be made from scratch by my committee and I. I'll try to get pictures of it all and share how it all went when it's over.

It's been a busy day, so it's time to hit the sack and rest up while I can. Song of the Day is Trans-Siberian Orchestra playing their awesome version of "Carol of the Bells".

This evening, I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one my greatest musical inspirations. The man my dad called the German Leprechaun, John Biehl, passed peacefully in his sleep this afternoon.

I frequently and fondly remember his inspiring renditions of the hymns on piano, organ, and even accordion. Without even looking at a hymnal, he would sit down and play hymn after hymn, transitioning them all flawlessly as if they were one spiritual masterpiece. He is the very reason I own a piano. I loved the way he played and the way I felt when I heard him play so much that I began trying my own renditions of the hymns. At first, they were more centered on the technical aspect of the music. I took piano lessons from Brother Biehl for a short time. Those lessons taught me a lot about the basics of piano playing and now that I have a little better understanding of the different key signatures and how they relate and such, I do what I think he did. I sit down and I play what I feel deep down. That feeling, for me, is indescribable. That is what I mean when I have said in the past, such as my recent blog post on music, that playing calms me.

While he personally inspired me on piano and organ, his accordion playing will never be forgotten by anyone who saw and heard him play. At dances, ward parties and other activities, he would dress up in his German best and entertain us all with his accordion. Every Christmas too, he would make a huge gingerbread house and show it off to the ward. He always seemed like he was 90 years old when I knew him, but he had such a bounce in his step. He was a hilarious guy.

The choirs of heaven have gained a treasured soul today...

This evening, I cleared my dry erase calendar of November and filled it with the days of December. As I did, I paused for a moment in amazement that another year will soon draw to it's close.

 This year, I have immeasurable and innumerable things to be deeply grateful for, and, as usual, after Christmas, I will do my year in review, but this coming Sunday marks the first day of Advent, which is the season and time of preparation for the coming of Christ. When I reflect on this year and as I look around my room at everything I have, my heart fills with love and thankfulness, because I know that everything I have, from my job, house and clothing to things like my piano, car, and computer, are gifts I have been afforded in this life. Every day I try to live worthy of that, to use what I have to better myself and those around me, to not waste opportunities.

This Advent, I have a goal of truly preparing myself to always have Christ in my life. I will give service to others, share what I can with friends, and listen closely for promptings of someone in need. During this season of Christ, I want to share my testimony of the goodness of all that I know to be true so that I can partake of the sweet and true spirit of Christmas.

 I have experienced hustling, bustling, busy Christmases where I focus on working and getting extravagant gifts for family and friends, but this year, though I want more than anything to give the world to my family and friends, to deliver them boxes upon boxes of wonderful things to bless their lives, I cannot. But I can give them all of the love and care that I possess, I can give them my heart, I can give them my service. I will give all that I have in my soul.

Anyone who knows me very well probably knows that I listen to all different kinds of music. Today, I wanted to try to explain what music I like, what music means to me, and hopefully convince people that I do, in fact, listen to what people tell me is "normal music", because many people tell me my music taste sucks.

First and foremost, music is a HUGE part of life for me, whether I am listening to it or making it. Music can cheer me up, music can pump me up, music can calm me down, music can help me through a hard time, music can draw me nearer to God, music can help me express myself, and so much more.

I don't think I really have a favorite genre of music. I grew up listening to the oldies, but there are many new songs I love just as much. I enjoy listening to pop songs as much as I do songs of the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. One thing I have noticed in my musical taste is that almost always, I prefer songs with meaning, and usually I play more mellow songs. It just depends on my mood that day. Some days, I'll enjoy listening to a song, but the next day, I'll turn it off when it comes on. I can say that I dislike screamo punk music and the heavier the metal, the less listening time it gets. Rap is not music and therefore will not even be discussed. Country is complicated. There are several country songs I really like, but as a whole, most of it don't make no sense. I really don't care how big your truck is, you don't have to sing about it. Hip-hop is alright most of the time, but if you have to throw a cuss word out every other line, you are missing the point of music. I feel that music is for expression and if all you can express is negativity or crudeness, the world has little use for it. That brings up an interesting point actually. Profanity.

I admit that working in a kitchen for so long, I swear more than I should and more than I would like. It's something I work on. But, I find it kind of funny that we as a society have labeled profanity as a bad thing and we recognize it as unprofessional, yet we accept it as the normal everywhere in media. I mean, look at the root of the word, profane, which literally means vulgar. All these rap artists go out and speak rhythmically to a beat (hehe, that's a sophisticated way to say "rap") about all kinds of crude, vulgar, and essentially stupid things, then they talk about world peace and solving the problems in America. The core of the problems both here and around the world is that we have stopped living with values. I'm sorry, but you can't do both. You can't contribute to the downfall with the vulgar lifestyle and try to fix the problems in the world which are created by the very same lifestyles. Anyway...I got off track.

That is why I prefer mellow music and music with meaning. When you are singing about something good, people feel good. I don't recall a time ever listening to "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" while planning to go fight someone.

Anyway, the gist of what I am saying is that I love to listen to music. What I have on my iPod may be a lot of stuff most people don't have, but most of what I have either came from our old computer growing up or from friends, and I certainly don't only like the music I have, I love listening to other people's music, it is just too huge of a task trying to go through tens of thousands of songs and sort them out. It is far easier to just listen to them and hit skip when needed.

As for playing music, I am not a great pianist by any stretch of the imagination, but I cannot describe how soothing and relaxing playing can be sometimes. There is just something about it that calms me from the inside out. Those days when I feel like I have a knot inside me from all that's going on, I sit at my piano and I play it out of me.

I believe in the power of music. Life would be a dreary and depressing place without it.

And for our Songs of the Day, I have included a few different songs from different genres that I enjoy. The first is a great not stupid country song, "Love Me" by Collin Raye. Next is "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. Third, "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens. And we'll top it off with the king, "Falling in Love With You" by Elvis.

I would like to acknowledge our Song of the Day first today and ask that if possible, you read today's post with sound on so that the spirit of my message might be better felt. Our songs are "Because I Have Been Given Much" played by Marvin Goldstein and "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good" sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

In church today we had a very good lesson and discussion about some things that I felt I should write down. I jotted down some notes and since this is something that applies to everyone, I wanted to share it and hopefully it will help inspire some of you as it did me.

Essentially, we were talking about getting the most out of our lives. Older people had been asked what they would have done better or more of in life and as we read the answers we got to talking about spending time with those we love. In these modern times, we have Facebook and YouTube and whatnot and we read a great quote that said that often we spend too much time sharing trivial things and linking things to friends and family. There is, of course, a time for those things, but doing them too often has its consequences. I think back to a Facebook post I wrote recently about how I am terrible at wasting my time. It said this:

"I wish I was better at using free time...I swear I cycle through the same 3 websites (Facebook, yahoo/email, and a news site) 10 times, then I get up, get a snack/drink, sit back down, cycle through them again...an hour or so later, the monotony gets to be too much, so I walk around my house...when I realize nothing in my house is of interest, it's back to the 3 websites once again...occasionally the routine is broken by me having to pee and sometimes I find a movie to watch, but I really think about 85% of my times is wasted in my cycle of websites and walking around..."

I posted it jokingly, but also with the realization that I can and should be doing much more with my time. Facebook is a great tool to share things with friends and family who are far away, such as when I post my blog link on there. It has great use for certain things, but when all we do is cycle through and through and share rather pointless things, it really does become a bad habit. As someone remarked in our lesson, being on Facebook isn't a sin, but if it is preventing us from doing more important things, it is a problem.

The internet discussion led us to talking about interacting with friends. I can personally attest that the following statement is absolutely true: There is NO alternative to spending real time with someone. No matter how much you may message on facebook, or like someone's statuses, or share youtube videos, or even text message all day long, being with that person, spending actual time together, is irreplaceable. I have some personal examples. This Thanksgiving I spent time with my brother. We occasionally talk online and share funny videos from time to time, but actually spending time with him is a completely different experience. We never stop laughing, we go play sports. The quality of life for the time we hang out is 100% better. Another example occurred also over the break with Cami. Here is what I posted about it on Facebook:

"I am grateful for the tender mercies in this life. Tuesday night, my best friend lost the centerpiece of her world, her beloved dog. She and her dog shared the sweetest love I have ever seen between a dog and owner. So sweet and gentle was their love that tears filled my eyes upon hearing the tragic news. Today, I went to see her. I was heartbroken and thought that it would be many days before the deep feelings of sorrow began to lift. However, this morning, before I visited, she was introduced to a tiny pup in need of a loving home. It was mere hours since her loss, but, as if it were meant to be, the new pup crawled up onto her shoulder the same way her other dog had and she was moved to bring him home with her. I arrived and expressed my sympathies and was introduced to the pup. I very quickly realized that this dog was sent to her home to bless it with joy and happiness. Dealing with the recent loss will be a painful and difficult trial for them, but I find peace in knowing that although we cannot explain why such a loving dog had to be taken from this life, He is ever mindful of us. I was able to spend half of my day with my friend and her family and I saw that this trial has drawn them all a little closer together. This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the experience I had in witnessing the growth of a family's bond in the midst of adversity."
That experience made a big impact in my life. I will always remember the way I felt that day. Had I not gone out to see her, I would have wasted an entire day cycling through my 3 websites, watching tv, and sleeping.


Our discussion in class moved on to how we can make real behavior changes. The bishop made a great comment about things he has done. He wanted to be better at going to the temple, so he put a temple bag in his car and a shirt and tie so if he was driving by and wanted to stop, he could. He wanted to hike more, so he put a hiking bag in his car with shoes and snacks and water so if someone called him up and wanted to go for a hike, he could. Reading scriptures each night was difficult for him, so he keeps his scriptures on his pillow so he physically has to move them before he can go to bed. If all we do is write down what we want to accomplish, chances are, we won't get very far. Making real behavior changes requires a lot of effort and I think if we put actual physical things in our way to force us to change, it will do a lot. Or, if we want to stop doing something, physically remove things, like if you want to watch less tv, you could move the tv or put a cover over it. Be creative in your methods because it makes a difference.

There are a few hymns that have stuck with me the past couple weeks as I have begun my quest to make the most of my time and to give more of myself. First, Hymn 219:


Second, Hymn 293-

Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.


For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior’s name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.


I hope that we will all strive to spend less time with the trivial things in life and work harder on the important ones. I will leave you with a scripture found in Matthew 6:19-21.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Before things get a little busy with the holiday this week, I wanted to take some time to pause and share some things I am truly grateful for.

First, my family. Every single day something happens that makes me grateful for having such a large and fun family. I have been blessed beyond measure with my family. They have taught me, been examples to me, inspired me, and encouraged me to live a life of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, passion, and so many important values, and those traits have led me to so many successes in my life. When I look at all the great things I have done, I know that I never would have accomplished so much without them. I absolutely love being around them, I can't wait to visit home again, and yes, mom, dad, Lance, Amelia (and Max and Lydia), Michael, Annie, Camilla, Angela, and even little dog Shilo, I love you all.

Second, my friends. I have lived in many areas, met many people, and seen many friends come and go. Although they may not be involved in my life now, they have been important to me throughout my life and during the times that each friend came into my life, they also have done so much to help me find joy and happiness and success. Some have helped me through hard times, some have added brightness to good times, but all are remembered and appreciated deeply.

Third,  my best friend in life, Miss Cami Bodily. I absolutely could not let this Thanksgiving pass without publicly expressing my sincere love, appreciation, and gratitude for this wonderful friend. I don't want to embarrass her too much, and I do not want to sound so boastful that I sound exaggerative, but words just seem to fall short of fully articulating how I feel. Thank you Cami. Thank you for always smiling and always making me smile. Thank you for listening to me, even when I talk about the dumbest things that are of no interest to anyone but me. Thank you for sharing so much in your life with me. Thank you for making my birthday so special. Thank you for my bleach trays and toothbrushes. Thank you for my prized presidential pooper. Thank you for trusting me, for respecting me, for understanding me. Thank you for being you. You are so beautiful. Heart-stopping. Stunning. You shine. You make everyone around you shine. My life has been forever changed for good because of you. It is such a privilege to see you that each time you come, I am as nervous as when I first met you. Thank you for all that you are.

I am grateful for so many other things in life, from electricity and technology to even the simplest of things. I do my best to be mindful of all that I have and look for times when I can give all that I can as well and each night I give thanks for these things. I hope that you all remain mindful throughout your lives of the things you have been so graciously granted in this life. May peace find you this Thanksgiving and keep you well.

First things first, I am officially a first-time uncle!!! Over the weekend, on Saturday, my sister Amelia and her hubby Max brought little Lydia Elizabeth Warnock into the world. She was 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long.




I realized today that we are in a bit of a boring phase. Halloween and the exciting fall colors are past, but Christmas is not yet in full swing. I decorated my house for winter though, which adds a little excitement and this Sunday is our 3rd Annual Pie Night and we expect over 30 people to descend on our humble little townhome to satisfy their sweet teeth.

Also today, I stumbled across a news article about people renting their cars out. I was intrigued and checked it out. Turns out, it is pretty cool! You basically just list your car for rental and they take care of the scheduling and money and everything. The car is fully insured by them, they do a little background check on renters, the renter covers gas, I can put limits on how far they can drive, and they even have 24/7 roadside assistance for the renter. No one in the valley here had their cars for rent, so I thought, what the heck, I'll be the first and maybe make a couple bucks some day. I'm going to try to promote it relentlessly and see if I can get the ball rolling. You should all check it out HERE. You can search Logan, Utah and find me! If you want to sign up to rent your vehicle, use this link (https://relayrides.com/?code=51450rMQduj) and I get credit for signing you up! Even if you don't sign up, it's a cool system you should read about.

As a bonus today, I think everyone should watch these two commercials from Duluth Trading. I linked them to Facebook as well if you want to share them!





Song of the Day is: "The Cello Song" by: The Piano Guys (Steven Sharp Nelson!!)

I would be lying to you if I said the election did not affect me. It did. A lot. But I would also be lying to you if I said I was bitter about the results. I went into election night feeling as confident as could be. I expected a big victory and I was excited for America's real comeback. That did not happen. Around the time I expected everything to start breaking our way, things turned the other way. Live results sway back and forth, but signs began to point to a re-election victory. I held out hope as long as I could, but soon every projection hurt and each time they said "we have another projection for you" my heart raced. When they made big projections such as the GOP keeping the House and the Dems keeping the Senate, they would say "we have a huge projection for you"...on those, my whole body stopped. Then it came. I knew this one was it. I knew that over a year of believing and fighting and donating and talking and reading and waiting was all about to come to the wrong end. The announcement was made. I closed my laptop. My eyes gently closed, my head fell slightly, I took a deep breath and released it slowly. I stood up, walked across the room, my lips pursed. I put my forehead against the wall. I took in the moment, felt the disappointment and tried to understand it.

I reopened my computer and remained in front of my tv to watch the brief concession speech. I wrote a message to my little sister and also to my best friend that I was proud of them for getting involved. I truly am proud of them. Now, a week later, my resolve has not changed. The man I wanted to lead will not, but I still have goals to achieve. I have a future to prepare for. I have hopes and dreams to follow. The path may have more bumps in it now, but I will never stop fighting for what I believe in, both in my personal and this nation's future.

 With the elections done, I have a lot to do. Register for school, keep working, host two holiday parties, make it home for Christmas. The world keeps spinning.

Song of the Day is "May it Be" by Enya.

The sun has set on the final day of the 2012 campaign season. For over a year now, we have watched candidates battle through a brutal Republican primary season that saw more frontrunners than even the wildest Kentucky Derby could see. While the Republicans fought their battles, President Obama sat in his corner, building his armada for the pending war.

From state to state across the nation, Mitt Romney rallied his warriors time and time again and beat what were at times great odds to emerge the victor of the Republicans. He immediately shifted focus to November and began putting his war machine together. His challenge was immense. The nation still reeling from economic troubles. He had to persuade the still bitter members of his own party, as well as the skeptical others across the country to trust him.

Many fell in line behind him with anti-Obama attitudes more than pro-Romney ones. The selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, others began to see the commitment to something greater than self. Once the "i"s were dotted and the "t"s crossed at the nominating convention, things really picked up, but the incumbent maintained a healthy lead.

Enter the first debate.

For many, including our beloved media, the debates are "meaningless". They so rarely make a difference, some wonder why they continue to have them. Mitt Romney reminded us why. I have seen athletic teams crush completely helpless opponents, I have seen cars crumpled and destroyed in accidents, I have seen forces of nature annihilate structures, but I will never forget the blistering lambasting The Governor delivered to The Great Orator. Never before have I seen a man who supposedly cares so much about a cause have so little to say. He was limp. Inanimate. Empty. As politicians do, they tried to spin it. The president's campaign blamed the moderator for giving Romney control. They suggested all sorts of outlandish and outrageous excuses for the president's lack of..well...everything. Americans were smarter than that.

The entire race changed overnight.

Enthusiasm skyrocketed. Money poured in. The polls stopped and turned around. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan were knocking on the door at 1600 Pennsylvania. Suddenly, we did not have to settle for another four years of monotony. Suddenly, people saw a light.

Expectations for the remaining debates were high for the president. He had to stop his slip and slide; he had to right his ship. He came out feisty, but Romney was cool and relaxed and repudiated the president. Romney looked like the president and Obama the challenger. Romney moved through his plans for the future and Obama attacked and attacked, offering little policy of his own. It was too late. The nation had seen what they feared; a weak president with nothing to say, no new ideas to try.

Since the debates the momentum has carried and carried. States once securely blue turned gray, then shifted red. No amount of attack barrages could stop The Governor. It took a literal act of mother nature to slow him for a few days, but when the storms of Sandy had passed, the enthusiasm was still there. The media and the leftists have thrown all they could to help the president, but they just can't stop the movement.

November 6th, 2012: The day we, the people, the leaders of the free world, take charge of our future.

We believe in America, and we believe that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will lead us back to greatness.

I have a lot of more serious things I've wanted to say on here, but with it being election week, I want to have a little fun first and I will post the more serious stuff after the dust settles.

This evening, somewhat out of the blue, I sat up from where I was laying and announced to my roommates and a couple other folks who were present that if Mitt Romney was elected president, I would let my sideburns grow until the inauguration. For those who are unaware, I have had sideburns since Kentucky. In all of my pre-Kentucky pictures, my hair is all the way above the ear. Then, all of a sudden, *bam*, sideburns. I think there was something in the water that became permanent. Either way, after I was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel, I decided that the sideburns would go along with the title. At times I have trimmed them up to the bottom of the ear lobe, but they always remain as a reminder of the honor I received and the responsibility I feel comes with it. With winter coming on, I have regrown them down and in, with the idea of going for civil war mutton chops (I LOVE the movie Gettysburg). They grow rather quickly, so I can only imagine how huge they will be if Romney is the victor.

As for election predictions...I have Romney winning it. 

Just for kicks, here are images of how they look as of this writing.
























Song of the Day: "My Old Kentucky Home"

I love when I don't have to work on a weekend and I have lots of fun and/or productive things to do.

Friday I was only scheduled for 3 hours of work. My car was low on gas and usually when it's really close to empty and I park on the inclined driveway, the gas tilts away from wherever it's supposed to go and I can't start it. That happened Friday. Thankfully, I was leaving my house an hour before work so I could go dispute a Comcast bill. It is unfortunate that the car died and now I can't dispute the bill until next week, but, it was a beautiful 50 degree sunny day after 3 days of cloudiness and rain and snow, so I walked to work, which felt amazing. At work, I was invited to a hockey game with Chef Rich, Dave, who I have not mentioned before but he is the Marketplace Customer Service Manager and he's an awesome guy, and then three other guys I also know well. We have a contract with US Foods that makes them pretty much our food supplier, and they had a suite at a Utah Grizzlies hockey game at the Maverick Center in the Salt Lake and invited Rich and whoever he wanted to bring to come down and enjoy the game. Someone had dropped out at the last minute and since I was there and was getting off work in time to go, I decided to go with them. We had a great time, the suite was cool, the game was really good. It ended in a shootout that Utah won 4-3. It was a genuinely fun time.

Saturday morning I went over and helped Cami, her dad and brother move Cami out of her apartment. She sold her contract and will now save lots of money by staying at home. I remember the days in Texas and Kentucky when we were helping people move all the time. Out here I don't get as many opportunities to help with things like that so I was grateful to be able to help Cami move again.

Kind of a random side note here. Just thinking about liking service opportunities, I am very glad I did not spend my whole life here in Utah. I think here in Utah people get tired of things like helping someone move and whatnot. With such a huge LDS population a lot of things are kind of an accepted normal, even though many people usually dislike some of that. For me, there's nothing I love more than jumping in and helping someone move or driving someone without a car somewhere important, or making cookies or a meal for someone who is down or is stressed. I do it because it feels good and there is really no thinking twice about it. I know not everyone here is like this, but I feel like sometimes people do things more because it's the way things are rather than they have a true desire.

Anyway...it was also good to get up early and start working because I had a lot to do at my place and I was ready to go once Cami was on her way. I got home and got right to work. I started a load of laundry and then spent two hours cleaning out the garage and re-organizing it so I can start parking in there again. I do not want to spend all winter clearing my car of snow and deicing it in the frigid air. Parking in the garage just makes a whole lot more sense. You may hear people who say they are true winter folks because they clear their cars every snowfall and they endure the cold and wetness to do it and yada, yada, yada...yeah, they prolly just don't have a garage. A true hard-core winter person would keep their car safe in the garage.

Once the garage was clean and my car was parked inside, I moved indoors. Dishes, wiping counters, cleaning sinks, vacuuming floors, continuing laundry, just going room to room doing what had to be done. Another couple hours and the house was once again beautiful. I then showered, shaved, played some piano, watched some tv, worked on some upcoming events I'm hosting, had some dinner, and then around 8 went over to a friend's party. I stayed there for a bit and then came back home, tired and ready for a good night's sleep. It's stake conference this week so we'll get church over with early in the day. HURRAY!

Sunday afternoon will probably have a nap in it, I'll try to remember to email recipes to Sister Annie in South Carolina, I'll Skype home to see if the windows are boarded up for Sandy back in Virginia, I may find motivation to make cookies since I keep all the ingredients in stock most always, we'll watch the new episode of the Walking Dead, I'll put in my bleach trays for an hour, then I'll complete the successful weekend with a good night's rest to prepare me for another week.

Things to watch for this week: Pregnant sister Amelia is due to have her baby next Sunday I believe, so be watching for news on that. I will finally become an uncle. Still deciding if I'll be Colonel Uncle or Uncle Colonel. This week is also Halloween, hurray! It is the final week of election season too so I'll be watching the polls and the news as closely as ever. I generally have to go look every two hours no matter where I am or what I'm doing. Oh, and the clocks fall back next Sunday too, be aware. Alright, I think that's all I got.

The Song of the Day is from the Piano Guys. It's their Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts mix. I think it provides a good tone for how upbeat this weekend has been.

Life continues to move along quickly this year in the Logan area. Not even Halloween yet and we have had our first major winter storm, which dumped several inches of snow across the valley with much more in the mountains. It was a very wet snow too. Generally, about one foot of snow accumulation yields one inch of liquid water. In this storm, we had between 2-3 inches of snow, containing 1.42 inches of liquid water. It has snowed on and off since the main storm hit Tuesday, but the snow is gone from the ground now. The mountains look stunning in their majestic white.

This evening, I witnessed a heavenly sunset over the mountains. The sun had come out after more snow had blown through and there were some higher clouds hovering above the mountain. As the bright sun dipped below the peaks, it radiated a magnificent brightness off the clouds and it just looked amazing. Usually a great sunset here is because of the pinks and oranges, but this one was a beautiful bright yellow contrasted against a very blue sky and highlighted by the snow-capped mountain peaks. It was a moment I wish I could share in picture with you, though even a picture could not capture the majesty of the moment.

I do, however, have a picture of the snow.



I recently announced I was going back to school and asked for donations. As of this writing, there have still been zero donations, so, I recently began looking for a part-time night job. There isn't much out there, but I hope to find something to help alleviate the burden.

The following video I shared on Facebook and would like to share again here. I like it because I think it helps show the passion and patriotism Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have for this country that I think our current president seriously lacks. President Obama did not grow up in America. He grow up overseas seeing America differently. He does not love America and you can hear it every time he speaks. You can hear it emanate from Romney when he talks about how great we can be.



Today, the Song of the Day is "Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon and Garfunkel.

Yep, beginning in just a month and a half, I will be returning to college at Utah State University to pursue a degree in Political Science. I am excited, nervous, freaking out, and still kind of shell shocked that I put everything together in literally a matter of just a few short days (everything was done in one day except my BYU transcript because I had to fix an administrative oversight to up my GPA before it was sent). I can't apply for federal aid or scholarships this semester, so, donations can be sent to my address here in Logan...seriously. Not. Even. Joking. Send money.


In other news, I neglected to mention that on Sunday I watched Felix Baumgartner's 24 mile skydive live. I took pictures on my phone and screen grabs on my computer throughout. It was really amazing to watch.

Also, today was Cami Appreciation Day. Let me explain. Cami has had a lot of little medical problems throughout this year. Her wisdom teeth were taken out way back in May and she has had infections and complications that continue even today. She hurt her back and has had pain from that all year. She has a little cyst on her neck and recently had a pain in her thumb diagnosed as a growth on her tendon, which may have to be cut off (the growth, not the thumb). This morning, she had to once again be inconvenienced by going to the doctor, this time at 6 am, to have her finger MRI'd. Seeing as none of these problems are quick fixes and she keeps being inconvenienced by doctors and such, I thought that she could use some positivity to distract her from all the dumb negative stuff that undoubtedly is causing her some stress. So, the other day, I decided that today would be Cami Appreciation Day. I shared the below poem with her last night, surprised her with this delivery of flowers today, and had a bunch of people at work send her picture messages of them holding signs that said "Happy Cami Appreciation Day!"

The Poem: