3 years ago, on a day trip up from the resort I was working at,  I went to find housing for the fall semester. I had only a couple hours to search before I had to pack up and head back down to work. In that time I looked at a couple different apartment complexes on the west side of campus. I had already decided I did not want to live south of campus due to the overpopulation in that area. I remember the first place I looked at. It was nice, had a fair amount of space, had a pool, but had an electric range. The price was great, the location great, and I put it at the top of my list. The same people who managed that complex also managed a different complex two blocks over. It had just been changed from women's to men's housing (though they rent to couples in the summer) and because of the change, it was not familiar to many people and had some spots left. I went and looked at it. The downstairs apartment I looked at was not the greatest, but the location was even better, it had a washer and dryer in each unit, and it had gas burners. The price was more than I was looking for, but I decided to sign up. A little over a month later, I moved into what became not just my apartment, but my home.

The first year in Apartment G was a struggle. I returned to my campus job, where I was laid off after the Christmas break. I tried as best as I knew how to keep afloat. I took a door to door sales job selling attic insulation that was mostly or fully rebated by the local utility companies. The pay was good, but the job itself difficult for me. I was still feeling some major mental and emotional effects of the chronic fatigue I had experienced the prior year. At the time, I thought I was ok and could make it on my own, but I was very young and quite immature. I really had no clue what I was doing. After a good two months of pay, the rebates changed, forcing our business to basically shut down, leaving me once again out of a job. I applied for many, many positions. The economy had been great in recent years, but was dead when I needed work the most. For the next several months, I lived off of the extreme generosity of friends and family. Finally, I had to resort to desperate measures to avoid eviction, homelessness, and starvation. My pride would not allow me to fall back on moving home and I was in a relationship, that, although was very volatile for my situation, I refused to end. With seemingly nowhere else to turn, I went to my bishop. Bishop Gray. He scrambled for me and helped me pay my rent. A conversation with my good friend Eef had me applying for food stamps. I did not want to rely on these means for long, but my job search brought me nothing.It is difficult to accurately describe how I felt at the time. One part of me knew that I had to get into a better situation, but the other part of me wanted to keep me down, to let me wallow in the absolute misery I was really in. Through the grace of a being greater than all, despite the shackles of misery that bound me and the crushing circumstances I let myself endure, month after month I still had my apartment.

A July firework stand provided some relief. It bought me a few month's rent while I tried to find sustainable work. Finally, at the end of the year, I was given a job at the Sundance resort. Unfortunately, I was ill prepared to return to the full time work force. My depressed attitude throughout the year had me beaten down. I was excited for my work and I tried very hard to perform my duties well, but I needed to feed from the positive energy of others, and in the kitchens at Sundance, I was completely on my own. Making matters worse, all my co-workers were Hispanic, and though they all spoke pretty good English (some were born here in America), they would speak in Spanish. It did not take long before I had no clue what was going on, things went South, and I was let go from my position.

I'm not sure exactly where it happened, but somewhere between getting that exciting Sundance job and having that opportunity taken from me, something clicked deep inside me. I began to be a little more self aware and realized that I was wasting my life. It was at this time that the story of last year's summer began. If you follow my blog, you are familiar with this story, if not, I will summarize. In April of last year I finally got a real job that would last. I was hired as a supervisor in the food department at Seven Peaks Water Park. A combination of things led to me turning my life around completely. That dating relationship that was hurting me was let go of, I read the Book of Mormon through, I paid off my debts and freed myself completely financially, coming off the food stamps and making my own payments on my housing. For the first time in a couple years, I was legitimately happy. Since that time, I admit that I have been far less than perfect in continuing in that level of happiness. I have been gainfully employed all year, though my financial planning and priorities have been in need of some improvement. I got back in school and have completed two successful semesters as a part-time student. Tomorrow, I come full circle and having moved out of my apartment now, I will move back to the resort to pick up where I kind of left off, except that this time, I plan on doing things right.

During these past 3 years, my apartment saw me through it all. No matter what kind of day, week, month, or year I had, each night, I went home to my apartment and to my cozy bed. My apartment saw me smile, laugh, frown, cry, shout for joy, shout in anger. It saw me dance, cook great recipes, establish lasting friendships, and it hosted many guests, ranging from home teachers to student athletes. My apartment was my friend and my apartment was my home. My refuge.

So long Apartment G, I will miss you.

Saw this on Facebook a minute ago and thought I'd share it (it's been chilly here lately)

INSTALLING SPRING...
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Installation failed. Please try again.
404 error: Season not found.
Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable in Utah. Please try again.

 

Anyway...the past 2 days have been an utter nightmare. I packed up lots of stuff and was getting rid of things slowly over the past week. I thought today would be fine. I figured I'd finish packing and move out, go to graduation, then finish the cleaning check and be done. Well, the only thing that went to plan was graduation. I went and watched Phillip graduate today, then went straight home a minute or so after he walked across the stage and we hooted and hollered. I absolutely refuse to relive the nightmare of the rest of the day, but I will summarize it. Between former roommates, current roommates that just moved out, me, family, ex-girlfriends, friends and who knows who else, I acquired more stuff than I could ever need. I found that most of the big items I had were the things I had bought or brought home. All of the little things, which made up 90%  of the stuff I didn't need, came from other sources. As I emptied every nook and cranny today, I realized I had to just get rid of it all. So, I went on craigslist and placed an ad in the free stuff section that said I was putting tons of stuff out on the porch and if you wanted it you had 5 hours to come look through it all. I put out my tv stand, a microwave, clothes, toys, books, hangers, an old wireless G router, and tons more. Essentially anything I either would not need this summer or on my mission, or things that I had no room to take with me. we could have kept a few things, but I have no storage space anywhere, so in the end, I just gave it all away. There was no shortage of people who either saw the ad or saw the big "FREE" sign I put out with an arrow pointing to the massive rows of things. I actually feel good about it. One guy, a very pleasant man with an accent from somewhere in the middle east, even took all of my canned goods that would expire the end of this year and said he would take them down to the soup kitchen. Because I only had a limited bit of storage space which I can only really use temporarily, I only kept kitchen hardware. No food. I gave that guy the dry goods and I gave Evan and Phillip my eggs, milk, and frozen food (which was just popsicles, popcorn shrimp and some corn dogs I bought to get me through this week). I'm glad that so many people were able to come get some good quality stuff for free. 

The inside of my apartment was a disaster. I was supposed to do a cleaning check at 4 and be out of the apartment. At 4:20 when they came, we still had tons of stuff inside. They said they'd come back at 5. At 5, we were just taking out the last things. Thankfully, I live with the owner's son, Brandon, who is in Idaho until tomorrow and isn't doing his cleaning check till Monday when he switches apartments. So, they gave me till then. Mike, Annie, and Evan (a little) helped me clean as much as we could until about 6. The guy will check it out in the morning and call me to tell me what needs to be done to pass when they officially check it off on Monday. I think all I really need to do is wipe down the fridge, one cupboard and then do one window and possibly the kitchen floor. Whatever I don't do they will charge me for and take it from my deposit. To be honest, I plan on doing all I can Monday morning before leaving for the resort and then just letting them charge me if I can't finish. 

I know I made it seem like it wasn't too bad, but today was the absolute most stressful Friday of my life. Thankfully, tonight we went to a baseball game with Phillip and his mom (who is visiting for his graduation). His mom is so much fun. Phillip had duties to attend to during the game (this was his last time working ever for BYU), so I sat with his mom and we just talked the whole time. I would explain the game and then we'd talk about sports in New Zealand and food in Australia and other fun stuff. Some day, I plan on moving to New Zealand and living at Phil's place. I'm practically part of the family. 

I'm up at Grandma's now. We were going to get here at 5 and go out for steak, but we changed that plan long ago today. We ended up finally getting here at about 11 pm. As if we weren't stressed enough from today, traffic was at a standstill so we exited and took state street to Lehi then got on the freeway.

I'm going to enjoy 2 days of no stress before heading down to finish moving, pack up the car and go down to Zion. I'll certainly miss people up here, but I'll be up at least once this summer. 

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten my tribute to my apartment. I'll get it on here soon enough.

Today I got my official start on finally moving out of my apartment. I spent about 4 hours or so packing up what I could pack and getting rid of what I could today. I emptied my suitcases of their storage and got all of the boxes I've been saving out so I could get an idea of what I'm dealing with. My plan is to head down to Zion's with just a couple suitcases. I have used my hard shell suitcase to store all of my personal things to save like cards and pictures and newspapers and things like that. I'm hoping to find someone in the family this week who will let me store that and a few small boxes for awhile. I am packing up my non-perishable food for Mike and Camilla to have. I'll also put together a college starter kit for Camilla so she won't have to spend too much money on kitchen supplies.

It hadn't really hit me until the last couple days that I am really leaving. Today with the packing it kind of hit like a freight train. After nearly 3 years in this apartment and in this ward, it's crazy to think of how different things will be. It's more than just a move. It's a huge lifestyle change. In a matter of one weekend, I'll go from a big town to the middle of nowhere. I'm leaving all of my friends behind. But, all the not-so-positives aside, I'm really excited. I'll be working in a kitchen again, running the morning operations and learning all I can about everything culinary so I can become a chef. I'll be working on becoming certified in the ACF too, which is really exciting for me. This summer, I'll be saving up practically all of my pay and FINALLY submitting my mission papers. This summer, some of the best scenery in the country will be at my disposal for me to explore. I'll also get to cater Amelia's wedding and spend a couple days at home. This summer is going to rock.

Stay tuned this week for the tribute post to my apartment.

I finally got my hands on pictures from the Iron Chef competition. I also threw in the group picture from the Food and Candy expo. Also, if you did not read my latest post, scroll on down and check it out, you won't want to miss the link to my youtube premier.

Classes are over and all that remains is finals and moving before my summer begins.

But, before I even get to all that, I have lots to share. First, my youtube premier. For public speaking, we had a group project where we had to make a video. We took a commercial about adoption that aired between conference sessions and made it into a documentary about our teacher, who we call Coach, because she's more of our public speaking coach than a teacher. There are things you need to know before watching the video. First, in demonstration speeches throughout the semester, she told us all the truth about the first thanksgiving; also, she told us how she had 3 black cats growing up, and they all died, so she was the bad luck instead of the black cats; next, she gave a speech about flag burning and how she thinks it is ok, and finally, she went sky diving once before. Oh, and she is extremely energized and crazy...in a good way. Basically, lots of it is inside jokes, but you can still enjoy it. What impresses me about it is that we had only 45 minutes to film everything and the battery was about to die on our camera, so everything is completely improvised.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF6cYA0wkls


This week went by quickly. All of a sudden it's time to start packing and take finals. Today though, we had the annual Physical Facilities Student Appreciation BBQ. Vehicle Rental, where I work, is part of physical facilities. Physical facilities is one of the most important departments. Essentially nothing happens without us. Grounds, custodial, all the shops (electrical, paint, auto, carpet, woodwork, etc.), the motor pool/vehicle rental, central heating and a few others are all part of it. Physical Facilities employs thousands of students. Anyway, every year they have a bbq on the soccer field. It was great fun and free food. They gave out lots of cheap prizes like frisbees, cups, thermos cups, hats and stuff...whatever surplus they could get from across campus basically. I won a shirt and I picked out a Cougarettes shirt, which I am proudly wearing right now. It's from their dance camp last year, but, I figure since I supported the Cougarettes a lot this year and went to parties with them and hung out with some of them, I should have a shirt from them. My life is now complete.

After eating 2 chicken sandwiches, lots of fruit, chips and a huge chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, I went to the tennis match next to the soccer field and had some pizza and enjoyed some good tennis. In all, it was a good day for free food. Today is also 75 cent California Cheeseburger day at Sonic, so I'll see if I can't talk Mike or someone into going to pick some of those up for dinner. We've been enjoying those for the past month since we found out about the 75 cent Thursdays. They are big and filling, so 75 cents is a good investment for us.

All you folks back home I hear are excited for your package to arrive. Inside you'll find a duffel bag, a shoe bag, some small BYU hand towels and a larger, nicer BYU hand towel, several t-shirts, most of which are new (I think only 1 is used), a hoodie, a BYU insulated can holder dealio, 2 sets of BYU Basketball player cards, a bunch of white BYU pom poms (which were waved proudly during this record-breaking basketball season), 2 tins of mints and 1 tic-tac type of container of mints. There may be something I missed, but I think that is all of it. Let me just say that I sent these things home for ALL OF YOU to enjoy. I did the best I could when getting these to get smaller sizes so the girls could share them. Especially the hoodie. I like that hoodie a lot, but I know how much you guys like BYU gear too and it's not so easy or free for you to get it, so I got you a small to SHARE. By the way, Angela, the mints aren't the same type as the ones you love, but they taste SO good. SOOOO good. I think they're better than those ones from Simon.

I thought there was something else big to talk about, but I can't think of anything else. Send $$, that's always important. Always look before you cross the road, and if you don't do that, always look before you cross your mother. That's important too. Hmm, I guess I'm finished here.

Enjoy the song by Cher from her recent film Burlesque (which you should not watch).

I have a special treat for you all today. If you read my last post, you probably wish you could have seen the rain delay skits I talked about. Well, thanks to smart phones and youtube, I have just that. Enjoy a compilation of a few of the skits performed by BYU and Air Force this past week during a baseball rain delay.

This week we saw a lot of sports. The end of year prizes were given out for Cougar United Tuesday at a softball game doubleheader, so we went and picked up our stuff and watched a game and a half of softball. The next night, Wednesday, we watched a baseball game. It was delayed by rain, which we thought would suck, but, we learned that apparently baseball teams entertain the crowd during rain delays. The teams would go back and forth doing skits, possibly challenging each other communicating via writing on a baseball and throwing it between dugouts. We saw a good dozen or so hilarious skits during the hour and a half delay. They ranged from fishing to bowling to curling, which was great because our player slid down the sopping, freezing cold tarp for that one. It was entertaining, and then we went on to win the game pretty solidly. We took Friday off from sports because we had spent hours out in the cold through the week. Then, today was the football spring game. It's been on and off snow and rain for the past several days and last night, and last night we got a bit of snow on the ground. The snow continued to fall throughout the morning. So, we finally got a snow game...we just never expected it to be a spring game in April. The snow didn't stick to the field, but it fell for most of the hour and a half game. It was a good game and the underdog white team came back to win on a 2 point conversion in overtime.

The snow has continued on and off all day. We'll warm up a bit around Monday I think. I spent most of this week outdoors between work and games, so I'm ready for some warmth again.

Just wanted to put in my two cents about the government shutdown avoidance. Pray hard or we're all gonna die. And, I don't know how much you all know about Planned Parenthood, but my public speaking teacher knows tons about them and despite all the crap they say about women's health and such, their number one focus is abortions. They have somewhere around 800 abortion clinics across the nation and their business model is basically to promote teen pregnancy so they can make a profit off of it. They talk about women who haven't been to a doctor in years. Well, if they are healthy, there is little need for that anyway. My teacher had a friend who went to a Planned Parenthood because they are supposed to have all sorts of information for planning parenthood. They had NO information and had no advice to offer. So, as far as I know, don't fall for anything they say about women's health and actual planned parenthood. They are only concerned with abortions and their funding...a HUGE majority of which comes from the government.

Well, the past week has been very packed full of lots of fun things and I've tried sitting down to write about it all, but it has either been too late at night or I did not have time to sufficiently cover everything. Hopefully I can get it all in now.

The trip to the resort went great. Annie and I drove down Friday evening and spent the weekend there. They put us up in a nice cabin suite complete with bathroom with shower, a queen bunk bed, tv w/cable, mini fridge, and heat/ac. After a good Friday night's rest and a great breakfast, I met with the chef and went over everything important. I got chef pants and chef coats and toured the kitchen and got an idea of how everything will work. After that Annie and I went out an enjoyed the amazing weather. The morning and early afternoon were very warm. We played tennis, billiards, ping pong, horseshoes and I showed Annie the resort. We had a good lunch, nap, and dinner and then watched UK lose their basketball game. After another good night's rest we had breakfast, packed up and headed back to Provo. Less than 50 miles from the resort we found that it had snowed that night. The further north we got, the more snow there was. Turns out, the storm was pretty significant. Provo got between 4 and 6 inches, areas in the southern parts of Utah and Salt Lake valley got as much as 8. The ski resorts got plenty as well. Most resorts will stay open through the next few weeks, with one saying they will be open until Memorial Day. All in all, the trip was great. Our only cost was gas and 2 fast food meals (one on the way down, one on the way back up). It was nice to enjoy the serenity of the resort and have no obligations.

The other big thing I did this past week was attend a Food and Candy Expo sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists. There were 130 companies with booths set up, most of which had samples and other swag. The companies ranged from flavor companies to spice companies to freeze dried food companies, food fortification companies, food color companies, food technology companies and more. I brought home product samples of flavored drink mixes, chocolates (even some probiotic chocolate), cookies, candies colored by different companies, caramel corn lots of pens and more. At the event, I sampled salt reduced/alternative foods, freeze dried pineapple and all sorts of different products. It was really neat to see just how HUGE the food science industry is. It's one of the few industries completely unaffected by the recession and an industry where you are guaranteed a job when you graduate. I talked with a guy about all my culinary background and he said that the industry definitely needs more people who know food and not just science. Maybe one day I'll become a corporate chef or something. We'll see.

That brings me to the cool thing I learned at the resort. This summer I'm going to be working towards certification with the American Culinary Federation. Basically what that means is that I will learn the things necessary to get a certain certification. It's essentially a culinary education not at a school. Sort of like an apprenticeship studying under a chef. The certifications start at certified culinarian, then go to sous chef, then executive chef, then the coveted master chef. I would like to become an ACF certified Sous Chef first, but that will take some time. One day though, I for sure want to be certified as a Master Chef...but that's years and years away.

Check out these cool cookies I had at the food and candy expo. They are fruit flavored and have a very light texture. They're pretty awesome: Vosswinkel Cookies

Oh, and to Angela back home: As I was on my way home today I was going by the duck pond and there was a duck diving under just like your facebook profile picture. He/She/It was kicking it's legs to get further down. Thought it was hilarious!

I love April Fool's Day. The newspaper has a good prank, everyone gets engaged on Facebook, and this year, we had the best weather day of the year, which, funny enough, is kind of a prank, because tomorrow the winds will blow and by Sunday morning, it'll be raining and snowing again. Everyone complains about cold days and snowstorms when "it should be spring!" But, I welcome those storms. The day the storms stop and it's sunny and warm every day is the day that the cool spring ends and the hot, hot summer begins.

Today was really a phenomenal day though (and it's not even over yet). The low was 47 and the high should peak around 65 or higher. I busted out the shorts and t-shirt and walked to work. It was perfectly chilly. The temperature where you don't need to wear a jacket in the morning and have to lug it around on your shoulder the rest of the day. Work was a breeze. This week has been average and fairly slow. We had 2 trucks scheduled by the Provo Temple to go up to the Ogden Temple, which is closing for a MAJOR renovation, to pick some stuff up and bring it to Provo. So we spent the day making the old trucks shine. It took a good few hours and when they were done we felt proud. When people talk about the Ogden Temple renovation, we will tell them we helped with that (even though we have no clue what they are picking up in the trucks).

In a couple hours, I'm heading down to my resort with Annie. I'll meet with the chef, do some hiring paperwork and in the morning they want me to work in the kitchen to get an idea of what I'll be running when I go down at the end of this month (HOLY COW, IT'S APRIL!). We'll enjoy the resort and warm southern weather and then come back up Sunday. No worries though, I will be catching up on conference when I get back.

Today really was great. The weather invigorated everyone. On my way home from work, I saw about 100 times more people than I usually do walking home on a Friday. There were people on the grass studying, people on the grass sleeping, people out walking, people out running, a group of dancers practicing dance, a yoga group stretching, people talking, and most pleasantly surprising, everyone was smiling. There was a real energy to campus this afternoon. It was refreshing because the weather isn't the only thing that turns cold in winter. The residents here do too.

Enjoy the songs today.

Today was kind of a crazy day. I have not treated my body well recently, so I slept through my class lecture this morning. There's no deduction for missing class, but I really enjoy the class and there is no good substitute for being there, even if I copy the notes, it's just not as good. So, this morning I felt pretty horrible. Since I felt so bad, I decided I could use a pick me up. Today the auditioned choirs of BYU were doing an assembly for the devotional. I went to that, which really helped me feel better. They sang a bunch of folk songs and ended with a great piece that I do not remember the title of. Regardless, it was what I needed. I also benefited from treating myself to a $3 polish dog at J-Dawgs. If you've never had J-Dawgs, you won't understand how that could make you happy. It was delicious.

I have been in need of a haircut, but they cost a good bit of money and despite their being a $5 available on Wednesdays at a local barber shop, the last 2 times I went to them and have never been satisfied. One time the guys hair cutter thing kept yanking my hair. It wasn't a haircut, it was a hairpull. Anyway, after a good day at work I went to the BYU Barbershop. Since I planned on selling my love sac today, I figured I could afford it.

Public Speaking this evening was phenomenal. We are doing persuasive speeches right now and some of my classmates had great speeches. Mine is next week, so I have a week to stress about it and get it done. What was so great about class was that we had a guest. One of my classmates is the daughter of Olympic Gold Medalist Peter Vidmar. He won 2 golds and a silver in men's gymnastics in the 1984 olympics. He scored a perfect 10 on the pommel horse to win one gold, the team won the team all-around for another gold, and he got silver in the all-around individual. He was the highest scoring gymnast in olympic history. He has tons of big accolades that I could spout out all night, but after the olympics he gave a speech to a group and that developed into a public speaking career that has gone on for 27 years now. It was amazing to hear him talk about his life and how things happened. What's so great about these opportunities is that you get to hear embarrassing stories and awkward moments and things like that. It was really, really cool. He became a gymnast because the current BYU women's gymnastics coach did a performance once that Peter Vidmar saw and he loved it. His father was a gymnast too but passed away before he could see him perform and take him down the gymnastics road. Anyhow, it was really, really awesome to have him in class and talk to us.

After class this evening, I did sell my love sac. I really hate to see it go and all anyone says to me is "Why are you selling it?" (even the people I sold it to wondered why I would get rid of such a comfortable, huge, awesome love sac). I would love to keep it. I would love to take it to Zion's with me. I'm sure there is a spot for it somewhere, but, even if I had room down there for it, I have no way to transport it around with me everywhere. It's 6 feet long, 3-4 feet tall. It just had to be done. I got $30 less than I paid for it for over 6 months ago, so that's pretty dang good. It's a great deal for everyone involved. Next thing to sell is my bike. My bike got me through last summer and the first half of the winter perfectly. I still ride it to work occasionally, but I like walking since it's just a mile, so since I can't take my bike with me either, it's time to sell it. I'd like to get between $75 and $100 for it. I might see if I can get a tune up on it for really cheap so it'll be in great selling condition. It's great how it is, but it has sat in the winter weather, so it could use a little tune up. I shouldn't have much trouble selling it. Many people buy old bikes and fix them and sell them. Since mine needs no fixing, it should sell well.

That's all the news today. It's way late so I best get to sleep. I'm going to have to give up some movies and tv shows I watch with Phillip and my roommate to get the sleep I need from here on out. In just a month I'll be getting up at 5 am for work. I can't be late for that.

Enjoy two totally different songs titled "What a Wonderful World".

As the summer quickly approaches, I must downsize. One of the more difficult things to get rid of is my love sac. Difficult for many reasons. First, I love it. It's so comfortable and nice and with a projector it is a must have. Many people have enjoyed my love sac. I've even had a BYU Cougarette dancer use it. Thankfully, with so many people having enjoyed it, many people were also eager for me to sell it. I purchased it at the end of summer for $150. Love sacs can get worn down and ruined if not properly taken care of, so their value decreases a little quicker than most furniture (except for Wal-Mart stuff, which is completely worthless after the 90 day return period ends). I took good care of my love sac, so the foam inside has kept it's integrity and the outside looks as gorgeous as new. With this one being around a couple years old, I was happy to get $100 for it, but knew I may have to accept a bit less, despite it's immaculate condition. But, things worked out well and I will be selling it for $115 this week. I am very glad to get $115 and I think the buyer is getting a really, really good deal. $150 was a great deal when I got it and it's in practically the same condition now, so I feel good about both sides of the deal.

Seeing the love sac go will be tough. We'll have to do without it for the last few weeks I'm here, but I think we will manage. Mark my words though, I fully intend to own a love sac after my mission. So you all can either start saving to get me one now, or I can just frivolously buy one on a whim later.

The good thing about this sale is that I need the money to help finish paying this semester off. It also helps me realize that I really am moving and I really do have to get rid of things soon. I've been here long enough that it never seemed like I would leave. On that note, there will still be that upcoming post about my apartment and all that's gone on here over the past 2 and a half years.

Enough about all that. This evening we had a little party for Annie. I made cowboy cookies with white chocolate and red velvet cupcakes (which were actually blue because I didn't want to buy red food color when I had other colors). Mike and I decorated the apartment yellow with streamers and yellow smiley face balloons. We watched "Tangled", which Annie had not seen, and that was our party. Annie had fast Sunday today and hadn't eaten, so I snagged some food from Evan, who was having a dinner, so she got food other than cookies and cupcakes.

This week I have to write a little paper, do a little quiz, write a big speech, go down to the resort, and improve my sleep habits.

I have a couple sinks full of dishes from baking today, so I better sign off and get 'em done before it's too late.

Enjoy some classic Robin Hood songs....oh, and as always, send $$

It had to happen one way or another; either a championship win or a heart breaking loss. After a rough and tough game last night, the heart break began. We mourned briefly before joining thousands across the world in celebrating this record breaking season. And ever so fortunately for me, I was there.

When we completely destroyed San Diego State, I was there.
When Jackson Emery broke the BYU all-time steals record, I was there.
When Jimmer hit countless 3 pointers from anywhere between 30 and 40 feet out, I was there.
When James Anderson got away with practically throwing a New Mexico player off the court going after a loose ball, I was there.
When 5,000+ lined up for hours and hours and hours before games, I was there.
When Deron Williams and CJ Miles had to see Jimmer for themselves, I was there.
When Jimmer broke pretty much every record for points in a game, season, and career, I was there.
When tons of Jimmer youtube videos and songs were created, I was there.
When the BYU bookstore sold more #32 jerseys in the past 3 months than all the football jerseys they've sold in the past decade combined, I was there (but too poor to buy one).

I attended all the home games but one over the past 2 seasons and I have witnessed BYU Basketball at its best and worst. I watched the Jimmer when he had mono. I watched the Jimmer get beat up like he was a punching bag several times, with, of course, no fouls called. I remember early this season when Jimmer could go to a volleyball game and a women's basketball game without being mobbed. I was there. I saw it all and I count myself dang lucky I did. I'll still enjoy watching the awards and accolades roll in as Jimmer Fredette wins more player of the year awards, more all-american awards and ultimately, as he achieves his goal of reaching the NBA.

To say today's weather was crazy would be a huge understatement. Today's weather was phenomenally wicked gnarly weird. We had sunshine, cloudiness, cold, warmth, snow, sunshine, clouds, snow, cold, warmth, sunshine with snow, more cold, wind... I can't even describe how odd it was. It was cold enough for snow to fall, but warm enough it would melt on contact with the ground. I think in all about 3 little storm fronts moved through today, each one changing the weather a bit. I thought it was fascinating, albeit strange. At times it felt like a weird spring storms, but at others it felt like an early winter storm. So interesting.

I am thoroughly enjoying my classes this semester. Nutrition has been so much fun for me. I love the information and it's never hard to do the homework and study for tests. I look forward to them. Public speaking is also just phenomenal. I have learned so much and have developed my speaking abilities so much and I can't wait to speak in church or anywhere else so I can utilize all I've learned in a speech outside of class. I'm kind of sad that my classes are ending, but my education certainly will not end this year when the semester ends. I will learn so much this summer too and I'm way excited for that. This year is turning out to be the best I can remember and it's just getting started. If everything goes as it should, I'll end the year either in the MTC or about to go into the MTC, where my education will reach even further and deeper. What a year this will be.

Today I wanted to share a couple things that I've been thinking about this week. The first has to do with "cleanliness is next to godliness." Over the past semester, I've worked hard to keep my apartment in good order. Dishes, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, keeping things organized, throwing out clutter, and other things like that. As I have done this, I have noticed a huge change in myself. When my room gets cluttered with dirty laundry, trash, and all the other stuff I have, I change. I become lazy in all my daily activities. I get stressed quickly. My temper shortens and my mood turns sour. When my room is not clean, I stop cleaning everything and in a day or sometimes even less, dishes pile up, counters are covered in crumbs and stickiness, and the entire apartment gives off a very negative feeling. I find myself late to class or sleeping through class. I eat less healthy. Ultimately, I lose the spirit quickly. Those times are not good. I can usually only stand to live like that for a couple days before my conscious puts up a red flag and I set aside an afternoon to clean things up. As soon as things are clean and in order again, the stress is gone. I feel a load removed from me. My mood sweetens again and my tolerance and patience levels increase. The spirit is again welcome in both the apartment and in me. I encourage everyone to keep your home clean. You may be doing everything else perfectly, but I promise you the spirit cannot and will not dwell in a dirty and cluttered home.

The second thing I have been thinking about is my life. As we all do, I sometimes wonder what amazing and different things I've done in life. I hear of people traveling the world and doing so many cool and inspiring things. So, recently I began thinking of all the things I have done. I just wanted to share a few. I have experienced the people and the culture of Germany. Enrolled in what I believe to be the best schools I could have attended, I took many mind blowing field trips. I visited museums, zoos, american safaris, omni theaters, the Grassy Knoll, NASA Mission Control in Houston, the city of Atlanta, Georgia, and many other great places many people don't get to see. I've hiked the Appalachian Trail, white water rafted, seen the Grand Canyon, visited Yellowstone, hiked Zion, prepared meals for prophets, apostles, foreign dignitaries, politicians, millionaires, movie directors, producers, actors, and musicians. I witnessed tragedy as the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated directly over my head one fateful day. More importantly, I've traveled across the country with my family, visiting church history sites and national landmarks. I have camped all over the South with my father and brothers. I have walked on frozen lakes with family and friends. I once danced Pilates down the stairs of my bachelor's pad in front of my mother and sister. I sat in the San Antonio Temple with my eternal family as it was dedicated. I danced before the prophet with my brothers and sisters. I walked down Parley Street in single digit weather with my little sister. This summer I have the honor and privilege of catering a sister's wedding. I could go on and on. The point is, my life has been blessed and is every bit as exciting and amazing as any world traveler. No. It's even more exciting and amazing.



Enjoy the song of the day. It's a good one.

Time flies when March Madness is on tv for 4 days straight.

The biggest news of the past week, is of course, BYU advancing to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament! All you doubters doubted our abilities, and finally BYU proved me right. We played the best and most complete game this year against Gonzaga. The Zags never had a chance. I think we'll play well again this week and I expect a great game on Thursday against Florida. They may want revenge on us from last year, but it'll take more than emotion to beat us.

In other news, according to the Stake President, my mission papers can't be submitted until 4 months before my availability date. I'm going down to the resort next weekend for a meeting and to get all the hiring paperwork out of the way before I go down to work. In my meeting I'll discuss my availability with the chef. I may just keep things how they are and submit my papers in July because I can make $10,000 if I stay through November. Things will work out right one way or another. (I did notice that 40 missionaries from Japan were sent home a couple months early because of the disaster, so I really just hope my mission papers get processed before they decide to replace those.)

The weather has been very springy. Very nice and warm one week, then cold and wet this week. That trend will continue for another month or two while everything blossoms and turns green(ish) before the summer comes and plant life dies again.

I was reminded this weekend that I am only human and that I did not have enough recipes ready to warrant a catering preview night, so I postponed it. I have 2 chocolate cupcake recipes to test out when it does happen though. One utilizes cocoa powder, the other melted chocolate. We shall see how they look and taste soon.

I would like to share a video that I think Congress and all of Washington should take into account when looking at immigration. You should all find this very well done and informative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE&feature=related

This is my second post tonight, so if you didn't already read my regular update, scroll down to it and read it.

I just had to share this. Before class at 4:30 I put up a competition on my Facebook page. I didn't want to just say "beware the Ides of March", so I said that anyone who showed up at my apartment dressed as Julius Caesar between 7 pm and midnight would win my services as a chef for a day. I knew Mike and Annie would likely show up and expect a catered party for 1,000 people, so, since they get all of my greatest food from now till I die, I excluded them from competing. With them excluded, I did not really expect anyone to come. I thought there was about a 1 in a million chance. Well, I am completely surprised to announce that someone took me up on the offer and won my Ides of March Sweepstakes.

At around 10 pm, there was a knock at the door. No one was expecting anyone, so I answered it. To my complete surprise, there stood Mr. Tim Flink, a good friend from my freshman ward, dressed as Julius Caesar, with a toga, belt and even an olive branch crown thing. I admit, I was impressed. For his prize, we will be doing a double date featuring a 3 course menu for dinner.

You have to see it to believe it, so we documented it with pictures. 

My apologies for the few day break from here. Once again I have been neglecting responsibility and have been staying up much later than my body tells me I should. It will be a huge difference come about 8 weeks when all of a sudden I have to be up and working at about 6 am. Yikes!

Life is going well. My gums are healing fabulously. I did eat softer and liquid foods for the first 48 hours. Thursday night I did eat a bit of normal food as I sampled our Iron Chef recipes we were testing. But it hurt for the first few days to open my mouth more than part-way, so I stuck to smaller, softer foods. The soreness in my jaw has gone away and I can open my mouth as wide as I want. Of course, everyone always tells me to keep my mouth shut anyway, so that doesn't even matter. But, I am taking good care of my mouth and I think I will heal up without any infections or other complications, which is really good. The right side will likely take a little longer to heal and I can tell that. The left never gave me any problems. The left has been almost like I didn't get a tooth extracted. The right side is still healing better than I imagined and the whole process was WAY easier and painless and much less an inconvenience than I thought, so I'm happy.

The whole daylight savings thing was fun again this year. It's nice having the sun still up at 7 pm and I look forward to mid-summer when it's still up at like 8:30 or so. It also makes the mornings easier. With more natural light coming in the bedroom window earlier, I wake up easier.

This week will be a cooking delight. Sunday I made my asian chicken salad. It's very gingery, so most of you wouldn't like it. Thursday is St. Patty's Day and the 2nd Annual dinner at my place. The dinner and party will go perfectly with a viewing of BYU's first NCAA tournament game included. Then this Sunday, I'll be doing my catering preview, where I'll sample some recipes for comments and ratings.

As the semester draws to a close, I have to start downsizing my stuff. I have made some decisions on some things, but many, many more I have no idea what to do. I am going to try to have some sort of a sale where I can just have tons of stuff for sale for cheap. Try to make a few bucks and get rid of stuff. It's not too hard to undercut Provos' Deseret Industry prices because here everything is a few bucks more than all the other DI's in Utah.

Today was a forum address by Micheal Flaherty, the President and Co-Founder of Walden Media. He gave an absolutely AMAZING address on his experiences and how he became who he is and it was just fantastic. You should all try to see it when it replays on BYUtv or something. It was really, really good. And if you haven't seen movies done by Walden Media (which include Charlotte's Webb, Bridge to Terabithia, and the Narnia movies), you should watch them. The company's focus is family oriented media that helps people ask the big questions and grow to be better. I can't stress how great today's forum was.

If anyone in Virginia is bored, help Angela develop her basketball skills. She is at the perfect time to grow to become the Jimmer of women's basketball. Take her to the church and have her dribble down a dark hallway with people jumped out from behind doors.

Annie's birthday is next week...holy cow!

I'll leave you all today with a great poem to inspire you:

Tonight was the Iron Chef competition. The secret ingredients were phyllo dough, canned tomatoes, and honey butter. We planned on the phyllo dough and tomatoes and were ready for either peanut butter, honey butter or corn flakes for our dessert, so we were way excited.

For our appetizer, I put together chicken with spinach artichoke pyhllo cups. I cut phyllo dough and put it into muffin tins, then filled them with the chicken and spinach artichoke topping. When baked, the phyllo dough browned and retained it's shape so it could be eaten by hand, similar to the lasagna cupcakes I did a couple weeks back. We plated them like pros. I put two phyllo cups between a spread out leaf of kale. It looked like something you would pay $10 for at a restaurant and it tasted that good too. No joke.

The entree was my Rustic Tomato and Quinoa soup. We made a half gallon so we could serve the judges and have lots of samples for the audience. It turned out AMAZING and we put it in green bowls on a white square plate with parsley for garnish and home made garlic croutons. It looked, tasted and was phenomenal.

Our dessert was a banana cooked in honey butter, topped with white and milk chocolate ganache, peanut butter mousse, and candied corn flakes. It was plated on blue plates and also looked and tasted like it came from a restaurant.

Of all the groups, ours received the most attention from the audience and the people documenting the night with cameras and video cameras. Once everything was plated, it looked like we were presenting a sample of a fancy restaurant.

The judges rated everything by taste, presentation, and creativity. None of the other tables had the experience I had on plating and presenting food. We easily blew everyone out of the water on that one. It shouldn't have even been close. We tasted other people's foods and what everyone in my group and everyone who was rooting for us noticed is that none of the groups had 3 good dishes. Each group had 1 recipe that was good, but many had one that was either average or in some unfortunate cases, just poor.

Anyway in the end, in what is the biggest shock I've ever had on an outcome of anything, we lost. One of the judges told us it was close, but she didn't like the tartness of the soup. She wanted it to be sweetened out a lot. The quinoa soup is a peruvian recipe and it is, by nature, a lightly spicy soup. We had half a gallon of soup and we only tossed out the soup the judges ate. Everything else was cleaned out, with people coming back and back for more. What offends me most though, is that we did win an award. The soup won "most likely to end up in a food storage cookbook." How dare they. I was so upset. That award sounds like that's a recipe that's never going to be made. Like a recipe that's going to sit on the shelf until you have to get rid of stuff. Well, first of all, every single ingredient in that soup is fresh, high quality stuff. Second of all, that soup is more likely to be served in a restaurant than ever be put into a cookbook for food storage. THERE IS NOTHING FOOD STORAGE ABOUT IT! Outrageous.

I talked with a lot of people and everyone, with the obvious exception of the winners, was surprised we lost. What's worse is we lost to a group who made a spaghetti for one of their recipes...so original, so creative, so good looking...bull crap.

I'm upset by the outcome of tonight, infuriated by my "award", but I have no regrets. I went in there and made food these people loved and were privileged to see. They likely will not see food of that quality for years to come. I am proud of my team and I am proud of myself for some of the most phenomenal looking and tasting food even I have ever had. It's unfortunate my teammates had to suffer the judging of some professors, but I told them that the food they made tonight was hands down the best. Sometimes you win, sometimes, you lose. Tonight we may not have won the title, but we definitely won the competition in my eyes.

Pictures of our amazing food to come.

My day at the dentist was possibly the easiest I've ever had. Just like last week, I never felt any pain, even when they numbed me. Last week I may have felt a really small pinch, but no pain. This week when they numbed me up, I never even knew they were sticking me with a needle, and they unleashed 4 large syringes full in my gums and cheeks. Though I credit some of this with the gel stuff they rub on before, I think the lack of pain came straight from heaven.

After letting the local anesthetic work it's magic for about 20 minutes, the dentist came back to extract my teeth. Another dentist hovered over and watched so he could learn more about soft tissue extraction. The next part went so quick I couldn't believe it. He said I would feel pressure but no pain, then a quick cut here, a quick cut there, then he grabbed his pliers, grabbed the tooth and shazam, it was out. Time elapsed? A minute at most. The right tooth was similar. It took a few minutes though because he felt a piece of a bone or something after the tooth was out he wanted to remove so it wouldn't get closed in and infect anything. The total time elapsed was maybe 5 minutes. They put gauze in, gave me instructions on how to recover properly, gave me my teeth, gave me a printout of the cost and I was on my way. I went and picked up a prescription for painkillers (just in case) and some pebble ice and that was it. I iced my cheeks for the first couple hours after being home, but there wasn't much swelling. The right side, since he did some digging and irritated it a bit, got a little swollen for a bit. As far as I could tell, the left may have got a teensy bit swollen, but really, there was minimal swelling and it has been gone for hours. I really don't think the removal of my wisdom teeth could have gone any better. No problems. So far, no complications. I'm taking it easy and not going into work tomorrow. I expect that, though I will continue to follow the care instructions through the next week or two, by Friday, I will be in very good shape, which is great because Iron Chef is Friday and after our planning meeting I went to today, it's looking like we are going to do great at that.

BYU plays in the MWC tournament tomorrow. GO COUGS!

As you should all know, by the time most of you read this in the morning, I will have my wisdom teeth removed, and with that, what wisdom I have acquired. Thus, before it is stripped from me, I must impart my wisdom and observations of life to the world. Here is what I got:

• When you find yourself in times of trouble...let it be.
• Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad.
• Don't spit...or pee...into the wind.
• Don't eat yellow snow.
• We should all stop procrastinating...tomorrow.
• You never learn anything by doing it right.
• It is much easier to get forgiveness than permission.
• A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
• That piece of junk you've had for years that you just threw away...yeah, you'll find you need it in 2 weeks.
• One thing I haven't figured out is how there can be self-help "groups"...
• If swimming is so good for your figure, what happened to the whales?
• When in trouble, always ask, WWJD? What Would Jimmer Do?
• If Jimmer swishes a 3 in the woods and no one sees it...
• Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans.
• A carelessly planned project will take three times longer to complete than expected; a carefully planned project will take only twice as long.

There are a few others stuck in my head. I guess you'll never get to hear them.

Anyway, I'm not too stoked for the actual procedure, but I am a little excited to get some prescription painkillers...just kidding...just kidding...though in all seriousness, I am glad I will have something real to help with the pain. I need a speedy recovery. Iron Chef is Friday!

The songs of the day are suitable for today's dental occasion.

When I wrote a quick update last night, it was 2:30 am, so I was quite tired and didn't really say much about the week. Thus, I decided to give a little more recap of the week since I didn't write much this week.

I have to be honest...I slacked off big time this week. Part of it was because my mouth has been adjusting to the new crowns, so eating has been difficult. With eating difficult, I didn't get as many nutrients and didn't have as much energy and motivation. So...yeah. I had things I should have done, but I didn't really do it. I'm paying for that this weekend and through Tuesday. I have to skim read a biography and write a 1 page summary on how public speaking influenced the person who's biography I read. I have to write and rehearse a 4 minute speech for class. I have to finish cleaning for cleaning checks tomorrow. I have to get my nutrients and energy so I can stay healthy and not slack off anymore.

On Thursday I received an email inviting me to sign up to participate in an Iron Chef BYU competition. Obviously, I was stoked. I immediately responded and was assigned to a 4 person team to compete with. This site gives a run down of the rules: http://cougarfacs.weebly.com/iron-chef.html

I will spend some time this week preparing for that because I don't want to just compete for the sheer fun. I want to win the competition!

By popular demand, I'm making more cupcakes on Tuesday. I'm also planning on having my catering preview night in a couple weeks. I'm going to make up cupcakes, mints, punch, cookies, empanadas and whatever else and have people sample everything, rate the recipes by taste, texture, non-messiness and such, then I'll gather comments and suggestions. This will give me a good idea of what's best and what to send to Amelia for final approval for use at her wedding reception. Only the best for this wedding.

In case you are unaware, next Thursday (the 17th) is St. Patrick's Day. If you aren't in the loop, that means you have to make corned beef and cabbage! I would add you have to have Irish Soda Bread as well. I have a SUPER easy and SUPER SUPER delicious recipe for soda bread you should all ask me for and serve with your Irish dinners.

There are only 7 weeks left until I ship off south for my job. I'm so excited to go, but this means I will finally be leaving my apartment. I'll be writing a tribute blog post in a month about my apartment. That may seem odd, but this apartment has been my home for 2 and a half years. So much has happened, I have to highlight it all. Also, look for a special, funny post on Tuesday night. Since I'm getting my wisdom teeth out, I have to share what wisdom I have before it's taken away.

This should be a good week...heck, the whole month is full of fun things. St. Patty's Day. Iron Chef. Wisdom teeth removal. Annie's birthday. The Holi Festival of Colors. Spring begins. It's gonna be fun!

Wow...the days are just a blur now. I can't believe it is already a week into March! In many ways that is good, but in a few (namely the assignments I procrastinated), it's not so good. Regardless, I'm stoked for the remainder of the semester and for the upcoming summer.

First and foremost I HAVE to show you all the amazing flash mob dance we did at the final BYU men's basketball game in the Marriott Center on Saturday. The energy was so epic. I've never seen the rest of the crowd get so excited about something. They LOVED it.

This blog has 5 different views of it. I imagine BYU Marketing, who was behind it, had it filmed in higher quality and hopefully will make a nice upload of it, but, perhaps all we'll ever have is these. Either way, this gives you a good look at it. Seeing it and being in it was just amazing. They showed it on the big screen as we were doing at and we looked up and it just looked amazing!

http://kell-dreambig.blogspot.com/

We have Stake Conference this week, so we get to sleep in a bit longer than usual. I have wisdom teeth removal on Wednesday. Friday is big for me. I'm competing on a team in an Iron Chef BYU competition! It's the Family and Consumer Sciences department against the Food Science Club. I think my team will win! It is going to be so much fun and I'll tell you more about it later.

So much going on this weekend, so little time to do it. I'll get everything done by Tuesday, just in time for me to take a couple days off while I'm drugged after my wisdoms come out. I'm just glad Amelia isn't here to see. I distinctly remember that when I made fun of her chipmunk look, she vowed to give me a hard time about my own look after wisdom teeth removal.

Speaking of looks, here is the mission picture I uploaded:

The dentist went well on Monday aside from the unexpected high cost. I went through my finances and options before and had just about everything figured out to get me through the next 2 months before real work and a real paycheck begin. I forgot to take into account that this life is real and that when things look good that means things are about to get really tough. Sure enough, the dentist bill came in and I allocated what was my rent money to pay the dentist. That throws everything a little out of sync, but I am still confident that I will make it through the next 2 months without too many problems.

I do have to commend the dentist for his work. All the silver has been removed and I have a new crown and a 3/4 crown overlay that blend perfectly with my teeth. I felt no pain at all except for when he accidentally hit a nerve or something when numbing my mouth. A little of the numbing stuff shot through a nerve or vein up my cheek and below my eye. It stung for a second and went a little numb for a minute, but it cleared up quickly. Everything else went really well. There was a little decay on the tooth with a filling but they cleaned it out and said it won't need a root canal or anything.

Starting very soon I have to begin going through things and decide what to get rid of and what to keep. Many people will benefit from me leaving as I have lots of stuff to give away. I will hopefully be able to sell a few things too. A final decision on many items will not be made until after I get my mission call. I'm still confused by some insurance questions and need to call home to figure those out, but I have my pictures on my computer and just need to upload my drivers license and passport now. Everything else is done. I know this is kind of a big deal and it's quite exciting for many of you (myself included), but I am keeping it sort of low key. I know myself and while it's helpful to have my closest friends supporting me, if I have tons of people pressuring me to finish it all I know that things won't get done. I'm trying to get everything done by tomorrow though. I have to mail the additional medical information tomorrow. Everything else will be submitted before they get that. I don't know the timetable on things, but I know they will make sure everything is correct and all that before my picture goes up in front of an apostle. So, however long that takes.

Not looking forward to getting my wisdoms out, but hopefully, if the cost isn't too much, I'll be getting that done next week.

Cougar Basketball took a huge blow with Brandon Davies being dismissed for the year. The New Mexico game and the next week will tell just how good we really are. I'm a bit nervous. But at least we stuck to our guns and didn't try to hide it till the end of the season.