I was trying to think of something to talk about today and really couldn't think of anything too exciting. For the most part, the past few weeks have been good work-wise and such, but my health has been not so good. It seems kind of like I contracted some weird virus that is messing with my body. I started not feeling good the week before I got my cold sore. It was subtle things like a little headache, maybe feeling a teeny bit feverish for a bit on and off, and I had just a bit of some cold symptoms for one morning when it all seemed to start. I thought I was alright, but the cold sore confirmed I likely had something passing through me, since my cold sores are usually triggered by illness these days. The week I had the cold sore was the worst. Ask the people I work with. Between feeling nauseated, having a headache, being exhausted from working in such a condition all day and being on some medications to help, near the end of Tuesday, I was saying funny things and acting strange. If you recall, that is the day after my Mountain Dew episode. I did not mention my feeling sick then, mostly because I knew that downing that much Mountain Dew when not well was a bad idea and I did not want to admit that I knew some pain was coming. Let me tell you a little about how that went. As I tried to fall asleep that night, the caffeine and other energy inducing toxins were flying through my bloodstream. Three times as I lay there I thought my roommate was shining a blue light in my left eye. When I opened my eyes to catch him in the act, no one was there. Then, my dreams were insane. I would be in the middle of a normal dream and some psychotic element would literally just go berserk through my dream, almost as if the Tasmanian Devil was in my dream. It was so weird. The next morning, I felt as close to hung over as I'll ever feel. I felt like a piece of poop on a log floating in the middle of the ocean on a scorching hot day. Sort of. Anyway, I pushed through a long day of work and you can imagine by the end how I would be a little bit loopy. After that day, things seemed to be getting better. I medicated my cold sore well and it went away quickly. I went down for Easter to my grandmas, where things took a delightful turn. As I sat on Easter morning watching Psych after church, I was suddenly afflicted with what I thought was some allergen in my face. My left eye instantly began watering, itching, and swelling. I went to the bathroom to find my left eye swollen halfway shut, blood-red, with nasty goop in it. As I stood in the bathroom, my right eye starting watering, itching, and swelling a little too, and within a minute I looked absolutely terrible, with both my eyes very red and swollen. I took a strong antihistamine, got ice for my eyes, and then after a good icing took a nap. When I woke up for Easter dinner an hour later, the swelling had reduced, but you could tell I was still afflicted. My eyes improved through the afternoon and by the time I had to drive, I was well enough to make the drive to Provo to drop my brother off and back home to Logan. My eyes hurt though and later I realized with the headache I got from the pain and blurriness from my left eye I was getting pink eye. I went to the doctor the next morning and sure enough, I had some conjunctivitis. It was mild, so I got some drops and went to work. Since then, I have been living in fear of some other random plague to strike. Aside from those resolved issues, I continue to feel a little unwell, mostly dealing with fatigue, a little feverish at times, and a poor appetite, but things kind of seem to be improving so I hope for the best.

The mildly exciting thing I wanted to share before I ended up sharing my medical history is that I bought some local honey today. This honey comes from just a little bit north of where I live here in North Logan. If I have allergies, supposedly local honey can help because the bees gather nectar from the flowers that may be causing the allergens...I don't really have problems with allergies, but, I love honey, and I love buying local products over shopping at that big stupid place next door *cough* Wal-Mart *cough*. I got this honey at a little farmer's market on campus. I also got some of their absolutely delicious honey caramels. They were dang good. Here is their website: beesbros.com. The kids you see in the pictures are the ones who, along with their father (I assume he was their father), sold me my honey. They have some good lookin' recipes on their site too. I'm excited to try some out!

Song of the day is a random, but nice song I found when I typed "honey" into the search on playlist.com. It's "Honey Bee" by Zee Avi.

I finally have something that motivates me to get on here and start posting again.

First, Rick Santorum finally dropped out of the Republican presidential race, essentially clearing the path for Mitt Romney's nomination and march to the general election. Of course, Newt Gingrich thinks this gives him a chance at winning more votes...hahaha.

Second, today I went to the Food and Candy Expo 2012 in Sandy. Just like last year, it was a lot of fun, except this year I enjoyed it more because I went to the seminars and talked to more of the exhibitors. I spent 3 hours in seminars. The first was on fortification of foods with nutrients. Dr. Dunn from BYU talked about the project they did in Mexico to fortify the corn tortillas, which was a really cool story to hear. A junior food scientist at FONA International (a sweet and savory flavoring company) did the second seminar I went to. It was interesting information about handling flavors and knowing things about storing them, etc. We got to smell the difference between fresh flavors and older flavors and see how the quality deteriorates. Based on what we smelled, it seems some companies do not use their flavors correctly, because we all noted that the expired flavor smelled more like what you get in foods than the fresh one. (Note, in this case, expired simply refers to the integrity of the quality of the product, so after it expires it is still ok, but the integrity of the flavor is lost. This is important if you use a flavor for a product because if you used an expired flavor, your product would taste different than usual...quality assurance stuff.) The third seminar was really interesting. It was about sensory evaluation and the importance of it and how to do it right. Food is all about taste to consumers and this seminar talked about a lot of cool stuff relating to testing products.

After the seminars I spent two and a half hours walking through the exhibition, talking to lots of exhibitors and collecting all the swag they were giving out. I met a lot of great people and what I liked the most is that no one tried to push me into any direction with my life. I introduced myself to them as a student on a break from classes in food science with a few years experience doing culinary arts. From there, many of them talked about all the fun stuff I do with catering, some informed of opportunities with research chefs and corporate chefs, and some just talked to me about life in general. I talked to them about their companies and their lives and things like that. It was a lot of fun. I spent about 20 minutes talking to a guy named Ty Agaki. He claimed to have brought the fiber revolution to America from Japan. I don't know if that's true or not, but he was a cool guy and we talked about everything from his company to the Kentucky Derby to Mormons, Polygamists and booze. He also was very supportive of me not trying to figure my life out all at once. Several people I talked to echoed similar sentiments, which I will now echo for all my friends around my age and younger. Don't worry about trying to choose the exact path of your life right now. There will be so many twists and turns, just find out what things you like, be adventerous, travel if you get the opportunity, just learn everything you can about everything you can and you will find your passions, the things you can do for years and years without glancing at your watch wondering when the day will end. Ty said that to me about finding passion in something and I realized I am starting to really find a passion for what I do. I work all the time, even Saturdays and holidays, and it really doesn't bother me. I love doing it. I love going in and making food for people and making them happy.

Anyway...the expo was great and I documented all my swag so I could brag about it. I got:

coffee lip balm, raspberry mango cucumber lip balm, a magnetic fridge clip, a black binder clip, a toothpaste squeezer, caramel popcorn, 3 bags (like grocery store reusable cloth ones), a fridge magnet with a cool thermometer strip on it, a wd-40 like lubricant spray in a pen tube spray bottle, a teeny pocket 1st aid kit, regular candy, like milky ways and reeses, sugar free candy, maple bacon toffee, bacon peanut chocolate, various other chocolates from flavor companies, a tin of mints, orange tic tac like candies, an all-in-one leveler, tape measurer, note pad and pen that clips to your belt, Famous Amos cookies, specialty cookies from flavor companies made with different kinds of flour or flavors, 6 different flavors of pear jelly beans, a mini carabiner key chain, golf tees, probiotic chocolate balls, energy gummy candies (which will be interesting), gluten free mushroom soup/sauce mix, a jar opening grip, a plastic thermos, 3 stress balls, a back scratcher, a ruler, chardonnay flavored jelly, blackberry merlot flavored jelly (both alcohol free, don't worry mom), 1 big sticky note cube, 7 small sticky notepads, 2 large notepads, 1 nice pocket-sized book with sticky notes, page markers, and paper in it, trail mix fruit bars, literature from many companies on products, the companies themselves, ideas, trends, etc., and I got 31 pens this year, a few of which are nice, heavy duty pens. And, of course, every item has a company name and/or logo on it.

And because we be talkin' 'bout me booty (treasure, not backside), our song of the day is from the crack-me-up-laughing movie Muppet Treasure Island, it's the hilarious song, "Professional Pirate". And because I'm feeling generous, we get a double song day. The second is also from Muppet Treasure Island, it's "Shiver my Timbers".

Quote of the day from the song: "when you're a professional pirate...you don't have to wear a suit."

I drove down to Provo today just because I wanted to and hung out with Mike for a bit and watched the national championship at his place and ate Chick Fil A and went to Best Buy and Wal-Mart and then when it was time to drive back up to Logan I was a little tired so I bought not one but TWO Code Blue Mountain Dews and I had to stay awake so I sang loudly all the way home and then by the time I got home I had drunk both the Code Blue Mountain Dews and all the caffeine and ginseng and other energy inducing toxins/stuff were kicked into full swing and I couldn't stop singing loudly and I was running all over the place cuz I had so much energy and then I decided since I had so much energy still I would write on my blog which is seeming like a bad idea right now because I'm typing at like 90 wpm and I don't think I've used a single punctuation mark yet besides an apostrophe which means that this paragraph is a huge grammatical error which would usually bother me but today isn't bothering me because I don't think I could really slow down enough to go back and punctuate it all and if I could go back and punctuate it all it would take time that I don't really want to use to go back and edit it all and I think when I go back and read this tomorrow it will be funny to see just how much energy I really had that I could go on for so long about random things in one paragraph without any proper punctuation besides those apostrophes which technically aren't really correct because they learned me in grade school that in formal writing it ain't appropriate to use conjunctions such as isn't aren't don't and won't and I certainly ain't supposed to ever use the word ain't in a formal writing if ever though I don't really think my blog is any kind of formal writing at all unless you guys think it is but I don't really mind today as I said previously when talking about the other conjunctions what would usually be two sentences ago if I was using proper grammar but again if I was using proper grammar I just now would have said "if I were using proper grammar" instead of "if I was using proper grammar" but seriously one Code Blue Mountain Dew would have been plenty to keep me awake during the drive when coupled with my singing to the loud music cuz singing animatedly such as how I was doing keeps the body going and would have kept me alert enough for the about two hour drive from Provo to Logan to my home and I think this much energy is only needed when running a marathon or something though if I was running a marathon or something I would get my energy from pasta and bread and other carbohydrates and I definitely would not drink any form of Mountain Dew whether it be regular green Mountain Dew or the Code Blue or anything and I just realized I've been calling it the wrong thing there is no such thing as Code Blue Mountain Dew I just named it that myself see I have a bottle sitting here with me and I just noticed it's actually called Mountain Dew Voltage which is a cool enough name but I like Code Blue more though they had a Code Red once that I think is gone now so maybe that's why they don't call it Code Blue cuz it would sound too much like the Code Red and they make more money if they have a name that's different so people won't think they just took the red kind and made it blue because I'm sure they taste different and this one has like raspberry and citrus flavors and like I said before it has ginseng in it too which gives you more energy so it really is like a voltage of energy so the name does fit better but I think I'll probably still end up calling it Code Blue Mountain Dew because I'll forget the real name is Mountain Dew Voltage by the time I wake up in the morning like I will probably forget this entire blog post by morning because I think my energized subconscious is really writing all this for me which is why I forgot to mention until now the whole reason I even got on here to write which was to talk about my day and how Kentucky won the National Championship and I watched the game with Mike because I went down to Provo today because I wanted to and we went to Best Buy and Wal-Mart and ate Chick Fil A and watched the game at his place and one of my good friends from Provo who used to be the elder's quorum president in my ward came over too which was cool because I haven't seen him much but Mike sees him because they were both blessed with the math gene so they are both studying some sort of engineering and run into each other from time to time in the engineering building on campus and he happened to see Mike today and asked if he sees me often and Mike said I was actually in town today so my friend Clayton Anderson said if I was in town and we were watching the game he would come watch some with us and say hello so he came over at half time and we watched the second half with him and caught up on what's been going on since I last saw him last year and all that jazz and it was cool and curse you Code Blue Mountain Dew Voltage I go sleep now.

All the hype the last couple days has been around two thing: the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, and the lottery. I refuse to get caught up in the shooting because I will certainly say something that offends someone, so my thoughts have turned to the Mega Millions Lottery. I am not a gambler and did not buy any tickets (I live in Utah anyway and would have to drive to Arizona to get any), but, being fairly broke right now, I wondered a lot what I would do if I won that much money. So, this evening, I thought I would entertain you all with my Mega Millions plan.

The jackpot is around $640 million. We will assume I take that as a lump sum, which reduces the amount to $462 million (if I took it over 26 years it would be $640 million). The federal government taxes me 35%, leaving me with $300.3 million, which would then be taxed by my state, which I believe would be around 5%. Pretend my math and tax assumptions are correct, and I am sitting with $277 million.

First, if it is not a sin to pay tithing on gambling winnings, I would give 10% to that, leaving me with $249,300,000. Next,  I would pay off my car and my debt. That leaves me with about $249,287,000. Then, I would share with my family. Federal law limits my tax-free giving to $5.12 million to anyone other than my spouse. However, I can give up to $13,000 tax-free per year to as many individuals as I want. Thus, I would set up a $13,000 annual gift to each of my immediate family members. That is $104,000 a year (though I suppose I could give Max a share as well). If I could leave my money alone without being touched by me or the pick-pocketing government, I could continue a yearly payment of $13,000 to each of my family members for 2,397 years. I would likely buy a few things though. Probably some clothing, I'd pay my $800 tax bill, I am out of body wash, and I could probably use a college degree. I would also donate $500,000 to the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, as well as a bit to a couple other worthy charities. I would definitely upgrade to a better laptop, but I would keep my phone and pay as you go rate. Ultimately, I like to think that if I had $249 million, I would hire an accountant or something to help me put my money into trusts and savings and things, leaving me with a certain amount in my actual bank account. It would certainly change my life, but I would keep working where I'm working and living where I'm living. Those things make me happy and I just don't want to give them up.

Well there you have it. My not so exciting plan if I were to win the Mega Millions Lottery. I think now, after having written that, I see why I do not buy lottery tickets. I am content with working for everything I have and would have little use right now for excessive amounts of money...of course, if someone offered me money, I would happily accept it.

Song of the Day was an easy choice for me, it's "If I Had a Million Dollars" by: Bare Naked Ladies.

Some days I feel like I have nothing to say on here. Those are usually the days where I need to say something the most. Writing calms me and helps me feel more hopeful on days I feel hopeless. It helps me find the positive.

Today I just wanted to give an update on things. The weather has been very nice and springy. Grass is starting to grow, flowers are up and will be blooming over the next month or so. I have to start making a pinata for Cinco de Mayo.

I went and saw "The Hunger Games" today. All I'm allowed to say before some people who read this blog go and see it is that I liked it. I did not read the whole book, we listened to it on tape at work and I missed parts of it, but I plan on reading them all soon. I need to get back into reading. I think it would be good for me. I also need to get back into exercising. That would be really good for me.

One last awesome piece of news. I won a drawing today! I went to a home and garden trade show last Friday and on the way out, saw a table boasting Pepperidge Farm stuff. It turned out to be nothing more than the United Way of Cache Valley doing a drawing for one of two gift baskets. Generally I do not enter things, but I did. Today, they called and said I won. At first, I thought it was some scam and was about to hang up. Then he told me what it was and I got very happy! It's a basket full of Pepperidge Farm goodies valued at about $50. I'd be happy if it was only $15, but $50 is even better! I'll swing by and pick it up in the morning before work. I'll be sure to try to remember to let you all know what all I got.

Well, I'm tired and should sleep now. For the Song of the Day we're slowing it down with some pretty piano music. It's "Bella's Lullaby" from Twilight.

I am excited to announce a few changes to the blog today.

First, on the left side. On the left column, I added a visitor counter. This one has the total number of visits since I started my blog. I renamed the other stat tracker and it will be a monthly tracker. Each month, I will reset it and title it according to the month so I and everyone else can see how many people visit each month.

The middle also saw changes, but with my template, some of these may or may not show on your screen. I reconfigured the posting settings so you hopefully will see the time of each post as well as the date. I also added links to email the post or share it via social media. Those are not showing on my screen, but maybe they will on yours. I thought this would be handy if anyone read something they wanted to share with someone. If it works, now all you have to do is click a button. Lastly, in the center column, I have it set to show the 25 most recent posts. As always though, you can click the links on the left to go back to any post in the past.

The right column also got some additions. First, a better method to follow my blog. You can now receive updates to your email by simply typing your email into the "Follow by Email" box. I would encourage anyone who likes reading all my posts to sign your email up. Each time I post, you will be notified so you won't miss a thing. In addition to the new "Follow by Email" box, you will now find the top 10 most read posts. This does not have much value now, but is nice to see and in the future may matter.

Lastly, the blog happily welcomes a new follower. Cami Bodily is our newest official follower. If you count me, that makes 12, but technically the blog now has 11 formal followers. Thank you Cami for following and again, thank you everyone else for your continued support. As is the tradition, today, our song of the day is dedicated to our new follower. Since you made fun of me when this song came on randomly on a Pandora station at work many months ago, Cami, this one is for you. It's "Jar of Hearts" by: Christina Perri. And you now know I really do play it on the piano.

Happy Friday everyone!

I have to be honest here: I've been struggling. Last year, everything was going right and I was extremely happy. Then, it seems like I made every wrong decision and spiraled back down to where I once was. Being down is not the best place to be, but you see a different perspective. I see the difference in who I was a year ago and who I am now. I recognize the difference between being generally happy and being truly happy. I've been in this dark place before and it is not a place I want to linger for long. I climbed back up before and I intend to do it again, but this time I plan on climbing higher and filling in this dismal pit of sorrow once and for all.

I thank all of you for following me through my triumphs and struggles. Somehow, making myself vulnerable by putting my life out for everyone to see helps me.

Moving forward, I want to share some useful words from the great Dr. Seuss; words which are the starting point for my return to where I want to be.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."



and most importantly...


"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I care. A whole awful lot...



Song of the day is "Skycraper" by: Demi Lovato...the lyrics pretty much explain why...

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I hope you all have plans to eat some corned beef, cabbage and Irish Soda Bread today! If not, shame on you!

I have plenty to update you all on, but once again I am short on time and it's 1 am on Saturday and I work at 8, so I gotta go sleep. But, I just wanted to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Enjoy the fun Irish music for the Song of the Day. It's called "Irish Reel" by: Irish Connection.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've been quite aware of my lack of recent posting. Most days I even thought about writing on here, but I have lacked the motivation to do so. I kind of felt like I had nothing good to talk about. Mostly that was brought on because the last couple weeks have been stressful and my sleeping habits have been all out of whack, which has led me to be cranky and tired and just not in a very blogging mood.

This week I hope to break that. It is Spring Break here, and while I will still be doing a good bit of working, I intend to relax a bit and reboot.

The weather has been absolutely wonderful and will stay that way for a bit.  I hope to be able to go out and enjoy it. Go for a walk, stuff like that. Today, (Monday), I'm getting some repairs done on my car. That is kind of important. No, it is very important. Hopefully this week we can get the car loan out of Annie's name and into my parents, then get the insurance changed and cheaper. If I'm lucky I'll be able to sell it too and get something cheaper.

Things are going good. As you can see there isn't too much new to report. As usual, I'm doing a good job of living an uneventful life :)

Song of the Day is in honor of the great weather. It's "Mr. Blue Sky" by: Electric Light Orchestra.

The days have gone by so quick lately. It seems that no more than a week has passed since I moved to Logan, but all of a sudden, it is March. The clocks will soon spring ahead, the daffodils and tulips will emerge from their winter slumber, and before you know it, the snow will all but disappear.

It was nearly one year ago to the day that my life finally found some sort of direction following a two year mess brought on by illness and poor choices of young adulthood. I know it has not been what I planned, nor what anyone expected, but I cannot deny that the past year has been positive for me. I lived in Provo for years and did not seem to be able to pick myself back up. The resort sent a million volts into me and helped me find my motivation again, which has translated into this phenomenal learning experience here in Logan. It was a rough start at my old apartment, but now I have a place I love and I am in control again. I was blessed to find a piano that more than suits my needs for an unheard of, unimaginable price of $60. It is difficult to explain how greatly that will affect my life. I'm not any sort of concert pianist and what little skill I have will never be heard beyond my living room and maybe a classroom at church, but I did not buy a piano to impress anyone or to show off, I bought a piano because music calms and soothes my soul and helps me find peace. Helps me find my true self.

Anyway...things are good here. I worked 71 hours last week helping run catering while the chefs were away at a conference in Vegas. It was stressful but I gained valuable experience, and more immediately important, the overtime money is much needed right now. As most of you know by now, I got a new phone. It has been fantastic for me and I'm very grateful for Brett, the Verizon Sales Rep, who was extremely helpful to me. Getting a new phone was necessary and because of him I have absolutely no doubt that I got a real good deal that is affordable for me and will serve my needs for as long as I need it to.

In other news, Mitt Romney has had a strong month with victories coming in Maine, Arizona, Michigan, and Washington state. His momentum has hit perfectly to poise him for a strong showing on Super Tuesday. I expect him to do well, to pull away soon and hopefully secure the nomination by the beginning of April. Many have voiced their support for other candidates, but, as I said before, I have spent 7 months now following the GOP race very closely and I firmly believe that Mitt Romney is the best suited to restore America's economy and greatness and the most prepared to defeat Obama, who I really do think is in way over his head and should not be running for re-election.

Last but not least, only 2 months and 1 day until Cinco de Mayo!

Enjoy the song of the day. It is the Piano Guy's mix up of One Republic's "Secrets" and Beethoven's 5th called "Beethoven's 5 Secrets."

I've done a lot of thinking lately about the state of the world today. Specifically, I was thinking about marriage. A few states this week have legalized gay marriage and I got to thinking about how and why we got to this point. Today, I just wanted to share some thoughts I had about marriage, divorce, and what love is nowadays.

It disappoints me to hear women frequently say things like "I'm scared to get married because I don't want to get divorced." Or even worse: "Well, if it doesn't work out, I'll just get a divorce." In my opinion, the ever increasing pace of the world has harmed the way we love. For some, love is confused with like. In the past, people took real time to get to know each other before considering marriage. Now, it seems that marriage is just something else you try out if you want. I see less and less people who truly care about each other and more people who just want to get married, it seems, because when you like someone, that's just what you do. If I may be so bold to say, I think that the notion that marriage is just something to try or something you can get out of if it doesn't work is absolutely despicable. Furthermore, I think that anyone, especially celebrities, who go into a marriage without true love and commitment proved through a courtship based on getting to know each other intellectually, not just physically, deserve to have a piano fall on them.

This goes back to what I mentioned on Valentine's Day about dating these days. Guys and girls alike seem to think that they don't have the time to actually date someone for a long time. Of course, dating for a long time before getting married is not always successful. I see people all the time who date for years and years only to find that they never really fit right for marriage. It can be frustrating I know, but if you want success, I guarantee if you go back to the fundamentals of courtship, one day, if it is right, you will find a love that will last. You don't have to subscribe to things like kiss on the 3rd date, or if you aren't holding hands by the 3rd date, forget it. I'm gonna say something that may just shock you: follow your feelings and, believe it or not, pray about it. But, don't expect a choir of angels to descend and sing Hallelujah; just like if you're looking for answers for other important things, seek peace and solitude, listen close, and see what you can discern.

To my single friends, there are far too many other things to stress you out in these times for you to become distraught over love. Work towards finding that happiness, give it real effort, but do not judge yourself if things progress slow or you have failures. I would much rather see my good friends enter a marriage that will last than watch what their temporary happiness fade in the bitter courts of divorce.

Another good friend recently mentioned on Facebook how love songs have changed a lot. I have always liked the older ones, and today I chose one for our song of the day. This one has been a favorite for many, many years, it's "Annie's Song" by John Denver.

Remember back when I said that when I do not blog frequently it is because I am not as happy and willing to share all of my achievements? Yeah, that's what happened. But, do not fear, I have remedied my deficiencies and am back.

The past little bit has been a whirlwind. I absolutely love working and generally I do not like having days off besides Sundays. But, recently I have had so much to take care of outside of work, I was glad to have some time off to get things done. Let me tell you about Wednesday. Wednesday, I spent the day trying to get a car loan, get a new phone, and trying to run other errands. I visited the bank twice, Sprint once, AT&T twice, Verizon twice, Shopko once, campus twice, stopped in at Great Clips and had to take some phone calls too. I was running all over town. In the end, the day was a mild success. I got a haircut, replaced my old phone (a tribute post will come shortly when I officially retire the old one), got approval on the loan, and got some of my other errands done. My success was blunted today though, when the bank called and said they actually were not going to do the loan. So, it is back to square one with that.

I'm tired and have to be at work early tomorrow so I will cut this off. That and my roommates are being excruciatingly loud downstairs and ever since my chronic fatigue I cannot think at all when there are noises distracting me. If I continue writing tonight, my grammar will be horrendous, my thoughts disconnected, and it will literally take me half an hour to complete a paragraph. So, let's get a song of the day and call it a night.

Our song today is the "Song that Never Ends" because I'm simply feeling annoyed and annoying :)

I do a lot of thinking about my life. I think about where I've been, who I am, where I am going, and who I want to be. I think about my successes and what my accomplishments have done for me. I contemplate my mistakes and failures and how I have and can continually grow from them. I notice how events and people make me feel. I perceive how my actions make other people feel. When I think, I feel life.

I think it is important that we contemplate these things. All of these notions make up our lives and whether or not we are fulfilling our purpose here. I have no scale for measuring how successful my life is, but I know that as long as I continue to make mistakes, feel emotions, have triumphs, and grow, I am doing okay. The days where I feel most confused and lost are the days I know I must be on the right track.

If you never stop to contemplate your life, how can you know where you are going?

I logged into my blog to deliver what would have been a long and strong-worded tirade against the ludicrous entertainment industry, but then I got excited about us single dudes cooking steak and shrimp for Valentine's Day dinner, so I went to the store at 11 pm to buy everything. When I got back, I realized that the vociferous post railing against Hollywood would have to wait and that today, I would rather share a more appropriate message.

Valentine's Day is, in my opinion, a great holiday. Back in the old day, chivalry was alive and well and women were treated with respect and dignity the way they ought to be. These days, things like opening doors, buying flowers, leaving kind notes, and respecting a woman's body are considered old-fashion or out of date. Thankfully though, there is one day of the year where most men take the opportunity to do something special for their significant other. However, it is not solely a holiday for couples. For those who currently do not have a significant other, it provides an opportunity to show good friends and family how much you care about them.

While we are on the topic of couples and relationships, I just want to throw out a few suggestions to all of you about showing appreciation for loved ones.

First of all, to the guys out there. Every girl deserves flowers. But please, don't go to Wal-Mart and pick out the clearance bouquet or the cheapest nice red roses you can find. Roses are great, but there are so many absolutely gorgeous flowers out there to choose from. When at all possible, visit your local florist and customize your bouquet. If she has a favorite flower, build the bouquet around that flower, but other flowers to accent it. If you don't know her favorite flower, or if you do and you want to do something different, find a flower that when you look at it makes you think of her. I recently got flowers for a good friend I was taking out for her birthday. I spent a good 10 minutes looking at all the flowers before settling on some Gerber Daisies that seemed a good choice for this girl. It turned out that those were her favorite flower and she loved them. Lastly on the topic, flowers should be an unexpected surprise, both in the fact that you got flowers, but also in the thought that will show in the flowers you present to her.

For both girls and guys I highly recommend home made gift baskets. They are super simple to make, but the thought you can put into them and the effect they can have on someone is tremendous. The best part is you can spend any amount from $0 to $100 or more. They work for any and every occasion.  Get a basket (Hobby Lobby has their baskets at half off for a good part of the year and they have them in all sizes), a card, some tissue paper (dirt cheap at the craft stores), then whatever you want to put inside. Fruit, sparkling cider, candy, bath soap, toys, anything. On Valentine's Day you can combine flowers in a gift basket to add a very nice touch. Just coordinate colors and you'll be fine.

Lastly, it's the little things. Smile always, care deeply, and always be the best you can for the ones you love and you will always come out on top.

Our song for Valentine's Day is one of my favorites: "You and Me" by Lifehouse. In the spirit of Valentine's Day I'll share a cheesy secret about me. When I hear this song, I always envision myself dancing to it with the girl of my dreams. I have yet to ever dance to this song, but maybe one day I will get that slow dance with the future Mrs. Colonel Meier.

I believe in the popular saying that life is full of ups and downs. Though, I would make it a bit more complex by saying that the ups and downs vary on more than one scale. Each day you have ups and downs, but those daily ups and downs contribute to the long-term as well. Even more interesting I think is that a down day could contribute in the long run to a very up period. It is very intriguing to look at your life and how all the ups and downs interact with each other on the different scales.

Anyway, I could talk about that all day, but I think you'd rather hear what I intended to post about, which is the ups and downs I have recently experienced.

Today, I mostly wanted to focus on the financial. As I recently talked about, I have been working towards a complete financial responsibility overhaul of myself. I am happy to report that despite an upcoming car repair that will cost as much as $1100 and owing taxes upwards of $800, things are looking great. I am almost finished paying off my small debt to US Bank and hope to have that account closed by the end of March. The good credit I have established enabled me to be approved for both an overdraft line of credit and a credit card at my other bank. I still face a big uphill battle to cover housing costs, car payments and repairs, taxes, and other cost of living expenses, but somehow things look a whole lot better than they did.

Playlist.com is down right now, so I'll post a great video of the song I want to be the song of the day. It is the Piano Guys again doing a mix of Beethoven and One Republic. Enjoy.

I often dream of living in a different kind of world than we have today. Sometimes, I imagine living in a post-apocalyptic world, say, after the zombie apocalypse. Other times, I think of surviving in a world devastated by a plague. Today, as I have frequently done in the past, I found myself contemplating living in simpler times.

If you know me, then you probably understand that I am a little different in my approach to life. I often differ from my generation in how I think and act. For one, I follow politics world-wide and I have a deep and profound love for my country. More seriously though, I still believe that every girl deserves flowers at least once in life (aside from their wedding). A handshake to me is more binding than a contract is to others. Satisfaction comes from laboring hard, and I get disappointed when I sleep in. A clean house is essential and a garden out back is pleasing. My music is mellow, much of it centered around core emotions, and sometimes all I need is a piano to feel at peace. I stop to smell the flowers and I take time to notice the little things.  Friendship to me is more than having someone to hang out with, it's always thinking of what I can do to improve another person's life.

Today, I read an article that had me wishing we were in simpler times. The article (found HERE) was about a place in California called Slabcity, where many people have moved to live off the grid. I certainly would not want to move to that particular place, but I sure would like to visit and see. I also heard of a similar place in Arizona where many retirees who travel and/or work in the summer months go and park in the winter. They have a close little community where they just enjoy the warm winter and do nothing but relax and visit with each other. A city is a few miles away for their needs, but other than that, they are free from the busy world.

There are days where I truly wish the world would collapse and we could go back to simpler lives with no banks, no cable tv, no ridiculous entertainment industry; a time where judgement was left to God and you had to really labor to survive. But, alas, for now I am resigned to muddle through this maze of a world where money rules and expectations rise every minute.

Our song of the day is by one of my favorite artists, someone who understood life similarly and whose music has helped me feel alive during the darker times of my life. Enjoy "Rhymes and Reason" by John Denver.

Sorry, I keep my laptop upstairs and I've been downstairs, so the disconnect kind of led to me not posting recently. That and I'm lazy...and stressed.

Things are going pretty good. Lots of work to keep me busy days, enough movies and friends to keep be occupied nights.

I really don't have anything specific today to say, just wanted to update though so you all know I'm alive and still on here. I also had to put a less sad song on.

The less sad song I settled on is the Mo Tab singing "In Dreams" from Lord of the Rings.

I cancelled that trip to Provo for the weekend, even after I got Monday off from work.

I crunched the numbers, and with Mike helping with gas, I can make it work, but, my car needs some repairs and while the problem is not severe, I really cannot afford to take the risk of driving that far. If things got worse, I would have to fix it immediately. I have barely enough from this paycheck for rent and my car. Certain bills have to wait until my next paycheck. There's no way I could afford repairs. I don't have a credit card. So, while I was absolutely ELATED to go down and have a kick-butt weekend, responsibility has ruined my plans.

I won't lie either, I'm really, really, really bummed about it. I was ready to head out the door 24 hours before I was even off work to go. I guess my break from life will come in the form of running errands on Monday. Meh.

Song of the day reflects my mood. "One Last Cry" by: Brian McKnight

This past month has been pretty dang crazy with moving and all, so this weekend I'm going to take a brief respite from obligation and go stay with Mike in Provo. Saturday night, we'll go to a BYU basketball game. Sunday we'll be religious. Then Monday, we're gonna go to the Jazz game. Hopefully, the fun and change of scenery will help me unwind a bit since during the holidays I opted to work a lot and dealt with a lot of stress trying to work out moving details and was only away for a bit.

Work has picked up as the month goes on as expected and has kept me busy. The first couple weeks were slow and hours were scarce. This paycheck was rough, but I think I can squeeze through bills and come out strong next month. Working in a kitchen is saving my life right now. If I had to stock my fridge and pantry for every meal at home, I would have no money at all.

I'm tired so today's post is brief, but, I have to recognize that there is a new official follower on the blog. Corey Cozzens, the catering sous chef from work, finally gave in and subscribed. Corey has been a big part of my success here in Logan. He and Jeff, the main man in our catering cooking crew, have been very patient with me as I have tried to take in as much as I can to learn more about food and how our kitchen works. I know a few times they've shaken their heads at me when I have brain farts and memory lapses, but so far this job has been the best I've had and I'm having the time of my life working with them.

As is customary, I dedicate a song to our new follower. Since Corey knows what's good in the world and loves Psych, our first song today, the "Psych" theme song, is dedicated to Mr. Corey Cozzens.

The second song is just cuz I was feelin' it.

Tonight, the president delivered his State of the Union address. I do not care much to hear what he has to say this year, so I thought I would deliver my own address on how things are with me.

For the most part, I am doing great. The new place has really given me a boost in how I feel and am motivated. I am utilizing that newfound positivity to regain my momentum in becoming a responsible adult.

Money is not everything in life, but, finances are near the top of my list of crucial changes. I make a fair amount of money, though my bank account is constantly low. I save worthless junk better than I save precious money. I have an unnecessary debt to the bank and I have foolishly used my credit, buying the things I do not need with my money, and using a dangerous tactic of paying bills with credit, then repaying the credit, only to repeat the cycle each month. If an emergency struck me or my car, I would be at the mercy of a miracle. I am 22 years old. It's time I take responsibility for my money.

It's easy to admit mistakes with money, but much more difficult is my passiveness in religion. I have attended church regularly and have almost always prayed daily, but my difficulty lies in studying scripture. Lately, my study has been fairly non-existent outside of Sunday School. Just like anything else you want to learn, I know that if I don't give some effort and do work, I will not gain anything from it.

Lastly, I need to smile more. Not that I'm not happy most of the time, but, everyone keeps telling me I need to smile more, and there is some truth that smiling helps things out...so, I'll see what I can do.


Our Song of the Day today is ideal. It's "Dare You to Move" by: Switchfoot. This song has different interpretations. It can refer to the part of you who is not doing anything about certain parts of your life. It can refer to the part of you who is in a state of stagnancy. It can refer to the you who is letting a past failure stop you from moving on. It's about not looking back anymore, but turning forward and moving on.

Here are the lyrics so you can read them and maybe be inspired to make a change yourself:

"Dare You To Move"

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next

[Chorus]
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

[Chorus]

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

It was a quiet week at Lake Wobegon...haha, I doubt any of you know that reference. Anyway, the weather here has been as mild as ever. Alaska still has all our snow, but we did manage a good inch or two to blanket the ground, which will make for a nice Sunday. The weather was quite warm as it rained for a couple days. There has been lots of flooding across the valley, damaging many homes and closing some streets. Had it been cold enough for snow and all that rain was snow, we would have well over a foot of snow, closer to two maybe. But, for now, it appears Mother Nature will continue to deliver us with mild weather this winter. We'll probably get snowed in come July.

The new place is great and I could not be happier with it. We have enjoyed having many people over this week and that trend will certainly continue. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year (also called Lunar New Year), and we'll be having a party and heading to the middle of the valley to do all our fireworks. The coming year is the year of the dragon.

Mitt Romney lost the South Carolina Primary, but I put out a plea to the voters of Florida on my Facebook, so once that circulates down there I'm sure they will all change their minds. Oh the power of social media. I'm a little concerned that Newt Gingrich's ability to con the voters with his whiney, I mean, feisty, mood will cause some trouble for Mitt. I'm putting my trust in the common sense of the people though and praying that Mitt pulls away with the nomination. I simply cannot trust Newt Gingrich, and that's not just because of what his ex-wife says.

Good Sabbath to you all.

Today I join in the protest against SOPA. For more information follow the link in the image below. Joining in our protest of government censorship are the kings of censorship, the Smothers Brothers.

My apologies for the lack of posting in the last little while. A whole lot has gone down in the past 10 days since my last post.

I made the official announcement of my intention to move almost one month ago on the 19th of December. I immediately began searching for a new place in the area. I had my dream for what I wanted, but also a realistic idea of what I would likely end up in. I wanted a decent townhouse or actual house where I could create a comfortable environment for both myself and for entertaining friends. Most important to me was being able to walk through the door and have that feeling of being home; something that never fully settled in at my old place. To me, that feeling of being home is more than just the place where I sleep and eat. Home is where you feel safe, where you are at ease, where you can be your normal self and live without scrutiny, judgement, or self consciousness. At my old place, I was not comfortable being myself. My family and friends know me to be a somewhat ridiculous guy who loves to cook and loves to laugh. I never cooked and I was definitely not my normal self at my old townhouse. I would not go out much and when I did I felt like I had to sneak out to avoid uneasy tension from roommates for keeping to myself so frequently.

I was very fortunate to have two friends from work who were available to move out of their places and move in with me. I found a handful of places to call to check out and proceeded with my search. I immediately had appointments for two places. One I had very little info about other than it was across the street at the bottom of the temple. The other was a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom condo barely a mile from where I was living. I looked at the two places back to back on the 21st of December. The place by the temple was awful. It was a house converted to four apartments. The outside was nice, but the inside was disgusting. It had one bedroom with a small room attached that the guy called a second bedroom, but was more like a study. The bathroom scared me and I stopped pretending to write down notes about it when I saw the kitchen. To be honest, even though it could be afforded by just one person, I never even considered it as a last resort option. I then headed over to the 3 bedroom condo. The minute I walked through the door I loved it. I walked through the front door into a spacious living area, dining area, and small kitchen, all in one large, open room. I walked to the back of the condo to find a small bedroom and a large master bedroom with a walk in closet and the bathroom linked to the vanity room (sink and cupboards). A nice 2-car garage and laundry area rounded out the back. I was already sold on the idea, but the upstairs room confirmed it. An open (meaning no door) flight of stairs led to a fair-sized room, which I immediately envisioned as my theater room. The trick was actually getting the place though. I spent a good amount of time talking to the landlord, getting to know him and letting him get to know me to build up a good relationship so I could hopefully beat out anyone else wanting the place. I was fortunate enough that I was the first person to call him and also the first person to look at the place, but someone else was coming right after I left. I took an application for me and my two friends to fill out and we faxed it to him within a couple hours.

In my few years of experience in life, I learned not to put all my eggs in one basket, so I continued my search. Things did not go so well. Our third person was unsure about moving and if we did not get the condo I wanted, he definitely would not move. We had not heard from Jere, the landlord, and could not get hold of him (the holidays are not the best time for moving). With a multitude of 2-bedroom places on the market, I talked with the third guy and he decided to pull out. That evening, the second guy who was definitely going to move with me came over to meet and make calls on some places. No sooner had I told him we were down to two, Jere called and told us that the 3-bedroom condo was ours if we wanted it. That put me in a really difficult position. I had found the place I dreamed of and it was mine, but I needed a third person. Our third guy really could not move, so I had to decide whether to gamble on my dream and sign and try to find a third guy during the holiday, just days before school would start, or start over and try to find a 2-bedroom place. I had a place to live until I could move, but my friend's contract was up and he had to be out quick. I thought it over and accepted the condo.

From there, miracles continued to pour in. With the holidays, my old roommates had not been active in trying to find a replacement for me. In order to make the transition smooth and so we could part on good terms, I placed ads for them. Fairly quickly, I found a guy to take my place. Then another guy responded. With two people looking for housing, I realized that one could replace me, and the other, if interested, could move in with me. I got to know a little about them both and things began falling into place so perfectly. One was LDS and coming up to start school at USU. The other was more of a free spirited type and his music, gaming and other habits matched perfectly with my old roommate. The LDS guy, Aaron, contacted me first about the old place, so I explained to him the situation and invited him to move to the condo. He appreciated us placing him where he would fit best and accepted. The only obstacle remaining was move in days. All of us needed to move in by the 7th, but with the old tenants in the condo delaying their move-out past the day they said they would be out, the condo would not be ready until the 10th. We contacted Jere (by the way, it's pronounced Jerry) and he was very kind and was able to get our condo ready by Friday, January 6th. Myles, my friend from work, had to be out of his apartment by then, Aaron wanted to move in then, Jensen, my replacement, wanted to move to my place then too, so everything fit together great and last weekend, we all moved.

Since then, we have been the recipients of even more awesome miracles as we furnished our condo. We got a great loveseat for upstairs for $25, an AMAZING sectional at the unreal price of $150, some nice home decor for the whole house for under $50, a very nice wood dining room table and chairs for $50, a wood tree coat (which I have ALWAYS wanted) for $20, and a free DVD surround sound system. Yesterday, I set up the internet and tv and we had a movie night. Myles is getting a bed and dresser and then I think we are completely done settling in.

Overall, the move was good. It got tense at times and we got nervous, but here I am, just under a month later, living in my new home.

Long post, so two songs today. First is from Chronicles of Narnia. It's "This is Home" by Switchfoot. Second is Chantal Kreviazuk singing Randy Newman's "Feels Like Home."

If you know me, you know I love me some politics. This 2012 election has been fun to watch so far. I have followed very, very closely since I got back to full internet service, reading hundreds of articles, visiting campaign websites, watching videos, and even listening to CNN and FoxNews babble on endlessly about it. All the hype built up to the Iowa Caucuses, and let me tell you, they did NOT disappoint!

I tuned in at about 4:30 yesterday to the pre-caucus coverage. I listened to that on different channels before settling to CNN when the caucusing started. CSPAN was covering one caucus from start to finish, so I flipped to that for a bit to watch. It was there that I saw just how really neat the caucus process can be. Each candidate can have someone speak for them to try to convince the voters to their side. This can be someone appointed by the candidate, or just a supporter from that precinct who decides to speak. This particular precinct was a small one in Treynor, Iowa. Three delightful, bearded, liberal wackos, I mean, college students, spoke for Ron Paul, the chairman of that caucus actually spoke for Santorum, a lady whose speech highly resembled a church talk spoke for Mitt Romney, but the really, really cool part was a fellow who stood up for Michelle Bachmann. They asked if anyone wanted to speak for Bachmann and no one got up. They asked again and just before they moved on, a feller got up and said he would. Slightly nervous, he got up there and made a pitch for Bachmann. You could not recreate just how awesome it was. It was, to me, democracy at it's finest. He started out introducing himself and then said "I don't know Michelle Bachmann and she has no idea who I am either, but..." and then solidly laid out why he likes her and supports her and why he thinks his neighbors should. One of my favorite parts was when he linked one of his ideas to farming and the people there who were farmers. It was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. He closed by saying they should give her a chance and vote for her.

Anyway, after hearing the speeches from Treynor, I flipped between the channels waiting for results to come in. Back on CSPAN I watched them count the votes and report them. In that precinct, Santorum edged out Romney by 9 votes. Once the votes really started coming in, it got very exciting. Ron Paul had a good lead at the start, which scared us. Then Romney jumped up, then Santorum jumped up, then Paul, then Santorum, then Romney. It started looking bad for Romney and he had fallen back a good bit, but then he jumped back into it. After a good two thirds of the votes were in, it was clear Paul would take 3rd, and then it got even MORE exciting. As precincts reported, the lead was never more than 500 for Mitt or Santorum. It switched back and forth and back and forth. As the percent of reported precincts went up super slowly, the race grew tighter and tighter. Santorum by 50, Mitt by 40, Santorum by 115, Santorum by 130, with almost 98% of the vote in Santorum held on, but then it jumped to Mitt by 13, then Santorum by 5, at one point with 99% in, Mitt led by one vote, then it held steady forever as we waited for one final precinct to report in. Santorum led and CNN knew that the county the precinct was in was heavily favoring Romney. We knew it could be enough to swing Romney to the lead, but we had to know the precinct. In what I think was brilliant reporting, CNN called the chair of the county GOPers. As you may have read by now, they were able to tell CNN the final numbers for the county that had been reported, which included the missing precinct. That gave us the first unofficial report that Romney had won. Soon after, people at the Romney camp were informed of a victory, and soon after, the Iowa GOP made the official announcement that Romney had won by 8 votes. If you haven't yet, you have to see the video about Carolyn and Edith, the ladies that saved the night and who are now CNN's favorite ladies.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/carolyn-edith-unlikely-stars-cnn-iowa-caucus-coverage-153429166.html

So that was my day yesterday; 9 hours of being glued to the television. It was awesome, I loved every minute of it, and GO MITT ROMNEY!

Songs of the day are from O Brother, Where Art Thou? Enjoy "Keep on the Sunny Side" and "I'll Fly Away".