Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

T minus 13 hours until we fly to Orlando!!!

So that's fair warning that this will be my last post for a week as I will not have my laptop in Florida and, as such, will be incapable of updating my blog.

Anyways, I want to wish all a very Merry Christmas! It's crazy to think that this is my last Christmas in Utah for 2 years! It still hasn't really hit me yet, but it is nonetheless. Christmas Eve is actually my favorite day of the year as it is the day we do all of our traditions.

First off, we get up and go to breakfast at Golden Corral. This may be my favorite part and I have no idea why. This year it was extra busy and there was a lot of hullabaloo about the new "spiral cinnamon cut french toast".  Whitney tried and tried to get a piece but they were always gone. So, to earn my last few "good list" points, I stood there for about 10 minutes to get her a piece...only to find out she wanted the other kind of french toast. 

Well, okay then. Thanks Whit.

After we fill ourselves to the rafters, we head over to Cinemark in Provo to see a movie. This year we saw "Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows"

If you haven't seen this yet, do it. It was really really good; I actually liked it better than the last one! This film focused more on the mind games which really appealed to me. Anyways, ***** Five stars go see it.

After the movie we went up to my grandparent's house in American Fork for dinner. We were still very much stuffed from breakfast but Grandma told us it would be a light dinner. It wasn't. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, green beans, squash that looked like baby food, rolls, grape juice, sparkling cider,  frog eye salad, and cake. Oh man it pushed my eating capacity to the limit; this coming from a guy who ate 7 plates of sushi just 2 days before. We had some great conversations, I played a song on the piano, and we had a great time. My great aunt and uncle, Amber and Newel were there as well. When I was a kid, they used to come over every year and stay the night for Christmas. They're much older now and can't really make the trip as easy as before; so they came down today and we had an early Christmas of sorts for them. It was so good to see them, probably the last time I'll see them before my mission.

After that, we came home and I started packing. I hate packing. It takes me forever and I always feel like I take way too much. Usually I just procrastinate forever but either way, I hate it. Once we were done packing we had our Family Christmas Program. My dad adapted a Christmas program my Grandpa made many many years ago for his family; my dad made it more appropriate for young families. We still use the same one to this day which is actually a pretty good reflection of our family's maturity level. The program itself consists of different scriptures surrounding the birth of Christ, along with singing Christmas hymns that match what we read. The program concludes with one of my favorite scriptures found in Acts:

"And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

Christ's work did not leave with Him, and it does not end with Him. It is now our mission to tell the four corners of the Earth that Jesus Christ lives. We are not to sit around idly waiting for Him, we need to be anxiously engaged in preparing the Earth for His return. 

Final part of the night is when we all listen to my dad read "Twas the Night Before Christmas". As a kid, this was always the most exciting part because once he was done it was time for bed! And going to bed means that when we wake up, Santa will have come! I wish that excitement would never wear off. We all remember how Christmas night was the longest night ever, that's the magic of the season. It's different this year since I already know what I'm getting:

So those are my Christmas Eve traditions. I'm going to wrap this up for a week but I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you in 2012!

AMS

Christmas Eve's Eve

Hope I've been good enough for Disney World

Christmas time is upon us.

Yes, Christmas Eve is basically here. This is actually one of my favorite days of the year because of all of our awesome Christmas Eve traditions. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what they are though, incentive to keep reading the ol' blog.

Today was mostly spent lounging around the house and continuing enjoying the holiday season. Most of my day happened in the evening, which seems to be happening more and more. I went to Brick Oven with a bunch of friends because our friend Raquel Rodriguez was in town for a week from New York. She's doing a nanny job out there and we wanted to visit her while we could. We had a grand time there laughing and eating delicious food. 

After that we went to Temple Square and enjoyed the Christmas lights one more time. It just barely dawned on me that this was my last time I get to see those lights for over 2 years...wow.  We were being pretty obnoxious while we were there, as is customary with my friends and I. Our antics included taking a picture with a random couple, being mildly loud, dancing, and asking a group of teens for a "holiday hug", at which the scrooges declined. I say poo to them, they missed out on a great opportunity.

Me and Whitney were pretty quiet on the way home from that trip as we were both super tired. I got a text from Ethan on the way home informing me that he left his iPod in the car....again. I swear I have seen that kid lose his iPod or leave it lying around at least 20 times. The fact that he still has it is nothing short of a miracle.

Well, sadly that's all I have to report. I wanted to mention really quick that my blog was read by 6 different people in Russia. So to you Russians,  Спасибо за чтение!

AMS

Standing Alone

It's not easy to go it alone, but it's worth it.

I was having a conversation with my mom this afternoon about standing up for things, even if it means you have to do it alone. Little did I realize I'd find myself doing that exact thing the same day. Lucky for me, I have people around me with great moral character.

While I can't necessarily remember completely how we got onto the subject that we did, me and my mom still had a conversation that led to courage. I have a great mom, the best mom in fact. My mom has that perfect balance of parent, and friend. I respect her and would do anything to make her proud, but I can talk to her like an old friend. While she scolds me and parents me when necessary, she gives me advice and jokes around with me like a friend. I think everyone needs a friend like that.

Anyways, we had a conversation today about the LDS church and the stand we took against Prop 8 a couple of years ago. Proposition 8 was a law in California that banned homosexual marriage in the state. Now, unless you live in a cave, you know that gay rights are a very hot button issue in America right now. My mom and I were looking at why the church was so bold in the stand they took. Why would a church that's trying to put out a good image to the world jeopardize it over something like this? The answer is much simpler than you'd think.

Dare to be a Mormon;

Dare to stand alone.

Dare to have a purpose firm;

Dare to make it known.

I have a good friend that has denounced his beliefs. While he grew up LDS, he has recently declared himself  as a "nondenominational christian". Most of his views on things are neutral and on the fence, or they're on the side everyone takes, as to not step on any toes. He believes that as long as we believe in Christ and have faith in Him, we will be saved. I once asked him why he believed in these things. His response was that his works will show his faith, and thus save him.  Looking at that statement, and his views on issues such as gay marriage just don't add up. I believe that he's right, faith without works is dead. I also believe that one of the greatest acts of faith is defending what Christ has taught us. I was talking to another friend about this who is closer to my good friend than I am and he told me that "he's having a really hard time because he feels he's alone." 

Now it all makes sense.

But it's not justified.

Just this last October, President Thomas S. Monson perfectly illustrated what I'm trying to explain:

"As we go about living from day to day, it is almost inevitable that our faith will be challenged. We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. Do we have the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone? As holders of the priesthood of God, it is essential that we are able to face—with courage—whatever challenges come our way. Remember the words of Tennyson: 

'My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure.'"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

The reason the church took such a bold stand against gay marriage is because we believe in the Family. The family is a sacred and critical component to our Heavenly Father's plan and we must boldly defend that sacred vessel amongst the onslaught of opposition.  We have a duty as disciples of Christ to defend the family, and that's what the church did. Do we hate homosexuals? No. Do we belittle them and cast them out? No. But are we going to compromise our stand on something we hold so sacred?

Never.

Standing alone is hard. But it's meant to be that way. Tonight I was hanging out with my friends. We started to watch a movie that happens to be one of my friend's favorites. We started watching the movie and I had a feeling that I need to check the rating. I asked them what it was rated and they told me "R". I have been raised my whole life to not watch R rated movies. I don't look down on anyone at all if they do, it's a personal choice. I know that most of my friends were not raised that way, again, I don't look down on them at all. But here I am, sitting with my best friends, and I have to make a decision: do I just sit here and watch the movie, or do I leave? I am risking friendship, I'm risking being made fun of, I'm risking being looked at as  a wimp, etc. Eventually I remembered the example of my sister, who years ago was at a party where they watched a movie that she didn't feel comfortable with. Even though she was made fun of, she called and got a ride home. She had the courage to stand up for her beliefs and leave the party. Eventually I finally said that I didn't want to ruin the party so I was just going to head home.

Without hesitation, my friends immediately said "hey, we'll just change the movie man. We want you to stay." I apologized for making them change the film, but one of them even said "no man, thanks for having the courage to speak up."

Wow. Those guys have some character to them. I really feel blessed tonight to have such great friends that didn't waste a second to accommodate my standards, silly as they may be.

President Monson went on to say,

"May we ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe, and if we must stand alone in the process, may we do so courageously, strengthened by the knowledge that in reality we are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven."

"When you are forced to stand alone, 

you realize what you have in you."

AMS

The Big Wednesday Post!

One of those days where it feels like I have a lot to do, 

but I really don't

I went to bed last night planning on writing this in the morning when I woke up so I'd be awake and coherent to write this. The sad thing about that statement is...I went through with it. I just woke up about an hour ago. Normally I'd feel great about this but I actually feel bad that I wasted my whole morning...man I'm getting old.

Anyways, yesterday I went down to my mom's classroom again to answer questions by her 4th graders. I think I was asked what my favorite Disney World ride is about 4 times; gotta love little kids. After that, I decided to go to work for a while. There are some days where I really have nothing to do, and I end up sitting around for a couple of hours getting paid and feeling very guilty. There was one day that I felt so bad I started wandering around finding people that needed help.

After that was the best part of the day:

Benjamin and I went to the Jazz game last night against the Trailblazers. We squeaked out a 92-89 win but we honestly should have lost because we gave the ball up so many times at the end of the game. That might doom us in the regular season so hopefully we figure out our problems soon enough. Either way, the game was really fun and it was nice to see the Jazz back out on the court after a LONG absence.  

I didn't tell Benjamin we were going, I just told him to get in the car and he didn't know that's where we were going until we were actually at Energy Solutions Arena. He was very pleasantly surprised and had a great time. I didn't mention to him either that I had no idea where to park or which exit to take, I was kinda making it up the whole time. But everything worked out and we made it home alive. We had just barely started to leave after the game when Benjamin informed me he had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at In and Out Burger on the way home. All in all, it was a really fun night with my brother; it was nice to see the Jazz pick up a 'W' on the way too.

Well, that's Wednesday for you. Better go start making something out of my day before it's all gone.

AMS

Another Day, Another Dollar

Some days are like this.

Today was not one of them.

Once again, the only thing I did today was sleep and work. I laid in bed until I had to go to work...at 4. I mean, I showered at around 11 but I just lounged around doing mostly nothing productive. That's the beauty and the horror of not having school. While it's lovely to rest, sleep in, and lounge about, it's also sort of annoying to try and find things to do when you're so used to busy schedules that leave little to no free time. So while I loved sleeping in, I almost felt like a sinner because I was so lazy today.

I looked a lot like this champ most of the day.

Eventually 4:00 rolled around and I went to work. I worked the BYU basketball game against Buffalo tonight. I ran what's called the "Fox Box". When you watch the game and can see the score on screen, that's the Fox Box. It got its name because apparently Fox Sports was the first one to use it.

^^That's the Fox Box^^

Today was my last day working my "multicam" job with BYUtv. I still have my other job til the end of the week, but that was it. And as luck would have it, this is the day that I do the best job of my life and everyone compliments me left and right on how good of a job I did. From the graphics guys, to the director, to the producer and executive producer, everyone complimented me on my job today. I was on the ball, I had great stats to put on screen, my timing was dead accurate...all on my last day. Well, hopefully that clinched me a spot working there when I get back from McAllen in 2 1/2 years.

Well, that's about all there is to report today. Tomorrow will have things to report though!

AMS

First Day of Freedom

And how boring it was.

So maybe I actually was plenty busy at BYU.

I woke up this morning and had no idea what I was going to do. I take that back, I was woken up this morning. I forgot that in the Sanders house, we get up at 6 AM on school days to read scriptures together. Oh man do I hate 6 AM. In my book, this is when Satan gets up in the morning...absolutely detest it. So after we read scriptures, I crawled back in bed, only to have my brother inform me that breakfast was ready about a half hour later. So, I went upstairs to breakfast, only to see a bunch of faces staring at me with an expression saying:

What are you doing up here??

When I told them I had been called up for breakfast, I got this response.

Oh sorry, we didn't make you any because we didn't think you were coming up!

Ah, well I guess that explains why you called me to breakfast.

Anyways, I went back to bed and slept until 9:57 when I woke up and realized I was supposed to be at my mom's class for a little Q&A with her students at...9:30. Shoot...So I hurried and got ready and ran down. I was a success because they want me back on Wednesday! Guess I'm pretty pro at answering 8 year old's questions!

I went to work today, did absolutely nothing. I hate days when my boss isn't in because I literally have absolutely nothing to do. Really, nothing. I just sit around and get paid. You may think "oh man that must be awesome!" From time to time, yes. Everyday? Not even a little bit.

After that I went home and goofed around until FHE where we went to the Festival of Lights. Every year, Spanish Fork does a big Christmas light show at night for 5 dollars. You just drive through the little light displays while they play Christmas music through the big speakers. I honestly don't know why it's such a big hit but it is. I mean, it hardly changes from year to year, but it's wildly popular every single year...probably because schmucks like my family go every year no matter what. Gotta love tradition!

So, that's pretty much today. Not really much to do today, so not much to report. Sorry about that.

AMS

Home Again, Home Again...

And so it ends.

Well, the time has come to go home.

After 4 amazing months at BYU, the semester is officially over and I am back at home in Spanish Fork. It's honestly hard to believe it's already over. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

It never really hits me that something is over until it actually is over. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing or not. I'm not sure if I just push away the fact that things are about to change when I don't want them to, or if I am just trying so hard to soak in every precious second. Either way, when the time actually came to hop in the car and drive away from Whitney Hall, I have to admit I got a little emotional thinking that I won't be coming back. To the kids of the 46th Ward, you guys are the best. I wish you all the best of luck in life, go forth and serve!

And so, here I am now at home, still waiting to head back up to college. I can't believe I'm done with school for 3 years. I really can't believe that the next big thing I'm waiting on is my mission!! I've never felt like a candidate for a mission, guess I never felt old enough. In my eyes, missionaries are men who have such a strong spirit about them. These guys are mighty men and maybe someday I can be just like them...wow.

That day is today. I know where I'm going, I know what I need to do, I am just sitting around waiting to go to the MTC and begin the greatest adventure of my life.

Nothing super important happened today or yesterday...or the day before (yes, I'm aware that I didn't post two nights ago and I tried to post this last night but fell asleep). I said goodbye to Mackenzie since she's off to Washington Friday night. She'll be back in a couple of weeks but I'll still miss her in the meantime. I hung out with my good friends last night. We always have some great times and have some spectacular discussions; they're very insightful people. James and Jake gave me a t-shirt and a bar of soap with this little guy on them...

If you don't know what this is, it's called the troll face. We've all been on the internet and know that one guy who posts annoying comments just to make people mad. He will say anything no matter how illogical it is just to get a rise out of everyone he can. Basically, he wants to watch the world burn in a sense. I'm kind of notorious among my friends to be a troll to them. When we play board games like Monopoly or Risk, I go into the game well knowing I'm not going to win. Therefore, my goal is to lose, but make sure whoever is winning has the most miserable time doing so. Is it wrong? Probably. Is it worth it?

So that's my week! I'll be back tomorrow with something more exciting that people might actually want to read.

AMS

Finals Wrap Up

Last Day of Finals

I wish Stupendous Man had helped me with my test...

Well, my pre-mission semester at BYU has drawn to a close. Tomorrow, I will be packing to go home and work til March 28th. I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had at BYU. It's hard to believe it's already over, I'm going to miss it up here. Oh well, back to Finals.

Before I start on Finals, I better start at the very beginning of the day. I went to bed at 1 last night, definitely against better judgement, knowing that I had to get up at 7:45. This was a very bad idea. When I wake up in the morning I look something like this...

This morning was no different. I went and worked out with Mackenzie this morning. We ran for about 15 minutes, then spent the rest of the time lifting weights like true bodybuilders. 

Just like that.

I had 2 finals today to wrap up Finals Week: Humanities and American Heritage. After working out, I got ready for the day, had breakfast, and spent the rest of the day either in the library or studying for the tests. So to fast forward, I don't really know how I did on Humanities, but I bombed the American Heritage one. Who cares though? I am free from that class! 

Spent the rest of the night checking out the new timeline on Facebook. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out. Soon your profile will be changed into a timeline that organizes all of your pictures and statuses so you can access things much easier, it's kind of like a journal. You can jump to any month with one click. It made me realize how stupid I've been in the past...yeah...

AMS

Being Real

I'm stepping out of my usual template for my posts to post a quick thought tonight.

The last couple of weeks, I've taken mental note about people's expectations for each other. We all seem to have these images of what everyone around us should be, yet we don't seem to find it within ourselves to make those necessary changes.  Why do we expect everyone else in the world to change for us when the hardest person to change is ourselves? 

I constantly see people post pictures and videos about 3rd world country genocide and young children starving, sharing videos about high school bullying, copy and pasting statuses about supporting "the cause".  I have always been very anti-all of the above. The reason why I don't do this is because I feel like posting any of those would be empty words.  I always see these posts with captions such as "this is so heartbreaking, we need to help them" or something to that effect, but in all reality, do these people ever actually DO anything to help "the cause"? How many times have I seen people post a status or video about teen bullying, but the next day I see teen bullying and that same person walks by without missing a beat. That's why I don't post stuff like that. It's not because I'm heartless or don't care; I don't want to give off an impression that I'm an active advocate of {insert cause here}, because I don't want I've always been one to prove myself by my actions.

I'm Starting With The Man In

The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change

His Ways

And No Message Could Have

Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World

A Better Place 

Take A Look At Yourself And

Then Make A Change

I'm starting to learn that words don't mean a thing to me unless they're backed up by solid actions. I used to not be the most trustworthy person, but I have learned over the last couple of years that being a man of my word gets me MILES ahead of the curve. Lately, I've been working on making sure that when I give my word of honor, it is law for myself. If I give my word of honor, you can guarantee beyond a doubt that I will keep my word.  I prefer to prove my word is good rather than just say it is. I'd rather prove that I want to help teen bullying or hunger by DOING something. Not just making empty promises to people I don't know. I want people to know the real Alex Sanders.  I want to be real to people.

I don't like that people put an image in their head about who I'm going to be or what I'm going to do for them. Without sounding too cocky or arrogant, I don't feel an obligation to do anything for anyone. I choose to do things for people because I want to. Maybe it's because I don't want to let people down, maybe it's because I care about the people, etc. 

To be real to people, I have to be honest, sometimes stepping on a few toes along the way. I have a friend that gets upset whenever I tell them I can't meet the expectations they have set for me. But I would MUCH rather tell them I can't do what they want or need of me rather than telling them i can when I clearly can't keep my word. I want to come clean, straightforward, no sugarcoating and tell them "sorry, but I'm not going to be what everyone expects me to be, I'm going to be me, but you won't be disappointed." 

I'm not gay okay? This commercial for Bleu de Chanel cologne (I'm really not gay) kind of sums up what I'm trying to say. If you really want me to, I will be that guy that does what you want, when you want, the way you want. You can have that guy, or you can have Alex Sanders; who while I won't be able to meet all of your expectations, and while I won't do everything the way you have it in your head that I will, I will always keep my word of honor, and I will be completely real to you. I'm not going to be who I'm expected to be anymore, I'm going to be me; 100% real. I'm going to be unpredictable.

AMS

Finals Parts 2 and 3

Sometimes finals are too hard to stay up and post in my blog.

Part 2

I honestly don't really remember what happened on Tuesday, but I'll try to remember it as best as I can.

I thought I'd set my alarm the night before for 9:30. I didn't. Turns out I set my alarm for 8:30 instead. If anyone knows me really well, they know I do NOT do mornings. 

Yeah, hate them.

It ended up being a blessing in disguise because I had plenty of time to do everything I needed to before I went to my test at 11. So, I went and had breakfast, swung by the bookstore and bought a "Bluebook" for my test, and signed up for my Humanities test on Thursday. Still had a half an hour to sit in the theater waiting to take my Film Final.

For my Film Final, we had to watch a movie they didn't tell us anything about in advance, then write a paper analyzing everything about it in relation to a theme we needed to find.  The film was called "Christmas in July"  and it was really good! It's only about 66 minutes long but it's pretty funny and very entertaining! If you've never seen it, I'd highly recommend it.  I bet it's even better if you don't have to worry about writing about it the whole time.

I decided a theme to the movie is that "Money changes everything" as the actors' personalities and opinions of the main character, Jimmy, change when he thinks he's won the $25,000 grand prize in a contest, and then change again when they find out he actually hasn't.  I managed to find 8 pages worth of material to write about, and after two hours, I walked out of the Varsity theater with a really confident feeling about my paper, and a really sore, cramped writing hand.  I treated myself to a little lunch and spent most of the rest of the day studying for more tests.  2 tests down, 3 to go.

Part 3

Wednesday heralded in the 3 hard tests remaining on my schedule this week: Astronomy, Humanities, and American Heritage. BYU has a "What if" Calculator on their online grade book. You can calculate your scores on remaining assignments and tests and will tell you what your final grade will be.  I use it to tell me how hard I need to try on the assignments.  I decided to tackle my Astronomy test today and spent most of the day working on that in the library with Mackenzie and Ethan.  We like to find empty study rooms that you're technically supposed to reserve, so we get kicked out all the time. I just act like we just lost track of time, then we go find another room.

I had never done better than 72 on an Astronomy test, and this final really didn't have a detrimental effect on my grade. I figured to keep my C-, I needed a 65% on the test, and that was exactly what I was shooting for.  I took the test and guess what? 65%!

So I finish Astronomy with a C-, which is pretty good considering I was expecting to fail.

While I was taking the test, a girl taking a physics test was sitting next to me. I casually noticed one of her questions had a few vocab words my test had. Then I noticed that a lot of her questions had terms my test had. That's when it hit me...

Physics 127

Physics 127

Physics 127

Physics 127

PHYSICS 127

Physics 127 is Astronomy.

Astronomy is a Physics class.

I've never taken physics in my life.

My epiphany is that my teacher was constantly talking about physics terms as if we all knew what they meant in advance...as if we had all taken PHYSICS.

I bet taking that class would have helped immensely.  But no matter, I passed the class with a C-. And you know what they say...

(By the way, when I searched "C's get degrees" this showed up in the image search. Coincidence? You decide...)

AMS

Finals Part 1

Happens Every Time

Finals week is upon us.

I can honestly say I was scared to get out of bed this morning knowing I had 5 tests this week breathing down my neck. But eventually I manned up and set out to take the test. First, I went to the bookstore to sell back a couple of text books. I love how I pay $200 for books but only get a fraction of that back no matter what condition they're in. Good ol' college. I did get $39 back though so I can't complain. I put most of that back in savings but kept four dollar bills for myself; let's hear it for being thrifty!

After that, I went to take my first test: Mission Prep. I wasn't too nervous about this test since I did pretty good on the last one. The best feeling in the world is opening to the first question and thinking "I've totally got this." And I did, to the tune of 100%! It was a great feeling knowing I had done so well in that class. I treated myself to some delicious lunch to celebrate the victory, but my happiness was short lived. I immediately got to studying for Astronomy...

I was honestly thinking that this was a "make-or-break" test for me, but once I checked online I realized I only need to get 50% on my final to still pass the class! I'd say, Crisis Averted!!

So tomorrow is my film final, and I know this post's short, but expect that during finals week. Part 2 coming tomorrow...

AMS

A Wonderful Weekend!

Great Weekends are Great!

Man you've gotta love a lazy weekend!

I had such a great weekend. It started with waking up Saturday morning, no one knows I came home the night before at 2 in the morning and just quietly crawled into bed. So when I get up in the morning, I got a pleasant reaction from every member of my family to the degree of:

WHERE DID YOU COME FROM???

Needless to say, it was a very satisfying moment.

I hung out with my family and Mackenzie for most of the day. We played a thrilling game of The Game of LIFE. Board games always get a little heated in my house. There's a trifle of yelling, maybe some name calling, alliances, betrayals, etc. This game, of course, was no different.

I didn't win, but I did get a cool million dollars while not compromising my standards. "Alex, will you leave your wife for me to help me pay off my debts?" Yes, I was asked that during the course of the game. No.

We concluded the night by playing Wii Party. If you haven't played it yet, do it. It is a blast. It's just a bunch of mini games comprised into party challenges. You do anything from chopping a carrot as fast as you can, to turning each other into zombies, to rocking a baby to sleep as fast as you can, and so on. Basically, it adds up to a crazy fun evening.

So along comes Sunday: The Christmas Program in Sacrament Meeting...

I have a love/hate relationship with playing the piano. I love playing in front of people...that sounds really self centered...but I get SO nervous when I play. My hands have little seizures right before I start playing. The song I played today was "O Holy Night" which in and of itself isn't bad, but when it's a Mormon Tabernacle Choir version, you know you're in trouble. I had a girl in my ward, Candace, help me with the song and it turned out very well. Then came the song I was really nervous about: Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Again, not a scary song unless you have to improvise and accompaniment WITH a key change between verses...yeah. It ended up being a lot better than I expected and i made it out of the Christmas Program unscathed. 

I ate dinner at home today. I love Sunday dinner at my house: Slow cooked roast beef, lots of mashed potatoes and gravy, salad...oh it's to die for. After that, I had some great conversations about different things with my dad and the rest of the family. I drove back to Provo where I find myself in my bed blogging. Tomorrow, it begins...Finals Week.

Stay tuned...

AMS

Don't worry.

I didn't forget. I was too tired to post last night and I have to be at church in 10 minutes. So sit tight, I'll post later.

Spontaneity

Ever do stuff on a whim?

Today, I did some spontaneous things.

First one happened in my review lab for American Heritage. I had clearly checked out and was very bored by the whole review so I started browsing the internet. I found an article that said the Utah Jazz were unveiling a new jersey today at noon! So, without any real planning, I borrowed Whitney's car and me and Mackenzie went up to Salt Lake to see them! And I must say...beautiful.

Yes, I want one.

Second act of spontaneity was this evening when I went home. Currently, no one in my family knows I'm in my house in Spanish Fork, in my bed. I didn't tell them I'd come tonight, I just showed up. So they're in for quite the surprise!

I love doing spontaneous things! It's so much fun to just suddenly think "Hey, I'm going to go do this right now." You have no plans, no aim, and no reason, you just go do it.  I really believe everyone needs a little spontaneity in their lives. It keeps us up and moving, it keeps us from being boring and sitting around on our rumps waiting for the world to change. It fuels that sense of adventure in all of us, and that is one of the great reasons why we're here on this great earth. Spontaneity is our way of stepping out from the mundane. It keeps us from getting too routine with our lives and we couldn't live without a little bit of it.

It's late so I'll stop here, just wanted to share my feelings on spontaneity. Maybe there will be more on this subject tomorrow.

AMS

Double Post

I Forgot...

Yeah yeah, I know I totally forgot to post last night. I even woke up this morning and thought "Man, I should post to make up for last night".  The immediate next thought was "Nah". So, to make up for it, I'm doing a special double post about today and yesterday! 

Wednesday

Wednesday was my last day of classes for the semester. It had a solid start with me forgetting I had a paper due in Humanities; good job Alex.  I then had my last American Heritage and Astronomy classes. They were not bad classes in the end, I'm just horrible at the classes; oh well, such is life in college.

I went to lunch with Wes after all my classes were done. That kid is so smart and insightful. He is definitely not a shallow thinker.  He had an interesting and rebellious past, but it has only made him smarter and more able to see a different side to things that I never would have seen; so I love to get his opinions on things.  If you want to read his insight, here's a link to his blog: wessence.blogspot.com.

Work's been quite the ride this week. My boss had me watch the latest copy of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that we're trying to get sent out to the donors and crew of the show.  Every time we get a new copy of the DVD, we have to watch it closely from start to finish to check for errors and glitches; if there are any, we have to make a new DVD.  I can only watch that show so many times before I hate myself for speaking in rhymes...

I hung out with Mackenzie again tonight.  All we did was buy some food in the Wilk and sit and talk.  We had some fun, nonsensical discussions, we also had some very deep discussions.  I love people that have good communication skills. There's nothing more annoying that one word texts.  How do you want me to respond ma'am/sir? I honestly have nothing more to contribute to this conversation and obviously, neither do you.  Therefore, I am suspending this conversation.  That's how I feel about bad conversations.  I really feel like social media is harming social communication skills.  People don't even know how to spell anymore.  Dear Every High Schooler in America, Your awesome. My awesome?...NO! That is NOT how you use that word! Y, R, K, and U are NOT words. There IS a difference between to, too, and two. There IS a difference between their, there, and they're. Apostrophes DO have a function, and would it kill you to capitalize a sentence for once? Sincerely, I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.

Thursday

Today, I had the beautiful opportunity to sleep in; and you better believe I took advantage to the tune of 10:30! That used to be normal sleeping in before I came to college, now it feels like I've wasted half the day! Curse you college.  Once I finally got up, I wrote that paper that was due the day before and emailed it to my teacher. So papers are done and we can focus on...FINALS!!! Cue scary music. 

I had more work where I got even more bored watching MORE DVDs for Steve. Today I watched little kids singing about America and old men singing about England. Man my life is awesome. After that, I met up with Mackenzie again and we watched "Sons of Provo". If you have not seen this movie, I would highly recommend it. It's really funny and takes stabs at Utah Valley Mormons so well!

Well, that's been the last two days for me, nothing deep or significant to report. I leave you this day with a funny picture as a peace offering for my irresponsible ways.

AMS