Epic days before the start of school...

So over the past 24 hours I have gone from thinking I would be living in one place until the end of the school year, then to hoping to move, to selling my contact at the first place and being homeless, to moving into my new place and trying to get organized and unpacked.

So my whole adventure really started on Friday. One of my best friends, Brian, was up in Logan helping someone else move from Salt Lake up here for their last semester of schooling. They called me up and I went to hang out with them. Stephen, my new housemate was bragging about how much he was paying and everything for the size of the house and I kinda wanted in on it.

He gave me the number to his landlord and I called mine to see if I would be able to sell my contract and move sometime during the first week of school. (I know I am crazy wanting to move during the start of a new work schedule/trying to figure out when I can sleep and just the craziness of school in general) She said that she did not have anyone looking at the time but would keep an eye out for me so that if something came up she would be able to let me know.

So I continue hanging out and just having a good time, not really able to sleep Friday night, it was kinda warm and I couldn't stop thinking about school, work, just life in general. About 9 am my current landlady calls and says she has someone that wants my contract today, how early would I be able to get my stuff out. So I start packing and cleaning getting ready to move out.

He wasn't coming to sign the contract till 12:30p. A lot can happen during that time so I didn't pack all of my stuff just in case something went wrong. My new landlord told me they would be in Logan around 11:00 a so I thought I would be able to meet with her and then sell my contract and move my stuff without any real sitting period. Well that didn't happen, at 1:00p there was still not solid word on if I had a place to live as the new landlord had not shown up.

I asked Brian if I could stick all my stuff in his Van and hoped that I would be able to unpack it somewhere before the end of the night.

The landlord showed up about 3p, I was able to sign the contract and move in. Now I am in the process of un-packing I hope to be done before classes start on Monday or I will not have any of my books or school supplies because packing was less knowing where I was putting stuff and more throwing everthing I could into a box so that get out fast so I don't have an easy way to unpack as my things are not organized.

But it is a small price to pay to be in a better place.

Summer Break

So I have kind of forgotten about my blog. I gave up on Facebook and then I just stopped updating my blog... I am back now... back on Facebook and back to updating my blog.

So far I have been in love with this summer. I work three days a week and then I have off four days. With all my time off I have finally started to feel not as stressed about everything. I have gone on hikes in Logan Canyon by myself. I have read a little bit out of a whole bunch of books just because I can, I need to stop doing this because I start to combine the stories in my head into some supper story that I think is awesome but doesn't really exist.

A while ago I went to the doctors and had lost weight as you may be able to remember. Well I have been on a new diet and have maintained weight... I am increasing the amount of calories I eat a day so I hope to start increasing.

Bells on Temple Square has been in hiatus while the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have been on tour. We won't have practice again until the end of this month. It has been very weird to have Wednesday Nights free, I am exited to not have them free anymore.

So that is what has been going on in my life for the last month. I am going to continue to  relax and do enjoy my summer.

So I am losing weight.....

I had a doctors appointment today... I have lost weight. Over the last four months, since the last time I weighted in at the doctors, I have lost 2.3 pounds... Since last summer about this same time (June or July) I have lost about 5 pounds.

With the way that my Thyroid is acting, being in an underactive and not over active state, this kind of worries me. Most people who are affected by Hashimotos Thyroiditis are gaining weight like no other. However not everyone's body reacts the same. My doctor told me to watch my weight and that I am not to lose any more... oddly this is not the first time I have hear this statement in my life.

So I am back on the weight gain band wagon, party of one. I will get my test results back later this week. We shall see what happens.

P.S. If you have any recipes for some fatty, delicious, fast and easy to make food post it in the comments below.

The Move and Summer

Its been just over a week and I am all unpacked and loving the new apartment. There is no smelly roommate, there is no annoyingly noisy road. The move was a move up in the world and not a downgrade. I have moved almost all of my stuff and have it unpacked.  I even go a entertainment center for my TV so that I can use the desk space in my room as a desk.

Currently I have three very awesome roommates, a fourth one should be moving in sometime this month. For the first time I do not have any kitchen stuff in the apartment because my roommates have all the pots and pans and kitchen stuff taken care of. I have not really cooked a full meal in this apartment yet because I have forgotten to buy meat every time I have been in the store. This Thursday however, I plan on making Paprika Parmesan Chicken with green beans and mashed garlic potatoes, sounds good doesn't it?

Summer so far have consisted of working and moving and going to Bell Choir practice. Tomorrow I am taking my Mother out to a movie and lunch for her Birthday. I will also be giving a presentation on Paraguay to my niece's class. I am going to be talking about the culture, people and landscape of the country.

When I start to put my presentation together I missed Facebook because I would have been able to grab pictures from all of my mission buddies without having to search through random pictures on the internet. It might have taken a little longer to get done but I did it without Facebook and I am still glad that I deleted my facebook account.

During this next week I am going to be trying to get a bike from Aggie Blue Bikes so that I can get some exercise outside. I am so exited.

Leaving Facebook

Over the past 12 hours when I posted that I was leaving Facebook I have received more messages and email and texts with everyone views on why I should stay or go. Let me more fully explain my reason for leaving Facebook at this time.

First, I find my self spending way to much time on Facebook. When I started using Facebook I did not limit how much time I spent on it or even pay attention to what I was doing. I do not like that I can just sit there and let a couple of hours go by and at the end of it not really know what I have been doing... I mean really how much is there of substance to do on Facebook? Not much. There are random stupid games that you can play.. most of which I stopped playing a long time ago. There are friends pictures and status to look at but that should only take about 5 minutes a day... if that. Not a whole lot of worthwhile things to do.

Second, Facebook Stalking, how often do I find my self looking over every detail of someones profile.. way too often. I do like that I can "learn" too much information about someone else just by looking at their online page. You should have to work to get to know someone. You should also learn the reasons of why they like or dislike something. Facebook can take a lot of the fun of knowing someone out of the picture. I don't like that I do it to others or that others can Facebook Stalk me. Yes I know there are privacy settings that I can change so that not one can see any information about me but for now I need to remove my account so that when and if I start using Facebook again I will setup what I do and when, for how long and how often.

Third, I am sick of stupid people. Looking at the past Facebook updates of my "friends" I have added a lot of people that I do not really know to my Facebook. These people tell their friends to add me and then I get requests from hundreds of people that I do not even know and it never stops. Rather than going through and deleting them one by one deleting my account will allow me to start fresh and only add those who I know or want to talk to. The random please that I at one time friend on Facebook are also the ones that are always sending random App requests... I generally don't use the Facebook Apps. I don't want a farm or a mob or any other stupid game.

I know that this means that some of you will not read my blog or stay in contact with me but we will live. If someone really wants to get into contact with me there are ways and I would be happy to talk or get together and cook or have fun.

Just not on Facebook for the time being. If you want to get a hold of me leave a comment on the blog and I will be able to respond or send you an e-mail.

Love you all and Facebook will be deleted Wednesday morning. 

Moving On...

Well I have not written in the blog for a while... So time to do a little catch up... This next week is finals week this also means that I will need to be all moved out by next Saturday.

These past weeks have been spent getting ready for finals.. Getting ready to move... Getting ready for the next Bells on Temple Square performance. Two weeks ago I was asked to play of one of the parts for a song called "Lore of the Loom", listen to it here, I really like the song and so I was excited to be asked to play. Then just this last Wednesday during practice an executive decision was made to let all of the subs play the entire concert. During the practices that we have been having I have tried to make it a point to not play the same part on the bells to much so I do not really have a part down... I guess this next Wednesday will be deciding what parts each of the subs will want to play for the concert and hope that no one needs a sub for the day so that we can get our new parts down in time.

If you want tickets you can either give me a call/text or go to the Temple Square Events Page starting May 3rd.

It turns out that everywhere that I was able to get a hold of to be able to get a storage unit wanted upward of $80 for one month of storage but if I wanted it for 6 or more months it would only be like $20 a month... Not worth it in my mind, too much money. So I talked to my parents and am storing my stuff there for a few weeks. I have already taken a load down and will take another one down this next week. On Saturday and Brother and Sister-in-law are graduating this next Saturday, the day I need to have all my stuff out. So anything that I do not have at my parents house by then will either sit in my car or my Parents car to have it out of my current place by the check out time.

I am really excited to get rid of Mr. Stinky.. the other night he set off the fire alarms at 12:30 in the morning. If I already wasn't awake because I was going to work, I would have been pissed off to no end.

Preparations for finals are going good. One of my teachers has said that if the grade on the final is better than the grade on the earlier tests that the final grade will replace the other grades... I am excited about that because it gives me a chance to take my B in the class to an A.

I am so ready for a summer break. I will be working three ten hour days. Then I will have four days off, to do what ever I want. I am also getting a bike from the school this summer so that will be fun. WOOT... It is so close I can feel it. 

Fire Alarms

So this past week I have been thinking. Comparing different situations and actions actions in my life to a fire alarm. Why? You might ask, well you see the battery in one of our fire alarms is going low and so it makes a beep every ten minutes.

This leads me to reflect on everything in terms of alarms. The steady annoyingly simple beep is just letting us know that although nothing is wrong if we do not take action soon something could go very wrong. *To be honest in my time living in Logan there have been three occasions that I have been happy that fire alarms exist and are installed in my house*

One of the other noises that a fire alarm gives off is complete silence. Quietly letting everyone within earshot know that everything is ok. The last is the ear defining noise that can be heard if their is smoke in the air around the alarm.

For most of my life I have lived in one of the two extremes, either I have felt that there is no danger or that something is so off that immediate action must be taken. Right now, for about the last 6 to 9 months I have felt something is slightly off. Not so much that I am in danger but more of just one thing must be fixed and once it is everything will be all right. Now I just need to figure out what it is that needs to be fixed and be done with it.

Oh and also I need to remember to buy a 9V battery so that the real fire alarm will stop beeping.

No good dirty rotten.....

So Tuesday and "today" (Early Thursday Morning) I have not felt good at all. I am laying here in bed and do not want to move for any reason. On Tuesday I only got out of bed for two reasons, food and bathroom. Other than that I sat on the couch or laid in bed and did nothing.

I really don't like it but I did feel good enough on Wednesday to go into work and go down to the Bells and practice. It was a good practice, I play a position that I had not played this year it was hard and refreshing to do. Today I will go to class, and then come home and crash until I need to go to work tonight.

------

Now I am in class, I kinda wish that I didn't come. I am glad that the teacher encourages people to ask questions but this means that we get WAY off topic and nothing that is currently being talked about will be on the test. The worst is the snow ball effect that one question at the beginning of class that is talked about during each section of the lesson. It makes the lesson feel like it is dragging to me as we stop learning about the course content.

Anyway about the title of the post, I feel like this situation I am in is a no good dirty rotten thing. The next couple of weeks my activities will include finding another doctor to get a second option, finding a storage unit so I can start packing my extra stuff so that the first weeks of May, and finishing the school year while getting good grades. If I can get all this done before (finding doctor/storage unit) before the middle of April I will be in good shape.

Spring Break!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well my Friday classes were canceled so today I started Spring Break. So I will have a day of doing nothing before going to California with my family.

Finally getting a break.

On a side note have Blood work done this week and my tests came back normal even though I have been having the same kinds of issues. Well I am not going to worry about it until I get back.

Really? Your STILL Sick?

This is the most asked question of the past couple of weeks. Here is the answer, YES, I am still sick. Currently yes it is with the same cough that I had a week to a week and a half ago when you last asked me.

I am really trying to not get annoyed with this question but it is kinda getting on my nerves. I guess what tends to bother me more is when people ask me to do something/ if I am doing something and my answer is "I just don't feel good, so I don't think so" and their next question is "Oh, how are you feeling?" did I not just answer that question? I know I listen for what I want to hear as well but sometimes it would be nice to have someone listen the first time.

Just so you are aware, if you ask me how I am feeling, I will answer how I am feeling. I no longer hide behind the answer that you want to hear,meaning the "I'm doing good", in fact I feel sorry for one of my old neighbors today who asked me at a test review how I was doing. I gave them the full real answer and they did not expect it. When what they were expecting to be a line answer turned into a half page summary it seemed like they were going to stop talking to me, but they didn't they stuck it out. (Thanks, I needed that today at least once)...

So just so you all know, yes I am still sick, my body still has not figured out what is my Thyroid and what is a germ or virus that needs to be killed. If I don't have the same cough that I have had for a few weeks it is something else. Yes I am taking medication, when I feel myself to start to get worse I take airborne until "better" symptoms appear that I can treat. I just really want to get better so I don't feel like this on the way to Cali.

In better news because of my AMAZING brother Nate who helped me study for my Econ test I was able to teach the Teacher's Aide something tonight at the test review, let us also hope that means good things for the test tomorrow.

Do Hard Things

My sister-in-law recently had a post about doing hard things and why she has been able to do them in the past and why she thinks she is having a hard time now. I really enjoyed the post and had been thinking about "hard things" before she posted it.

I love that as the human race that we strive to do that which we are told is impossible. As I was putting off doing homework one day I was listening to a graduating speaker on Ted.com (my new favorite website) and he talked about the differences and similarities of humans and animals. The main difference is that when someone tells us that we cannot do something we want to prove them wrong and do it anyway. I really need to pay more attention to who I listen to on there so I can give them credit when I talk about their ideas.

It really has made me think of what I have done in my life when I was told NO, you can't do it. I have had doctors say “no”, I have had teachers say “no”, I have had friends say “no, it can't be done”. Even more often I have been the one who has told it myself “no, it can't be done”.

A little history if you didn't know me at the time or don't remember of one of these times. When I was filling out the paper work to go on my mission for the Church my doctor had placed a note on my medical forms that he thought that I might have a heart defect that results from Marfan syndrome because I have long fingers and other symptoms of this disorder. One of the Doctors from Church Headquarters called and said that if I did not go and have a echocardiogram, an ultrasound of the heart, I could still server a mission but would have to stay state side just in case I had heart complications.

So I heard “no, you won't serve a foreign mission”. My mother was just fine with this news, I however was not. When I had decided that I was going to be a missionary I as decided that I could go anywhere as long as it was outside of the USA. I wanted to do something that my brothers did not do. I talked with my parents, my mother trying to tell me that knowing I was going to go stateside was ok, my father telling me to make up my own mind and me wanting to have the test done so that I would at least have the chance.

We had the test done, my heart was normal, no remote sign that there was any defect nor that one would show up in the future. With my papers complete from the medical side, my papers were finished; I was called to sever in the Paraguay Asuncion North Mission. I would not have it any other way.

I just wish that I would have done that every time I was told no. I love to rebel when someone else tells me no but once I tell that same word to myself I stop fighting and succumb to defeat and stop. I like my sister-in-law do not know what really stops me. This is one reason for the quote at the top of my blog, if I am stopped I hope at least it is by something valid and not something in my head.

I need a break...

This week has been one crazy ride... between being sick and and not having energy to do anything. I have felt this week much like I felt at the start of the medication process. It has just been odd.

What I am saying with all of this is I need a break... I can't wait until Summer... I am going to do my internship but it will be nice to just work and not work and do school... yep I need a break.

Long days.... Some planning starting to work out.

I am still doing alright with the new work/school schedule. It has been hard on some days but for the most part it rocks. I sleep like a normal person at least 3 days a week, (up from the maybe sometimes 1 day last semester). As it turns out Wednesdays are not my long days. Tuesday and Thursday are. Wednesday is once again my favorite day. At the end of it I am tired but fell amazing. I LOVE being apart of the Bells on Temple Square.

I talked to the HR rep at my work today and was able to confirm that I will be able to do an internship this summer.  If I am not able to go to Spain at least I will be able to get things done for my degree. Right now there is a graduation requirement to have an internship, talking to my councilor in the next few years they are going to want graduates to have at least two internships and I am on my way to have two.

One thing that I do want to do while I am in school is the internship with the Government at one of their embassies doing the same kind of things that I will do when I work full time for the embassy. So I might do that next year (or at least try to) and kill to birds with one stone, i.e. go to Spain and work for the US embassy there, who knows but I think I'll try it.

New Semester... New Work Schedule...

This week started a new school semester here at USU. This also means that we started a new work schedule a my job. I decided that I wanted to go to 3-10s instead of 5-6s. That means that on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I go into work at 1:00 am and stay until 11:00 am. At my job we are not required to take a lunch break, we can eat at our desk and continue to work if we would like, so I can get the 10 hours in without having to take a break for lunch.

I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or not. I loved not having to work on Tuesday, being able to sleep in until I needed to go to class/being lazy until I needed to go to class. Monday at work wasn't "hard" being at work is for the most part fun for me. Friday was hard because I did not sleep on Thursday.

For the most part I am excited for this next semester of school... After this I will only be taking classes that pertain to my degree. WOOT!

Planning.... to much planning

This week I have started my house hunt for the next year... I really hate planning so far in advance but it become necessary when all the good places get taken in the first two months of the year. I guess I say I hate planning so far in advance but I guess that is because when I do it always seems to bite me in the butt. This is because I try and make plans of what I want to do and it always seems to fall through.

During last summer I decided that I was going to go study abroad, I wanted to go to Spain, study Spanish and live in Spain for three months. That plan started to crumble with the start of my medical problems. Then it was crushed when I found out that I could not take Spanish this spring semester. This means that I would not be able to take the classes that I would need to take. So in the end the Study Abroad thing gets scraped.

Tomorrow I am giving a talk in church, I started to plan it last Sunday when I was told about it. I found talks that related to the "Spiritual Goals"subject that I have been given. Everything was good until today when I started to pull it all together. It doesn't make sense, it does not seem to flow. So I start again from strach to try and see if I can come up with something better.