Well things have been GREAT lately… I just got a job I REALLY wanted today, and I got a new phone (same number don’t worry). The job I got is at a place called Simply Mac by the University Mall in Orem. It is all about apple computers, ipods, and other accessories. Seeing as how I am somewhat obsessed with Mac’s, this was my dream job. Plus during the holiday season they open up an extra store in the mall so I will be rollin in the dough!! Here is their website: http://www.simplymac.com/  

 Here is a letter from my Dad, he has been keeping us updated on what’s going on: Hi everyone,First of all, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf.Our family and home are fine but I have many friends who are still displaced and some I know have lost their homes. This is a huge disaster for our area. So many people have been displaced and many have lost everything. We are thankful however, that there has been so little loss of life. That is in part to the aggressive evacuations that have been instituted as a lesson they learned from the wildfires three short years ago.We have taken families into our home who have been evacuated to stay with us. The evacuation command came to about a block from our home so we were watching things carefully. We were packed and ready to roll if needed. Merrilee has been busy running the evacuation shelter for our city. We have had several hundred people staying there and the generous outpouring of donations and service has been outstanding. Their generosity and service would make SAP proud!I was asked to go out with the city Engineer to photograph all the homes and property that was destroyed in our city as documentation for FEMA. After a full day, we are only about half done with the ~100 homes that were destroyed in Poway. It is so incredibly sad to see all these homes reduced to ruin. It really makes you think about what is important in life and how you need to always be prepared, like the Scout motto says… We’ll be back at it today.This is a terribly weird way to meet and get close to your neighbors, but I must say I have made a lot of new friends this week. Anyway, we will get through this and rebuild like we did three years ago. It will take time, but we will heal.LAF. That is my new acronym. It means “Life After the Fires”… We still have lots going on. I am planning a Scout service project on Saturday. We are trying to get materials and make as many “sifters” as we can. Then we will distribute them and help people wherever we can to clean up and search for any trasures that might have survived… Here is a photo of the sifter we will be building. I am not sure how many we can make. Maybe 100. It would be awesome if we could make one for every family. We have put the word out to other Stakes for materials and volunteers to help too.

I just recently started hearing about fires in San Diego. Just four years ago was when we had the huge cedar fires that almost burned P-town to a crisp.. The current fire was headed northwest of Poway, so it wasn’t really a threat. Then the winds did a 180 (winds were at 60 mph… now around 20-30) and are now pushing the fire straight towards Poway.

My hubby is fighting the fire as we speak & said it is getting really gnarly. If I lived anywhere near there I would get out ASAP!! The wind is way too crazy! Be safe, please people!!!      

It is expected to hit the border at 5 am in the morning. My mom who is on the city council, was speaking tonight and is taking the next flight home. During the cedar fires she headed the evacuation center and I spent most of my time helping out. I wish I was back home so I could help out again! Tomorrow will be the 4 year anniversary of the Cedar Fires, and I can’t help but think that this may be the work of some crazy guy.. But there is a rumor that some downed power lines could have sparked it. Please pray for those who are evacuating!

Well as you all know, I am a devout Apple user. I have been born and raised on it. Apple is coming out with a new operating system (for example Windows just came out with Vista). This new version is called Leopard and it is simply amazing. There are many new features, and updates.Some of my favorite new things would have to be time machine, spaces,  and iChat. IChat is an instant messaging program that I use DAILY to talk to all of my friends. Spaces is cool because you can have different spaces where you can work on different things. It keeps you focused on what you are doing, and also allows for a little more organization. I strongly encourage you to take a look at Leopard and if you dont have a mac, SWITCH.

I worked on my car alot today so I figured I would talk about it a little… when I was looking around for cars when I was ready to buy my own, I found this SWEET red 1986 Mustang. I didn’t quite have enough money so the guy said he would hold onto it for me. I called him up the day of Christmas (got enough money) and he had sold it a couple days ago to some Dad buying it for his kid. I was really bummed out so I had to continue my search for the ultimate ride. I came upon a 1986 Ford Mustang GT a couple weeks later, and forced my dad to take me up to riverside to check it out. We ended up liking it a alot so we drove it home. Little did we know it had a blown head gasket (meaning you have to take out the whole engine to fix it) so it cost another grand in repairs. I was fine with that becuase that is mainly what got me my hobby of cars. I never really had a hobby and now I did so I didn’t care! I also made a really good friend with my neighbor Marc Walsh who is a GENIUS when it comes to cars. We fixed up everything and I kept fixing little things. On my way to work about a year later a kid pulled out into my lane and hit me. I ended up making 1000 bucks from the accident (got the Dad to cut me a check) and spent it all on exhaust/intake parts : ) For now that is mainly the only modifications I have done, aside from the stereo system and my attempt to repaint my car.. (looong story). I have it up here with me at BYU and love driving around because all the cars here are beaters. I plan to keep this car as long as I live, and as soon as I get home from my mission I am going to start fixing it up some more.

Today I read an article about an elderly man who lives in Afghanistan. He owns  a(probably the one and only) golf course in Afghanistan. Instead of grass, you have rocks and sand. And the flag poles are made of re-bar and pieces of red cloth. He is very determined to keep the course open, and hopes to get grass.

Asked whether he would consider shutting down the course, he stiffened. “I won’t close it,” he said sharply. “I’ll be patient.” Then he added, “People need to play golf.” 

The whole course only has 7 balls… and I remember back home our huge bucket full of them. It just makes me think how blessed we are, and what a great country we live in! Could you imagine living in Afghanistan? I have been thinking lately about our country and I have been kind of disappointed with it. But I realized the only thing I am disappointed with is our government, and not America.. I have been golfing twice and it is so much fun! I have officially added #32 to my do before I die list: Golf at the Kabul Golf Club in Afghanistan. 
Check out his sweet website: http://www.kabulgolfclub.com/

Sorry I haven’t been enlightening you with my daily tidbits of information… I have been on a road trip to BYU Idaho to visit some friends… I will start back up tomorrow I PROMISE! This is a picture of me and my good friends from high school: Taran (BYU I) Me, Stacey (BYU I), Ryan (BYU P), Nicole (BYU P), Jordan (UVU), Jana (BYU I), AJ (BYU P). We just got back last night and had a blast… Idaho is so beautiful! I put up a link to my Flickr album, check it out yo.

I feel loved when…

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Physical Touch

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Tag 3 people so they can find out what their love language is.

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Well I have been meaning to write a post on Poway for a while… Not many people know about it, but they should! I moved to Poway (P-Town) when I was about 1 year old. I was born in San Jose, CA and I can’t remember the reason we moved, but I’m glad we did! We lived in the same house the whole time, and it was probably the best house to grow up in. We had a great neighborhood, a big pool, and a huge hill to fly down in a red wagon. Most of the time we had a dog named Maggie; she is a Beagle, and lived for about 15 years (I think). My one favorite memory of Maggie (although I was pissed off then) was when I was riding around our backyard on my new go-kart and I was eating my delicious pizza. Maggie then jumped over me, and in the process, grabbed my pizza out of my hands. She was REALLY smart and figured out like 20 ways to get into our pantry. I was very involved in Boy Scouts and went on MANY campouts. I made some really good friends growing up, mainly Taran Sorensen, Ryan Thompson, and Jordan Hier. We were all in the same ward together so we pretty much grew up together. I went to Pomerado Elementary, Meadowbrook Middle School (also known as ghettobrook : ) and Poway High School. I had lots of fun in middle school but REALLY enjoyed high school. We had a diverse culture, and Poway High was known for it’s beautiful ladies. Poway is only about 15 mins (via the 56) from the beach, so it was always cool to run over to the beach and grab some in n out after. It is in North County San Diego, but we have our own mayor and city council (which my mom is on currently). Poway is a “tree city” which means you have to have a certain number of trees in your city. It has great stores and restaurants, as well as plenty of off-roading and racing spots : ). One thing I would love is to raise my kids in Poway. It is mainly republican and has lots of LDS people so I feel like its a really good environment. This means I need to make alot of money when I grow up, which I am fine with. Hopefully house prices will go down…

I have to admit… I am addicted. I have every game piece but all the rares (for each color there is one rare). Me and my roommates have been going at least once per day. Plus I have TONS of duplicates. One cool thing though is each game piece has a code that you enter online and it’s like another game (it’s still monopoly, just online). So far I have won one free download (monopoly from real arcade. I will let you guys know when I get my 50 thousand.

I love fruit. Before I left college, I would make a smoothie every day. Sadly I haven’t been able to keep up on that, mostly because I am paying for my food now and not my mom.. During my senior year I was a teacher assistant for one of my Spanish teachers in High School (Señor Kemp). He was a really cool guy, he likes hiking, playing drums, and he knows some Great latin music. He had a girlfriend that introduced him to the fruitarian diet. So from then on he come to school with a huge bag full of odd assortments of fruit. I found so many new kinds, and by far my favorite would be the lychee. Its pretty much a white strawberry in a thin shell. He would bring me a bag of these and I would just eat them all period.. One thing he also showed me was a website for fruitarians and some really helpful information on fruit. You can learn what each fruit helps with, for example:

APPLE     

Nutritional Value

The apple may not be the nutritional standout of the fruit bowl, but if an apple is eaten, it will provide you with respectable amounts of soluble and insoluble fibber, some vitamin C and beta-carotene (if you eat the peal), and potassium and boron;

Health Benefits

Can reduce blood cholesterol levels, especially “bad”LDL type cholesterol. Pectin, a soluble fibre in apples, is thought to play a key part in this;Counters constipation and diarrhoea. The specific combination of fibre types and fruit acid in apples is probably responsible for their well-known ability to prevent and treat constipation. The liquid- gelling pectin and the natural antiviral properties in apples explain their traditional use for diarrhoea;Traditionally used for arthritis, rheumatism and gout. The apple’s benefits for digestion and the disposal of unwanted substances from the body support its reputation for helping joint problems. This may be due to a combination of actions: fruit acids that improve digestion, the antioxidant effect of the flavonoid quercetin and pectin’s ability to increase elimination.May improve defences against illness.

Im sure you found out many things that even an apple can do, it’s amazing!! One thing I recommend the most is this page where it talks about what fruit is best at what part of the day. Even just a smoothie can help.. just about everyone doesn’t eat as much fruit as they should be, I know I’m not! And if you’re hardcore, go buy a couple fruit trees and put them in your backyard. (see number 27)