Well yesterday was a pretty big day for me.. I finally turned in my papers! It took me longer than expected, but I am excited to be done. I will wait about two weeks until I get my call, I will keep you all posted. I have been very busy ever since I cam home, pulling 40+ hour weeks at work. I got my job back at my local Albertons in the Meat Dept. It’s really fun!          If you would like to guess where I am going (be serious please..) then leave a comment. The winner gets 20 bucks!! hey thats a pretty good deal.. but it has to be the exact country… no africa or southern hemisphere junk. MY guess is South Africa.  My best friend Ryan Thompson got called to Fortaleza Brazil yesterday, and one of my other friends Dan Holiday got called to the Ecuador/Galapagos Islands mission! Pretty sweet… 

To All My Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of thewinter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.   

To My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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/  

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/

In the New York Times I see these ad’s about once a week for this place. Its an island in the Caribbean, and I went and checked out their website. This place is so gorgeous, I knew thats where I want to go on my honeymoon haha. I have photographers blood in me (thanks to my Dad) so I would be fine going with just a camera. But seeing as how this place is prime scuba territory, and how I already have my license, I wouldn’t be able to pass that up.

Take advantage of multiple and diverse water sites. Experience the clearest and calmest waters the Bahamas has to offer. Choose various dives from shallow reefs with ship wrecks to a SUB dive on one of Nassau’s famous reefs. Many of these shallow reefs and shipwrecks have been seen throughout the world in various feature films such as Deep Blue Sea, Spy Kids, and three James Bond thrillers. For the more adventurous diver there is a shark dive with as many as forty Caribbean Reef sharks. 

Not to mention the water park:

 The new, unprecedented 63-acre waterscape, AQUAVENTURE, the centerpiece of Atlantis’ recent billion-dollar development. This addition positions Atlantis as the largest water-themed attraction in the world, containing over twenty million gallons of water. This non-stop water experience, consists of thrilling new water slides, a mile-long river ride with high intensity rapids and wave surges, and never-before-seen special effects that add an extreme level of excitement to the overall experience, delivering a sensory journey unlike any other.     

I could probably live here, but I guess that would end up being quite expensive.. I’m thinking about a week would be good for me, then I would just want to go home.. haha 

I have long been a fan of these, because my dad has always had one. I can remember riding on the back ever since I was little. I finally decided I wanted to start riding so I started small (my mom’s Yamaha 250). It was a great bike, more like a scooter lol. It was like the bike with training wheels, so I got sick of it after a little while. My dad recently acquired a Honda Shadow 650? which I dreamt of riding. So before I tackled the beast, I wanted to get my motorcycle license. I went online and found some company that does a couple classes then some riding sessions. My instructor was a professional motorcycle racer and he had the COOLEST bike (more about that later). So I learned alot and did great in the riding portion (seeing as how I had my permit and had been riding the 250 everywhere). Now one thing I noticed was peoples opinions on my motorcycling. Half of the people would tell me I had a death wish and they didn’t want me riding around, and the other half were way excited for me. It bothered me because everyone had to tell you some story about a guy they saw on the news who got decapitated or whatever. What they don’t realize is he was probably riding between cars doing wheelies or whatever. And all those guys who ride crazy give all the other motorcyclists a bad name!! So I got my motorcycle license, but my dad wouldn’t let me ride his bike. The the that pissed me off the MOST was he would let my older brother ride his bike around when he didn’t even have a permit!! But later on he let me start riding around the neighborhood, then around town, etc. It is sooooo much fun! Anyways so I have officially decided which bike I will be purchasing (after I am married and move back to Poway). Its from a company called Triumph, and the bike is a Daytona 650. My instructor had this bike in a cherry red, it literally was love at first sight.   

 As the first three-cylinder super sports middleweight the Daytona 675 stands alone in the most hotly contested arena in motorcycling. Of course it can be compared to many motorcycles – and on such occasions invariably comes out on top, but in one single stroke it’s redefined just how a middleweight sports bike should look and feel. If the Daytona 675’s unique DNA is a large part of its appeal, its stunning performance is the winning flourish    

As an avid apple user, I use iTunes daily. Just about every song I bought has been from iTunes, and so far I have $477 worth of music purchased from iTunes (including music from gift certificates). I have been trying to whittle down my library because half the music I had in there I didn’t even like. I also love putting my music on shuffle so I get a mix of all my music. I have pretty much got my library to the point where I want it, and am now adding more music. I don’t know what I would do without music, its pretty much amazing. I am into just about every kind of music, and lately I have been starting to like country (I was raised to hate it haha). Mainly I like rap, techno, pop punk, etc. I really like songs that have good beats and melodies. I just listen to the music part and rarely pay attention

 Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. ~Confucius     

One thing I am doing is creating “mood” playlists. My most recent one is “sleepy time music” so that when I am going to bed and feel like some tunes I just play all the songs in that specific playlist. It helps alot because you don’t have to go searching around for that one song.. 

In case you didn’t know, I have a movie of the week page that I will be changing usually every Sunday. This weeks in amazing, just click on the link to the right. Also for those here at BYU with no access to youtube, email me because I know how to fix it haha By the way, ITS SNOWING OUTSIDE!!!! YAHOOOO