Only a week before I see you!!!!

Can you believe that it's less than a week till I get to see you guys? It's fantastic! I am super excited to see everyone and show off what little of my Room and BYU I can! I'm stoked!

Under normal circumstances I would be freaking out to make sure my room is spotless, but I don't have much to worry about. I keep my room very clean anyway, so it may take a little longer than normal to clean, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Spencer, Preston; have you been practicing your Mario Skills yet? If not you better get on it otherwise all the hype I put up for you will be for not. (Also, let me know which days you two want to sleep over so the Gamecube can be available. Or if you don't want to play Mario Party or Mario Kart (it'll be with two girls from the ward. They're decent, but they're more entertaining to beat than in competition) let me know and we can just chill in my room.)

Anyway, this past week has been pretty much relax for me. I gave double reds at the blood drive (I thought that was going to take like an hour, but it only took 20 minutes or so. And they had a little light to tell me when to squeeze and when not to, and a progress meter, so I didn't have to think at all! It was lovely!). I did well (I think) on my third Poli Sci 170 exam, so that was a relief. And I pretty much just chilled for the past few days.

I will say that Air Force was pretty exciting this week. On Thursday we had our final parade (nothing fancy. I basically stood at parade rest and attention for about 15 minutes and then marched around a soccer field and back into parade rest for another 10 minutes.) and our end of the year awards ceremony. Last semester only a few cadets won awards (we get little ribbons to put on our uniform) and it was a little depressing because a lot of people deserve awards but don't get them. This semester though, almost everyone got at least 1 award. I was able to come home with 4 or 5! I believe one was for my scholarship, the other was for being super academic, the other was for being in the Arnold Air Society (a national club here), and one for being super on my PFA (my big physical test I took). I might be missing a few but I am hoping to have them on my uniform when you guys get here so I can show it off to you!

The other cool thing was something called "Dining Out". It is essentially a really nice formal military dinner. In the past they did it at the Wilk Ballroom but this year we went up to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake. It was really nice! Everyone was in uniform and showing off their dates and ribbons (I didn't bring a date because I didn't want to/they said we couldn't bring dates until like 4 days before the end of the sign up so I didn't want to waste my time and energy trying to find a date that I didn't want to bring in the first place. Also, I didn't have time to go and grab my ribbons on Friday so I wasn't wearing any, but a lot of people weren't, so I didn't feel too left out) and it was at this really nice conference center that had nice white walls and on one side old fashion oddly-shaped-brick-and-mortar wall. It had a nice atmosphere to it and the food was delicious! The caters had super big portions and the food was delicious (so much better than BYU Catering!) We had a guest speaker talk to us. His name is Lt. Colonel Rex Vanderwood, Commander of the 647th Air Base Group and Deputy Commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. He was a lot of fun to listen to because he and our Colonel are good friends. He talked about how to overcome failure and the need to always be prepared. So it was nice to listen to him joke and talk with us. We also had a really cool POW/MIA ceremony. During Dinner and the Grog the President (Cadet Colonel) and Vice (Cadet Deputy Colonel) would make jokes about stuff in ROTC, like how the Drill Team cheer sounds more like the fashion line Carhartt then "grarat" (it's supposed to sound like a dog growling).

The most prominent thing about Dining Out is something called "The Grog". The Grog is a practice used in all military bases and is essentially military hazing that affects even the most senior members. What it is is this: Imagine a giant porcelain toilet bowl (yes, a toilet bowl) filled with a nasty concoction that essentially depends on the head table decided to be in there. It can have any number of ingredients in it; for example: Soy Sauce, Chili Powder, Lemon Juice, Jalapeno Peppers, Cottage Cheese, Yogurt, etc., and it's all blended up into a liquid. This year's Grog was essentially yogurt, like 7 different Jalapeno Peppers, and I think some salt and maybe a pinch of sugar. Here's a good example of the Grog (not all of them are this nasty by the way, and ours was liquidfied.)

The grog can be dangerous. Be prepared...

To get the honor of drinking from the grog, you have to have some infraction of the rules. If someone notices that you have infracted a rule, you can stand up, yell "Mr. Vice, Point of Order!" and then proceed to explain why the said cadet should be groged. If the Vice (2nd in command) agrees, then the cadet has to march up to the table and prepare for the groging. Sometimes they can defend themselves, but most times they can't. But there is proper procedure on how to drink the grog. First you have to Salute the grog...


Then you fill up the cup with the grog...


Then you must do an about-face (Turn around) and yell "TO THE MESS!!!!!"



You then drink the grog without removing the cup from your lips (if it does you may have to do it again)....


And after this is all done than you have to tip this empty glass over your head. If a single drop falls out, you have to do it all over again...


The Final Step is marching back to your seat. But once you get there, you have to yell something that the Vice told you to say. Some of my personal favorites of the evening were "Ooooh! I like it like that!", "Never fear! I have arrived!", and "The Fun has arrived!!!"

And that's the end of the grog! Now you can be groged multiple times during the evening depending on how many infractions you break (i.e. Not having someone watching your date, not having a fully charged glass, doing something stupid during the evening and the semester, etc.). I didn't get groged thankfully, but a bunch did. Our Cadet Colonel from last semester got groged about 4 or 5 different times! Ah.... it was fun!

Well, that's pretty much it. I would be happy to tell you more. Just ask when you guys get here! Love you lots and hope to see you soon!!!!

Spamming the Blog

Preston has iPod troubles.

Spencer won't dance at dances.

Dad is fighting foreign diseases, and is gone all the time.

I'm creating 72 hour kits. It's like camping.

Brigham read his first book today. It's "My Family Eats Dinner in the Bathtub."

And Tanner is maybe finally becoming potty trained.

Check out these pictures I took. IN NEBRASKA. Beat that :)

So ya. Hi :D

Guess What???

Hi Steven. Guess what? I wrote on the blog. Beat that :)

So I was wondering................................................................................................................................
What's up????

Lol, jk. So guess what?? I'm going to get my license soon. Yep. And I might do AP Calc BC. Yep. And I have screwed up shoulders. Yep. And I'm going to an anti-prom party next week and then going to post prom. Yep. With Kelly and a group of people. Yep. I'm excited. Yep. And we're coming out to Utah, which I know you had NO idea about. Yep. And you're still shocked to see this ;)

Ah..... A Wonderful Do Nothing Week

Hello Family! How's everything going for you guys? I hear Omaha had some unusually warm weather the past few days! I am very excited to have you guys come and visit me here the Y! Probably next week I will send Mom and Dad an email with my schedule, classes, class lectures for that week, and cannon center dining menu. It's going to be a lot of fun! Oh, Spencer and Preston: As will be noted in this post later on, I have done a lot of Mario Party, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Brothers Melee. I have also talked up a storm about how good both of you are at these games (and how Preston and I are basically unstoppable on double dash [not trying to exclude you spencer! You were/are a beast with Mario and Koopa Kid]), so I need the two of you to practice you're Mario skills (The Mario Party game is the one where they're on a cruise ship and you go to different locations) so we can kick some butt while you're here. You got reputations to live up to!!!

Anyway, Sorry it's been two weeks since I've updated this, but as my last post explains I had Midterms and just didn't have time to update it. Quick synopsis on my Midterms: I think I did very well on Poli Sci 202 (I wrote 3 papers (all ranging from 2-3 pages) for that test along with a 5 page current event essay for my other poli sci class about morality in the Middle East. Those 4 papers took me from 11:30-7:30 with about a total of an hour and a half rest to include limited dinner and breaks) and I didn't do too shabby on my Poli Sci 170 Test a few weeks back (I have another one tomorrow). I did excellent in Bio 100 and I probably got a 100 on Air Force (Open book, open slide, open note, open google!). I also did very well I think on Mission Prep (I'll know more on Tuesday). The only one I didn't do so hot in is BOM. The past two tests I've done I've gotten high 90's, but for some reason (despite studying just like I have for the other tests) I got a 78 on that midterm. Yeah.... ouch..... So I'm trying to talk to my professor to see what I got wrong and how much of my grade does that midterm count for and if the class is curved at all.

The past week has been very relaxing and wonderful. I have had very little to do, but just enough to keep me busy. On Friday and Saturday I just had fun all day. I left at 3 in the afternoon on Friday to go down to Draper with about 7 other guys from my hall to one of their houses. We played basketball (I was actually pretty good. I got I think 4 or 5 baskets in!) and ultimate frissbee outside for about 2 hours, then we ate a bunch of Little Caesar's Pizza and then played "Just Dance 2" and "Super Smash Brothers Brawl" on the Wii for about 2 hours. So by this point it's like 9ish. We then watch the new version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" (I think that's how you spell it) and it was a really good movie. I'm not one for action and drama, but it turned out to be really engaging and a good film. Regardless, I had a blast hanging out with the guys and just goofing around and having fun. The only non-fun part was when I came home. I got shafted into the car that had the young couple in it. To wrap it up in a nutshell: These two are essentially boy-friend and girl-friend but they haven't actually made it official. But they have obvious crushes on each other (example, they held hands on the entire way home, sang Taylor Swift love songs together, and joked about making a side stop in Vegas or the Bridal Shower Showcase). This wouldn't have been much of a problem except I was the only one in the car with them and it was really awkward because I felt like I was encroaching on their conversation and personal life. However, they didn't seem to mind at all and so I just worked on my journal on the computer and didn't speak unless spoken too. So I didn't get home till about 1:30 Saturday morning.

Saturday can be summed up pretty quickly. Didn't wake up till 10:30 (Slept through my alarm clock and a half hours worth of cell phone alarms) and quickly did my little bit of homework from about 12 till 2. I then played 3.5 hours of video games (Mario Party and Double Dash) with some friends from the ward and a good friend from the Air Force, in which I dominated on all fronts! (In the two matches we played I won both by getting 7 and 5 stars respectively. The funny thing about it was that before I started playing this on Thursday my friends were talking about how they were so good and how they rocked at Mario Party. Now they can't stand me and my smug little grin at the end of the game when I totally win by like 3-5 stars! :) ) After that I ate dinner quickly and tried to talk to T and Brighi but had a hard time hearing and understanding them. I then watched the second extended edition of Lord of the Rings. As much as I don't like Fantasy, it was a really engaging movie and I enjoyed watching it (though I still don't care for watching orcs and Uruk-hi's battling elves and humans). I really liked the story, cinematography, scenery, and character development. But now I have to wait like 3 weeks to watch the third and final one because of time constaints (each extended edition takes like 4 hours to watch and there are three of them!).

So really that is it for the past two weeks. Not much going on this week either. I hope to be able to talk to you guys more this week, and you should give me a call sometime. I'd love to talk to you.I wanted to show you guys how sucky my internet connection is here (if fluctuates widely) but I can't attach a screen shot onto this blog post and I can't attach a file. So I'll just show you when you get here or send it to you in an email. Love you all and I can't wait to see you! *Note: I can't get rid of those white boxes, but they're supposed to be screen shots of my computer. Sorry!

GAH!!!! MIDTERMS!!!!!

GAH!!!!! MIDTERMS!!!!!!!!

Oh, these are the worse things ever! And I have 4 of them to do this week (BOM, Poli Sci 202, Bio 100, and Air Force)!!!!! The only two I'm concerned about are Poli Sci and Bio 100. The poli Sci will take about 3-4 hours because I have to do a multiple choice, short response on quotes (short response = 3-4 paragraphs), and then a 2-3 page compare and contrast essay. Bio 100 should take about an hour or so.

Anyway, I wanted to get a bunch of studying done on Friday and Saturday so I can prepare but I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I essentially got all the little stuff out of the way (and I completed the Air Force Midterm. It's super easy because it's open book, open notes, open slide, and open google. So you're pretty much set!), so I'm not in deep trouble. I'm just going to have to work hard this next week, which won't be that bad. I just need to spend some time studying Bio and Poli Sci and I'll be fine. I'll have to let everyone know how I did next week.

So on Wednesday and Saturday I went to the Mens Basketball games. It was a lot of fun! Especially because I got close to front seats by coming an hour early and just asking people if I could sit on the end (Row 26 and 21 respectively)! As you know, I'm not a big sporting event fan, but even I have to admit that it was fun cheering the team on and just being in that atmosphere. I am posting two videos and a bunch of pictures from the game to show you guys how close I was and to show you what it is like to be at the Marriott Center for something other than a devotional. (To see the new videos, go to Facebook to look them up. Blogspot couldn't handle them.)

I feel free to say this next part because I know none of my old friends from Maryland or Nebraska read this blog. I facebooked them the other day and I was really devistated to find out that all of my friends have essentially no decent future. Seth Whitehead is in a relationship with a Latino girl (nothing wrong with that) but isn't going to college and his facebook page is covered with vulgarity (I don't even know if he's active). Chase Carter has his name as Chase isawesome Carter and is also not in college but in a relationship. I have no idea what Tyler and Jenks are doing but I know they are studying at UNL and are rooming together and still investing a great deal of time and energy into their Star Wars story. My old friends from middle school (Jacob, Justin, and Brandon) are all pretty much doing ok. Jacob's at the community college while also doing theater on the side, and Justin's at UNL I think. And I have no idea what Brandon is doing right now.
Essentially: Seth and Chase are doing pretty bad, Tyler, Jenks, and Brandon are no where to be found (I don't know if they're doing OK or not), and Jacob, Justin and David Crescenzo are doing pretty well actually (Except David has a gnarly mustache...) at their colleges and jobs. It's just a little sad how so many of my friends have either messed up their lives or aren't moving anywhere significantly. Only 3 of my old friends out of 8-10 old ones are doing well. *Sigh*

Um, basically that's it. Last week was a more relaxed week for the first half and then got busy the second half. So not much to talk about there. OH! Season 3 of Phineas and Ferb started last friday with "The Great Indoors" and "Canderemy". There wasn't any super amazing songs, but I really liked both episodes. Though poor Isabella on "Canderemy" and the soccer jokes were pretty good too! Ah.... Well this Friday is the next set of new episodes called "Run Candace Run" and "Last Train to Bustville". Should be good! Can't wait to see you guys in April so I can show you around the Y and my room!