New Years Resolutions……err.. “Goals”

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2009

What a year. I can’t believe that I've been home from the mission for 15 months now. At the same time though, its been a long 15 months. A lot has changed in that time.

At the beginning of the year, i moved to Utah. It was the first time i had lived away from home (minus that whole mission thing). I moved into an apartment with an old companion, and now best friend, Scott Haynie. School went ok. I got a 3.7 that first semester. I learned to drive in the snow really fast. I started and ended a relationship. This summer i went to Houston and tried my hand at door-step sells to the flavor of Homeshield Pest Control. Nik kept me sane. It was a disaster. Started and Ended a relationship again. nuff said. This last fall, i headed back to school, broke as ever. I roomed at Liberty Square in Provo. My roommates were/are Nik Day, Steven Nelson, Scott Haynie, Andrew VanEvery, and Mark Tikalsky. School went better. 4.0 Job search did not. Neither did the girl search.

2010

This is the part I have been looking forward to. Usually, i don't even try to make new years resolutions. I’m practical. I know that new years resolutions don't last long. However, this year, i figured i would try it out but instead I’m going to call them “Goals.” Resolutions are too absolute. Goals are a little more “working on it;)” So, here goes;)  I have divided them up into four general areas (thank you Hermana Nyman;)

Heart

• Temple attendance once a week
• Start on study journal with an emphasis on apologetics.
• Re-read the Book of Mormon

Might

• Learn a song on piano every 3 months.
• Get a steady job
• Get a decent relationship going.

Mind

• 4.0 for all classes
• Read two books (not required for school)

Strength

• Get to 7% body fat and stay there.

• Stay at about 180 lbs.
• Keep to a workout routine.
• Eat healthy (thank you Sarah;)
  • No fast food
  • No carbonation. (this one is going to kill me)
  • Health food store?

Well, i think that will do. I am making it public and so you are all responsible for helping me to keep to it. (Good luck;)

A Life Full of Amazing People….

     It is Christmas Eve. I thought it would be appropriate to share some blog thoughts. After all, I'm “just another guy shouting into cyberspace;) But i think that even if just one in a billion shouting something worth shouting, then its important.

     This afternoon, i was over at my grandmother’s for the family-get-together. My cousin was telling us about her son Kyler. Apparently, Kyler hasn’t seemed to worried about Christmas presents. When asked why he like Christmas, my 3 year old cousin Kyler said, “because you get to see people.” He was just excited to see people. I don’t think i need to comment to much on the object lesson of this one.

SOUP KITCHEN

     This morning, my buddy Spence got me to go along with him to a soup kitchen. Running off of a rough 3 hours of sleep, i have to admit, i wasn't really excited about going this morning at 6:30. I would like to tell you that i got there and was suddenly filled with Christmas cheer and had tons of energy.;) I wasn’t…. and i didn’t;) Matter of fact, that place was full of stinky, grouchy people. BUT, it also had humble, grateful people in it too. It brought back some old mission memories. It made me happy to be able to serve. I made a personal promise today that my family will always participate in some kind of Christmas Service. Even as a kid, it didn't matter how much i didn't want to go before hand, afterwards, i was/am always as grateful (if not more) than those who received. 

AMAZING PEOPLE

     I remember hearing in church, when i was younger, that the youth were “amazing’ and ‘chosen for the latter days’ and such things. I guess then, i kind of thought it had to do with your birth date. I’ve learned over the last few years that that’s not entirely true. They are amazing because they are nice to people, they are talented, they care about you, the have standards, they make the world a little better to live in.

     My family amazes me. My parents are amazing people. They have given me an amazing platform to build off of. As I look back, I realize how instrumental my mother has been in teaching me life skills. I’ve grown rather fond of counseling with my dad.

     My sisters amaze me. Jodi is happy. I can see it in her. She is courageous and excited as she and Aaron start their lives together. Congrats on the house Jodi! Christina is fun and challenging. She knows what she likes and goes for it.. (well, most of the time;)

     My friends amaze me.They are so stinkin talented! And is if that's not enough, they are genuinely good people. They make me want to be a better person.  Thank you for puttin up with me. If i don’t know you that well, chances are its because i think your to cool for me. Say hi to me sometime. I’ve lost contact with/ not as close with some friends. I have friends now that amaze me, and I don't think I'm done meeting people yet.

CHRISTMAS TIME

     This time of year brings up alot memories obviously.

One of them is the “Claymation Christmas.” We used to watch this all the time but i doubt anyone else has ever even heard of it. But there is a bigger meaning with Christmas.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

     Christ is my King. He is my Savior. I bear witness to the world that is is real. I know him. I have felt his presence wrap around me in good times and bad. He saves me from my sins., I am thankful for his birth because i know about his death, for with out Easter, there would be no Christmas. I had a wonderful mission president and mom that set an example to me and helped me get to know my Savior and I am thankful to them for that.

     Well, I think that I've rambled quite a bit and its time to go to bed so Santa can come. Once again. If you are reading this, Thank you for being in my life. i appreciate you and look forward with with hope and optimism.

 

         MERRY

               CHRISTMAS!!!

Almost…

2 More days…

     I have been out of school for nearly a week now and I think that it is starting to take its

13 websites to visit when your bored;)

toll. I am bored. How bored? Check out the video. I think that my favorite was the Zoomquilt. Finding some of these sites was like Christmas in July. Your not sure why Santa is there, but you don't really care.

     Wednesday, I'm leaving on a jet plane. Can’t wait to get home and see the family for Christmas. Someone in church yesterday brought up that fact that, even though there excited for presents and things, they are way more excited to just be at home for a little while. Mormons don't usually holler Amen, but if they were ever going to, I'm pretty sure this would have gotten a loud one.

    Besides being ready for things to end. I think I’m equally ready for a new beginning. Every semester some how seems like a fresh start. At the end of the semester, I'm tired of school, of the classes, of the stress, of the social aspect. Everything just wears on you… At semesters start, everyone makes all the ridiculous promises to themselves like, “I will study harder” and “I’m going to work out more.” Especially with New Years rolling around. (topic for another day) The truth of the matter is, “no you wont.” But does that mean you shouldn't try? Absolutely not! At least you start out the right way. And who knows, maybe one of them will stick.

     So here is to the semester being “almost” over, to “almost” keeping promises to yourself, and to “almost” a new year!

 

Dale out…..

Mish-Mash

Random Pictures/Movie

Ok, i promise that there is a post after the media. Just indulge me for a second.

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    I got kind of board last Thursday and so i went out with Mallori and we took some pictures. It was FREEZING!! We went up to Nunns Park and also down to the Provo River. If it weren't for the 7 degrees, it would probably have been a lot of fun.

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Yesterday, we went down to temple square to see the lights. Night photography is hard. I think i got a few decent shots though. As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.

This last little bit of media isn't really anything to do with me. I just think its freaking hilarious. Its sorta of become an anthem around here. Well, at least with the regulars (which is to say Andrew, Scott, and I.) Im sure that these kids parents are proud ones. And P.S. if the music industry can make a couple of kids sound like this. What that to say about Miley Cirus eh? ;)

Redbox

if you want a free nights rental at  Redbox – Here are some ‘promo’ codes to enter before checking out.

PROMO CODE	COMMENTS
‘Redbox’	first time users only
‘breakroom’	only works once per card
‘mcdmedvd’	Works at McDonald’s
‘walgreens’	Works at Walgreens

 

Well, i was going to right an actual post, but we are playing Halo (again) and then some people are coming over to watch a movie so I'm out. Ill try to write a post tomorrow ;)

 

Dale Out…….

The "Decent Looking Guy" Phenomenon...

   

The sound isnt great but you get the point;)

I've learned a little more. Girls think way differently than guys. Last night, Abby came over and watched the Christmas devotional with us. It felt good to listen to the first presidency, and their optimism. It went really quick. (Probably because i was working on finishing a video while listening.)

     After the devotional, Abby stuck around and Scott, Andrew, Abby, and I all looked at the site called People of Wal-Mart. Someone brought up Christmas Gifts during all of this, and we started talking about what we wanted for Christmas. I said a job, Abby said her car to be brought from home, and Andrew said a girl-friend! We all got a good kick out of it, but it was only funny because we were right there with him!  So then started the conversation about who has it harder in the dating world. Guys or Girls? Well of course Abby was outnumbered, but she still held her stance. She said that girls cant be proactive about getting guys. They just kinda of have to wait. THEY have to be asked before they can say yes. We rebutted with "while that is true. The girl does the asking in her own way. If she isn't open to a guy and trying to 'throw out the bait' not alot of guys are going to be confident enough to try." So then what about those guys (and girls) who use the periodicals section of the library to pick-up/be picked-up? We decided it was shallow and usually a waste of time to date that way. BUT thus was born "in the natural course of life..."

     "IN THE NATURAL COURSE OF LIFE" means that while it is NOT okay to walk up to random girls at Wal-Mart and ask for their phone number, if your 'natural course of life' intersects with theirs, then an intelligent and meaningful conversation can be had to determine if their is a further interest in this person besides their looks. Now, with that being said....

    "GAME" can be defined as a guy's ability to make the 'intersection' to look as "natural" as possible. If there is a pretty girl in produce, then a guy who may have been more interested in 'dairy' can change his course and become interested in produce. If while in produce, he happens to say, squeeze past her to get something and throws out a conversation starter in the process, then game on;) ... Yet... here we were sitting, all four of us, without a girlfriend/boyfriend.

     I asked Abby if she had ever tried to force herself to like someone because she didn't have a reason not to. She said no.... but she said that sometimes she wonders if she is being to picky. Most of us agreed to that thought process. We also determined that if we became less picky, all we were really doing was lowering our standards or what we think we could get and would therefore never be happy with what we end up with. So how do we know "what we can get?"

    I told Abby that i think most people consider themselves 7s on a 1-10 scale. Once again.. she said no.... We determined that most guys consider themselves 7 (obviously there are a few exceptions. Some guys think there 10s (and lets get real, they may be) and some consider themselves 2s (and they may be). But most guys see themselves around the 7 range.

    Abby said that girls on the other hand consider themselves at polars.. They either have all the confidence in the world (10s) or they have no confidence and consider themselves lower numbers. There wasn't really much room for middle ground.....

    Thus the "DECENT LOOKING GUY" Phenomenon was born...... most guys will say, "I'm a decent looking guy. I'm not the best but I'm definitely not the worse. Why cant I get more girls?"

    SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? " IS THERE A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF '7' GUYS WALKING AROUND? ARE GIRLS REALLY THAT SELF JUDGMENTAL? DO GUYS/GIRLS RATE THEMSELVES APPROPRIATELY? .... LEAVE A COMMENT...

Sunrises...

     Today was the next to last day at school. I am ready for this semester to be over. I have a test left in math, Luke 2 in Rel, 2 chapter of Business law and thats it! I'm ALMOST there! and I'm feel like the energizer bunny is about to run out of juice. For example, In the BusLaw class, the first two test i got a 192/200 and 196/200. The last test, i got 152/200. And to make it worse, I DON'T CARE!!! haha. Yesterday i got an email from Dr. Hoagland (the teacher) to come see him after class about the test. He told me today that i could get some extra credit work to make up for the test. The thing is, I don't know if I'm going to do it. Its like a freshman's version of senoritis.;) SUNSET.
     SUNRISE. I had a job interview yesterday. and i have one tomorrow. The one yesterday was sales for a legal service. I think i could make some good money. But its sales. The good news is that i think that the interview went pretty well. The bad news is that if I get the job, i may not get to go home for Christmas.
     SUNRISE. I have a job interview tomorrow at Scott's Trading.. Its an internship in Sale Lake that i really hope goes through.
    SUNRISE: Wal-mart on Monday night in Orem is full of 7's, 8's, and 9's and 12's;)
     SUNRISE. On the way to the job interview yesterday, i got some really random texts. Bear with me on this one.
?????: Is this Dale?
DALE: Yup. - who is this?
?????: I know this is about 2 b very strange.. Lena (hayleys friend). Im not even sure u remeber me. I dont recall ever having a conversation with you, and def havent seen yo in years.
DALE: uh hu?
LENA: phhh. Well i had this dream. You were driving..fast car.. black seats..night time. I could barely even see ur face from the low blue glow of the gages.I was in the back seat..buckled in but not really scared of ur speed. You seemed calm. We didnt speak.. I studied ur composure. Blank stare. gripping knuckles. clintching jaw...Finally the sun started to break thru the night sky... and right at morning we arrived at a garden...you looked over in teh passenger seat... and katie ruggles was there the whole time. She smiled as a tear kinda ran down her face.. she hugged you but you really didnt move..she turned around to me and spoke...then she got out...you motioned to me to get in the front seat. you pulled away...didnt even look back. I asked you if we were going to wait 4 her... you finally looked at me and said... shes not coming back. Isnt that the wierdest dream
DALE: Sounds intense. Thank you for sharing. Any ideas as to what i means?
LENA: Ive read twilight 2 many times and i miss my best friend? Or we were suppose 2 be friends.. or i ate cookies too late last night.?

...SUNRISE...