End of a great year

ok.. I know that I haven't been awesome at my two week blogging goal... but at least it hasn't been six months. baby steps.... (this post took place over a couple of weeks... so it is a little scattered.. better than nothing though, right?)

My newest highlight in my life is that I FINALLY found a new job!!! That's right, no more giving showers, feeding, cleaning up throw up, or wiping saggy old butts for me... and I cannot be happier :) I have definitely reached the end of rope working there, that is for sure. My last day was on the 15th and it was the best feeling walking out of there. I was sad to say goodbye to a couple of my favorite residents, but I am pretty sure that they won't remember me in the long run anyways. It was a good learning experience working there, so I will just take those experiences with me and move on.



My new job is at Velocity as a Velocity coach training high school and collegate athletes in speed, power , and strength. I am also working at a business called CSCCa (Collegate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association) as a personal assistant part time... and I am getting ready to audition to teach cycle classes at 24 Hour Fitness.... soooo needless to say, we are busy busy busy.

We are currnetly up in Oregon for the holidays, and it has been a blast since we arrived. We were going to fly, but Mike and Katie decided that they wanted to go, so we all lied through our teeth to my family and suprised everyone with their family when we showed up. It was one heck of a drive though. Cramming all 7 of us, including two carseats and a booster seat into a Honda Pilot made for a very cramped trip. Towards the end of the 12 hour drive the babies totally lost it and screamed all the way through Portland until we reached our driveway... that was fun. To make matters even worse, right before we were suppose to take the exit to head to Beaverton Jack announced that he had to go pee and couldn't hold it... yikes... so of ocurse we had to take any even longer detour through downtown Portland.It was quite the roadtrip, but it was all worth it coming home and suprising everyone! Speaking of suprises, Cody (my older brother) suprised everyone on Christmas and announced that he is engaged and is getting married on May 6th in the San Diego temple... (it is about time!!!!!) We are looking forward to spending the rest of our break here and hope the you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you will have a Happy New Year!

Obsessed.

Obsessed. That is what I am......

With sugar that is. I have set goals, made promises, and threats when it has come to trying to slow down on the sugar intake, but my sweet tooth has become more than an every now and then kind of habit.... that's right..... it is now an obsession. I CANNOT go one day without eating at least 3 pieces of candy...sneaking some ice cream.. or giving into any sort of craving... recently, my obsession of choice has been:


TOTSIEROLL POPS!! I don't know if it is because it reminds me of my childhood, or if it is simply because I love all forms and shapes of sugar... but I have literally been craving these things!!! (no I am NOT pregnant)

I have come to conclusion in the past couple of day though. Every time I have tried to "restrain" myself from sugar or cut down... I end up going crazy and eating every piece of candy in sight! So I have decided that instead of saying NO SUGAR... I should focus on exercising even harder so that I can eat whatever i want... just kidding...

I really am starting today... ok well actually today has already been ruined... so tomorrow, I am going to start putting myself on a sugar restriction.. to ONE small sweet thing a day... I know (from experience) that if I go cold turkey I will turn into a crazy sugar craving monster (kind of like when I am on my period... but worse because it is all of the time instead of just once a month).. so I need to just set limits. here is my limit. ONE. SWEET. THING. A. DAY. AFTER. DINNER. NO. EXCEPTIONS. Why after dinner you ask? because that is when the cravings are strongest. During the day I am actually quite good at eating healthy and avoiding sweets... it is after dinner that I turn crazy. Kind of like how old people somehow become crazier after the sun sets. ... but if I know i can treat myself to one sweet thing after dinner... it doesn't seem to bad! Of course holidays and birthdays will be an exception to sweets... but that doesn't mean i have to give up on any kind of portion control. You are all my witnesses..... Tomorrow marks day one... keep your fingers crossed.... maybe I should fill Dante in on the details so he doesn't wonder why all of a sudden I am ten times more emotional and twenty times or irritable.

Just some thoughts...

So I know it is a bit past the two week blog posting I was shooting for... but this is progress, it hasn't been even a month since my last post!! Baby steps right?

Speaking of babies, I work at a nursing home... which is basically like babysitting a bunch of babies in a big peoples bodies. I am constantly saying things like, "don't play with yourself; we don't say mean things like that to other people, it is not nice!; please wash your hands after you use the restroom; please chew and swallow all of your veggies; don't hit; don't shout; use your utensils when you eat... it goes on and on... I am currently searching the market EVERYDAY for a new job... but for the time being I have decided that I need to stay positive and just laugh at all of the weird things these crazy old farts do....

1. We have a resident that is 101 years old... yep.. 101.. and she cannot hear a dang thing. Even when my lips are practically inside of her ear yelling to ask her something... she without fail will say... "I can't hear what you are saying.... do you even speak English?" Or my all time favorite is... "I can't understand you... I don't speak danish!!" She is my favorite resident.. mostly because she makes me laugh everyday.

2. The other day I was asking one of the residents if they were ready for their shower.. without skipping a beat, she asked me, "oooooo what kind of shower??? A baby shower, bridal shower??" And then proceeded to get dressed for the occasion... what????

3. One day I walked into another residents room and he was packing his suitcase. I asked him where he was heading and he told me to tell the Nurse he needed some time off because he was goign on vacation from this place. Sadly, he probably will never leave the nursing home, but i wasn't about to be the one to crush his dreams.

Almost everyday someone thinks they are getting ready to go home or heading to the basement to do laundry... it is funny to get a taste of what they used to do daily or what they used to be like... but they also DEFINITELY have their days where they make work a living hell, literally.... Almost on a daily basis, these are some of the things that happen that drive me insane..

1. In an 8 1/2 hour shift, we had one resident press his call light 65 times... 65!!! it is already crazy working there, but that definitely didn't help one bit. I am fine helping when they REALLY need help, but he would say things like hiss legs didn't work anymore and he couldn't stand (lie), he would call us in there, but once we would get there he would be "sleeping"...

2. We have one resident in particular who likes to be manipulative... and will dump his urinal all over the bed to get attention... or poop, liquid poo (after taking a laxative), on purpose all over the floor and then will be a finger painter... yep exactly what is sounds like... and would smear it everywhere.. just to make us mad.

3. We have a lot of residents with eating disorders, someone throws up their meals at least once a day.. I hate throw up... it already smells and is disgusting.. but coming out of a body that is over 80 and is already breaking down, it is ten times worse.

4. I don't think I will ever get used to the smell of grown human urine or poo... ever.. I dry heave at least twice a day. I feel bad that these people are to the point in their lives where they cannot even use the restroom on their own, but really... their bodily functions smell anything but good. It is so strong and toxic smelling, it could take out a whole room in a matter of seconds. I think the smell of old people urine and bowel movements will forever be stuck inside of my nasal cavity.

5. Most people in our facility are extremely proper... but i think when they got old that they lost their filter... i don't think I have ever heard one group of senior citizens swear more than this group. Whether they are happy, sad, mad, sleepy, or just relaxing, I haven't had a conversation that doesn't include at least one profane word spoken. Of course I don't get offended... it is actually quite funny to see these little old ladies without teeth and crazy hair swearing up a storm.

i love helping old people and listening to the crazy things they have to say.... however, this is definitely the hardest job i have EVER EVER EVER had. I have a love.. but mostly hate relationship with it... but, until I find that magical new job I will listen to their crazy ramblings, their profanities they shout at me, wipe their soiled and saggy bums, and take them to their showers... no matter what kind of shower they think it is.

Spring, Summer, Anniversary.Graduation. Crruuuuuuuise

I have personally set a new goal to update my blog AT LEAST once every two weeks. I am tired, as I am sure that you are too, of reading ridiculously long blog posts every 6 months that update you on our lives. So lets cross our fingers and hope that this will be the last "catch you up on our lives" post!!

I have to say that these past four months have been super crazy, but we have thoroughly enjoyed our summer here in Provo. After winter semester ended in April, we both jumped right in to Spring term. I have never had classes spring or summer term, but it was definitely hard to sit in class when the sun was shining! I took classes both spring and summer classes and started my internship at Y-BE-FIT on BYU campus. Classes were hard. at an accelerated pace. and took every fiber of my being to concentrate on them! However, I did love working at Y-BE-FIT as a fitness and nutrition counselor for the summer. I had clients that I met with every week and set little goals with to help them reach their overall fitness goals. It was so amazing to see everyone accomplish their goals and get back into shape. I think the thing that I loved most about it though, was seeing people who just a couple of weeks ago hated exercising, get excited and about working out and eating healthy. What a rewarding internship that was!


In May we celebrated our one year anniversary! I honestly cannot believe that I have been married for a year (well now it is almost a year and a half)! Our anniversary was on a Sunday this year, so I made us a big pot roast dinner that day and it was delish! We did take a lot of pictures, but I am technology challenged and deleted most of them :( so here is a picture of the dinner I made.


At the end of May we took a road trip out to California for our friends Jeremy and Kelsey's wedding. It was so fun to see such great friends get married and enjoy a short vacation together. We went to the beach ( and got soooo sunburned) the wedding, and as an anniversary gift to ourselves, we went to six flags with our friends John and Amy.























June was a looong month. However, we did get season passes to the Seven Peaks water park, and I am pretty sure that I went just about everyday of the week! It was great that my sister-in-law and her kids all had passes as well as other friends from our ward did. With Utah's hot summer days, it helped pass the time and gave me a nice tan :)

July was pretty hectic, but a month packed with fun! To celebrate the 4th, we went and watched the Stadium of Fire celebration at the BYU football field, and it was so fun! We went early with a bunch of friends to find a good place to watch from and layed out blankets and played games and ate popcicles while we wait for the show to begin. It was such a great way to celebrate our independence day!






















The next week Dante, my old roomie Mandy, and I all piled into a car and drove all the way up to eastern Washington to Lake Sacajawea to go wakeboarding and camping with my family and other friends. Dante had never wakeboarded before, so it was a blast have him get out there and give it a try. I also hadn't wakeboarded for almost 2 years!!! So it felt good to get back in the water and bust it out. We were only able to go for 4 of the 8 days they were there, but it was such a great and relaxing trip. We didn't have any cell phone or internet access all week and we loved it! Although we were hurting when we got home because of how sore we were, it was all worth the "pain" and hated having to go back to work and classes after such a fun trip!

































































August was also jam packed with things to do, but we both loved it because we graduated from college! I cannot believe that I am a BYU grad now! It was such a surreal feeling getting my diploma. Mine and Dante's family both came to Utah for the trip, and it was such a fun weekend to have them both here. We went to Seven Peaks all day with everyone, had a graduation party, played games together, stayed up way to late talking, and of course went to graduation. We arranged it so that Dante and I could walk together, and even though I graduated with the Sociology Department, it was such a fun day being able to finish up our BYU experience together.











































To celebrate graduation and our honeymoon that we never went on, we decided to go on a cruise with our good friends Sean and Alena. We piled into a car on Saturday and drove to California, and then on Sunday boarded the Cruise ship for a whole week of absolute fun! I cannot even begin to describe the great time we had on the ship. From the time we got on, to the time we got off, it was a blast!

New Medium

I am going to start posting my thoughts at the Man Stuff Blog with a few other guy's guys.

http://gunshooting-bbqer.blogspot.com/

Thanks a bunch!

A LITTLE TOLERANCE, FOR THE LOVE!

I felt like the few people that read my last post gave me the courage to write a new blog post. I decided immediately after my last post that if I got a good response, I would make another one after the NBA Finals since my favorite team and my favorite nemesis were set to square off! Celtics vs Lakers! So here it goes...

It is funny living in Utah how many people hate the Lakers and how many Lakers fans there are. Lakers haters are typically die hard Jazz fans who want any other team to avenge the Jazz most recent loss. So it seems like everyone that found out I was going for the Celtics had to know if I was legit or just wanted blood for the last Jazz Lakers game.

The truth is, in high school it was hard for me to say I had a favorite basketball team. I like a lot of players. Paul Pierce was one of them. One day I bought a shirt because it looked cool... it had this logo, actually:

Not long after, I bought a nice Celtics hat to match it and slowly became a Celtics fan. It didn't hurt that they were the NBA franchise with the most titles. And it didn't hurt that I was already a Red Sox fan (we hate the Yankees, Dan and Kristin :) but love you!).

For two weeks my life was a wreck! I couldn't wait for game one and I was so excited and nervous. Our friends Dougie and Melissa (huge Lakers fans) agreed with us that we would watch the games in LA at their house and the Boston games at our house. We promised each other that we would not let it get between us because rivalries tear families apart! North vs South, Pro Choice vs Pro Life, Leno vs Conan, Team Jacob vs Team Edward. The list goes on and on.

It was a fun series to watch each team go back and forth because both teams played exceptionally well from game to game by adjusting to the other team's strategy. My favorite player, Rajon Rondo, was amazing in a couple of games.

Boston was winning 3 games to 2 with game 6 and 7 both being played in LA. Boston just had to win one more game in LA to win the finals. So far Dougie and I had kept our word of watching the game at eachother's house. But before game six came around, I thought I should back out and not watch it at his house. I was too nervous. I told Anna that I was as nervous as I was at our own wedding. I married a woman who loves sports, too, so she wasn't surprised.

So I didn't want to go to Dougie's house because I knew no matter how the game ended, I didn't want to put any friendships at risk. If the Celtics had won, I would've been so happy that I probably would have said something insensitive to Dougie and the other Lakers fans. That's how I roll (UTES SUCK. See? I can't help it).

Had the Lakers won, I probably would have punched something and either looked like a fool in front of a lot of people after breaking my hand or I would have punched something softer like Dougie's dog. Either would have embarrassed my wife quite a bit. So I decided to watch at my own house alone. Celtics lost and I was able to punch my couch to my heart's content.

For game 7 I followed the same logic. I watched a great game 7 with some people going for Boston (Gustavo and Marjie). It was a great game and as disappointed as I was that Boston couldn't close out the game with the lead they had carried for most of the game, everything quickly fell into perspective and I was happy about the incredible run they made. There's always next year (That still sounds like kissing your sister to some extent in my head).

But what upset me the most about the whole Series and a few other things I have noticed in sports recently is the purpose of this blog post. There are a lot of passionate fans out there. And there is nothing wrong with that. It upsets me when people take it too far and are ready to say things that will offend their friends or family just because of the outcome of a silly game. I know I am guilty of this, but why do we have to do it? Why can't we be civil with each other after sporting events. Do we really get together as fans to compete against each other? What did I gain over Utes fans the last time BYU beat Utah in overtime? What did Alabama fans gain that I lost after the BCS Championship Game when they beat Texas? What did I lose this week when Boston lost the championship after the Lakers made a comeback to win? If I look at the big picture of life: nothing. I'm still alive and kicking it (and punching dogs).

Can't we, as fans, get together when our teams are competing and enjoy the exciting moments we spend together. We love the sports we watch and we love our favorite athletes. But don't we love our friends and family more? Why can't we be more tolerant of one another? Can we lose with pride and win with humility? Like I said, I am guilty of all of this. Only because Dougie and Melissa are moving away this week did I realize this - I can't believe I wouldn't want to enjoy watching the game with our friends that are moving away for good simply because I knew I would be a poor sport about it.

And look at the World Cup. It is a lot of fun to watch. I have never played soccer but I have grown to really appreciate it. But nothing bothers me more than when sports fans, or worse yet, ATHLETES complain that soccer is not a real sport!!! How could you be so ignorant? The moment a baseball fan tells a soccer fan that "Baseball plays until there is a winner! Soccer isn't a real sport," he opens the door for the soccer fan to say, "Soccer players don't stand around for 3 hours and claim they are athletes competing in a sport."

FOR THE LOVE! Can't you let others enjoy whatever sport they choose to enjoy?! Who decides what sport is more important, relevant or legitimate? The fans and athletes! If cup stacking is my sport of choice, let me enjoy it. I will watch it for hours or train to win my championship if I want. Don't try to take away from the joy I get from it!

But isn't that the solution to so many other problems? Can't we simply be more tolerant of everyone? Everyone chooses to believe what they want. There are so many conflicting ideas out there and most of them are legitimate: from religion to politics and even sports! I know we all like to believe we are correct, but who has given us the right to tell someone they are wrong or that they are stupid for choosing to live the way they do? It doesn't mean we have to agree with the decisions people make. I don't think it's right to cheer for a adulterer like Kobe , but doesn't that make me wrong for not forgiving a man for his mistakes? (That's not why I don't like him, BTW. I hate him because he poses for ridiculous pictures):

So the next time someone tells you that he doesn't agree with your opinion on the Arizona Immigration Law, your religion, or whether or not you can call a sport legitimate that can end in a draw, rather than trying to prove he is wrong and you are right, ask him for his take and share yours with him. If you still can't see eye to eye, at least you still feel comfortable inviting him to your house for dinner without fear that he will punch your dog.

We are "Lost" no more

So if anyone out there still follows our quarterly blog, you'll be surprised to find a post from me, Dante. I just had so much to get off my chest. Facebook is usually my channel but not only do I have too much to post in my status, there are so many Lost haters out there that I would be upset if they started telling me that Lost sucked etc.
So Anna and I got hooked on Lost pretty recently. November 2009 to be exact. We spent an evening at Dan and Kristin's house watching the Big XII championship game (Texas won). The game ended early and we didn't want to call it a night. The Christenson's had already watched the entire first season that month and wanted to get started on season two that night. Anna had already watched the first season too. I typically don't like to start shows or movies in the middle, but I didn't want to be the party pooper. I gave in to the peer pressure. (May I add that Torrey from work had been trying to get me to watch Lost for months before this night).
Needless to say, we spent the next 3 hours watching disc 1 of season 2. I was totally confused but completely intrigued. Anna and I spent the next 3 weeks tearing through season 1 and 2. It was amazing! We realized we had to quit during finals week, so with the exception of finals week, we watched at least 6 episodes a week for nearly two months. By the time the final season was ready to begin, we had watched 5 full seasons of a show. Addicted? Yes.
So needless to say, once we caught up we had to find new hobbies so that we could slowly return to society as productive members. It was hard at first and we felt the withdraws.
So after 7 months of obsession, it has finally come to an end. We watched the finale at home on Sunday night. It had the excitement and buzz of the 2004 Game 7 ALCS where Boston had come back from down 0-3 to force a game 7 against the Yankees. There was so much build up and such high expectations that I didn't know how I would be able to handle a let down.
Much like that historic game 7, Lost did not disappoint.
I loved every aspect of the finale. And I won't explain my theories or explanations or blah. There are thousands of blogs that explain all of that. But after talking to other addicts that tuned in for the finale, I have come up with a conclusion regarding those who watched it and their reactions.
I feel like the Lost world was split into two camps: the group intrigued by the science of everything on the island and the group that fell in love with the characters. I never bought into any of the science stuff. Science doesn't make sense to me. That's why I am a sociology major. But I watched the show because the writers did such a good job of developing the major characters and making you feel like you actually knew them. For crying out loud I have probably watched these people for over 100 hours in the last 7 months. That's more time I have spent talking to my mother, father and sister over the last year. Yes it is true.
Now for an aside: BYU professors always tell students "for every hour you spend in class, you should spend two hours studying for that class on your own." I put that advice to use during season 6. Boy did I ever. I can assume that for every episode every week, I would spend about 2 hours either reading about lost, watching recaps etc. Did it help me understand everything better? Yes. Can I carry on an intelligent conversation with someone about what was happening on Lost at any point in the season? Yes. Did I think about each character as a friend? Yes. Did I do this at all during my four years for class at BYU? Absolutely not. Maybe I should ask myself if I did as well as I could have for four years at school. No I shouldn't. I already know the answer.
Well this aside was important as I mention my final point of this blog: I really loved the characters on the show! I had so much fun quoting the show and watching my wife's reaction that says, "You are obsessed. We are going to stop watching this show." She couldnt part ways either though.
When the final episode came around and brought closure to the chararcters, fans like my wife and I were satisfied. Ever since they killed off Charlie I have had this sad feeling that "they would never be together again." Then more characters died and I felt even more despair. But the finale did two things: First it reminded us that this life is important, and the afterlife will be special because we get to spend it with those we care about the most; Second, it showed me that if you had not put the time to understand where the show was going, you would not be satisfied. The casual fan could not be satisfied at all. There were so many subtle answers that would be impossible to interpret if you had not read and remembered the important lines and storylines throughout 6 years of television.
I find myself now in the chapel with the characters of the finale ready to remember and let go.
See you in another life, brotha.

Spring is in the air... or is it??

I heard a rumor yesterday that it was suppose to be a nice and warm 70 degrees today... very exciting right? Wrongo bongo. I woke up today to overcast skies and chilly winds!! So sad. And unfortunately, with Utah's crazzzy weather, it does not look like we will see this nice weather for awhile still =(

Today Intermittent Clouds High 68° Low 43°

Tomorrow Mostly Cloudy High 60° Low 40°

Wednesday Showers High 44° Low 28°

Thursday Rain and Snow Mixed High 43° Low 27°

Friday Partly Sunny High 49° Low 33°

I just cannot wait for the blessed day, May 29th, when Seven Peaks will open, and summer will be here! And yes, we do have season passes!!

Another exciting part of summer besides soaking up and sun and being able to wear shorts and flip flops is that we are graduating!!!! We have both officially applied for graduation in August, and we cannot be more excited!!! Although it will be kind of strange to no longer be a student at BYU, we love BYU, and are hoping the Dante gets into grad school here!! Go cougs!