Quirky things about me?

Quirk: A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy

1) I didn't know what the definition of quirk was so I looked it up. I couldn't find these quirks in my life if i didn't know what quirks were.

2) I get more sleep at college than back home. I think the reason is because back home I was on the family schedule. Family dinner, family scriptures, family prayer, family snack, to get one thing done EVERYONE has to be there and Michelle was always in the miidle of homework and Dad was always loosing money in solitair. But at college when I'm done doing crap I go to bed. And I like sleeping more than watching movies or going hottubbing with the buddies.

3) I hate the sound/lack of sound of drying a wooden spoon with a towel. I don't know, the sound of nails on a chalk board doesn't bother me. Instead spoons and towels give me the chills.

4) I turned my computer off like twice this semester because I have a fear of it wrecking when I try to turn it back on. This fear comes from having a HORRIBLE computer back home. Horrible to the extent that I've tried to go on You tube twice and both times it froze the computer.

5) I have a perpetual cough. I cough when I'm sick and I cough when i'm healthy. It annoys my dad enough to send me to the doctor. And after he made a big deal about it it started bothering me. But doctors are idiots, so there's no cure.

6) I consider myself very feministic. I'll explain: I notice hair cuts and changes in hair color. I always notice peoples' shoes. I own a pair of shoes for each finger and most toes. I listen to country music and sing along to the songs about men cheating. I try really hard to make my clothes match and when I'm not sure I will ask a girl. And I notice when girls have peirced ears and don't wear ear rings.

7) Oh, and I've got another one because my first one might not count to some "Quirkers". I cut my hair about every 2 weeks because I'm haunted by a memory of Brad comming home from college after his first semester and he had way long goofy nasty hair. So to fight that fear, i've cut my hair a whole lot this semester and by now I'm actually pretty good at it.

8) And I've got one more just so i can beat megan and have more quirks than her. Usually when I'm typing something up I either have to have all the right letters capitalized or none of them. The problem comes when I write a lot and only capitalize the right words sometimes. Then I have to actually proof read the darn thing and fix them. Which I would ususally do now, but I won't hoping that quirk will transfur to those who've read this.

I tag no one because no one really reads this. I don't know how to get more viewers.

Family pics???

Family Home Evening at BYU is a bit different. No one is related and everyone is the same age. But this week we tried to do something that families actually do. We all got in front of the Christmas tree and took photos. Lucky for our family, DJ is a beast with the camera and did the pictures and put it all together by himself......FOR FREE! It was a lot of fun and here is the final result, less than 2 hours after they were taken. That's fast!
Top: Jordon, Will, JoAnna, Jared, Bekah, DJ
Bottom: Matt, Maura, Jeff, Claire, and Abby

GO-T!

It's against the BYU honor code to grow a goatee. But BYU was out for thanksgiving break so I decided I would try to grow one. I hadn't tried it for a while and I was wondering if it would look any good. So after 6 days you could finally see it but I was quickly reminded that facial hair makes me look like an idiot. It's sort of funny because I finally saw the pattern in my life. About every 3 months I try to grow a goatee. Everytime I do I remember how stupid it makes me look And 3 months later I forget that and try it again. I should've tooken a picture of it but I don't own a camera.

I learned some things

Well, I've been needing to blog something for a while. But I've also needed something to blog about. I think I'm going to share with everyone what I've learned at college so far, after about 3 to 4 months on the college scene.

One of the first things I realized was to look at college in a different way. I look at it as a very expensive YMCA membership with free schooling on the side. I've had way more fun with all the facilities BYU offers than with the classes I've had to go to. So by paying for something that I really enjoy and having the education a nice added bonus it keeps me from ever wanting to drop out. I mean, what would I do if I couldn't lift, dive, or play racket ball any day of the week? I'd be miserable.

Self control is your greatest asset. I've sorta lost mine gradually and it's been painful. Mostly self control with reguards to waking up. In the beginning of the semester I woke up every day an hour before class and I went to breakfast and had the whole routine. Unfortunately as time went on, I lost that ability due to the snooze button. I think on one friday (the day I don't have classes) I snoozed for like 4 hours. I pressed that button like 30 something times. So I learned that next semester I'll put that blasted device on the other side of the room.

Take care of your body and your body will return the favor. From the beggining of the semester I've been steriotyped as the healthiest kid in Helaman Halls. 80% of the time I'm asleep between 11 and 12, and 15% of the remaining 20 is before 11. I also lift weights and go diving several times a week, and I often eat at subway. Which is somehow the healthiest place on campus. But because I take care of my body, I havn't slept through any class yet. I havn't gained the freshman 15, not even close. And I feel good. I'm rarely grouchy and I'm never alloud to complain about being tired.

And the last thing I've learned during college is if people meet you when you're at your best, you're forced to be your best when ever they're around. For example, I quickly let my roommate know that I rarely ever get mad, frustrated, bothered, or offended. Because I got that out early I had to make sure that I never showed those negative attributes and I was never outwardly mad, frustrated, bothered or offended all semester. And if I ever felt one of those emotions I would just go and lift weights and get the frustration out. And as a result, people think I don't get mad. And if I ever do, people listen and get out of the way. Which can be nice.

Well, that's what I've learned. I hope it was interesting and not too long. I'm just trying to kill time until dinner opens up. 20 more minutes.

So something cool happened today. It was one of those times where you use something that you thought you would never need but have it anyheck. This might sound wicked at first, but it isn't. The item that i never thought i would use was a framed picture of Jesus. Let me explain:

Since I got to college I started cutting my own hair. For 2 reasons, when my brother Brad visited during Christmas his freshman year he had long hair and it looked ridiculous. I never wanted that to happen. The other reason is I love having a fresh hair cut. It just feels like getting a new face. (not that i've actually experienced that sensation, just a creative simile for all you english buffs.) And thirdly (for you english guys) because i'm not about to pay $10 for something i could do for free myself.

So I cut my hair and to do it I only have ever had one mirror and a buzz cutter. So that makes it real difficult to get the back, but i've just managed without another mirror and maned up about it. But today i set out to find a mirror and it only took me like 2 rooms to realize guys don't bring handheld mirrors to college. So i improvized and built a mirror with a picture of Jesus and a triple combination Book of Mormon! I took the glass cover off the frame because i saw it was a bit reflective and I was looking for a dark backdrop for it, and the Book of Mormon was about the same size.

So i finished my hair cut standing with my back to the big mirror, holding a cutter in one hand and a book of Mormon in the other, while looking at the glass on the book and manuvering it constantly so that my arm wouldn't block my view of my cutting. It's tough. But after hours of perservation and friends encouraging me the whole time, i finished and it looks good.

And for the record to eliminate confusion, the picture of Jesus was the item that I wanted to bring, but never thought i would actually ever need it. It wasn't my Book of Mormon.

Jumpin' Jeffy

I was gonna blog something, but I couldn't decide what i wanted to blog about. But after that sentence I think i decided what i want to tell the world this time.

This might as well be a commercial for this place called progressive power tumbling. I went to this place twice and each time i have the time of my life. It's $6 for a 90 minute session. Bring 15 people and you can rent it out for your group only. There's trampolines, a rope, inflatable everythings, and a huge foam pit. I've taught myself to do triple front flips, gaiters, cartwheels, and back flips. It's so much fun. And the reason why I decided to blog about this is I actually have some pictures of it this time. I hope this works...

I don't know how to make captions under the photos and honestly i don't really care to know, so i'll explain them here.

#1) Me walking, and just a good shot of half of the facility.

#2 and 3) I don't even remember/can't tell what i was doing, but it was fun

#4) My superman impression, going up.

#5) A gaiter: a back flip going forward. My legs are going up, and my head is going down. And that's a good view of the foam pit. It's so soft, you can almost land in any position with out any pain. You just have to be careful with your neck sometimes...

#6) An inflatable wheel. I helped roll it into the huge foam pit.

#7) Butt-bounce races. Racing by bouncing on your butt. Looks ridiculous, and it's not that easy.

Oh, and mom, you have copyright permission to use these on your blog because your blog has more visitors than mine. You can change my picture from "football fan" to "jumpin' jeffy" or something else...

Studying is of the Devil...

When ever I read other people's blogs I always find spiritual stuff, but i never feel like reading them for some reason. Maybe I'm just looking for funny stories. Anyheck, I feel bad about not reading the church ones, so I'm going to write my own church one. You don't have to read it if you don't want to, I probably wouldn't...

But this is my beliefs on how studying, prayers, and faith all go together. First of all, this type of studying refers to school studying. Defined as trying to memorize a lot in as short of a time as possible. And this "short of time as possible" is always too long. A very boring, depressing, and gloomy activity. I would even go as far to suggest it brings pain and even misery. When I think about studying in this way there is no argument against he obvious fact that studying is of the devil.

So, in my efforts to be righteous, I study as little as possible. My rule of thumb is read your notes maybe twice, a third time is borderline sin, and fourth, see your bishop.

And because I study as little as possible, aka sin as little as possible I can feel totally confident in praying for help when I have a test. Everyone knows that the holy ghost can bring things to your rememberance. The holy ghost is probably the best person at doing what he does, no boubt actually. I don't think he goes in your mind and finds the 8th time you read something and brings that memory to you, you only need one memory of something. It should be the first and only. It makes the Holy ghost's job easier actually. Less clutter.

Faith without works is dead. We know that. But I would submit that our loving Father does not want to put us through the pain/sin of studying. I believe that if you put in a bit, and pray for help, and believe it will come school will be a whole lot more enjoyable. This is what I do and I seriously believe it works.

Thanks if you actually read to this part, I hope it was interesting. Now you can be a righteous student too!

Dilemma of the week...

So, something happened this week that i figured would be blog worthy. Let's try this out again.

Everything starts when my brother Dave says he got a TV for free and he doesn't need it. My dorm didn't have a TV, so I thought it would be a nice addition. Dave also has a Nintendo Gamecube that he never/rarely used and I asked if i could have that as well. Being such a nice brother he agrees to let me use it in my dorm. So I get all the gear back in my room and try to set it all up. The problem in setting it up was the TV was so old that its only input was the cable cord and the Gamecube used the tripple prong input cord. So I couldn't connect them. Bummer. So I realize that in order to fix the problem I needed to invest in either a cheap VCR or an adapter cord of some type. With some help from a computer-wiz neighbor I find what I need on Amazon.com, and made an Amazon ID and everything to get it for less than $10. Cool! The next day I was thinking about it and looking on-line still to be sure I bought the right thing and I found another problem. Nintendo originally made their Gamecube have 2 input slots on the back of the system: one for the 3 prong cord and one for the cable cord. A few years after production Nintendo realized that less than 1 percent of costomers ever used the cable cord input so they stopped making them with the 2 and only make them with one. It just so happens that the Gamecube I got doesn't have the input for the cord I just bought. So that made me a little frustrated, but after thinking about it a bit, I realized this has been good for a couple of reasons.

The first is I had a really busy week and I got the TV on Wednesday. If it had been working since then I would have no doubt been playing every night for the rest of the week. Which would have become a problem on Friday morning for sure. On Fridays I have no classes, so I always try to wake up early (7am) and lift, then I try to do something productive, then go to work. So if I happened to be playing games Thursday night I don't think I would've been able to get up to lift. Also if I was gaming I wouldn't have been able to do a physics practice test, which prepared me to take it Friday after I lifted. I wouldn't have gotten an 82/92 and that would mean I would still be worrying about it right now and getting ready to take it Monday.

Another good thing about the TV so far is it does pick up college football, so today I wasn't in the dark about all the sweet games that were played this week. I was able to work on some assignments and watch football making my Saturday productive also.

Well, that's the story. I hope you all enjoy how sorry my life is, when the dilemma of the week involves potentially wasting $10 and not being able to play videogames. Maybe I'll be able to find someone with an older Gamecube and trade them. That could possibly fix everything. That will be next week's dilemma...

drive-by-barf

Here's a funny story that happened the other day. I'm hesitant to share it though, because some might think it's gross, but when I've told it people have laughed. Let's see what happens...

So to start off, I eat a lot of my meals at BYU's Cannon center. All you care to eat for cheap. Because i work there i get one meal half price a day, the first meal I go there for. So on normal week days I get all i can eat breakfast for $1.15. No complaints, one bagel in a vending machine costs $1.25. Victory. But here is a story where "you get what you pay for" comes into play.

The disclaimer is the food there isn't bad, a lot of people like it. The only thing that really bothers me is, depending on what you're eating, the food is never salty enough or way too sweet. This story might come from something being too sweet, consumed too early in the morning.

So one morning I ate breakfast like usual and then started the journey to class. This week happened to be a pretty cold one so i would walk through a building when ever i could find one to keep my tropical self from freezing over. As I was walking through one of these buildings i started to have a bit of a stomach ache, but i figured it would go away once i got more fresh mountain air outside. When i got outside i was trying to breathe it out to feel better. (I hope that makes sense, i might be the only one that does that.) But it was still there and about 100 yards out of the building i threw up. It was way random! Mid-step, turned my head, hit the grass and kept walking. It was the weirdest thing that ever happened. This will sound oxymoronic, but it was the cleanest barf i've ever experienced, no clean up included. I couldn't help myself from smiling the rest of the walk at how totally random that was. And i felt way better too! Step, step, step, blahhhhhhh, step, step. I would recommend the drive-by-barf to all my friends. And for the rest of forever, when i pass that spot i will always have a smile.

And sorry if you disapprove of the topic, i'll probably never have another one like this again, might as well get it out early...

What am I doing?

Hello wild world of bloggers! It's Saturday night and I have no plans because I'm a horrible planner and made none. I already watched a ton of football today. And i don't feel like doing the homework i should be doing. I was finding cool pictures on my mom's blog and I decided since everyone's doing it I might as well jump on the wagon.

Now I will be able to tell the world all about my adventures at the Brigham Young University and have another escape outlet for when i have homework. The real unconscious secret behind this is I can only check my e-mail and facebook so often during the day. And with this new addition I can communicate with those who aren't facebookers. I'm excited. Hopefully I will be able to find some humorous stories that the public would enjoy. This is the goal and how I roll.

And this is just a picture of me at the BYU game because i never really said this is Jeff Whitaker trying this thing out. I'm the guy in the middle, by roommate Jordon is on the right, and another buddy Brady is on the other side. Coo!