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...