Life is not as I thought...

If you would have asked me even two years ago what I thought about certain political issues, I would have been able to give you my ultra conservative response and would have been comfortable about it. The more and more I study and learn about politics and social issues the more life is not as I had thought. Though I will be the first to tell you that I do not support a lot of what President Obama is doing, and definitely do not agree that he should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, I did find the following article to be open, honest, and downright touching. It really helped me to 'humanize' him. It really bugs me when people equate his failures as personal victories for themselves. Take the bid for the Chicago Olympics for example, when the USA lost the bid, people were happy because Obama had failed, but in reality the US lost the bid. I have also heard lately that Obama should have turned down the Peace Prize, but can you imagine the political ramifications for turning down such an award, especially relating to foreign relations--just a thought. I appreciated what this article communicated to me in understanding who our current President is, and some of the struggles he and Michelle have had as a married couple. It helped me learn a valuable principle as I look to possibly serve in a public office in the future.

The link to the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html

Here is a picture of our President and family after wining the Presidency.

Here is a picture of the Obamas on their wedding day.

Once again, I am grateful to have a President who seems to be family oriented, despite whatever political differences I may or may not have with him as the President.

A desire to be better...

I was reading recently through my journal and came across an entry that started me thinking about what I needed to do to be better. There are allot of things in this journal entry that are personal to me, but respect that those who care enough to read my blog would care enough to understand the message that I am trying to convey: This entry was dated 31 August 2009:

My friend Eric came over tonight, and with Drew my roommate we had a general discussion about the church, which turned in to a specific conversation of the atonement as it specifically relates to those attracted to the same gender. One thing is certain: that I don't understand the full infinite power of the atonement, but I am slowly learning to appreciate it more and more. I have had this topic on my mind as we have debated the issue of civil unions and marriage in my Masters program but also as it relates to my brother who is gay. I think the question arises: Does God really love me? Does He know who I am? That is what I am going to be watching for this week in the little things that occur, and in my daily prayers, I am just going to ask if He is there, and does He know me.

I had some thoughts about the Gospel of Christ, and as I thought more and more about it I really feel that as member of the church we limit our hopes and desires because the "Three Kingdoms" become codified in our mindset. You have to do this and this in order to be here, or if you don’t do this and this you are definitely going here. And yet the plan for Heavenly Father's children includes all of his children, not just those that are perfect, but those who have righteous desires. In other faiths I think the concept of grace is easier to understand because it is just a heaven and hell, and because you have to be really 'bad' in order to go to hell, you can be more confident in the realization that you have a better chance at going to heaven because of God's grace. Yet in the three-kingdom system it is easier for us to settle on the realization that we may never reach the celestial kingdom, well at least I think that way in which I think it would just be easier to settle. And as we sin we begin to think that there is no way that I can be good enough to enjoy the merits of the celestial kingdom (as it relates to a codified checklist). And yet as I type that I understand and really believe that to question is healthy, but to doubt is not from God.

I really feel as the atonement is allot grander than anyone from our mortal perspective could understand, and it will only be when we are before Him to be reconciled will we truly understand His love for us. That is exactly why I need to be able to reach out to others more and to love them for who they are, God's children. (The funny thing as I talked tonight and as I am typing, I am surprised at the things that I really do know to be true.) I become bogged down at all of the intricacies of the Gospel, and yet they are plain and simple. Faith. Lets start there.

As I read this entry I was reminded of the fact that I need to reach out to others more and to love them for who they are, God's children. I hope in my day to day interactions that I can help others to feel that they are indeed children of our Heavenly Father, that they are loved, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever differences we come across in our lives. No matter how hard today seems, I know that tomorrow will be better if we choose to serve the Lord today.

Is it already fall?

It has been a while since I have been able to update. I finished a quiz early today and thought that I would update on things happening in my life. My main reason for keeping this blog i for myself, so that I can at least feel like I am keeping some sort of record of my life, so for really no other reason than that my posts tend to be a little long, but again they are for me. A nice bonus is that I am able to keep tabs on friends who are now scattered throughout the world (literally) and vice versa. So here goes nothing...

This is my new home:

I have really enjoyed the MPA program thus far. I am taking a full load of classes including Basic Decision Analysis, Economics, OB, Communications, and others. Also, allot of my time has been spent doing job shadows or interviews and trying to secure a summer internship for next summer. The students are great and on a daily basis am amazed at their desire to do good in the world. There is more reading than can be accomplished but the best part is that I am interested in what I am learning. I am daily engaged in discussions both in and out of the classroom of real world issues. There really is hope for the future, especially in the hands of my fellow classmates!

One of my favorite things that I have been involved with this semester is the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Utah. I was selected to be a board fellow for the Utah chapter. It has been a really humbling experience as I have reviewed child after child who is suffering from life threatening diseases, many of them will live, but many of them will succumb to the diseases which have cause them and their families so much suffering and pain. I am just grateful to sit among so many qualified professionals and discuss and make decisions for the future of Make A Wish Foundation of Utah. There really is allot of behind the scenes things that have to take plac

e. If you have time you should check out the new blog www.makeawishfoundationfoutah.blogspot.com to read some of the stories of wish children from Utah. It has helped me to be more grateful for the things that I do have.

I also enjoyed this last conference, especially because my mom came up to spend the weekend with Lindsay, Jared, and I. It is good to see her walking around and enjoying life. It was also great to eat some of her home cooked meals. We had fun playing games, and we look forward to having Chad join us here in the next couple of months as he approaches the end of his mission.

I was also able to get together with the EFY team that I worked with two summers ago. We had been planning it for 2 years and it finally happened. It was good to see everyone and to catch up, especially as Dani and Dave got married to eachother, Brooke A. is Engaged, Jeni Weston is married, and Brooke B. is now back from her mission. What a great bunch of people.

I havent had allot of time for 'leisure' activities, mostly between school, Make A Wish, working (Graduate Student Society, and Event Staff Supervisor), church calling, I have been able to do much fun things. So I was grateful when a couple of guys from my ward (Chase and Joe) invited me to go with them to Las Vegas to see the BYU vs. UNLV game. I was a little hesitant because I had a big project due the next week, but am thankful that I did. I am always grateful to be able to make more friends and to have a good time. They also had an extra ticket so Lindsay was able to go as well, it was fun to spend the weekend with her! Here are just a couple of highlights from the trip

Here is the Vegas group! Like I said, it was a ton of fun! (Joe Boyer, Linds, Me, Stephanie Putnam, Chase, Aubin, Heather, Reed)

One of the coolest things was the lion habitat in the MGM grand, I had been to Vegas a number of times and had never even heard of the Lion Habitat. Lions are allot bigger than I thought they would be.

By far the best part of Vegas is the Bellagio water show. I could have spent the whole day just watching the water show.

The reason for the trip was the BYU vs. UNLV football game. To put it plainly it was blowout, it was fun to be there and to make friends with the UNLV fans. They were a little drunk and had a couple of degrading remarks, but in the end we were all laughing and having a good time.

It would not have been as fun with out this girl! Love her!

Just a quick shot of the game!

We also went to M&M world which was really cool, it smelled like chocolate throughout the whole store and there were more M&M's than any one person could eat in a year.

We stayed at this beaut of a hotel. It was a little smoky but the rooms were cheap and they beds were comfortable. There were literally surveillance cameras everywhere. I think the rooms are cheap because they think you will more than likely gamble, nope not us, haha!

I dont think I had ever seen a flamingo, for those of you wondering, they are real!

Again, it was a ton of fun, and I am thankful that I was able to get to know this bunch of great kids! As a side note, I found the best place for a shake...Maverick! They have this cool machine that you put in your selection of ice cream and it takes it away and produces one of the best shakes that I have ever had.

I have failed in a couple of areas, and want to apologize. I have not been able to keep up with most of you on your lives. I hope to be better at that. A shout out to Stephen and Sarah Glenn on their new baby boy!

Play, Relax, Ready set Go!!

Well today I started the first day of my Master's Degree, without going in to much detail, the MPA program took us to the ropes course (I thought the same thing, ropes course in a graduate program) but nonetheless it was fun and we were assigned our teams that we will work with this semester! I am a little nervous, but ready or not, it started today! I really felt today that this is where I needed to be, which made me feel alot better about my decision.

I wanted to touch on a couple of things I have done in the last coupleof weeks prior to being back in Provo...first of all I was in a play...?! When I was younger I was involved in an outdoor theater program called Anasazi the Ancient One's and loved it. Well the playwright called me in the middle of the summer and said she had a part for me to play that she thought would be perfect for. To be honest besides the play when I was little I have never done anything quite like that since I was maybe 14, so I agreed thinking it would be a good experience and get me out of my comfort zone. I ended up playing a Mormon polygamistt with two wives. The basis of the play was telling the story of how the Indian children in the area were taken to boarding schools, and how slowly over time their traditions have been lost. I really had alot of fun, I even had a solo in the play where I sang a love song to my wives. I got to meet alot of great people, but unfortunately I have no pictures! We had nearly 400 people come andsee it over the two weeks it was enacted. Some exciting news for the playwright, Sharon French, one of her plays has been bought to be a Broadway play, it will start in two years.

I also was able to work at the old trading post that I used to work at for a week to earn a little extra money, they paid in cash and were very gracious! I had forgot in moving how the Navajo Culture is and how much I love the culture itself but am saddened at the way that it is heading (maybe I will post about this more another time)

However, probably the most fun thing I did all summer was go to Houston to visit my friend Stephen Glenn and his family, Sarah and Parker! I really had a great time, it was a perfect mixture of sight seeing, relaxing and just talking. There were very gracious hosts and allowed me to burden them for 5 days! The only thing I regret is that I didnt visit them more often when they lived in Provo! Definitely my favorite part was playing with their son, Parker. He is 18 months old and is probably the smartest, cutest kid around. He definitely is the life of the party (and knows it) and he has the best two parents I have seen. Here is just a synopsis of

some of the fun we had:

Here is the big guy, Parker! I really love this kid! He is on the verge of talking but knows what most of the sounds of the letters of the alphabet make!

We went to visit the Houston temple and walk around the grounds. It was really pretty! The only thing about Houston is the it is very humid!

Parker loved playing in the water, everywhere we would go he would always get excited at any water that we saw! It was fun to go swimming with him later that day and to play "toothpick"

Here is one of Stephen, Parker, and I.
We also went to the Natural science museum, I didnt get any pictures, but here is one I found on the internet. This is a picture of one of the attractions at the museum, it is called "Terracotta Warrior's" I am not totally sure what the whole story is but just know they were made to protect the emperor in the after life! It was actually really interesting!

We also went to the Astro's vs. Diamondback game and were able to watch it in a suite. All you can eat food, drinks, and a huge dessert sundae in a baseball helmet. It was an indoor stadium and it was great. I really had a great time just being there.

Here is Parker in the suite eating a hot dog, boy can this little guy eat. He was a trooper because he stayed up at least 4 hours past his bedtime and was not trouble at all.

On Saturday we went to the NASA space center and was able to get a tour of the facility and to learn alot about the future of space travel. Here is one of the retired rockets. I dont know that you can grasp the magnitude of the size of this beast but it was HUGE! I still have the question of why we even travel to space, billions of dollars, really?

Overall, it was the perfect vacation before I got started in my program. I really love the Glenn's and am grateful to their hospitality. A special thanks to Sarah (I am sorry I dont have a picture) for being a great hostess and at the same time being 8 months pregnant! If you are ever in town she makes the best pork chop and potatoes and pull apart rolls. I am grateful for their friendship and will ever be blessed to call them friend!

Hospital Internship...Done

This week was my last week at my internship with the local hospital. It really was a great place to work and to learn. I worked with a great therapy team, including doctors, nurses, and administrators that didn't seem to get tired of my constant inquiries. I even got offered a job! I think for the first time in my life, except maybe teaching seminary, I felt as if I had something real to offer, and people trusted my opinion on a professional level. It was great to work with the patients. It really has given me a lot of inspiration to watch spinal cord patients, TBI's, CVA, and multiple other injuries and surgery patients work hard at their recovery. It also taught me to drive more careful, wear my seat belt, not drink (haha), excercise, eat right, and in general to be more healthy. I gained alot of great friends in the health industry that have given me advice on life, education, financial managment, and many other life related areas. I enjoyed my time, except maybe for all of the documentation, but that is what you get in the healthcare industry. Now I just take the certification exam in September and I will be a liscensed Therapist!! (haha, Troy!)This is the hospital I worked at!

Here is a side view of their new addition!

Other news: I am also done working at the restaurant! All I have to say is I have a lot more respect for servers! I think everyone, atleast once in their life, needs to be a server. There were multiple times where I got jipped on a tip or two, not because of bad service, but because people did not appreciate the work that was being done for them. It really takes alot of work, and constantly answering people questions, making sure the food is ordered right, refilling drinks, refilling drink, and refilling drinks! I definitely tip better than I used to, atleast 15% and 20 % if they are good! This helps offset the 2.17 that they are getting paid an hour! It was also interesting for me to be able to be an employee again where I was not seen for what I had to offer. I was just another server; and unfortunately was treated as such. There are alot of mis-management issues that I was able to observe, and really saw the value in appreciating your employees! Lets just say if I was a manager, or owner for that matter, of an establishment I would not tell my employees to 'shut-up', punish them by not allowing them to check out even when there are no customers in the restaurant, punsihing by not giving them very many nights, or making sure they have all of the bad customers that come in. It was just a whole new world, the employee morale was low, and it really showed. While I was there there were 7 servers who quit, and they were having a bad time hiring new servers! One night the owners were arguing in the back about money, and one of them got really mad and said I guess we can save money by turing out the lights. (Mind you everyone there in the restaurant could hear them yelling) and they turned off all of the lights. All of the servers just walked around and apologized, because there was no way we were going to get good tips after that! Last story and then some positive things, haha: I was serving one table of 18 and it was a wedding party and the manager kept walking up to my table every 15 minutes or so and asking them if they were receiving good service (she said because I was new and wanted to make sure) well anyway after their dinner was through they were automatically grated 18%, they left an additional tip, and two different people as they were walking out handed me $20 dollars because, "This is for having to work with such a horrible boss" I had to laugh, because it was definitely true! As for the positive I really enjoyed working with the other servers. I had a hard time understanding some of their life decisions, and some were even in their 40's still working there. I enjoyed working with people with such diverse backgrounds, and it gave me even more motivation to complete my schooling and to work hard at doing well. I am excited to get back to school and to have a social life again.

Update: A Chance at Life

A while ago I posted about some goals I had set for my life and some rules to live by. Here is my report and my follow up goal setting.

The rules to live by were:

1. God First
2. People before anything else (after #1)
3. It's always better to be happy
4. But if not...
5. Serve others before my self
6. No Regrets

I am happy to report that all is well, so far. I could have been better at putting people before anything else, and serving them before myself, but hey #6 no regrets. I will try to be better in the future. On "My list" Numbers 2 (Education), #4 (Piano Arrangement), #6 (ASL), and #19 (scuba diving) are under way. I have decided to post my 10 year plan on my blog in hopes that those who read will help me be accountable to my goals that I have set. Here is a rough go at it:

Ultimately I have decided that I want to get in to Health care. My passion really is for people and helping people. I thought for a long time that in order to do so I needed to be a doctor or other type of health care provider. I have also identified that my passion is along the lines of business, in the sense of leadership and team building. I have had the opportunity over the last year to interact with a lot of health care administrators and have been intrigued at the many exciting possibilities that are within health care administration. There is a lot of good to be done, and I feel that in the coming years health care is going to be a very hot topic, and there is going to need to be individuals in positions to be able to help align local and federal governments in regards to health care policies. This will help me to be in a great position as I start looking to move in to local government settings.

3 Months:

• Dating 2 times a week
• Temple worker
• Start sending resumes/making contacts for summer 2010 Internship
• Establish a Mentor (Good news on this one: I was selected to be part of the President's Council Mentor Program at BYU)
• Follow up lunch with Dr. Gray and colleague
• Start taking spanish classes
• 3 Job shadows with local Health Care Administrators
• Start building "Rolodex"

6 Months:

• Maintain relationship or dating 3 times a week
• Select summer 2010 internship
• Choose Master's emphasis, most likely Local Government and Finance
• 6 Job shadows with loacl Health Care Administrators
• Start building Healthcare Portfolio
• Continue with Spanish, Apply for Humanitarian Service
• Maintain "Rolodex" and always be adding to it
• Save 10/10

1 Year:

• Internship
  
• 12 shadow health care administrators
• Healthy Health care portfolio
• Maintain "Rolodex" and always be adding to it
• Save 10/10
• Humanitarian service (atleast 2-3 weeks, Spanish prefered)
  

2 Year:

• Married
  
• Graduation in top 10% of class
• Secure employment/Internship
• Save 10/30
• First Home

10 Year:

• Health Care Executive
• Expert in the Health care field
• Nursing/EMS certification
  
• Develop/Start World NPO Healthcare
• Hold elected office (City Council, School Board)

These are some specific/general goals as I look forward to the future. I realize that they are incomplete, but it gives me a generalized direction in which I would like to be heading. I really liked a quote I read in a book I am reading called, "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi in which he quoted George Burton Adams,
"There is no such thing as a "self-made" man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success"

I am grateful for those along the way who have got me to this point where I am in my life. I am happy and there really is nothing to complain about. I would appreciate those in my life to follow up with me on these goals that I have set and hold me to them. I will be giving it my all as I move forward in life.

P.S. I am also trying to work on identifying some of my strengths and weaknesses, so if you could just take a minute and write some the the strengths/weaknesses that I have that you have percieved in my interactions with you-it would be greatly appreciated.

Fireworks and Mud Equal Fun!

Fourth of July Weekend I had some friends come down from Utah for a visit: Mindy, Brad, Nat, and Troy. It was a lot of fun considering I haven't done a lot of socializing this summer. We had the usual amount of delicious food, ping pong, around the world, ping pong blow, ultimate spoons, fireworks, movies, guns, and lack of sleep! I am really glad they came, it really made for a memorable 4th of July!

Here is one of my favorite pictures and memories now, Teaching Bradley Graham how to drive a tractor. Brad really did good rota tilling the field to prep it for mud volleyball!


This is a classic of Farmer Brad!

We built a mud pit and flooded it and let it soak for a couple of hours and set up a volleyball net! The missionaries came over because it was their P-day and their whole district came. Basically it turned out to be a mudfest of wrestling, throwing mud, and being completely covered in mud! It literally took over an hour for us to clean up after! Here is some of the evidence!


This is us trying to play, but everytime that you hit the ball you had mud splattered all over your face. It was really hard to move around and jump in so it didnt turn out to be a competitive game of volleyball.

This is us at the start with nice clean clothes, that soon changed! This was so much fun.


We also went tubing down the river on our property. It was really hot on the 4th so it felt really good to float down the river. Here is Brad, Nat, Me, Troy, Mindy, Lindsay!


This is one of the entrances to Mesa Verde. We went on Friday morning. This 36 foot ladder was a little shaky, but the view at the top was amazing. I hadnt been to Mesa Verde in a long time. It really is amazing that the anasazi/pueblo people lived in these cliff dwellings.


Here is the group at one of the dwellings, Nat, Mindy, Lindsay, Me, and Brad. It was really hot and we didnt bring any food, luckily there was an "Indian Food" stand at the side of the road.


This is the view after climbing out of the dwellings. It was really a long ways down to the bottom!


This is the entrance. The people who inhabited these dwellings were about 5'2", so it was hard to fit through some of their doors and entrances!

This is one of the dwellings we were able to visit called Cliff Palace

This is the view from the top. It really was amazing what they were able to accomplish with so little technology. This dwelling was built in 1200 AD


This is a full scale view from above.


This is the happy crew at the end of the day, minus Troy. I really am so lucky to have such great friends!