Lately

Life has been great since I last posted. I try to post more often, but its hard to find time. So buckle your seat belts and remain seated until the post comes to a complete stop.

I have been looking to buy a truck for a while now. I finally found one that was in great condition and went to West Valley to look at it. I liked what I saw, so I called the bank and got the loan all set up. Then to my dismay, he didn't have the title for it, so the bank would not let the loan go through. I was disappointed, but kept looking. Nothing like it was coming up on KSL. Finally another truck came up on KSL, and I called and went up to Kamas to go look at it, gave him the money and drove away with it that night. The cool thing is, the body is in better shape, its a year newer than the other one, and has less miles than the other one.

It is a 1994 Toyota Pickup 4X4.  Basically a Toyota Tacoma, but they didn't start calling it a Tacoma until 96.  Its in awesome condition and I love it.  I sold the Honda I was driving to a friend in the ROTC.
I'm also in the process of selling the camper shell.

As soon as I drove off from the guys house buying it I went with my friend Steve Davis up to his cabin to go deer hunting.  We got up at 4 am saturday and hiked around the mountains until about 2 pm when I snow storm came out of nowhere.  We hadn't seen any bucks unfortunately (but lots of Elk and a few doe) so we decided to head back to the truck.  However, we still had about a 3.5 mile hike back to the truck in this snow storm.  The snow was not snow at all.  It was little ice pellets that were coming in sideways, stinging any exposed skin.  It was a fun day though all in all, even though we didn't get anything.  Next year.

I had my 24th birthday on the 28th.  We had a bunch of friends over for Hoagies, then 4 of us went to the Haunted Forest in American Fork.  It was pretty good, compared to some of the other ones I've been too.  It took about an hour to go through, and people were spaced out.  So we weren't just standing in line through the whole thing watching the people ahead of us get scared and know what's coming up.  Amanda had never been to anything haunted, so it was a good night.

The 29th was our ward Trunk-or-Treat.  It was pretty fun.  A few hours before we still didn't know what we were gonna do for our costumes or how to decorate our trunk, but pulled together something pretty good.  We decided to be a Mad Scientist (Amanda) and Igor (me).  We decorated the trunk like a mad scientist's lab with things in jars like grapes for eyes, fake mice floating in apple juice (AKA formaldehyde) and propped my head on a box with black cloth around my body so it looked like a live head on display.

 It was pretty good and kind of put some of the really little kids on edge, but everyone loved it.  It was pretty uncomfortable laying there with my head crained like it was.  But it was good.  We got 2nd place on the trunk decorating contest and only lost to a full on pirate ship with a mast and a plank.  A few couples came as peter pan, wendy, and some pirates.  So we felt good about our 2nd place, especially after throwing it together at the last minute.

After I climbed out of the truck I put on a trench coat and was Igor, the hunchback assistant.  We didn't win any prizes for our costumes.  However, after the Trunk-or-Treat was over there was a chilli cook-off that Amanda's chilli got 2nd place.  We take great pride in the fact that we are the #1 losers.  No one lost ahead of us. ha ha.

This is our Jack-o-Lantern that Amanda and I carved together.  I found a picture of a pumpkin like this on the internet and we tried our best to recreate it.   I think it turned out pretty well.

On Nov 1st Amanda got her wisdom teeth pulled and a few cavities filled all in the same procedure.  She got the laughing gas for it, but they didn't put her out.  I was kinda hoping she would be all drugged up and I could film her and put it on youtube, but she was pretty coherent.  The dental assistant told me that it only took like 10 minutes to get all 4 wisdom teeth out, but her recovery has been extremely quick.  The next day she didn't even need any pain killers.  Lucky her.

Spooky Cobwebs and Crazy Children. This Is My Life.

Fall has fell, and we are already half way through October. Crazy! Where does the time go? We have been working hard around here making our house look good, etc. Amanda has decorated the house with all sorts of halloween things, to include fake spider webs. Funny that for one month out of the year spider webs are not only acceptable, but desired. And who ever decided that that was spooky? Gross yes, but spooky or scary? Maybe if the spider that built the web was too large to comfortably squish between your fingers in a strip of toilet paper.

We also have been painting the apartment room by room. Most the paint in the house was really old and looking pretty bad, so we are updating it. It looks much better! The girl that lived here before us came by yesterday to get some mail that came to our house and was very impressed with all the changes we'd made and Amanda's decorating skills. It almost looked like she wished she hadn't moved because now she knew how good it could look.

School is officially half way over for the semester. Its gone by quick. I only have 4 more semesters after this one, then I commission. The end is near, but the light at the end of the tunnel is still a little pin prick. But hey, its visible.

Last night I went to the Salt Lake ReAL game. That is Utah's Professional Soccer team. They are really good! They won the game last night, which was their last regular season game. With the win last night they set a new Major League Soccer record with 25 straight wins, and are now tied for 1st place in the nation heading into the play offs. Pretty neat. I went with my "Little" Joseph from Big Brother/Big Sisters. We had a good time.

Today I was called as the Assistant Scout Master. I am excited for the call cause I love camping, hiking, and doing outdoors stuff. However, Deacons quorum today was a little interesting. I haven't been to deacons quorum since I was a deacon, and seeing it from the leaders perspective is funny. I was laughing to myself almost the whole time, not because what the kids were saying was funny, but because they were just funny. It will be an interesting calling, but I'm excited.

New Beginnings and Stuff Like That

Since my last post Amanda has started her new job at Primary Children's Hospital. She loves the job, but hates the commute. Who could blame her? It's a long ways to drive a few times a week. But she has finished a lot of her training, so now she has her own patients and is a bonified RN. She still have to go up one additional time for a few hour training, on top of her 3 shifts a week. But in 3 months she won't have to do that anymore. By then I think she will have to chance to transfer to the children's unit in Riverton, which would be a lot closer. So we'll see what she decides to do.

We moved into a new apartment in north provo on August 2nd. I had a bunch of friends come over and we knocked it out in just 2 hours, then had a BBQ. We are liking the new place though. Its much larger than our old apartment, and Amanda is having fun painting and getting it looking good. We are liking our new ward as well. We decided to go to a family ward instead of the married student ward like we have been going to. We almost got a calling in the primary, but didn't because Amanda has to work about 2 sundays a month, so I couldn't teach them alone. Dodged that bullet (j/k). So we'll see what callings we do get.

The day after we moved into our new place we drove to CA for the 4th time this year. My family got a beach house for the week on Balboa Island, right off the coast of Newport Beach. It was really fun and nice to go spend time with family, play in the ocean and with nieces and nephews, etc.

School has started, and since I went to field training this summer I am now officially an "upper-classman." The first 2 years of ROTC you are considered enlisted, and learn how to follow orders. Your junior and senior years you are a cadet officer, and give orders. We basically run the cadet side of the ROTC and the real officers observe and teach us as we go. I am in charge of a service organization called Arnold Air Society, and the vice commander for the Color Guard. Here is a sweet video we made to recruit for Color Guard.

Sweet video

One of the perks of being the commander is that we choose if we wanna do the flag at the football games. If we do we get 2 free tickets on the front row, 40 yard line. Pretty good tickets. So Amanda and I went to the University of Washington/ BYU game, and I also brought my "little Brother" Joseph. I think he liked the game, but he doesn't really show too much excitement for anything, so who knows.

To be honest I am glad school is back on again. Amanda feels weird because its the first time in her life that she isn't going back to school for the fall. But when I'm in school its so much easier to live a schedule and exercise, etc. And, at the end of this semester I'll be applying for my pilot slot, so I'll find out about that probably March. Cross your fingers and mention me in your prayers, cause I've worked hard to get to this point, and getting my pilot slot would be the pinnacle of my efforts.

On the flip side

The title of this post has a few different contexts.  First of all, I am done with Field Training! Its so nice to have it behind me.  I learned a ton, it was a good experience and I'm glad that now I can say I've done it, but I wouldn't want to do it again.  We learned a lot, including Self-Aid buddy care, Rifle training, Convoy procedures, how to search a vehicle/person, radio communication, land navigation, etc.  The first two weeks we were in Alabama, and the last 2 weeks we were in Mississippi.  While in Mississippi we had a Tornado form up over our camp and all the cadets had to run to the showers.  It was exciting.  We got to meet a few generals, and hear some pretty interesting briefings (as well as some not so interesting briefings).  On the 4th of July they let us go to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to a 4th of july party.  There were 369 Cadets, so we pretty much dominated the party.  It was held at a huge baptist church.  This thing was literally the size of a high school.  I think they did other stuff there too, but it was huge.  They had food (which was a nice change from eating MRE's) and a live band.  This was the first time in Air Force history that they have allowed anything like this to happen during boot camp, so it was great.  I met a lot of cool people, learned a lot, but as I said, I'm glad to be on the flip side and have it behind me.

Unfortunately the day I left was also the day My sister-in-law Annie got married, as well as my cousin Eric.  So I missed both of their weddings.  However, this kept Amanda pretty busy while I was gone, at least for the first week and a half.  She flew back to North Carolina to help with the reception out there, then stayed for another week and went to NYC with her sister and girl cousins for a shopping trip, then flew home.  Today she started her new job at Primary Children's Hospital.  We are really excited that she has a job, but also a job that she really wanted.  We will have benefits, etc.

The day I got home we went to Winger's for dinner then stayed the night at the Hilton in Salt Lake.  The next day was sunday and we went to church with my parents then had dinner with them.  Then later that night said Hi to a bunch of friends and headed back to provo.  Its been a task trying to get used to the altitude again.  It doesn't bother me until I start running.  The other day I decided to run up the mountain to the Y Mountain Trail Head.  From my house its only about a 4 mile round-trip run, but half of it was extremely steep.  By the time I got up to the trail head my heart was beating so hard I thought it was gonna jump out of my chest.  To add to it it was about 4 pm and very hot, so I was overheated.  I sat on the bathroom floor (cause that was the only shade on the mountain) and sipped my water until I cooled down.  On my way down the mountain I found a wallet in the middle of the road.  So I picked it up and returned it later that night.  When I knocked on the door (there was an address on the drivers license) this kids mom answered and when she found out I had the wallet got so excited.  She said they had been praying they would find it.  She wanted to give me a hug and said I was such a great guy and an answer to their prayers.  It was a great feeling to be on the flip side and be part of an answer to someone else's prayers.

Now Amanda and I are just working and preparing for our move next week.  We are moving on monday evening, then going to Balboa Island, CA with my family for a week.  This summer sure has gone by quickly.  Before camp that was all I could think about and it came quickly, then a huge chunk was dedicated to training, and now its almost time for school to start again.  I've gotta live it up while I still can.  Viva la summer.

I always start these posts out with something like "its been a while."  Indeed it has, but I'm not gonna say it this time.  I'm just gonna fill you in.

So much to tell.  First off, Amanda took her test to become and RN and passed it.  We are very excited.  She starts her new job at the end of July.  I knew she was gonna pass, but its nice to know that it is behind us now.

Yesterday Amanda and I flew down to Salina, UT where my Grandparents live.  It was my grandpa's birthday this past week, so my whole family was going down for a bbq to celebrate.  Well, for a christmas gift my grandma gave my grandpa money to go flying with me (that was a long time ago, about half a year!).  My grandpa was an Air Force pilot and then flew for United Airlines for a while, so it was really fun to go up with him.  Anyways, Amanda and I flew down there and Amanda hung out with my grandma while my grandpa and I went flying.  We flew for an hour.  We flew over the Manti temple, and then over the mountains looking for a big mine, and then over their house.  It was really fun, I LOVE flying.

This is a picture of the Manti temple from about 2,000 ft off the ground.

This is a picture of their house (the one on the corner with the gray roof).  Not too bad for a camera phone, eh?

After flying we had lunch at my grandparents, then Amanda and I had to fly back to provo so I could get  the plane back for someone else who had rented it, and go to work.  It was a fun day.  It was Amanda's first time flying with me, and first time in a small plane.  She really liked it.  The flight back to provo got a little bumpy, and in those small planes you really feel it, so she got a little nervous during that brief period, but I can't blame her.  I did too at first.

Since last September I have been preparing to go to Field Training for the Air Force ROTC.  It is in Alabama and a base called Maxwell AFB.  Its near Montgomery.  They have taught us everything we need to know, we've conditioned our bodies and minds, we've practiced marching, etc.  And now the time if finally here to put all that knowledge to use.  Truth be told I'm a little nervous, but excited to go and get it over with.  It's basically basic training, but its only 4 weeks and its only for ROTC cadets.  We do a lot of leadership training, and they rank us on how well we handle the challenges and lead our peers.  Its crazy that the time if finally here.  I leave on June 19th, and I will be back on July 17th.  Its 28 days long.  Amanda's sister is getting married  the day I fly out, and then she is going to North Carolina to be with her family and attend/run the reception out there.  So I will miss her, but she'll keep herself busy.  I am including a video for those interested to show you exactly what I'll be doing for 28 days.



As you can see, it will be intense, but I think it will be fun/hard.  So if anyone wants to get a hold of me between June 19th and July 17th, you can't.  Sorry.  But you can call Amanda.  I'm sure she would like the support.  I'll try and do at least one more post before I leave.

What a Great Day

I haven't been flying since last May 23rd.  I've had the plane all rented about 5 times since then, but every I try to go it rains.  Plus its expensive and I haven't had the money.  So this last saturday I was finally able to go with some tax refund money.  I went up with my old flight instructor and friend Todd Christensen.  It was amazing, I miss flying so much.  I wish I could go every day.  We took of from Spanish fork airport, flew up provo canyon, over Heber and Jordanelle, past Park City, down through Parley's canyon and back to provo.  We made a few landings at heber and SLC.  It was a beautiful day for flying, and just reaffirmed how much I love to fly.

After I was done flying Amanda and I went with our friends Brandon and Lisa Jastal to a car show at Thanksgiving Point.  It was pretty cool.  There were some sweet cars.  Their friend had an old Model-T that was submitted into the show, so we got a picture of us sitting in it.  It was a pretty fun day and the weather couldn't have been any better.

                                                   Us and the Jastals (he's in the ROTC with me)

Congratulations is in order

Amanda finally got a job!  Woo Hoo!  She applied to work at Primary Children's Hospital in SLC a few weeks ago.  They had over 200 applicants, and only a few positions.  Well she got an interview and rocked it.  The people loved her.  They told her they would make a decision that weekend and let everyone know the beginning of the next week.  Well that happened before we went to CA, so the whole time we were in CA we were worrying about it.  We hadn't heard anything.  The week past, and still nothing.  Well Amanda sent some emails and tried calling, and no responses.  And still another week went by and we didn't hear anything.  So she sent some more emails and made a few more phone calls.  We were kind of starting to get worried, but we kept praying.  And finally today they called her and offered her a position!  We are so excited.  She will start July 26th, and we'll start getting benefits on Sept 1st.  She will be working on the medical unit, which is just a normal floor in the hospital.  However, kids will be sent to her until when they are kind of unstable mentally to become stable before they try out the mental hospital.  So it will be fun for her, she is really excited.