and I'm a Mormon

So, I just got done with a full day of spirit filled goodness. General Conference was amazing! There were so many great talks. I wish my memory worked a little better but it sufficient to say I enjoyed a great deal of them.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a Mormon. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I know this is the church that our Father in Heaven has restored the gospel of Jesus Christ through. If you would like to learn more about it, click the "Little Stream" button or you could just ask me; I did spend 2 years teaching the gospel to people!

Enjoy~

Doh!

So, I forgot to post this last week when it happened; probably from the loss of consciousness I received from it. JK. But, Ginny and I walk every Tuesday and Thursday around SLU and I usually wear a hat because it keeps the sweat out of my eyes. So, we are walking around, rounding a corner and I see a box that looks like a McDonald's box on the ground. For some reason, my eye was fixed on it. I don't know if it's because I haven't eaten McDonald's in almost a month or because it was half eaten. No clue. As I turned the corner, though, BAM! I head-butted the stop sign. Luckily, I was wearing a hat; even though that's what impeded my vision in the first place. It didn't even really hurt. And I know what you're thinkin', "He has a hard head." hahaha, not really. My head is way sensitive to stuff like that. But, no harm, no foul.

Compulsory school

I figured I would throw down a positive blog while things are still positive with school. I really enjoy my classes. My professors all seem fairly legit and I enjoy the material we learn. For certain, there is a lot of reading but at least it's about things that interest me; social work, psychology, social problems, anthropology, etc.

I just started searching for a job. I thought I would take the first few weeks in school to really get a grasp on things. I am at a point, now, where I feel I can spend some time working very light part time hours. I have the possibility of working in a psychologist's office working with some insurance companies. I'm kinda excited about it and really feel that it would work out for me in a lot of ways.

I've also been working out lately. I don't want to jenks myself and definitely do not want the awkwardness of someone telling me, "Have you been gaining weight?" when I've been working out for the last month. So, please, if you see me, tell me that I've lost so much weight and you're so excited for me. That would be awesome.

Go Green! Go Gold!

I'm not quite sure where my lack of desire to watch sporting events started. My dad is an avid fan of most sporting events. He played high school football and, from what I understand, he was actually pretty good. I even played t-ball and soccer when I was younger. Oh the Green Machine! Up until a few years ago, I'd moan or even leave the room if someone else turned on a football game or especially a basketball game. Yuck!

When I moved to Louisiana, though, football is a season. We are told there are three seasons here. The year starts out with Crawfish season, then moves into Hurricane season and then Football season. Of course, LSU football is an event; or at least watching it is. People will start tailgating at LSU the day before. LSU campus becomes a busy maze of tents and purple shirts with smells of every kind of southern food you could desire. Even if you don't tailgate, the city of Baton Rouge buzzes on game day with excitement and anticipation. It's almost laughable but you get roped in, or at least I did. I found myself watching football for the first time...and enjoying it. The camaraderie is amazing. These people know the players individually as if they were professional. It's astounding. This isn't just LSU football, though. However, it is the largest and grossest example but definitely not the only school.

And this is where you find me today. I've just started at Southeastern Louisiana University and I attended my first football game as a student. It was a great game. We played UT-Martin and SLU held up against the Hawks. It was way fun and I really enjoyed it. We sat in the student section (not nearly as crazy as the LSU student section) right next to the band, who deserve a honorable and genuine recognition-they were very good!

Change gears with me. I became very emotional yesterday when I woke up and flipped on the TV and saw the replay of the news coverage for the attacks from 9/11/01. I remember vividly driving home that morning from a church meeting and listening to some random babble about building being crashed into and not understanding what happened. I walked inside the house and my dad was watching the news coverage and I just stood in the doorway and couldn't move. It was surreal. Yesterday was great, though. A time to remember. The SLU band played a tribute to all armed forces at halftime and I was extremely touched. Thanks to all who daily sacrifice time and energy for my safety!

A hot mess

Summer was full of fun, adventure and a lot of change. I moved and I'm all settled in. Shortly after I moved, Ginny and I took a trip to California; where she is from. We vacay'd for a few days then worked for a company which administrates cheer and dance camps. In 2.5 weeks, we worked at 4 different camps; UCLA, UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara and a smaller camp in an even smaller town. It was a ton of fun. I learned a lot, got a great tan and enjoyed the beauty of SoCal! The weather was absolutely stunning-especially in Santa Barbara; what a great little town.

After we returned, we both started school. Ginny is starting her second year in her master's program and I'm finishing up my sophomore year for my undergrad in general studies. I'm in a ton of classes that I love; Social Work, Social Problems, Psychology, American History, Adolescent Development and Ginny and I are taking a Social Dance class together; we just had our first test today. It was interesting.

After our first week of classes, we flew to Michigan for a family reunion of Ginny's Dad and his 3 brothers. THAT was great. We all enjoyed a great weekend and I had some incredible corn and played Aggravation; we need to play it again. The game is a lot like Sorry but the board was handmade by Ginny's uncle. On the way up to Michigan, I had a *clearing of throat* touch of anxiety. I refused to re-board the airplane for the return home. Reluctantly, Ginny agreed to ride back with my by train. Looking back, part of my wishes I would have just got on the plane because it was a 2 hour flight as opposed to a 22 hour train ride. But I really loved the train ride. We rented a sleeping closet, I mean cabin and it was quite doable. It was more expensive than a plane fare yet still enjoyable. The food was good and the scenery was gorgeous! Trains hold such a great history. I have a few pictures posted on Facebook under the Michigan album.

Getting back to our dance test. There are 16 girls and 4 boys in our class. Every boy has to dance with multiple girls. We were able to chose our partners. Of course, Ginny and I chose each other. But she was not the only one who wanted to dance with me. I danced with at least 7 other girls. It was insane. I was quite flattered! I do have some dance training with ballroom so I'm much more use to this style of dancing (foxtrot).

Now, I'm just going through life and indeed enjoying school. I just started exercising and realized that I am a sweaty hot mess but I feel so much better. I've also given up all carbonation to help lose weight. Oh, and I got new glasses!! They rock! Life is good.

Moving Day!

I just finished packing. I'm still doing some last minute laundry but it all has a place and as soon as it's done, I'll be ready to move. I'm way excited to move to Hammond. I feel like I've been in limbo for the past few months. I hate limbo. I hate not knowing what is around the next corner. Now, I will be in school full time (17 credits...eek) and not have to worry about work too much. I will finally be able to put the nose to the grindstone and get some serious school done. I will also be closer to Ginny which will be immensely wonderful and so much easier for our relationship. She's a good support and has sacrificed a lot to come to Baton Rouge each weekend; mooching off of friends and relatives so we can be together at least two days a week. Ok, not really mooching but definitely living out of a suitcase for the weekend, barely getting unpacked, and come back the next weekend. Thanks family and Ginny!

My new roommate seems fairly decent. He has a mature attitude and it seems we will get along just fine. I'm moving into a house which will be wonderful. I'll have my own room again, my own bathroom (for a while) and I can't wait!

I'll officially be in Hammond as of Friday night. Hopefully, I can get it all in one trip.

A month?

Purely an update of what's happened, what's happening and what is planned to happen.

This summer has been pretty busy. I took off time from school so I could stop spending as much money and bumming off my parents. I'm quitting my job at the clinic and taking a break from the medical field, again. I'm moving to Hammond, LA (about 30 minutes East of where I live now) to attend Southeastern Louisiana University. I'm way excited to be going to a big boy college. Everything has been falling into place, which is comforting. I found a house to rent a room in for the right price. I have a job for the next month that will help make some money and I'll be closer to my girlfriend.

This is kinda boring, yeah? I'll hopefully have some more interesting posts later. Hmmm...