Time Flies

Pretty much I am doing this post for the sake of my roommate Kaori. She ALWAYS checks my blog, even though she knows I have not updated my blog. I will basically just sum up what has happened thus far in my life.

I have moved back to this good old, packed town of Provo. It is extremely over-crowded with horrible drivers and strange personalities. Did I mention that the roads are awful! They are all cracked and not set up very well. The numbering system is nice, but they are not straight roads, but what can you expect when this place is full of mountains and hills.

School is quite difficult this year. It keeps me busy for sure. I am currently a pre-management major attempting to get into the Accounting Program for fall of 2010. The professors say we need an A- grade average to even be considered to be into this program. I would absolutely love to get into the program, but if I don't, I might major in finance or maybe mathematics so I can become a high school math teacher. We'll see. I will just "let the chips fall where they may."

Braden has officially left on the mission. He flew out early Thursday, October 22nd and reported the the Ghana MTC October 23rd, 2009. I have not heard from him at all yet and am getting overly anxious. I sent out two letters thus far...one in hopes that it would be there when he arrived and one on Monday--which will be my mailing day from now on (I hope). I really miss him and am sad that he is gone. It is extremely difficult to adjust to basically not having constant contact with him, but thanks to my roommates and friends and family (along with his family) I have been comforted a lot. My busy schedule keeps my mind off of missing him most of the time. Overall though, I know he is doing incredible things and I would not have him be anywhere else doing anything other than serving the people of Ghana and teaching The Gospel. I am extremely proud of his decision and love him even more now that he is serving others.

I got my first "ticket" and my first "accident" in the same week. For church we have our church meetings on campus--ours is in the Fine Arts Center. Most of the parking spaces are available for anyone to park in on Sundays...including most service vehicle spots. Well...not so lucky for me, I parked in one that is off limits all the time. But the parking sign was not visible nor clear for me to see. I came out of church with a 50 dollar parking ticket on my windshield. This did not make me happy. I went to the campus police and appealed my ticket. The cop was such a jerk. When I explained the confusion with the sign, he said, "You have to know how to read a sign to go to BYU." I was so offended. I wanted to tell him that he has to know how to make signs and put them up so there will be no confusion for anyone in the public, especially because there are plenty of people in this city who would struggle a lot worse than me when reading this sign. Because of my previously perfect record, he knocked my ticket down to 10 dollars. I was slightly relieved, but still not content about the situation. Pretty perturbed actually.

Three days later, Kaori and I were getting ready to go to class. We get in my car and I begin to back out of the parking lot when I notice my other roommate, Dani, backing out across from us. I wait where I am and let her back out first. To my left, there is a kid in a white honda waiting for me to back out...or so it seemed. I back out the rest of the way (because I was already partly out previously) and when I look down to switch my car into drive, I hear a CRUNCH! Kaori and I look at each other, then behind me. This white Honda is practically in my bumper on the left side. I was furious. I get out of my car when he rolls down his window and asks, "Was that my fault?" I replied with a stern yes and he pulls into the nearest spot. When we meet him at his car, he gets out WITH ONLY ONE SHOE ON! I calmly asked him if he was putting his shoes on while driving and he guiltily answers with a "ya." He said it the way only a stupid coward would. I quickly exchanged insurance information with him and we went our ways. My car ended up with a gaping hole in the back left corner. The outer material basically shattered. There is more damage than just the bumper too. The appraiser estimated about 1200 dollars in damage. I took it in this Monday to be repaired and the shop found even more damage. Once my repair costs are completely solid, my insurance will go after his. He better tell the truth or I will hunt this kid down and...actually I will just remain very angry with him and hope that he has a guilty conscience for lying because he is definitely at fault. He saw me and was waiting for me. End of story.

Because my car is in the shop, I have a rental car this whole week. It is a sparkly brownish black Kia Rondo. Basically the color of poop and looks like a mommy car. Like mini SUV meets minivan. Strange. I didn't get to pick. The interior is really nice though. It is a 2009 model. Driving a new car and mixing things up is always fun.

Yesterday was the first snowfall. It is only October! This sucks so bad. I have a feeling this will be a L-O-N-G winter. I miss the Arizona heat. I hate dreading getting out of bed, but knowing I HAVE to. So not fun. I even had to drive through a snow storm on my way to work in Murray, Utah. It was pretty scary. Don't want to do that again.

Speaking of work, I have the best job right now. My brother Parker got it for me. I am the Channel Checker for Prime Time Communications. Basically I get pair really well to drive an hour, flip through 900 channels, state which ones do not have clear video and audio, and drive back an hour. I come whenever I can. It is way nice. The only stinky part is driving so far, especially when it starts snowing really bad.

This last Sunday I had to play my cello as an accompaniment for someone singing in my ward. It was the song "Come Thou Fount" from the Reflections of Christ photography display. It is an incredible song, but I think I butchered it. It was my first time accompanying someone ever! I was shaking horrible and could not even breathe. I do not intend on doing something like that again, but I have a feeling now that they know I can somewhat play the cello, they might ask me again. Ugh. I tried to remain hidden from the ward stuff so I didn't have to play. I get to nervous with the spotlight on me like that.

I think this about sums up what has happened in my life basically. Hope I didn't bore you too bad, but it's mostly to give Kaori something to read instead of teasing me for not updating my blog. I will try to update much more frequently, but we will see how long that takes.

For now, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!