School's Out For...Winter!

I just checked my grades for my first semester at UVU, and things are good, if not perfect. I earned two A-'s and two B+'s. So I'm in good shape, but still have room to improve. The most important thing I learned was not to leave points just lying around. Both B's could have been A's if I had been a little more attentive. Art History from the Renaissance would have been helped by turning in the first homework assignment and tracking down a study guide for the first test. I failed to realize just how big a factor that first assignment would prove to be. Not that I didn't do the work for it, I did, well sort of. Am really helped me out when I was feeling positively stressed out at the beginning of the semester (and before the wedding). It just took me too long to buy the book, so when I finally finished the assignment, I thought it was too late to turn it in. I just figured that every assignment would be similarly weighted, but it was the biggest one of the semester. I also missed points on the first midterm because of the missing study guide. I didn't study for a third of the material and still got a B- on the test. Most people dread this professor, but I seemed to get his tests, and did well with minimal effort in, or away from, class.

My photography class was harmed because I didn't work hard enough at the end of the semester. I hardly studied for the final exam and it showed. I left several questions unanswered because I drew a complete blank. And I could have taken better care of my negatives on my last roll of film, they got hammered being loose in my bags, and it showed on what could have been my strongest images. Ah, lessons learned, right?

But the grade that had the most importance to me was the A- in my Typography and Layout class. This is the one class that required the most out of me. Which is good, because typography and layout skills will be going to be my bread and butter for years to come. Art History will fade, and photography will only be a small side of what I do. (Speaking of which, If you know anyone that needs a photographer on the inexpensive side for a couple of hours, I'd be interested, I'll do a couple of hours for $50) Some in my class complained about how rigorous our teacher was, but I felt he pushed us when we would have been satisfied with less. And from what I understand, other teachers expect even more from the students. That's the thing about my experience at Stevens-Henager. I learned how to use the tools, but because classes were four weeks long, there wasn't enough time to refine that knowledge into how BEST to use the tools. At UVU I'll be getting that. But I count myself lucky to get into UVU when I have. Now it is pretty much open enrollment for the design program, but there is a push to really tighten the admission standards and slim the number of students down. So I'm getting in while the getting is good, but I'm also getting the really good instruction that comes from a lean design program.

A Recent Development

In the last month and a half or so, I've developed a new stress response: migraines. I've never had to deal with them before, and I wish things could go back to the way they were before. I can deal with uneasy stomach and cold sores. These migraines occur on Thursdays and sometimes Tuesdays, which coincides with my typography class and class critiques. I've found that high doses of caffeine help mitigate the pain, but then I'm hopped up on this stimulant. So on days that I need to be at my best, I'm in pain or I'm jittery. I've never had a problem with an occasional Coke, especially of the vanilla variety, but I've never been a caffeine addict either. I don't particularly like how it makes me feel. I tend to crash off any high I might get pretty fast. And now I worry that if this trend continues, I'll get used to having caffeine in my system and it won't work as well on the headaches. Is there anything out there besides caffeine, and absolute quiet and darkness, that you've found that helps with migraines?

Giving Thanks

See my post over at Sittin' in a Tree.

Another 48 Hours

OK, less than that even. Am went through the Temple for the first time last night. There are so many teeny little things to do, but everything is still coming together. I'm glad we changed our minds to go down to Cedar City. We both need the rest, and driving out to, and then up the Oregon Coast and back would have been so draining. It's funny though, when people at school ask where we are going and I say Cedar City, they initially give me a funny look. Like, why we would we go there of all places? But when I explain it to them, they realize it's not a bad idea at all. And better than most people do. At least we'll be sane when we get back. However, I'll have a stack of work to catch up when we get back. At least Am has another week off from teaching.

Less Than Five Days

I don't know how much it has set in yet that my world is completely changing in less than five days. I started trickling my things over to Am's condo a few days ago. Hopefully it won't take too long before it feels like OUR place. It'll be SO nice to cut the small commute out of our schedules. And to settle into a married schedule. While dating and including the engagement we've tried to spend as much time together as we could, and our sleep habits have gotten wonky. It'll be nice to be together AND get a good night's rest. But there are so many other adjustments to be made and discussions to have. But I am ready to get into it. I don't think I'll miss being single too much.

School is going well. My classes are fun and challenging, and are definitely learning experiences. I am seeing that my time at S-H was good preparation for UVU, but I still have a lot to learn.

We've decided to go down to Cedar City instead of the Oregon Coast. Less driving, more resting, less cold, more warmth. Oregon will come at some point for us, I still think it will be fun, but we don't need to have a second vacation to recuperate from the first.

12 Days

Am and I have just attended our last 3 hour block at the singles ward. There are a lot of good memories there. I have had the privilege of being in one great singles ward after another for the last 8 years, but the last 3 that I spent more than 3 months in have really stood out. Bishops Petersen, Davis, and Roberts have been phenomenal! They set the tone for their wards, but there have been so many friendly and faithful people in those wards that were just as responsible for the atmosphere at church. I'll miss them all.

But now I am (finally) moving into the next phase of life. If it is possible to be both ready and woefully unprepared at the same time, then I think that describes me well. But I know that I have found a "one", and I'm making her my "only". I've never been happier. And yet, I see greater happiness still to come. It seems like I am seeing the world with new eyes. The possibilities are endless.

And then there is this endurance thing we have to go through. The next 12 days will be an endurance test for sure. I can hardly believe that I am getting married, and that I have found someone so amazing to share the rest of my life with. At times I feel like I don't deserve the blessings I've been given, but I'll never turn them away.

Countdown to M-Day

There are less than 15 days to go! Picking up the marriage license and going in to pick out a tuxedo. Then we are going out to eat tonight on one of our last dates as singles.

I've been trying to track down someone to talk to about having our ring ceremony on the church grounds across the street from the temple. I can't look up leadership numbers on the Church website since I'm not a member of the ward or stake in Daybreak. Hopefully I'll hear from someone by Sunday.

It's funny, a year ago I didn't even know Am existed, and now I can't think about life without her. I hate to see her sad, but especially when I have had some part in it. Thankfully, she forgives me, and thankfully she is happy the majority of the time.

I can hardly stand the wait!

Choices Update

It's easy to make choices when the choice isn't presented.  In other words, I didn't get the job. School's in session!

Choices

Hello intrepid readers! So it's been awhile since last I posted. I've been hard at work getting ready for a wedding that is about 6 weeks off still. In the same time I've enrolled at UVU and done some job interviews. My first feeling has been that if I got a job offer before the last day to drop classes, I would accept the offer. But I've talked to the director of the Graphic Design program at UVU and he has reviewed my portfolio. He saw some interesting things but felt I still needed a lot of work. This was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. I worked hard at Stevens-Henager, and did really well there. But I realized that while I learned a lot at S-H, what I didn't get was in-person hands-on advice and critique of my work. I learned quick turn-around times and short deadlines, and the use of the computer programs to do the work. What I didn't get was the time to hone my craft as a designer. I'm still waiting to hear back on an exciting job I interviewed for a couple of weeks ago, but I'm also excited about the classes I'm in this semester. So I may have a bit of a choice on my hands. If they do offer the job, do I take it, or do I stay in school?

Me working full-time in a graphic design job has a lot of benefits. Bringing in money and possibly benefits will take a lot of financial pressure of us as Am and I get married. It will also be good to have real-world experience to add to my resume. Being in school means that I'll only be able to work part-time. And I'll still be super busy with only very little money coming in, for three years, but it'll seriously benefit my craft as a designer. Choices, choices...

Things I Missed

Today marks the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. So to commemorate the event, Am's family got together to recount their memories of that time, as well as other memories of the space program. This is significant because Am's grandfather is Don Lind, the first LDS astronaut. Here is an article from the Salt Lake Tribune about him. He has many amazing stories and experiences about his time in NASA. He was scheduled to go to the moon on one of the later Apollo missions that got cancelled, but later flew on the space shuttle Challenger on it's second to last mission.

While listening to his stories, and the rest of the family's, I realized what I had missed for the first time. My paternal grandfather died when my dad was ten, and my maternal grandfather died months after I was born. I never knew them. And I never fully appreciated not having them around either. The wealth of experience, insight, and love is incalculable for the younger generation.

We will be greatly blessed to have Grandpa Lind perform our sealing in October. I am looking forward to getting a grandfather for awhile, and hopefully a long while. But I wish I could have known my own grandfathers, the men who helped shape my parents. I never knew them, but I love them and miss them anyway.

Olde Tymes

Just want to thank Bekah and Thomas for hosting a barbecue at their place, as well as Woodine and Alison for allowing the boys along, too. Now a few more have gotten to meet Am! It was great to catch up and to see all of the kiddos interact as well! Now thanks to the (not so) subtle suggestion of Woodine, I'm posting a couple of pictures on this blog!

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

From BBQ

I'm Ashamed of Myself

I want to apologize to all of my married friends that read this blog and those that don't as well. I didn't take attending your weddings and receptions very seriously. I went to many of them, but I missed a lot, too. I always disliked attending wedding receptions. I would think, "Why should I go to a party where I only know a few, or less, of the people, and only get to spend a minute with them? What could my brief appearance mean to them with so many others around?" I never thought that it could mean very much. I was wrong, dead wrong.

Our date is set for October 10th, a day that works with our respective schedules, but comes at an awkward time for people that don't live close by. Most of Am's family lives nearby, as do her friends. But mine are spread out, from sea to shining sea. Who can come mid-semester, or who can get off work for a few days, and afford the trip? I can totally understand if you can't come. But some of you will be coming and that means the world to me. More than I thought it would mean. And for those who can't come, Am and I will want to see you if and when you come into town for holidays or other events. I go on and on about my friends, but she needs faces to go with names. So please let us know when you'll be in town!

A Little Announcement...

I am now engaged to be married to one Amber Kuhn of Houston, Texas.

Han Solo, P.I.

I saw this on the web today. I thought it was hilarious, hope you get a kick out of it, too!

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Alternate Realities

This post may contain spoilers of the new Star Trek, so consider yourself warned.

For anyone that is upset by the direction taken in the new Star Trek, I believe it is well within the realm of possibility of what has transpired over the last 40 years of the franchise.  Every iteration has dealt with time travel, has dealt with the alteration of the timeline.  In fact, some of the best episodes and movies have dealt with these issues.  But even with all the changes, I believe the characters have been given additional layers, but at their core, they are the same individuals they have always been.  Well, at least the original crew is.  Who knows how the events in the new film will trickle down to your favorite characters on the Enterprise-D, DS9, and Voyager.  Were any of those characters ancestors on the Kelvin, or any of the other ships destroyed by the Narada (Nero's ship)?  What about Tuvok? Were his parents or grandparents on Vulcan when...? ...you know.

That drastically changes the timeline.  Some events just won't happen the same way, some won't happen at all.  How does the loss of the Vulcan Science Academy change scientific advancement?  How does this shift the balance of power over time in interstellar politics?

I would like to note that even as poorly received as Star Trek: Enterprise was, it was not jettisoned from the canon of the series.  They do make reference to Scott Bakula's character and his pet beagle.

But will the Klingons of subsequent sequels have head ridges or not?  They made a joke of it in DS9, and then attempted to actually explain it in Enterprise.  Time will tell on that one.

Getting Specific

It snowed here in Utah on April 15th. Let me say it again, it is halfway to May, and it snowed. I and a lot of other people want to know why! But I have a guess, and I'll share it with you.

My brother jokingly asked if I had ordered all the snow. I told him that yes, I had placed a requisition order, but the thing was, I only specified moisture. And I forgot to put a delivery date on the form as well. The shipping guys at Mother Nature, Inc. get that vague order a lot. I think they know what kind of 'moisture' to send at given times of the year, but they do like to have a good time at our expense. I think we all need to get a little more specific with our moisture orders. In the winter, place orders for snow, and the rest of the year order rain. Heaven knows we need the dampness in this dry place.

Meet the Parents

I've had the opportunity to spend some time around Am's parents this week. They are good people, and I'm glad she has the wonderful family she does. But this week has felt like an extended job interview. I felt like I was being weighed in the balance and hoped that I wouldn't be found wanting.

Last night her dad told me that they felt like I respected their daughter, that they were glad that we were seeing each other, and that I had made a good first impression. And he said that if we would go to the temple for baptisms, then they would know we were being good. This definitely makes me feel relieved. 

Gee Whiz

Yeah, I'm breaking my anonymity vow. But I just got this in the mail, and I had to show you a little of how awesome my Amber is! 

I've never thought much about thank you cards, but this is the second I've received in the last week or so. I didn't think either of them were necessary, but both felt good to get!

I've felt like I gave and gave to other girls that I've dated. Not that I ever expected equal returns, but some kind of return to let me know that what I gave was appreciated would have been nice. This little note that took 5 minutes to send gets a lot of traction in my book.

Envelope

I don't want to go into too many details, but things are going well.  I will say that I am learning not to second guess thoughts I have, at least in regards to Am. Like asking her out, for example. Even a couple of months ago, I would have had the thought to ask a girl out, but then decide against it for whatever reason.  But I asked Am right when the thought came to me.  And it totally paid off.  There have been several similar thoughts, and they all have paid off in similar fashion. Like delivering flowers to her school, among others. The results have been satisfying. 

In Case of Confusion

In case of any confusion about how I feel about Am after the last post, I'm quite happy with how things have gone thus far.  You could even say we are officially dating.  (As if people have to fill out paperwork to get 'official' status.)

What A Difference a Week Makes

So, there's this girl. She's relatively new in the ward here. I started talking to her after FHE several weeks ago now. It was just friendly, get-to-know-you kind of stuff. Then I started sitting by her at church. It started out as, "I need a place to sit, there is an open spot on the aisle, so I'll sit there." I talked with her after FHE the next week. We seemed to be connecting on certain things, but I thought she dominated the last hour of our conversation. I wasn't sure what that meant. I kept sitting by her at church. I talked to her again after FHE last week, but this time she let me dominate the conversation. So I figured asking her on a date was long over due. She had plans for friday, but was open on Saturday. Except we had stake conference this weekend. Well, we could do something after the Saturday evening session. Then her Friday plans fell through. So we bumped up our plans a day. We spent all night talking at her place.

We still had conference to go to the next night, so we kept the plan to go together.  This is where things changed.  We'd been scooting a bit closer together throughout the first part of the meeting.  And then she asked me a question:

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, absolutely.  What do you need?"

"Could you put your arm around me?"

It wasn't what I had expected, but I wasn't about to turn her down.  

We've now done something every night since then. This has all gone kind of fast for me. I've been in somewhat of a similar situation before, however. Some of you may know something about another girl I dated a few years back named Linda. That went really fast. Ever since Linda and I broke up, I've been really cautious about girls. Too cautious. I felt like I needed to be absolutely sure about a girl before I even asked her out. But that took so long that the moment passed and nothing happened.

This has been fast, but not as fast as with Linda. This has been different. I feel like taking this chance has been validated, at least so far. I don't want to jump to any conclusions.  I just want to see where this new situation takes me. It's been awhile for me, and this feels pretty good so far.

Deer Valley

I went skiing on Thursday with my brother. I had been kind of nervous about it this week. You see, previous to our trip this week, it had been over 12 years since I had been skiing. Couple that with the news about the actress that died from complications of a seemingly minor fall, my reticence might be justified. It wasn't. We had a blast.  

We thought it would be wise to go on the bunny hill first to see if we remembered how to ski after all these years. But the bunny hill was populated with practically all children and ski instructors or parents. My pride got the better of me so I said we should just take a real run and find out the hard way. Skiing is like riding a bike. Both my brother and I were amazed at how quickly we got up to speed, picking up pretty much where we had left off so long ago.

I was surprised by how long I lasted up there.  I was expecting more of an aerobic experience which would have knocked me out pretty fast.  But it was more like resistance training.  The first run down I was worried about my feet and legs cramping up, but once we got to the bottom and I tightened all the bindings on my boots I was fine.

It was a beautiful day on the slopes.  The snow started getting a tad slushy as the day wore on, which lead to my only fall, which wasn't too bad.  I was going a little too fast and my ski caught an edge in the slushy snow.

We lasted about five hours before our legs threatened to turn to jello. It was nice then that our lift tickets had been given to us rather than buying them ourselves. Skiing is an expensive hobby, but especially so at Deer Valley. The lift passes there go for $80 each! We rented our gear from Outdoors Unlimited at BYU for considerably less than I would have imagined. While renting our stuff, they had a board that listed the conditions at the local ski resorts, with some comments about each place underneath. For Deer Valley they said if you could afford the lift passes, then you could afford to own your own gear.

I like skiing more than tubing or sledding, except for the cost. I have the hardest time with climbing back up after a sledding run, even on relatively small hills. If only they had lifts for sledding! But then, that would increase the cost for that activity as well.

Percolation

I've been having some thoughts bubbling up recently, and I thought I'd put them out there.  It kind of started when I commented on Tim's blog entry about modern political tea parties.  The bulk of my response wasn't so much about the tea parties, but about the recent HBO miniseries John Adams adapted from the biography written by David McCullough.  

I really liked parts of it, and hated other parts when I watched it.  Here is this great man, that had so much to do with gaining our independence from Britain in getting the continental congress to join together to sign off on the Declaration.  And then he is sent to be an ambassador to France where his talents and abilities are absolutely wasted.  He was ill treated by Benjamin Franklin in France, the same man who had guided him to success back in Philadelphia.  That made me sick.  Then he is sent to Great Britain after the war to be ambassador there, and he starts getting all these imperial notions. When he finally gets back to America, his children are grown and he hardly knows them at all. He wasn't around for the composition of the Constitution either.  He struggled as Vice President under Washington, trying to be useful, yet stay out of the political machinations between Jefferson and Hamilton.

The strife between Jefferson and Adams grew when Adams was elected President.  Looking at it, it never made sense how the second place candidate became Vice President.  Jefferson and Adams were friends, yet they had very different political views, and Jefferson totally undermined Adams.  He had these very negative pamphlets published about Adams.  It was disgusting.  And then there were Adams later years as his family kind of fell apart.  So sad.  But then he bit the bullet and made the first gesture to reconcile with Jefferson.  They corresponded back and forth for their last few years.  On the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, both men died within hours of each other.

There is a scene near the end of the series where Adams and his son John Quincy view the famous painting by John Trumbull of the signing.  He criticized the painting for being inaccurate.  The Continental Congress was not so neatly organized or seemingly serene.  It was filled with regular men, with regular passions and short comings.  And looking back, I know why I hated the series in parts.  It didn't jive with the common perception I had of the Founding Fathers.  In my mind, they had been nearly deified.  But they were, in fact, just men.

This is what triggered the thoughts I've had recently.  The Founding Fathers were not gods, they were imperfect, regular men.  But they lived during extraordinary times, and were called upon to do extraordinary things.  And they did them.  They accomplished great things.  So often we tell ourselves that we could never achieve great things.  We don't count ourselves worthy or able to do these things.  But that is because we think of our heroes as being otherworldly.  We see in ourselves our own weaknesses, but those who accomplish great things we think of as being nearly perfect.  But they are not perfect.  On the flip side, when we find out that our heroes made terrible mistakes, we discount the great things they did do.  It is important for us to come to terms with this dichotomy within everyone, but especially ourselves.  Not to minimize our own accountability, but to realize that even though we are not perfect, that is no reason to despair and count ourselves out.

Next Time I'll Read the Fine Print

Hi! Some of you may have wondered what I have been up to the last month and a half.  You'll have to keep wondering, as this post will not attempt to address that issue.  But at least you know that I am, in fact, still alive.

I was visiting Into the Woods... and jumped at the chance for a free handmade item from Wood. But I failed to read the rule that I needed to offer handmade items to receive a handmade item. Now I am obligated to make the same offer to the first five respondents to this post.  

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It’ll be done this year. {translation: you may be waiting a little while}
4. You have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a poem, a bookmark, something yummy or a complete surprise to you (and me!) … who knows? not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
6. Most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog (or if you do not have a blog, facebook) get something made by YOU!

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me …

So... buyers beware.  Nothing in this life is free.

Thank Heavens for iTunes, ABC.com, and Netflix

So besides being a big fan of BYU Athletics, I am also a fan of movies and TV. Well, of some television programming.  However, I've gone for the past year and a half or so without cable or satellite TV.  This has made watching my favorite teams play away games.  But it hasn't impinged greatly upon catching my favorite shows.  Granted, I don't see them when everyone else does, but I do get them with little to no commercial interruption, and on my own schedule. I don't have to rearrange my daily schedule to fit when my favorite shows are airing.  

This is made possible by internet resources like the iTunes Store, Netflix, and network websites like ABC.com.  Episodes become available, generally, the day after the show is initially broadcast.  The iTunes Store is just that, a store.  But what is nice is the ability to purchase songs, and especially in this case, episodes, a la carte.  No need to wait for the boxed set to come out.  No need to find out the hard way that you are not a fan of a particular show.  Netflix is another pay site, but it has a monthly fee.  If you want to wait for the boxed set DVDs and see all the commentaries and other special features, but don't need to actually own the DVDs, this is the way to go.  And you also have access to an almost unlimited collection of movies as well. But generally, the best value on Netflix is the TV series.  And now along with the DVDs they send you in the mail, they also have select titles that are available for instant viewing on your computer.

Now if you don't want to pay to watch you favorite program, networks have begun to make their programs available for free on their websites.  The best of the networks' websites in my opinion is ABC.com.  They have most of their programming available for viewing, and in HD. To make this possible though, there are commercials at the same places as during the broadcast.  But they are usually only 30 seconds long, and just one commercial per break.  I think ABC's has the highest quality video.  NBC's is lacking in picture quality, and I haven't really tried to watch anything on CBS.com.

This leads me to what I am really excited about this week.  The return of LOST. I have been eagerly anticipating the beginning of season five.  I've been watching clips on YouTube of scenes of the upcoming episodes, and I am geeking out.  I haven't really gotten into the fan community, that is posting on message boards, though I do read the message boards.  I just can't bring myself to interact with these other fans, though I feel like mocking some of the theories they put out.  I watched one video chat between two guys reviewing season 4 and previewing season five, and they were trying to make comments on scenes and things that they couldn't quite remember.  Everything is on DVD, and if you have enough time on your hands to make videos commenting on the show, you have enough time to do research and sound like you know what you are talking about.

If you haven't seen any of LOST, then I would highly recommend it.  Though I would add the disclaimer that you should start with season one and watch it through before trying to watch the new episodes.  The show is a serial narrative, so each episode builds upon the ones before it and affects the ones that come after it.  Also, if you end up liking it like me, you'll need a lot of restraint to keep from watching it all in one sitting.  I'd watch one disc and then want to pop the next one in, even if it was already 2 o'clock in the morning.  So just be warned.