Day 10

I'll list the first seven that come to mind for each category. I could go on and on, but I won't.

Songs I listen to when I'm happy:
* "You Belong With Me"
* "Out of My League"
* "Somewhere Only We Know"
* "Thinking of You" - Ke$ha
* "Your Love is My Drug"
* "Love Somebody"
* "Good Time"

Songs I listen to when I'm sad:
* "I'm Still Breathing"
* "Taking Chances"
* "Collide"
* "Leaving on a Jet Plane"
* "Say Something"
* "Don't Give Up"
* "Danny Boy"

Songs I listen to when I'm bored:
* "Party in the USA"
* "Hit Me Baby One More Time"
* "Bye, Bye, Bye"
* "Friday"
* "Candy"
* "I Want it that Way"
* "Numa Numa Song"

Songs I listen to when I'm hyped:
* "Roar"
* "Brave"
* "Take it Off"
* "Blah, Blah, Blah"
* "Stay the Night"
* "Slow Down"
*  "Raise Your Glass"

Songs I listen to when I'm mad:
* "I Do Not Hook Up"
* "Self-inflicted."
* "Part of Me"
* "Call Me When You're Sober"
* "Roar"
* "Mr. Know It All"
* "Tonight, Tonight"

Day 9

Without the attempt of sounding cliche, my biggest achievement was surviving a two year mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I was one of those guys who shows up uninvited at your door, and wants to talk to you about Jesus, and all you can think is "I really don't have time for you."  I spent two years trying to teach and love people in Southern California, while simultaneously trying to learn what I really believed and learning how to love myself for who I am.  

Every single person who has ever served a mission realizes that it's hard, but it's not necessarily the aspects that you think will be hard.  It's random things, when I left I thought it would be hard because of the rejection, and the absence of friends and family, and the hardness of the work.  But those just sort of are life, and they don't make it hard at all.  It was hard for me in unexpected ways. It was hard because I realized there are people I seriously struggle loving. It was hard in the fact that the whole time you feel completely incompetent.  It's hard in the fact that I've never been able to really express how I feel, and that's essential as a missionary, whether you're talking about the gospel and what it means to you, or you're expressing to a companion why you're acting a certain way.  It's hard in the fact that even though it is so hard, you know that your family back home is expecting nice uplifting messages from you, and so you can't turn to them and wallow in self-pity.

And it's those things that make me so proud of surviving.  I did make it. I love myself a little more, I try to love others a little more.  I don't wallow in as much self pity.  I also have learned that rejection is not really that bad, (and now I work in a call-center), and I realized that as incompetent as I feel, I still have gifts and talents, and it is possible to develop and progress, even if right now I feel like I'm not good enough, that just means work harder, I'm not stasis, I can improve, and learn and grow.

Day 8

Short term goals for this month:

* Earn enough money to pay for rent and safety deposit for this summer, because you know that whole independence thing I want.
* Plan something for roommates Birthday. This kid has never once had a Birthday party in his life... Yeah, college is a little late to remedy it, but better now than never.
* Get grades up.  I am passing all of my classes, but I'd like to get Bs or better, just to prove that I can, since Freshman year I didn't try at all.
* Find another job.  I love the money at the call center (I don't know if I've mentioned, I'm one of those guys who calls you up to conduct surveys over the phone... But I am), but I would love to feel like I"m actually helping society, rather than just annoying it.
* Finish this 30 day writing exercise. I need to write, or I just get sad all the time
* Do all my homework on time. Because then my grades will go up.
* Finish season 1 of Modern Family, I just really love that show, because enough characters remind me of my own family, that I kinda really love it.
* Establish a work-out routine, I want to be in shape. That's all.
* Establish a budget, and make myself feel all grown up and stuff.
* Hometeach, I have to feel like I'm still sort of doing my part to share the gospel.
* Finish the Book of Revelation, so that I can get a lot out of the Institute class on the writings of John the Beloved.
* Attend General Conference, and make the most out of it.

Day 7

This is a picture of something that has had a HUGE impact on me. It's called the duck face.  Seriously, my life has been eternally changed due to the discovery of the duck face.  For those who are unfamiliar with the duck face (you will here after be referred to as noobs), I will explain the duck face.  The duck face is created, by puckering your lips as far out as humanly possible, and then trying to push them even further past the limits of physical endurance. While doing this, it is essential to simultaneously, widen your eyes as much as you can, or squeeze them as tightly closed as possible. There is no middle ground on the wideness of your eyes while doing the duck face. Do you feel ridiculous?  Excellent!That means that you have mastered the duck face. It's pretty simple, and yet it's so incredible.


So now you're wondering why this has had such a big impact on my life. Well, let's just say that once you perfect the duck face, it's impossible to return to normal human faces in pictures. Suddenly you look at the pictures and realize you are checking yourself out.  The words "Dang girl/boy!" "Oh hot dang!" "Hnnnnnng!" or "Get some!" probably will come to mind as you see just how attractive you look while imitating a bird.

I also attached a few pictures to show how incredible the duck face is.  It transcends genders, as evidenced by this picture of my friend and I.  It is even used by religious ministers/missionaries, as evidenced in the picture to the side of this.  

For any of you noobs out there who have not quite mastered the duck face, keep trying.  I personally know that the duck face will change your life, because it changed mine. In this day and age where every little thing we do warrants a selfie immediately uploaded to instagram, twitter, and facebook, it sure is nice to have a facial expression to rely on for each photo, rather than relying on that same boring old smile you have. Who cares that everyone you've ever talked to has said you've got a great smile?

Day 6

Captain America is the man (in the good kind of way, not in the School of Rock kind of way). He's my favorite in the Marvel world, Batman is my hands down favorite, but overall I prefer the Marvel, world, so I guess I'm just going to stick with Captain America for this post.
Up front I feel like you should know that I actually have never EVER read a single comic book in my life.  I have always loved super heroes, but never crossed that bridge, so I might be very uninformed, especially since it's been over two years since I watched the movie, and I didn't know until about two days ago that the Winter Soldier is Bucky... awkward...
Anywho, the reason I think Captain America is so great, is because of the person that he is.  All super heroes are noble, and they fight for what is right, just, and true, but Captain America is different.  He fights for all of that, but while all the other super heroes feign modesty by hiding their identity, but only truly do that to protect loved ones, Captain America is different.  He's just a humble kid from Brooklyn who wants to help, and is given the chance to. His humility just seems more genuine than other superheroes, and that makes him seem more noble to me. So there you go, there's just a humble nobility that I respect immensely.

Day 5

This is a sign for Teton Valley.  I spent a lot of weeks and weekends there, when I was growing up.  My grandma lives in Teton Valley, and I am thoroughly convinced that the state of Idaho has some of the most beautiful scenery in the entire world. Not just in the Teton Valley, but all over the place. 

I remember the second time I ever went skiing was here.  I remember growing up and being too young to go skiing and spending long days alone with my mom and grandma, while the rest of the family would go skiing. I remember one year when my sister stayed home to, and asking "How do you know Darth Vader likes cookies?"  She was really confused, and then I said, "Because he says it all the time.  Coo-kie, coo-kie, coo-kie." Oddly enough I got that joke from the girl mentioned in last post.

I remember magnetic marbles, they were the coolest toys my grandma ever had.  And it was so exciting to make patterns with them.  I remember all the books she had, and just loving to go there and sit back and read.  I remember the worst stomach ache of my life happened there, I woke up crying, because it hurt so badly, and I remember getting to sleep in the loft that night.  I remember I got extremely dehydrated once, and was so proud that I only had to go to the bathroom twice in one day (I was about 5), and my grandma got really worried about me.

I remember watching hot air balloons take off on the fourth of July at 4 in the morning. I remember that my dad once drove me into town nine miles just so I could see the fireworks, and neither of us really enjoyed the show, so we drove back.  I remember trying to be the first in the car to see Grammy's cabin, and straining my eyes the whole way.  I remember watching Clue and Mystery Men at young impressionable ages, and having nightmares because of Clue (a movie, which I now absolutely love).  I remember Grammy taking just me out to go sledding, and spending that time together.

I remember catching my first fish, and eating it. It tasted so good, but I'm pretty sure that was the taste of pride. I remember spending a week there by myself and being told I was so much like my dad, and relishing in the compliment.  I remember making a piece of wood in kindergarten.  It was really just a piece of wood that i had colored with a marker and stuck stickers on, and I presented it to Grammy, quivering with pride at how much of handy man I was.  I remember seeing it again in her study, years later and realizing what a piece of junk it was, while simultaneously being flattered that she had kept it for so long.

I remember waking up early in the morning to sit next to the wood-stove because it was so cold in her house.  I remember sleeping in the storage room because there was nowhere else for me to go, and wondering what one single woman could do with that much food.

So that was me being extremely sentimental.  I could have gone for pages, but I feel like I probably have put you to sleep by this point.

Day 4

This one is about a habit I wish I didn't have...

I think mine is falling in love for excessive amounts of time, and becoming reliant on the individual that I've fallen in love with.  That's a big annoyance.  Rewind the clocks to Freshman year. There was this girl that I convinced myself for thirteen years that I was in love with.  I get here, I end up obsessing over her, freaking out about how she spends time with other guys and very little time with me, listening to every sappy love song, taking long walks at midnight just to contemplate us, and overall making myself crazy.  I ended up failing a class (which I am no retaking, having learned more from the experience than any regular biology class could have taught me) because I had a class before it with her, and I preferred walking her home rather than going to the biology class.  It's just dumb.
This isn't the only case either, I live in this fantasy world where a perfect love story will make up for everything else.  I think I'm finally breaking myself out of it, but it is a really annoying habit to fall in love almost all the time, and then end up throwing away a lot of my own potential to be with that person I'm in love with.  I need to get over that whole dealio.