Let's Tune Out By Turning Up the Radio

Here it is! My last trip home for the next 2 years coming and going, at least I've had In-n-Out and its been warm in the Bay! Do you ever feel like you're so excited for something that is a little time away from the time you find out that you think that day is never going to come? I thought so, well, that's kind of how getting ready for the mission has been for me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited even as I write right now, but I would also be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, scared and something else that would describe an apprehensive feeling about leaving everything for 104 weeks. Lucky for me, I have a pretty strong heart and fortitude for doing things that are scary, I've been able to deal pretty well. Oh, by the way, Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it was fantastic for all of you! ;)
It's quite interesting getting ready for what I'm about to do. Many of you that are of LDS faith and have served missions can relate probably to difficulty of preparation. At first, you think, "Oh man! I know nothing! How am I supposed to teach this stuff?!" Then a little time passes and you think, "Oh, I got this, it's all about testifying and Preach My Gospel." Finally you realize "My world is about to get flipped upside down no matter how I specifically prepare so I should just go about my normal stuff and get ready for this new experience with fun, friends, family and dropping the goodbyes to folks you won't see for quite some time." Am I right?
Here we are, I say we because I feel like I am not in this alone because I have all of you especially a few close friends in particular, however, I value each of you in your own way (I know I love you all so much, I'm just a big softy! ;p ). And you know what, I'm ready, bring it on Canada! Sorry, if it's boring to read about mission stuff, but this is kinda important to me right now. Anyway, I really am excited and I feel ready to go out and meet some sweet people, eat some food, hang out with some polar bears and baby seals, and do the work! I think that some people hear about a kid going on a mission is pretty typical and expected of them, but I really hope that you guys don't see me that way. I have truly made my own choice to serve the Lord and I expect only the best out of myself. I know that to some people, a mission is a rite of passage, but for me, and I don't say this in a "I'm better than you" way, but for me, I don't think that is the case. I don't care that that is how some might see it, I don't care if you don't care that I'm goin, I don't care if anyone approves of it. I DO care that it does not change our friendships because I am the same kid you got to know over however long we've known each other and in any of our respective circumstances. I love you! I mean that in the most correct way possible for how we know each other just in case you were getting the wrong idea ;p Y'all matter a whole lot to me and if you've suffered through this last most all the way to the end I offer a reason for it i guess? This is MY last post, but my mom may update it from time to time while I'm gone, but if I may ask, I would sincerely appreciate anyone that would want me to have their address or email address while I'm gone to write letters and/or emails to you fine friends! I want to write to as many people as would want letters, but I'm also planning on sending weekly or monthly emails to be forwarded to anyone that gives me their email address to keep you updated on my adventures! Plus, its nice to hear from you guys too!
Much love everyone!
Kev

With Hands Held High

Alright, its been a couple weeks but i got somethin to say!! First, life is goin good; school, homework, tests/quizzes, church, preparing for the mission, etc. ok, This past Saturday the U.S. House of Representatives passed Obama's bill for health care reform. Sounds good right? FREAK NAW!!! We will be positively screwed if this thing gets threw the Senate! Here's why:

Ok, I think that we do need healthcare reform, however, I believe in making a rational solution that may take some time to get used to doing but in the end it works. So Obama's current bill is over 2000 pages long so to be fair, I haven't read the thing, but I feel that I can reasonably comment on it. A GOVERNMENT OPTION HEALTH CARE PLAN IS NOT THE ANSWER!!! Insensitive? NO!!! Look, only 10 or so million people in America do not have healthcare; that is 10 million out of over 340,000,000 Americans. Goin with basic bath thats only about 3% of the country. (Bear in mind, I think that 10mil. is an underestimate by a little and 340mil is about right on.) So I'll ask this, "Why are we going to alter everything for such a small percentage of people?" Please, someone answer this for me cuz I don't know. Now, don't get me wrong, I believe in helping people, anyone that I can, however, I want to be a doctor someday and while utilizing my abilities and the things I learn in Med School is probably one of the greatest joys of life, I still need to be able to pay off the debt accrued in Med School and to support a family without having to work 80 hrs. a week!

Where am I going with this? Here, we need better change than a government option healthcare plan. We need to start with the patients. Yes, the patients. Patients need to actually want health advice and care from doctors not assuming doctors are all "quacks" and using WebMD to diagnose themselves. WebMD is useful, but WebMD didn't go to med school and every person is different. Patients don't look for help anymore, they look for money. Doctors feed malpractice insurance as often as they can because they know that one mistake could cost them their life. People, DOCTORS GET IT WRONG!!! Most doctors are right about 85% of the time. Thats pretty dang good if you ask me. Think about it, doctors make 250-300 g's a year for being CORRECT 85% of the time, but baseball players FAIL 7 out of 10 times and no one sues them......just sayin. So overall, we need to fix medical lawsuits, if a doctor does screw up and a patient can't do their job anymore or dies or whatever, the doctor should only have to pay what the patient would make in their current job until they would retire at 65 or whatever. It is completely outrageous to sue a doctor millions of dollars when that person wasnt going to ever make that much money. This goes into effect? Health care costs go down.

#2: Health insurance compaines should offer a minimum program. This would allow employees of business's to afford healthcare without compromising everyone else's benefits. Very simple I think...An option low level employees can handle and as you go up the chain you will still want better care. How simple is this??????

Look, I believe in conservtion, wind energy, energy saving light bulbs are awesome (and i use them), I take my reusable bags to the grocery store, i love water, i want alternative fuel and all that jazz, but spending 1 TRILLION dollars on crappy healthcare reform does not excite me in the least. And thats all I got to say about that.....

This Is For Real, This Time I Mean It

Hey everyone, This Thursday I received my mission call in the mail and opened it last night. I'm going to the Canada Winnipeg Mission!!!!!!
Yea, for real. I leave December 30th for 2 years of service to the hopefully awesome people of Manitoba, Canada!!!
I'm really excited and totally surprised. I really thought I would go to Florida (ASL speaking since I took it in high school) and I also thought England, SoCal or somewhere near Spain or South America (to learn Spanish). Instead, I get Canada! It's gonna be awesome tho!! Really cold winters and humid summers. It's gonna be crazy! Plus, since its kinda woodsy in some places I'm hoping to do some lumber chopping and come back with massive biceps, triceps, pecs and forearms!

A Heart So Big It Hurts Like Hell

Hey kids! I'm at it again! Lots of things went down since the last time I thru this up. Here we go.....
My mom came to visit a couple weeks back and goodness that was heartwrenching. Over the past couple months I have been thinking about the future of my life and realized that I may not have everything in the right order, or I was missing one thing. School started and I'm technically a senior except for the fact I have a buttload of prereqs to do before even thinking about applications to med school and pt school (I decided I'm gonna apply to both and see what I get...yea, I'm that awesome). This basically means that I would be leaving Provo and probably UT in about a year or so. I also had to kind of contemplate a romantic future since, for the most part, anyone who comes to Provo/UVU/BYU and doesn't get married while they are here, are pretty much doomed to the ward "clearance rack" in many cases (not all the time). I don't wanna be in that spot so it had obviously crossed my mind as it does with many individuals. So there is that. Now, stir in a little "Hey, should I go on a mission right now or decide I'm not going to until I'm an old man?"

I did stir that in and I feel like I can finally share this news since my papers are already in and barring some kind of extreme circumstance its gonna happen...I'M GOIN ON A MISSION!
Woooo! I said it. Great news right? Yea, I thought so to most of you out there, but I do have some friends are gonna think I'm nuts and stupid, at least I have great friends that despite that thought will still support me and be homies when I get back (Marc and Travis).

Now, your probably realizing that I mentioned my mom earlier and wondering "what does she have to do with this?" My mom and I have always been pretty close so I felt most comfortable telling her my decision first and I felt it was best face to face so she came to visit. We had lunch on the Saturday and I told her then. The reaction was heartbreaking to say the least. Mom, I love you. We sat in that restraunt talking and she cried some, but eventually it got better, like everything good in this world; it gets better. The mood turned from upset to concern about safety, provisions, funding for a mission and school when I get back, then to telling my dad and brother, grandparents, cousins, friends, etc. She was able to find even the slightest comfort in my grandpa's words and the mood by the time she left on Monday was of acceptance, understanding and love. So there it is. I decided to leave everything I know, enjoy, friends and family to serve the Lord wherever He may need me. Imagine that...?

I Swim for Brighter Days Despite the Absence of Sun

First, sorry folks, it's been awhile (emphasis on the 'h' just for spencer), but im back from outer space and i just walked in to see that sad look upon your face! So a lot has happened in this past summer I would say. Took a couple classes, spent half the summer in provo half in fremont, returned for the fall to realize that, once again, life is far more complicated than i had thought previously...
To start, this summer i took chemistry, "suck me sideways!" (more on this phrase later) and it was the worst thing ever. Let's remember that i already hate chemistry and am no good at it beyond the simple math part and finding moles and whatnot, but add too it the fact that my teacher was a COMPLETE TOOL!!! yea, wanna kno what i mean? go to askaninja.com and watch the "college tips" episode and fast forward about a minute and a half and watch, he'll talk about teachers and it perfectly describes my chem prof. Besides this class that i have to take again, summer wasnt too bad. I messed up my knee once again (those of you who ran with me in high school know my affinity for knee problems) bad enough to need physical therapy. This was pretty awesome tho since i got to see what i think i want to do someday in being a therapist (i say think cuz med school is still an option). I rehab-ed for about 6 weeks before i could run again then started playin intramural softball which was pretty fun.
The downside to this time is when Callie tore her ACL..... :( extreme disappointment. She had to have surgery on her right knee which put her down for most of the summer, however, i got to be boyfriend, maid, chouffer and chef while she was recovering and i think it was pretty sweet!
Eventually, i had to make that long drive back to CA after my class was done so that i could work for my mom and visit for a few weeks plus take the GRE (I did ok, probably gonna take it again plus maybe some MCAT action). It was cool working for my mom this time around because 1) i was workin with my best friend Kevin 2) Diane is ridiculous 3) Alan, our coordinator, is the freakin man. He's so the man we gave him the nickname Alan "All Man" Manalac and 4) I played some basketball every week. Staying out of other peoples drama was good too. And the phrase earlier (suck me sideways) started at work when me and Kev were assigned to pull indate orders and we would have bins full beyond the brim and it was a rough day and i got an order where it had like 5 bags out of one bin that was overflowing and i said it....and it stuck and was hilarious. This visit was about 6 or 7 weeks long in the which i went to Vegas for a weekend and talked to Callie almost everyday despite the potential of us not dating when i got back because of a thing that i wont mention. Well, turns out we did and are still dating! why she's into me? I will probably never kno but I wont complain ;P

Stand Up!

I couldnt figure out wut to say but i wanted to update this thing, but this song was playin so i grabbed the lyrics its sweet!
Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except By a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give then you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up We shall not be moved
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
If you've got more to give then you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you

We still don't understand thunder and lightning
Flash back to when we didn't fund the dam
Didn't fund the dam levee? No wonder man
Now our whole damn city's torn asunder man
Under water but we still don't understand
We see hurricane spills overrun the land
Through gaps you couldn't fill with a 100 tons of sand
No we still don't understand
We've seen planes in the windows of buildings crumbled in
We've seen flames send the chills through London
And we've sent planes to kill them and some of them were children
But still we crumbling the building
Underfunded but we still don't understand
Under God but we kill like the son of Sam
But if you feel like I feel like about the son of man
We will overcome

So Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except By a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give then you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Stand up We shall not be moved
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
If you've got more to give then you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you

I said Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
If you've got more to give then you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you

We shall not be moved
Except By a child with no socks and shoes
Except by a woman dying from a loss of food
Except by a freedom fighter bleeding on a cross for you
We shall not be moved
Except by a system thats rotten through
Neglecting the victims and ordering the cops to shoot
High treason now we need to prosecute

So Stand up
We shall not be moved
And we won't fight a war for fossil fuel
Its times like this that you want to plot a coup
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
So Stand up
We shall not be moved
Unless were taking a route we have not pursued
So if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up and I'll copy you

I said Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up

Now shake, shake
A Polaroid dream
nightmare negatives develop on the screen
We sit back and wait for the government team
Criticize they but who the fuck are we
The people want peace but the leaders want war
Our neighbors don't speak, peek through the front door
House representatives preach "stay the course"
Time for a leap of faith
Once More

Put your hands up high if you haven't abandoned
Hope that the pen strokes stronger than the cannon
Balls to the wall, Nose to the grindstone
My interrogation techniques leave your mind blown
So Place your bets lets speak to the enemy
Don't let em pretend that we seek blood
And who's we anyways Kemo Sabe?
Mighty warlord wanna-be street thug
a threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified
blow for blow never settles the score
word for word is time need clarify
We the people did not want war

So Stand up
We shall not be moved
Except By a child with no socks and shoes
If you've got more to give then you've got to prove
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Unless were taking a route we have not pursued
So if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up and I'll copy you

I said Put your hands up and I'll copy you
Put your hands up and I'll copy you
if you've got a dream and a lot to do
Put your hands up

yea.....good old intellectual rap

You Know It Would Be Nice....

It's done!!!!!! School is out for summer and by that I mean for a week! Its all good but I am so done with the devil's class (ANATOMY)! I rocked the lab final and kinda bombed my lecture but luckily there is always a curve that will save me! The way it gets done tho is weird. See, as we go along and take quizzes all semester long (9 quizzes, midterm and final in lecture and 16 quizzes, midterm and final in lab) and we find out our grade on each plus the what the curve is. Usually I'm above but oh man was this final hard. Although, its been a good experience and I'm pretty much set for any anatomy class I take from here on out cuz they will just be review. PT school is going to be so easy! haha!

Use Somebody

Why does it take so long for me to update this thing? honestly, things are pretty crazy right now. Finals are coming up in the next couple weeks and its goin to be crazy!!! Actually, only 2 of them will and their for the same class. I've come to realize recently that my career choice was probably the right one (Physical Therapy), however, I could probably do med-school if I really wanted to and spend an extra 4years getting paid in food stamps while paying of $300,000 of student loans. Ha! I realized though that medical is definetely what is right for me. I freakin love anatomy! cadavers rock! I've held a brain (multiple actually) and a horse heart! its huge, like the size of a basketball or pretty much the average persons full thoracic cavity! (squeeze lungs in there if you can, plus a descending aorta and inferior vena cava) if my heart was that huge i would have never quit track thats for sure. Besides rockin the hardest anatomy undergrad class in the better half of the U.S. i really like helping people. honestly, anyone that reads this, ask me for something ill probably help, unless your looking for a loan i might be too broke for that lol!
These past few weeks I've some interesting experiences. Anthony moved out because he was trying too hard to sell his spring/summer contract and ended selling it this random kid that is not necessarily, "BYU approved" dont get me wrong though, he's a good kid deep down, but a little misguided and scared. I must that I've gotten to learn a lot about myself during this time. I really love having someone to talk to about everything in the world and this experience was no different. I got some perspective on it from Callie cuz i mean, why not? who wouldnt want to talk to that girl ;p As an apartment, we had to come to a decision however, and we did and I feel that it can be for the better and things are going to work out. Faith is great isn't it?
Besides boring stuff like that, I got to climb for the first time in about 8 months last week! It was awesome! I didn't climb well, but there's a lot of summer to come to be out getting a tan (yea right) and buffin up the guns! if anyone wants tickets let me kno! ;p The best part was when we saw the aftermath of a base jumper crashing into the northern opening of Rock Canyon! He is one of the very few that has a failed jump and gets to tell about it............check out the peak and rescue chopper...........

How to Shave Your Wife

its been quite some time i feel like since ive sat down givin some thought for some updates here. i just got back from spring break, which is a gift down here in 'happy valley' seeing as how at UVU we get 3 school days off and BYU gets none! we dont get the prestige but we do have more fun! so in this past week and a half or so ive taken 3 midterms, 4 quizzes and a test. yea, full load for a little vacation. but some interesting things have been goin on lately.......
i went back to the bay for spring break and it was great! i saw friends, did some fun stuff, didnt get shot and dublin BART for longboarding in the parking garage and i went to LA for one of the semifinal games of the World Baseball Classic which was pretty sweet! amongst all the fun i did give myself a lot of time to think about things that are important in my life. i realized over this break that i dont really miss home. now, dont misinterperet that statement, i love my family and friends and the area in which i was raised to the dapper young man that i am now, but i dont like living at home. so many things have changed since i 'moved out' of my parents house. the bay area is a great place but it is changing, whether it is good or bad i cant really say but if its changing enough to have my parents to consider leaving the home they bought where they expected to pass away in, well thats just not a good thing i feel.
sometimes we get hit by a ton of bricks. for instance, last week when i got picked up by my mom from the airport we get in the car start drivin and about half way home she asks where i plan on living like once im done with grad school and people start callin me doctor. it was wierd and i answered with i dunno anywhere i can, ideal would be san diego i guess. she replies with, well, your dad and i were talkin about movin to boulder, CO. WTF????? you never kno quite how to react to something like that cuz its a shocker! you kno, really id be cool with that in the end cuz boulder is a sweet town! any of my homies back at CU can tell you that for real. it was just strange to hear comin from my mom and dad who are as constant as the tide.
friends change. quite constantly actually. i love my friends back home like no other, but you kno, wer all growin up. figuring out lives for ourselves and gettin older and whatnot. but it is funny that we do the same stuff we used to do in high school except now wer 3 or 4 years older than back then.

so i went to LA with my fam last weekend and we drove. which was cool i drove part of the way which i liked. all good through the grapevine kinda i guess but things took an interesting turn. look, anyone that knows me these days knows how strong im gettin to be in the Gospel but i always feel strange bein at home since my family doesnt believe the same as me in the slightest but its cool wutever, jus kinda do my thing. BUT as we wer gettin into LA, conversation got wierd. some things came up about Bible times and the fall of Rome and development of the Catholic church to the church of england and so on and so forth til we find ourselves talking about the Latter-day Saint involvement in prop 8. i really didnt wanna get into it but you kno i defended the Church's position but i also gave my insight that i had thought at the time. i do kinda feel like prop 8 in general was kinda off from a 'America is the epitomy of freedom' standpoint and not a religious one. i do kinda feel like a better alternative that would have caused way less fighting would have been to change the CA law to allow domestic partnerships similar freedoms as married couples without calling it marriage still. since marriage is a religious ordinance if you will. way less controversy had CA done that i feel like. but anyway, my dad gets into this thing that churches have great political power. which in some ways is true. cardinals or bishops in the catholic church can shmooze the pope for more power, however, that doesnt work for the LDS church since being an Apostle or holding a calling is in itself a calling from God. he then begins to argue with prop 8 and how involved members were in it that werent even from CA and blah blah blah and how most members are sheep and follow blindly and yea and so on. how can i really defend that, hes kind of right. there are alot of members that do follow blindly. we do need to follow the counsel of the prophet be are also encouraged to feel it to be true for ourselves and act in the way each of us, individually should act. we all have agency. basically, it went down hill from there and i was done with it. but it was really upsetting to find out that my dad really does have a problem with the Church. it sucks..............

MFEO Pt. 1 & 2 Made For Each Other/You Can Breathe

What a week huh? yea, this is the first time i've really had a tough time at "midterms" BTW, i like that teachers have created a big test to give us in the middle of the semester when really they can just give us 3 or 4 smaller tests during the semester and a final to seal the deal you know? i only mention this because for the first time in the college days that i have that i can actually speak of proudly this is the first time ive had legitimate midterms. i have 2 anatomy midterms (1 for lab and 1 for lecture), a math test (not a midterm but still tough) and a stats midterm! why is school so hard?
so on to real stuff....
yea school is great but i really like Sundays. i've made it a point or a valiant attempt to refrain from doing schoolwork on Sundays. for me it's an effort to trust God that if i keep His day as Holy as i can that He will bless me for doing so. now, of course im not perfect and neither is anyone else (if you think you are, well, take a step back and look in the mirror, honestly...) so every once in a while i fail to do so, but its usually my own fault. i let myself get preoccupied with this and that or just plain feel lazy. it happens, so what? learn from it and move on right? thats kind of the thinking ive began to use and realize is that there is no need to dwell on mistakes youve made that are behind. learn, grow, recognize, dont let it become a habit and keep on keepin on! (thats a little redneck sayin for ya) i feel like one of the counselors in my bishopric always says it best, he always has the attitude of "Onward Christian Soldiers!" and everytime i see him or ask about something he always finds a way to finish with that and that is totally the outlook i wish i had. the "dont worry about it, keep goin, youre doin fine" attitude. speaking of "churchy opportunities" i got to go to the Draper Temple open house this past week with callie. it was so amazing! to just be able to walk through the Lord's house and see it and feel the Spirit of peace that resides there. if you havent done it, do it! even if your not mormon. its awesome! well, folks i feel like i have more to say but i guess i dont, this one took on a different topic than i was expecting to say but oh well still good i think......

Working Class Hero

today was/is sunday. coming to an end and since a certain someone isn't back from the airport, guess i'll throw down some ideals for you peeps out there that might read this....here goes!

Since its the first sunday of the month, it is fast sunday for the LDS community/church/culture/etc. andi had a tough time makin it through today. i find it interesting that at least every month i fast, but i don't necessarily always have a particular reason to fast except that i donate an offering that goes to the Church welfare/homeless help/Bishop's storehouse/etc. (i dont totally know where it goes it helps someone that needs it). See, one could fast to Heavenly Father for answers to difficult questions in one's life at that time or fast about understanding from a particular experience or ask for guidance or for help through a trial one might be going through at that time as well. however, for me, i dont know if this is good or bad, but i dont always have a particular need from Heavenly Father. i hope that doesnt mean that im stagnant in my eternal progression or anything like that but i feel like sometimes i just like to let God know that i (me) have things that i want to offer Him and my fellow brothers and sisters with nothing in return but a good feeling that i helped someone that day, that one or two got to have meals because i gave up mine and donated. now, dont get me wrong, i struggle to get that full 24hrs. of fasting in and sometimes it ends up only being 15 or 20 hrs. because i might have had a late dinner or realized too late that that midnight snack isnt good and this is something im trying to work on, but honestly, i dunno what else im really gonna that will be relavant to this post so i guess ill leave it here. and seriously, if you do have tough decisions to make or have a really hard trial to get through, PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! remember that you can ALWAYS turn to our Father in Heaven. He will always guide you to where you need to be and help you through that difficult time. i know, i've been there and ill probably be there again soon. ;P trust in Him, im learning to, its tough but if it was easy, everyone can do it!

Sadness!!!!

I came to the worst epiphany this week. i cant go snowboarding pretty much the rest of the season! It totally sucks hardkore! its hard to believe but let me explain.
So if you have had a conversation with me in the last 2 months or so you know that i've been taking school pretty seriously. well, this is because im taking probably the most challenging anatomy class in the western half of the U.S. perhaps the whole country actually from the smartest teacher i've ever met. so as you could imagine, with my major, anatomy is pretty important. the upside to this happening is that ive learned alittle about sacrifice. See, we have choices in life and we get to take paths to our eventual goal whatever that may be. some people are the "here and now" type and other look at what is going to matter in the eternities. im inbetween i guess. i really like the present, but the future is gonna be sweet!! i think that because i wanna lead a good life, doing positive things, helping my brothers and sisters and serving God. it's tough but you kno, if it was easy, everyone could do it. so this semester im sacrificing snowboarding for school. probably a lame choice, but honestly, i want to learn as much as possible because its not only going to benefit me and my eventual family, but my fellow bros and sis' when im putting y'all through rehab. for real. ;)

A Whole 2 Years!

So most kids that are my age and Mormon go on 2 year missions...yea, i just conquered living this way for 2 years. Let's begin shall we? Yea, so about 2 years ago i was just a little college freshman searching for purpose and decided that i could find more purpose in a church than in the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels. So it was about Oct. 06 and i was talkin to my nig kev and i was like, "hey man, whats this whole mormon thing all about?" and he was like, "you want a BOM (Book of Mormon)?" and for some odd reason i was like, "sure, thatd be cool." yea, so i didnt think much of it but of course...wait, step back a sec. during my senior of high school i was dating this girl that was mormon, but honestly, she really had no significance in my bit of curiousity besides "hey wonder why she digs this stuff......" we both left for school that summer, supposed to have broken up but decided to do the long distance dance and well, we know how that ends up. alright jump back to takin to kev. i didn think anything would come of that so i kept kinda rockin goin to parties and whatnot until one easy wednesday when i checked the mail and had a nice little post-it note inside from who else? the LDS missionaries. It read "Hi, Kevin! This is Elder Rebarchik and Elder Namgur from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we tried to come by but you weren't home. Here's our number and we hope to hear from you soon."
I was a bit upset as one could imagine because i was in wtf mode when i called kev right after i opened it. i didn't call them. they called me the next night. it was a simpler conversation and i had agreed to come have lunch at the institute building and they were going to come by and walk me up there with them. we had lunch (grilled cheese and chicken soup...i just happened to be sick at that exact time) and they were teaching a lesson to some girl and they invited me to sit in and listen and whatever. so i did.......
Before i left we played some pool and ping pong and they invited me to come back on monday and have a lesson. I nervously said yes but i think they may have thought that i wouldnt come. well, i did, backpack, illegal pete's burrito and Book of Mormon in hand. Yea, i was freaked out too. we had a lesson. like full blown this is what God is about, this is Jesus Christ and a boy named Joseph Smith. Yep, Restoration video. It was so wierd because i was like paying attention but not thinking too much about it until the end. BTW, missionaries usually have a member sit in on the lesson, listen and interject when appropriate. well, the Elder's Quorum President sat in on my first lesson. His name was Garrett (miss you bro, hope everything is good!) he bore a testimony of the Prophet and Jesus Christ and God's love so strong it was impossible to walk away without feeling anything. The Spirit of God is so powerful. It sucked tho because part of me wanted to believe and part of me didn't because it wasn't what the cool kids were doing. oh well, so i went home that night and started reading the BOM and came back a couple days later to just hang out, no lessons or anything. Until sunday night when i got the briefest lesson on the Plan of Salvation ever. 5 min. primary room while one of my missionaries was tuning his guitar. the crazy thing is a few days later they asked me to draw it on the board at institute....and i did! perfectly! WTF!!!!!!! that was pretty much it for me. i was a dunzo. by the way, the girl i was dating still didnt know until after this event. so yea, some more detail, i got asked to be baptized about a week later and declined because i didnt think the time was exactly right. but of course, the next weekend i was reading in Mosiah 2-4 and i felt something unlike anything ever. i knew it was time. i went to the missionaries the next day and told them i wanted to be baptized however, it had to wait til february so that people could come such as friends and family who came only because i wanted them to not because they wanted to be there. anyway, i made good friends during that time and the baptism was sweet except when pete and brett came drunk (guys, my mom still hasnt forgotten that). yea, good times.
anyways, the next 6months were ridiculously tough for a plethora of reasons, feeling of abandonment from missionaries b/c they couldnt spend time with me as much as before, the girl i was dating started acting wierd and rumors were flying about this and that and the eventual break-up, lame ward during the summer when i was home and too much work for my own good. Once i made it to Utah things got better, made some friends that i will never forget or leave behind, having some fun, doing awesome things, sweet support and help from Bishoprics, roommates and friends, and i could go on for days. well, if anyone reads this i hope that you can know that i do not regret anything that went down with me becoming LDS. im proud of it, my real friends stuck thru it with me, and i know that its true! find out for yourself! ill help if you want. never be afraid to feel something different and step outside of the norm, itll be the best thing you ever do.

I can't believe this is for real!

Despite being a little sick today I got the best news that I've heard in a long time...Blink 182 has gotten back together! You don't know how awesome this is. I saw Blink 182 for the first time (my first concert ever btw) on what turned out to be their last tour until now! This summer!!! Their coming back!!! I'm so pumped :) At least in the meantime I did get to see Angels and Airwaves 3 times and +44 once while Blink was broken up, but nothing compares to the real thing...like gatorade instead of powerade...yea!

tuff stuff

im startin to realize that no matter what you do, some people just don't get it! so you kno, bein a single guy (meaning that i don't live with a girl, but not in every sense of the word 'single' ;P) i try to, you kno, keep the place clean. umm...make our apartment at least bearable to have people come over, not be living in a freakin stye! take your pick of how to say it wutevs. well, so 2 or so weeks ago i cleaned our entire kitchen. and i mean clean! like eat off the floor when i was done. but then less and i would say 2hrs. later. it was ruined!! imagine how pissed i was! im not one to mention names but lets just say i kno who did it. so thru the next weeks up til yesterday it jus started gathering again and frony was like "dogg, lets do some cleanin up real fast" so me and nic cleaned the kitchen again! i sat down last night with everyone and was like "hey, let's clean up after ourselves when we cook and whatnot." yea, hint hint wink wink to some people but keepin it general for all of us to do our part. yea, went right over heads and this afternoon i walked out of my room to dirty dishes....hmmmm...what the freakin a!!!! i wanna shoot someone for it!!! uhh...wutever should i really care that much or jus let us live in freakin filth and let mommy wipe aces for certain people????????

The First BLog

So I decided that since im terrible at keeping a journal of my life and what not that maybe throwin up a blog would be motivation and easier to do you know? well, here it goes...........

Startin out. background stuff.
-I'm a dude.
-I'm 20
-Mormon
-Livin in Utah...typical
-Born and raised in California
-Goin to school at UVU (Yes, it's a real university!)
-Learnin bout Exercise and the Science behind it all (Exercise Science Major)
-Graduating next year
-yea blah blah blah who really cares.....

So, I think this is the hardest semester ive ever had in my many years of school til now. Rundown of my schedule:
-9:00am Fitness Across the Lifespan
-10:00am Anatomy Lecture
-11:00am College Alegebra
-2:00pm Statistics for Behavioral Sciences (Monday and Wednesday)
-4:00pm Anatomy Lab (Wednesdays)

Yea, it's ridiculous and on top of my typical class times I usually end up back in Anatomy Open Lab at least another 4-6hrs a week!!! Who does that? Oh well, at least I have some type of "fun" doing it week in and week out. I do some pretty sweet stuff too and of course, make sure the social life is rockin too. I usually try to get out on the mountain at least once a week since its so close and the snow is AWESOME!!!!! except for 2weeks ago when the snow was like thick water and I was on my face more than my feet! Anyway, its really warm and sunny here and by that i mean warm is 40degrees which is bittersweet. I want the snow in the mountains but i can't stand driving in it. it really sucks. but hopefully that won't be over since the groundhog saw his shadow the other day. what does that even have to do with winter and spring?