TAG! You're It!!

Well, Nicole tagged me, and my tag list will probably be poor since only Jodi and Nicole read this, but here we go

5 Things I was Doing 10 Years Ago: (I'd be 12)
1) Trying to survive my new experience in Junior high
2) Working...? HA!
3) Saving $ I was 12, probably legos
4) Playing every day of my life
5) Learning too much junk in School

5 Things on my To-Do List: (what? only 5? that's outrageous!)
1) Finish my current menagerie of Church books by Christmas to start studying Christ's life next year.
2) Working on Christmas presents
3) Clean the apartment (there just never seems to be time...)
4) Take home Accounting Test
5) Maintain sanity

5 Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire:
1) Buy a simple home for my Amanda and me (and future kids).
2) Investments in stocks, bonds, IRA, Real Estate,
3) Savings: for all of our future (school; missions; weddings; etc)
4) Make large donations to the LDS Church's Humanitarian Aid, Perpetual Education, and temple building funds. (yep, definitely that one)
5) Keep things down to earth and simple

5 Things I Would Never Wear Again:
1) Some of those Neon clothes from the 80's, eek!
2) Baggy clothes
3) Sagged jeans
4)
5)

5 Favorite Toys: (i do like to play...)
1) Amanda
2) Books, books, books...
3) Nintendo Gamecube
4) laptop
5) Money (it's not real...haha!)

5 People to Tag:
1) Jodi
2) Nicole
3) Risa
4) Phillip
5) Kimberly

New Adventures

Ah, to illustrate how crazy I am. Next quarter I have the opportunity to do a free tax preparation thing called VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) for low income, elderly, and disabled taxpayers. I get school credit, and experience and it goes on my resume! But here's the kicker: I'm excited about it! Is it just me or does that seem crazy? Now, for those who read this No, I cannot help you with your taxes. As of right now, I have about 0 knowledge about tax law. Even afterward, still not qualified, maybe someday, but not today. Anyways, now that I got that disclaimer out of the way. I would have never thought I would be excited about doing taxes. But I figure once I get it done with, maybe it won't be as great as it seems now. Also, I'm getting to that point where I'm starting to look for internships and think more and more about my career, and that's getting exciting and scary. I still have a good two years left give or take, but hey, maybe less.

Focus

"To be too quick to adjust to the ways of this world is to be maladjusted for the next." (Elder Maxwell, Things as They Really Are, p. 3).
Do you ever find yourself so caught up in life and things that you get distracted from more important matters? I know I sure do, I think we all do at least once in a while. It's part of life to work those small unimportant things out of the forefront and focus on what really matters. In my life right now there is so much going on with family, school, work, midterms, etc. that it is sometimes hard not to get distracted by mere stuff. In this adventure we call life, staying focused is surely a difficult matter. Right now my main focus is getting through school and staying afloat financially (i.e. providing for family). While I'm doing well enough for a newly wed, it is definitely a constant battle. To take all of the stuff that's going on and try to bring my life down to where it should be is a great reality check. We all face this battle at our own levels in our personal adventures that are life. But heck, it sure is an enjoyable experience no matter the ephemeral stubbed toes and skinned noses along the way.

Apart From Fiction...

Well, seeing as how my last post was one side of my literary addiction, I've decided to do this on another facet of said addiction: gospel literature. Right now I'm just finishing up a book entitled Things as They Really Are by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. I was reading some quotes by Elder Maxwell and decided that I should finally read one of his books (since apart from the Maxwell quote-book, I have six of his many books), so I started with this one. While this whole book was wonderful I thought that I's share some of my favorite parts.
"It is not well for man to pray cream and live skim milk." This one is actually President Howard W. Hunter (Ensign, November 1977, p. 54). and...
"Discipleship is not simply surviving and enduring; discipleship is a pressing forward, a creative Christianity. Discipleship does not wait to be acted upon, but instead acts upon men and circumstances to make things better." (p. 100)
Elder Maxwell uses beautiful language and helps me to look at things a new way. I love what he says here about a "creative Christianity." Life isn't just about doing church stuff on Sunday's and living a different life the rest of the week. It's about striving constantly to do better and re-create ourselves like unto Christ.
Whether you're LDS or not, even Christian or not, we can always strive to live a more morally creative life where we constantly strive to improve ourselves.
Oh, and on the first quote, I really love milk so this hit me, maybe not as meaningful to others, but I thought it was good.

My joy and obsession

Most anyone who reads this knows me well and knows I love to read. It is one of my greatest joys and obsessions. As well, many well know my favorite series is the Drizzt Do'Urden one by R.A. Salvatore. I believe him (the author) to be acclaimed because of his prowess and skill at writing intense battle skills, both one-on-one and large scale all-out wars. But whilst that focus is placed by many critics (as positive feedback of course, he's not received New York Times best seller on most every book in the series for nothing), I think they forget to point out what Drizzt and friends are fighting for, and my deeper reason for this being my favorite series. Hopefully this insight into Drizzt's beliefs can what Salvatore's books teach:
"What of fidelity and loyalty? Complete trust? Faith is not granted by tangible proof. It comes from the heart and the soul. If a person needs proof of a god's existence, then the very notion of spirituality is diminished into sensuality and we have reduced what is holy into what is logical. -- Drizzt Do'Urden."
and also: "Hope is the key. The future will be better than the past, or the present. Without this belief, there is only the self-indulgent, ultimately empty striving of the present...or simple despair, the time of life wasted in waiting for death. -- Drizzt Do'Urden"
Now I could go on and on, but need not do so. This is why I love these books, it is whole series about one character going against all odds to stand up for truth, faith, morals, hope, and all good things; abandoning the only world he ever knew, to know a better one. What better lessons and gospel truths contained in fantasy fiction than those portrayed by R.A. Salvatore.

Newbie

I just added myself on here to portray the adventures of day-to-day life, maybe it's not as boring as one might think at times. Anywho, I hope that friends, family and others can benefit from this and if not a least get a kick or pass the time.