engaged

Well in case you haven't heard, I proposed to Rosa on Monday. We'll be getting married in the Los Angeles LDS temple on February 12th, 2010. Abe Lincoln's birthday. That really has nothing to do with it but I thought I'd point it out. There will be a reception in Bakersfield that same evening.

Here's how the engagement went down:

I bought the ring Monday morning. Rosa didn't think I'd be able to get it until that Friday (I may or may not have lied about when my paycheck was coming :)), so she was expecting it for at least another week. I was planning on making her dinner on Tuesday and proposing then, but I started to get a little antsy. I wanted to get it done! Rosa came over Monday afternoon and we were hanging out a little bit and I had to resist the idea of just pulling the ring out right there and asking her. Later that evening, I was debating on whether I would wait until the next day. My roommates told me to just go for it. Jake Lee also told me that he would be having a dinner group at our apartment on Tuesday night so I decided I'd better just get it done. Obviously a dinner group could have been easily moved but I really wanted to ask her. So I decided to do it Monday.

After some quick thinking, I ran to the grocery store to get some Martinelli's sparkling cider. I brought it home and texted Rosa, inviting her over to relax for a little bit and have a treat, something that we had done many times before. She came over a few minutes later and I handed her the bottle of Martinelli's after she asked what I got for a treat. She laughed at first and asked "why Martinelli's?". I told her that it was so we could celebrate. Still confused, she asked what we were celebrating. I smiled at her and said "our engagement." I took her by the hand and got down on one knee. I started saying a few things that I previously thought out in my head but was interrupted by a couple of "Are you really doing this?!'s and "Is this really happening?". I was really nervous already and for some reason her saying that made me more nervous, even though I could tell she was really excited and was smiling so much. I eventually found the words and asked Rosa to marry me. She responded with a quick "of course!" and that was that. We're engaged and I couldn't be happier :)

New Job

After a long search and a few months of being completely broke I finally was able to get a new job. I quit my old job at the library back in April because I thought I had something lined up. I actually had a few things going for me but unfortunately they all fell through so I was stuck without a job for awhile. At times it was kind of nice. I slept in every day and pretty much had nothing to do but that quickly got old. I did a couple of weeks of EFY to give me a little money and kept up the job hunt.

I was finally hired at Provo Canyon School as a team coach. I'm basically like a mentor/counselor at a school from troubled youth. Most of the kids have had a tough time growing up; suffering from different mental disorders or behavioral problems. I'm excited for the opportunity I have to work with them and hopefully I'll be able to help.

My first day on the job was a "Handle with Care" training. There are times when the kids can start getting out of control and we have to learn how to help and/or secure them if necessary. We were also trained on what to do if they lash out at us. We learned a few ways to get out of being choked and how to block a punch and different things like that. We were also given a little handbook with helpful diagrams on how to get away if being attacked. I was flipping through the book and came across this gem:



This is what you do if someone is biting you. You grab their nostrils and pull up. I laughed pretty hard at the picture and found it to be very informative. So now you know what to do.

Anyway, my first few days have gone really well and I'm excited to have a job and hopefully help some of the kids out.

Summer so far

Summer 09 has been a good one so far. I've been out of the job which has been frustrating and kind of nice sometimes (except the being broke part) and I haven't been taking classes. I'm pretty much a bum. It's been nice to have a break though and as of today I have a job. I got hired at Provo Canyon School. It's a school for troubled youth and I'll be working as a counselor/mentor. I believe the official term is coach. I'm really excited to start working and I think it's going to be a great experience for me.

Besides efy, I've been keeping busy with intramural softball and ultimate frisbee, camping and other random adventures throughout Provo. I still haven't made it back to California but I'm planning on going around August



I went camping/fishing with Jake Lee and the two Starkey California Highway Patrol Officers Scott and Ben. Classic.



The Lakers beat the Magic in 5 games to win their 15th NBA championship. What a great day. After his epic performance in game 4, I'm considering naming a son Derek Fisher. Kidding... Maybe...




I finally had the chance to see Rosa perform in Singing in the Rain and it was amazing! She did a great job and the show was really good. Anyone who gets the chance to see Singing in the Rain at the Hale Theater in Orem should do it! This was taken right after the show :)



Pretty much our entire ward (apartment complex) has gotten sick these past few weeks and even though I did get sick for awhile, I was able to avoid the swine flu. This picture really has nothing to do with me but it makes me laugh. A lot. Stupid kid. I get the feeling that this is what my kids will be like. The pig lickers.


Well that's what has been going on so far these past few weeks. I'm excited to start working soon and hopefully more fun things can happen. And maybe I'll start blogging more. I say that every time and it doesn't work out too well but who knows, maybe this time it will happen.

EFY

For the second consecutive summer I had the opportunity to work as an efy counselor. Efy (especially for youth) is a week-long camp for youth that is done by the LDS church. You don't have to be Mormon to go but probably 99% of the participants are. It's a really cool experience to work as a counselor and always a lot of fun. I worked two amazing weeks here in Provo. I guess it was really more like 1.5 weeks. I did the first week at BYU and my 2nd week I was supposed to work in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah campus. However, I unfortunately got sick at the end of the first week. I came down with a fever and pretty much every other swine flu symptom (tested negative though). There was something definitely going around efy and I got it. I was told on Sunday that I should not work the week in Salt Lake because I needed to get better. I was a little upset but understood why I couldn't work. I also knew I wouldn't be able to give 100% and efy is a pretty demanding job actually.

Tuesday comes around and I get a call from the Provo coordinators asking if I'm feeling better. I take my temperature and was feeling much better so they ask me to take over for a counselor who got really sick. I came on Tuesday night and worked the rest of the week. It was a lot harder than I expected to come on mid week but I think the week went alright. I had really great co-counselors so that helped a ton. Both weeks were a lot of fun and really good experiences. I had the chance to work with great co-counselors and amazing youth!



These are my co-counselors Jessica and Kelli. We were pretty much the best counselors ever. I always am really lucky when it comes to co's because they are always awesome.



My boys from the first week. I always tend to get the crazy ones. This was a really fun group and I loved working with them.



The entire company "Show unto the world". Such a great group!



My Co's from the 2nd week, Megan and Katie Jo. Once again I had awesome co-counselors to work with. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single picture where all three of us were looking at the same camera. There were about 30 youth lined up in front of us with cameras. We're kind of a big deal



The entire group from the 2nd week. Our company name was In the light. This group was really good at making a cheer for games night


My boys from the second week. Another awesome group of guys to work with. I'm grateful I was able to feel good enough to work with them

BYUSA

As some of you may know, I've been involved with BYUSA the past couple of years. Last year I served in the Student Honor Association (SHA) as a Program Director for Human Resources. Basically what I did was create and deliver a training presentation for new SHA volunteers. This year I've been involved with Campus Activities. I've helped plan and carry out all the BYUSA campus activities like Fall Fest, Homecoming, Battle of the Bands, the Concert Series, etc. It's been a lot of fun and have been a wonderful chance to serve BYU and meet a lot of cool people.

A couple weeks ago, BYUSA put out a video explaining exactly what BYUSA does. I think a lot of the BYU population doesn't really know what we do. They see the activities and free food that we give out, but besides that, don't really know what the point of BYUSA really is. Hopefully this video can help everyone understand a little more as to what BYUSA really does. Enjoy!





Hopefully that showed you a little of what BYUSA really does. There's a lot that goes on, especially with the Executive President and Executive Vice President. I know that both of them spend at least 30 hours a week doing different BYUSA activities. As I mentioned in an earlier post (I think) BYUSA elections are coming up and I've decided to help my friends Garrett and Nat. I really like the ideas they have and I've been able to work with both of them this past year in BYUSA. I've seen their work ethic, dedication and commitment to BYUSA and know that they would be awesome!

Check them out at garrettandnat.com

Life, the oscars and BYUSA

Alright, I'm not very good at this blogging thing but I'm gonna try to get better. I've probably said that a million times but this time I mean it! It's not like many people read this thing. Yet.

Life has been pretty good for me these days. I had those fun car accident and lost luggage adventures over Christmas break but that's all been settled and is done with. I was able to get my pickup fixed and the Taco (nickname for the car) is back in action. It was about a month that I didn't have it and I'm so glad to have it back.

School has been going pretty well. I still suck at the testing center, that one A I got last semester was a fluke but it's alright. I'm not upset about it. The latest failure came this past week but it actually wasn't my fault. The test was incredibly difficult. No one got an A and I think the highest grade was a low B-. The class average was a 66% and I was right around that. The TA sent us all an email basically telling us she's an idiot and that the test had nothing to do with anything we learned. The entire class will get more points or have the opportunity to retake a test or something like that.

Valentine's day came and went without anything too exciting happening. I went over to Jason Barber's apartment with Dustin and Jake Lee. We had some pizza, watched the slam dunk contest and played some poker. The movie "Blank Check" was on TV. I hadn't seen that since I was a little kid. It was a pretty classic night. I take that back, Valentine's day was very exciting.

Last Sunday was the Academy Awards. I was a little upset that The Dark Knight didn't get nominated for very many, especially Best Director. At least Heath Ledger won best supporting actor. I enjoy watching the Oscars but one thing that I hate is when the winners get all political in their acceptance speeches. I don't really care what the topic or point is, I feel like they shouldn't bring up politics. To me, Oscar night is a night to celebrate the accomplishments of cinema from the past year. Not talk about your own personal opinion. Maybe that's just me though. Oh well. I also think Wall-E is the most overrated movie ever. I could go on about this.

BYUSA is in the middle of it's student body elections. I've decided to help my good friends Garrett and Nat. I know a lot of BYU students don't think too highly of BYUSA but I encourage everyone to study the initiatives and get out there and vote. And take a good look at Garrett and Nat's because I know they'll do an amazing job.

Well that's all from me. Hopefully I can get better at writing in this thing.