did you think that i was dead? well, i'm not...

Well, i figure that a blog update is well overdue. i just cant fill you in on everything, but i'll give you the quick resume.
summer ended, and my carefree free time ended with it. saved money, started dating michelle, and got ready for school.
school started with the beginning of september, and i've just been super busy since. right now i'm trying to balance classes, reading, homework, labs, work, calling (i was called as a counselor in the EQ presidency), and michelle. its tricky business, and i just dont have enough time to go around, so i prioritize and live one week at a time.
these last two and a half weeks i havent had work (the system was down), so i got to catch up on school work, learned some important life lessons, and didnt earn any money. started work again yesterday, and it was a good feeling to know that i was making money, though it is stressful with this added 20 hour time constraint. again, living one week, day by day.
today i took a my first french midterm, and it went really well. my physics midterm was the worst test score i've taken at BYU, and my computer systems class was above average. my programming class has the midterm next week.
oh yeah, you probably want to know what classes i'm taking. well:
CS 142: Intro to computer programming (Java)
EcEn 124: Intro to Computer Systems (how computers work)
Physics 220: Electric and magnetic physics. (not my first choice for a fun class)
Beginning Tennis: (My second choice for a fun class, after bowling)
Fren 321: My RM French class, hard, but if i play it right, i'll end up with 16 additional A credits!
EE new student seminar (basically one lab a week that gives me a sampling of various EE fields)
Hepe 105?: an online health class that i havent even looked at. aparently it can be done in a week or something. my tennis class is a block class, so i'll have more time for that then.
as for michelle, not engaged today (sorry). although things are going really well. call or IM if you want to talk.

and here's some specifics.


18 August i went to my first concert, Jack Johnson, in SLC. it was pretty good, a good learning experience above all. at least i was with enjoyable company.
patiently waiting
me trying to look cool
we got so bored waiting for jack to come out that we resorted to poking each other simply for personal amusement.

minigolfing with friends in Orem. lets just say that i came, i played, i conquered.
yep. this pretty much describes our relationship right now. michelle is the cute one, while i am the silly ridiculous one.
we went to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant (about three and a half months ago). it was good. good ol mormon culture. oh yeah, i got to go do a session in the Manti temple, which was pretty sweet. i was jumping into this picture
i started to learn how to solve rubiks cube on my mission, and i'm about 2/3 done! i'm trying to do it without cheating
after being turbopunched by some girl at wardprayer. didnt even see it coming. luckily, somebody was there to capture the moment.
a more recent picture of me and michelle. isnt she a cutie?

the more colorful update.

enjoying 4th of July
leading ward prayer, the weekly event


my roommate kraig and me working on my rodeo after it blew a spark plug.we put oil in it b/c it was out. i was slightly frustrated at this point, as you can tell ;)

and the long awaited, much requested, and soon to be highly commented photo of me and michelle. i'll keep up my search for more photos as i anticipate this will naturally be the next request;)

what to say...

i figure it's about time i made an update on this blog. i've been waiting to get some photos from some friends of the happenings in the last month. i'll just give you the story version, then i'll give you the picture version when i can.
so first of all, i finished spring term classes. i took book of mormon 122, and physics 121. BofM was pretty easy, and physics was tough. all in all, i was pleased with my performance. i studied hard the whole semester and finished with an A in BofM, and an A- in physics. i'm happy with it.
I also stopped working custodial on campus at the end of spring term. its good to not have to wake up at 330 anymore (or go to bed before 9). its good having a social life again.
speaking of social life, i've been dating someone for almost a month now. Her name is Michelle, she's from Virginia, really cute, and strong in the church. sunday i went to her sister's house, had dinner and met all of her brothers and sisters. it was pretty fun :) things are going pretty well between us, we'll see what happens.
on the employment side of life, i'm working now at an inbound call center for Dish Network. the pay is pretty good, 10/hr plus commission. i get at least one sale a day, so its not too bad, although i only work part time. i'm looking again for another job.
as you may have heard, i picked up another job last week doing sales over the phone which was alright. the commission was pretty good, and i was doing fairly well. notice that i say that i was. i was laid off thursday the week i started. ... they didnt have enough leads for the number of people that they had working, so they let me go. too bad too, i was getting the hang of it. they'll call me back in a couple weeks when they have the new leads, and if i dont have another job by then, i'll start working there. as for the MTC, i called them a couple days ago, and they said that my application is still active, so when a position opens up, i will go in for a second and final interview for the teaching position.
all in all, i'm doing pretty well. if any of you want to talk, i have a webcam on my computer, and i would love to chat.
love you all!
joseph
ps, photos to come... ... ...

Tuesday was an exciting day...

So a lot happened on Tuesday. started out normal. went to work at 4, class at 9, then after class i did a bunch of homework. okay, thats not exciting, just the same old. after school i had to leav quickly to go get my car inspected, which didnt pass b/c of burned out brake light and clogged windshield sprayers. disappointed, i went to the chiropractor, which was good. i filled up my first tank of gas. it was a surprisingly good feeling. then i went to auto zone and fixed the problems myself (another good feeling). ill admit, i felt macho leaning under the hood working on stuff. thats something that i'd like to learn more about.
the stressful part about the day was tha i had a lot of homework and stuff to do. by the time i was going to bed (around 10, a lot later than i wanted), i was just getting tired and cranky. i got a package from mom with some Nikken bedding stuff that they werent using, and it was a blessed addition. i quite enjoy it, as you can tell below.
in fact, i loved it so much that i slept in for work and was an hour late! but it turned out that my supervisor was happy that i showed up anyway.
the other thing that made that night exciting was when i busted up my foot. so with the cumulation of bothersome feelings, and the thought of having to remake my bed (this bed is actually really hard to make b/c of the built in desk at the foot of the bed), as i was walking in my room, i "stubbed" my pinky toe on the cinderblocks underneath my roommates bed. it hurt really bad! it cut it up the middle, and made it all swollen. voila:
so i limped up to work the next morning. it still causes me a bit of grief (probably in part due to my lack of acccess to the proper medical treatment/anything but water and soap... sad i know).

other than that, i'm doing well. finals are in two weeks *hallelujah!*. i'm seriously considering taking the term off to work fulltime. i think it would be more beneficial to work fulltime now, and earn some good cash so i wouldnt have to work during fall/winter. i'm learning the hard way the difficulty of working part time and studying part time (especially with early morning custodial).

the happenings

so a lot of exciting stuff happened this week. Memorial day was just the beginning :D
so on Wednesday, i had unintentional issues with authoritative figures. i'll explain:
so after my physics class on wednesday, i had quickly finished my homework for friday. i decided to capitalize on my free time and go to the library to get some pleasure reading. it was somewhat a red-letter event as it was the first time that i went to the library to check out a book. i found two good books that i wanted to read (one religious, and one secular), and on my way out, i mindlessly walked through the theft detectors with my un-checked-out books. upon the sounding of the alarm, i realized my error, and i quickly confessed to the security guard. but apparently, according to protocol, he had to make a file for me, and check my record to see if this was a recurring habit. it was a bit ridiculous in my opinion. so once that was done, i went to properly check out my books. afterwards as i made my exit, the alarms sounded again. i couldnt believe my luck. so the security guard checked me out again, and i was on my way. slightly shaken by my experience in the library, i walked home. not long after my arrival, i had to leave to go to the chiropractor. upon approaching my new car (explanation to be given shortly hereafter) i noticed what i first thought to be some kind of flyer under my windshield wiper. upon closer inspection i discovered that it was a parking ticket. what a day! i couldnt it. i wasnt very happy as i drove to the chiropractor, and although i sang some hymns, i couldnt shake the feeling. it was something that only sleep could help me forget, i guess.
and so for the other great happening: my first car! thanks to becky for giving me her old car. memorial day weekend, she bought a new car, 09 corolla, thus terminating the need for the 92 Rodeo. the awesome person becky was, she thought of me and surprised me one day offering me her car. it'll be a good experience, and we'll see how it goes cost vs benefit - wise. for now it will serve me well for going to the chiropractor, and perhaps in the near future to another job.
ok, so for the other fun thing, we had a wicked sweet stake activity yesterday. in fact, they had to have it over the span of two days, one half of the stake on friday, the other half on saturday. it was pretty sweet; they had everything. soccer, football, ultimate frisbee, BBQ, one of those inflatable castle jump thingys, hay rides, and hot air baloons! i enjoyed the BBQ, ultimate, and the dance at the end. i'm still pretty tired. thats probably due to many things combined. fasting, running and dancing like a crazy man, dancing, giving blood on friday, and being tired anyway thanks to my job.
anywho, i'm doing well. sorry there arent any pictures, i didnt crack out my camera for any of this exciting stuff. i'll try to do better.
love!
joseph

Memorial day..full of memories

oh boy, was a three day weekend so good! the best part was not having to wake up at 3-something this morning to go to work, although that was the case this morning. i stayed the day with becky and jens family in bountiful. it was just fun to be together.
my ward is pretty awesome. people are involved, there is a 2:1 girl to boy ratio, and the bishopric is really good. the bishop issued a challenge to read a blue book of Mormon and mark it up with a theme. also, we are to include two testimonies: mine as i begin the reading, and once again at the end. and all the while, i am to pray for someone to be prepared to receive this book of mormon that i am reading. soo...
i had some reading to do in the Book of Mormon last night! but as i sought sanctuary in my room, music from the pool area could easily be heard. as i went to investigate, i discovered 1) that there was a dance party going on (oh how i wished to be in their number!) and 2) the loud noise was coming through what i presumed was an open window, but which was in fact closed. so i resolved to listen to the narrator of the Book of Mormon on my shiny new iPod as i followed along. fortunately, the party ended at 10, allowing me to get a meager 5 hours of sleep.
all in all, i'm doing pretty well. i just finished doing my Physics Labs for the week, and am now going to finish my studying for the 2nd physics test for the term. only three weeks left in the term. pretty crazy, huh?

midterms in may!

so yeah, BYU is basically way ahead of schedule than everyone else in the world. most people are taking their finals now or soon, and i just finished taking my second midterm just minutes ago. below is a pic of me via my built in webcam, in front of the Heber J Grant building, aka The Testing Center. and what a glorious day it is!


things are going pretty well for me right now. a LOT has happened/changed since last week. in short:
i started work on Early Morning Custodial at the SWKT (Spencer W. Kimball Tower, pictured below) 4-8 AM Monday - Friday. its not too bad, although i have a hard time going to bed at 7, when the sun is still out... i'm looking around to see if i can find another job which could let me sleep in til 7 (an extra 3 hours) while still maintaining my monday and friday nights. i may work a call center with Matt Ede, or maybe with Dan, one of my roommates. one problem with those choices is mobility. its about a 10 minute drive in a car, (so who knows how long on a bike?). i could probably keep doing the custodial for a while, but probably not longer than this term which ends in one month. as for the MTC, they have considered me for a teaching position,

I'm going to a chiropractor in Pleasant Grove, about a 20 minute drive from Provo (thanks to Bekcy for letting me use her car). i got a really good discount since im a student, and also a family referral from becky who is going there now. it feels GREAT afterwards, and i feel good about it. only thing is that it takes a car, and an hour three times a week to do it...

And for the big relationship news:
as of monday, i am officially single! it was a pretty big surprise for me, but in short, Ashley dated a lot of guys while i was on my mission, and had a couple she dated for a while, and she's going to hook back up with one of the guys she dated before. She said that things didnt work out like she was expecting for us, but wanted to keep the friendship. I'm ok with it all. in fact, i'm excited to be on the singles scene again, and to be able to date people. That night after we broke up, i literally felt liberated. soooooooo i guess i better start going on dates!

all that, plus tests, homework, etc etc is keeping me pretty busy. thanks for your prayers and support!

joseph