Geology

As some one who is fascinated by Geology to the point that it even persuades my humor it was great to see a movie with some geology humor in to. What is great is that I'm not the only one who can laugh at a good geology joke. During the movie Planet 51 I was delighted to see one of the main character had about the same level of interest in geology as I do. Then when I thought this movie could not get any better there were two seen that made me laugh so hard so that I thought I would share it with you.

In this first clip "Rover" is collecting rock samples and finds more than just a rock what made me laugh is how he dealt with this pest (which is a scorpion / lizard).



On this planet when it rains it does not rain water; however, in its place is something I would never want landing on my head.



As a student of geology hoping to one day be a planetary geologist this movie was interesting.

The Reason for the Break

It has already been two months since my last post it all comes down to habits my are not the most predictable.  Have you ever had the moment where you do something very well for awhile then the habit slowly fades?  For me the most stand out moment where this will happen is when I play one of my all time favorite video games Final Fantasy 1.  Every time with out fail when I reach the last dungeon (which is also the fist one in the game) all of my ambition to finish off the game disappears. I think that has happened in a different way to my blog.  However I will try to rekindle my habits and post more regularly.

Recap of 2009

I have been neglectful when it comes to posting the experiences and stories of my life.  Over the past few months I started a few entries but they never seemed to get off the ground.  Which brings me to this point where I realized that a new year is upon me and I had not finished out the 2009 year on my blog.  So the point of this post is to share the last few months worth of adventures with a little back story.

One year ago about a week before Christmas 2008 we moved to in my opinion the best and newest apartment that we had ever lived in to date after M and I were married.  With the move happening so close to the holidays I did not have time to properly decorate our new home.  This was a problem I was going to rectify for the 2009 season. 

When it comes to decorating with lights I try and emulate Clark Griswold from the Christmas Vacation movie.  My only limiters this year was the amount of lights I could put up and the limited space on my 8 foot by 8 foot patio.  I started putting up lights out side over my Thanksgiving break yes before Thanksgiving Christmas lights were going up over at my house.  I am pleased that I was able to put up 835 lights on my patio I know what your saying "835 that's nothing".  Well to that I would remind you that my story is not done yet there is still more to come.  We also this year revived a new Christmas tree from my sister (thank you), and for the first time picked out an entire matching set of ornaments (the non-breakable ones) and a complete set of clear lights specifically for the tree. What is truly amazing is the fact that it took 950 lights to completely cover the tree which we set up in our front room window.  So my 2009 total lights count with the tree and outside lights combined is 1775 . 

For New Year's eve I spent it taking down 1775 lights and putting away all of our Christmas decorations.  With all the decorations down and in there place we can now start seating up the baby stuff before the next semester begins.

Christmas Giveaway

My wife told me about this website called 5 minutes for mom that is giving away a lot of great prizes. Right now they're running a seasonal Christmas giveaways and dads can enter too. So now I'm going to head over to 5 minutes for mom and enter in a few giveaways.

Just To Prove A Point...

In reference to the previous post or "my search for my windmill" as a good friend compared it to I was visiting the church web site and saw this little tidbit.
I was unable to post the youtube video here because of a sizing issue but here is the link to view it.
Now that this subject is on my mind I keep running into the same phrase "What Matters Most."  Just the other day my girls were watching the vegie tails movie "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" I just happend to walkn into the room when one of the charicters said somting the struck me as intresting.  "Sometimes a test helpes us decide what matters most" here is a clip so you can see what I was talking about. http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1106772249/  Then just this evening when I was at the presthood sesion of general confrance (which was very very good) more of the same advice was given.  Now all I have to do is apply it.  My quest for the windmills is on thanks to all of the advice I have recived.

What Matters Most?

Over the last few day a simple idea has been reappearing before me, it appeared within the sources for the talk I was asked to give and in the material for my other church lessons. All I can think about is that there is a very important message that I need to pickup on and seriously apply. Thinking back on my life there are several moments where I could have been doing better in my pre-collage education yet I chose to play and entertain myself. For those choice I have received my reward now I must make a choice, continue to goof off or buckle down and focuses on what matters most. It may seen like a simple decision to make but for me it is and has been very difficult. My study habits are (I admit) mediocre at best (however compared to High School there leaps and bounds better) my desire to work on my studying habits is almost nonexistent (any suggestion would be welcomed). I don't meant to sound like a complete slacker it is just that I have lost sight of what matters most to me and I an unsure about how to reestablish that focuses. It seem that others have a solid goal that is not easily forgotten and one that propels them though other non related classes. I would love to know a way for me to have the same drive I see in others when it comes to information/classes that I see no value in. I'm not trying to sound negative about myself or my ability's to learn but it is hard lately to feel confidant in my studies. It all comes back to what mattes most and figuring what that is.

Relaxing

Some times I find it hard to actual relax for the most part what I do to take a break has involved a move, watching t.v., or playing a game. Each time that I walk away form those activity's I'm anything but relaxed. It wasn't until recently that someone mentioned a way to tell if what your are doing is relaxing or not. I was surprised by the simplicity of the notion that I almost did not pay attention to it, but if it had not been for the start of another semester and a new calling on top of my teaching I would not have listened. With gratitude for thos that shared this message to me I now share this lesson or message with any who want simple key to relaxing. That key is a question to ask your self and the question is this if the activity that you are doing to relax (weather it is watching TV, or playing a game) if you can not walk away with a feeling of refreshment and readement for what is next then that activity it is the wrong thing for you to relax. For me I have found that guitar music help me relax, so I have noticed that my last guitar music post is now on the next page of my blog I thought it is time to post another sampiling of Andy McKee.




I enjoy this music and I hope that it help you relax and prepair for the rest of the day.

Yellowstone Travel Story

It has taken us a few days to finish this story and post the pictures of our vacation to Yellowstone, but it is finally done and you can see it at my wife's blog. Due to its length (and I really do not want to transfer it over to my blog because I'm being lazy) and size of the file I will not post it here. The post was a joint effort and once you read it you'll know why.

Another Semester

It is official the fall semester starts next week, and it puts me one semester closer to the goal of graduation. We did have one last adventure before going back, and it took place in Yellowstone National Park. Growing up my family would go to Yellowstone at least one a year for a vacation I thought maybe I should continue that tradition with my family. I was shocked to discover that my wife of almost 7 years has only ever been to Old Faithful once and never camped in the park. With this camping trip I not only had two wide eyed girls but one in awe wife. It was cute to watch my children light up with each animal that came into view. To hear there little excited voices asking questions about Old Faithful, geysers, and any bug that came into view. Most of all it was entertaining to watch as my wife experienced more of Yellowstone for the first time. :)

Summer 09'

This summer has been very fun. M has enjoyed her time during her internship. We have seen some new sights and done lots of activities for the girls. But if you were to ask me what one thing was the most exciting that would be finding out that we are going to have another child. Yep that is right we are expecting number 3 in February.