I think I've forgotten

what it's like to like someone and be liked by that someone at the same time. Crap.

So it just hit me how much work I (1) didn't do over the Thanksgiving break that I was planning on doing, and (2) how much work that means I have to do this week to make sure I'm on top of things.

It'll feel so good to get it all done though, which is the only motivation I can find to actually get the work done.

Homely

Not in the "ugly" sense.

I didn't set foot outside my house until 6:50pm yesterday. And even then all I did was go to London Manor, about 100 feet away.

Oh the joys of being sick.

On a better note: tonight is the premiere of Harry Potter 7!! I seriously can't wait. We're also getting our piano tuned, finally! AND we're going down to Cedar City to pick up some sweet stuff for the house. Part of me wonders if it's worth it at this point through the semester, but whatever :) It'll be great!

Welp, time to go take my math exam. (Wish me luck! I'll be needing it...)

Gospel Doctrine

I'm thinking maybe it's time I start going to the gospel doctrine classes at church instead of the relationships classes.

In this ward, it seems like every time I go to the relationships class, I just get frustrated with the attitude of the girls and even the teachers.

Every time it's the same thing: guys are the dumbest, least competent doofuses who have no idea what they're doing when it comes to dating and need to go to classes like these so that girls (and the teachers) can rag on them until they get it through their thick skulls.

Apparently we're completely incompetent when it comes to dating etiquette, aren't quick enough to recognize when a girl is interested, and need to brush away the sawdust in our brains long enough to be presentable and likable on a date.

I couldn't tell you how many times the teachers have asked "now guys... is it okay to ask a girl out through a text message, email, or Facebook?" and actually wait for an answer, obnoxiously. It almost makes me even more frustrated that some guys answer the question, sounding as if they're trying to convince everyone that they've "learned their lesson." And it just makes me roll my eyes.

Bologne. I want to feel the spirit and actually learn something in my sunday school classes. And relationships class (at least in this ward) is not where that is going to happen.

Maud Muller

You've probably heard the line Pres. Monson quotes a lot in conference:

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"

(Ugh, just reading that breaks my heart a little bit. How come it feels like I still have regrets for something not working out even when I did everything I could? Maybe it's not a regret, but just the thought of what might have been.)

Well if you have a couple of minutes you should read the whole poem. It's a great and sad story. And a perfect example of why having no regrets is so amazing.

Epiphany

Here's something that came to me tonight:

Don't expect to be able to judge how romantically interested you are in someone by the time you've spent together platonically.

Maybe you disagree? Let me know your thoughts, cause I'm still thinking through it myself.

I don't even want to know

I usually have this urge to know everything that's going on around me. It's so hard for me to hear other people having a conversation and not butt in and be all "wait, what are you talking about? INCLUDE ME! I WANNA KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO AND I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO ACT LIKE I'M BEING ANNOYING I JUST WANT YOU TO ANSWER ALL OF MY QUESTIONS."


Just kidding I'm not nearly that bad.

Anyway, I just clicked on my mint.com tab on Chrome, but as soon as it opened I closed it because I don't even want to know what the finances are looking like right now. I spent over $500 at Kohl's the other day. Granted, probably about $150 of it was from Kellie and Natalie buying things on my card (not because I'm their sugar daddy (I HATE that term, by the way) but because they needed to buy it on my card to get the 30% off). Also granted that I will be returning most of the stuff I bought for myself. (That's just how I roll when it comes to buying stuff at Kohl's)

I'm in a weird mood lately, where I just want to do nothing. I'm still getting my homework done and everything (and I got a 95% on my 2nd calc test. Booya!) but I kinda just want to go watch movies for a week.

Anyway, I'm going to go to bed. I stay up way too late these days. And I think I'm going to go help some friends set up for a commercial shoot.

P.s. I went back to Kohl's and bought one of the softest, comfiest (wow, that's really how you spell it!) blanket ever! And what's funny is I was about to buy a different blanket that was actually even softer when I realized it was only big enough for 1 person to use at a time. So I bought the one big enough for 2 people :)

Even though I'm not dating anyone.

Oh yeah: how is it possible that we have a house of 7 super-awesome, fun, outgoing, good-looking and smart guys without a single girlfriend to show for it?

Run and [explain] that, homeboy.

Maybe because nice guys finish last? I dunno.

Peeing in the pool

So I had a friend the other day give the analogy that dating within your ward was like peeing in a pool. I didn't agree.

Then I was about to write a blog post about how I didn't agree, until another friend helped me realize just how bad it can be. I guess because I haven't experienced the negative stuff that can happen, I didn't really understand.

Now I'm writing a blog post with the conclusion that "peeing in the pool" is worth the risk, but with the purpose to spark a discussion and see what people think about it. Here are my thoughts (they are not very well formulated, and because I am inexperienced in this matter, they are subject to change. Leave comments letting me know what you think):

I remember having a conversation (I think it was with Ace, but may have been with Matt) about how so many girls (at the time) were saying they didn't want to give a relationship a chance because they were afraid of what would happen if it didn't work out.

We all know that high risk gives high returns, and modest risk gives modest returns. My question (and I guess my argument for why it is worth "peeing in the pool") is: when we are dating, are we looking for high returns or only modest returns?

Obviously we shouldn't only go on dates with people we feel we could marry. We should go on dates with people we think we could have fun with, and with the purpose of seeing if we could date the person more exclusively. Then we continue to date exclusively to see if we could get engaged. And we get engaged as a precursor to actual marriage. The steps are important, and one shouldn't be too focused on the end, but rather focused on the means.

But I've known too many people who dated and married someone in their ward to believe that it isn't worth giving people in your ward a chance simply because of what could happen if it didn't work out.

Sure there is a distinct possibility that one person will break up with the other, and it will cause awkward, crappy situations where you don't want to be around the person/try to avoid them, etc. That's something that comes with high risk.

But I would bet that most people who have had that happen to them have come out better in the end, with more experience and a better understanding of what they want in a spouse. It sucks in the meantime, but is beneficial in the long run.

I've spent way too much of my life avoiding risk. I can tell you from personal experience that modest risk has returned modest rewards. If you know of someone in your ward who you would date if only you knew for sure that it would work out, I say just go for it!


Take the risk. Because what people regret most in the long run is not having taken enough risks in life. 


(Just read the five points the writer of that last blog entry makes. They're worth the time.)

Strengths

So I wrote a few days ago about being real and named a few of my weaknesses.

Now I kind of want to talk about a few of my strengths. This is not meant to boast, but I do think I would be ungrateful to only illustrate my weaknesses and none of the strengths I've been blessed with/been helped to develop over time.

• Although I sometimes complain about it, it can come in very handy to be such a jack of all trades, master of none. I can learn new things very quickly and do them well enough to get by.
• I have gotten so much better since my early days (i.e. middle school) at communicating with people, knowing how to talk to people in the way they liked to be talked to, and talk to them about what they like to talk about. (That was a confusing sentence, sorry!)
• According to some of my best friends, my best quality is that I'm really nice and always there when they need me/they can depend on me.
• I like to think that I am very aware of my surroundings. Physically, yes. Socially, definitely. I feel like I can read people well; predict how they are feeling, what they are thinking about, when something is on their mind, what they like and dislike about themselves, etc.
• I'll sneak in a weakness here. Although sometimes I can tell these things, I don't always act as if I know these things. I'm not sure why. Still trying to figure that one out. So if you have ever thought of me as being dense, or "he just doesn't get it" or something like that, I probably did get it and for whatever reason acted as if I didn't... I don't know...
• I'm still learning a lot, but I feel like I have good advice to give to people. It says something in my patriarchal blessing about this. I'm always trying to refine my opinion about certain things, and I am always learning new things that change my point of view on certain topics.
• I am always careful about hearing both sides of a story before accepting something as truth.
• I'm usually very thorough. This is why I make for a pretty good editor. Although sometimes it means taking forever to do things that shouldn't take very long, and usually means being very indecisive. Whoops, another weakness, sorry!
• I try to be as caring as I can be, even on the little things. (Of course my roommate Tyler is probably the best at this). If I park poorly, I'll correct it (because I hate when people park so close to me I have to crawl in through my passenger door.) I realize when I'm being too loud, try to keep my music down when someone is reading, close doors very carefully to not wake people up. At the same time I don't feel like I'm a straight-up people pleaser who lets people walk over me.

Anyway, I'm done. Maybe some of you can attest to some of the strengths I've been blessed with, and maybe some of you can modify what I've written so it is more accurate.

Oh and P.S. I've been surprised in the past week how many people have told me they read my blog when I had no idea. For those people: thanks for telling me! And leave a comment every now and then!

85 is a good number

85 is a good number. It is the year I was born, AND this makes my 85th blog post. Just thought I would mention the milestone.

Oh, and the housewarming/ 10/10/10 party was fun!

And for only inviting people over the day of the actual housewarming event (minus a few people we told ahead of time) we had a great turnout! The party migrated from floor to floor and room to room, lots of cookies and candy were consumed, the people were friendly, and, of course, the countdown was epic.

Mel and I tackled each other  about 20 times (progressively more aggressively) onto our Love Sac to help her vent some guy frustration, and I admit I have a little bit of a headache now. But it was hilarious.

I reckon 10/10/10 at 10:10:10pm wasn't celebrated so thoroughly as it was here. Good times. (For pictures, check my Facebook Album)