Loving It

So I'm stealing McDonald's phrase... nothing wrong with that ehy?

Can I just say how much I love my job! I go to work where I do web design, web development, and graphic design. One could say that I'm an artist. I'm a digital artist.

So I ask myself... I go to work where I program and design all day and then I go to class and learn a whole bunch of other material and you think that I would be sick of programming by the end of the day. False. What do I want to do when I get home? I want to program. I'm such a nerd! I'm loving life and I love my wonderful wife! That rhythm ed ed ed :). So I've always loved this cartoon. It's so true about what it represents  Ashley wants to get a huge sign like this for our balcony and then yard haha.



In other news Church is amazing and school is amazing and I have some amazing friends. I also have a wonderful family and the Lord is blessing me profusely. But the two things that I really need to work on are keeping a journal and reading my scriptures every single day. I need to set time for those so that they'll get done. Those two will bring me closer to the Spirit and with the Spirit I can do anything.


I also thought this was beautiful. "Trick or Treat!" "What are you supposed to be?" "I'm a panda."

Forgiveness

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints we have a program set up for all the men. It's called Home Teaching. It assigns two Elders to a companionship and then gives the assignment to the companionship to visit families in the ward each month and teach them a spiritual message. In my personal opinion it is more of an instant support program. It helps everyone in the ward to have friends. Why do these people become friends? Because they are united under a similar case, that of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, as stated before, each month there is a spiritual message shared. The message this month had to do with forgiveness and forgetting. It made me think a lot about grudges and how easy it is to keep them because of pride. At first glance I could not discover any grudges in my own heart. However, upon further reflection of my soul I found that I do harvest some hard feelings. Sad day I know. Now I shall start on a slight tangent but it'll be pulled in no worries. My wife and I watched Brave at the Varsity theater on Friday and walking out of it we met a couple from our ward that had also attended the viewing. I was quite critical of the story of the movie because after watching it I didn't yearn for more. I think the amazing stories are those that leave you wanting, because you want to rewatch it in the hopes to pick up new insights and information. My wife responded to my rantings... oh you and your critique. I realized that I am indeed very much a critic, of entertainment. And of most things in this life. Criticism leads to pride and grudge. These are bad things as we know.

But it's a double edged blade. Criticism with humility can also lead to better products and services. It can lead to making the most out of life and finding the things that you truly enjoy. Criticism can help you define yourself and understand where your path is leading and how to improve. So how do we maintain that proper amount of criticism and keep our humility? I'm not expert in this field nor do I pretend to be, but here is a suggestion that I have recently realized. I do not think that we should criticize others as people but that we can condemn their actions. In fact, it would be very smart not to entrust a robber with your money. But yet people can change, by feeling unconditional love. So I would say that we should find things about entertainment that we do not like or we thought we could improve. That helps us realize, oh, I don't like this. That leads to some self discovery with the ancient Sophicles, "Know Thyself." When we realize why we do or do not like something we can figure out ways to change ourselves. Perhaps what we do not like is something inherently evil or bad and would deserve condemnation and no respect. In which cases we can know for ourselves never to do or create such things. On the other hands maybe we don't like something because we don't appreciate it. I believe that most the talent in this life comes from constant progression in that field or talent. It makes me critical of what others do because I always think in my mind, "It's just because they spent a whole lot of time working on that talent." But does that mean I would have the guts to spend that much time on something?

I feel my thoughts starting to ramble. The point is, be a critique so that you can learn how to become better but do not let that become evil within you. Criticism is not about competition. It's about constant improvement. Expressing your criticism to someone else is a different matter entirely.

Positive Influence

We all have such an influence on those around us. The last weekend has been kind of a "push to the limit" weekend for my wife. She tackled it all like a champion. I am so proud of her and her progress when it comes to doing certain extreme things.

From her amazing success it makes me reflect on the kinds of things we push ourselves to do each day that we are scared stiff of or that we just feel like we could never do. I heard a story in stake conference that really made me think about us being able to accomplish anything that comes in our way. A counselor in our stake presidency spoke about a training that he had to undergo near the end of officer training in the military. He told about how one of the major goals of the training is to teach these soon to be officers that they can do anything they put their minds to.

I've been trying to put my mind towards a variety of things. Some of the things that I have been concentrating on most are work, financial management at BYU, and the writing of music and literature. I've always wanted to be a good writer and a good composer. But I'm not. What does that mean? It means that I need to work harder at these things than others to whom it comes naturally. The thing that separates me and those amazing people out there is natural born talent and/or time spent on their respective specialty. Take me for example. I've been singing since I was a tiny baby. I have spent so many hours training my voice to become what I've wanted it to do. Because of all this time spent my voice has escalated to a respectable level. Many people have complimented me on my voice... because of the time that I've spent on it.

The time that we spend on certain talents is effected by those around us. Fear is my number reason for not developing a gift as much as I can. The scriptures actually caution grossly against this lack of indulgence in a spiritual gift. If we hide ourselves under a bushel not only will we lose that talent but we will be unable to receive others. Therefore we must surround ourselves with those that will always lift us up and help us do better. We need to learn how to push ourselves towards high goals. Line upon line precept upon precept. Here a little there a little. It's amazing how the Lord can help us accomplish so much.

With the Lords help and with an understanding of the positive influence that we can project upon the minds of those around us, I hope to learn how to be a better positive influence towards my future children and especially towards my wife. I want to learn how to help others in such a way that they can feel more confident around me and feel like they can be better. So... how do we give off that aura?

Blessed

I don't truly realize how blessed I am. This is kind of a post that expresses a deep sense of gratitude for my Heavenly Father and all the love that He has shown me.

As many know I really enjoy doing a lot of things and I have a talent to be able to do a lot of things. If I had the funds and time I would be doing even more things, but what the Lord has blessed me with is an ability to learn and think for myself. My greatest teacher is the Spirit from which I can learn many of life's lessons. The Spirit helps me think rationally about situations. It helps me overcome fears that I have in daily life when addressing complicated problems. The Spirit is one of the best gifts that I have and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It has given me a sense of hope that carries me from one lesson and life principle to the next.

The blessings bestowed upon my household are numberless. Even though I try to count and name them they still will always exceed my grasp. The reason for that is because there are blessings we have been given that we don't even know about yet. I love my wife. I love her to death.

What I wish I could impart to the world is the knowledge that we are not alone. We can learn. We can grow. I've often thought, "What would I be like if everything were taken away from me?" Would I be like Job? Would I curse the Lord my God? If I found myself in a complete rut would the circumstance provide a way to overcome my inabilities? What would a beggar need to do to come out on top? One of my key pieces of advice would be to stop any drugs or smokes. If a man can survive on bread and water then he is in good condition. I would make a sign that says will work for food. I might even go door to door asking for work so that I could buy food. People are generous with food, but they are not generous with money but after all, money is not a necessity. I believe that shelter comes after food. So once one is sustained they can try to find some sort of permanent residence. Along with that residence comes the ability to store items and collect. Try to find a stable job instead of doing freelance. I feel like as long as one has hope they can do anything, because hope leads to faith, which conquers fear, and fear is what stops us from reaching any sort of potential that we all possess as sons and daughters of God.

Moving to a different subject... I am so grateful for the Boy Scouts of America. In Scouts I had to get a certain merit badge called Family Life in order to obtain my Eagle Scout award. One of the requirements to achieve this merit badge was to make a budget. Well, the principles I learned from making that budget so long ago come into full force today. I had to make a budget last week and I was able to make it down to the nitty gritty of Ashley and my life. While before I was getting a little scared about this upcoming semester I know feel super calm and not only that, I feel like I am going to enjoy this semester a lot thanks to my darling wife... who is staring at me right now while putting on lip gloss... creepy...

Life is absolutely incredible. Never give up hope and always have the Lord on your side because his team is always going to come out on top. Can anyone give me a hypothetical design job that I could work on to help build my portfolio?

The Past Week

I actually made a goal at work to write somewhat of a journal with the main intention to strengthen my vocabulary. Honestly, I can say that my ability to spell has increased much thanks to the use of computers. I don't just use spell check but I also remember after I've spell checked something so that I can write it correctly the next time I utilize said word.

Life is absolutely amazing. School is about to start tomorrow finally. It feels like it has been a long time since I have attended university, an entire summer to be sure. When I got home from my LDS mission to Italy I attended school year round and so this has been the first time for a while in which I haven't worried about some future due date. If this is how life outside college is chain me to a wall and give my my degree.

Ashley is the love of my life. I learn that more and more every day. A couple of weeks ago we woke up and were preparing for church when I thought... I want to make a big breakfast. So I did. We constructed a wonderful meal out of ham, eggs, and pancake batter! It was glorious. I realized that no one made this breakfast for me. It was only us. I texted my mom to thank her for all the Wednesday mornings in which she made me big breakfasts and I felt so proud to be her son an in the responsible position in which I find myself currently. After all was said and done I responded with a final comment, "My marriage would not have worked out so well with any other girl." And I mean that with all my heart. I love her.

At work we are using a design that I made for a new website which is kind of nerve wracking, since a whole lot of people are going to see it. I'll probably hear comments about it when it's finally up and working. I'm kind of nervous.

This semester is going to be quite easy. Let me explain. I already know how to program and I am very good with finances. Two of my classes are regarding those principles. Two of the other classes are religion, in which case I only need to study, and the final class is History of Philosophy 2. I used to be a philosophy major and have read all the works that we will be studying, and quite recently too. Besides school I will be working 20 hours at the bookstore, playing hockey once a week for a team in the local city league, and I will be playing Ultimate Frisbee in one of the most competitive non professional programs in the country. This time of my life is so exciting due to all these events occurring. I hope to get a ton of pictures and keep the blog up to date.

I just finished creating a program that will allow me to keep track of all the hymns I pick during church. That way my ward can be introduced to a new variety of music. Each song is mapped to the topics concerning it as well so that I can match it up to the topic being spoken about in church. I'm happy with it. I wonder why the church doesn't set up a management program online for people with my calling, Ward Music Chair. Which reminds me, very funny story. When I was being set apart for the calling the second counselor in the Bishopric, speaking on behalf of God, told me not to essentially, "hog", the calling. Let's understand, I love singing, and I love performing. So way funny right? I'm trying to take that to heart. Maybe I'll give me a musical number once a semester. That doesn't sound too bad right?

I'm so excited for this next semester/season. It's going to be AWESOME!

Help me out!

I want to make a banner that includes a bunch of things that describe me like frisbees and hockey. Please comment on what makes me me and I'll make sure to put it in.

It's been a while

My wife constantly states on her blog that she doesn't stay up to date... she's got me beat like no body's business. My life has been amazing.

One cannot comprehend how incredible it feels to be in the blessed situation in which I find myself. I love my job. I love my wife. I love cooking. I love playing Ultimate. I love playing Ice Hockey. I am so looking forward to school this coming fall and am all set.

I'd like to shed a little light on the subject of my job. I work at the BYU bookstore. It's an ethereal place. Every single person that I looked at while at work today had a smile on. It's a great environment to be in. I sit in a computer lab on the third floor next to the offices and I program all day. I work with various languages, HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, PHP, and C# currently. However... once you know one language you can know many others. I hope to expand that understanding to all of you in the upcoming posts.

But first! Lasagna:

Make your favorite Red Sauce!

 Then you mix Parmesian cheese with Cottage cheese. YUM! Or if you want to go the more expensive version you can mix it with Ricotta cheese.

 Make sure you have plenty of Mozzarella cheese to put on top yum!

 In your casserole dish put down a little layer of sauce. Then layer with noodles and put sauce and the Parm/Cottage blend on top then repeat.

 On top! Put all the Mozzarella. And wahlah! Breakfast!... that's a quote.

It was soo good. I hope to post other pictures of stuff.