sunday plus

i didn't write last week because i was out of town playing the piano at a friend's mom's wedding. it was pretty good. i spent a lot of time at their house playing their piano. i was glad to do it because i love them... and got to play whatever i wanted. how can you beat that?

well...i'll tell ya.

this weekend was general conference. it was awesome as usual. i love hearing general conference. every time i listen to the prophets and apostles, i learn something new or am told something that i need to be doing.

usually i feel a little bad to see how much i should be doing after listening to them. i feel like...yeah i wasn't even close... i kinda feel like the kid at the spelling bee that was using numbers and stuff. you know the kid i'm talking about...

another of the surprising things is that most of the stuff i learn that i need to do is not in what they say. they are the leaders put in place by Him to teach us. their speaking brings the spirit and that is what teaches me.

the other thing i love about the spirit of general conference is how it calms me. it helps me to forget about the things that I have to do. it helps me forget my worry about school and homework and everything and just be a non-stressed and calm, wonderful me.

and i'm kinda awesome.

something else that i notice is that when i can forget about all the stuff i have on the plate, and the spirit drives away the stupid thoughts i might have, i'm left thinking of what is most important to me. i'm left with what my mind would think and my heart would desire without all the distraction. that's pretty cool.

when this happens, i feel in love with my wife. i feel more in love with her than ever. and the cool thing is that it doesn't go down until the next time. i just keep falling for her more every day. i don't know how that happens. i just know i've gotten to the point where i don't think it's even possible for me to love her any more than i do more than a couple times...and every time, i love her more the next day. the presence of the spirit just gives it an extra kick.

so the moral is people, be where the spirit is. when you seek it, good things happen.

that was full of suspense right?

so 5 months....

i thought i'd...you know...be suspenseful...i know you were all waiting on the edge of your seats for me to post something...

okay. i'm lying. i'm really just bad at this whole thing of recording things and remembering things...ask my wife. she knows.

so i've decided to start doing this whole blog thing every sunday. i originally thought...oh i'll just blog when i feel like blogging and it'll be good. everyone will be able to delve into my life and they'll love me because i'm so awesome and funny...

and then i didn't write anything for 5 months.

this is why setting a time...well at least a day...will be helpful...

because let's face it. if i just do it when i feel like it, i'll end up playing mariokart or writing some song or some paper or eating hot dogs or something like that.

so anyway.

once upon a time, i thought, once this marching band thing is over, i'll have more time... and then i was wrong. the end.

my schedule is poop. enough there.

teachergirl and i are expecting a baby girl pretty soon though. you all probably know that already though since you probably read her blog too...

i'm excited about it though.

i don't think i'm that nervous about having her.

i know what you're thinking...that's because you don't have to do anything because the birthing is taken care of by nature and the unequaled pain of your beloved spouse...

while you are right, i meant about having her here. most are nervous that they won't know what to do. while there's a little of that, i think it's minimal.

I'm mostly just in awe of how baby "M" will know nothing. we will have to teach her everything! she won't even know that going to the bathroom on yourself is nasty. she won't even know what up is. it's just amazing. and it's up to us.

I'm really excited to meet her. I wonder what her personality will be like. will she be chill? or high strung? or a thinker? or a talker? will she be sassy like her mom? will she have my unbelievable charm and charisma? my overwhelming humility? will she be brave? will she be doubting? will she be a friend to everyone?

I don't know. I just know that i'm in amazement at how much trust God has in me. He trusts me to be the father of one of His precious daughters. He trusts me to teach her what is right. He trusts me to take care of her. He trusts me to love her and to teach her about His love through that.

i do know one thing though. i know that i love her. i don't know her, but i do. i know that i'm going to do whatever i can to make sure that she has everything...even if that means that i don't give her stuff because i know that will be part of it. i know that i love that she kicks when i sing or when i read a book to her. i know she kicks when she hears a trumpet or an organ. whether she likes it or not...we'll see.

I know that she's lucky to have such a wonderful mom as an example of a virtuous woman. i pray that she can be like her. i hope she is fun like her. i hope she is righteous like her. i hope she serves others like her. i hope she is kind like her. i hope she's smart like her.

in short, if she's like her mom, me and teachergirl did pretty good.

gnomes...it's the only explaination

i wear a night guard. it's like a retainer that keeps me from grinding my teeth.

so when i woke up this morning it wasn't in my mouth.

i was like "what the dang?" first my metronome disappears, then my sight singing book, and now my night guard disappears right out of my mouth in my sleep.

what's next? is my pencil going to go missing while i'm in the middle of writing a sentence? are my pants going to freakishly disintegrate while i'm walking to class? is my entire truck going to be gone while i'm driving down the road? am i going to tumble down the left side of the right lane of a two lane road head over heals getting road rash while i hopefully roll it over onto the shoulder before kicked by a frat boy on a scoot-scoot?

my guess is no.

it has to be those stupid gnomes. they're stealing my stuff and laughing uncontrollably as i completely tear apart everything looking for this stuff.
i hear them...i think.

you gnomes better stop stealing my stuff...and if you keep stealing my stuff, you better say hidden real good... 'cause i'll put you in the dumpster like a big, big bully.

what am i saying? i'm being crazy. there's no way the gnomes read my blog...which makes this threat completely useless. stupid gnomes and their dislike for technology.

oh well.



and by the way...i found my night guard.

So i suck at blogging...what of it?!

so here's a quick snapshot of a real live married music major...

i'm busier than i've ever been in my life.

marching band takes pretty much the whole thing alone. it's takes about 10-12 hours a week for a whopping 1 credit hour. i do like it and it's fun and good times and all...but it takes a lot of time.

know what the funny thing is? one of the other classes that worries me the most is worth...guess how many credits...no not 2...not 1...that's right...ZERO! yes. i actually have a required zero credit class. it's something called go to 13 recitals/concerts (without being late...it doesn't count if you are). i do have one out of the way though. it was a sitar recital that went half an hour later than it was supposed to.

now...i can understand going a couple minutes...but like...how do you not know that your program goes 30 minutes longer than you're posted time? how are you just completely unaware that what you're playing isn't 2 hours? and that it is in fact 150 dang minutes? it blew my mind a little...you know...in an annoying want to yell out from the crowd "hey! stop playing the sitar! and if your not, at least stop playing that droning D! and you! hand drummer guy! you rock a little..."

back to my life...i'm pretty much never home. i leave the house at about 7am and on most days, i don't get back until about 9:20 or 30 pm. it's a little draining.

with that said, i like my life. it's good. my mission president said, when teaching about planning, that some one whose schedule looks like this (holding up a planner that had every half hour planned out with a back up plan if the plan fell through) are the ones who are going to be the most successful at life. i guess i'm going to be successful then because my schedule is pretty much that full...you know...except without the backup plans and the actual planning...

i just know when my classes are and do homework in between and practice when i can...then i do more homework when i get home at 9 something...usually until about 11something. it's good times.

my life is good though. i'm married to a very awesome teacher girl. she's pregnant with our baby. i love her very much and don't think i could get through everything i'm doing with out her. she helps me stay focused at the end of the day to get that one thing left to do done. she makes me lunch so i'll eat before 6. she made a calendar for me so i know when things are due. and all this she does on top of being pregnant and teaching 8 college classes that's right...8. she's so wonderful. she's the best. i also feel like i'm weird. and what i mean is...the stereotype is that when women are pregnant, they're crazy and drive us men crazy. she doesn't drive me crazy. i actually feel like i'm falling for her even more.

maybe not weird...but the luckiest:)

so in short, i'm busy and frustrated...and i'm worried about not being able to finish everything...but life is good...because i choose it to be and my wife is the best wife since wives were invented on this earth...and i'm the least biased person you could ask.

i love my wife...

that's really all i wanted to say. she's asleep right now and i don't want to wake her...but i wanted to say i love her. dating and marrying her was one of the best things i've ever done in my life. lucky for me, she thinks so to. also lucky for me, it's a marriage for eternity. no till death do us part stuff. this is the good kind. performed by the priesthood and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. she's my favorite person. i don't know what i would do without her. the end.

the slotted spoon won't hold much soup, but if you try...you can catch the potato...

so...i love God by the way...

yeah. it's true. i want to do what He wants me to. i pray to know what that is. i feel like i get the same answer most of the time. also, really want to do it too.

i also feel though, and everyone who knows me can back me up here, that i'm really distractable.

i'm kinda like a kid in that way. i'm easily amused. that's good if you're just trying to not be bored. especially at work. today at work i actually practiced my chord choices for each base note in a scale...you know...for harmonic dictation...and also flicked coins into a cup... this kind of thing is really helpful for getting through the 5 hour days there.

it's not so good however for doing specific things you need to do.

i think it's because i started leaving my planner at home when i went to work. i WAS taking it to work everyday just to plan a list for that day and other days of the week. i stopped because we were moving and there was nothing to plan. i was just to unpack. nothing that needed to be written down.

anyway...this "distractability" and not bringing my planner makes me forget things. even the important things. and because i forget, i feel like i am the worst follower ever. i feel like i give a luke warm effort...and that doesn't feel to good. i feel like: "He's only been asking me to do one thing (mostly...you know other than keep the commandments and all...) for a while...and i still haven't done it.

i'm going to try really hard to remember tomorrow to do it.

in fact...can you hold on a minute? of course you can. thanks.

i just had to go get my planner and put it int the middle of the floor to remember to take it with me in the morning. that'll help for sure.

i just feel like a let down to Heavenly Father. i know he doesn't think i'm not good enough. that's not how he works. he wants for us only to realize of how much worth we are...and then act like it.

i also feel like there's more He wants me to do...but why would he give me more if i can't do what i got?

this thinking came to me tonight because i was wondering tonight why i feel like He's not giving me more direct instruction. it could be because he thinks i'm doing good and trusts my judgment and is letting me just do it...or it could be because i'm already not doing the stuff He already told me what to do. there's a way to find out...and i think i'm gunna try it.

i feel like i'm just rambling now... and i probably am... sorry.

i'm just going to try to do better.

i guess if i want people to read this, i should write regularly...

so...as i've said before, my work is pretty boring. today, however, i had something kind of interesting happen. i won't be specific because of the whole confidentiality thing...but i was talking to this lady on the phone (because that's what i do) and she had a complaint. i understood. i knew where she was coming from. i would even say that i agreed with her if what she thought happened really did. i doubt it...but that's beside the point.

she complained...repeating herself...many times...about 1 or 2 things...FOR 35 MINUTES STRAIGHT!!!

i don't even think breathed but twice. she didn't let me talk. she didn't even actually give me the information i needed to help and actually make a difference. she just kept going, and going in a loop...for 35 minutes.

is this necessary?

the answer is no. but i'm sure you know that because you're smart people. i can see if she was letting me try to get the info and do something about it... or if we were having a discussion trying to calm her down...but it was a monologue of epic proportions. she just kept saying how wrong i was and what i should have done...even though it was the first time i've spoken to her. i didn't take offense or anything. i thought it was kind of funny after about 10 minutes.

it actually reminded me of my missionary days. i'm sure all you proselytizing missionaries know what i mean. when you knock on a door and they just start going off about how wrong you are and all the horrible things you've done and how their church is right and yours is not. those doors were more sad than funny though because they were so closed minded and hard hearted. this phone call was funny though.

so if you have a complaint with a company, here's what i suggest...

A. don't give a 35 minute monologue

2. let them help you. let them talk some too. they want to help you. they probably have nothing more exciting to do if they're in a call center.

D. call someone who's not me.

thanks.