Ready for the long haul...

Or at least I'm trying to be! So, I don't know how many people actually read this, but... Emily asked me if I wanted to take over her blog while she's on her mission. (Note the new addition to the "contributors" list of this blog). Now that you know that, half of you are probably gonna stop following this blog, hah! Just kidding. I hope not, at least. ;) In all honesty I'm doing this mostly for Emily, maybe when she gets back it will give her something to smile about. :)

So as everyone probably knows, Emily reported to the MTC on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to go with her and her parents to drop her off. It was a great experience! But also very hard for me. We went to iHop for breakfast.

Took pictures at the Provo Temple. (There was supposed to be one of just Emily and I but I don't know where it went!)

Then it actually happened. The day we both knew was coming for the past year actually came, and I don't think either of us were really completely prepared for it. I'll never forget watching her walk into the MTC, with her white jacket and missionary bag. She looked happy and scared at the same time, hah. She looked like an angel! I was fighting back tears all the way home. Really embarrassing, especially considering her parents were in the car, hah! At one point Tom looked back and patted me on the knee as he said, "This has gotta be pretty hard for you, isn't it?" I was so choked up I could barely get an answer out! I managed to get a sheepish "Yeah" out, though. I'm planning on serving a mission myself, which I have to wait a year for. So this last Wednesday marked the beginning of 3 years that we probably will not see each other. I think I can speak for both of us when I say it's not going to be easy. I hope I have the strength to get through it!

I've known Emily for going on 4 years now. Emily (and her family) has been an instrumental "support group" for me during my investigation of the church, and still are to this day, really. Actually, probably even more so now, now that I've moved out. There were a lot of little things that ultimately led up to my investigation. I grew up in a "fundamentalist mormon" environment. So I have a somewhat unique conversion story. It has been a hard process getting to where I am now, and Emily was there for me through a lot of it. And actually, looking back at things in retrospect, I realized she was there exactly when I needed her to be, and wasn't there exactly when I needed to be on my own. At first, long before I ever started investigating the church, we "butted heads" quite a bit if we ever discussed religion. So, naturally, we tried to avoid it. We spent the majority of our friendship like that-avoiding deep discussions completely. Though sometimes it would unavoidably come up, especially since we both come from strong LDS backgrounds and lineages (besides me being "fundamentalist", Orson Pratt is my great, great grandfather). One day, yearly last year, Emily said to me via text, "I really think you should be LDS". She intended it to be nothing more than a compliment to my character. I was deeply offended though, as I thought she knew how I felt about the church and couldn't understand why she would think that. Ironically, it was those words that eventually did lead me to investigate the church. It took me almost a year from the time she sent that text, but in December of last year I decided I wanted to find out, and learn for myself. Exactly 10 months later I was baptized. I guess you could say I was Emily's first investigator! We've both had a lot of ups and down through this whole process. I'm certainly glad that she's been there for me, though. And I'm glad I've been able to be there for her however I could! She is an amazing person, and will make a great missionary!

This picture was taken in front of President Neilson's Office, just moments before she was set apart. I going to miss her dearly! I look forward to seeing her again! I love you, Emily!

Fairy party!

Last week Rebekah hosted a fairy party at her house :)

We wore fairy wings



And had a cupcake decorating contest



Brooklyn was the most entertaining to watch


We watched a Tinkerbell movie. I promise I was not the only one mesmerized by it. Everyone else just happened to look away at the exact moment the picture was taken.


We had yummy food too

Halloween funness

These pictures are blurry and dark because they were taken with a phone. And it was dark.

Adam and I have been to three different haunted houses and a haunted corn maze in the last week or so. I think we're trying to make up for me being in the MTC on Halloween. To be honest, I'm getting Halloweened out already. But it has been quite fun!


We actually chased this guy down. We saw him before but he was too far away to get a picture and we had to wait in line. So after the haunted house we saw him again and chased him. I think he was a little caught off gaurd when two crazy people appeared at his side and turned him around for the picture when he was in the middle of scaring other people waiting in line.




This guy actually managed to scare Kim twice just by standing next to her. He didn't jump at her or anything. Just stood there. And she screamed. Humorous? Yes. I'm so glad we took her.

A long awaited day.

About a year ago my best friend, Adam Pratt, started investigating the church. For those of you who don't know, he comes from a fundamentalist background. No, not the FLDS. Or any other famous polygamist group you're thinking of right now. Its a group called the Order. They're not well known because they're pretty big on secrecy. They blend in and look and act just like you and me. You may have even met one or several and not known it.
I've known Adam for almost four years. He's an honest, genuine, good friend. Since he started investigating the church, there have been a lot of ups and downs. He gave up the support of his staunch fundamentalist family and a lot of friends. But he's gained a lot as well.
I've waited and prayed and studied right along with him for the last eleven months and its been a big testimony growing experience for me as well.

Here is the result.....



Adam was baptized by Rob Goates (my neighbor that took him in when he moved out of his parents house) and confirmed by my dad in sacrament meeting the next day.

Momma's Takin' Us To The Zoo Tomorrow, Zoo Tomorrow, Zoo Tomorrow

Not really. But Adam and I did go to the zoo as our first official date after getting back together. Here is the resulting silliness and fun!













both of us making weird faces in this one was not on purpose! It just happened.

Zombies

Okey Doke. So its late, and I'm tired and probably not thinking right. But I'm going to blog about this with a request that you guys leave comments about your opinions. Not that tons of people read this or anything. But if you comment I'll know you read this.

In the last few days I have been to three different haunted houses. Thats more than I've been to in my entire life. Haunted houses are scary but they're fun scary, right? You go through creepy hallways and people jump out at you or there are scary props and you scream and jump and then laugh about it three seconds later, right? But there a few things that just give you a dark feeling. The things that don't scare you. They just make you feel sick. Zombies are one of those things for me. Spooky monsters or gory things never got me in that dark way. But things that have to do with human mutation do.

It occurred to me twice in the last few days that a lot of things used in haunted houses, if they were in a movie would be rated R. So if I have a standard of not watching rated R movies because of whats in them, how do I justify going to something that has those things in them even if it's not a movie? One of those things was zombies. Zombies are one of those things that have always scared me. Some people are creeped out by ghosts or vampires. I'm terrified of zombies. Even though they aren't real. I thought about why for the first time tonight.

Humans are created in Gods image. We are his children; potential Gods. Now take that and turn it into a Zombie or a rabid human or any other sick mutation. Its purely evil. When I said that to Adam he said you have to remember that with zombies, its technically not a human anymore. But even when the spirit is gone, that body is still one of Gods sacred creations. Making it into a zombie would take that beautiful creation and turn it into a monster: a tool of the devil. Imagine you. Your body that is so important to you being a zombie? It's not ok.

You could say the same things with just about any human mutation. Anything that takes the human mind or body or spirit and turns it into a devilish monster is just wrong. Think about that and now think about the millions of people that use that kind of thing for entertainment to get a thrill or are just fascinated by it. It's sick and twisted.

What do you think? Agree, disagree? Different points of view? Comments? I want to know what you think.

My creeper boss.

Ok, my boss isn't really a creeper but I thought he was for a few minutes. Here's the story. As we all know, I'm going on my mission in a couple weeks. So I quit my job a few weeks early to give me some extra time to get ready. Plus, I'm just sick of my job. But I do love the people there!

For a while I was in charge of quality. Meaning I check ten percent of the work everyone does to make sure people are doing their jobs right. Every Friday we have a QC (I think that stands for quality check) meeting. Well, when my boss found out I was going to be leaving he had me train someone else and when that person was trained and comfortable doing my job, they took me off it and put me back on production. I also stopped going to QC meetings.

Well the last Friday before I quit, for some reason they invited me to the QC meeting. This didn't make a bit of sense to me but I went thinking they just wanted me to be able to say good bye to people and whatnot. We turned it into a little party and brought food and candy.

When I got back, Jeanette came and talked to me to say goodbye and congratulate me on my mission. While I was talking to her, my boss was standing there. I thought that was odd because he usually doesn't just stand around. When Jeanette left, he kept standing there. I went to my locker and he kept just standing there. Then he followed me back to the call floor not saying anything. Just following me around. Creepy, right?

When I got into the call floor he pulled me into the dark break room

and

SURPRISE!!!

They were having a party for me! Everyone I knew from work and then some were packed into the break room. Even my bosses bosses boss was there and gave a speech about what a good employee I am and how I set a "standard of professionalism that the company is striving for."

I think that's a little bit higher praise than what I deserve but it was very nice. They also made a cool card for me that everyone signed and gave me a paid lunch. It was awesome! Thanks so much everyone!!



This is just about everyone I work with. Or did work with, I guess.


This picture I just thought was cool. They wanted me to be in the middle but I was trying not to stand in front of anyone so I squated down. I was joking but he really took the picture while I was moving. It looks like I'm striking some kind of rock star pose or something. I'm basically famous now.

Art!

So I really haven't been doing much art lately but I did get around to doing this. My friend, Kalisse, absolutely adores shoes. I couldn't afford to get her a real pair so I painted one for her!

And . . . .she loved it! Happy late birthday, Kalisse :)

Epic campingness

Ok, so once again, blogger is dumb and didn't put any of my pictures in order so I stopped fighting with it and decided to just let them be out of order. These are the pictures from the family campout a couple weeks ago. It was freezing but fun :)

Everyone started this hike but only a few of us made it all the way up to this old mine. It was pretty cool.





The last night of camping, the pattern on my blanket got melted off of my blanket and onto the grill. And yes, Michelle, that is the blanket you gave me for Christmas. Its such a trooper!


Not sure what he's looking at but it must be important.

this was pretty scary. We hiked all the way up the rock fall and Doughnut Falls and decided it would be a good idea to get as close to the waterfall as possible. We sat right on the edge of the Doughnut hole.



I did this sarcastically but for some reason Adam thought he would get a picture of it.



Inside the cave...



This is everyone that started the big long hike up to the mine that only a few of us got to.

Singing and playing guitar by the camp fire. I think we sang Harry to Sleep that night.




We found these uber cool little furry caterpillars.

Grandma thought they were the coolest things ever. After we let them go, she was determined to find another one.

And THIS, was my amazing birthday dinner. Steak fajitas. Thanks mom and everyone else that helped with it. It was scrumptious.







A pack of moosen in the woodsen!


More pictures of the cool mine


The victorious three at the top of the trail!!