Trophies, Lasers, & Breakfast Corndogs

It's been a few week, maybe a month, since a good post and I feel like I have much to share. There's much to be shared, and so much to come. A bit of background on a solid event, I have a phenomenal accounting professor who's daughter has some interest in BYU. As my blood runs blue (saying I'm a cougar isn't the image I'm going for here), I threw out the offer to accompany her along the way and provide some slight humor; not good humor, but it works. Needless to say, she got a full dose of BYU. On our tour, we learned the story behind the "Y" one the side of the mountain. Moral behind it: It seems that laziness does pay off. After visiting a couple professors and checking out the dorms, the real fun began.

We started making our way towards the Wilk when we spotted some LARPing going on. This was rather interesting to me as this is a big move from having their sword-play off campus to now having it be a main feature to future students touring the campus. To be honest, it wasn't all quite fair. From the photos, you'll see one dude with one quality handmade shield. He decided that some girl half his size would be a rather worthy opponent. About halfway through their duel, she realized how courageous this stripling knight was an found out that if she just charged him, he'd kind of cower away and she'd be able to hack away at him. After that, some samurai come on the scene and really just tore it up from there.

Having had our fair share of entertainment, we made an offering to the heathan gods of college food and partook of some Slabb Pizza! Thank you Kirk for making a glorious appearance. I really should have spent more time here while at BYU. For those of you who now choose to nibble on a slice or two, don't get the ordinary cheese or pepperoni toppings. This place was meant for reaching out into the food world and throwing your taste buds on a roller coaster ride that will bring them back amped for another round.

For the rest of the evening before we took-off toward the nickelcade! Like everybody should, we started with some laser-tag!! Most definitely the funniest game I've ever played; I almost died laughing. Ryhop pretty much ran around the entire time as Ed & I tried to find him. In the end, after years and years of playing, I finally finished on top. This might seem like a rather adolescent achievement to everybody else out there, but I've been fighting for this spot since I've been 7. In other words, thank you to everybody who played and let me win. Our group will go down in the books for our accuracy. Having had our fill, we took our nickels and put some good use to them.

Ed & Nat scored jackpot on some magical wheel of fortune game; only took them 50 tries!

At this time, I need to take a step back and take a moment to share a real life-changing experience I had during this trip. In order to get a real taste of BYU, a breakfast trip was made to the Cannon Center. We rummaged some decent food and addicting chocolate milk (I left with 3 gallons from the BYU Creamery and it was gone within two and a half weeks. I'd like to say I shared it all, but c'mon, it's the Creamery's chocolate milk we're talking about here!). All of a sudden, I venture out to the far corner of the cafeteria and find these odd looking corn dogs. For those unaware, corn dogs hold a very special place in my heart. It could be the crispy outside accompanied with a fluffy center, the meat in the center that you're not sure what it's made of, or the bright childhood memories. Whatever it is, the corn dog is phenomenal. They had these for breakfast, and I was stoked! I took one bite into one, and I'm sure everybody within a mile radius could hear my taste buds singing. A blueberry pancake coating one tasty sausage. Why has nobody told me about this? I nearly cried I was so happy!



Back to the story. We're now post-nickelcade and it's high time we start back to Prescott. But first! Somebody let out the knowledge that tonight was the first night snow cones were back. Seriously needed to hit that up as we had not really eaten since corn dog euphoria that very morn.

Ryhop and I scored three delicious flavors which, to be honest, I really can't remember.

Back to school. I joined this PBL club (FBLA for kids in college) in the hopes it would boost some chances in some future job. As it's a nationwide club, they have these state competitions between members of the club (NUA, ASU, UofA) and end up sending the person who finishes first in each of their 50 some-odd events to nationals out in Memphis in the middle of Summer. I decided to enter into 3 events: Management Principles, Statistics, and Computer Applications (Excel, PPT, & Word). During the award ceremony, the announcer calls the top three. I ended up not even placing for management, but had to beat an Oriental for Stats (has that ever even happened before?)  and rock out one poweful powerpoint to take first in both of those. There's no way I'll be found in Memphis in the middle of Summer. Instead, you can find me training for my next triathlon which will be out in Austin, Texas. Those who would like to join me while training should feel free to join.

The First of Many

About eight days ago, I headed out with two other classmates to SLO for my first triathlon in about 7 years. The last one I did was a Sprint Tri in hopes of three-peating my victory status. I ended up in the Emergency Room and Jason took the responsibility any other Hall would- won it. Having learned my lesson all so many years ago, I felt that not falling while on a bike would be the better option- smart, right! On another note, I decided to turn up the distance a bit and do an Olympic length instead of sprint. For those unawares, Olympic distance is a 1500 meter swim followed by a nice 40 km (24.8 miles) bike and topped off with a 10 km (6.2 miles) jog.

Having set that stage, whatever my intentions were about dominating the field once again were completely demolished. I get there, and it's a mecca of college kids from UCSD and UCLA to Stanford and Cal. Everybody was part of some campus club that had a coach, regular practices, and set cheers before the horn went off. Needless to say, they were way out of my league. Nevertheless, I squirmed into my wet-suit, donned my cap and goggles, and began my epic journey into the water. First off, that water was so cold! My feet didn't get feeling back until halfway through the run. But we start out and bodies are everywhere; it had been a while since I had felt up that way. I started off well, but at the turn of the first buouy things went down hill really quickly. The combo of really choppy water and a lake that had a clearness level of nothing left me nauseous and dizzy. It took me a while to get my bearing back, and by that time the girls who started 10 minutes after me started passing me; embarrassment was definitely felt.

But out of the water I came and off to the bike portion. This could seriously have been my favorite part. A little side note here, though. So, about three-quarters of the people here have these really nice triathlon bikes made of carbon-fiber with helmets which serisouly makes them look like a mild form of Darth Vader. Don't get me wrong, I've got some sweet wheels; they just took it up a notch or two. Probably one of the greatest feeling I had was knowing that even though they had a gear, I was still passing them as I pumped it out on the bike.

The run was a whole different story. Having tried to run for the majority of my life and helping coach a bit, I thought I could handle the run. That run was awful! From the bike my calves were blown and by the time I started running, the guy who won had just finished. But after my feet finally got their feeling back, I got into my stride and somehow made it through the finish line. I might have never been so happy to finally finish something as when I crossed that line. All that seriously left me when I found out there was no chocolate milk to partake of as part of my after-party ritual. For those who care, the finishing time was 2:41:55.6. I'll get better, I promise.

So back on the road to Prescott we went, stopping by the Hall's residence for some hot water and a generous meal; sustanence had never felt so good! The day after, my body felt like a bulldozer had rolled over me- twice. Mentally, I'm still recovering but should be back at it another one in a few months.

Spring Break, Part 2

The last week spent crashing on a couch in The Treehouse could have just been a serious top five - no, three!- greatest memories since I have moved to Prescott. Let's get the first major victoryout of the way. I came back with two and a half gallons of chocolate milk from the BYU Creamery. Now that we have that out of the way, let's get into what actually went down.

Friends Were Met and Made

I won't deny it, living back at The Treehouse was a most definite plus. Come Tuesday, I told everybody I was going to head out the next day. Ed (who, thanks to Nat, doesn't live there anymore) threw out the hospitable proposal that I simply just stay for the rest of the week. It wasn't a hard choice. I'm pretty sure we celebrated and then carried on eating some delicious chocolate trifle! We'd like to all thank Ed for stepping up to the plate and making sure I stayed to complete my week of happiness.

 Now, for those unacquainted with him, Kirk Katseanes is not just a dear friend that pulls strings for me all the time. We have a delicious tradition of attending Kneaders Bakerywhenever we get together. We talk about life, girls (or lack thereof), our time in the mission together, and our future (again, or lack thereof). But really, we mostly just talk about girls. This last time we enjoyed going over the book series A Song of Fire and Ice.

Some people I also met, but would rather not have. There was an evening where I seriously spent way too much time (about 15 minutes) around the greatest tools I ever seen. Really, if Home Depot ever needs a new mascot, I know a lovely apartment where a shelf of them are. I'm sure they'll grow into something acceptable to society some day, but not anytime soon. Until then, I wish them the best of luck.

Family Most Definitely Happened   

My Grandmother "Grandi" lives up in the good ol' SLC. I surprised my Mum with having still been up in Utah. She asked me what hip kids were doing these days and before I could muster a word about how cool blogs are, my Mum went off on "selfie"ing and how some girl on the flight she just took was doing it the entire time. Grandi couldn't grasp the concept of it, so we thought a personal 3 generation selfie would do the trick. She rather enjoyed it.

Other High Notes     

Several years ago, I took a wild (really, there's no other way to describe it) trip to California with several companions. Mauri Wood happened to be one of them; I'd thought to give her a heads up to see how she was. She's teaching some 1st Graders who seriously have their work cut out for them. Genetics, Advanced Mathematics, and Modern English are just a few to mention. Good luck to her!

A game of pick-up football was played with a kicker for the football team. After a solid hit to Ed's knee and whole load of luck, Ryhop and I came out victors in the end. Power to us.

Something spiritually nice I found:

Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.

Spring Break, Part 1

So I never really got the point of Spring Break, and I continue to struggle to. You study hard for an entire half of a semester only to completely forget all of it during a week of complete bliss. Don't get me wrong, it has it perks, and it's only just begun!

I started off out outside of Flagstaff where I picked up a hitchhiker who needed a ride for a good half hour through the Navajo Reservation. Over our conversation, I learned there's no alcohol allowed on The Res, the penalty of even being buzzed would get you a trip to jail. As he headed off East to Tuba City, I continued North. Traveling in a 65 MPH area, I got pulled over going 81 and even through a tender story as to why I would even go so fast he still gave me a ticket, but only for going 75.

The scenery was rather nice though...

Upon my arrival, there was a grand reunion with my younger-- not little brother --Jason, the Hopkin bros (Ryan and Blake), Vladi Falk, and Ed Houstman! Needless to say, we quickly got down to Laser Assault for an epic night of pure joy. During one round, some girl saw our comradery and asked if we really were just a group of college guys out for a night of laser tag. After answering to the affirmative, we hailed us with how awesome we are. I started off a little rusty, only medalling in Bronze, but after our second match there was little question as to how much we dominated. Meet the team! Of course there were a few side distractions we found, but nothing we couldn't tame. After our vicorty, shakes at the Malt Shop called us and we answerd.

The next morning, we watched Blake rock his soccer match with two guys down and headed over to the BYU South Field to cheer on the BYU Rugby Team rock ranked number 1 St. Mary's in a solid victory.

By that point we were hungry for some action of our own, so off to the RB for some crazy wiffleball (trust me, I thought the same thing, but it was an incredible load of fun) followed by some 3V3 football.

Knowing that I wouldn't be here more than a few days, I had to choose my choice of food quite carefully. Thank you Slab Pizza for screwing up part of our order and thus feeding our tenacious hunger pains that were sticking like duct tape, we really needed it. We then headed to a celebration for Kate Hansen where she took pics in front of an American flag- we'll wait another 4 years to see her rock it again.

Come the next morning, Kirk Katz and I partied up to the State of Utah Coroner's Office where he works. For the next time I play the game where I tell two truths and one lie about me, I'm competely saying that I assisted in performing an autopsy on a guy shot in the chest.

A closing thought for the day. I read this aricle the other day that really stuck-out to me. It doesn't matter what your religious views are, it's some sound stuff... Enjoy here!

Back to Haunt Me

Contrary to what my social life says about me now, it is true that once upon a time I spent a great deal of time going out with friends and young maidens. While in high school, right when I was strolling out the front door, my mum would always tell me, "Mind your Ps and Qs." I ended-up looking up what it meant several years ago, and it actually did have something to do with minding your manners and being conscious of what your actions are. As of late, these Ps and Qs have returned back from years past and have embedded themselves in my educational life. In micro and macroeconmics, while studying how markets and consumers react, we always have to make a graph with P resembling price and Q resembling quantity. In statistics, P represents the number of a sample that are positive to the survey and Q represents the number who are negative. Really, who would have thought that Mum Hall was prepping me all these years for these classes?

This week was laden with several-a-midterm that completely had the library sucking the life out of me every day. Although it didn't stop me from waking up each morning at 5 AM (I'm into that kind of thing now), it did take a toll on my visionary skill to read, but only a bit (I've got one last big one this Wednesday with macroeconomics). Although such a life sucked into the black hole of the library, I did find a bit of time for a few social things.

During the week, one evening, the business networking club I'm part of brought in a solid load of VPs, executives, and top guns to give us advice and allow us to ask a few questions. Naturally, it was formal dress. While shaking hands with a couple of them before the meeting officially began as we were just standing around, I was asked by one of them if I happened to be a visiting executive as well. My future shines bright!

I had a couple RA interviews this week. One where I got to talk about my life and opinions for a good 35 minutes straight; poor interviewers, I wouldn't stop rambling. Another interview consisted of a load of applicants working together so they could see how we led or submitted ourselves to our peers. Most of the people applying are current Freshman, and I couldn't help but feel like the weird old guy in the room that looks way too out of place. That took a whole 3 hours, but they gave us snacks so it was okay in the end.

There was also a hoedown for a ward dance. I showed up for a solid 10-15 minutes. That morning I pumped myself up by listening to this and this, but nothing was being played but country music I took-off. I understand it was in a barn and so there was an expectation of country music, but you could feel in the air how some people just really wanted to let loose.

On one last note, I cashed in a bet I won several months ago and was treated to sushi. For those who have not, you need to educate yourself and elevate your standard of living. It really could be the greatest thing- ever!

P-Towns, Worlds Apart

These week's thoughts go out to where my two university experiences happen- Provo, UT and Prescott, AZ. I think it's insteresting to see how two experiences can be so radically different for one person. As there are loads, I've tried to nail it down to the two that would be most entertaining for all of us.

My first real shock was the roomy situation. At BYU, my freshman dorm experience had been full of cherished memories. Organizing assasin together, stealing my RA's mattress when he was showering by breaking into his room with a hanger, and living off of the Cannon Center's chocolate milk were some definite highlights. After living that, living off-campus could not have been better. Living with hooligans (playing pick-up soccer on the daily) and being somehow forced into an awesome dinner group with these girls, partaking in classy Christmas parties, and knowing Nick Jones created one of the best college experiences ever had by man. Riddle has had its eye-opening moments, to say the least. When I first moved here, I lived with a 52 year-old guy who had a mail-order bride from Malaysia on the way. Yeah, living in that trailer home quickly ended. I then lived consecutively with Joshua Day and Nick George, both of whom quickly gave me up as a roomy to get married; like really they did it really quickly. I now live with two guys from the local college's gunsmithing program and two other dudes who work all day. We have friends over on the weekend and play some mad twister games. An interesting side-note is that most students who attend Embry-Riddle live on campus. Really, everybody does. It's not like you get your dorm experience and then find a house with some friends. It's more of you move on over to the the upper-classmen dorms.

Second has to go to dating, and no this has nothing to do with the idea that this past week V-day happened. At BYU, it was insane. I knew girls who didn't have to go grocery shopping due to how often they were taken out and every other weekend another friend was getting engaged.  Our apt put on a few stellar group ones. We thought setting off foating lanterns- and Ryhop's let on fire in the meantime- and then heading back to watch Tangled was a pretty swell idea. A few of us were able to roll our dice at the game and walk away to whole new world, like the kind at Embry-Riddle. For those unfamiliar with the guy to girl ratio, it's 4:1. As a result, we're left to look for girls who happen to be about our age living at home in Prescott, AZ. But life is full of surprises, you never know what'll pop up, so we continue to play this little game of ours until we win.

On a more casual note, I had a great finding this last week. For the past while, I've been waiting with bated breathe to hear back from a whole load of internships I've applied for. I decided to look over my resume, trying to have a fresh look at it and see what I could improve; and I think I found it! For one of my job descriptions, I had been spelling catalog catalogue! Sure, it's still correct- if you're living in the U.K.! I've made my changes and continue to wait.

Fun activity of the week. On Saturday, I took my macro/micro economics professor down the the Gilbert, AZ temple to walk through as they hold their viewing for the public until it's dedicated. He in turn wanted to treat to dinner at this place. It was so good, I get depressed on the idea that I have to now cook food at home that just may never compare- ever!

The Answer is Food- Glorious Food!

For the past couple of weeks, I've invested some time attending several business clubs offered at my blessed university. I feel it's good to network with students I haven't met and future employers, 'cus the aviation industry it kind of a small place. One is PBL, which enters a state meet each year equivalent to the science 2.09 competition in the film "21" and does really well.  Another is an Avitaion Business Communication club. Last year, they went to Las Vegas for a convention and loads of students made some really good connections. This year, they plan to go to Orlando which would require some monetary funds. I've considered my limited options, and have decided to bring back Peter's Kitchen; this time for Prescott!

The tentative plan: Prescott does a famer's market which I plan to enter this year. Using my unrefined and dusty skills as a novice baker, I open a stand selling several English desserts! And suggestions are welcomed.

Still on a cooking note. I've had major cravings for Indian food as of late. Unlike Provo, I don't a delicious curry restuarant I can escape to. I've failed a few times for the past few weeks and have tried to learn from my mistakes so eating would be more of a joy. This week, I nailed it! Accompanied with some basmati rice, lentil soup, and naan bread, a delicious meal was prepared and I've got food for the next 3 days in the fridge.

Awkward Moments of the Week

As this blog's depravity knows no ends, names shall not be withheld. A few week's ago, Brooke and I went on a stats homework date to Costco; I got the combo pizza. During missionary coordination, with both Brooke and me present, our bishop took a few moments to go over how cheap dates that get us out for just a few moments can also be the some great times together. He then immediately mentioned how his favorite is going to Costco with his wife. A look of horror immediately followed from both of us. He didn't know, and let's be honest, you can't beat a hot dog and soda for just $1.50

Next was last night at stake conference. I had found a few spots open in the middle of the last padded bench that would fit Brooke, Aleigh and me. Not wanting to bother people already sitting by shuffling past them, I simply stepped over the back and sat down. A thoughtful man in his late 30's turned around with a look of judgement and asked, "Are you really going to make your wife walk around?" Completely confused and looking like a deer in the headlights, I asked him to please repeat himself. He asked me if I really was going to make my wife (I presume Aleigh) walk all around the bench to sit down. I pulled contemptuously showed my left hand and proudly said that I was as single as they come.