My Boring But Recently More Intersting Summer

It's hard to believe that so much time has passed by over the summer. I blame it mostly on the fact that the daily grind gets so monotonous that you lose track of time in the norm of things. I find that I've learned a lot over the past few months about myself, about others, and about hidden talents that I didn't know I had.

If you are reading this blog, you probably know me well enough to know that I've been working construction for the summer. There's a lot included in that. I've done everything from drilling pilot holes for structural beam studs and laying down storm drain pipe to compacting raw earth for road base and grouting out manholes. Needless to say that this summer has been surprisingly varied as I'm not usually doing the same thing every day. The actual title of my job is a "pipe-layer." That means I spend most of my days in a trench with a shovel and a 4' level installing pipe for drain systems. I'm on the excavation crew for Hogan Construction. I get to drive a front-loader a lot. It's pretty fun. At least it gets me into an air-conditioned cab of a vehicle instead of slaving away in the hot sun. One plus side, though.....I have an amazing farmer tan.

Most recently, I've had to drive an hour south to get to an area called Eagle Mountain (west of Saratoga Springs) at 5:00 am!! Yeah. I get pretty tired.

This past weekend was amazing to say the least. Probably the best this whole summer. My wonderful girlfriend, Jennie came for a visit. Not only was it a great excuse to get three days of work off, but I love having her here. I think having her here far out-weighed the off-time from work. We had a great trip to Bear Lake with the singles branch where we got ripped to shreds on the tubes and also got her a ride on the jet skis. Great time. (You can see a little bit of that farmer tan referred to earlier.)

After the trip to Bear Lake where we all got very very tired, Jennie and I hurried home to get ready for a dinner-double-date with my parents. We spent the night eating at the Roof Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The food was incredible, as was the view and the company (of course, I'm not biased). We ended the evening with a wonderful walk out on the terrace at Temple Square and even got to take some pictures out in front of the temple by the reflection pool. Unfortunately, the young man using the camera didn't get it quite right. But I'm not that picky.

So, as if the weekend couldn't get any better, I got to celebrate my sweetheart's birthday with her. Yep, it's official. I'm no longer dating a teenager. Jennie hit the big 2-0 this weekend and did it very gracefully. We had a great evening with all the family together. We played games, had cake and ice cream, and even sang a great rendition of that Ostermiller classic version of the Birthday Song.

Sadly, early early the next morning I had to say goodbye on my way to work. I loved having her here with me. Just to set the bill straight, there are no plans of a wedding. Jennie and I just don't know yet what's going to happen but we're enjoying the time we have together.

So there's a not-so-brief update on what's gone on in my life this summer. Lots of fun. Lots of good things happening to me that I probably don't deserve, but I'm greatful for them anyway.

Love to all! To my friends, I'll see you all in a month back up at school.

Updated update

Hey, everybody. Man, I totally suck at this keeping everybody updated thing. But in all honesty, I've had a pretty stinking good excuse. I'm busy out my ears with work, and I've been on vacation for the past week. I'll try and get some pictures up.

But some bigger news is last week I got to go to Wisconsin to visit Jennie, and we had a blast. It was so fun to get to meet her family and spend some good time together. I think her dad might be starting to like me. I know her mom does. We went to her brother's house Sunday night where I made dinner. They're all great.

Saturday night last my family and I returned from Nauvoo and I'm totally not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. I guess it's back to the grind for me. There's no way around it.

Happy Birthday?

First of all, thank you, everybody for your happy wishes on the 22nd May 9th of my life. (I guess 23rd if you count the actual day I was born.)
Today, for my birthday, I got a big old welcome to the adult world, where, even though it's your birthday, you still have to go to work, and your boss doesn't really care what day it is. On top of that, I got to spend 8 hours today pulling apart mouldings for concrete forms at the construction site. Sounds fun, demolition, desctruction, that type of stuff. Well, it wasn't. I had to pull boards away from solidified concrete using nothing but a couple hammers, my lineman pliers, a chisel and an electric drill to undo the screws that held together some of the boards. All in all, I ended up over-exerting myself, and now I feel like crap.
I guess the lesson to be learned here is that when you're an adult, the only difference between your birthday and any other day, is that you're officially one year older, you're friends make an extra effort to call you (which is very nice), and you get to eat some cake at the end of the day that has been topped with candle wax due to the fact that it took so long to light them that the first ones were half-way melted by the time they got to the last ones.
Anyway, I really don't mean to make my birthday sound like it sucked. It really was okay. I'm just really tired and feel like sleeping right now. What would make my birthday even better is if the Jazz would win tonight just for me. Here's hoping.

Goodbye to Moana!!!

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I'm sad to say that I've seen the last of Moana. She was a great little SUV, but all great things must come to an end. I don't know when her end will be, but I probably won't see it.
We initially decided to sell her when I was contemplating going down to Texas to sell pest control this summer, and take my Dad's Pontiac Aztek as a replacement to get me down there. While I decided to stay home, we still felt in favor of selling my dear friend. So, we did.
I went to the temple this afternoon, and as I was driving back on the freeway, a man driving a Buick Rendevous rolled down his window, and asked me how much for my car. I'd only had the "For Sale" signs in my windows for a couple days. I told him how much and he signalled for me to full over to the side of the road. I did. He took a look around the car, and asked if he could test drive it. We fulled off the highway into a grocery store parking lot, and he and I took it for a spin. When we finished, he asked if I could meet him there at 6:30 to sell it. Done deal. I got $1,200 for it, and was content.
So, now, we're waiting to sell my Dad's Aztek, so I can get some money to put a down payment on a car. Hopefully, I'll be looking at a newer Pathfinder a lot like the one I already had. I loved it.
Anyway, I'm sad to see her go, but the big wad of cash in my pocket is making me feel a whole lot better.

Chile con Carne

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything, but I had a good excuse. I was in Chile!!!!!!! The trip was so fun! What an amazing experience it was to be out there and playing for people we didn't even know and probably will never meet again, but still felt a connection with through music and through the gospel. There were far too many experiences to write all of them down. But there are a few that I can try to describe through pictures.

One in particular was while we were in the City of Concepcion. One night we were scheduled to play two full concerts in a row. One at 7:00 and one at 9:30. Of course, this drew some complaints from most of the performers, especially the brass players because two concerts in one night is really hard to do. Little did we know that the next day, we'd be visiting a hospital that the proceeds of the concerts were to benefit. We joined the kids in painting some murals, and in return, they painted hand prints and signatures on one of the posters for our concert. We'll have that for memorobelia. It really was a neat experience that I won't soon forget. Overall, the trip was well worth the effort and the time required.

The Best Part of My Day

Okay, everybody. Here she is. This is my girlfriend Jennie. She's from Wisconsin and is a music major. She plays the violin in the Symphony Orchestra with me, and that's how we met. I first noticed her when we were both playing in the pit orchestra for "Crazy for You" earlier in the semester. She has a brilliant smile that lights up a room and melts my heart. On the bus ride back from Portland, I finally worked up the guts to go to the back of the bus where she was sitting and take up the empty seat that was next to her. We started talking, and I haven't been the same since. We simply have a blast when we're together and laugh a lot. It's just too bad there's only a couple weeks left in the semester. But we're planning on keeping in close touch over the summer and picking things back up in the fall.
Anyway, I thought I'd let you all know what's going on in my life. I'm happy, healthy, a little on the heavy side, and dating a wonderful, beautiful girl who makes me smile every day. It doesn't get much better than this.

Road Trip Pics

Here's the long-awaited pictures from Portland that I promised to everybody. Sorry I'm such a sloth and haven't done it yet, but if you knew my schedule, you'd totally understand. I'll do better this summer, though.
This first picture was from the China-town area. I found this really cool archway right at the beginning of it. The characters on the archway say "Four seas, one Family."
The second picture, sorry that it's lop-sided, was taken in front of a Chinese garden.
The Lady who took the picture didn't really know how to work a digital camera very well. From left to right; Me, James (cello), Adam (tuba), Piers (String Bass), Hannah (Timpani), and Jesse (French Horn).
We had a great time out on the town and got to eat some great Chinese food. We had a blast.
We didn't actually go inside the gardens, but I sneaked a picture from outside. I wish we could have had time to go in. But also, it would have cost us each 7 bucks. Not worth it.
Anyway, while on the trip, I had opportunity to meet somebody very special. See the next entry.

Road Trip!!!!!!

I'm actually really excited to be leaving Rexburg this weekend. I'll be going to Portland for a performance with the symphony orchestra at a Music Educators National Conference. I'm not to excited about the 12-14 hour bus rides for two days out of three, but I'm excited to go to the China Town in Portland just in time for Chinese New Year. It's going to be a great chance to get some authentic Chinese food and enjoy the culture again. I'll also get chances to speak with people who actually speak the language and speak it well. Who knows, maybe I'll get to see a lion dance.
I just need to make sure that all my stuff is well charged up for the trip. Wish me well. I'll have pictures when I come back.

LTA (Love to all),

~Scott

SAD #6

Well, here I am, sitting bored at my computer while everybody is going about their plans for Valentine's Day. I lovingly refer to this date as Singles-Awareness Day. This makes #6 in a row. At least I have something to do tonight. It's not as bad as my #4 when Michael and I helped out with Scholarship auditions from 8am to 9pm and then go home to make some spaghetti and watch Red Green. Tonight I have a performance of Crazy For You that I'm having to play for. I'm getting to the point with the show that I can tell when the actors are making mistakes. I almost have the script memorized just as well as they do. Truly sad.
Anyway, today kind of sucks, but thank goodness it's only one day long. Things will get better. Or at least I hope they will. All I need is time. Time is everything.

I hope everybody's doing well and had a better "Lover's Day" (a direct translation from Chinese) than I am. Love to all. Happy Heart Day.

~Scott

All Gussied Up

Here's Mike all dressed up and ready to go snowboarding on Saturday night. Sadly, I couldn't go with him due to the fact that my friend, whom you met in the above entry, Wendy, was very sick and needed me to be there. I didn't mind being with her, but I was kind of sad that I missed out on snowboarding. From what I understand, Mike did great, and found out that he rides goofy. I look forward to going with him next time.

The Lesser of Three Weebles

I suppose this picture needs a little bit of explaination. You see, Mike used to do this thing when he was little that he called "the Weeble." Basically, he becomes this creature that folds his legs up inside his shirt, pounces around on his toes and hands, and attacks people's shoes. It's really quite funny when you see it, but unless you know Mike, you might be a little weirded out by it. Anyway, we all got a little hyper the other night after watching Bill Cosby, and Mike made the transformation. It wasn't long before David and I had gotten our hoodies and followed suit. It's a lot harder than it appears to be. My calves are still sore from it. In our insanity, we decided to leap from the couch simultaneously and take a picture of it. Sadly, the timing didn't quite work out, and I almost killed myself jumping off. My knees came up into my chest and it didn't feel too good. But the important thing is I'm alive, and had some fun in the process. I promise from here on out to leave the "weebling" to Mike.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Happy New Year, everybody!!! This one's gonna be great! Mike and I celebrated by using these little confetti guns that we got at the dollar store. We made a royal mess. I hope this new year is as wonderful and productive for all of you as it was for me. Best wishes for 2007.