I am blogging today just because I am going through some typing withdrawls already. I have been working on a case study and typing my feelings about proper business practices in South Korea for the past few days, and I finished about an hour ago. I guess I feel like I am not done expressing myself...which is probably not a good sign because my professor told the class to ask "why" until you can't ask why any more when writing a paper. So now I feel everything I write down has to have an explanation. I love grad school. I was the worst test taker when it came to multiple choice and true false questions because I would always think there was something beyond what the question was really asking, when all the teacher wanted was a textbook definition. I love having the opportunity to explain things the way I see them working without worrying about getting an answer right or wrong. This is probably why I feel so laid back about school that its scaring me because I feel like I should be worrying more...which doesn't sound like I am laid back, but I sure feel like I am. We are taking on real projects with real companies, and figuring out why they were successful or not, it's pretty cool stuff. My classmates think I am retarded when I tell them how I feel about all of this, but everything I am learning just excites me.
Something else that excites me is this new straw we found called a "sipahh", just google it.
Probably the coolest invention ever. It is a straw with a filter in it that is filled with chocolate, strawberry or other flavors, and you stick it in a regular glass of milk. If you have a chocolate sipahh the milk will taste like chocolate milk simply by going through the chocolate flavor filter to your mouth. I know, I know, why not just make chocolate milk? It is the coolness of the invention that makes you try it. By the time you drink the whole glass, the straw is empty. Beware of cookies and cream flavor, it made me want to yak because of how strong it was, but chocolate is good for sure.
I learned today the power a simple Jolly Rancher has over 12 and 13 year olds. Our class went really well...not only could you feel the spirit but it smelled like apples and watermelons the whole time. Galations chapter 5 talks about the fruits of the spirit...nah, sorry I couldn't resist. I love baseball playoff time, the regular season is rediculously long, but I follow the Rockies and the Cubs. The Rockies are in a one game playoff tomorrow to see if they can make the playoffs for the first time since '95, they won 11 in a row to get there. And we all know the Cubs have had thier woes forever. Wierd, I have never blogged about baseball before. How about the crazy college football shakeup this weekend? What am I doing? I should be concentrating on school. Joni and I have been trying to make an all time top 5 favorite movie list and it is really hard because we love so many movies. We came up with Forrest Gump for sure because it has all the qualities of a good movie, and maybe the Sixth Sense, Remember the Titans, and Rudy, but we need some help...what are some of yours?

My foot is in pain today, I can't remember if it was from the killer fire ants that ate my foot on Saturday, or from the bike that fell on my foot today. Don't you hate that when you don't know where the pain is coming from? If it hangs around too long you start to think you could die, and then you wonder how many people will come to your funeral since you live 1500 miles away from any relatives, and if you'll have on clean underwear when you are rushed to the hospital...then you just realize that all you really want is a hug and a cupcake. Okay so I think a lot. Speaking of cupcakes, I think I am getting a muffin top...can boys get those or is it just for girls that wear really tight pants with no pockets? So here is a funny thing about my pants besides the fact that they aren't loose anymore. One of my favorite pair of shorts is a pair of old green scout pants that I cut off to make the perfect shorts. They used to be pretty big, but now I don't require a belt and I think the zipper is loose, or my "muffin" is pushing it down, and by muffin I mean my tummy...don't get dirty ladies. So about every few minutes today I found myself pulling up the top of my zipper, thats when I realized the waistline of my pants looked like it was flexing and straining to maintain a casual relationship with my hips. To make matters worse, on the way home my seatbelt snuck its way under my belly to create a nice big handle to grab onto...not many people can claim to have a belly that eats seatbelts. Happy freakin 28th huh? where's the cake and ice cream? I am feeding 5 over here!

Joni got me a bunch of Texas A&M stuff for my birthday, I feel like I am cheating on Utah State a little bit, but someday when I have an office we are going for a theme I guess. She framed some pictures of the stadium for me, and I got some shorts, a pillow, a towel, and a couple shirts. Not that we'll hang shorts on an office wall, but they went along with the theme. Joel got me a book about pirates...cause I guess he has a thing for pirates, dunno. It's actually pretty blibbin funny, and makes for excellent bathroom reading. Now I can take care of business while learning to speak like a pirate. I'd hate to think what people might think if they walk by the bathroom door and hear me practicing "arrrrrggggh, Beezelbub himself could hardly desire better company."

I got invited to the 2nd round of interviews with IBM. I feel pretty excited to have them and GE as internship possibilities. Joni is still going strong training for her marathon in Houston, and studying for her RD exam. We just got called to teach the 12-13 year olds in church together, which is exciting and a little crazy. So with that, and our spare time with friends, we are staying pretty busy. We have "our" time to talk about our crazy days over the phone and right before bed...maybe this is all preparing us for our inevitable time apart this summer. Here are some pics of our bbq with friends on Saturday.

This is us with the Snideman's and the Carroll's. We are the couples without kids so everyone else bugged out early while we swam and burnt ourselves to a crisp. It was a pretty fun time, next time we want to rent jet ski's. The Carroll's have a floating hotel that really outperformed our 97 cent floaters.

As promised, here are some pics from the football game.

It was pretty crowded, here I am playing the role of little spoon with the guy behind me...

And here I am playing the role of big spoon. Even though I am smiling here I enjoyed the role of little spoon facing Joni a little more than spooning the big guy. There isn't enough room to stand straight, so when the teams get closer to your side of the field, you have to switch angles.

The game was really fun, as wierd as it sounds though we always get a little mad when we go because we wish we could "share" the experience with family. So if you plan on visiting us sometime, come during football season. If we can't go to the game at least we can go to yell practice the night before.

School is going well. Right now I am doing a lot of interviewing with companies for internships. There are a lot of companies that come right to our campus just for our program. We apply for the companies we are interested in, then we have to be selected just to interview. It's hard because you have all of your homework and classes to worry about, but then there are company presentations and information sessions almost every night, and interviews during the day. I have had to research a lot of companies before these sessions so I didn't sound like an idiot when I talked to them so that's pretty time consuming too. Tuesday I interview with Shell, Wednesday IBM, and Thursday British Petroleum...who knows what next week will be like. My first interview was with General Electric(GE) and it went pretty well, in fact I got a call from the corporate headquarters 2 days later and they want to fly me out to Connecticut in November to attend what they call "forum". They bring in about 100 students from all over the country to compete for about 60 internship positions. I am really excited about it and I feel like I have a pretty good shot. GE is an awesome company, little did I know that appliances and lightbulbs are actually thier smallest industry. They own NBC and they make jet engines, they were responsible for some of the Apollo missions to the moon, and the electronics of the Panama Canal...do I sound excited? Once again I am confident that our move here was the right one. I never could have dreamed of experiencing any of this in Utah, it's just crazy how close the ties are between these companies and the University. Being a return missionary is actually something that sets you apart here instead of blending in with the crowd.

The one thing that might be a "downer" is that there is a good chance I could live in a different city than Joni for about 3 months. That could be really hard but necessary if I want a good experience...especially an experience that isn't an oil and gas company. Another thing is most of the companies have training programs that last about the first 2 years you work for them. They move you to a different place every few months to get the all around experience, including other countires, then after 2 years you can make a decision where you want to go. It sounds crazy but we both love the idea of experiencing life in different places while we are still young. I am glad Joni supports me through all of this...but I had to laugh when she told me she would move anywhere but Mexico City. I guess when she saw how big it is when we flew into the city for our honeymoon, she got a little scared.

Joni is fitting right in at her job, I tease her because she has a little "soul power" in her. After being around her co-workers all day she comes home and talks like them, she even does the head sway thing while waving one finger in the air...it's seriously hilarious to catch her doing it when she doesn't even know what she did.

So last night I came home late because of a school thing to find Joni sitting on a bench outside our house in the dark. Turns out she locked herself out of her car, which also had the house keys on them, so she was hanging outside. I was at a company presentation and my phone kept on buzzing in my pocket until I finally turned it off. I didn't want to be the guy with the happy cell phone in his pocket...I guess that's better than the guy with the happy cell phone strapped to his belt. I shouldn't rip on those things but come on, are we playing quick draw with our phones? What else are pockets for except for warming choclates and holding keys and phones? Of course I thought I actually had a lot of people trying to call me because I was so cool, but it was just Joni telling me she was locked out. You have to know she was outside for about 3 hours so by the time I listened to the 45 messages she left, my phone died. Since my phone never rings I guess you could say I should have known something was up...I honestly thought she wanted me to bring her home a cupcake or something. If you know Joni, there are only a couple things that would make her call that many times. One, she is being attacked by a spider. Two, she is bored. Three, she is craving something like a cupcake. I guess a couple doesn't mean three but who is counting? And now I can add a fourth to the list, locking herself out, that's about the 3rd time this year alone. I was going somewhere with all of this...oh, so when I pulled up I also noticed Joni chopped off all her hair! She had her hair to her shoulders when we first started dating but has had it long ever since. Joni describes the new new look as a party in the back, business in the front, and something else I can't remember...doesn't that description fit the description for a mullet? I really like the haircut, but I have to admit it is taking some getting used to. I can't stop looking at her without her feeling self conscious. Kind of like when I got my first chest hair and I would just stare down at it in amazement...maybe that's where my double chin came from? Here are some pics of the new do.
Isn't she a babe? Her hair is a little longer in the back and has layers all over the place. I'll have you know I cut my hair again this week too, maybe I'll post some pics of that some other time. I haven't used scissors on my hair for a few years now, good old number 2. That sounds funny if you didn't know I was talking about the length of the adapter on the trimmers. I have my first interview this next week, I'm pretty excited. Happy cheering for the Broncos this week, isn't football season the best?

The 12th Man

If you click on the picture you can get a closer look at the guys in overalls. They wear all white during the games. The 5 of them are elected by the student body and lead the crowd in cheers. In the pic the 2 guys laying down did mini pushups (called pushing) for seriously 20 minutes. Those same 2 guys started off by speed walking (looked like stomping) from end zone to end zone for 20 minutes, then doing the push ups, and then they run toward the crowd trying not to get tackled by the other 3 guys in overalls...they each got smeared to the ground a few times a piece. All of this is done while the band is playing and the crowd is filing into the stadium. The stadium looks empty, but all 3 decks on the student side were filled.

I am kind of mad now that I realize we didn't take more pictures, because the yell practice was unlike anything we have ever experienced, and pretty hard to explain in words. So now I need to bust out my creative skills to keep you from reading another blog as opposed to this one. All of the different corps of cadets are in different groups facing the crowd, and they do pushups and situps and make pyramids the whole yell practice.

I guess you could say that we fit right in with the crowd.

So when the yelling begins, the 5 yell leaders make a hand sign that everyone in the crowd has to immitate and "pass back" until the last row in the third deck gets it. Then everyone puts thier hands on thier knees and does the cheer. Every cheer ends in a "WHOOP!", with your hands in the air like you are holding a pistol. It's so crazy, there are seriously 15 to 20 of these cheers, along with 4 or 5 songs. Some of the cheers are like songs, and some are like chants. In between cheers each yell leader will grab a microphone and talk about the opposing team getting everybody all riled up.

The actual game was insane. Everyone wore maroon, and even the non student side stands up for cheers. The best part is during the fight song when everyone in the stadium has thier arms around each others shoulders, and sways back and forth. The band stops playing during that part while everyone sings the chorus...it gives you goosebumps. Even crazier than all that, every time the other team has the ball no matter what the score or what down it is, the crowd is noisier than anything I can remember being a part of. Then during time outs, that's when the cheers come out. It's funny to watch the opposing team during all of this because most schools only have one or two traditional cheers, and they look at us like "where does all this come from?". Anyways, they call the fans the 12th man because a while back almost all of the players of the team were injured during one game except for 11 guys, and the football coach called a student out of the crowd to put on a football uniform in case they needed him. He never played in that game but the fact he was willing to come out of the crowd to play started the tradition that by entering the student section you are willing to play for the team if called upon. Hopefully that will never happen...cause I'd kill em. Oh, and the mascot is a dog that looks like Lassie...a few cadets take turns taking her to class, and if she barks in class, everyone has to leave no matter what and the class is over. There are a lot of traditions, almost too much it seems, but it is pretty cool to be a part of.

So that was all pretty boring, I'm afraid to read over that again for fear of falling to sleep. I kind of just wanted to see if I could remember everything. If anyone gets the chance to come down here while we are here and you want to see a game, let me know. It is really unlike anything you may ever experience in sports. Tonight we played Mario Party 4 on the nintendo with some friends for like 4 hours, and to think I am a grad student who is serious about school.