22. Halloween

Happy Halloween! Halloween is always fun. I'm not a big partier or anything, but I have fun every year on Halloween and the days leading up to it. I'm a fan of the fun side of Halloween and the scary side (not the super gory/evil stuff, just the creepy/make you tense and jump stuff). Trick-or-treating was always fun as a kid. I mean, who doesn't love getting free candy, and lots of it?

Also, it's always fun to dress up. One of my favorite costumes growing up was a sandwich. I don't know where that costume is anymore, but it was great. Last year I tried dressing up as either Bob or Doug McKenzie. I'm not really sure which one I was, but I don't think that really matters. Unfortunately, nobody I talked to that night knew who Bob and Doug are, so they all just thought I was dressed up as a bum. Then, when I would tell who I really was, they would just act all confused as if they had never heard of them. This surprised me. Sure, I'm in the US and not Canada, but leading up to that day (and continuing after it as well) I'll always get comments from people about Strange Brew when they find out I'm Canadian. I must have just hit a bit of a Strange Brew vacuum that night.

This year I was really excited about my costume. I wore it to our ward Halloween party, which was Thursday night. Basically, I tried to dress up like Homer Simpson from the Halloween special "Tree House of Horror IV." This is the episode where Homer sells his soul for a donut and eventually gets hid head turned into a donut. I was pretty sure that most of the people in my ward wouldn't get it right off the bat, and I was right. However, it was a lot of fun when somebody did recognize it right away.

21. Wheat Thins

Okay, so, I'm a snacker. I'm pretty much always looking for something to eat. Pringles has the slogan "once you pop, you can't stop." For me, unfortunately, this is true about most any snack food. Once the bag/box is open, I eat until it's gone. There might be a small break in there, but nothing big enough to count. Obviously, this could be a problem.

Well, I've discovered that one of my favorite snacks is Reduced Fat Wheat Thins. Now, I realize that if I chow down on a bunch of these, I'm still not being very healthy. However, I do feel better eating these than other snacks of the non-vegetable kind. Speaking of which, does anybody remember Captain Vegetable from Sesame Street? Anyway, I think that part of me feeling better is just the thought that what I'm eating might be healthier than other options, and part of it could be that they actually are better for me.

Anyway, that is why I am thankful for Wheat Thins.

20. My Bed

I've always been thankful to have a bed to sleep in, but my circumstances tonight have caused this to be on my mind again. As far as classes go, I wasn't really productive today because I had a lot of other stuff to get ready for. So, tonight I was going to go up to my office to do my homework and I figured I wouldn't be done until really late so I decided to just do my homework, then sleep in my office. Well, I walked out the door with my pillow, then turned right back around after crossing the street. It's been a long day and I slept on the couch last night, so I really want to sleep in my bed tonight. So, I figured out some stuff that I can work on here tonight. And, like I said, I'm really looking forward to crawling into my bed, rather than curling up under my desk. I haven't done the latter before, but I won't be surprised if it does happen sometime in the future.

19. Paper Mache

Okay, so, this is going to be short tonight. It's late, but it's before midnight so I still got this in on time and I haven't missed a day yet.

I am thankful for paper mache. It was fun as a kid, and it's still fun now. And, it is playing a major role in my Halloween costume, which I am very excited about. In fact, I don't think my costume would be possible on such short notice without it. Thank you, paper mache.

18. My Jacket

Today it snowed in Provo for the first time this season. It definitely wasn't the coldest it's ever been around here, or will be, but I was very happy to have my jacket today to help keep me warm. Of course, in thinking about this it also makes me realize that something as simple as a jacket is a blessing in my life that some people don't don't have. And this, of course, helps me better appreciate something as simple as this.

The jacket that I wear most of the time also has some sentimental value to it. It's a jacket that I bought my freshman year of college. I was living in the dorms on a floor of about 30-40 guys. At some point in the year a bunch of guys went out and bought the same jacket from Wal-Mart. I really still wear it just because I like it and haven't bought a new jacket since then, but it was fun at the time and still reminds me occasionally of good times from freshman year.

17. My New Shoes

Yeah, I'm getting a little materialistic with this again. That's fine. There's a lot of material things that I'm very thankful for as well.

Anyway, I'm very thankful for my new shoes. I had my previous pair for about a year and they were really starting to fall apart. I usually get a cheap pair from Payless, so I don't really expect them to last a really long time anyway. This pair had gotten to the point where the heals were the backs of the heals were completely separated from the soles, thus leaving huge gaps for water to get into. Also, there really wasn't much cushioning left in them.

So, I went and bought a new pair of shoes. I had completely forgotten how good a pair of shoes can feel. The first day I walked up to campus I couldn't help but smile the whole way because my feet felt so good. It was also nice to add a little variety. Before buying this pair of shoes, I had bought the same pair two years in a row and was pretty sick of them by the time I bought these new ones.

Anyway, there's nothing spectacular about them to just look at them, but I sure appreciate them.

16. The Simpson (The Good Seasons)

So, this is the first TV show that I've talked about on here. Seriously, though, I am thankful for the Simpsons. I haven't been a big fan as of late, but the show was great up until I went to college.

Anyway, while the show was funny and has made me laugh a lot, the main reason I'm thankful for it is because of the moments I have shared with friends. It has provided a lot of good times with friends and roommates over the years. In fact, the Simpsons is what really started one of my most recent great friendships. I knew the guy a bit before he moved into my apartment, but not great. Well, we got along fine, but it wasn't until we discovered that we could endlessly quote the Simpsons back and forth to each other that our friendship really developed. Yes, this sounds kind of silly, but it's true.

So, I'm thankful for the Simpsons both for the laughs it has delivered and for the friendships it has strenghtened.

15. Service

Yep, I'm thankful for service. And I'm not referring to service that people do for me (although I am very thankful for that as well). I am speaking of opportunities that I have to serve.

This is on my mind today because of an opportunity I had this morning. This weekend is homecoming weekend down here at BYU and BYUSA put on a huge pancake breakfast for everybody this morning. I was asked earlier in the week if I could help out with this, so I did.

I got to my post at 8:00 am. We started serving pancakes around 8:45 or 9:00 and finished a little after noon. My job was to squirt whipped cream on everyone's pancakes as they came by. So, yeah, I stood in one spot, squirting whipped cream for about 3 hours. It doesn't sound very exciting, but I had a great time.

It was fun seeing everyone in line. I didn't know very many of them, but that didn't matter. It was fun getting to chat briefly with some of the people coming through, and it was fun to see them get enthusiastic about the whipped cream I gave them. And it was really fun and cute to see the little kids in line. A lot of them were really shy, but you could tell they were really excited about their pancakes. Sure, pancakes are great as an adult, but don't you remember how much more special they were and a little kid?

Also, it just feels good to serve. Whether it's something as simple as serving whipped cream or something more physically demanding or requiring a greater amount of sacrifice on your part, it feels good. I came back feeling great and all around happy.

14. The Weekend

So, I'm pretty much always thankful for the weekend to come. I'm especially thankful this weekend. This has been a pretty busy week. Some of it is because I had a lot to do and I had a project on the side that ended up taking up a lot more time than I expected. Some of it is due to the simple fact that I procrastinate and I let some stuff pile up on me this week as well. I still have a lot of work I need to get done, but there's still something relaxing about knowing that I don't officially have work or school again until Monday.

So, yeah, I don't have a whole lot to say tonight, just that I'm thankful for the weekend.

13. Donut Day

I received a wonderful email at the beginning of the semester. This email bore the news that the Graduate Student Society would be providing free donuts to graduate students every Thursday morning. As some of you may know, I love donuts. In fact, they might be getting their own post sometime in the future. However, this post is not specifically about donuts. It is about Donut Day (bagels are also provided alongside the donuts, but, well...yeah).

Obviously, a big reason why I'm grateful for donut day is the fact that I get to eat donuts for free. That's not the only reason, however. Donut Day is also great because I don't need to take time to eat breakfast at home, which means I can get a few more minutes of sleep and save some of my precious milk and Malt-O-Meal for another day.

Donut day also gives me one more thing to look forward to on Thursdays. It's not the only thing I ever look forward too, but adding one more thing to the list always makes it easier to get going in the morning.

Finally, Donut Day gives me an opportunity to catch up with an old roommate of mine. He's married now, so I normally don't see him much. However, he goes to Donut Day as well so we've started meeting up at the same time every week. It's been fun. We've got another roommate who is invited to Donut Day, but he hasn't shown up yet. I think it might mostly be a scheduling thing, but I don't think he gets as excited about the donuts as I do either. Still, if he shows up, that will make Donut Day that much better.

12. The 4 Seasons

So, a lot of people have a favorite season. I don't. I like them all. I've tried to pick one to be my favorite in the past, but I can never seem to decide which one comes out on top. As soon as I've picked one, I remember something about another that levels the playing field again. They all have their own set of pros and cons...mostly pros. Summer is warm, comfortable, bright and sunny. Fall is full of beautiful colors. Winter brings snow and just has a magical feeling about it. Spring brings the joy of seeing everything come back to life and feeling the warm weather return.

I think it's great having 4 very distinct seasons. It adds variety to life, and there's something special about the transitions between seasons. We are in the midst of a change right now as the leaves are changing color. It's always beautiful. The picture above is one I took on campus today. It wasn't as bright out as other days, but it still looked nice. I love the transition into winter as well when the first big snowfall comes. I think that seeing everything covered in white makes me think of Christmas, and it can be such a sudden and drastic change sometimes that it just seems unreal.

It's nice to stop and look, appreciate, and think about what each season brings with it. It helps me to remember how wonderful this planet is and bears testimony to me that it's creation wasn't just circumstance. It was definitely and purposefully made to be beautiful.

11. Ducks

Okay, so, this one may seem a bit silly, but it's true. I am thankful for ducks. Not any particular kind of duck, just ducks in general. And no, this doesn't fall into the food category alongside bacon. I've only eaten duck once, and it wasn't that special of an experience.

Ducks simply make me laugh. I learned this over the summer when I moved into an apartment complex south of campus. I started walking to school along this cool brick path that runs along the south side of campus, and passes by a pond where ducks tend to gather. It wasn't rare to run across a fair number of ducks as I walked to and from my office every day.

I guess what makes me laugh is a combination of how they quack and waddle. It was great to come across a group of ducks on the path because as you got closer they'd start to quack a bit, but wouldn't move yet. Then, as you got even closer, their quacks would start to have this really annoyed tone to them as they decided to actually move off the path. They always seemed so put out that I had come along and disturbed their little gathering, and I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as they angrily waddled away. I just can't take them seriously.

10. Little Kids

So, I think little kids are hilarious. They simply say and do the funniest things. I've been thinking about this today because of a few stories I've heard about my nieces recently. One has been thinking that there are hippos in her closet, and the other is just being her usual dramatic and silly self. Little kids are just one more thing that makes life fun.

Now, while I obviously believe that my nieces and nephews are the funniest and cutest little kids out there, I get a kick out of all little kids (well, as long as they're not being bratty, but luckily I won't have to deal with that aspect too much until I have my own kids). Just today I was getting my hair cut and some parents came in with their son who looked to be about two-ish. He had this big bushy head of hair (if he wasn't the one getting his hair cut, he definitely needed it) and just wandered around looking wide-eyed at everything, much like any little kid. Well, I couldn't help but smile when I saw him.

So, I've noticed that in a lot of my posts I mention how something makes me happy and that is why I am thankful for the topic of that day. This makes sense, since I'm pretty sure it would be hard to find a reason to be thankful for something that makes me sad. Anyway, it seems like happiness is more prominent than convenience right now on my list. I just thought that was interesting.

9. My Education

I'm very thankful for the education that I have received up to this point. I was able to do well all up through high school, then I came down to BYU to study chemical engineering. While down here I have been able to be taught by and work with some of the top men in their field. I have learned a lot and feel like I have received a top notch education down here.

I graduated with my B.S. last December and started grad school in January. Not only am I thankful for the quality of the education that I have received down here, but I am thankful to still be in school pursuing my graduate degree. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue my education or not, but then, right before my last semester of undergrad started, I decided to apply. I spent some time that semester applying and I was accepted to grad school right before the economy started to dive and I'm so thankful that I haven't had to deal with the difficulties of finding and securing a job during these more difficult times. Even though things are getting better, the students who are graduating this year are having a hard time finding companies who are hiring right now. I'm so thankful that I am still on a sure path, and hopefully things will be looking a lot better when I graduate.

8. My Apartment

So, today I just got thinking about how lucky I am to be able to live in an apartment like I do. Sure, it's definitely not the best apartment in Provo, but it's an apartment nonetheless. And, as I was thinking about this I couldn't help but realize that it's a whole lot nicer than where a good portion of this world's population is living. Sure, people complain about rent, internet service, furniture, etc., but in the end it's really a pretty good situation. It's a place that I can call home. It's a place where I can sleep at night, keep food, hang out with friends, find shelter from bad weather, stay cool in the summer, and live a pretty comfortable life. Seriously, when I compare my current situation to someone who has been working hard their entire life, but just happens to be barely scraping by or not even getting by simply because of the part of the world/social standing they were born into, I consider myself very lucky and blessed to be able to go home to my little apartment.

7. Bacon

Okay, so, I love bacon. I was trying to decide if I should just include bacon in a post about good food in general (which may come in the future), but I decided that bacon deserves its very own post. It's that good.

Seriously, bacon is one food that I just don't get enough of. When I'm eating other foods that I love, I do eventually reach a point where I'm not enjoying the experience anymore. That has never happened to me with bacon. And I hope it never does. I want to always enjoy my bacon consumption.

I don't get to eat as much bacon as I would like. I don't buy it very much because I'm a student with not a tonne of money. If I could, I would eat it every day, multiple times a day. Of course, that wouldn't be very healthy and could cause a lot of problems.

To help you understand my feelings about bacon, I refer you to Jim Gaffigan. He has a bit about bacon that I think is genius and I agree with everything he says (even the bacon to bacon vortex...it could happen).

If anybody reading this is worried about my me and feels that I have an unhealthy obsession with and praise for bacon, don't worry. It's not as if I'm thinking like this all day everyday. I may even go weeks at a time without thinking about bacon. I don't let it affect my worship, studies, social life, etc. I just think it's one of the tastiest foods out there and am very grateful that I can eat it. Very, very grateful.

6. My Car

Say hello to Lola. Lola has been my trusty mode of transportation for the last 4 years. I first acquired her after returning home from my mission in August of 2005. She may not be the newest or sleekest car out there, but she's been trustworthy and has done her job well.

So, some of you may be wondering why in the world my car's name is Lola. Well, I didn't name her. Lola is the name that has stuck with her for 20 years. She was originally my aunt's car, and my aunt is the one who named her Lola. Lola has been in the family ever since. After my aunt, she cycled through a couple of my cousin's during their college years, and now it's my turn. Whenever I see my aunt, she asks me how Lola is doing and I'm always able to give her a good, reassuring report that all is well.

It really has been nice having a car down here at school. While I've never lived more than about a 15 or 20 minute walk from my end of campus, she's come in very handy. I've never been at the bidding of my roommates when it comes to shopping or other errands around town, she's made dating a whole lot less complicated, and she's always been able to get me to and from my home up in Canada. I think she's made it there and back again about 8.5 times now since I've had her (the half comes from the original trip down, which had no accompanying trip up).

Like I said, she's held up extremely well over the years. I've only had to have a few repairs done (i.e. replace the muffler, replace the spark plug wires, and other relatively cheap replacements) to keep her going. Also, she still gets great gas mileage, so I'm happy that I've been able to save some money there as well.

5. Rainbows

Okay, so, I was in my apartment today and looked out the window and saw that everything outside was beautiful. There was kind of an orange hue in all of the colors and all the colors were very sharp. Anyway, I went outside really excited to see how everything looked. To my dismay, it was raining outside. It's not that I don't like the rain, I just don't like being wet when I don't want to be. My attitude about the rain changed the instant I looked out toward the mountains and saw a huge, arching rainbow complete from end to end. It was beautiful.

I've always really like seeing rainbows. I think everybody does to some extent. Even though we're taught in elementary school why they appear when it rains, there's still just something amazing about seeing them

pop up when they do. They just seem unreal. They're particularly amazing when you can see them dropping down in front of something on the horizon, such as this one today. I looked over to the north and saw that it was coming down in front of the mountains instead of just disappearing into the background somewhere.

Now, I feel like I should clarify that it's real life rainbows that make me happy. When it comes to rainbow drawings, stickers, decals, or what have you, those don't really have an effect on me. The real thing is what I like.

Anyway, rainbows always make me smile, and I'm thankful for that.

4. My Health

To the best of my memory, I've been in pretty good health for most of my life. In fact, I can't remember the last time that I was seriously ill. I mean, I'll get a cold every now and then, but I can't even remember the last time I had the flu or any kind of a fever. I know it's happened, I just can't remember when. I have had to deal with a couple of ear infections that took me out of commission for about a week at a time when I was a teenager, but I blame those more on Lake Powell than on my body, and I've since learned how to avoid those anyway.

In all seriousness, though, I'm thankful for how well my body has held up in my first 25 years of life. I've never broken a bone. I'm not prone to getting sick. I only suffer from some mild allergies in the spring, except for one extremely bizarre allergic reaction I had when I was quite young. We've never been able to figure out what happened there. I recover pretty quickly when I get a cold. I've escaped mono on a couple of occassions (quite a bit more narrowly in one case than the other). Basically, I feel like everything's in working order the vast majority of the time. I'm definitely not alone in this regard, but that doesn't mean I can't be thankful for it.

3. Cheerfulness

Happy Thanksgiving!! Okay, so, for those of you who don't know, I am Canadian and today is Thanksgiving in Canada. I am currently living in the US while I go to school, but I still like to celebrate this day however I can when it comes around. And how could I not mention Thanksgiving when my blog is all about stuff I'm thankful for? Yeah, that just wouldn't seem right. Also, tying things back to yesterday's post about friends, I have a friend down here who has invited me over for a little celebration tonight. I really appreciate that and am looking forward to it.

Anyway, back to the subject for today. I could have titled this post many different ways, but cheerfulness seemed to work the best. Why did I choose to focus on this today? Well, I just got out of taking a test for what I consider to be my hardest class. You might think that I'm focusing on cheerfulness because I'm happy that I did well on this test. You would be wrong. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I didn't do too great. But that's just the point, I'm still happy and cheerful today. I didn't let it get me down.

One thing that I've learned is that it's immeasurably better and more enjoyable to be happy rather than miserable. This should be a no-brainer for anyone. That is why I am thankful that I can be happy, even after a tough test like the one I just took. It makes my day better, and helps improve the day for those I interact with (or it at least doesn't make it worse for them). Also, when others are cheerful around me, it helps me to be cheerful. So, thank you to everyone who can walk around with a smile on their face and lift the spirits of those around them.

2. Good Friends

I've been very blessed over the years to have some really great friends. These have been people who understand the way I think I why I think that way. They've been able to cheer me up when I've been feeling down, to encourage me in my undertakings, to listen when I've needed someone to talk to, and to just make me feel good about myself.

These people have helped me to enjoy life. They've made me laugh harder than I ever knew possible, and they've made me happy in countless other ways.

I've been able to rely on my friends to help me out on short notice and to get me out of sticky situations. I'm reminded of one particular Valentine's Day where I wasn't quite as prepared as I should have been. Thanks, guys, for helping to bail me out. You know who you are.

I am particularly grateful for the good influence my friends have been on me and for their great examples. They have been examples of how to be kind, thoughtful, fun, and charitable. For any aspect of my life that I feel like I need to work on, I have a close friend from whom I can learn in developing that characteristic. I would like to say thank you to these people for being the great examples they have been. I will forever be grateful for their influence in my life and for helping to keep me going in the right direction.

1. Family

My family on the farm. This picture doesn't include my newest
nephew but it's the most recent photo of us all together

The first thing that I'm thankful for is my family. This is a pretty obvious choice, and well, it's true. I really to believe that I have one of the greatest families in the world. We all love each other and have a great time together, and I'm really thankful for that. I can't help but feel sad when I meet someone who doesn't get along very well with one or more members of their family, simply because I can't bear to imagine not being as happy as I am when I am with my family.

Whenever somebody asks me what makes me happy or brings me joy, the first thing that pops into my mind is my family. Sure, there are other things that bring me a lot of joy as well, but my family tops the list. So many of my favorite surprises, memories, and occasions involve my family. Some of these include, in no particular order:

1. Kimberly and Charles randomly appearing on our doorstep for Christmas

2. Patrick calling me on a particularly rough birthday in high school. I'm sorry if I've never told you this before, Patrick, but I was really having a rough birthday where nothing seemed to be going right until you called. That call meant the world to me that day. Thanks.

3. Getting to meet and play with my nieces and nephews over the years

4. Having the whole family together for our family reunion in 2008. It's getting harder and harder to have everyone in the same place at the same time.

5. Pretty much any time that I spend with my family. It doesn't matter where it is or what we're doing.

6. etc. The list could go on forever, I just don't have the time for that right now.

Finally, I can't finish this up without saying thank you to my parents. They have been an endless source of love and support throughout my life. They've always been there when I've been struggling with something, making big decisions, and to congratulate me and support me through all the good times as well. I never have any doubt about their love for me, and I love them too. I know I don't tell them that enough (in fact, they probably think that I never say it), but I do.

Welcome to 100 Things

Hey, everyone, welcome to my blog. This is my first attempt at anything like this, so I hope you'll bear with me here until I get a hang of this.

I was talking with someone a few days ago about life and such. During this conversation, this person suggested that I make a list of things that I'm grateful for in my life and right a little blurb about each thing, and that I should continue this until I have a collection of 100 things for which I am grateful. This sounded like a pretty good idea to me, so I took the challenge.

So, where does the blog come in? Well, my sister started up a blog a couple of years ago and has since suggested to the rest of the family that we start up our own as well. I didn't bite right away. Recently, however, I've started to think that it might be kind of fun to get into it, but I didn't feel like I'd really have much to say. Well, now I do. Each day I'll have a new post about something for which I am grateful. So, doing a little math, I should have 100 things on here in just over 3 months. Obviously, the first few posts on here will be regarding pretty obvious choices, but I'm going to have to start paying more attention to the world around me and start to evaluate things a little more closely in order to reach 100.

I hope you have fun following along. I know I'm looking forward to what I'm going to discover about myself. And who knows, maybe somebody reading this will learn a little about themselves as well.