83. The New Year

Every year I'm thankful for the new year to roll around. It gives me an opportunity to think back on how the year has gone and what I want to do better in the coming year. I always have some kind of news years resolution. I'm not always the best at keeping them, and I don't exactly remember them too long after the new year, but I make them and try to be a little better each year. I periodically try to set goals for myself anyway, but there something more special and significant about doing at the new year. It feels like a fresh start, and you always want the next year to start out well. So, I'm thankful for the new year because of the perspective it gives me and the motivation it gives me to live a little better.

82. Mechanical Pencils

So, the first person to ever think of and design a mechanical pencil was a genius. I remember being so amazed the first time I ever saw one. A pencil that you don't have to sharpen? That's awesome! Seriously, though, it's amazing how much more convenient it is to just click a button a couple of times rather than stick your pencil in a sharpener. Also, the lead on a mechanical pencil doesn't actually get dull and fat as you write with it, which is great as well. Anyway, despite having been so amazed by them when I first discovered them, I've grown to take them for granted. But, in all actuality, I am thankful that someone created them and has made my life that little bit more convenient.

81. Crystal Light Singles

These are a really convenient way to drink something more flavorful than water but not worry about whether your drinking too much sugar or fat or whatever else you should worry about. My mom always has a handy supply of them at home and I've used quite a few of them during the holidays. My favorite flavor right now is Raspberry Peach.

80. Power Tools

First off, I'm not some power tool junky and I don't use them all that often. However, I've been helping my dad finish our basement while we've been home and I'm sure thankful that they exist. There are only a couple that we use regularly (a drill and a saw), but they sure do make things easier and faster. I can't imagine how long it would take to do what we've done without them and how much more tiring it would be. I know it would be possible and was done in the past, but I'm glad I don't have to do it now.

79. My New Knife

My new knife isn't exactly a new knife. It's actually a pretty old knife, but it's new to me. It's one of my Grandpa Nish's old pocket knives. Grammy gave it to me on Christmas as a bit of a keepsake, and it means a lot to me. There's nothing flashy about it. To anybody else, it would just look like an old pocket knife. But for me it's a bit of a connection to my grandpa and who he was.

My Grandpa Nish died just a few days over 20 years ago, when I was 5. He had been battling diabetes and things had been bad for long enough that my best memories of him are from when I would visit him with my mom in long term care at the hospital. I do remember seeing him outside of the hospital as well, but he was always in a wheel chair (I even remember having a removable ramp at home to help him up onto the the deck when he would come out). But, my most vivid memories are at the hospital. Even then, I don't really remember a lot of what he was like as far as his personality and such, but I do remember that I loved visiting him.

I've heard a lot of stories about his earlier life. He was a great man. He was a hard worker and knew how to do things right. He was a bit of a tease (well, from the sounds of it, a really big tease). He loved to gather kids around and tell them stories. And, from the sounds of it, he wouldn't let you get away with any nonsense. Anyway, from all the stories that I've heard from various people, I've really grown to respect him and wish that I'd had a better chance to get to know him. This is why this simple pocket knife means so much to me.

78. Toothpaste

Anybody I associate with is probably pretty thankful that I'm thankful for toothpaste. Then again, if I wasn't thankful for toothpaste, there probably wouldn't be too many people associating with me. Anyway, it's nice to be able to clean my teeth and make my mouth feel fresh. I really dislike that fuzzy feeling that your teeth get if you don't brush your teeth. It's gross and it makes me feel self-concious, as if I'm scared that it shows that I haven't brushed them and that my breath will stink. Luckily, that's a rare occurrence because I have toothpaste and a toothbrush. So, don't worry out there, I'm thankful for toothpaste and brush regularly.

77. Christmas

I bet you were surprised to see this come up. Ha, just kidding. It was a pretty obvious choice.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I enjoy being able to take some time off to be with family and enjoy this time of year. It's nice to be able to take some time to think about the real reason that we celebrate Christmas as well. To think of the birth of our Savior and about his life and what it means for us. Honestly, now that I'm a little bit older now and have a bit more of a grown up perspective on things, Christmas would still be Christmas if I didn't get any gifts. For me it's all about spending time with family and remember Christ. Today I mostly spent time playing cards Grammy and working on finishing the basement with my dad until it was time for dinner. That might not sound like a traditional Christmas, but it was good enough for me.

76. Pixar Movies

I watched Up tonight with my family. I've seen it a few times and it fits the mold of all the other Pixar movies as far as being a fun and clean movie that anyone can enjoy. It's nice to have movies like that where you don't need to worry about what might be in it.

75. Soup

I can't believe I'm already 3/4 of the way to my goal.

Soup is good. Tonight we went in to town to visit with some family and have dinner. My aunt Roxanne made soup for us all and I realized again how much I like soup, especially in the winter, so I decided it was a good candidate for tonight's post. My aunt actually suggested that I write about her. While she is a wonderful woman and I am very thankful that she is my aunt, I don't want to start inadvertently playing favorites on here. I don't want any jealous aunts or uncles. But, maybe writing about how her soup made me decide to write about soup will satisfy her request.

Anyway, I really do like soup. It's one of those rare foods that really makes you feel good to be eating it. There's a lot of fantastic food that tastes great and that I love to eat, but soup just makes you feel good. It warms you up and makes you feel cozy. I'm pretty sure this isn't just some crazy idea I have since chicken noodle soup is a common food to eat when somebody is sick. So, yeah, I'm thankful for soup.

74. Treadmills

So, I like how I feel when I go running. It's often hard for me to get motivated to go running, but I like how I feel if I do convince myself to go. However, sometimes the weather outside just isn't very good weather for running. That's where the treadmill comes in. I'm not the biggest fan of running in one spot continually, but I'm thankful that I can run inside when it gets too cold and snowy outside. It's also fun to watch TV at the same time. I can watch TV and not feel bad about wasting time and beinging lazy.

73. Knowing French

You may have picked up the fact from some earlier posts that I served an LDS mission in France. Obviously, I needed to learn French in order to be effective in any way. I really enjoyed speaking French while I was over there, and it felt really good when I felt like I was getting a pretty good grasp on the language and didn't need to try as hard to speak correctly.

I've been back from my mission for about 4 and a half years now. I'm not nearly as fluent as I used to be. There are even times when I'll be speaking a bit with somebody who has been taking classes at BYU and realize that they can speak better than me. That's always kind of humbling and brings back a desire to polish up a bit. I can still understand the language quite well, I believe. I've been reading a book lately called Parole du Jour J (Words from D-Day). I picked it up while I was in France and it's been really interesting. It's basically a collection of letters and journal entries from people involved in D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. It includes accounts from both sides of the battle and it's been eye opening to read what it was like to really be there.

So, I try a little to keep my French up. I could be doing better, but I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to learn it and I am thankful for what I have retained.

72. Clear Roads

I mentioned yesterday that I drove up to Alberta from Provo. It's about a 12 hr trip, and can be really nice at times and really bad at times depending upon the weather and road conditions, and it's kind of hard to predict how the roads are going to be unless you know somebody who has just recently driven on them. Sometimes that's not even all that accurate.

Yesterday the roads were really nice and clear, and I am so thankful for that. Snowy and icy roads add so much stress to the trip. Growing up in Alberta, I've been around snowy roads my whole life and have been driving on them ever since I got my license. However, despite having years of experience on them, I still don't like them, especially when I'm in the middle of nowhere in Idaho or Montana. I remember driving home one Christmas when the roads were covered in snow and all of a sudden the car in front of me started fishtailing and went off the road. That was kind of a scary experience that made me pay extra close attention to how I was driving. The trip just goes so much better when there is no snow or ice on the road, and I'm thankful there wasn't any yesterday.

71. Books on CD

Books on CD are wonderful for long drives. I've listened to a few books while driving between Provo and the farm, and it helps so much. It's much better than just listening to music. I get a lot more engaged in the story and the time really flies by if it's a good one. I drove up to Canada today and listened to Anne Perry's No Graves as Yet. To be honest, I wasn't a big fan, and I found myself getting easily distracted away from the story. So, it wasn't the best book to listen to, but it still helped. There were still moments when I found myself amazed at how far I had driven after gettting caught up in a particular development in the plot. In any case, books on CD really make the drive a lot more bearable, and I am thankful for that. Some other books that I've listened to are The Book of the Dead (Preston and Child), Life Expectancy (Dean Koontz), and Forever Odd (Dean Koontz). That last one was kind of strange, but it still held my attention better than today's choice.

70. Libraries

So, I wrote previously about library book sales because of all the cheap books I've been able to buy. Well, today the focus is the actual library. I really think it's great that you can go to a library and check out as many books as you like, absolutely free. I just got a library card for the Provo City Library. I'm actually really excited about it. Sure, I already have access to the Harold B. Lee Library on campus, but I discovered that the Provo library has some stuff that the HBLL doesn't. Also, it's a lot closer to my current apartment than the HBLL is. Anyway, libraries are great. I remember going to the public library in Lethbridge a lot when I was younger. I wasn't much of a reader when I was young (and most of my memories are from before I could read all that well anyway), but I remember being there a lot. I think I was probably bored a lot of the time, but it makes me happy to think back on being there. I do remember that they had some amazing chairs to spin around in. Those were fun.

69. My Headlamp

I bought a headlamp over a year ago. It's meant for camping and hiking in the dark and such, but I use it to read. I actually got the idea from a roommate of mine that I was living with over a year ago. He would come home late at night after being with his fiance and he would jump right into bed and read Harry Potter late into the night. If I was already in bed, he would throw on his headlamp (which he did also use for camping) so that the lights could be off in the room. I decided to follow his lead and bought my own. It has been great. I've used it on many occasions to read in the dark. Sometimes the few moments before I fall asleep are the only times during the school year that I can do some casual reading (or that I think to do some casual reading). If my roommate is trying to sleep, then I don't keep him awake with the lights. It's also handy if I'm the only one in the room. I can be laying in bed with the lights off and then just roll over when I'm done reading without having to get up to turn off the light.

68. Knowing how to Knit

Yep, that's right, I know how to knit. I pretty much only know how to knit rectangles of various dimensions (ie. scarves, rags, etc.), but I know how to knit nonetheless. I learned a few years ago from a girl in my ward who I later ended up dating for a couple of months. There were a couple of motivations in learning how to knit. The obvious one is that I was interested in this girl at the time. The other is that I needed Christmas gift ideas and knitting a couple of scarves seemed like a good idea. I was able to finish one scarf for my sister-in-law during the Christmas break, and I started one for my sister. That one, however, took nearly a year to finish up (I think it was only a year, I could be mistaken). In any case, I'm thankful to have been able to make those for them. Also, it's just fun to be able to throw out in a conversation that I know how to knit. I haven't done any knitting in a couple of years, but I'm sure that I could pick it up again and do just fine after working out a couple initial kinks. I have even used this ability as part of a school project. The ability to knit has been very useful to me.

67. Washers and Dryers

I am very thankful that I get to use a washer and dryer to do my laundry. During my years at college, I have never lived in an apartment that had its own washer and dryer. I've always had to share a laundry room with the rest of the complex and pay with quarters. There have been times when I've complained about this, but I'm glad I've had some sort of access to a washer and dryer. Even if I had to travel to a laundromat or something, that would be a million times better than having to wash my clothes by hand.

66. Baking

I'm thankful for baking. I really do like to bake. It's pretty much always more work than I think it's going to be and takes a lot more time than I plan on, but I like it. It's simply something that I enjoy as I'm doing it, then it feels really good to see and eat the finished product. And it feels really good when other people like what I've baked.

65. Mr. Krueger's Christmas

A little side note to start us off. I had a request for a bit more detail into Merbear. So, I've put a picture of him up under the Merbear post. Enjoy.

Mr. Krueger's Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas videos. I remember watching it for the first time when I was fairly young and not really following it at all, which is funny because it's a pretty simple little video. Anyway, a lot of it is pretty corny, but there's one scene where he imagines himself visiting the Savior on the night of his birth. I love this scene. I find it very touching and it does a great job of reminding me of what Christmas is really all about.

Anyway, I was in a pretty bad mood earlier today. I really shouldn't have been, but I was letting a bunch of stupid stuff bug me a lot. I finally reached the point where I realized that something needed to change. So, I decided to watch Mr. Krueger's Christmas. It did wonders for me and put me back in Christmas mode.

64. Grammy's Cookbook

Four years ago, my grandma put together a collection of a bunch of her recipes (and I believe some other family recipes) and had them bound in a book called "Grammy's Cookbook." She gave a copy of this cookbook to every member of the family, so I have my own copy. I have probably used more recipes out of this cookbook than any other cookbook I've had access to, and it has definitely saved me in a few situations where I needed a good recipes on short notice.

A lot of the recipes a for food that has a special place in my heart. The two most sentimental recipes are for her chocolate pudding and gingersnaps. I tried making the pudding once, but I didn't quite have the right touch and it didn't turn out how it was supposed to. It was still good, just not right. I was kind of disappointed about that. I haven't tried it since, but I probably should. This fall I tried taking on the gingersnaps. Those turned out pretty good, and they definitely made me think of Grammy's. I've made them a couple of times this semester, and I bought the stuff to make them again this weekend as a special Christmas treat before going home. I remember getting a package from Grammy for my first Christmas on my mission. I opened it to find a big bag of her gingersnaps that she had made and shipped all the way out to France, and they were delicious.

63. Hulu

This one's pretty simple. I mentioned a while ago that I probably watch more TV than I really should, but there really are only a few shows that I look forward to each week. The times I feel like I'm watching to much are when I'm watching nothing in particular. Anyway, I tend to not be around when the shows I want to watch are on. Well, thanks to Hulu, I can watch them the next day anyway. It's really quite convenient.

62. Merbear

Ah, I did it again. I missed my midnight deadline. I'm getting bad at this. Well, once again, at least I remembered to do this before falling asleep. I knew something didn't feel right as I was laying in bed.


So, the story behind Merbear is a long one. I don't really have time to get into all of the details now, but here's the condensed version. The origins of Merbear go back to my first apartment and set of roommates after the mission. Merbear is a teddy bear that showed up on our doorstep a few years ago. At the time, Merbear smelt kind of funny and we weren't extremely fond of him. Later on, one of my roommates ran him through the wash and he came out all clean and our feelings for Merbear changed. As roommates have gotten married and moved out, Merbear has stayed with us. I am now the remaining single roommate still living in Provo, and I still have Merbear. Why is he called Merbear? Well, somebody put the bottom half of his body in a sock one day. He looked like a mermaid, except for the fact that he's a bear. Thus, Merbear. There are all kinds of stories about Merbear, and he has provided a surprising amount of fun over the years (particularly when we were all still living together), and I'm thankful that I have had the opportunity to be a part of all that.

61. Furnaces

The weather has gotten a lot colder here the last few days. We finally got snow on Sunday, then more on Monday. I'm not usually one to complain about the cold, but I definitely prefer being warm rather than cold. So, obviously, I am thankful for furnaces (and other forms of heating a home) and the heat they provide in the winter. They definitely make it easier to get a lot of things done. They make things a lot more comfortable. And, well, they help you to literally survive the winter.

60. My Wallet

I am thankful for my wallet for the obvious reasons. It is a very handy way for me to carry around my money, ID's, and various other papers and such. But I am also thankful for it because of its appearance. It is a nice leather wallet, and I have had many compliments on it when people have noticed it. This makes me feel pretty good because I made it myself in one of my junior high shop classes.

59. The Police Beat

Okay, so, just before starting to write this, I got really excited that I was going to be hitting another milestone by posting my 60th thing for which I am thankful. Then, I realized that I accidentally skipped 58 when numbering yesterday's post. So, now I've fixed all that and have to settle for 59 tonight. Oh well.

For those of you who may not know, BYU's campus newspaper (The Daily Universe) publishes a weekly article known as The Police Beat. Here they print the various incidents that the campus police have had to deal with during previous week. Also, for those of you who may not know, not a whole lot of major crime occurs on campus. For this reason, the police beat usually has more of a comical nature than anything else. The stuff that people report to the police around here can be so odd. The Police Beat has provided me with many laughs over the years and I look forward to it every Wednesday.

Today the Daily Universe printed an article titled "Police Beat: Best of the Last Decade." It made me smile. I'm pretty sure that I've read better than these since I've been back from my mission, but these are good too. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

58. Lava Lamps

Lava lamps are one of the simple pleasures in life. They definitely are not an essential part of life. I could get along just fine if they didn't exist. The success of my future does not hinge on lava lamps in the slightest. However, they are cool to watch. There is something mesmerizing about the bubbles floating up and down. Seriously, I can spend insane amounts of time just watching a lava lamp. So, like I said, lava lamps are one of those simple pleasures for which I am thankful.

57. My Retainer

I'm sorry to make you think about something that I wear in my mouth all night, but I really am thankful for my retainer. I had braces in high school. When I got them off, I was really excited to see how straight my teeth had become. Like everyone who gets braces, I was given a retainer. I was given a schedule to follow where I would wear it less and less over time, with the goal being that I would only need to wear it occasionally, if at all. Well, I didn't keep with the schedule and started forgetting to wear it when I was supposed to, and then that quickly turned into not wearing it at all even though my teeth weren't ready for that. After a while, I tried putting it back in and it hurt a lot. My teeth had started to shift back to where they used to be. Well, luckily it wasn't too late and the retainer did fix things, but now I need to where it every night (and this has been going on for years now), or else I tell that my teeth are shifting again. So, even though I could have gotten to a point where I didn't need to where it very often, I thankful that I still have it and that I can wear it to keep my teeth in place now that I need it.

56. Cleaning Checks

Ahhh! I can't believe it! This is the first time I haven't posted before midnight. I haven't gone to bed yet, though, so hopefully this still counts as posting for December 4th. Hmmm, well, it's my blog so I make the rules. I'll allow it just this one time.

So, the student apartment complexes in Provo perform routine cleaning checks to make sure that you are taking care of your apartment. My current complex does these every two weeks, which is more frequent than any other place I've lived. Anyway, I am thankful for these cleaning checks because they guarantee at least two days of the month where the apartment is actually clean. I think we all prefer to live in a clean environment. But, when you get six guys together, things can get out of hand sometimes, which I don't like. The apartment actually isn't looking too bad right now. It will look even better tomorrow, though, since we have cleaning checks tomorrow.

55. Vending Machines

I can't tell you how many meals I have eaten out of the vending machines in the Fletcher Building. There have been many late nights in my office this semester where I have found myself without anything to eat. Sometimes this is because I haven't gone home yet that day, sometimes it's simply because I just haven't planned ahead and brought food back up on campus with me. Anyway, I have turned to the vending machines a lot this semester to keep me going at night. Has it been cheap? No. Has it been healthy? No. Has it been convenient? Absolutely. Despite the necessity to complain to dining services a couple of times about expired chocolate milk, it's definitely been nice to have the vending machines here.

54. Teaching Experiences

Today I had the opportunity to teach a class for my professor. He was in Chicago the last few days and wasn't going to be back on time to teach his class today. So, he asked me to fill in.

This was actually the third time I've taught his class. And when I say taught, I mean gave the lecture that he had already prepared. It really didn't take that much effort on my part. Of course, I don't want to make it sound like it was easy. I definitely could have been better prepared and done a better job presenting the material.

Anyway, I am thankful for these experiences for a couple of reasons. One is that it gives me a chance to stand up and practice speaking in front of groups of people. This is something that I'm not the best at. I get really nervous, speak really fast, and stumble over my words. However, it is something that I am going to need to get good at. So, I'm thankful for the practice.

Also, people are always asking me what I plan to do when I graduate with my PhD. I'm never really sure what to say other than the fact that I want to do research. I don't know yet what companies I'm gearing for. It used to be that when I would answer this question, the person talking to me would also ask if I am interested in being a professor some day. My answer to this used to always be "no, I'm sure I don't want to do that." Well, after these opportunities to teach in a real classroom, I'm starting to change my mind. I've really liked the experience. I realize that being a professor takes a lot more than just standing up and rattling off a lecture somebody else prepared for you (for example, YOU must prepare the lecture...plus a lot of other work), but one of the main reasons I was so against it before was that I didn't think I would like the teaching experience. Anyway, these opportunities have opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. And it is that for which I am thankful.

53. Egg Nog

So, I've known for a few days now that this was going to be the topic for today. As I mentioned earlier, I tend to wait until December 1 to actually begin my own Christmas celebrations and such. Egg nog has been in the stores for a few weeks now, but I noticed it again just the other day as I was walking through the store and got really excited that it was almost Dec. 1 and that I could almost allow myself to buy my first carton of the year. It was at that point that I knew I'd be writing about egg nog today.

I really do love egg nog. I don't think I can ever get enough of it. So, it's probably good that it's only available at Christmas, otherwise I'd be gaining weight like nothing else all year long. Also, since it's only available at Christmas, it's simply another one of the many things that get me excited for the season and make this time of year special.

Okay, I should clarify one thing. I have actually seen non-Christmas egg nog for sale. It was Hollowen egg nog and the carton had a silhouette of a witch riding a broom stick. I got quite upset about this out of season egg nog. I think I probably ranted about it to my roommates when I got back from the store. I don't remember seeing it since then, thankfully.