Renovation

As many of you have undoubtedly noticed, I've been renovating my blog over the past couple weeks; ripping up the cluttery side panels and building new easily accessible storage facilities. Renovation always makes me feel good inside. You can ask my roommates, they deal with me rearranging the living room every couple months. There's something about being able to take one space and start all over. Fresh. Clean. Speaking of renovation, I redid our living room again a couple weeks ago. I'll throw pictures up here soon.

Something else some of you might have noticed is that there is a conspicuous gap at the right side of my listed pages--a gap that has been annoying me. The problem is, I really don't know what to put there. So I'm opening the stage for suggestions. For those of you who know me personally and those of you who don't: what should the 10th page be?

 

Silent Saturday

Babysitting today
Via: bighugelaps

Moe is so undervalued

You know, moe. The choice that you don't even really think about, but turns out to be the best one. He gets to the party last, after everyone else is involved in the movie or game and so no one notices him. But when they do they kick themselves because he's awesome.

Moe is taking 3 hours on an assignment due at midnight on Wednesday.
Moe is being able to go home and eat real food and not something from a vending machine.
Moe is more study time.
Moe is more sleep.
Moe is spending an hour longer than expected on my stats midterm.
Moe is still paying attention to the most important things.
Moe is getting to the temple on Thursday night and giving people rides home.
Moe is changing your plans to make the best decision all around.
Moe is taking my Stats test on Thursday.

Life is all about choices. Setting goals is important, they help us get to where we want to arrive. They help us feel good about the baby steps, but often goals have to be adjusted. I could have taken my stats test on Wednesday. I would have snacked from the vending machine, not studied enough, not had enough time to take the test, and not completed my reading assignment by midnight. Ultimately my little goal of not paying a late fee was pushed aside in response to bigger goals: like doing well in my classes and taking care of my body. So I made adjustments. For my last midterm I'll start studying earlier so that taking the test earlier will be Mr. Moe. But today Moe was taking my Stats test on Thursday.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

 Via: Indexed

Life is all about choices. Depending on who you're comparing me to, I make pretty good decisions. Drug addicts and shoplifters, yeah I think I beat them in the decision category. But I could be better. I am a procrastinator which often paints me into tight corners. It means I am forced to spend late nights in the library some weeks to finish all I need to get done when I could have left by 10 and gotten a good nights rest with some forethought.

Often making the best decision requires knowledge; understanding the repercussions that come from the different decisions you can make and then choosing accordingly. I made a resolution on Monday, after completing my Physical Science test 20 minuets before it was due and paying $5 to do it, that I would not wait until the last moment to take any more tests this semester. I would study early and take them before it cost me money. Well today is the last day for my stats test without a late fee and I'm really not in the mood to study. I had just about made the decision to scrap my resolution and take the test tomorrow when I realized something (in addition to the importance of keeping promises to yourself and my tight budget): I usually go to the temple on Saturday, but I don't know if I can this week. My only other day to go is tomorrow; however, if I don't take my stats test today, I likely won't have time to go tomorrow. And so I have commenced studying stats again in hopes of taking it tonight. At least if I'm not ready it won't be because I was a slacker and that's how I want it to be?

Silent Saturday

From: here

Tomorrow

It's tomorrow today. The tomorrow of a day I've been waiting for for almost five months. I know where I'm going. I know when I'm going. I am so excited. And now it's tomorrow and I've thought of Poland more in the last sixteen and a half hours than I have probably in my entire life. It still hasn't sunken in completely.

About 12:48 AM, after I'd called everyone in my family, written the news on facebook, and posted on here I freaked out a little bit. Not because I was going to Poland and that's really far away, but because I thought I'd made a mistake. For a split second I thought: I read my call wrong. I'm not actually going to Poland. It's Portland or someplace that looks like Poland. I'm going to have to call everyone back and correct the mistake. Luckily, before I started making phone calls I decided to read the call one more time to make sure. Yep, Poland Warsaw mission. I'm going there. I get to speak a really cool language that looks like this:

Moi umiłowani bracia i siostry, pozdrawiam was wszystkich na tej 179. Jesiennej Konferencji Generalnej Kościoła Jezusa Chrystusa Świętych w Dniach Ostatnich.

Jakże jestem wdzięczny za czasy, w których żyjemy — czasy tak zaawansowanej technologii, że możemy przemawiać do was, mieszkających na całym świecie. Kiedy Władze Naczelne i przywódcy organizacji pomocniczych stoją tu, w Centrum Konferencyjnym, w Salt Lake City, nasze głosy docierają do was poprzez różne media, włączając w to radio, telewizję, transmisje satelitarne i Internet. Chociaż będziemy mówić do was po angielsku, usłyszycie nas w około 92 językach.

(From President Thomas S. Monson's address in October 2009 General Conference)

And even though I think of cold and dark all the time like this:

From: here

Which is awesome and reminds me of Lothlorian, I found out that Polish summers can look like this too:

From: here

Which makes me very happy because I love the sunshine. Look at that sky and the yellow. This kind of yellow.

Last night I checked the World Factbook. I learned that the majority of people in Poland are of polish descent and speak polish. The major religion there is Roman Catholic with Greek Orthodox and Protestant in second and third (we're looking to change that). I checked out six books on Poland from the library this morning, one of which is entitled Learn Polish in Three Months. Guess what? I have three and a half months before I go into the MTC. I doubt if I'll get through everything, but I'm certainly going to work on the basics. Apparently they have 32 letters. Vowels that are much nicer than English vowels because they only have one sound. There are two accented vowels that sound kind of nasally. And a lot of their consonants have the same sound as English! I can do this.

Funny tidbit: brat means brother in polish. I thought that was amusing. Anybody know anything about Poland. I'm all ears?

I have been called as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to...

The Poland Warsaw Mission

5:17 pm

Asia?

4:20 pm

I'm thinking stateside. Boston has been floating around in my head.