Food Glorious Food

The missionaries and I were invited to dinner at a families house. When we got there we saw an amazing spread of food. Steak, egg salad, bread, refried beans and salad. I dished up a large plate with some of everything on it. My plate was completely full but apparently it wasn't full enough. The grandmother, who had cooked the meal, insisted that I needed more steak. So she put a second steak on my plate that was even bigger than the first. She also decided that I needed more bread. Well I ate it all. I was impressed with myself and I think everyone else was pretty impressed too, but then the unthinkable happened, desert. A chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, coconut sprinkles and strawberries on the side. I already felt like I might burst but I'm no quitter, so I ate an enormous piece of cake and a few of the biggest strawberries I have ever seen. Needless to say I was full for days.

Road Trip Part I: Driving Down

An Early Birthday Present

Mom and Dad took me out to Dinner at the Keg. I had french onion soup, sirloin and dungeness crab. Everything was wonderful. By the way crab is a strange food to eat. As I sat waiting for my food the waiters kept bringing more and more items I would need to eat the crab. First melted butter. This I understood. Then strange clamps used to beat the crab into submission. Took me a bit to figure those out but eventually I got the hang of it. The clamps were also accompanied by a ridiculously small fork. Then the waiters brought a bowl of water with a slice of lemon in it. This was for my fingers, or so I was told. Perhaps this was going to be more work than I thought. The crab was fantastic, but I had to work for every bite. I cracked, scraped, dipped, bit, chewed and swallowed eat bite. My final judgment of crab: very good, but I think I burned more calories eating it than I gained by ingesting it.

The Optimist on the Roof

On Saturday I spent the majority of the day doing chores on the roof. I swept the roof, blew the roof with the power blower, cleaned the gutters (also with the power blower), cleaned the skylights and then I went got to pick up all the stuff I had removed from the roof. Generally I would have found something about this set of jobs to complain about but this time I decided that optimism was a good and attractive trait that I needed to develop.

Good things about Cleaning the Roof:
Nice view
Noticeable results
It was a bright sunshiny day
I was being payed
It was something to do

Things the old pessimistic Blake would have noticed but did not notice because he was being to optimistic...maybe...
It was a hot, bright, sunshiny day
Ducks like to live on the roof
It was dirty
The gutters fought back, I was covered in black decomposing waste smelling like a mix between Idaho cows and the swamp thing
I swept the decks the day before and then covered them in pine needles
The stuff didn't want to come off the roof

Well I tried anyway

I guess I don't know my own strength

For our last Family Home Evening activity, my "family" played a little backyard baseball. On of the girls in our group had borrowed her three year old nephews plastic and foam bat and a rubber ball for us to play with. As members of our family left to go study for finals we found that there were only 3 of us left, but we still wanted to play (or still didn't feel like studying) so we decided to do a home run derby. I went second and the girl before me got two home runs so I figured I needed to get at least that many. Unfortunately things did not work according to plan and I found myself with only two pitches left I found myself with only 1 home run. I knew this one had to go over the fence (otherwise known as into the parking lot or over the rosebushes) so when the pitch came I swung with everything I had. Good news: I hit a homerun! Bad news: the bat snapped in half and the broken half of the bat flew across the field and hit an appartment complex scaring a girl to death. Now must admit I feel good about the home run, but the memory is a bit tarnished by the thought of the three year old boy who now has a bat that is half as long

I wonder if they think that they're cool

Walking home today I saw two strange things. The first was a tandem bicycle, strange enough as is but even stranger because there was only one guy on it. Makes me wonder what led to that decision. Maybe he owns a tandem bicycle and couldn't find anyone to ride with him? Maybe he got it for a date and got stood up? Either way it was entertaining to me.

Not two minutes later I saw a second strange sight. A woman rollerskating while pushing a stroller. I wonder about people like this. Do they think that they are cool or do they just not care? The world may never know.

Now That I Have Grown a Foot or Two

Wednesday April 8, 2009 my mission call came. Excited does not begin to describe how I felt. Lisbon Portugal, what a fantastic surprise. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and has a wonderful climate, averaging 50 in winter and 85 in summer.

Thursday Night Lights

Flag football is a great sport, except i have trouble getting other peoples flags off... especially when it is below freezing. Maybe I should stick to tackle, which is apparently what one guy on my team decided (he is suspended now) So far I have had a couple sacs, forced a couple interceptions and I have blocked two extra point attempts. O and yes we play on Thursdays

Basketball

I went to my first BYU Mens Basketball game. It was against U of U (boo!!) and I am happy to say we won, all thanks to the fans I'm sure

Fire

So yeah I was making dinner with Camille at her apartment when she realized that we didn't have all the ingredients we needed. She ran to the store but I decided to stay and watch the boiling water just to be safe. So as I was watching water boil I got bored and went to get a glass of water. As I stood there drinking my water I noticed that the pot looked orange. When I lifted the pot to investigate I found that the entire burner was in flames. I gave the flame a puff of air hoping to extinguish the small fire. Unfortunately for me my plan failed and the end result was an even larger flame. AH! So thinking quickly, but not clearly, I threw my glass of water at the flame. (In hind sight this was a bad idea, water does not put out grease fires it makes them spread). Luckily for me my plan worked, the water put out the flame and I managed not to burn down an entire apartment complex despite my best efforts. Unfortunately the entire apartment was full of smoke so I started opening doors and windows. Just my luck Camille's roommate came home just then, and there I am in their apartment now so filled with smoke that it made the lights seem dim. Their only comment was to complain that since I opened the door their gas bill would be higher...

The Event II

The Event II was a party on campus. Below are some of the events that were available


This was either a killer dance party my camera had trouble taking a picture of because it was to dark or it is a UFO. Either way it is a party must


Fighting with giant inflatable sticks. Camille is convinced that I broke her nose with one of my well aimed attacks

I bought a Jamba Juice to make her feel better...and because I really wanted one

Giant tricycle racing anyone? (sorry the picture is blurry, but that shows you how fast you can make these babies go)
Camille did not approve of the Karaoke

Other events not show include Laser tag, Dance Dance Revolution, various games including Catch Phrase and Uno and much much more

A letter from the Dean

This is a letter I received from the Dean informing me that I have been included on the Fall 2008 Semester Dean's list because I was in the top 5 percent of all students in the college. In the other students common defense they have had a lot more opportunities to mess up than I have

Election Party

Yes I know this one is old but due to popular demand for more posts I have been going through my archives. My apartment hosted an election day party filled with decorations, treats, political debates and much more. This was a sign we got from 7-eleven on the night of election day. They didn't need it or want it anymore so we hung it up on our wall as a decoration

Yes I am afraid its true

O how the mighty have fallen. Yes it is true I drink root beer now and A&W is most certainly the best kind.

A visitor to my apartment

So one day my roommate and I found this little guy walking around on the floor in his room. We think he came in by jumping onto someones backpack and we really hope there aren't anymore

Draper Temple Open house

This weekend I went to the Draper Temple Open House. It was Amazing. The Temple is beautiful, and like many temples is set high on a hill overlooking the city, but the inside rivals the outside appearance in every way. If you ever get the chance I would highly recommend a visit to the Draper Temple

 Blake and his faithful following resting while building a small fort in our front yard.

 Blake enjoyed a snowball fight while Erin and others put up the doorway that never seemed to want to stay in place. I believe there was more snowball fights than work done. The castle was a great way to make friends though. There were people who drove past and honked at the kids as they worked.

Snow Snow everywhere

  The kids built a snow castle at the Junior high. It was pretty impressive.

 

We are glad that Blake was able to come home to Washington weather. We took him out sledding as soon as he got home from the airport.