Repentance Process

I know that title just scared the bejeepers out of you, but trust me you have no need to worry any time soon.  Hopefully never in the foreseeable future.
I title this post as it is because of my diabetic sins last night.
You see, my best friend, Ivan Banov, is diabetic.  And so I think I know just about everything there is to know about diabetes.  This may be a slight oversight on my part, but that's ok.
My ice cream would have sent me into a diabetic coma had I not have intestines that are stronger than most horses.  So I trimmed it down tonight.

****************************************************


Still finishing off the pint, but this time I put less toppings of whipped cream, caramel, and chocolate and added fresh cut strawberries to the bottom and dried banana chips on top.  This is a strange concoction for sure, but I look forward to it nonetheless.
Ok, enough writing about it, it's time to eat.


****************************************************


Brief Olympic interjection...
Jordyn, the little girl on the American Gymnastics team (who is the current raining champion) was robbed.  Straight up robbed of her place in the all-around finals.  The judges were FAR too strict on her while having the same level of laxness for all other participants, including her teammates, who I believe did far worse than she in many aspects.
My heart breaks for her.
OK, that is all.
***
Brief ice cream interjection...
It is delicious.
OK, that is all.
***
Church was wonderful today!  I even saw a cute girl or two.  Which for most singles wards isn't a big deal, but since the combining of my beloved Dinkytown Ward with all surrounding singles wards(Uptown and St. Croix Branch) the beauties have become few and far between.
However, the third hour was combined(due to it being the 5th Sunday) and there was a large display set up on Food storage so my friends and I did something I haven't done in close to 6 or 7 years.
We.
Skipped.
Church.
That's right.  We skipped just one hour, but that's more than I have skipped in a very long time.
We went to Erics home and the plan was to make Rice Krispies treats, but he ended up not having marshmallows, so we just sat, watched the Olympics, and ate junk food.

After church I came home, ate a super healthy and amazing meal with my family, and then went to a mission farewell for a kid in my mom's home ward.
First thing when I walk in the Bishop, the young men's president, and a couple others comment on my physical appearance.  It was a huge ego boost.
That's all I'll say about it, so as to avoid sounding like a HUGE douche.
Just a baby one.
***

I am approaching a point where I am HEAVILY persuaded to shave.
It's not itchy.  It's not inconvenient for eating.  It's not a HUGE pain.
It's just not as attractive as it once was.
Wait, let me take that back.  It's just as attractive, I just enjoy being clean shaven/5'o'clock shadow more than I used to.
It's even with bearded.
WHY MUST LIFE BE SO HARD?!
#Firstworldproblems
****************************************************
I look forward to running tomorrow, going to the gym, paying off my Montana speeding ticket, and going to a Twin's game with some of my best friends tomorrow night.
What are your hopes and dreams for tomorrow?


~Boy

Hold My Cake...

So...I have something to confess.

I. LOVE. The Olympics.

I always have.

I can remember being a kid in our humble little brown house on third street in River Falls, sitting in front of the TV with my family late at night watching the Olympics.

Those were the good old days...

Oh wait, this isn't time to reminisce.  This is time to proclaim my love for the Olympics!!!

Alongside my love for the Olympics is a love for volleyball.

NEEDLESSTOSAY I was in heaven for 95% of today because volleyball was ALL OVER the TV and internet.

Now, I am hesitant to say that I love volleyball too much because people always assume the worst.  They think that you watch it just to see some uber babes in super tight shorts.

No.

I really do love volleyball!

Are the beautiful girls nice?  Oh, of course!  But it's like the toy in the happy meal.  Not necessary, but awesome nonetheless.

Yes, so I was in jubilee today.

***

I am currently sitting on my couch watching the end of the Olympics tonight (which is swimming(WHICH I AM SO JEALOUS OF BECAUSE I AM NOT TERRIFIC AT SWIMMING)) eating this:

-This is Half Baked ice cream from Ben & Jerry's...IMPROVED!

That just means that I have smothered it with whip cream, chocolate syrup, and caramel syrup.

The story of this bowl is that when at the store today with mi madre we wanted to pick up some ice cream.  New York Super Fudge Chunk, another B&J creation, is my usual favorite.  At Cub, our grocery store, however B&J ice cream was 2 for 5$ today!  Can you believe that deal?!  If you can then you either trust me a lot or just don't know much about B&J prices.  Either way, I decided to get my normal NYSFC and then try something new, which would be this masterpiece.

It is delicious, even if it just looks like a random puddle of brown, black, and white.

***

Let's talk about life dreams here for a second...

I have found two in the last couple days.

They will remain life dreams for approximately another week or so, but that doesn't make them any less important!!

1.)Become a tugboat captain/work on a tugboat on the great lakes.  COULD be out of Duluth, but doesn't necessarily have to be.

2.)Become a line judge for volleyball in the Olympics.(You can guess why this recently became a life dream)

That's all for that.

***

BEARD TIME!!!

I have a bone to pick with pictures taken to represent my masculinity.

This does no justice to all the time, hard work, and dedication that I have put in to growing this thing!

You have no idea how bad I want to shave my face and cut my hair when I am running during the day.

It is so hot.

Take however hot it is for you when you forget to shave your legs for one day or something and times that by a BILLION.  On your face.

It really does make a difference, I promise.  Plus, I can't exactly put this in a ponytail can I?

...it has just come to my attention that I look slightly handicapped in the above photo.

To assure you that I am not in such a state, I will take a second, more normal picture for your enjoyment:

Ok, I have too much fun with my webcam.

That is all.

~Boy

blargh

So tired.
and sore.
This is all you receive today...

Good night Friday.

~Boy

It's Too Late To Apologize

I know, I know...

I didn't update yesterday.

I HAVE AN EXCUSE!!!

I spent the night at Brenton's and he has no wifi.  I promise, otherwise I would have updated you on the status of my physical health and facial growths!

I shall do the latter first...

As you can clearly see there are TWO things to report on this image!

1.)My facial hair is coming along nicely.  Good to know my body hasn't decided to spontaneously stop producing testosterone.  That would ALSO result in a lack of me having hair on my head.  Which I clearly have a ton of...CLEARLY

2.)I am wearing a stylish Green Bay Packers sweater.  It is comfortable and a little too large.  It was also the last one of it's kind and size at the Atrium when we were down for the stockholders meeting.

Hold on, I need to get a granola bar.

.

..

...

..

.

POOF I'm back.

And the bar is delicious, I promise you.

***

Let me tell you all about what I did yesterday/today in a convenient numbered format...

-=TUESDAY=-

1.)Woke up and ran 3.5 miles.

-It wasn't as bad as the previous day, namely because I went running two hours earlier in the day, but I was still quite tired afterwards.

2.)Talked to Brenton about going to Brian's and getting the information for our window washing business.

-This failed because Brian's dad decided that he wanted to leave 4 hours earlier than originally anticipated.

3.)Went to Brenton's.

4.)Shot his bow and arrow(s).

-Haven't shot one since I was 12 years old.  It was quite exhilarating, and I still nailed the target!

5.)Went to Eric's.

6.)Went to the gym.

-After taking some of Brenton's pre-workout stuff from GNC, which got me buzzed as all get out.

7.)CRUSHED IT.

8.)Got a membership at LAFitness simply because I am quite addicted to the gym and felt so good going back after a week of not lifting.

9.)Went out on the boat.

-Learned how to knee board!  Never done it before, and I got up on my second try!  Whoop whoop!!

10.)Played volleyball for a number of hours.

11.)Collapsed sleepily on Brenton's couch.

-=WEDNESDAY=-

1.)Woke up and watched SNL digital clips with Brenton

-After having hamburgers for breakfast

-We also made a flier for our window washing business(not totally unproductive)

2.)Went to Erics

-They had a brilliant plan to go out on the boat, go to the gym, and then go out on the boat again

-I didn't like that plan, because it involved me getting sunburned, so I convinced them to stay inside instead and watch a movie and nap because we were all still tired

3.)Plan succeeded.  We watched The Marine

-It was terrible.  Period.

4.)Brenton and I went to the gym.

5.)Mildly crushed it.

6.)Came home, showered, ate dinner, and am now sitting on my couch in the basement typing this.

***
It was a load of successes delivered quite swiftly!  And tomorrow is promising to be another great day of water, wackiness, and of course, women.

It is now time for me to do something different!

Love, ~Boy

Haiku Hiatus

So this whole break I'm going to really try and update the world on my life EVERY day.

This means I'm going to go ahead and skip the alphablog thing for a while (let's face it, I was never really good at it anyway).

BUT, seeing as how my life while back home currently has two themes, my blog will have two themes!

...instead of just one that I wasn't very good at fulfilling in the first place.

Running and beard.

I know what you're thinking, "Oh man, Spense, that sounds SO interesting!  I'm glad that you will be updating us on these things."

(You were saying that with heavy sarcasm.  I picked up on it over the internet, that's how heavy it was.)

You were actually probably thinking something more along the lines of "Why did I ever bother with reading this in the first place?"

You are a very judgmental person.  Shame on you.

***

Yesterday my mother, my brother, and I traveled to Green Bay for the annual Green Bay Packers Stockholders Meeting.

This may not interest you, because I am well aware that *most of the people who read this are female, but let me assure you that this is very rare and supremely cool!

(*see all)

Most professional sports teams are owned by a single owner.  This owner is usually some snooty, rich person. (I assume.  They could be really nice I suppose)  When changes are made to teams it is at the whim of the single owner, and profits from the team go to the single owner.

The Packers, however, are a publicly owned team!  This means that you can own stock in them and that they are run by a board of directors that are voted in to office by the shareholders. (I recently voted for these very people)  The profits from the team are obviously used to pay the players(just like every other team) and then the profits go back to the community.  6 million dollars this last season went back to the community.  They are also making huge renovations to the legendary stadium Lambeau Field, which normally have to be funded through taxes(in the case of the new Minnesota stadium), but these are funded through voluntary donations by stockholders.

Can you imagine if the U.S. Government was run like the Green Bay Packers?  There would be no trillions of dollars of deficit.  There would be bonus revenue to spend on and spoil the citizens.  Free lollipops anyone?

Needless to say, I love this football team, I love this stadium, I love this town, and I love my mother for paying for my brother and I to join her on this adventure!

(This is also the first image I have ever seen in which I can seen ANY sort of resemblance between my brother and I (despite his lack of hair and my overabundance...))

***

Seeing as how I am not at BYU-I right now, it is time for my traditional NOTSHAVINGEVER EVENT.

Exhibit A...

The moral of the story is this: I dislike shaving every day.  I dislike it very much.  Even to the point that I don't ever do it and will sometimes go a little too long at school without shaving and get spoken to by a teacher or testing center official.  So when I am home I rarely shave, even to the point of beard development(even though I am not overly fond of full-grown beards either) just because I can and no one will say anything about it besides "Gee, Spenser, you sure do look good with all that hair on your face.  It matches all the hair on your head and due to a particular set of hormones my body releases right now.  Kudos to you!"

Yup.

That actually happens.

Totally.

***

Last story for the day!

I went running yesterday.

That's it.  Good night!

Just kidding...

I went running.  And it was 91 degrees outside.  With 60% humidity.

I died.  But not really.

I did sweat a TON, though.  And wanted to cry a little.  And wanted to throw up a lot.  But I didn't.

I am now tracking my runs through http://www.mapmyrun.com, though, and that's pretty neat.  I suggest it to all my running friends.

THAT'S all.  Have a good night.

~Boy

P.S. It's raining a lot around here.  I can't wait for more rain.  I love rain.

This is what I dislike most about Rexburg.  Lack of rain.

Mothers Magic

I.
Love.
Minnesota.

It is my absolute favorite place in the world.  Minnesota and Wisconsin, that is...Minnesconsin.

My future wife must love it here as well.  This is NOT an option.

I have been all over this great country of mine (minus the east coast) and there are great things everywhere.  However, nowhere captures my heart like Minnesota.

OKIMDONERANTING

***

I've only been back for a day and a half but I am so stinkin' content.  Hence me currently sitting on the couch in my relatively new finished basement with a big bowl of ice cream, the Sunday newspaper comics, and Great Lake Warriors on the tele in front of me.

THIS JUST IN...

I MAY be slightly addicted to the History Channel.  I enjoy just about any and every show that they have on.

I'm not a junkie...I promise.

(Discovery Channel isn't bad either)

***

I may be happy and home in Minnesota but there are definitely some things I miss about Idaho...

...namely Miss'.

I think that's the way you would type that, but I honestly have no clue.

I meant  to say multiple Miss, meaning multiple girls.

I just like 'em.  They make life so much more meaningful.

It's a beautiful aspect of going to BYU-I.  Girls.

OKIMDONEMUMBLING

***

I'm loving this ice cream right now.

ANDSHARKWRANGLERSISONNEXT!

#BESTTIMEOFDAY

#SHARKSJUMPING6FEETOUTOFTHEWATER

...neither of those are real #s...

but they should be!

***

ok, prime example for why I love being home
THE FOLLOWING STORY IS REAL:

Upon completing my large bowl of ice cream I thought it would be a great idea to be kind and wash out my bowl.  Which I did.

My mom and my stepdad were in the kitchen talking about something or other and upon my arrival my mother asked me my opinion on some gospel topics.  Her story is that she is going to teach at girls camp or something this week.

We proceded to have a deep conversation about why young girls would care about keeping and making covenants.

This was obviously a little tough for me to perfectly emulate...seeing as how I am neither 12 NOR female.  But I did my best.

After speaking about this for a while we went downstairs and had family prayer.  It was great.

***

We had a terrific and safe trip home from Idaho and we even took a bunch of videos.  I hope to make a collaborated video of these adventures sometime soon.

~Boy
**EDIT**
JUST 3 or 4 minor notes I forgot to mention earlier, but shall make space and time for them now...
1.) In case you didn't notice, I really enjoy facial hair.  And truly despise shaving.  I wish it were possible to have a permanent 5'o'clock shadow.
2.) My hair is quite amazing.  I do not say this to brag but to simply make a point.  At church today(while back in my home singles ward(which has changed a lot and I no longer enjoy as much)) a random gentleman walked behind me and brushed my hair with his hand/wrist/forearm, for which he apologized immediately.  The females that were close in tow began teasing him about this encounter.  He stated he simply really wanted to touch my hair because it is so fluffy(in jest).  They all had a laugh(at my hair's expense may I add) and then the girls noted that they wouldn't mind also brushing my hair, and proceded to half ask if they could but without actually asking me, but instead in the form of a continued conversation between the three of them.
I consented.
They enjoyed it, and commented as such.
That's right.  Complete strangers enjoy touching my hair.  And then they tell their friends about it so THEY can touch my hair.
3.) I worked out a lot this semester.  A LOT.  I have achieved a weight of 190ish lbs.  This is more than I would like, despite the fact that I don't really show much sign of bulk.  So I have decided to spend this break from school(and the gym) running.  Every day.  At LEAST 3 miles.  I don't know if I would really be happy with less than 4 in all honesty.
Because now that I have muscles I would like to show them off.  I know this sounds terribly shallow, and it very well might be.
But I don't care because it will make me happy to be found attractive for once in my life.  I will not obsess over this, but I will demand better of myself.


That is all.
Merry Mike's Birthday!


~Boy(Again)

Love Languages and Other Linguistic Logarithms

As always, it has been too long.

This semester has been an extremely crazy one.  I can't even begin to describe all the crazy things that have gone on!

Ok, maybe I can begin...and so I shall.

***

Let me first begin by saying that today 7/11/12 is Brenton and Spenser's Punk Rock Day.(We really need to come up with a better acronym for that, I know)  Once a semester, at least, Brenton and I decide that for an entire day we will listen to nothing but Punk Rock music.  We had been contemplating this idea for a couple weeks already this semester, and today I just could not take it anymore, and decided that today was the day.  And so my life of rock has begun.

And it has been fantastic already!

Let me tell you why...

-Pretty lady smiles at me on the way to class. (I know, this has the potential of meaning absolutely nothing in the long run, but it was a good start to the day)

-Get to my first class.  It's canceled. BOOM!  Awesomeness ensues.

That's all it takes to give me a fantastic day.  How easy, right?

Oh, and of course Pandora is playing some wickedly awesome beats for me to enjoy.

***

Since my first class was canceled, I contemplated heavily what to do with my time.  I could go back home...but that would yield next to no benefits because no one is home, so I would be alone to watch something on the History channel.

And that just sounds like no fun.

So I went to the Gardens and sat in a gazebo for a matter of seconds trying to get internet.  It wasn't happening.  So I decided to ditch that effort and just come inside.

Where I read some of the Psychology posters before deciding to update my blog.

***

This semester has been filled with a lot of good times, but also a lot of self-exploration.  It all started just over two weeks ago when I was at Ririe Dam with some of my good friends.  A couple times this semester we have gone bridge/cliff jumping, but I never jumped.

It wasn't because I am afraid of heights.

It wasn't because I am afraid of water.

I couldn't explain exactly what it was that made me not want to jump.  There was just something inside of me that said no.  So naturally I, being the church-going, God-fearing person that I am, decided this was some sort of prompting and I should probably just keep following it and never jump and always remain a lame-o.

And so I did...for a while.

Yet, despite me never jumping, I kept going with my friends.  Something drew me towards the idea of jumping, but kept me back from doing so.

So there I was, at Ririe Dam.  Standing on the edge of the smallest possible "cliff" known to man.  It was more of a ledge than anything else.  Hardly 5 feet above the water and yet, despite the very small drop I still could not bring myself to jump.

What could it be that was holding me back?

And then it hit me like a large boulder crashing down from the cliffs above.

Change.

I was terrified of change.  Of becoming someone other than who I was.
Change is a strange topic.  Depending on how you view it, it can be a good thing or a bad thing.  It can be scary and it can be entirely harmless, even beneficial.

So I jumped.  And again.  And again.

I've jumped off many things, now.  And that fear is still there when I get to the ledge, but I recognize that strength doesn't come from getting rid of fear, but facing fear and overcoming it each and every time it shows up.
Since this realization I have made a couple life changes so as to make me a better person, I believe.
***
I have made a lot of lady friends over this semester.  A bunch that are entirely new, and some that were just acquaintances but are now good friends.
Needless to say, I have loved this semester.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S A BILLION DEGREES ALMOST EVERY DAY. KALVIN.
That's right.
It's 100,000 times hotter than the sun.  In Rexburg.
LUCKILY it's cloudy out today.  And freakin' beautiful!  It's cloudy and moderately temperatured and beautiful and it might rain and I love it.
***
Well, it's almost time for my next class to start, so I'm gonna go.
But I'll leave you with a little taste of the delights found in Rexburg during the spring.

Enjoy!

P.S. I apologize for the ramblings found in this post.  I really should have been more organized.