Day of Labor

Life is good life is great, give us this day so we'll be great. Or something like that, right? This week has gone by pretty quickly. I have a goal to write in my blog more than I have heretoforth done, but we'll see how that goes. Since I last wrote I was just starting school. Nothing big has changed. My Spanish teacher is still really pushing me to go on a study abroad before I get married. He says that as an RM my time clock is ticking. I agree. I then asked my parents what to do about it and they said that I had better go in the Spring if I could. They didn't have to ask me twice. I immediately began searching for study abroads in Mexico. I knew that my timing was runnign short with deadlines. I've met a time or two with my advisor and they are all on board. It will be a tough four months, but I've gotta do it, right? I was half-accepted in to a program already. They just want to see my disciplinary form filled out by Coker College. I hope they don't find out about all those bar fights I've been in! ;-) My Social Problems class is going better. I've enjoyed learning the other point of view. Kyle is convinced I am going to turn Democratic over this class. It's interesting to read about how the book projects we fix the problems we have, but it always suggests we raise the minimum wage and lower taxes and rent. Those things are hard to do. If you lower minimum wage prices go up and thus, the raise in minimum wage was pointless. But what do I know, right? Last Saturday Onna and I took her boys to Sonic and they just played and played. It was fun to watch them play. They are great kids. My home teaching companion caught us in the action and now we have no where to hide. By caught in the action I just mean together. To this point the ward really hasn't known that we are together. On Thursday I flew to Denver. It was a lot of fun to see the sights again. I think I started annoying Kaye (Jen's mother-in-law) at all the "aww, this place is..." and reminiced my mission. We helped Jen move first thing, by helped move I mean I put the table together and watched the movers do their work. I was feeling pretty lazy! On a side note, Jen is pretty cool. I had Jack in the Box for lunch and I am convinced (convinced!) that they outsource their drive thru box to India! The guy that took our order was nothing like the guy that gave it to us! Scott and I had a lot of fun with this one! I love that guy. We were just cracking up a storm on the way home. When we got home I went on a walk while I called Onna. Jen and Scott live in a new little neighborhood. I figured I was wakling in a circle the whole time, but eventually in the phone call I realized that I was lost. I had no idea how to get home. My thoughts were then preoccupied with that. Eventually after wandering for an hour and 20 minutes I turned the right corner and shouted "yes!" with my arms in the air. When my arms retired to their original location I noticed that a neighbor of Jen's was drinking a beer on the porch and watched me do that. I felt embarassed, but continued my journey home. I zonked out on the couch for the next 8 hours. Go me! Today I just chilled around and then realized that I needed to go "buying" and we took off to the Flat Irons Mall. Good times. We ate at Big City Burrito for lunch and then I went and visited some people from my mission. The first two I visited are recient converts (from October 2007). They have done a 180 and it hurt to be there. They weren't sure what they believed anymore and it made me sad. I then tried visiting another family of converts but they moved! I called and got the new address, so I'll hit them up on Sunday. I finished the visiting with the Lloyds. Brother Lloyd was a huge influence for me in the mission and the family is so nice! I headed home after that and am tired as ever, but still ready to continue on. It's vacation, after all. Tomorrow we are going to Eliches (Six Flags). I'm excited to do the roller coaster deal again. I'll take some sweet pictures! Tomorrow morning, I can't forget, is my race with Scott G. I'm gonna beat him this time! I've prepared for this race by eating Sonic, Burger King, Big City Burrito, Jack in the Box, and Wendy's all in the last week. It's gonna be a doozy... I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes. Oh yeah, Gracen LOVES me! (and also the camera!)

PS Enjoy the new blog!

Work, School, and Sleep

It has been an interesting week. I haven't had much time for free time, but I decided to treat myself tonight to some personal "Karl time" and boy has it been beautiful. I haven't done a thing, but this week has been crazy and I feel like I deserve it. Monday started my schedule from below. I got up and went to work for a full 8-hour day and then raced to school for my 5:30 class. I was unsure about my teacher, but he didn't show until 5:29, so I waited there for about 15 minutes. Thursday was better. I walked in about 30 seconds before him. My classes are a lot of fun. My first class is Spanish. I love this class! It is a writing class and it will help refine my Spanish skills. I can speak fluently, but I sometiems struggle to include accents. We did the whole class in Spanish and it made me so happy. I understood everything! My classmates--similar to those in the mission--look at me with shock or amazement that a white red-head can speak Spanish so well. I love getting that look, actually. The teacher suggested I start looking at Study Abroad programs. I will need to do a total of 16 weeks of study in another country to graduate with my Spanish major. My next class is Social Problems. This class seems like it's going to be very interesting. The teacher reminds me of Jimmy Cooper (photo right). They look very similar! He seems pasisonate, unfortunetly his class is from 8-10:30 and by then I am pretty tired. We watched two movies this week. One was about sweatshops and how Wal-Mart and Disney pay only 14 to 17 cents to their workers in Bangledesh. The way I see it, those workers wouldn't have jobs without these corporations. Albeit little, it is more than they would have. Agreed? I got my new computer this week. That's exciting. It is an Inspiron 1525 from HP. I like it. Work is going well. I am excited to go to Denver this next Thursday. I'll post the results of my race victory late next Saturday.

Life as we know it is about to change...

Well it was a great week! I didn't do too much, but aren't those the best weeks anyways? Onna and I went out a few times. On Tuesday I was able to take her two boys to swimming lessons. She had her visiting teachers coming over and was about to miss the lesson and since her visiting teacher is my mom I knew that this would cause a problem for my mom to have to visit Onna again, so I just volunteered to take them. It was so much fun! Those boys are really cool kids. On Friday I went to see that new Mummy movie. It was pretty good. The theater was about 2*, but other than that it was a good movie. Earlier that day on Friday I finished the OC. I have finally seen all 4 seasons! It was such a good ending, it kind of pieced it all together for me. On Saturday I went to work at the temple again. I am not sure I've talked much about this. I work at the temple twice a month. This time was special for me because it was Spanish Saturday. It was so great to be able to use my Spanish again. Those Hispanics, just like normal, were surprized as ever when a white red-head with blue eyes spoke their language. I love getting those looks. It was also special because the first thing that I was able to do as a worker I did to my dad and that made it more special. He has always tried to support me in whatever I do and am grateful for that. After having worked just two weeks at the temple I can see what a blessing it is for me. I love going each time and am really starting to learn the intracisis of it. When we got home it was sitting on the counter--my very first credit card! Don't worry, I applied for this one. I am so excited to start getting credit. I went by myself to dinner to celebrate. Just me and my Taco Bell had a great time. Just before I chose to celebrate I figured I would wash my truck. I haven't washed it for a long time and I knew that my dad was cringing each time he walked by it so I washed it at one of those pay-and-do-it-yourself places. All was working great until I got to the colored foam conditioner. It just was having problems coming out and spraying on the truck, big deal, right? Well I pointed it straight up in the air to see if it was work at a different angle. Well at that precise moment a large gust of wind happened and the foam began working. Within a second I was coated (and I mean coated) in this tri-color foam. I just laughed and said to myself, "This better dry away fast." I was on the way to my girlfriend's house and didn't want to have to go back home. It dried over time before I got there, luckily. Today is Sunday, I am tired. We just had dinner and now I am primed for a nap, at least a short one. Tomorrow school starts. My Monday/Thursday schedule will be almost unbearable I can feel it now. I will continue working full-time 8-5. Class starts at 5:30 and finishes at 10:30. My Monday/Thursday will be 8 AM to 10:30 PM! I'm not excited for that. I can't say my schedule is all too difficult. I am taking a Spanish class that the teacher already told me I would know more than anyone else in there. At any rate, I'm excited. :)

Technology Is Amazing

Technology never ceases to surprize me. It all started on Saturday. I was driving to the temple for my first day of work and I realized that I didn't have my GPS cord. The battery was dead. I was about to be lost. I texted Kyle and he didn't help me, but he did tell me to text Google and get directions. I texted Google "directions 29550 to 2905 E Trotter Road. Hopkins, SC" Within seconds I had 3 text messages giving me 10 detailed directions as to how to arrive at the temple. Technology amazes me!

Apologies for the wait...

I'm sorry to all for the extended delay without a posting. I've had some vacation and now I'm here for the long haul. Let me update you on a little bit of the past. I had a friend come visit, her name was Brooke. We did a lot of fun things. We went to Charleston and Columbia. After her visit here I flew back to Arizona with her and visited some old friends. One of my visits was to an old junior high crush named Shannen. It was weird this time that there were no feelings for her, but we were able to reminice for the longest time and just laugh at our old memories. As for the current, I'm working full time still at Sonoco. I have missed work lately, like actually missed working. I have missed making money and have been spending far too much. I just bought myself a ticket to Denver for the end of this month. It will be fun to be in my old stomping grounds again. I have been spending some time with a friend from Hartsville. Her name is Onna. We went to the beach on Saturday and had a great time. We also went to Hard Rock Theme Park. It had some great roller coasters and it was just a lot of fun. The bathroom in the park was pretty funny, too, so I had to take a picture! On the way home we ate at Central Park, an old food chain that left Hartsville many moons ago. My best friend came home from Ohio where he was working for the summer. We went golfing and he beat me by a few strokes. I'm really not good at golf, but for some reason I love golfing. I don't understand it! What's on tap for the near future? I have a date on Saturday. I am going to work at the temple for the first time on Saturday, that should be fun. School starts in a week and a half and I'm pretty excited to now begin learning again!

Life returns to Normal

Well it was a good week. On Tuesday I saw Hancock with a friend and it was an okay movie. I expected better, but what can ya do for 2 bucks? I didn't really do much more this week. I was trying to catch up on sleep but my friends never allowed that! On Thursday I was planning to go out with another friend but at the last moment the missionaries called and I went out with them. I had been wanting to go out with them so I cancelled on my friend and went with them and we taught a nice lady, but she has some misconceptions of the church and I did my best to bare testimony. It was fun to be in the teaching situation again. I really miss being a missionary. On Friday I went through the work thing like normal and then went to a game night with the other YSA in my ward. The THREE of us played games galore that night and it was a much later night than expected, but I had a lot of fun. I won some and lost some, and was destroyed on the OC game! On Saturday I slept in and then ate a muffin and went to play soccer in the blazing heat! It may have been the stupidest thing ever. I nearly passed out due to my lack of edible energy or water intake before I went to play. That night I went to Adam's and cockily told him I'd beat him in MLB 2005 on the PS2. I used to play that game every day before my mission. Long story short I went 0-3 and then lost the Home Run Derby for icing on the cake. Just as we learn in the scriptures, pride is of the devil and we are thrust to humility because of it. I learned my lesson, but I'll beat him next time!

Vacation #2

I'm sorry it's been so long! When I got back from Arizona I immediately began packing for Illinois and we left the next morning. We were away from nearly all electronics for the entire week. It was kind of nice! My cell phone didn't work, which wasn't very fun. Oh well. We arrived on Tuesday after a 15 hour car ride. My driving kind of freaked the other passengers out, but that was only for the first few minutes. I really am a good driver! :) My "amazing" co-driver had the bright idea to play a trick on me and turned up the heated seat to 5 (max)! About 15 minutes into my drive I noticed an intense burn in my lower back but was unsure why. Kyle just told me that leather does that when it heats up. I went another 15 and really was burning at this time! I then inferred that I was the only one in the sun so maybe that was why my seat was the only one that was hot. Kyle then felt the lower back portion of my seat and said, "Karl, this is normal for leather." Never believe your family members! I finally found out about 2 and a half hours later at Jack in the Box! My back was soo sweaty! I gave Kyle a nice punch before laughing about it. It was so good to eat Jack in the Box, but my body was pretty upset at me for the food I had been eating. I really hadn't eaten very good to this point in my two vacations combined. That night we arrived after minor delays due to the flooding that occured a few weeks earlier. Kyle, MaryEllen, and I walked to the temple and it was so beautiful! They light it up well at night. Kyle went and took pictures from very random angles and places and MaryEllen and I just chatted. It was nice to chat and just be near a temple. On Wednesday we woke and all chatted. The whole family was there except the first in-law (Scott). It was so fun to be with my whole family together again! I hadn't done that since long before my mission, and now MaryEllen was a part of the experience which was fun. I kind of felt left out that all had their own partner, but Amy didn't, so we joked that we were spouses (complete jokingly!). We all did a session together in the temple and it was such a cool feeling to be there with all my siblings (minus Scott), and my parents. It made me so happy that we all were there together. I wish that we could all be in together one time, all 11 (and eventually 12) of us. I think that would be pretty sweet. The rest of the day we started family home evening and I was a little irked from the first time I got to my room, it was filled with people. I didn't like that people ate on my bed, nor used it to hang out. I wanted my personal space too, just as they all had theirs, but I guarded my door better afterwards and it didn't happen again. On Thursday we toured Nauvoo. It was a lot of fun. I was dead tired though. My feet hurt. I stupidly wore flipflops. Oh well. It was fun to do that. We saw a lot of cool things and Kyle and I broke the rope making machine for a second. We then went to the visitors center and I was able to talk to a nice sister missionary from Austrailia. Her accent was pretty cool. We then walked home and shopped on the way. It was good times. That night we went to Sunset at the Mississippi and it was a lot better than I had expected. I nearly passed up the opportunity, but it was a lot of fun and good dancing and song. President Uchtdorf was there with his family and went up front during the Air Force portion. I felt bad because after he was hounded by "fans". I saw the sister missionary again and chatted a bit more with her. I'll never see her again, but she's pretty cool and--well, she has a nice accent. On Friday we headed to Freeport and again due to the flooding we were late in traveling and thus late for plans already made in Freeport. We went as quick as we could, but some had hard time with that. At fireworks that night it was fun to go see them. Last year at this time I was with a less-active named Nikki and we watched them from her house. It was a lot of fun to think like that. When we got home we played Murder (of course) and it was fun as normal. MaryEllen killed us all. I was kind of protecting her because it was her first few times playing and she kept getting killed for nothing so I adamently defended her only to be killed (by her!) and find out who did it. I learned who my true friends were that night. Also on Friday we had the lip sync and we did the Cha Cha Slide. It was a lot of fun. Kyle and I normally get down a little more than we showed in front of the family.

On Saturday Kyle and I played Disc Golf and he totally won. It was fun to play. He kept hounding me on the way home, "Karl, you want to get in to it? I want to get in to it, Ellen." Good times. That night we had an open house for my grandma. It was so fun. My dad asked some girls to come speak to me. My dad is the best wingman!

On Sunday we had church and I had a PPI with my sister Jen. That was fun. We just BBQed that day and played Murder that night. Good times once again. I really like being around my family. On Monday we woke early to begin our trail home. 16 hours later we were home. Good vacation. I didn't go to bed that night very early. I wasn't tired, but exhausted. I was wide awake. It was the next day that I was dead. I'm excited for the next reunion, both our family's and the greater family.