Lint is a shell's best friend

Blog-a-log. I think I say that in my head every time I get on blogger...blog-a-log. Who knows why. This week has been tiring but great because I have run TWICE. Which isn't impressive, except with efy being so draining, those two times mark the first two times I have gone running ALL. SUMMER. It feels great.
I know I posted this on facebook but I have watched this video like 7 times today. And I keep giggling to myself every time and it is so nerdy.

I went to Arizona last weekend for Robby and Amanda's wedding and it was one of the best weddings I've ever been to. Besides being in Arizona and being so so hot. Sometimes you go to a wedding and it's like, "uhhh I don't know anyone and I've had so many of these chocolate dipped strawberries and fancy lemonades and this collar is getting really itchy...time to go." This was one of those weddings when so much is happening, no one seems too stressed, the bride & groom are actually enjoying the party, and there's a bit of a magical feel to the whole thing. That was last Saturday night in Mesa.

Oh and I decided I'm getting married next summer. I know that's a weird thing to decide when you aren't dating anyone but.... I think it's time.

Guess what I wear as a hat? A lentil!

11:45 pm.

Tonight was very reminiscent of being in high school for me: hanging out with people I love and going to In-n-Out for some late-night nutrition. So fun. But you know what I love? That drive home alone afterwards. And walking into my room and being alone and just having time to think. I was never one of those go-home-and-crash-in-two-seconds kids. I always stayed up for awhile, thinking about the night, thinking about life and the future. I'll admit that I often felt insecure in those alone moments in high school, but right now, I just feel at peace.

On my mind:
Harry Potter 7.5 comes out this week
Arizona on Sat!
My UC Irvine application is almost done
ipads. I want one
I just got Google+ but so far I haven't really figured it out

And as always, Italia....

My first day in Italy


These are my favorite Italian homies. The boy in the back's Dad died a few months before I met him here, and he gave me his favorite little matchbox/hotwheels car on the last day we came to their school to help teach English. I know those two things are completely unrelated, but he was the man...I loved hanging out with all of Francesca's class.

I'm going back next summer. Probably to teach English, but no matter what I'm going back. Anyone want in?

Humbled.

Happy 2nd of July! I can't believe it's already July, and that I'm almost halfway done with EFY. Shoot. I'm just sitting in my old apartment now, (I'm displaced until efy starts again tomorrow!) and working on my application to UC Davis! These applications get old. I guess staying here in Provo without a job/career path would get even more old though, huh?

Can I just say that for as much as I couldn't stand listening to corny EFY music as a missionary, I really like this song. Granted, it would probably sit more comfortably on an Adele B-side album than an EFY soundtrack. We got to see the original singer perform it live, and it was great.


This last week I felt so blessed. There was an AWESOME girl at efy this week, that happened to be from my hometown, who suffers from Conversion Disorder: basically she passes out randomly, and has to be revived by a "femoral artery rub"-which basically means you have to dig into their upper-inner thigh. I don't know all of the physiology behind how it works, but I was a little nervous all week about her passing out. Welp, she passed out twice this week. The first time happened on my morning off, and my awesome co-counselor Marissa brought her back that time. The 2nd time, I was in the next room over. When I got there, Marissa was trying to bring her back but she wasn't coming around after about a minute, so she asked if I wanted to try. I'd practiced the femoral artery rub approximately 0 times previously, because it turns out that rubbing someone's crotch who is not passed-out is not only extremely awkward, but could also be viewed as some sort of dodgy, illegal behavior. Anyway, I reached to where my best guess of the femoral artery would be and started rubbing, and in about 3 seconds she was back, and she just started sobbing; a mixture of embarrassment and frustration.

There are so many times in my life where I feel like I get blessings I don't deserve, and this was one of those times. I had no reason to be successful, but for some reason I was able to help this girl, and I felt a love for her in a way that our Savior must feel for us every day. That feeling I had to be able to heal is comparable only to the feeling I had to bring people into the church as a missionary in Italy. And I'm full of gratitude and humility, because I am so undeserving.

On a lighter note, this is what google offered up when I typed in "awkward" to make sure I spelled it right:

I lol'd. They are probably from Utah.

Summing it up

Well I'm on office duty at work right now, so I figured it would be a good time to post something before I disappear for another few months. Anyway this is my 4th week of EFY and so far each of them has been distinct...mostly for injuries and what not:

Week 1: knee dislocation week
Week 2: the flu epidemic week
Week 3: the on-stage seizure/first ambulance ride/15 year old fan week
Week 4: the lightning strike/MCAT week

I know I should talk about those in more detail, but I'm feeling a little too lazy to sum up all four weeks. But it's been so fun here! I thought I would definitely not be efy material, and not that I have become efy material or anything, but I've had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends. This week has been great, but it's been stormy! We had our games night at Kiwanis park yesterday which ='d pioneer trek a la 1846 hike from helaman halls to the park...it was so long! Luckily we have cars, but we had to hang out along the path and guide them up to the park, and it was windy and raining and lightning and thunder and all that fun. So then we did a few games in the wet and rainy park and then apparently lightning struck a gazebo thing where some of the counselors were and all the nearby kids ran under trees (aren't they boy scouts? c'mon!) so we reverse-trekked it back down to the dorms. Of course then it stopped raining. Anyway I wasn't near the park when the lightning supposedly struck but it sounded like a real interesting time!

Oh I got my MCAT scores back this week! I got a 32, which is a very average-accepted white kid score! So I think I'll be accepted somewhere! Sweet huh? I thought I could maybe do a little better than 32, but 32 is still very decent and like I said, is about the average score for accepted students. So no johns hopkins for me, but the real good news is: no trying to figure out other options besides med school either! Because for awhile now I have felt so so good about going; I've felt like it is really what I want to do in life. Now I have to finish my applications though, George Washington done, 11 (or maybe 14) more to go.

I also wanted to pay a little tribute to one of my sports heroes who just retired today - Paul Kariya. Kariya was my favorite player on my favorite NHL team, the Mighty Ducks (they were probably everyone's fav hockey team growing up, but at least I lived near Anaheim growing up). He retired after 15 seasons because of brain damage he received through multiple concussions, even though many teams offered him contracts to come back to play. Through his dedication to his rehab program, he "jumped from the 20th to the 80th percentile in brain function," which I admire so much. There are probably tons of people that would ignore the Dr's advice and just play, especially if they're feeling better, but it takes guts and a lot of wisdom to give up the more exciting life of playing a sport you love to focus on staying healthy. So admirable.


More stories to come? Yessir.

My new schedule

Now that I have devoted my summer to giving bandaids and claritin to emotional EFY-ers, Saturdays have become an interesting phenomenon in my life. Today we wrapped up the week at 930AM, followed by a Denny's run for breakfast with all of my great coworkers.(quick side note: Due to the marathon on University today, I slowed down and asked a cop where I could turn to get to freedom blvd. He asked, so I told him I was going to Denny's, to which he responded by asking if I was going there to eat. My possible responses: 1) "Yeah, why?" 2) "No, just going there to hang out." I was definitely in a tight spot there.). After Denny's, I pulled into the elms, and was greeted with that familiar musty smell of a 40 year old apartment complex in need of some serious renovations. After unpacking a few things, I jumped in bed and have been there ever since. And it's 6pm. And I feel great. Apparently the week of no sleep catches up with me every Saturday, and renders me immobile for the day. Anyway, I guess I've been here long enough. Time to enjoy my week off! On a super sad-for-Ross note: I lost my ray-bans. Yup, my fake, 7.5 euro favs from my senegalese homeboys living in Italy. Maybe that's the real reason I want to stay in bed.

Signs of things to come?

34, 34, 32, 34, 34, 36

Those are the scores I've gotten on my practice tests this spring, with the MCAT this THURSDAY at 1pm. I love all of those scores. I'm trying not to get too overconfident for the real thing, because from experience last year, the real thing is a little harder than the practice tests, but still, I'm averaging 34! Which means I might have to change the group of schools I'm applying to... Anyway, this week has been crazy, with the test on Thursday, and then EFY starting this weekend. Did I mention I'm going to be a health counselor for EFY all summer? Haha yeah sometimes I think I'm the opposite of EFY material, but I guess we'll see how it goes! It pays well, and I don't have any other plans, so why not right? Just wish I has a week or two after the McAT to relax!

Ps, anyone wanna go to Oklahoma and noodle with me?!

I have the best part-time job ever

Sometimes I think I should just teach Italian forever. But I feel like my favorite part-time job might not translate as well to a full time career. MCAT a week from today!

004 professor white is awesome
004 I just want to say that Professor White was an excellent professor. I have observed other student teachers before and he is one of the best I have seen.
004 Professor White is the best Italian professor at BYU! He is very good at what he teaches (he sounds Italian!) and is willing to help whenever needed. I would most definitely recommend him to everyone wanting to take Italian.
004 Good teacher. Knows how to explain things correctly and in an efficient manner for all to understand. A lot of busy work but I guess you need in a class like this.
004 I felt that you did a good job of explaining things even though everything was in Italian. You kept your explanations simple and basic which helped. Also, I'm impressed that you stuck to speaking 100% Italian every class; I thought you would stray into English explanations more often to help clarify. But you didn't so that also really forced us to pay attention and learn quickly. The activities and frequent interaction with classmates helped to clarify new concepts and instill understanding. I loved learning a little about the culture and country itself, too (as opposed to learning just the language).

I do have one small suggestion that may or may not be good. I know we can email or talk to you in person, but I think opening up Monday class with any questions students may have had about the previous week's on-line homework would be a good way to make sure we understood what we learned. I know after I did the homework I sometimes had a question about something but forgot to email or ask you. Following up on Monday might help, I don't know.

Other than that I can't think of any other improvements. I really enjoyed this class and learned a lot. Thanks for all your time, effort, and enthusiasm Prof. White!
004 Great job Professor White -- you handled the class wonderfully. Grazie!
004 Professor White was an exceptional teacher. Learning a language is very difficult but he made it as easy as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed this class!
004 This class was great. I learned so much but never felt overwhelmed by the subject matter. Professor White is an excellent teacher. I have taken foreign language classes before and Professor White is one of the best teachers I have had. This class is well organized, well taught, and a lot of fun. I am excited to take the next Italian class.
004 This was one of my favorite classes this semester, and I really learned a lot!
004 Professor White is one of the best instructors I have had at BYU. I decided to take Italian for fun, and did not have much background knowledge about it. Through his teaching strategies, I was able to understand the course materials and do well in the class.