November 16, 2014

     This past week was not as big as last week, but an interesting thing happened. It was inspired by my blog. A friend named Tamara Rawson, who I met in my business class, writes for the Scroll, the BYU Idaho Newspaper. Somehow she was so inspired from my blog article that she got everyone excited at the Scroll to write an article about me. I accepted Tamara's request to send a photographer to take pictures of us, when I was working out with Devin Collins. One thing about me that I love about myself is that I think a lot. I had some ideas this week that I hope to practice in the future, which can change the world. I am unsure if I should continue to write the development of my friendship with Jessica. I think that I would regret not recording it, so I will. My grades are getting better! When I am asked how I am doing, I answer "It's getting better; always getting better." I got a 99% on the second half of my Mechanical Systems' midterm and a 80 on my Accounting test! Devin Collins is feeling knee pains, and Jessica is not use to feeling sore. I did a presentation in my Electrical Systems class. I am not your standard student; although, I was unable to prepare a formal presentation. It was instructive. I think that I have enough to write about according to this introduction paragraph. I usually write with the intention to reveal my personality to my posterity. I think that writing about school work is boring, so I am unsure if I will do that.

     On Monday morning I woke up to an email from Tamara, saying that she wants to write an article about my cross country experience. Tamara was in my group of my business class usually, sittin right next to me. We set up an appointment for Tuesday. We spoke about fifty minutes. It felt like a conversation to catch up with an old friend, but she asked about my coaching style and my cross country experience mainly. I did go off of tangents. I think that she invited them though. I told her about a couple of my runners that I would recommend for her to interview. I gave her the phone numbers of five of my athletes, but she was only able to interview Kiana. Since I gave her abundant material to write about, I thought that it would be hard for her to put together an article. Devin Collins did a video interview with me to, and I had him sent her his interview with me. Upon the thought of the difficulty of writing the article, I followed up on Tamara and Kiana on the progress of the article. Tamara said that her article will only be 500 words long. Jesse, my roommate, said that was not much, and Kiana said "Cool! 500 wrds is better than none!" I have both perspectives. It's short, but it's better than none.

     That evening I ran with Devin with Katie taking pictures of us for the article. I asked Katie how she would like us to do the photo-shoot, saying that we usually run for twenty minutes. She said that she would need the twenty minutes to figure out her camera settings, so we went off. I was surprised how happy that we should look in the pictures. Our conversation had me smiling, and we enjoyed every minute of our run. Katie took pictures of us each lap that we ran. She took like 50 photographs. After the run she wanted to take portrait pictures of me, holding my shoes over my shoulder, and she was taking a bunch of pictures of me even when I was taking off my shoes. Posing for her portraits were naturally funny to me, and she did not need to ask me to smile because how awkward she was.

    My ideas have mainly been inspired by my Methods and Materials class because it is more theoretical, and less skill based. On Monday morning, I was reading that the purpose of an exterior wall is to resist the forces of light, wind, water, and pressure, and my idea was why should we resist these elements, when there is a lot of energy that can be harvested. In this same class, one of the first things that we did was watch a documentary on the construction of the new world trade center. It said that the building needs to resist hurricane winds year round. A lot of energy can be harvested from towers. They resist pressures that can blow out or suck out windows. I suspect that these pressures are usually pretty constant. I expect that a device can be placed to resist these pressures and produce electricity or a useful service. My buildings can be self-sustaining producing their own electricity, and the excess energy will need to be sold. I can make a utility company. You can harvest energy from the elements that building resist. Another idea that I have can from an explanation that insulation in an old house usually should not be replaced because there is moisture and condensation that is formed when there is a difference in air temperature from the inside and outside. The humidity coming from the inside of the house to the outside cold condensates in the wall. If you replace the oftentime insulation-less old house exterior walls, condensation is formed in the wall insulation, which can be very messy. This idea can produce water, which would be nice for drought land like California. My physics teacher said that there are lands which are deemed infertile because there is too much salt in the soil, and the fertility of the land can be restored if pure water is used to wash the salts out of the land. These were my ideas.

      Jessica and I have been keeping up developing our friendship. On Monday we were planning to run, but her gym shirt was dirty. She refuses to wear her dirty gym shirt as most guys usually use a singular gym shirt multiple times a week

     We went on a walk instead. I thought that the school had a program where one can rent a gym shirt, so we checked out that option. The school quit renting gym clothes though. I think that we got dinner too. We thought that our accounting classes were covering the same topics, so I helped her study the next morning. The textbook for her class is not good. We figured out some of her confusions. Mostly it was terminology that had very similar definitions, and when we tried the homework, the definitions were broader than what we thought that it was. On Wednesday we got to running. We ran a lap, and we decided that I should teach her running form. She is a solid runner, not jogging slow; although, she has to stop to rest every five minutes. I told her to be careful if her calves get tight because that causes shin splints. We make sure to stretch our calves. I didn't do it with her at first because I rarely stretch; however, doing an activity properly is easier with someone, so we decided to do it together. On Friday we went on a walk, and she asked if we can lessen the amount of time that we run because her legs were so sore. She also asked what would happen if she quit after one day. I said that it would get worse because your body will think that activity is just a one-time thing, taking its time to recover, and she would get more sore for a greater extent of time. If she kept running, her body would recognize that running is going to be a regular thing, healing the muscles faster and reducing the pain. She said walking to classes were very painful, but her body has already gotten used to the routine, not being sore.

     On Friday evening we were going to planning to go to a formal event called Opera Scenes with the gang with Rachel, Paige, Jesse, and Nephi. I decided that I wanted to get a haircut to prepare for the formal event that night, so I asked Jessica if she can meet up after our accounting classes. I thought that we had our accounting classes at the same time because we have a class at the same time in the Smith Building. My thoughts were not correct though; however, we did meet up after the class. When she came, she looked at me as if I had a glorious spontaneous adventure to be found. I just imagined that I was going to walk her to her next study session or class, and I could get some of her haircut preferences or ideas. As we walked, we didn't seem to have a decided course until she asked where the hair salon was. My haircut seemed to be the glorious spontaneous adventure. I showed her around town as we made our way to the salon. We checked out the movies at the cheap theater and went straight to the destination afterwards. I really liked my barber and my haircut. The barber had 46 years of experience, and I let her be creative as I usually do, since Jessica didn't have any suggestions. She didn't ask any other questions for my preferences other than how long that I would like it. I liked that. I think that Jessica likes me because she thought that it was funny whenever the barber sprayed my hair with water because I had to squint and wink. The barber sprayed my face. I think that only someone interested in me would notice that, thinking that it was cute. Afterwards we went to have brunch, and we studied together until she had a study session. I like that we have a mature productive relationship, where we have the temperance to study next to each other without chatting too much.

     Opera Scenes was amazing. Jessica and I are looking for to the full on opera in the Spring. I told her the day before that she needed to let me pay for our dinner when we went out to dinner because I think that she likes to be independent. I already said before that she usually paid for herself. I don't feel like writing about the show. It was weird to get used to the subtitles. The expression of and in the singers showed the opera scene well. I don’t like the intense stories, and how the actors have to inflict those situations on themselves. I wonder if there are effects on the body, mind, and spirit for acting such terrible circumstances.

     Today is now Thursday. I sorrowfully have to write that both Jessica and Devin are enduring knee pains. I must be doing something wrong. Yesterday I interviewed for the track and field coordinator position. The article about me came out in the Scroll on Tuesday, but it is not on the website yet. I successfully wired my first circuit on my electrical systems class. My internship opportunity with RJ Enterprises has been approved by the school today, which is November 20, 2014. I have been hanging out with Jessica every day this week, and she doesn't mind. I am racing the turkey trot this Saturday, and she said that she wants to watch me. I need to win the turkey for Thanksgiving.

     Late last week, Devin said the pain of his injury has been maintaining itself over the weekend, and I endured the sorrow of witnessing Jessica develop an enduring injury similar to Devin. She felt a pain developing on the insides of below her knees, saying that she felt that shin splints may be causing her knees to bend inward. I asked more about how it felt, and she said that it felt tight like a muscle. That confused me because there is little muscle on the inside section below the knee. I asked which way does it hurt when she moves her leg, and she said that it hurts when she pulls her leg back with her hamstring. We decided to stretch our calves, hamstring, and quadriceps. As we did that Jessica expressed that she wants to finish her run of that day. After stretching, we attempted to run again, but the pain changed to a bruise feeling, and she did not jog for longer than ten yards.

     My interview for the position of being the Track and Field coordinator went great. It was pretty simple because all we did is review my plans, which I made with Brother Stutz with the director. I was surprised by Brother Stutz' decision at the end of the interview because he spoke to the director committing him to quick decisions concerning the coordinator of Track and Field. The director said that he would like two weeks to decide, but Brother Stutz asked me if having December fifth until the end of the semester to do what I wanted was enough time. I said that it was not enough time because it would only give me a couple weeks to round everyone up, organize a Track and Field and Cross Country Association, and start choosing coaches. My surprise was that Brother Stutz committed the director to make a decision by this coming Tuesday, working with my schedule and plans for the next Track and Field Season.

     Check out the first circuit that I successfully wired. It is a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI), protecting a couple other outlets. Last Friday I completed a few more circuits for my lab class, and the only mistakes that I had were instructions on what to do on things that I did not know about like what do you do with the grounding wire in the box, which is plastic, and the light fixture does not require grounding. I wanted to practice grounding a metal box, but I could not figure out how to use the attaching thingumabob, so he showed me how to do that too.

     I got an email, approving that I can enroll in the winter semester for an internship, and I went to confirm with the school if RJ Enterprise has completed the master agreement form. They did! I need to figure out some things know for my winter stay in Heber City, Utah now.

     Saturday was a big day in my life. I was hanging out with Paige and the gang, and I asked her  to "Guess what I did today."

     She answered "You won the turkey."

     I replied. "Yes, but I asked Jessica if she would like to date steadily again." She was so excited for that she texted Rachel, and Rachel asked me about the great news. She already knew it, so I didn't tell her that we are dating steadily. I did tell her the story though. I will tell the complete story at this time. We watched Interstellar, which is an amazing film. I insisted somewhat on walking home in the daylight because I wanted a good environment to ask her, if she wanted to date steadily again. I planned to walk home on the shortcut path, which is more scenic and private than the rest of town; although, there is no lights, so I didn't want to walk home in the night on that trail. When we walked home on that path, it started hailing on us, and I learned from the flood of last semester that it is better to hide from the hail than to endure it on the travel. We found a spot to hide next to a bridge. I actually came to like that the hail was in our occasion because the path was completely covered with hail, making it a solid pure white scene. When the hailed slowed up and we started walking again, I knew that the time was coming. The time came when our conversation slowed up.

    I said "When we walked home on this path, I was planning of asking if you would like to date steadily again."

     Jessica said "Sure."

     My reply was "Cool." I thought up a good conversation afterwards to have a good start to our relationship, and I didn't think of how I will reply to her approval of us dating steadily.

     I decided to set everything straightforward. I asked "What do you understand is the purpose of dating steadily?" She did not have a definite purpose. I said that a friend from my old YSA branch taught me that the purpose of dating steadily is to see that if the relationship is good enough to make marriage workout. I told her that I have never kissed anyone and that I want the most happy, fruitful, and mature relationship with her. There are a lot of immature couples here. I also said that when we are steady dating, it is time to set the habits of a fruitful marriage and figure everything out. It is too late if you begin to figure these things out when you are engaged. We decided to talk about the things that are most important to us the next day and how we are ensure that we establish them in our relationship. That conversation went well.

Things Most Important to Jessica and I

     There is a program that I downloaded that I was introduced to in an education class, which helped us organize the conversation. We read the chastity part of For Strength of Youth pamphlet and spoke of the law of Chastity misconceptions that we see in most relationships at Brigham Young University - Idaho. There are so many immature relationships. We always hold hands when we walk around especially when it is slippery from ice.

     When we walked over a slick section of the sidewalk, Jessica slipped, and she lost her phone. After we searched for it that night, we trusted that humanity would return it to the Lost and Found. I sent a message to the phone for whoever retrieved it to contact me. The phone was returned, and I was contacted to inform Jessica where it was at. In the evening Jessica informed me that her phone was switched by her mother to only connect to iPhones via text and calling. I didn't think that her parents would oppose us dating steadily, but they did. We spoke about it today. They think that she has not dated enough to know who she wants to marry. Their opposition to us dating is messing with my head. I hope that they don't resist us dating too long.

     The article about me, winning the turkey trot, was expected to come out today by the journalist (November 25, 2014). John Combs, who got fourth in the Cross Country Championship Race, asked me before we ran the 5K, if I have any friends, joining me. I said that I didn't because I want to limit the competition, since I need to win the turkey. It was cold, and the track was covered with slush and wet. I didn't want my shoes to be wet, and I found that the astro-turf did not get my shoes wet; therefore, I ran my warm up around the field. The race started about 9:15, which I was not used to. The coordinator had everyone come at 9:00. Usually races start at the time that we meet, so I arrived more than 20 minutes early. I warmed up running more laps than usual, since it was starting late. The race was the same as the past two years, but it went backwards. We unconventionally ran two warm up laps as part of the race. I, of course, did not see it as a warm up. I used it to check out the competition, and get a good placement therein. There was not much competition. There were only two people running in front, which is the most ideal location to be behind. After running 700 meters, and the competition slowed down. I knew that getting the lead position this early will basically guarantee my win because it is really hard to catch the leading person from a distance. When I was about half way up the hill, I saw a confusing scene. Runners from a turkey trot race was running very fast in the opposite direction of me. When I passed them, I realized that I should not worry that I ran the wrong way because their bid numbers looked different than ours. Having two races running in opposite directions was not hard for me to adapt to; although, John Combs said that the cones showing the path did not make sense to him. He stood for a minute confused. It was at a point where the runners had to run a sharp turn left into a parking lot, 180°, and run back to the main road. When I ran that part there was a guy about 50 meters behind me. I learned never to look back in a race, so I pressed forward until the finish. I was grateful that the guy never caught me. I won the turkey! Tamara, who wrote the article about me, received me at the finish line. Jessica didn't make it because 9 AM was too early. The first thing that Tamara asked was "Have you ever thought of being a famous runner because you are famous here?" She mentioned how I am always in the paper and they are interested in writing about me. I think that it is just her. I just wanted to get my turkey, and go do yoga with Jessica. I needed to get the Turkey because Jesse, Paige, Rachel, and I are having Thanksgiving at Bear Lake, and my role was to provide the turkey.

     As we did yoga I was happy that she said that her legs didn't hurt, but today, the 25th of November a few days later, she said that her knee pains are getting worse, hoping that it won't interfere with her job opportunity, when she goes home. I seem to have come full circle. After yoga we had lunch at Togo's and watched Interstellar.

    

     

Edited out tangents: I am so minimalistic that last time that I was asked to take pictures, it was spontaneously for a classmate from last semester during Halloween as we visited a pumpkin patch. I only took one really good picture, and the family of my classmate was impressed. It looked like a good family photo.