My Family

What I love about each of my family members:

My mom is so talented and she gives of all her love and talent so freely to us and to everyone she knows.

My dad is very intelligent and works hard at every thing he does, but what I admire even more is that he loves very deeply.

My brother Chris (CJ) cares about people a lot too. He is a deep thinker and I admire how much he is able to learn by observation.

My brother Zander is very intelligent, but he also never lets anyone feel left out.

My sister Sophie is a great example of service to me.

A note about nationals

So I was running in the national NCAA cross country meet. It was cold and wet. I was trained for this kind of thing. I was ready. Everyone was fast. I was fast. (I had to remember that one.) The course was hard. I was almost 3K into my 6K race. This was where I planned to serge. My heart was willing. My legs were trying. But I was falling behind. I could hear someone coming up behind me. "Right here, Mike." I heard my teammate Rachel say. All I had to do was stay with her. Here comes the hill. "This is my favorite part." She reminded me. Draw from her strength, I thought. I remembered why I was doing this crazy thing: it was for them. The six other runners our there battling with this race. They who put their whole heart into this sport that we love. It was because there is something so real, so raw, so...well right now it was so painful. I finished that race, turned around because I thought I was in dead last. I wasn't. I kept walking because that was all I could do to keep from falling over. Sure I have raced better, but I wasn't disappointed. That race had created me - like every race does. And I had crossed the finish line while giving everything I had left. That is racing.

Spilling Thoughts

I think it is important to pull truth out of literature. So, what if I know more truth, understand something, have more insight than the author? I am not to try and assume what the author did and didn’t understand, how he did or didn’t see the world. I have eyes. I see the world. However wrong I am, it is the only way I know and no one can prove anything otherwise. So I am to understand literature, and through my eyes, see truth — out of something written from the pen and through the mind of someone else. . . But can every human recognize truth? From my experience, it speaks to the soul. We can all recognize love. . . and love is truth (how different are they anyway?). So the beauty is that there is a piece of something shared in literature. That piece of truth. Which may be the only untainted line of communication between two different eyes on paper. . . But if this not true — for I admit, at least right now in this train of thought, it is speculation — then I must still seek the truth out of literature — and raw human to human communication continues, a little occluded, but as close as I know for this time now.

Do you ever feel like this?

"Once I ordered a sirloin steak and a chocolate sundae, but everything was so cunningly disguised on the table that I mistook the chocolate sauce for gravy and poured it over the sirloin steak."
-Tennesse Williams "A Streetcar named Success"


Such is life

Is this chocolate or a rose? Neither. It is a picture on this blog.
Is it real? What is the definition of real anyway?

A Streetcar

I don't know if you have ever read "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennesse Williams. I am not recommending it. It is a horribly tragic and depressing play. I didn't enjoy reading it at all. But, I could not put it down. I was so intrigued by everything that was going on between these characters - what they were thinking and feeling and why and how they were living. After finishing the play, I read an essay by Williams called, "A Streetcar to Success." I must say it was equally intriguing, but after reading it a few times, I cannot say I agree completely. But I can relate and understand his crisis of identity. (Sometimes I wish some of these authors just had the Gospel because I think it would make them so much happier) Anyway, Williams does have a few things right:

"That time is short and it doesn't return again. It is slipping away while I write this and while you read it, and the monosyllable of the clock is Loss, Loss, Loss, unless you devote your heart to its opposition."

Life is hard. But is that way for a reason.

I think Williams and I would agree, we don't want it any other way.

Our Kitchen

I absolutely love pita bread, and after this weekend, I found out how much fun it is to make. It is quite exciting when they pop open. Each one is hand rolled and each is a little bit different, but they are all loved and all delicious.

How do you eat them? Just like a sandwich - turkey, cheese, lettuce, cucumber - whatever floats your ferry. You can also put chicken (or lamb or steak), olives, fetta cheese, and cucumber sauce inside to make a Greek lunch. Or try it with peanut butter and jelly.

Why am I blogging about this? Basically because I love pitas and think you all should too.

Something to think about...

Is our sense of identity, sense of self, created from within or imposed upon us by our surroundings and those around us?

My Love

What I wouldn't do for this little girl. Ellie Kate, muah.

Well yes, I should be studying, researching, writing the three essays I have due next week. But first, I just want to say... I finished all six of my midterms this week, both of my quizzes, and my three papers! Just now, I turned in my timed Shakespeare midterm, and it feels soooooo good to be done (for the week at least). Let's just say, I felt like I had a snake around my neck all week.

Believe me, I know what it feels like ;)

One thing I do want to say is that I never could have gotten through this week without the strength of my Father in Heaven. His love is so perfect. I am continually amazing at how much He loves me as an individual. My relationship with Him is one of the most treasured things in my life. I brings me so much strength and happiness. One of my greatest desires is to share His love with everyone because I know he loves each one of His children more than we can imagine. I don't know were I would be without it. (If you want to know more, look into the LDS (or mormon) faith. It is God's way of showing us how to be happy.)

Let's all make a little more


       "Concord from Discord"

Maybe all I do is run, but that is not all I think about.

McDonalds??

If you have been driving around Chicago any time recently, or any time at all for that matter, you may have noticed the McDonalds smack dab in the middle of the freeway. Legitly is the medium between the westward bound traffic and those going east. Why was it there? Don't ask questions. Who wouldn't stop for an oreo mcflury at 9:30 at night post-race?

We are sooo happy. (I mean, who wouldn't be?)

What I have been reading...

if you are an American, you know the basics of American history - the revolution, Boston tea party, slavery, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, Nine Eleven. But what most Americans don't know, and what I didn't know before I started flipping through the pages of my American literature anthology, is the personal and real stories of the people who made up America and American ideals today. They were wrong about things; they were right about things; they did things, things that made a difference.

Most recently, I just read Harriet Jacobs account of being a slave. Even a peek into the dark side of America reveals such courage and strength. Without strong men and woman like her, America today would be different. Even though she had almost everything taken from her, they could not take away her voice.  I shudder to read what happened during the time of slavery, but I also applaud slaves like Jacobs who changed her world, and changed ours.

I love my Team! because we are not individuals runners, but one complete unit. Alone, we are just tearing up grass and kicking leaves, but together, we are champions.

So maybe I am obsessed with my bike? Gotta say, I absolutely love riding it around - to school, to the park, down the road, whatever. A friend showed me this sweet biking web site and I just want to say, I think it is awesome.

Reasons why I love to ride my bike:

1. It is so much fun!
2. Often times I can get places way faster than if I walked or drove.
3. It saves the environment (every little bit helps).
4. It saves gas which is getting pretty pricey.
5. I get to explore new sights and enjoy the weather.
6. I meet other awesome people with bikes.

I am on team Promote bicycle culture everywhere!

Last thing I want to say, protect against stolen bikes. It is cruel.

Halloween Caterpillar?

What would you do if you saw one of these inching along?

Saw this up Provo canyon today. Didn't even know it existed. 

Still not sure what it is.

Life, is like Never Before.

Each new moment is a surprise. Each new second is unlike the one before. What will the next moment bring?