Mission Call

Well, I figure that I better finally post a post about what I'll be doing the next two years of my life.

I have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I've been assigned to labor in the Florida Tampa Spanish speaking mission.

I say it that way because 1) that's how it comes in the letter and 2) that's how it is.  I've been called to serve as a missionary and assigned to a mission in the same way that I'll be assigned to an area in my mission once I get there.

I am very excited.  I have no regrets about where I've been called to serve; it feels right to me.  I'm grateful that I'll be learning a different language, especially one that I've already studied and that will benefit me immensely once I return.

Great Minds Discuss Ideas; Average Minds Discuss Events; Small Minds Discuss People.

By Eleanor Roosevelt.

Entropy and the Gospel

In chemistry we've been learning about a concept called entropy, designated by the letter S.  The statistical definition of entropy is dependent on how many microstates a substance can have.  Microstates are determined by how spread out particles in the substance are, how much energy they have (velocity), the number of rotational and vibrational movements they can have, etc.  Entropy, in other words, measures disorganization.  Entropy also helps to measure spontaneity. 

Here's the important part:  every reaction increases the entropy of the universe.

There's a tradeoff in every reaction necessary to accomplish work.  We like the fridge to be cold, but we can't except it to get that way on it's own.  Why?  Because systems seek to maximize entropy.  In this case, the maximum entropy level of the fridge and the surroundings exist when the fridge is the same temperature as the surroundings and thus all particles are as disorganized as they can be.  If we want to cool the fridge down, we have to put work/energy into it using the compressor and the chemical properties of the Freon-like material.  By putting work in, we can cause the entropy level of the fridge to decrease and, therefore, it can sustain a colder temperature than the surroundings.

Take note of the important fact that even in this process, the entropy of the universe is still increasing.  The fridge decreased, but where did the energy come from to do it?  The power company, which produces energy by one of several means.  Each way will increase entropy in the universe more than the fridge will decrease it. The overall S of the universe will increase.

Life is not spontaneous.  Life works against entropy.  Our bodies are builders, not "sparsifiers."  Thus life has a problem.  If everything has to increase the universe's entropy, what do we do?  The truth is, we work the same way as the fridge.  We offload our entropy problem.  It's like an entropy chain.  We use the energy from the food we eat to build proteins and to do work.  That food is built from plants, which take a ton of energy from the sun to build sugars.  If we follow the chain back, we realize that we can only survive if the sun increases in entropy more than we decrease in entropy.  Essentially, we offload our entropy problem to the sun.  The only way life can exist on earth is if we take our problems and let something else deal with all of them.  Of course, we do deal with some of it; we will die eventually and our particles will be dispersed.  We are all subject to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, but at the same time, we can use another Law (a less defined law) and transfer our problem to the sun.  It's a law because it works, and it always works.  It's what allows us to live.  Yet the first law, the law defining entropy, is not violated.  In fact, if we define life in terms of a system that auto-perpetuates a lower entropy state even with complete material turnover, the sun becomes the enabler of that.  The sun becomes not only the light, but the life of the world.

Now, as I'm sure you predicted, comes the ol' vowel switcheroo.  'u' becomes 'o' in the sun.  The only enabler of life on this planet is the Son.  The only way we can survive is if we offload our problems to Him.  Sometimes it goes through the chain - hometeachers, the bishop, etc - until it finally reaches Him, but it will eventually.  Through the Son the Law of Justice can still be fulfilled while letting us use the Law of Mercy (less defined - more abstract) to transfer the full effect of the Law of Justice to Him.  As our bodies have to do work to let the entropy changes slow and transfer the change away, so do our spirits have to do work to let our problems transfer to Christ.  It's called repentance, prayer, fasting, commandment-keeping, etc.

Now, scientifically, the sun of this world will ultimately fail.  Entropy will wear it down until it stops giving off the light and the energy the world needs.  That is where the comparison stops.  Unlike this temporal sun, the Son of Man (exalted Man) will not fail.  He has already completed the mission that allows us to apply the Law of Mercy.  It is an infinite and eternal sacrifice.  Jesus Christ, the true Son, will never wear down and we can partake of his infinite light, power, and goodness forever.  Life is not spontaneous.  We were created by God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and by Him and through Him we live.  He is the ultimate light and life of the world.

Cats TREMBLE before me!

Oftentimes when I start thinking about writing in this blog I start thinking about blogs in general.  Then I say, "I wonder what so-and-so is up to," or, "Boy, did what's-his-or-her-name finally get that duck problem resolved?"  Eventually I'm so tired of reading blogs and not getting anything real done I abandon my task and go eat some food.  And then my sister calls.

So, eventually, I get to this point, where I haven't written anything for weeks.

First, a quick update:

• School is going well (I just finished the "testing out" equivalent of my computer science class, so I never have to go again or take the final)
• I've had a few dates in the past couple of days that were fun, including seeing Thoroughly Modern Millie and going ice skating
• We've had a few great talks in the last couple of weeks, from Pres. Monson to Elder Holland to Merrill J. Bateman
• We have cleaning checks today, so for the rest of today the clamorous sounds of scrubbing and the low rumble of the vacuum will fill our apartment.  Unless the synthesized music of Mario Kart Wii  does, as it does right now

Other then that, I can't think of much else to say.  It's rainy and 

cold, and the snow is that muddy black color that comes after weeks without a new snowfall.  I'm still barely getting over my sickness and cough that have plagued me since before Christmas.

So now, here's the picture that sparked the title (anybody who's ever had a cat in their house, or worse, arms while cleaning will understand):

What's an "idear"?

As in, "I had a great idear the other day!"  With the accent and everything...

Well, here is my idea(r) about what an "idear" is:

It's a camouflage suit made by Apple (for hunters, of course).

And here is Jerry's:

An Apple girlfriend.

Final Days

Echoing a post by Whitney, I have mixed feelings about leaving home for a year at school.  I went to my last Stake Dance tonight, and a wave of sadness swept over me as I thought about the transition from high school days to college.  At first it was a bit weird being one of the oldest there, but then I realized that these people were my friends, and I stopped caring.  It was sad to think about the fun I've had at Stake Dances, from my first one three years ago to this one today - I can't even imagine how many times I've danced to "Boot Scootin' Boogie" in the interim.  Although a lot of my friends my age weren't there, there were still a bunch.  Plus, I do have younger friends, believe it or not.
I think I'm waxing eloquent on the subject because it hit me tonight exactly what I'm doing.  Moving away from home, never seeing most of the people going to Hurricane High, not even really associating with Hurricane High anymore.  As Whitney said in her post and I learned three years ago when we moved here, your family is the one of the only things you can count on to be there for you and support you and one of the best things that one can do is to be supportive of everybody that they associate with.  I really tried to do that and I hope that I have.
I am excited for the future - I'm not saying that I'm not - but right now I am just so grateful for all of my family, the church, and my friends.  My family and the church have stuck with me my whole life.  My friends accepted me and still continue to be friends even after they get acquainted with some of my...quirks.  For that I am eternally grateful.  It has changed me for the better by example.
Moving was hard.  I had to stick close to those two pivotal anchors in my life, now joined by a third.  They say triangles are the strongest shape.  This is kind of a more personal, emotioinal post them I'm used to writing, but I will miss everybody very much (unless by some good stroke of fortune I see you again, which should happen).  I can't think of a single person I don't like right now - I love you all!  Of course, people have their own quirks, but since I have some I can understand other's.

Goodnight!

Exciting Events

Well, there are really three parts to this post:

1. I got an iPhone for graduation. It's kind of a reward for the hours and hours of homework, the 4.0, the 35, the Valedictorian, the scholarships, and the honors. My mom and dad don't have to pay anything for my college. Anyway, hesitant as I am to post up a phone number to a public website in case of spammers or any drive-by cell-phone number collectors or weird people, I will tell you that there are beginning to be lots of people that know the number, so you'll have to get it from them. I was trying to think of a way to tell you so that only those that know me would find out the number, but it's late.
2. I finally, finally succumbed to the mountains of pressure coming from blog posts telling about how to earn money on it, the countless friends who have one, the countable but still numerous friends who asked me or, rather, told me to get one, and even the pressure of my sister, mom, and grandmother. I am now on Facebook. It is interesting, and there's no way I have time to write and respond to every single one of my 94 and counting friends on there, and I'm still trying to figure things out with it.
3. I am going skydiving. It was a present for my birthday. Every time I think about doing it my stomach knots up, but I'm super excited. You can all come, I'll let people know when.
   

The Perfect Cookie

No-nut semi-sweet chocolate chip warm yellow-ish brown on the outside slightly brown on the inside except where gooey semi-sweet chocolate chips pervade the cookie three-inch diameter crystalized sugar lightly buttery rich taste and texture smelling of a fresh oven bright and cheery making after a huge rainstorm the night before eaten with friends cookie.

Allegory of the...Freeway?

I was laying in bed the other night and thought this up and decided to turn on the light and write it in my journal. So here I thought I'd post it up, if I can decipher the handwriting that I wrote at midnight, and my handwriting is bad enough anyways! This will be copied word for word, because it's late right now, but in the future maybe I'll tweak it a little and improve it and maybe add some other ideas I've had since then, because this can be expanded. Additionally, both the real story and the symbolical meaning is sometimes incorporated into this mesh of words, so ideally the story will come first and then the explanation later, but that's a project for a different time. Here it is:

Life is like a highway. Sometimes we get off the exit and detour from our true destination, which is the celestial kingdom. Sometimes interchanges come up, and people take the roads to the other kingdoms. When we get off the narrow, straight freeway, sometimes the access to the on-ramp is blocked from the off-ramp. Sometimes we need to drive a little ways and then pop a U-turn (repent means to turn around) and bypass the roadblock through the help of our in-car navigation system kind of like OnStar - sometimes the volume is low - sometimes we can't remember where the volume control is - sometimes our arms don't seem long enough and we really have to work to reach it. However, a voice does come out of the navigation system, telling the will of Him who watches the position of our and every car on the satellite tracking system, overseeing legions of helpers recording every turn we make. He waits at our destination. Often we need the help of "officers" along the way, those who wear a badge of leadership and priesthood, those who venture out into the muddlesome places and attempt to direct those who are weaving ll over the road back to the main highway. Sometimes other officers (or perhaps the same one) regulate entrance to the highway by approving returners. They stand by a car wash, for being clean is of utmost importance on the highway. Additionally, it is sometimes a junior officer in training who actually raises the bar to let a freshly washed car onto the freeway. Sometimes it is hard for a car to find its way back because of the detours, but I testify there is an unblocked on-ramp for every car, if it chooses to seek it long and hard enough. Billboards along the road attempt to entice cars with their siren's song to take the next exit, but those that learn to listen and enjoy the soft music coming from the navigation radio never have need for the billboards and ignore them. Every week we pull into a rest area and refuel. Sometimes it seems the road will never end. Those in the know know that the real trick to getting to the destination is driving until your car wears out and collapses, for as we all know, roads never really end - everything is interconnected. After your car collapses, JC Grace Towing will come, evaluate your car, and decide whether it is worthy for the destination. If so, it will be taken the rest of the way by the towing company. The executive of the towing company is the only person with the key to the compound to which we all aspire. The number of dings on the front from giving those in front a nudge in troubled times might be evaluated, as well as any unwashed spots. Some try to crash early, while others take an exit and drive, trying to get away, but their car will eventually wear out too, and then they'll be in a pickle, because they will be so far away from the range of the towing company they will have to stay and roast and burn in the desert. Those who are closer but not on the freeway will have to pay a fee to be towed. Highway travelers get the service for free.

News Article both Saddens and Brightens

Published on June 1st, a recent New York Times article discusses President George W. Bush's recent commencement address at Furman University. My personal discussion on the article and event appears below.

I am saddened by the faculty at Furman.

Well, not all of the faculty.

First of all, let me explain what I believe. People have the right to disagree with the President. People have the right to their own opinions. People have the privilege of signing a petition sheet:

More than 200 Furman professors and students signed a statement criticizing Bush administration policies and the Iraq war.

See, that's OK. That is fine. What gets me is when people don't show respect for the office of President of the United States, the highest office attainable in this country. Nobody but those who have sweat and labored, and yes, even lied to get there (not something I'm endorsing - completely the opposite) know how difficult, how challenging, and how pressured the President is. One may or may not agree with the President, but one should still respect the work and the will of the people in force behind him (I'll say that until there actually is a her President, then I'll worry about political correctness). The President is the Cheif Citizen. He is the Chief Executive, the CEO of the United States. He is the Chief Legislator, setting the course for public policy. He is the Chief Diplomat. He is the leader of the country, and regardless of one's views, should be held in a higher esteem and treated better than he is.

Furthermore, look at the message that President Bush is giving the students. That is just the sort of direction the country needs in these troubling times, regardless of his actions in Iraq. Let's get the country headed in the right direction.

This does kind of show though - as a coworker of my mother said:
The Republicans want to control nothing but one's morals; the Democrats want to control everything but one's morals.

When it comes to morals, I wish the country would choose to have good morals to begin with. Then the whole conundrum of whether to force morals on anybody wouldn't have to be dealt with.

Do you ever? Thoughts on thoughts

Do you ever finish a sentence with yourself? I seem to always start a sentence in my head, but I never recall ever getting to the final period. I think it's because I already know exactly what I'm going to say. It makes things awfully hard when writing, because when thinking of what to say, I only draft the first half of sentences in higher order brain levels. The rest kind of gets made up on the way from brain to fingers, and usually I don't have much of a say unless I concentrate on the ending of the sentence, which sometimes takes too much energy.

You know, I think that our brains thrive on pure thought. Pure thought is so pure that it cannot be expressed, but only...thought. I think that we each have our own "format" of thought, which might be one reason why we are all unique. However, our brains have a "translator," wherein that pure thought is transcoded into various forms.
One of these forms might be language, or, more specifically, the muscle impulses sent to our lungs, vocal chords, and tongue that will produce language. The translator also receives impulses from our ears and eyes and translates that language back into pure thought. Language is the intermediary pool that human beings contribute to and pull from. I bet it is the sub-perfect level of translation (for we have all seen evidence of misunderstanding one another or not producing lucid sentences) that also gives rise to some creativity. If our translators are different and interperet things differently, a new thought might be introduced into our brains and incorporated into our thought processes even if we don't realize it.
Another form that thought can be transcoded into could be the language that we think in our head. Imagine a chord plugged in directly from the headphone out port on a computer to the line in port on that same computer. It's a loopback. That is kind of like what our thoughts can be. It's a little like saying something outloud so we can here how it sounds. Out the mouth, and straight back to our brain through our ears. Kind of like that, but all within our brain. It may help our thoughts run through the logic machine that makes up a great portion of our brain, because our brain probably evaulates all of the thoughts it gets from the translator in a different way than it evaulates thoughts spawning in our own, local, brains. Running our thoughts through the loopback may help with viewing them in different ways.
It is too bad that all of our pure thought has to be interfaced through translation mechanisms. However, it shows again the wonder and grandeur of the human race and how amazing our minds really are, to enable this sort of communication.
But how awesome would it be to be able to interface with each other so purely we exchange pure thoughts and are able to attain perfect understanding? However, I think all of our hardware is different enough to be incompatible with each other, so we must go through intermediary devices.

Graduation Pictures

The moment you've all been waiting for!

OK, maybe not.

Here's a slideshow of the images - for full-sized pictures and captions, visit my web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/mathgraph/Graduation2008

If you've got any pictures, I have started a group on flickr called hhs2008. Anybody can join, so join and upload your pictures! I'll upload mine and we can start it off. Please!

Well...done!

Last night was grad-nite. We got done at about 5:30 A.M. I went home, went to sleep, and when I woke up, it was 3:30 P.M.! Wow! It totally felt like it was 10 in the morning. I have NEVER slept that long into the day before! It kind of wasted my whole day. But hey - I'm not sleepy!

Biased Randomness?

You know, I've been thinking.

It is so typical to choose randomly at fun, casual sporting events. For example, everybody lines up and are numbered off, or names are randomly drawn from a list or something. This is supposed to be the most unbiased way to make teams, right? Wrong. Here's an important fact about "randomly" drawing teams:

The drawing is always biased toward the winning team, especially in a tournament structure.

The teams are already biased! The best team is going to win, regardless of the method of choosing! The teams will always be biased in a tournament structure, because one team will end up as the winner. They're already better than everybody else, they just haven't proved it yet. A tournament always has unfair teams. Nobody starts on a footing commensurate with anybody else. The only thing a tournament is for is to tell everybody where they are in relation to everybody else. Then the question becomes: what is the motivation for joining a tournament? If one team is already better than everybody else, why does everybody think they have a chance?

I tell you, we all see things wrong when it comes to selecting teams.

Still Alive, Just Very Busy

The title says it all! I haven't posted any real meat up here, and today I just got back from State Solo & Ensemble, and it's pretty late, and so I'm going to bed. I'm just letting everybody know I haven't forgotten and will hopefully post when things aren't so hectic.

Here's a question to keep you busy 'til next time:
Which would you rather be extremely large? Your ears or your nose?

Perhaps the Busiest Week

Warning: Long Post Ahead

This last week has been...insane. I've been to four class periods the whole week - two on Monday and two on Friday. I've slept in my own bed once in the last seven days. Here's the story.

We'll start with Monday. At lunch-time FBLA left for our State Competition. We had a long six hour bus-ride up there, and then stayed up there until late at night Wednesday. We had lots of fun (I guess) in Ogden, where there is nothing to do. Especially by our convention center. However, here are the awards I remember:

• Josh M. - 3rd in Accounting I
• Sarah C. and Kassara S. - 3rd in *Desktop Publishing
• James P. - 6th in Cyber Security, 8th in Computer Problem Solving, 9th in Networking Concepts
  
• Kirsten W. - Was elected as a State Officer - Secretary
• Sean F. - 1st Place in Business Communication, 5th Place in Cyber Security, 6th Place in Business Calculations
• Sean F. and James P. - 1st Place in E-business
  

Remember that these awards are State-wide, and are not broken down into school sizes like sports are (5A, 3A, etc). We compete against the entire gamut of students.

*Desktop Publishing requires the submittal of a production test; our team had to create a logo, calendar, flyer, and other Desktop Publishing creations to be prejudged, then take an objective test at the State Leadership Conference (SLC)

Which means that James and I are going to Nationals, and there is a good chance that both Josh M. and the team of Sarah and Kassarah could be coming as well. Kirsten is also attending as a new state officer.

On Thursday the day was devoted to Sterling Scholar Region. Long and boring intervals were interspaced with brief moments of heart-attackish type adreneline rushes. We practiced the awards ceremony, broke for interviews, had lunch (hamburgers), had dinner, then had the awards ceremony. We had one Sterling Scholar Region Winner (Jordan H. in Mathematics) and about five runners up (I got runner up in General Scholarship). The winner of the General Scholarship competition had a 33 ACT score and had been out of the country for several weeks helping poor children in Cambodia or somewhere.

Friday was the day I went to school for half of the day again. The other half was spent decorating for Prom. At about 3:15 I left the Prom decoration event and went to the high school to travel on a bus back up north for the State Jazz Festival. Strangely enough I got the same bus driver I had for the FBLA trip, so I spent more than 25 hours in that exact bus. Big time waster. We played That's Cool by Shelly Berg, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, by I'm not sure, and Mongo's Mood, by I'm not sure (a different I'm not sure). We received a II, another II, and a II+. Pretty good considering this is the first time we've even qualified for State Jazz in approximately ten years.

We got back from our trip on Saturday at around 5:00 p.m., just in time to go home, get ready for Prom, then attend the Priesthood Session, then go pick up our dates (Jerry R. took Sarah C., and I took Whitney S.). We ate at Olive Garden, then attended the dance. Jerry and I were both at State Jazz, which means that we were not around on Saturday to do any sort of "day date" thing, so we are planning a cool date for next Saturday, which I'm looking forward to.

Prom was generally awesome. All three of the others in my group, including my date (Whitney, Jerry, and Sarah) were fun to be around. The only complaint I have is that the picture line was too long; we only were actually on the dance floor for about an hour and fifteen minutes. So I was pretty annoyed, and when I'm annoyed I'm edgy, and so I probably wasn't the most fun to be around in the line ;). We had a bunch of fun though. Swinging is always a fun dance style, even if your flower falls off. (That reminds me...a quick note...I learned how to make corsages from Jerry's sister, and we both made one for our dates; it's so cheap and easy I don't know why we don't do them all the time ourselves) I was elected as Prom King, a great honor that is nice to have and boosts self-esteem, but it was an award I would rather not have received (at least in front of everybody at the dance). I am not built for publicity and stuff, and then people come up to me in the hallway all the time and say stuff like, "Congratulations on being Prom King!" and some try to be sneaky and come up and say hi and then under their breath breathe, "Prom King," like I'm supposed to say, "Oh, thanks" rather sneakily and give them a big fake wink. I never know what to say when people say stuff like that. I thank them, but I'd much rather everybody forgot about the whole deal. This kind of stuff makes me uncomfortable. Natalie H. was the queen, Cody P. was the prince, and Tanya H. was the princess.

The best part of the logistical side of the dance was the music; because we picked all of the music beforehand ourselves, and because we spent the little extra money to hire a good DJ, the music was awesome.

We sold out of Prom tickets beforehand and then sold some more at the door. We sold about 175 tickets, which means about 350 people at the dance. After the dance we stayed to help clean up, because I'm on the Prom committee, and then we went to Tia B.'s house to eat crepes. We did get a picture of the Prom committee, but not of the royalty.

Sunday we left again, this time to watch general conference at my grandparents house in St. George (we don't have T.V.). Hectic. More posts coming soon.

Happenings

I'll quickly breeze through some happenings.

We're counting up ballots for Prom 2008 royalty right now...every free minute at school is spent doing it, and they're not ScanTrons, either. We are going to have a run-off ballot, where the top eight or ten are put on a ScanTron to finalize the vote.

The Photography Club field trip is on Thursday, March 27th, to Michael Fatali's gallery up in Zion.

The State Jazz Band Festival is coming up on April 4th and 5th.

Prom is April 5th. I'm on the committee, so we have to plan it.

Website work is fun. I must say.

Backpacking

I love backpacking. There is something elemental about it, and it draws me in.
I love the simplicity of backpacking. A person lives off what he or she carries in a pack on his or her back. That's it.
I love the self-sufficiency style of backpacking and backpackers. Ben and I carved a fork out of a stick we found because we forgot ours. They worked like a charm. After we were done, we threw them into the fire. Simple.

Jess, Ben, and I are planning a backpacking trip to King's Peak, the highest peak in Utah during the summer, tentatively for the first week of August. We'll plan it for four days, plus driving. One day to hike in and set up base camp, two days to summit (in case one day is rainy and it is dangerous to summit), and then one day to leave. We are going to invite several people from school to do it. We thought about making an announcement in school, but then we open the door for some of the less-desirables to join. Much better to be hand picked and invited, so we know the reliability of the people we will be spending a week away from any civilization with. We can't have any girls, not because they wouldn't be able, but because there might be problems on a weeklong campout with girls and guys together. We'll have a meeting or two to educate people on the dangers of the Unitahs and just about backpacking in general. We'll have to have lists of food possibilities and packing lists. It will be fun, though, I hope.

I'm excited.

Pictures from the Camp

Here is all of us, taken Friday morning. You can see our cool fire-pit off right.












My backpack, not packed as it was during the hike.












Our campsite with the mountain in the background. My tent is the brownish one on the left. I am standing approximately in the fire pit we made.










Ben and Jess, packed and at the start of the trail.

Spring Break and All of It's Many Facets

So much to tell...

This week, the week of Spring Break, I have been very busy. I apologize to all of those who tried to talk to me or get a hold of me somehow (like the telephone or on chat or something), because I've just been gone from home most of the week. Here it goes.

Friday and Saturday have already been described - The track meet (see previous post). Sunday was Stake Conference, and it was a good one. I must also confess that I read the first Fablehaven book (Landon suggested it), and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Monday I was invited to go biking/rollerblading by Chantelle and a fairly large group of friends. We met at Whitney's house, then rollerblade-ed (everybody except me, that is, because I don't have any rollerblades) to Dairy Queen, got some lunch, then went back and tried out the Spendlove's tandem bicycle. I like it!

Also on Monday I had to plant two palm trees in our backyard while my family was gone to Abravenal Hall to hear Janessa play her violin in the Zion Youth Symphony Orchestra. The first one I planted by myself and the second one everybody helped with. After planting the second tree we drove to Toquerville to see who asked Chantelle to Prom, then ate an excellent dinner at the Gubler's house.

Tuesday was a day spent mostly reading. I was reading the second Fablehaven book. After I finished, I wanted to read the third one, but alas it was not to be. The third one is not out yet. In the evening I took my brothers and the Spendlove twins to my sister's concert for ZYSO (their farewell concert) at Pineview. A select group of ZYSOers headed to San Francisco, California that night, my sister included. She was very, very excited, and when she called to say hello on Wednesday, she remarked upon the magnificent view right outside of her window. She can see the bay and the bridge and a voodoo shop across the street.

Wednesday harbored a fun-filled day. My family (less Janessa and my dad, who is in Owotana, Michigan for a company training thing for the week) went an hiked Angel's Landing. We left our house at about 1:40 p.m., and by the time we picked up the boys from their sleepover in Toquerville and started up the trail it was 2:40 p.m. We got it done before dark, luckily. It was snowy and icey still up there (a little bit, at least), and it made the final part of the climb treacherous. I'm glad nobody was hurt. Afterwards we went into the restaurant that used to be the Bumbleberry...not for any of their food, but for the "famous" Bumbleberry pie. Unfortunately, the restuarant had been leased to new owners, and the new owners and their restaurant ("Wildcat Willies") had been open about a week and a half, with outrageous prices. So we left and went to a pizza/pasta place, which was very delicious. I'm glad we left Wildcat Willies. We came home and I had to pack until late at night for...

Thursday - our backpacking trip started. We left at 9:30 in the morning (that's a.m., for those of you excessively worried about political correctness, or excessively disinclined to 24-hour - sometimes called "military" - time). We (Jess, Ben, and I) drove in Ben's truck (rathered squished up, too) to the trailhead. Jess had a 35 pound pack, I had one just a little light, and Ben's was even lighter.

We started out by jumping a barbed-wire fence and then by crossing a stream. On the way back we saw that we needn't have jumped the fence; an opening was just 50 feet away. Crossing the stream became a regular occurance as we ventured further up the riverbed. We saw several likely campsites, but finally settled on a nice one about 4.2 miles up the river. We went a little further with no packs to find three pools that we thought were upriver a little bit, and find them we did. They were pretty cool.

Halfway up the trail Ben and I realized that we had forgotten silverware. I was very dissapointed in myself. It seemed like I had everything but silverware! I had extra clothes, and a pan or two that I never even used. I had three extra pairs of socks (in case we got wet crossing the stream, which we did - but I never used two of the pairs). I was prepared with soap and a pan scrubber and a collapsible water container and everything...but silverware. We had to improvise.

We set up camp at maybe 3:00 p.m., which allowed us a ton of time to do nothing. I carved a fork/spoon thing out of juniper wood. Juniper wood is not very good for whittling; It is so dry that every branch has a series of cracks running lenthwise through the wood, which is OK for making forks, but horrible at making spoons.

You can see my attempt here. It worked really well, though.

My food plan is laid out below:

Thursday:
Lunch coming in: Granola Bars, Nutri-grain bars, cheese cracker things (the ones with the little red stick), and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch breakfast bar.
Dinner: One package of Knorr Lipton Rice Sides (Chicken Broccoli flavor), one package of Garlic Instant Potatoes (We each had a different flavor of potatoes. I liked the garlic one - the others aren't so swell)
Various snacks of granola bars and nutrigrain bars, and even a piece of Ben's cow, George, who wasn't able to make it all the way up the trail without being salted and flavored nicely.

Friday:
Breakfast: Four packages of Instant Oatmeal in two batches. I had one batch a mixture of Blueberries and Cream and Peaches and Cream, and the other batch a mixture of two packages of Strawberries and Cream.

The rest of our snack food when we got to the car.

Friday is the day I got back from backpacking (that's today for me). We hiked a total of 9.19 miles. I put all of my stuff away and am now writing in this blog. My mother took my brothers and went to Bryce Canyon, which sounds like fun.

I will post more pictures in the next post from Picasa.