Coke and Its Drinker

SOOC. Thanks for posing James.

The Final Countdown

Brad, You're gonna love this.

PROM 2009

For those of you in my group, please text me your email addresses so I can invite you to see and order prints of pictures taken at prom. Please let everyone in our group know! I only have a few of your cell numbers so be sure to spread the word!

Here are some of my favorite pics from Prom:

MIDVALE PRIDE!!! Yeah Ryan and Cheyenne!

This image epitomizes Trish and Jordan's night: Trish laughing and Jordan just being himself.

Ike is looking quite jolly in this picture.

Who whooped trash in the hot dog eating contest? Ike did! (during our day activity)

I really like this picture. Its so... Model-esque :) Especially with the blue of the Hummer, Jentry's shirt and her eyes.

No wonder they were all acting so weird at the dance...

Prom was a blast. Our group was HUGE and consisted of 19 couples. Talk about a lot of fun!
Our day activity (excuse me, PRE-PARTY) was a video scavenger hunt. While our video ended up being a box office bust, we had a great time making it. From invisible ropes stopping cars on the street to dancing with Liberty Lady, we did it all.
Dinner was at Tucanos in Provo. Tucanos is a Brazilian Grill really similar to Rodizio and Braza. I think Jordan was on cloud nine when we entered that building. He kept eating and eating and eating. Round after round of meat flew down his throat. It was delicious, especially our fruit smoothies.
The dance was held at Thanksgiving Point in the barn. Everyone was looking smashing and Alyssa and I couldn't wait to dance.
Prom King was David Green and Prom Queen was Ellie! It made my day to see those two win it. Ellie was so excited she skip-jittered all the way up to the stage. I don't exactly know how to explain how she moved, but it was funny.
After Party was at Tyler Sharps house(s). We watched our videos from the pre-party and laughed. A couple highlights included a nice scene of my butt and another of Braxton filling up his mouth to overflowing with water from a water jug-filler machine. The people got way mad at him for doing it but it was sooo worth it to have on video.
Thanks guys for the great night! It was a lot of fun to hang out with people I dont normally chillax with. Keep in touch!

Salt Lake Temple

D-Bizz Oh No...

Can't sing and rap a single note.
Heard the new Utah Jazz "Theme Song"? Wow. Talk about trash.
I was at the game when they announced the winner of the Wemix Contest for the Utah Jazz Theme song.
Some dude walks on the court with jet black shades, trying to hide a grin as he receives a check for five grand. His song? Wow. It's hilarious. And terribly cheesy and shallow.
I recently spotted a blog post by the "local celebrity" D Bizz Oh No. Congrats on your win Mr. Oh No but if we are talking quality here... get outta the kitchen!
His rap name alone had Takami, Matt, and me going all night. Takami became Takizzle, Durrant became M Dizzle Heck Ya, and I don't remember mine. We all thought it was so funny but cheesy to hear some naive rap about Carlos Boozer and crossovers by Andrei Kirilenko.
If you can stand it, click here to listen to the song that shot D Bizz Oh No onto his track to stardom.

Rap names are getting preposterous these days. "D Bizz Oh No" is merely epitomizing the downward spiral of society and culture. Dolla Dolla? Soulja-Boy?
Ever heard the song "Day n' Nite"? I think they use three notes the entire song, all of them flats. What is going on with music these days?
I am pretty eclectic when it comes to music. Right now I am enthralled with U2 and their new album, No Line On The Horizon. At first their new sound didn't seem very attractive and catchy. As I listened to the album again, and a bit more closely, I realized at how much more deep their sounds were compared to what I normally hear on the radio. Some artists, excuse me, very few artists have that gift of creating music with substance, with a deeper meaning.
Conversely I have liked rap since I was a baby in a car seat.
In the car when I was a wee lad I would ask my mum to "play some rock and roll!" My mum would tune the radio to a station playing actual rock but I would keep asking for "rock and roll". Eventually my mum would play a radio station with rap on it and I would say "Now THIS is rock and roll!"
I was hooked on the beats, the big loud bass. I still am. It's converted over to playing a musical instrument as well. Cello is considered a bass instrument, and I have loved playing the cello. Its a beautiful tone that can be played as the bass line for The Devil Went Down To Georgia or a sweet melody alone.

Music is merely a reflection of our cultures deterioration. Those who listen to rap are more inclined to commit a crime, it deteriorates our thoughts and feelings. Media has become crap these days, and finding the good stuff is growing more and more difficult.

Listen to the good stuff and your mind will be kept in a cleaner and clearer state.
In fact, shut off the music sometime and listen to what your soul REALLY has to say.

Update On the Ankle

It's now bruising and the swelling has spread out throughout all of my ankle. At least I can walk on it!

Pretty Claire

I believe I caught "Claireness" in this picture:She is so cheeky sometimes!

BYU Basketball

Think.... think....

Now who could that irresistible looking guy be on the BYU? You can find some of the hottest guys at BYU!


Senior night is the best night to go for a basketball game. Afterwards everyone mills about on the court and in the arena to get signatures, pose with the players, and find free memorabilia cups!

Lee posed for this one.

You wave those flags you buff cheerleaders!

Look Ma, a double reverse two hand dunklicious slam!

I've meant to upload these photos for the past... two weeks. Yes Derek, Erin, Brianna, I am a slacker. And I will get you copies of these photos... sometime. check out the rest on facebook.

Here are pictures of Erin and her crushes! Lucky Nana came to get Erin out of her shell. Thanks Nana for getting Erin to pose with the men of her heart!



She was soo giddy after seeing JT. This was the only shot I could get of her reaction. She also tried fanning herself with a tiny ticket stub... which later happened to be signed by The Spiderman.

Life is tiring when you are around so many lovely boys!

REGION CHAMPIONS!

The undefeated Union Park 1st Ward Young Men won the region championship yesterday 29-28...


Without me in for majority of the time.

The game was against a team in our stake that we had beaten two times before. We were ready for a tough game because we knew these guys were going to be good. We had won the past two nights and weren't about to give up the championship. We were on a roll.
Near the beginning of the second quarter I jump up for a rebound. As I come down my foot lands on another players shoe, a loud pop is heard, and the next thing I know...

I'm on the ground and my ankle is killing me. A timeout is called and I am helped by my teammates to a couch outside of the gym. I can't believe it. I've had nightmares of getting hurt in the big game and not being able to play, and now it was actually happening!
I'm so frustrated that as people come to help me with my ankle I'm telling them to bandage up my ankle and get some ice so I can go back in. I wanted to play so badly.
No, I didn't have tears of pain. I had tears of frustration. Yes, it may have been just a churchball game, but its my team. Its my team of brothers. I refused to accept that I could not play.
The Guitar Hero's mum helped me the rest of the game as I watched my brothers battle it out on the court. The refs weren't calling squat and everything seemed to be going in the oppositions favor. I would like to thank Addison's mum for helping me out. She helped calm me and keep me updated on the game.

Final seconds roll around. Marcelo fouls out. We are down and we need a three.
Eric comes down with the ball and passes to The Guitar Hero-- He is our money three maker. GH misses. Rex pulls down the rebound and dishes it to Eric. Eric, with two seconds left, steps up and shoots.




The ball flies

hits the rim






and rolls in.

We all start screaming. I jump up from the couch and hop across the gym to my team. We were ecstatic. We won!

It was awesome. We went the whole season without tasting a loss. At the end of the game we received t-shirts. Eric and I are going to try and get some CTR rings engraved with "Region Champs 2009" on them. How Mormon-Gangster would that be?
This is when sports become more than sports. We, as young men, worked together for a common goal. When we reached that goal it was that much more joyful because we could celebrate it together, as a team, as friends. I think this successful year of churchball will be a happy memory to recall in the future.

I went immediately to an orchestra rehearsal (merely ignoring my ankle and not bothering to examine it) to find that my ankle had swollen up BIG time. My ankle was HUGE! Alyssa freaked out and I had Mrs. Dalgleish look at it.
This is how I played at the rehearsal:

It was quite comfortable!
Mum took me to the Insta Care. I discovered that I had sprained my ankle and got a brace to help it out. Ice, Elevate, Ibuprofen.

Ice, Elevate, Ibuprofen. Over and over and over again.
Having a sprained ankle has made me more appreciative for my body. I am hindered to the point where the common practice of walking is now difficult.

Keep it a secret! I want to heal up before coach can find out. Shhh!

Region Champs! Region Champs! We did it boys!
Thank you to everyone for their concern and help. You guys are great friends.

Melina and Lauren- I would have kicked your guys' trash if this fat ankle wasn't holding me back! I will get you next time!

REGION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TOMORROW!

Come watch these fine-looking young men play the region championship game at 9:00 a.m. at the church building behind the fire station on 7200 S. See you bright and early!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!

You are such a great sister Erin. You have a great sense of humor and can always make me smile, even if i do refuse to show it. Work hard- you have a lot of talent and potential!
Love,

Your older brother

KSL Picture Contest

My picture is the title picture for the monthly gallery for March!!!
Derek introduced me to the local news station picture contest. It is sponsored by KSL and Pictureline. The pictures have to be about Utah.
Check quickly! I don't know how long it will last so be sure to check it out!

I took that sunset picture (featured on KSL) from my roof at the last second. I've been trying to get some good sunset pictures lately, and apparently that is one they like! I submitted it half-heartedly knowing that there are so many good picture takers on KSL news. It was such a surprise to see my picture as the featured picture of the week!

Breaking Point

I had track after school yesterday. I went home for 15 minutes, to go straight out the door to basketball practice. I went to mutual and got home at 10:00 pm. I did homework until 1:00 am, went to sleep to wake up at 6:00.
I had track practice again after school today. I got home, and for an hour I tried to re-energize for my first region game for churchball. I was exhausted before the game began. My head was buzzing and the nerves in my body were numb.
During the game my finger bled, I got hit and bruised my nose, and had my calf cramp at the end of the game. The knot was bulging out of my leg and was the size of a small rock. I couldn't move for a while.

To put it in small words,

Sometimes life is exhausting and busy.

What happens when I have days like these? Grin and bear it. Put a smile on my face and laugh about getting a cramp. Sure, I may be dehydrated, exhausted, my muscles aren't stretched enough but its life!

When I'm knocked to the floor I always get up, whether my leg refuses to function or not.
There are times where I can't do it on my own. No matter how much I believe I can do it, occasionally things dont work. Things Fall Apart.
Its at these moments when a mortal grace lifts us up. Friends, teammates, grabbing my hands and lifting me off the floor as my calf muscle screams pain.
Give everything. When it isn't enough grace will fulfill the rest.
Friends and family will always be there. They love you, and they all itch for that moment when someone calls in need of help. In need of consolation, in need of advice.
Service to others is something where our investment doubles in returns. The "dividends" of service is happiness and joy.
When life is sad and heavy look to do service. Both the little and the big. When enveloped in a good cause our souls are uplifted and re-energized.

I am here for you as you are for me. We are meant to be here for each other. Let us grow and show our love for each other.

United we are stronger.

Y is for Yummy

German candies made by Haribo called Pico-Balla.

X is for X-Treme BYU FAN!