Gobble Gobble Gobble!

While I was a missionary I had the chance to prepare a turkey. Each year since then I have prepared a turkey on Thanksgiving and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a lot of work, but once finished, that bird provides good food for at least a week after Thanksgiving. I have realized that with all the fuss over getting the turkey just right, I do not find the chances to give thanks like I should. So here are some shout outs:

Thank you to my parents. I don't think I have any idea the sacrifices that they have made for me, and continue to make for me. If there's one thing that's a constant it's them putting the needs of their kids (and now Sophie) ahead of their own. They have taught me all the essentials to being successful in this life, and have given me a great example of how to apply that which they have taught. I can not imagine how different things would be if I didn't have my moms and pops.

Thank you to Tammy and co. She has always been a good friend, and one who is always willing to straighten me out when necessary. She has been a greart example of charity, and always made me feel like there is nothing I can't do. Growing up, she would lift me up when I failed and encourage me to try again. She was always willing to lend a listening ear, and helped me learn how to respect women and treat them right. Jeff, who is taking care of Tammy, and Sophie who is just a bundle of joy.

Thank you to the rest of my family. I have always been blessed to have a lot of cousins, aunts and uncles. I have always felt like I have had multiple sets of parents, as my uncles and aunts have treated me as their own. And I have learned a great deal from each one of my many cousins.

And finally my friends. Where would I be without you guys? And I know that it's more like charity work for you than anything else... so thanks for taking one for the team.

The funny thing about gratitude is that no matter how hard you try to express it, the more you do, the more you realize that you will never be able to adequately express gratitude for the blessings in your life. No harm in trying though.

The Happiest Place on Earth?

I have finals coming up in a couple of weeks. I am not prepared. And yet, somehow, I spent about 13 hours yesterday at the magical kingdom known as Disneyland. The rationalization was easy... all my good friends who also are unprepared for finals week were going too.

The die-hards wanted to get there at 9:00 am. The old man of the group tried to barter for 11, but the die-hards were girls; and since the seemingly grumpy old man has a soft heart, the plan ended up being to arrive there at 9:00. For the most part we were punctual; however, it was quite ironic that the mastermind behind this whole excursion was late because she just had to stop at McDonald's on the way. The slight delay did not hamper anyone’s spirits as Christmas themed Minnie ears were purchased and donned for the rest of the day, in spite of the pain that the kid sized head bands caused.

I was expecting to meander around the park, going to whatever rides came up, but apparently some members of our group decided to do some research in the days leading up to the trip. That research led to an intricate plan which involved going to the Disneyland rides first, and then switching over to California Adventure Land later. I was skeptical, but I think the plan paid off, as we avoided lines until the late afternoon when we made our way back over to Disneyland. Not only did the research give rise to our attack plan of the park, but it also made each of us scour the park looking for people dressed in all blue, because they had bagfuls of “Dream Passes.” When we eventually found the smurf-like dream pass carrying people, we found out they could not be swayed by any of our stunning good looks.

Shortly following our disappointment with the stingy, rule-abiding smurfs, we went to the Hollywood Hotel of Terror (I may have butchered the name of that ride.) Interestingly enough, one of our most experienced guides, who was visiting Disneyland for the third time in a month, thought it was an actual hotel and had never ridden the ride before. Between laughing about that little factoid, and the large piece of turkey stuck to the old man’s shoe, the wait for the line didn’t seem so long.

The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur. We tried our hand at doing cartoon voices, with a scene from Aladdin. Apparently Disneyland brings out the kid in each of us, because although it wasn’t Caspie’s turn to do the voice over, she had to throw in a little improv of his line “in the rrrrrrrrrough…” at the end to one-up her sister. It worked. Speaking of grown-ups acting as kids, at the Turtle talk show, we sat on the floor in the front, and I was by far the most enthusiastic learner of Turtle, as I would say “dude” and “cha” with more vigor than the many kids present. With the exception of the ol’ man, all the guys came home with sore armpits because of the circle game that was started in the Space mountain line. But even without taking hits to his armpits during the wait, he somehow managed to not score any points in the Buzz Light Year shooting gallery. A big goose egg. That’s even more embarrassing when Caspie claims to have scored over 110,000 points. In the line to It’s a Small World we started an ongoing iPhone Connect 4 tournament, which was efficient at humbling me. When we finally got into see the beautiful scenes of ethnic nutcrackers singer, our token non-Asian friend made sure we all realized that her heritage’s display was bigger than all the Asian ones combined.

Even with all the rides, the day could not have been complete without good food. And some of us spent the majority of the day eating. It started and ended with dole whips. By the end of the night, we had learned that the correct pronunciation was dole whips, with the emphasis on the whips making it sound more like a squeak than anything else. Kent managed to consistently have food in his hand, and didn’t let the large turkey leg he ate just minutes before deter him from eating a bread bowl full of calm chowder. I think he had two of everything that Disneyland had to offer.

Surprisingly enough, with all the fun that we had, the night ended with two of the girls crying. I am not sure if it was the high-pitched squeal that somehow came out of my mouth as Mickey defeated the wicked dragon of Fantasia, or the beautiful scene of snow falling with fireworks blasting, or if it was the fact that a day with friends was coming to an end, but they cried. I think it was a more happy teary eyes thing than anything else (I know that was one of the girls, the other I am pretty sure was balling, although I have no proof.) With people crying from joy at the end of the day, how could it not be the happiest place on the earth?

Although I must admit yesterday was quite magical, I also must admit that spending all day with friends makes anywhere a happy, magical place. I think no matter where we were yesterday, had the group of friends I went with found a place to have good, clean fun all day, we would have made just as many amazing memories. Disneyland just happens to be a place where friends and families are able to do that. Before yesterday I was skeptical that Disneyland really was such a happy place; now I agree that it’s a happy wonderland. I just think it has more to do with the group you go with than it does the actual place itself, although the setting doesn’t hurt!

txt msg = :)

Warning: The following story may be a slight exaggeration, but the principles are still true.

The other day, I was at one of my good friend’s birthday dinner. A group of us went out to a little Japanese restaurant to celebrate. Anytime you are able to get together with a group of close friends and enjoy some decent food is a happy occasion. However, while we were waiting for our food to come, something happened which made it an even more joyous evening. I received a text message.

Big deal, right? Actually it was. It was from this exceedingly happy, jubilant person, who either isn’t a texter, or just doesn’t text me. Either way, for me to get that text was monumental. Made my night. And now, here I am blogging about it.

Maybe I am the only one who upon receiving a text from someone, has smiled to myself; not because of the message that is there upon the little screen, but because that little message meant that person took the time to reach out to me. If I am the only one who has smiled at such a thing, then I guess I am weirder than I thought. But I would imagine that most of us at some point have gotten a text, a phone call, a note, a wall post, an email, or something of the sort that has lifted us up. And if we have felt that way in hearing from someone, that means that someone else has felt the same way when we have reached out. I don’t know about you but that makes me want to get the unlimited text plan so I can at least try to spread some joy.

The 10 to 6...

I have been trying a lot of new things this semester. In addition to trying sushi, mochi, cooking, and all the other things that come along with medical school, I have been going to sleep at 10 and waking up at 6 (actually just started trying 5:30, as I want to start working out again.) It's a fairly unique schedule for a single guy my age to keep, especially in medical school, when you always have something more that you could learn. However, I committed myself to keeping this schedule during the weekdays, and I have done a fairly good job at it.

The reason I am doing it is because I came across a quote in the biography of our late Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. He is quoted as saying "If you go to bed at 10:00 and get up by 6:00 A.M., things will work you for you." I'm the kind of person that wants things to work out for me. So, I decided to experiment upon the Prophet's words.

The funny thing about following prophets, is that they really know their stuff. And considering that God is the one backing up what prophets say, it's a good bet that if you obey, the blessings will come. Although the experiment has only been going for a couple of months, I'm convinced that my life is better now than ever before. Obviously, there's a little more to that than just going sleeping the correct hours during the night, but that schedule has definitely helped me to put first things first, which in turn has led to progression. If you don't believe me, try it.

Grace of Christ

If there's one thing that I am grateful for heading into my test week, it's the knowledge that after all we can do, the grace of Christ kicks in to bridge the gap left by our inadequacies. With time ticking away, and the realization that gap won't disappear, the only way I get to sleep at night is knowing that I have done all I can.

P.S I was sent this sweet link to a Washington D.C. Temple Visitor's Center display. Check it out, it's pretty sweet.

You never know who's watching

This past week a couple friends and I were exploring the library and surprisingly found a study room without people in or a little note reserving it. So we unloaded all our stuff and started trying to gain some understanding of the 11 different subjects we are about to be tested in. After studying for just a minute, some people knocked on the door and mentioned that they had the room reserved; I looked at my watch and they had just barely made it before forfeiting the room. I was a little frustrated, as I had just started buckling down on my studying, but packed up all my stuff to go on another search for a good study spot. My friends and I migrated elsewhere and continued our quest for knowledge.

When we got to our new spot, one of my friends mentioned how she was shocked at the look on my face when our room got snatched from us. I asked what she meant and she said that she saw some anger in this baby face of mine, which she was not accustomed to. (Not her exact words, but you get the picture.)

Clearly that was not a life-changing event for anybody involved. However, it was a subtle reminder to me that people pay attention to many of the little things that others do. I know I have learned much from paying attention to the habits of those around me. Really makes me wonder what people learn from me.

Qualified to Succeed

Contrary to what my mother has told me from the beginning of my life, I feel completely not-special. Ever since arriving at the Keck School of Medicine, I have been accompanied by this strange thought that I am out of my league.

I am not one of the younger students, and yet everyone seems to have more relevant experience than me. I studied Psychology, not a hard science. I am from Utah, not from California (not that there is anything wrong with that, just that I have no idea where I am at all times, and have to start completely over with social things). I just finished my undergrad this last spring, not a couple years ago. I don't ask super-intelligent questions each lecture. And the list goes on...

After getting to know a few other students in my class of 168, I expressed how I was beginning to wonder why Keck even let me in. Some expressed feeling the same way, and everyone reminded me that I was admitted in, therefore qualified, that no mistake was made, and that the administration believed in each of us.

On occasion I have felt the same way in life. Everyone else has a better grip on life than me. Everyone else gets more out of Church than I do. Everyone else understands the Gospel better. I am the only one succumbing to the wiles of Satan. The journey is just too tough for me, and I am not equal to the task.

In those moments I am grateful for the hymn which teaches that I am a child of God. Just like the reminder that I was accepted to the school and therefore qualified, I occasionally need the reminder that before this life we all lived with God as His spirit children. We all have this opportunity on this earth because we promised we would do our best to learn of Him and to follow Him. We were qualified to come to this earth and fulfill our purpose in finding happiness, and we all have the capacity to return to live with Him. It is one of the simplest truths of the Gospel, and yet brings peace and direction in so many complicated situations. Simply put, knowing that I am a son of Heavenly Father helps me to remember the unlimited potential within me.