2012 Final Thoughts...

Well, it's been an interesting year. I posted a montage on my aviation page, but I figure I can reflect on EVERYTHING ELSE that happened to me this past year, not that any of you really care or anything:

1.) I came home from Japan after two years spent as a Latter-day Saints missionary. Still one of the best decisions I made was making the choice to go; going to Japan was a huge bonus too!

2.) On the topic of Japan, I reunited with Japanese relatives who I haven't seen for over 15 years. We still have a lot of catching up to do!

3.) My dads idea of a "Rite of Passage": The Southside Speakeasy; a bar and grill here in So-lame, Oregon where homosexuals like to congregate; so it's obviously called the gay bar. Had to wait until I was 21 to have THE BEST FISH 'N CHIPS IN TOWN! Yup, we still like to eat!

4.) September Reno trip: got to walk around the casinos (and play a little!) unattended since I was finally 21. Kind of another "Rite of Passage" by playing a few machine games purely for entertainment.

5.) On a church-related note, I joined the Young Single Adults group and participated in a variety of activities.

6.) On the topic of that, KARAOKE （カラオケ！）! Yep, an Applebee's here in town has it every Monday night so I'm out singing (probably not so skillfully...) and have sung personal favorites such as 'Fields of Gold', 'Can't Fight This Feeling', and 'Takin' Care of Business'.

7.) The freakin' Presidential election for crying out loud! The Obama Vs. Romney election was the first time I got to vote; I could have done so the previous time but I was out of the country by then! But talk about an annoyance with the back and forth bashing on the social media; I was glad when the election was over with, regardless of who I voted for!

8.) I got to conduct music; it's another church related thing for a special Christmas program. It's a far cry from my dreams of becoming a drum major back in high school but it will have to do.

9.) I'm no stranger to tragedy but when current events play out in the world, I still remember a lot of things that happened both here the U.S. and throughout the world...

10.) Applied for and got accepted to college. I'm heading to Brigham Young University-Idaho at the turn of the year.

More Of "Getting Ready..." And Three Food-Related Reasons Why You Should Do A Road Trip To Eastern Idaho/Utah-ard

Hmmmm... Updates on life... Oh right! So at the turn of the month, my dad and I drove to Idaho; mainly so I could go look for housing. Needless to say, I'm glad I got through this trip relatively well. It was kind of an impromptu spur of the moment thing with my dad being able to get the week off from work so it was kind of an opportunity. Plus, we travelled early in the morning (I mean at 2AM early in the morning!) and got to our destination in the mid-afternoon (we did this on the return trip also.). But the thing that weighed heavily on my mind was finding adequate housing, which I am happy to say that I did so. My new apartment made a good first impression and I went ahead in purchasing a contract. Some of the things I really like about the place I will be living at is the lounge areas, a swimming pool, a weight room, as well as the proximity to campus so I guess you can say I lucked out, considering how late in the game I've gone in searching for student housing... So with that taken care of, I can focus on other last-minute preparations for school in January.

Well, enough of the stress-related junk! Let me tell you about the things I like about the general area I will be around. It's in Eastern Idaho and the town I'll be going to school at is Rexburg. My dad grew up in a SMALLER (I really shouldn't capitalize that word huh?) town about 30 miles north Rexburg called Ashton. And I'm fortunate to have relatives still living there. I have an uncle named Sam (Yes, we call him Sam! And no, he does not wear a patriotic top hat with grey hair and points at people; he's actually bald, like most of my uncles...) who owns a furniture/carpet/floor covering store/locksmith business:

Boy, it sure looks good during the holidays!

So we basically stayed at his place while we were there. It may be a Podunk (Yes, this is actually a word!) little town in the middle of nowhere but I love coming to Ashton; I lived here for nearly a year with my parents when I was a baby so it's a place I can call home. And there are a few good places to eat in the area as well... In Ashton there is a place called Big Juds:

One Pound burger. No joke!

It's basically joint-operated with an Exxon truck-stop/service station but it's a really good restaurant too. It's a place you can appreciate a local, non-chain business.

It's kind of retro, but not really.

Don't worry! They have Pepsi products!

They have the usual choices of varying burgers and sandwiches in addition to the baskets of fries or tots; your choice. We got the finger steaks last time:

Makes you hungry, doesn't it???

I've always liked their baskets and sandwiches. But their famed menu choice is the one pound burger. And if you eat it all, you get a picture of you on their Wall of Fame. I'm not joking! Look:

I've never done it but scores of people have for different sandwich choices, as is evident on the wall.

So if you're ever driving to/from Yellowstone and happen to stop for a bite to eat in Ashton, I'd recommend Big Juds! Another place I've come to like is in a town 15 minutes south of Ashton called St. Anthony. A tiny restaurant called Chiz's Restaurant:

It doesn't get anymore Podunk than this but it's gooooooooood stuff!

Actually it used to be called Chiz's Cougar Cave but in today's society, the name kinda sends out the wrong message so they changed it obviously. But their food is just as good. The only problem is it's just a lunch/dinner counter with limited seats so it's first-come, first-served and wait until a spot opens if you're late. On Tuesdays, they have a fried chicken special:

It's probably not the healthiest thing to eat but I promise you won't regret eating it!

The thing I didn't believe about this place was that it's owned by a Japanese couple! I know right?! You're thinking "Japanese people in the middle-of-nowhere Idaho?!" Okay, you weren't thinking that but I was... So yeah, I recommend this place too.

There are a lot of great things to do in eastern Idaho but I think I'll save that for another blog post...

So after I got what I needed to get done school-wise in the general Ashton/Rexburg area. My dad and I drove to a town called Firth where my uncle Paul lives; it's about a two hour drive so it's not too bad. Plus Idaho traffic is just so easy to drive around in. We had dinner there and spent the night and pretty much just enjoying each others' company. My uncle Paul has words of wisdom and such painted all around the walls of his home. Here's one of my favorites:

His wife's (my aunt's) name is Debra and this is all in the name of a good running joke of the family!

So the next day, we were supposed to drive all the way into Salt Lake City and help another one of my aunts (Yes, I have a lot of relatives!) replace a couple of toilets in her home but for some reason, something changed and we ended up NOT going to Salt Lake City after all. Instead, we went to Ogden and spent time with my aunt Kathy and her husband Spence. Now, I'm not a fan of Utah (I prefer to call it Utah-ard!), given the traffic congestion which is the result of economic/population growth (and the crazy Utah drivers!) but I do love going to a chain restaurant exclusive only to the state called Crown Burgers:

You may be thinking "It's another fast-food chain. What's the big deal?" Trust me, when you eat a Crown Burger, you will declare McDonalds or Burger King as crap.

Fry sauce, gyro, and pastrami with the hamburger... Crown Burgers is the best!!!

Sure, In-N-Out now has a few locations in Utah as well as the Salt Lake area, but they got NOTHING compared to Crown Burgers in my opinion.

So from a food connoisseur's point-of-view, if I had any reason to visit eastern Idaho and Utah, I've pretty much just summed it up in a couple hundred words and nine photos.