Chiz's Baby!!!

Short update but thought I should share what I had for dinner tonight. I drove up to St. Anthony with my cousin Ryker as soon as my last class of the day got out. We met up with my aunt Stacy and we at Chiz's! We were the first ones there and more people from the Fremont County area followed suit. Had shrimp and finger steaks:

Yes, you're probably thinking, "That looks good..." and you probably hate me right now.

I think Chiz's finger steaks beat finger steaks served at Big Juds... Take my word for it; it just tastes good. Everyone else thinks so. And if you're in the area and DO NOT stop at Chiz's, then you're crazy!

Three-day Weekend Updates!!!

First off, I have the best relatives ever! You never really appreciate the things loved ones do for you until you're really living on your own...

Needless to say, this three day weekend was very much needed. Week two of my first semester came and went; much better than the first week in my opinion. We had an odd start to the week with a power outage which closed down the campus (not to mention the rest of Rexburg!), causing both my writing and geography classes to get cancelled. Power came back around noon-ish on Monday so I didn't miss my math class but hey, I still got two-thirds of the day off! And not that any of you care but I'm doing well in my classes so far. In case you were wondering, I welcomed the little time off of the two classes I missed.

Anyways, forget about the week and let me talk about the weekend! So Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day (in Idaho, I think they call it Civil Rights Day... I may have got that reversed! Don't quote me on it!) and we had no school, thus making this weekend, a three-day weekend. Of course, there was still some homework to be done but at least I could get it done at a much more relaxed pace.

Saturday was an interesting day; two of my roommates went snowboarding, one went home to Idaho Falls to be with family, one spent A LOT of time with his girlfriend, and the other spent time tutoring other students... As for me, my cousin Nathan (I have a lot of cousins out here!) invited me out to go sledding over at the sand dunes near St. Anthony. So he and his roommates and I drove out there. I picked the wrong footwear to go out it; dry snow got into my shoes and my feet started freezing up! But according to everyone in the group, I took the land speed and distance record; when I went down the hill, they all reported me disappearing in a white cloud of snow before they saw me laying face-up in the snow spreadeagled. It must have been my awesome ninja skills, except for the spreadeagled part! And because I love you guys, I took some pictures to share:

That's my cousin Nate recovering. I think he rolled down this one without a sled and this was the end result.

Here's what I was thinking: "Have you lost your d#-n mind!?" The dunes we were sledding from was pretty steep!

Here's a lovely view of the Tetons:

I don't know about you, but those French people... They have perverted minds...

So since my feet were freezing, I swiped the car keys from my cousin and walked back over to where we were parked so I could get my wet shoes and socks off and get warmed up. After we got back from the sand dunes, I decided to take a dip in the indoor, heated swimming pool in my apartment complex which was a very enjoyable thing to do! This was the first time I went swimming in over two years! I think I'll go back for another dip later this week...

Sunday was... pretty routine. I got called to play the piano for our church meetings and let's just say it was rough on some spots! I didn't have as much time to practice than I wanted to... I also got invited to have Sunday dinner up in Ashton again so I ditched church a little early so I could get ready. My aunt Loila, along with my grandparents picked me up and off to Ashton we went! Food is good as always. Like I said earlier, I have the best relatives around! After dinner, we watched two football games while eating caramel popcorn and later on, ice cream; my waistline is gonna pay the price real soon! But San Fransisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens are gonna play in the Super Bowl! East Coast Vs. West Coast baby!!!

And then there was Monday. My aunt Loila drove up to Rexburg and took me out to lunch at a sandwich shop called Millhollow, where they serve frozen yogurt and toasted sandwiches.

Here's what I had:

Toasted BBQ Chicken sandwich, the way to my heart!

From what I heard, this place only hire good-lookin' women so when I told my roommates about it, they said "Done!" meaning they wanna cruise the chicks working there. Why am I not surprised? But this is a good place to eat and Rexburg have other decent local cuisine I'm hoping to try this semester... Okay! It's not really a cuisine but just local joints to get a bite to eat for the sake of convenience to the college students! After all that, I took care of a few errands, finished up some homework, and relaxed for the rest of this Monday off. Then we had our Family Home Evening with the sisters of our group; all we did was watch the movie Brave. All I gotta say is not bad for 21st Century Disney...

Well, back to the grind, but at least it's only four days of classes this week.

Karaoke (カラオケ) Withdrawals

This will be a short one but I just wanted to throw out there how much I miss doing Karaoke right now with good friends... So if there's the slightest chance any of you have any interest in this at all, here's a list of songs I can do or have done:

• Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
• Fields of Gold - Sting
• Can You Feel the Love Tonight - Sir Elton John
• You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins
• I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
• We Are the Champions - Queen
• Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf
• What I've Done - Linkin Park
• You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban
• With or Without You - U2
• Takin' Care of Business - BTO
• Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
• Kokomo - The Beach Boys

Any requests? I'll attempt them when I get the chance if you'd like... Just let me know! Just so long as it's an actual Karaoke venue and I have access to the lyrics, I'll be golden... or not.

Quick Weekend Updates

I'm not gonna lie, I was REALLY looking forward to the weekend after an emotional first week at school. Nothing too special to really write about... But most of my roommates were struck with boredom, wanting to find something to do. On Friday night for an extra credit assignment for my writing class, I got together with some classmates on campus and we went bowling. Yes folks, Brigham Young University-Idaho has a bowling alley on campus. My English professor is having us do a sightings blog throughout the semester where we document moments when we run into classmates outside the classroom on or off campus. And yes, she does grade us for it and the extra credit was just for us to break the ice a little bit. In case you're wondering about the game of bowling, the victor was yours truly with a score of 124!

First time I've broken 100 in a while... This other guy Trent was somewhat devastated when I snatched victory from under his nose!

Our awesome little group. I'm still finding it hard to believe that THIS was for extra credit!

As for the rest of the weekend, I just spent a good portion of Saturday doing homework, enjoy some reading and running of errands (mostly for groceries). Our apartment TV was broken when we moved in earlier this week but got fixed midway through. Also, we started the week with five of us in our apartment and the sixth guy moved in midway through as well. The cool things is all six of us are return-missionaries and the good news is we're all getting along so far.

On Sundays, we go to church (duh!). So much earlier than what I've been used to; 8:20 AM to 11:20 AM! But Sundays are a nice day to relax and if possible, spend time with relatives which I got to do. My cousin Ryker (who is also going to school here) picked me up and we made the 30 mile drive to Ashton to have dinner with my uncle Sam and his family. Let me tell you, as much as I enjoy cooking for myself, it sure is nice to have a home-cooked meal every once in a while. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, carrots and cheesecake for dessert baby! I may be white rice and raw fish kind of guy, but a home-cooked meal is path to my heart. What can I say? I love to eat! Unfortunately, I got talked into making gyoza for uncle Sam and his family; I see much tedious labor in my future. But even so, it's nice to spend quality time with loved ones while being far away from home.

So nothing too fancy for the weekend but it was a good time to relax a little bit with a change of pace in order to get things done. I'm already starting to look forward to next weekend because it's a THREE DAY WEEKEND!

School, School, School

I've experienced a wide range of emotions these last couple days... I suppose it's natural to feel this way after leaving home at o' dark-thirty in the morning to get to school nearly a thousand miles away and... let's back up:

Friday was the official day to move into my apartment. As I mentioned, got up early in the morning with my dad and drove for twelve hours to get to Rexburg. Did you wanna know what was going through my mind? Too many things to count! I checked in and dropped most of my stuff off and went with my dad to Ashton 30 miles north to spend the night with relatives. Let me tell you as I write this, having relatives in the region sure has it's benefits... My uncle prepared a delicious pork roast for dinner that night and it was mighty tasty. Even though I'm more of a Japanese raw fish & white rice kind of guy, American meat and potatoes is good too.

Saturday was just bitter-sweet. Big Juds for lunch, followed by some shopping for necessities such as last-minute utensils and grocery shopping. Then it really was out of the frying pan and into the fire. I don't mind admitting I felt a little homesick after being left alone in the apartment to settle in. Met my four roommates, and I'm just gonna say they are legit! We were originally supposed to have six guys but for some reason, one never showed up. After getting settled in a little, I went with the guys to a campus activity called I-Night; let's just say there was a crapload of activity going on from improv comedy shows, dating games (and a kissing booth!?), to giant inflatables... (It's official; the school is run by a bunch of numbskulls!)

Totally kidding.

Sunday was obviously church. My ward is actually being held in a campus building where I have two of my classes so there's some convenience there. The other convenience: Two of my roommates have cars. After getting home from church, I took a nap. Can't blame a guy for being exhausted for a number reasons! In the evening, I joined a few fellow students in another apartment complex and played games, which was nice for three reasons:

1.) It got my mind off a few things, at least for a little bit.

2.) It got me out of the apartment.

3.) I got to meet new people, which is nice to do.

And today was the first day of classes. For the most part, I am feeling good about the three classes I have on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I have two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is nice and I'm hoping I'll like these classes as well... My first day of college in a nutshell was intimidating. It's been nearly three years since I was in high school and nearly a year since I got home from my mission so naturally, I felt rusty and somewhat out of place. For me, the hardest thing is being away from home at the moment. And as it is with human nature, people including myself have fears of the unknown. But a few things are driving me at the moment:

1.) Memories of good times drive me to find new ones.
2.) Needless to say, my future is at stake here.
3.) Whatever experience/moments I remember, they serve as a reminder and an influence in the direction I may want to go.

So I don't mind admitting that I'm a little intimidated and a little scared right now. But I think I'll get over it. If I can do a two year long mission in Japan, I'm pretty sure I can do college... I hope.