1-1-11 at the AmericInn

I gradually become conscious enough to realize what time it is - "Johan, the continental breakfast closes in 10 minutes!" I put on a t-shirt, grab my glasses, skip looking in the mirror and saunter on downstairs. Somehow, I'm not really concerned what the other travellers at the AmericInn of Fargo ND think about the result of my beauty sleep. The continental breakfast was mostly what I expected, so it's lucky that they really can't mess up cheerios. I can't say the same about their version of biscuits and gravy...

As I sit down at the table next to the window, I finally allow my eyes to drift to the outside. If I was hoping to see less snow, less cold, or less wind...I was disappointed. At least the sun was out and the snowing had stopped. After being stranded two nights in this place I think I might be sinking into a depression.

Last night, for New Years Eve we found the number for the singles branch bishop and called him to see if anything was going on. We went out and met up with a group of about 9 young single adults and had a pretty good time. I'm grateful for them and how fun it was despite the fact that we barely knew them. It was probably the most unique New Years that I have ever, or will ever experience.

Currently, I'm hoping they open the roads sometime this afternoon. If not, I'll be spending my third consecutive night in North Dakota. Note: I have a list of states that I plan on never living in which includes North Dakota, Wisconsin and Nevada. Being here has confirmed my feelings on the place. Streets that you can skate on, snow drifts as high as 10-12 feet, winds up to 35 mph - what's not to love?! Everything. E v e r y t h i n g .

Well, if all else fails I can just snuggle up with my motel pillows and watch reruns of House and Bones. It's a good thing HBO and good books don't require Interstate 94.

Pedestrians and Rapists

We'd just had a movie night at my house and one of my friends was going to walk home by herself. Sometimes she doesn't let me walk her home so I tell her to text me when she gets home and to call me in case she gets attacked (that second part is more of a joke). Anyway, I thought it would be gentlemanly of me to walk with her, so I caught up to her. At this point I see an average looking guy/student walking toward us in the darkness.

My friend, in mild protest, says "you don't have to walk me home". Average looking kid still approaching. I said "yes I do." Now he is almost to us. She then jokingly says "I haven't been raped yet have I?" It took me about 1.5 seconds to think about jokingly saying to her "that guy right there could have attacked you", and it took me .5 seconds to decide that joke would be inappropriate. Luckily, average kid didn't even blink.

Average looking kid responds by saying "not yet..." as he casually walks past us on the dark street. Thank you average kid. Thank you. We laughed out loud because the situation seemed to call for it. Everything about it was hilarious rather than creepy. However, it illustrates the point that even in Provo, girls should be more careful.

Another day I was driving home from choir practice in the cold and snow and saw a guy and girl from my choir, walking home together. Because there was a guy there I felt comfortable asking if I could give them a ride. The guy said no and the girl said yes. It was at this point that I started to feel awkward. She got in and I drove her home, but I wondered at the fact that she would just get in the car with an almost complete stranger. I'd only seen her at choir.

Really?! Pull it together and be safer.

Lifting Where We Stand

This is by far one of my favorite videos on the mormon messages site. I am so grateful for people whose influence lifts others, like the older boy in this video.

Some people don't say a word, they might just simply smile, but their influence is profound. Just by being at your side they bring you closer to Christ. Especially during this time of year, be that person. Reach out and let your light shine.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Good Samaritan, Bad Samaritan

You know those moments when the very best in you comes out and you think to yourself "why can't I be that great all the time?" you know those moments? This was't one of them.

My friend, who we'll call Maude, called to ask me for a favor. She'd locked her keys in her car at her work in Orem. She wondered if I could take her husband, who had the other key, to get the car after his class. I said yes.

On my way, I noticed my gas tank was a little low so I decided to be on the safe side and fill 'er up. That's exactly where things went wrong. I parked at a gas station right beside campus and gently hummed to myself as I got out of the vehicle (I tend to do that). Just as I was about to shut the door, my phone began screaming at me. In the shuffle to get out my phone and answer it, I dropped my keys in the door of the car I was shutting - locked. As I heard the slam of the door and my eyes drifted to the locked locks, my eyes widened and the tune I was humming stopped abruptly. My greeting to the caller was not the cheeriest.

Turns out the Provo police won't unlock your car, and BYU police will only unlock your car if it's on campus. Sadly, I missed that mark by 20 feet.

Of course, the irony of the situation didn't fully hit until I explained to the locksmith that I'd locked the keys in my car while taking a friend to get their keys out of their car. He laughed, my friends laughed, I laughed. You have to admit, it was funny.

Goal for next time: try not to be a bad samaritan. Also, next time I lock my keys in my car I will be doing it on campus.

Planning for the Future

Okay, I realize that some of this might be based on conjecture, but in case I'm right I'd like to be ahead of the game.

I figure that all of those times in the bible and the other standard works when it refers to "mansions in heaven", that they're actually being serious. Even if they aren't necessarily Pemberley or Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle, I get the feeling that we won't need to worry about housing. Having said that, neighbors are another thing.

Everybody who makes it is going to be pretty darn cool, but there are some people that I've met in life that I would like have on my block. My friend Jesslyn and I have formed a group called the "Celestial Cul-de-Sac", and we are currently taking applications. At our last official meeting we decided that Abraham had what we were looking for, so we had to deny Moses. In another landmark decision, J. Golden Kimball's spot was given away in favor of our dear friend Ben. Feelings may have been hurt.

For those rejected applicants whose awesomeness is sufficiently awesome, we afford them the option of sharing a back fence with one of us, or digging a tunnel to connect our basements. After all, sharing is caring. The picture is an artist's rendering of our potential development. We'll probably have to run it by somebody first though...

In any case, spots are filling up (mine is the one at the top with the nice pool).

Maybe. Maybe Not.

Dear Reader,

Do you ever have one of those days where you can't speak english...or any other language? Yeah, me too.

There just happens to be a girl at one of my jobs that I like (attraction level: 10/10). We'll call her Beyonce. However, there just also happens to be a disease called can't-say-what-you-want-to-when-you-want-to-itis. I have it real bad. And I think it might be terminal.

First of all, let me just say that I believe I'm funny and well-read; if any of you want to dispute that I will fight you. However, every time my secret lover/coworker goes to leave for the day I try to say something funny and all that comes out is something that sounds like finnish (she doesn't speak finnish)(neither do I). She then gives me a laugh that shows she doesn't understand a word I said, and I slowly turn around and rest/bang my head on the keyboard.

Just before writing this blog I said something as she left that sounded more like Danish (slightly closer to English...), but based on her laugh, I'm assuming she doesn't speak danish either. Somedays I'm awesome, I just have this disease where I'm never awesome around her. If this were real paper this would be the part that was wrinkled by bitter tears.

Sincerely,

Louis

iHear, iShare

I love music. I love it alot. I hear some songs and I stop whatever I'm doing and listen because they're awesome. I wanted to share a few of my current favorites and some that will never get old.

New Additions:
Heartbeats - John Gonzalez
Skinny Love - Bon Iver
Blood Bank - Bon Iver
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay - Sara Bareilles
Hallelujah - MaMuse
Farewell - Rosie Thomas
Sugarcane - Missy Higgins
Crossfire - Brandon Flowers
Us - Regina Spektor
Eveningland - Hem
Doubting Thomas - Nickel Creek
I Was Made for Sunny Days - The Weepies
Lost - Coldplay and Jay Z

Never Get Old:
Breakable - Ingrid Michaelson
World Spins Madly On - The Weepies

I hope you all appreciate these as much as I do. If not, well...you're dead to me (in a very real, very legally binding sense).