Jackpot

Today was awesome. This morning we decided to join a yard sale some friends in our ward had organized. We stuck around for about 2 hours and ended up getting $25 for stuff we were sick of storing in our closet.

Then this afternoon a friend from our ward dropped off some shirts that were too short for her that she was planning to take to DI if I didn't want them. Happily, they fit me perfectly and I definitely won't need any new shirts for the summertime. Thanks Britt!!

To top off this terrific day, we're going to a family BBQ and then coming home to watch Enchanted, which I've really been wanting to see. So ha! crummy non-spring weather, you won't get me down!

P.S. Don't let this recent post overshadow the recent post below. The video is especially great.

Six years of faithfulness

Let me tell you a story...a story that starts 6 years ago.

I was just a young lad, fresh out of my first year of college, wearing a black nametag, ready to be a missionary for the Church. I purchased a wonderful shirt at the Missionary Training Center so that I would have a fun new shirt to wear during our gym time. "Missionary: Hard work, all day, all work, no play." Of course, I thought the shirt was actually cool at the time.

Eventually, the shirt became less cool to me. But he was sturdy and trustworthy, so I allowed him to fill the role of a bed-time shirt. In this calling, he served faithfully. But now his time is over. He is getting frayed, discolored, and very thin. So today, I let him go...and adopted an old BYU Superfans shirt to replace him.

However, I didn't want to end the post on a sour and sad note. So, I found a video from my birthday. Brother Baugh, a professor of Church History, and his daughter Lisa (my co-worker) sang me a rousing happy birthday song. Enjoy!

New calling and pizza dough

I have two bits of good news today:

1. I got a new calling today. They reorganized the Relief Society presidency and I'm the secretary to the presidency. Taking roll in a ward with 116 sisters (no primary or young women so everyone goes to R.S., and it's a BYU ward so very few inactive sisters) was a daunting task, but I got through it with help from the ward directory and previous secretary. I am really looking forward to serving in this calling. I will get to know the sisters in the ward without the responsibility of a leadership position.

2. In every recipe for bread, rolls, pizza dough, etc. there's a phrase that goes like this... "Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic." Unfortunately I have a knack for killing the yeast, resulting in hard and rubbery dough and something like unleavened matza crackers. However, today I finally reached the unattainable and elusive "smooth and elastic" dough for our pizza! Thank you Mom for explaining to me over the phone what 100 degrees translates into for water temperature (not as hot as as hot chocolate but not as cool as a lukewarm baby's bottle).

Finals

This is probably the best finals week we've ever had. Steve got a 98% on his first test and I've already finished 2 out of 4 of my exams. Tonight we're celebrating by eating a delicious dinner (AMAZING homemade cafe rio style pork http://jaredanderica.blogspot.com/2007/11/cafe-rio-salad-with-shredded-sweet-pork.html), having some friends over, and playing games.

We're planning to be done with our finals by Monday night, which leaves us Tuesday-Friday to do some spring cleaning and have fun! Hopefully by next week we'll actually have something cool to post about.

Side note: Wow, during this post Steve remote controlled the computer from our laptop turning off the monitor and disabling the mouse and keyboard.

My b-day

Well, as some of you know, my (Steve's) birthday was on Wednesday, April 9.

Let's just say it was a pretty sweet b-day. Well, other than the fact that I went to school at 7:30am and didn't get done with class until 6:40pm.

We went to Winger's for dinner, which was very delicious, and provided us with lunch for the next day as well.

Then, I opened my presents. Here's the list (it was awesome...I have the best wife ever):

• Superman Returns - the new Superman movie.
  
• Big Fish - I saw the movie a few years ago and didn't like it much, but after thinking about it for a couple of years, as well as seeing a similar movie (Secondhand Lions), I've come to enjoy the message and fun storytelling.
• Two Lights, by Five for Fighting - This is the guy that wrote the Superman song (it's not easy to be me) as well as The Riddle. I really appreciate his songs--he writes about good things, and his lyrics are thoughtful and meaningful
  
• Some new shoes - Unfortunately, they were the wrong size. Haven't gotten them replaced yet.
• Shadows Over Camelot - This is a board game. It's made by a company called Days of Wonder (they made Ticket to Ride, if you've heard of that). It is really cool, because unlike most board games, you do not compete against each other...you collaborate to try and beat the game.

Fun birthday, eh? I'm not an old man yet! I'm still allowed to get fun stuff...not just tools, white shirts, and ties.

We played Shadows Over Camelot last night. It took a really long time to learn, but it was loads of fun. Check out the picture...it took up our whole kitchen table:


Unfortunately, we lost. The forces of evil overran Camelot. But we did pretty good for our first try.

So it was a great birthday!

A gift that keeps giving

Okay, I'm sure that many of you have heard about microfinance, but if you haven't, here's a brief explanation: Wikipedia - Microfinance. It's basically a way to give some money to impoverished individuals through a very small loan that is easy to repay (like the LDS Perpetual Education Fund).

A BYU editorial letter informed me about the website www.kiva.org, which is a really cool way to do microlending. You can browse through pictures of actual people, read a little blurb about them and their business, and make a loan directly to them.

I've never gotten into the habit of donating, but I really like this idea. BYU is really into this; the Marriott School has developed The BYU Center for Economic Self-Reliance. I am also motivated by John Huntsman, one of the biggest donators ever. He said that he and his wife decided early on that they would pay their tithing to the LDS Church, and 5 or 10% (I don't know exactly) of their income to charities. They were poor students at the time. Later on, he said, "If you don't do it when you're struggling, you won't do it when you're rich either."

It is great, and it's an easy way to make a big difference in someone else's life. Don't put it off...you can help. And the great thing is that when she pays back the loan, we can just divert that $25 into a loan for someone else...it's the gift that keeps giving!

So here is the information on the woman that Heather and I decided to make a microloan to ($25): Elizabeth Obote, from Nigeria.


"Elizabeth Ebote is 45 years old of age, married with 6 children. She lives in Benin City with her family where she sells her pineapples, a trade she learned for 6 months before she started her business in 1981. She has very little money to run her business hence she needs a loan of $525 to expand her business. She has been with LAPO for 4 years. She thanks you."

AM 820

Alright, it's time for a confession. I actually ventured to the AM radio one day *gasp*. I found a station that plays selected music from Soft Sunday Sounds on FM100 (gasp again if you must, I do listen to FM 100). There are three reasons it's awesome:

1. They only play EFY style of music, or better put, no Tabernacle Choir. Don't get me wrong, I love the Tabernacle Choir in person, but they are impossible to listen to in the car without leaving your fingers glued to the volume control, constantly changing for their extreme dynamics. I prefer the Tabneracle Choir in my living room or at the Conference Center.

2. They have very short commercial breaks. I've never heard one longer than 2 commercials. This is great because the only time I listen to the radio is to and from school.

3. School is a stressful place and I tend to blow things out of proportion when I'm stressed out. Listening to a good spiritual song on my short drive helps to put things back into perspective for me.