New Year brings a New Life

I've really been awful at keeping up with this blog! Sorry to those who actually read this thing, and to those who don't, you're missing out :P SO much has happened since Thanksgiving when I last posted. I'll try to catch up on everything that's been going on!

After Thanksgiving was the dreaded Finals Week here at BYU. I was fairly stressed, but not too much. I am a firm believer in the philosophy that paying attention in an one hour class is better than making up for not paying attention with hours of studying. You may think I'm crazy, but I almost got straight A's my first semester here in college...(the only reason I didn't was because I didn't listen to my own advice and zoned out in Political Science). This Winter Semester looks pretty promising though, I have 5 classes all on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9am-3pm. But on Tuesdays and Thursdays I go skiing up at Sundance :) You may think I'm a slacker or that I'm not taking college seriously, but skiing is my passion.

Ever since I was little I've dreamed of coming to BYU like my grandpa, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings have. Ever since that dream though, I've also dreamed of skiing here too! Skiing just clears my mind, takes out my worries, aggressions, and problems. It's my quiet escape from this world. There is something about the mountains that gives me peace and inspiration. When I used to live in California my family would often go up to Tahoe and Donner Lake (where my grandpa used to have a cabin). The Sierra Nevadas have a very special place in my heart because of all the wonderful memories I had up there.

Anyway, I got a little off-topic, but then again this is MY blog, so if you don't like it...tough. :P

Christmas was wonderful! I got to fly home on the 16th, which was pretty early. I drove with Sammi (my girlfriend) to the SLC airport and we both hung out together until my flight left around noon and hers a few hours after that. The flight was crazy!!! Everyone was super stressed and angry so there were a few mental break downs on both my flight to Denver then to Dulles. One story I'll share is this guy put his suitcase in an overhead bin but it had moved around with other people putting in their luggage, so now his luggage didn't fit. When the flight attendant asked him to make it fit, he flipped and started yelling at everyone and took out everyone else's luggage and threw it on the floor and put his in and sat down....NUTS.

But once I got home my sister, Joce and my mom picked me up! My dad was still in Germany for business so I didn't see him until a couple days later, but it was all good! My flight came in fairly late but I stayed up even later talking to my family (mostly my sister who I hadn't seen in a year and a half). It's amazing to me how being away from your family for an extended period of time makes you love and appreciate them even more. You forget all the annoying or means things they have done to you and just look past it to see them as your true best friends.

My sister and I are really tight so it was great to see her and catch up. Now she is here with me at BYU and already we've hung out and had meals together :)

Christmas morning was great being around family! There weren't many presents and the few we got, we already knew so it was more of a happy family bonding time :) Which, I truely liked better because in such a blessed family and country, there is few things that I could even imagine I would want. Key word: want. There is barely anything that an average American family truely needs. We may say that we need a new car or iPod or some new gadget, but compare yourself to the rest of the world, and even a fridge is a major luxury to them.

New Years was a great time too! My family went over to the McGann's house and had quite a party! I love the McGanns and all they do for me, they feel like a second family to me :)

Now I'm back here at BYU living in the dorms and going through life. I'm working on my mission papers, and some guys are already getting their calls. So far we have had people on my floor get called to    California, Missouri, France, Mexico, and Latvia (Baltic Mission). Pretty soon, I'll be getting my call and I'm super excited! Some missionaries say they want to go to a certain place or really don't want to go another, but I'm ready to go wherever! I'm ready to teach and come to know any race, gender, or religion. All people are God's children and I'm ready to show them His love for them :)

I love you all and for your friendship!
-Miles