Mark.I.Am

Retrospect.

2012-02-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Things are a-changin. Always. It's weird to look back and see where I've been. This blog post is dedicated to the changes of the past few years. I've come a long way and been a lot of places since I started college. So here is a short picture journey of where I've been and what I've been doing every January for the past few years. I started with the now and went backwards. To see the progression, start at the end and move up!

January 2012

College. New apartment. Old friends. New friends. Bachelor party. 90s dancing. Hot pots. Hot tub. Koreans. China? Donuts. Music. Also, these pictures:

January 2011

Quilpué, Chile: Walking. Dogs. Baptisms. Gospel teaching. Chileans. Heat. Happiness.

January 2010

Con Con, Chile: Dogs. Missionaries. Beach. Heat. Baptisms! Familia Silva. Collectivos. Pan. Ties.

January 2009

Spain: New friends. Doner Kebabs. Spanish. History. Skype. Bulls. Napolitanas. Cathedrals. Mission Papers.

January 2008

Orem, Utah: School. Dances. Track. Cross Country. StudCo. Concerts. Applying to College. Homework that didn't take me forever to complete. Tiger Pride! Woo!

So many places, and different people. Since I've started college, I've seen how much things change in just a few days and it's pretty crazy so I'm excited to see everything that happens in the next twelve months!

J'ai sommeil.

2012-01-23T21:25:00.001-07:00

So guess what...

I'm going to FRANCE!

This year one of my presents was in a red envelope. Inside was a picture of the Eiffel Tower and along the picture it read: Good for one round-trip ticket Salt Lake City - Paris July 2012. So I'm extremely excited, and extremely grateful for being born in to a family that has the means to travel and do fun things like this.

Oh, and Kimberly's coming too! Along with the rest of the family!

Paris, me voila!

If you're like me...

2011-12-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm sitting at school and a random person near me will get up and ask me to watch their stuff for a second before walking off somewhere.

And if you're like me...

...the only thing you think of is how you could most easily get away with that stuff before they come back.

Maybe it's just me.

I'm a Mormon

2011-11-01T21:08:00.000-06:00

So after having heard President Monson speak today on campus and having been hit with a shock of motivation to be an example, I think it's high time to dedicate a blog post to helping people get more LEGITIMATE information on the "Mormon" church, and by dedicate a blog post, I mean put up a cool picture of myself and post a link at the bottom :). Because I mean come on, we're flippin awesome!

Look at that luscious hair....

I made an "I'm a Mormon" profile about two months ago. Check out my profile here on Mormon.org. It's a must have. Make one!

2011-08-14T16:05:00.000-06:00

After two years, 8 pairs of shoes, and a 19-hour long trip...

I'm HOME

Goodbye Blogger World!

2009-08-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

This guy's off to Chile for two years!

...don't forget me...

A FANTASTIC TRAILER!

2009-08-05T00:03:00.000-06:00

I've watched this several times by now, and am currently obsessed with it. The trailer for The Fantastic Mr. Fox! I thought it was awesome, hilarious, and FANTASTIC! WAH!!!! This movie is going to be epic. If you don't believe me, just ask me, I'll tell you. In fact, I just did. See what I did there?

Now, without further adeu, watch THIS:

So I was thinking...

2009-07-26T21:42:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered if there are any Mormon Wizards at Hogwarts? I think there are. And I bet after they graduate and go on missions they do a really good job.

Just a thought...

Wizard Angst.

2009-07-16T23:53:00.000-06:00

Well, the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out the other night, and naturally I was at the midnight showing. I was dressed and ready for some magical fun while we waited in line, and I wasn't disappointed. Here are some photos:

It was a good night.

Fantastic Mr. Fox!

2009-07-12T22:41:00.000-06:00

Little do many of you know, there is a movie slated for release later this year based on one of my favorite books ever, "Fantastic Mr. Fox." I may or may not have read this book more than any other during the course of my short life, but the point is, I'm really excited to hear that good old Mr. Fox gets to outsmart Boggis, Bunce, and Bean up on the big screen. He's really earned it.

Woohoo! Get excited. And if you haven't read the book, I suggest you do so Asap.

Smorgasbord

2009-07-05T21:54:00.000-06:00

First off, I just want to say that Jumanji is a really exciting movie.

My brother Matthew came with his wife Melissa and my two nieces Ashley and Sariah last week so they(Matthew and Melissa) could go through the temple with me for my first time. It's always fun when they come. Mostly because Ashley and Sariah really liven up the house. Here is their beautiful family...

In other news, my parents and I got to go to the Stadium of Fire for free last night. It made me feel very patriotic--especially when the Jonas Brothers came out, much to the delight of all the 12-year-old girls. The Founding Fathers would be proud. The JoBros did play a cover of "Sweet Caroline" which happens to be my favorite Niel Diamond song, so that was probably the highlight of my night. My Dad had fun, although he made it obvious that he wasn't a fan of SheDaisy or the Jonas Brothers, and Mom seemed to have really had a good time, especially since she got a free JoBros poster.

Obviously, it was a good Fourth of July. Here are some Jonas brothers along with some fireworks:

By the way, I got the opportunity to go with my Dad to help him photograph a wedding. It was a really fun experience which was a little harder than I would have thought. I'll try and post some pics later, but as for right now, "good night, and good luck!"

My Paterfamilia

2009-06-21T23:30:00.000-06:00

That is my father. On the right.

I like this picture because he might have the biggest smile I've ever seen.

Also, he's a good guy, and I love him.

Happy Father's Day!

Also...

2009-05-31T12:56:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXJEDUainX4

Gotta love Buzz and Woody.

This is Wordy

2009-05-31T00:25:00.000-06:00

So tonight I just realized that yesterday marked the one month anniversary of my return to Utah from my study abroad adventure in Spain. My initial excitement at being back in familiar territory has long since worn off and now I feel almost like I'm stuck in a rut. I'm laying in my bed right now thinking back on the past month and wondering what I've accomplished. The answer? Not a whole lot.

I got a mission call, got a job, and got a lot of tootsie rolls at Tim Abbott's birthday party tonight, but I can't help but miss the life I had in Spain. There was no shortage of excitement. One day I'd be in Sevilla watching flamenco, and the next I'd be in Valencia eating napolotinas and watching things burn. Now, I'm in Orem one day... and Orem the next.

It's getting harder and harder to simply hang out on weekends, especially as the male population of my group of friends go on their two-year-exodus' all over the world and leave me behind all summer. I think I need to find some new ways of diverting my attention that don't rely entirely on other people.

Hopefully I'll be able to live like my parents when I'm older. Since getting back from Spain, little more than a month ago, they have gone to Las Vegas, Arizona, Cancun, and are now BACK in Las Vegas. In the year 2009, they have been at home for MAYBE two weeks tops. They're like big Engergizer Bunnies.

I'm not saying all this to try and convince anyone that my life sucks. It's far from sucky. In fact, if anything sucks, it's me. It's not like there is actually a shortage of things to do, it's just that I don't DO any of them. I'm just so lazy that it's like I wait for pastimes to be laid, gift wrapped at my feet rather than make an effort to be productive.

Well, we'll see how things turn out, and if I can make it into the MTC on August 26th without having gone insane. I'll keep you posted.

And to end off on the right note, here is a blurry picture of me as Peter Pan.

Sand Dunes

2009-05-18T14:48:00.001-06:00

Last weekend some friends and I went to the Sand Dunes for fun, and as a last little activity for Hiram who enters the MTC this week (He gave his farewell talk yesterday, and it was fantastic if I do say so myself). We didn't take any four wheelers or machinery like that besides the car, but we kept ourselves entertained by simply playing in the sand.

We even encountered a tiger!

We hauled a grill along with us, but for some reason, after trying for what seemed like forever, we could not light the dumb charcoal so we took the grate off and balanced it over the fire with a cinder block. We felt pretty innovative.

By the way, those were the most delicious burgers ever.

Found!

2009-05-11T20:52:00.000-06:00

My senior year in high school, I made myself a longboard in woodshop. Randomly last summer I realized it was missing! I couldn't find it anywhere! And now, almost a year later, it has been recovered. Apparently,my friend Caitlin's brother had it hidden away in his room for some reason, but now, all is well, and it is back in its rightful owner's hands.

It's totally plain besides this little RHCP insignia on the back, but I like it!

And all is well in Orem.

Mom.

2009-05-10T14:29:00.000-06:00

Happy Muddah's Day Mom!

You've done well.

The Call

2009-05-07T23:04:00.000-06:00

After months of waiting and anticipation, it finally came! My excuse for a two year absence from my normal life. AKA my mission call! I opened it amongst my family today at about noon. And where am I being sent??? Vina del Mar, Chile! Spanish Speaking. August 26. Boo-yah.

Florence

2009-05-05T12:26:00.000-06:00

Florence, AKA Firenze if you're in Italy. Home of the Uffitzi Art Gallery and Michaelangelo's David. After leaving Venice, this is where we ended our Italian travels. We started off by walking from our hotel to see the Duomo. The outside is covered in really cool looking marble panels. See for yourself!

This is actually the Baptistery and the Duomo. The Baptistery is known for it's doors, which depict several stories from the Old Testament.

Here are the doors! These are actually fake ones. The real ones are in a museum behind the Duomo.
Other than just seeing the Duomo, we did go see David, and the Uffizi, and on our final day we took a little trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower!

After a brief visit back to Spain to get our stuff, we ended our European adventure with some Doner Kebabs and Napolitanas. I was sad to go, but just as excited to come back home to America!

Spain wont stay Mark-less forever. I'll be back some day!

I stood in Venice

2009-05-03T14:29:00.000-06:00

So about two weeks ago, my parents and I visited Venice for about a week. So here's my week in pictures!

This is the Piazza San. Marco. The shuttle boat from our hotel dropped us off here every day. It's also where the beginning of The Italian Job is shot!

Here's the Church in the Plaza. It's really unique because the interior is covered in mosaics. Too bad they don't allow pictures!

The pidgeons there were really friendly.

Obviously there are canals everywhere, which is nice because it eliminates the possibility of having tons of cars everywhere, making it very peaceful.

Venice is famous for it's masks. There are mask stores EVERYWHERE. They were probably my favorite part of the city.

There were even Guernica masks!

My favorite store.

It rained most of the time we were there.

Here's the Rialto Bridge...

...which passes over the Grand Canal.
And I just like this picture.

Thank You Baggage God

2009-05-01T09:41:00.000-06:00

Our lost luggage finally was found and just arrived home last night! I was very distraught when we found out they lost it, because among other things, my bag contained my journal which I've written in every day for the past four months I've been in Spain. Phew.

Do as the Romans

2009-04-19T14:13:00.000-06:00

Last Monday, my parents and I bid Spain farewell and boarded a plane that was Rome-ward bound. After checking into our hotel, we immediately head out to explore this new land. We quickly stumbled upon the Trevi fountain in all its glory.

After that, we got some pizza and the almighty gelato. I also noticed that Italy is really in to selling Pinnochio stuff.

Then we headed over to the Spanish steps. Why there are Spanish steps in Italy is a question that I do not know the answer to. We went the first day and there were at least one billion people there. I went back later in the week and there were still a ton, but not quite a billion.
It was here where I also bought my "I heart Roma" t-shirt.

The next day was spent at the Colosseum and right next to it on the Palentine Hill. The Colosseum was just as awesome as I thought it would be.

I 'm not sure, but I think this bird was doing some sunbathing. It definitely wasn't dead.

Before coming to Rome, I had never heard of the Palentine hill, but it too was amazing. The whole are was just covered in ruins. I actually felt like I was in Ancient Rome, even though every thing was in ruins...

They had a nice view from atop the hill.

The highlight of the next day was most definitely the Pantheon.

Here's the interior. Pretty cool.

We also went to the Campidoglio museum which was full of neat things. Like feet!

...and other things.

Friday we went on a day trip to Pompeii. Pompeii was the ancient city that got totally covered when Mount Vesuvius errupted. This place was amazing! Everything in the city was preserved really well.

When the archeologists were unearthing the city, they found empty spots where people had been killed in the eruption, then covered in ash. They filled the holes with plaster and once it hardened, they had a cast of what they looked like.

They even found a dead dog!

So basically Rome was amazing. Next up: Venice!

Our final journey...

2009-04-01T11:59:00.000-06:00

Our group's final journey together. We've had some good times as you may have seen. Here are a few pictures from our trip the past week:

Oh, Doner Kebabs...

Santiago de Compostela cathedral where all of the pilgrims hike weeks to get to.

I like roofs. What can I say?

This is the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca. In the movie, Vantage Point, some terrorists blew it up. Luckily they fixed it before we got there.

???

The --supposed-- Holy Grail!

Las Fallas

2009-03-20T09:46:00.000-06:00

Back to Valencia! A trip that lasted less than 24 hours, eight of which were spent on the bus. Las Fallas, meaning "The Torches" in Latin is a crazy Spanish fiesta, The focus of which, is the creation and destruction of ninots, which are huge cardboard, wood, paper-machè and plaster statues. The statues are everywhere. There must have been hundreds of them all over the city.

Hurrah for matching bracelets!

"Mark, what do they do with all the statues?" Well friends, they set them all on fire! They begin to burn the smaller ones at about 10 o'clock, then move on to the larger ones.

This is the grandaddy of the ninots that burned in the fiesta. We staked out our spot to watch at about 10:30. It didn't start till about 1am but it was well worth the wait. It all began with some amazing fireworks then the actual ninot was set ablaze. The subsequent inferno was enough to melt your face off(almost).

Hot, hot, hot!

(Muchas Gracias to my father for letting me use several of his pictures)

Last weekend...

2009-03-17T14:49:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we visited many places. We went to Burgos, Pamplona, Guernica, San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Roncevalles. Honestly, it was actually probably my least favorite so far on this trip. Visiting so many places in so short of a time was just tiring. We spent so much time on the bus, which, by the way, is impossible for someone of my stature to get comfortable on. I'm not saying it wasn't fun, I'm just saying it should have been spread out over more time. I did, however, begin reading Don Quixote, after reminiscing about the Wishbone version. It's pretty much one of the most ridiculous books I've ever read, but it is pretty funny. Anywho...

I did not take as many pictures as I usually do, but here are a few of and around the Guggenheim

And here are Courtney and I in our Running of the Bulls t-shirts that we bought in Pamplona.

BFFS!

My idol

2009-03-17T11:18:00.000-06:00

La Guerra de las Galaxias

2009-03-14T12:08:00.000-06:00

So after weeks of anticipation, Me, Tim, Jessie, Lara, Tristan, and Ali were finally able to go to Madrid's Star Wars Exhibition! It took awhile to finally get to the place and it cost five euros but it was all definitely worth it. Here are some pictures of what we saw! (Thanks to Tim for letting me use his camera the whole time since I foolishly forgot mine!)

I was so excited!

Best museum EVER.

Barcelona...

2009-03-08T09:55:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, the whole group got to go to Barcelona. On the way there, our bus made a stop in Zaragoza for a few hours so we could see a few of the sights there.

Here is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza.

Outside on the wall of the building, they had this giant white tympanum thing. Here are Jessie and I in front of it.

I have tried to catch a pidgeon everywhere we've gone on this peninsula and still haven't managed to grab one. They're smarter than they look. Here I am at work:

We continued our bus ride until we finally arrived in Barcelona. After checking into our rooms we were free to go do whatever we wanted. Some of us went to the grocery store, then went out to buy some kebabs. Afterward we found a pretty cool building that resembled the capitol building up on a hill and sat in front of it for awhile before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we were dropped of on a street called Las Ramblas and were able to do what we wanted for the day. One of the coolest things we did was go to the Picasso Museum, and see some awesome works by him. Here are some of the other things that we encountered.

The farmers market.

Lions.

And the port at the end of the street.

This guy's good.

Just relaxing...

The next day we were able to see somethings that I have wanted to see every since i learned about them in Miss K's Spanish class my junior year of high school.

Things like the Sagrada Familia

This is the Casa Batllo. This is what I was most excited to see.

All of these were designed by an architect Antoni Gaudi. He made a whole park called the Parque Guell.

Here's Momma, me, and Daddio at a fountain show that I would say rivals that of Bellagio

This has been but a portion of the many wonders that Barcelona offered us. I'd definitely recommend a visit here to anyone who visits Spain.

Coming up next time: Pamplona, Bilbao, and San Sebastian. Be excited.

Portugal

2009-03-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

So a few of us made a trip to Lisbon this last weekend. It was a magical adventure. After we got off the airplane, and found out where our hostal was, we took a taxi ride with a gypsy woman who charged us 20 euros even though the meter said like nine or something. Wench. We then checked into our hostal which was very nice despite the fact that there was a saggy 50-year-old woman walking around at night in a nightgown that succombed to her very unflattering body.

Here we are after checking in to the hostal.

And here I am doing my thang a little later.

They had this crazy, old elevator you could go up in and see all over the city. And that, is exactly what we did.

Here we are riding up to the top

The next day, Jessie and I thought it would be cool to try and feed the pidgeons and see if they would land on us. We bought some stuff that looked like rice but was something different because I heard that rice made pidgeons explode. Unfortunately the little buggers kept their distance. Especially after I tried to grab them.

Here is a pretty cool place called Commerce Square

Here are Ali and I chillin on the steps of the square

Here is the whole group at an awesome castle just outside of Lisbon in Portugal. Probably my favorite one that we've been to thus far. Ali, Lauren, Kimball, Me, Jessie, Ben, Kiley, and Tim.

Also, I have to mention that we were offered drugs over 20 times whilst walking around the city. Just fyi.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

2009-02-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

We've been talking about it for weeks, and finally, after one failed attempt, we were able to find it! The only Taco Bell in Spain. It opened a few weeks ago and a few of us had been really anxious to go. But yesterday, we made the trip to Madrid just so we could taste of the heaven that is Taco Bell.

It took about an hour to get there so I took advantage of the occasion with this feast:
That, my friends is 5 soft tacos, 1 chicken quesadilla, and 1 crunch wrap supreme. And yes, I ate every bite. (I've gained over ten pounds since coming to Spain, and now I see why.)

Did I mention that they have the first drinks with free refills that I've seen since arriving in Spain? Quite the treat.

After sprinting around in Metro stations, and down what seemed like 30 flights of stairs we barely made the last train home. It was a double-decker with lots of space so I got my own row of chairs. I was just sitting doing some Spanish homework, when this large man who was sitting alone, two rows behind me comes and sits next to me. Strange, because there were ample empty seats elsewhere. Strange, because he was breathing heavily and just staring straight ahead. Reesty, because he smelled like rotten beef. I never want to experience his aroma again. Tim saved me by asking me to come look at something, which was lucky, because I stood up, and the guy pretty much passes out across the seats, drops his beer he was holding, and doesn't move for the rest of the trip! We left him there in the same position when our stop came. Poor guy probably missed his stop. But oh well.

There he is!

In other news, I'm flying over to Portugal tomorrow. That should be fun!

Segovia

2009-02-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

This week's trip to Segovia was great because it was a only about a two hour drive from home. Segovia is most famous for an amazingly well preserved Roman Aqueduct that runs through town. It also has a castle that supposedly inspired the look of the one in Disneyland!
Enjoy:

Here's Segovia's cathedral

The Alcazar (A little Disneyesque?)

Flamenco in Sevilla

2009-02-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

Here's what I got of the Flamenco concert:

Just so you know...

2009-02-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

The group set out on Tuesday for a nice little tour of Andalucia, and nice includes rain, long bus rides, and feet that feel like Vlad the Impaler has done a number on them.

We saw some windmills atop a hill at our first stop in Consuegra. That was neat. They were well placed too! If I weren't so aerodynamic I might have been blown away.

From there we headed over to Granada. On the bus ride there, the rain came down, and continued to come down for the rest of the afternoon. Some of us went out to explore the town after settling in our rooms. We walked along a river that was at the base of the hill which has the Alhambra on top.

The next day we actually got to go in....

The Alhambra is an awesome Moorish palace/fortress built in the 1400s. It has all these intricate and amazing carvings over all of the walls. Pretty much spectacular.

Here's the view over the town:

We departed from beautiful Granada the same day and made it to Cordoba several long hours later! The second we stepped off the bus it began to rain. Hard. The rain coupled with a 5ish minute walk to the hotel left everyone soaked but we took it in stride, being the classy people we are.
The first thing we did here was to see the Mezquita. I'd learned about it in Junior High and had always wanted to see it. I'm sure you've seen pictures of it, and if not... look downward!

Here are Tim, Heather, Jessie, Lara, Kim, and I rubbing the foot of Maimonidies. Apparently, if you can find this statue and rub his foot, then Maimonidies' infinite wisdom will pass on to you.

The next morning we woke up early to head out to Seville. Imagine my surprise when the water in my bathtub looked like this:

Blood? Orange Fanta? Who knows...

Here are some pictures from Seville

This blurry picture's claim to fame is that it is of the largest cathedral in the world! It also houses Christopher Columbus' body. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure we desecrated it because me, Jessie, and Lara had 'Business Time' stuck in our heads and were on a roll with "That's what she said" jokes.

Columbus' tomb.

Here's Jessie and I atop the minaret the next day.
And the view of Sevilla!

The bullfight ring in Seville.

This is the Plaza de Espana. It may be my favorite thing I've seen so far. Also, we think that part of one of the newer Star Wars was filmed here.

Also in Sevilla we went to a Flamenco concert. Wow. I have never been more amazed by dancing in my life. It's a little hard for me to describe how freaking crazy the dancers/guitarist/singer were. You just can't understand!!! The only option is for you to travel to Sevilla and watch it in person. I actually got a contraband video clip of the performance, but it was in the last few minutes of the concert when they told us we were only allowed to take pictures so their dancing was not as cool.

Basically, it was an AMAZING week.

Toledo!

2009-02-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

Holy Toledo!

This last weekend the whole group made a trip to Toledo. Toledo is known for its history, its marzipan, and its SWORDS. Toledo is famous for its mass productions of swords. They actually supplies many of the Lord of the Rings swords.

There are about 10 stores like this on every block. You may be saying to yourself, "Oh Mark's such an exaggerator!" But no, I am not. There are swords and other sharp things everywhere. I probably spent more time checking out the local weaponry than the local historical sights. And yes, I bought a sword. I need to get a picture of it though. I look like Russell Crowe in Gladiator with it.

Oh, Beautiful Toledo

This is the Cathedral of Toledo. Amazing.

And this is the Alcazar. Closed, but also amazing.

And last but not least, Donor Kebab. An amazing restaurant! In a trip that lasted less than two days, I ate it three times. So good.

Valencia

2009-01-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

After a 6 hour train ride, a rousing game of Scattergories, and much trial and tribulation, Tim, Alina, Megan, and I made it to Valencia! We ran into some Sister missionaries on the way to our hostal and had a good time talking to them. Here is our hostal with the awesome wallpaper

Orange trees line the streets of Valencia, and the worst part? The fruits are the most bitter, sour things on this planet. And Megan and I found out the hard way.

There are still miracles on earth today... In the form of a Double Whammy Banana

One of the most amazing, beautiful man-made places I've ever seen

Us on the beach, despite the cold water, the wind and the stinging sand that came along with it.

Spain in a Nutshell

2009-01-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

Lo, and behold! I have internet at my house! I have been living in Spain with a host family for the past 3 weeks and have just now discovered that we have wireless! I am very astute. The times that I've had internet elsewhere, I wasn't interested in using my precious time on a blog post, but now I have all the time in the world.

Now it's time to catch all of my many readers up on what's been going on over here:

I live in Alcala De Henares with the Nieves, which includes Brother and Sister Nieve, their son David, and their insane dog Toy. ....Oh, and there's Tim Davis, my American roommate.

Toy and Tim. (Toy likes to wear little Pink Panther shirts. Tim does too but he likes playing his guitar more.)

Every day Tim and I eat hot chocolate milk and cookies for breakfast, which I enjoy, a lot. Especially since it has been raining and snowing ever since I've gotten here.

My first week in Spain was spent with my parents traveling around Western Spain. We checked out some pretty near Roman ruins and went into Portugal for a little while.

Those Romans were classy.

Last weekend some of our study abroad group made a trip into Cuenca. Cuenca was built on cliffs and some of the houses are literally hanging off the edge. It was pretty majestic.

I'm making a trip to Valencia today until Saturday so I'll try to take some decent pictures.

Spain?

2009-01-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm in Spain.
That is all-
for now...

Again? Already?!

2008-12-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me well enough, or have been reading my blog, you know that I recently broke my elbow. It happened about a month ago and was the first time I had ever broken a bone! Needless to say I was pretty excited, and pleased with myself. Now, a month and a half later, after regaining full use of my arm, I've gone and broken my collar bone!

It hurts to sit, it hurts to stand, it hurts to exist. It hurts, it hurts bad.

It happened while snowboarding last Thursday. Remember that free pass I mentioned earlier? Yeah. So now I get to go on study abroad in Spain while wearing a stupid, giant, blue sling for a month and half! I'm going to look super fly. I do get painkillers though, which is always nice. They made Kung Fu Panda about 10x funnier than it was meant to be.

In other news, I went to the Neil Diamond concert on Friday and had a gay (adjective: having or showing a merry, lively mood) 'ol time. Due to all the snow, the trip up to Salt Lake resulted in our car doing a doughnut across the entire freeway, but seeing Neil in all his splendor was worth the near death experience.

The Dogs

2008-11-26T19:22:00.001-07:00

Lizzie and Darcy were very calm and perfectly photogenic yesterday, which never happens so I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.

O snap.

The Brotherhood's Conclusion...

2008-11-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

"Why must all good things come to an end?" - Nelly Furtado couldn't have said it better.

We concluded our Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants last night by watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was an emotional night filled with friends, candles, and burnt popcorn. Our awesome, white pants traveled the world. They went to Disney World, New York (2x), St. George, Cedar City, Italy, Switzerland, and France.

Traveling the world can take it's toll on a pair of pants, and this was no exception. Our white pants were no longer just white. Since one of the rules of the traveling pants is that they can never be washed, they took on a yellowish tint with splotches of black, gray, brown, and blue. Last night after the movie, the pants got their first wash in almost six months. And how did they turn out??

Before and After
(Slight exaggeration)

Here we all are at the commencement exercises, about six months ago... (Notice Tim's face)

And last night.... (And Justin's in this)

A group of friends brought together by pants...

We are awesome.

The Greatest Elephant Ever Made

2008-11-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Some people slept with bears, I slept with an elephant, and I would like to dedicate this post to my little stuffed friend, who is also my oldest possession. He is named, simply, Elephant, and my sister, Kimberly gave him to me before I can even remember. I picked him up about a week ago and realized that I've been neglecting him after all he has done for me. He slept by my side through thick and thin, hot and cold, and now that I'm older it's time he gets some recognition, in the form of a blog post. He'll always have a spot in my heart, and my bed.

I am the Hero of Hyrule!

2008-11-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I've finally done it! After 18 and a little years, i finally beat the original Legend of Zelda on the NES- and with one arm! Ganon didn't stand a chance against what I got!

What a joyous occasion it was!

A Mission Farewell, a Brick Wall, and a Cow from Hell

2008-11-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

...not in that order.

Yesterday was pretty decently eventful day. It started off, like every Saturday, with me trying to sleep in, only to be disturbed by the morning activities of my family and our two overly noisy dogs. Eventually my dad comes into my room and tells me to get up and do some odd job. This morning it was to help clean out the garage of all our family's piles of worthless junk that seem to gather every summer.
Lucky for me, my buddy Robert came to pick me up at ten so we (Robert, Jack, and I, along with Robert's special guests, his cousin and her fiance) could go tail-gate at our final BYU game together... Robert leaves on his mish in about a week and a half and gave his farewell talk today. He gave a great talk: funny, inspiring, and just plain good.

BYU easily laid waste to SDSU at the game. After Robert dropped me off we met up again to play basketball at his friend James' church. I swear, whenever we play with James, he ends up bringing along at least one idiot. I never know which person it is until we start ballin. The way you can tell this person apart from the others is that he believes the very survival of the team depends entirely on him. Yesterday this person thought that he was JJ Redick in the sense that he would try to shoot the ball from about 6 feet behind the 3-point line. It didn't really matter that any of his 4 team mates were open. If he didn't take that shot - We wouldn't stand a chance! What a freaker.

Later that night I went to Rachel Smith's house to hang out with her while she was visiting from Logan. We talked for awhile before going to Smith's to get some candy for her and egg nogg for me. At Smith's we decided to buy caramels and make caramel apples. As we searched for the best apples to use in our little activity, we stumbled upon the "Grapple." Looks like an apple, tastes like a grape! Needless to say we bought some of those as well.

Our caramel apples didn't look very impressive but tasted pretty good. Mike called and came over with three other guys and partook of the caramely fruits of mine and Rachel's labors. It was at this time that Rachel causally informed us that she had a long horned cow in her back yard. We were a little skeptical so she grabbed a flashlight took us outside to show us. It turned out that it was actually on the other side of the fence of her back yard. We shone the flashlight into the darkness on the otherside of the fence but the yard was too large and we couldn't see anything. Mike and I decided to hop the fence and look for this cow. We slowly moved into the darkness, flashlight in hand. We got close to a small shed-like structure and I shone the flashlight into it. That's when we saw it's eyes looking at us. They glowed green in the light. It started to slowly walk out of it's shelter and that's when we saw the massive horns on it's head. In the darkness it seriously looked like something straight from Hell. I don't remember all that was said and done, but about two seconds after it started out of the shed towards us, it turned its walk into a run straight at us.

Running from a charging Hell cow is just as intense as it sounds.

Luckily, with some difficulty on my part, we made it over the fence. The next hour consisted of Mike and I telling our story about 25 times, making it sound better every time.

Eventually we were joined by Tim, Tyler, and Chris. We all went to Cascade park to play steal the flag with Tim's brother Sam and a bunch of his friends. Mike and I volunteered to be on defense of the flag and the jail. Now, how I managed to break my arm by running as fast as I could into a wall is hard to explain but I will try my best. The "jail" was a bench that runs along a wall on the East side of the school. About a half hour into the game a couple people were trying to free their team mates from the jail and I was trying to block on in particular. He tried to run around me in a curl route to the jail. Trying to beat him there, I ran fast as I could straight at the jail to try and cut him off. About two feet before the jail I tagged him but I guess that since I was so focused on him, I didn't realize that I was headed straight for the brick wall and when I finally did realize this, I had a split second to put out my hands to stop myself. I hit pretty hard and fell to my knees holding my right arm in pain. Fortunately that pain wore off and I kept on playing.

Later at Tyler's house I realized that I couldn't straighten my arm all the way, and it hurt to bend it too far, but didn't really think about it. It wasn't till I woke up in the middle of the night, gasping in pain because I had rolled over onto it, that I realized that something was a little messed up. It looked like I had a very obese elbow. I really don't know why, but I decided to tough it out till morning and then told my parents I needed to go see a doctor, but only after Robert's farewell! So that's what we did! They took some x-rays, during which I felt some of the worst pain of my life as I tryed to position my arm how they wanted it. They told me later that i had a Radial Head Fracture. I can't have a cast for it because it would make my elbow stiffen up so all I've got is a sling and some Pain Killers. It's not all bad though, my parents tie my shoes for me and plus, I've always wanted to break a bone. I can still use my fingers, I just can't put my hand in positions that make them useful. However, there are certain things that I've found to be difficult without the use of my right hand.:

1.Taking off / putting on shirts - This has to be the worst part. I don't have a cast to stabalize my elbow from bending so getting in and out of t-shirts makes me want to scream.

2.Peeing - It's rough, and potentially messy.

3.Tying shoes - I feel like a little child asking my mom to tie my shoes.

4.Scratching - Some places are inaccessible to my left hand and will forever itch.

5.Sports - I'm in a volleyball class at BYU. That's a no-go now.

6. The Trapese - It's hard to hold on with one hand

Butter

2008-11-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

I saw the second Batman movie for the fourth time last night, and guess what! It's still awesome.
I saw it at the new theater in front of the mall. They opened it up for a free night of movies for University students. The best part of the night? Free popcorn and drinks, and at this theater they let YOU put on the extra butter. Never again will I be watching a movie with a lack of greasey love on my warm, salty, kernels. Yum.

That was sick.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine

2008-11-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I completed one of my tasks in order to prepare for my trip to Spain. The assignment was to visit the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City using only public transportation. The idea was to help get us used to using public transportation since that's all we'll be using while we are in Europe. The Cathedral was awesome I didn't even know this place existed! Enjoy my awesome pictures:

Crazy cool. This is called a tympanum. It took seven years to make, and it's on the front of the church.

The ceiling was the coolest part. It was made to look like a starry night.

We stayed for the beginning of a mass before we headed out. To begin, they had a youth choir sing. The way that their voices reverberated off of the walls made for an amazing, booming sound. Once the pastor started his sermon, my group and I decided to leave because it was a little.
Before we got on TRAX to head back to the bus stop, we had lunch at The Lion House, and I would recommend this place to anyone. It was delightful.

Bring on the Snow!!

2008-10-26T18:42:00.000-06:00

So a couple days ago, on Thursday to be exact, Ryan Cox called me to see if I wanted to go to a premiere showing of a ski/snowboarding movie called "Children of Winter." Kevin Lloyd bought a ticket for $18 but couldn't go for some reason so I got it! And I didn't have to pay anything!
Everyone who went to the showing got a free day pass to the Canyons, which if you ever go there you might know costs around $90. The only catch to going to the show was that I had to give Kevin the day pass. Lucky for me, after the movie ended I found THREE of the free pass vouchers laying on the ground! Woot! That's about 300 bucks worth.

But anyways... The movie was so amazing!! I really can't even express how crazy-cool it was. It got me stoked for winter and snowboarding although if I even think about doing any of the things the people in the movie did I might break in half.

So Divided

2008-10-22T10:48:00.000-06:00

Have you ever been looking through a collection of entirely random cds of bands which you have never heard of and decided to try one out? I was in one of these experimental moods yesterday at FYE when I found "So Divided" by a band called ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. I bought the CD for about 3 dollars and am now totally addicted to it! I was sort of expecting some heavy metal band but to me these guys sound more like a mix between The Arcade Fire and Rusted Root. They're HECKA tight!

Routine Check-up

2008-10-21T17:19:00.000-06:00

So I went to the dentist for my semiannual check-up today, and every semiannual check-up it's the same story: "Well Mark, looks like you've got a cavity between your teeth. You probably need to floss more."

"Alright, I will."

No I wont. I never come through on my end of the bargain. Flossing is a nuisance! Trying to weave a little thread between my snugly grown teeth is tough. But hey, I'll give it a go, and we'll see how things end up.