I describe myself as an interesting mixture of spices. I have all kinds of interesting and crazy things mixed into me that make me unique... just like everyone else, except I'm spicier....
I woke up one morning with a fo-hawk hairstyle as my morning bedhead. I kept it that way for the rest of the day, and then the next day I woke up with it automatically styled like that again. Is this naturally occurring, or is it inspired hair by hair fairies who come to me and style my hair while I am fast asleep? Either way, I think it's a sign for a change.
Christmas Season reminds me of some of my childhood memories and my ideas for my future Christmas years to come. My Earliest Christmas Memory- I was around 5 years old living in Nevada in the small town of Tonopah where I was born. The only thing I can remember is that I was with my brother Brandon, sister Brisa and my mom waiting for Santa to come on Christmas Eve to our apt. We were so worried that Santa wasn't going to be able to make it to our home, because we had no chimney for Santa to slide down. My mom reassured us that he would be coming. In fact, he was going to be coming in a big red firetruck. Since our apt complex didn't have a chimneys, he used a firetruck to get around. I can remember him coming to our door with other fire fire fighters and giving us a present out of his sack. I have no idea what it was. That's all I can remember. Christmas traditions- We used to anxiously await Christmas morning. Every little kid is so eager to open up presents and play with his or her new toys. I had heard of the tradition to open at least one gift on Christmas Eve. I don't think my mom would let us do this until one year when we convinced her to let us open just one present. I don't recall how old I was, probably 14. We all opened up our one gift. It was late at night and we all got excited for more. Somehow my mom was persuaded to let us open up the rest of the presents. This tradition continued as long as I can remember with my mom and siblings. Christmas for my future family- Some the best Christmas stories I ever heard were when I was in high school. My history teacher Mr. Murphy used to tell his students about his yearly Christmas stories that he wrote for his adopted kids. He would write a very long story about Snow Goblins, and Santa's helpers. He would spend several months out of the year working on this story that turned out to be chapters every year that added to the big story that he created. One year the Snow Goblins captured Santa. Santa couldn't escape the Goblin prison and the kids wouldn't be get any presents. This really worried the kids. One Sunday in primary school, one of Mr. Murphy's kids gave a prayer and asked that God would help Santa to escape the Snow Goblines, so that they would be able to have a Christmas. Of course the teachers heard this prayer and thought the family had money issues and created the story to help the kids understand why they wouldn't be getting anything for Christmas. Eventually the bishop caught wind of the prayer and soon enough Mr. Murphy was in the bishop's office. It was a great story, just some misunderstanding. My favorite thing about these stories were that they taught the kids a lot about the Christmas fairytale and spirit. I believe they still believed in Santa unitil an older age. It was a family tradition that was talked about all year long. The story was even tied into Santa's actual visit. I'd like to have a similar tradition with my future family someday. Another funny thing my teacher did was to wake the kids up on Christmas Eve when Santa was "on the roof". He would put a red light on the roof to give the illusion of Rudolph's nose, and tied a rope to the tree branches on the side of the house to elude the kids to believe that Reindeer were walking on the roof. He would go outside and turn the light on while his wife would get the kids up and run outside to investigate. As soon as the kids saw the red glow on the roof they all freaked out and ran back inside and jumped in bed. This way Santa would be able to deliver their gifts while they were sleeping. I have these ideas and so many more in mind. I can't wait to continue with Christmas fantasy stories, and entertain my own family with Christmas tales some day. Of course the real reason of Christmas is to celebrate the birth and life of Christ. These teachings will be a top priority as well. Merry Christmas to everyone that enjoys reading my blogs!
I have been listening to music on my iPod a lot lately and noticed that there are a ton of songs that have been written about love. After going through a breakup, I have noticed more than ever before how much songs relate to me and my situation in some way or another. It's funny how artists experience different things in their own relationships and then later write about them in a song. It seems that most songs are about love for some reason, but I also noticed that these songs usually go two ways; Break up, or just in love songs. I think most everybody experiences the same kinds of problems with their own relationships and this is why so many people relate to the music that they listen to. There are only so many ways things can go in a relationship. Every relationship is an experience that not only helps you to figure out what it is you want in a significant other, but at the same time helps you to become more aware yourself, and who you really are. Needless to say, I need to stop listening to such sappy music :) This song is 10 years old from a group called El Canto del Loco (The crazy song) It reminds me of how those of us who are still single, are single because it's always someone in the relationship that ends up liking the the other person more than the other person likes you in return. That's what this song is all about. No matter how hard he tries, nothing seems to be working for him. He always seems to like the girl more than she likes him, and he's tired of the same cycle. A friend of mine told me this once, "In relationships, the power lies with whoever cares the least... But power isn't happiness. Happiness comes from caring the most." This is true to me, because you are the happiest when you do acts of charity for each other. When you do acts of service for your fellow being, you're only in the service of God. That is where true happiness is found.
Vivir Asi Es Morir De Amor(Living like this is dying of love) The reason always tricks me And dominates my heart. I don't know how to fight against love I'm always going to fall in love With someone who doesn't fall in love with me That is why my soul cries.
And I can't do it anymore I can't do in anymore The same story always repeats And I can't do it anymore I can't do it anymore I'm fed up with going around in circles
(Chorus) Living like this is dying of love Love is why my soul is wounded For love... I don't have anymore lives than this life Melancholy (sadness) Living like this is dying of love I'm a begger for her kisses I'm your friend And I want to be something more than that Melancholy
My being is always over come my serenity turns into craziness And I'm filled with bitterness I'm always going to fall in love With someone who doesn't fall in love with me And that is why my soul cries
And I can't do it anymore I can't do in anymore The same story always repeats And I can't do it anymore I can't do it anymore I'm fed up with going around in circles
I used to be somewhat of an avid blogger in my past, but it has been awhile. I have been in a relationship for a few months, and it's amazing how much time a relationship requires. Trying to learn about each other, and keep each other happy isn't fast or simple. I honestly thought this relationship would work out. Everything seemed so perfect, yet too good to be true. It was too good to be true. I haven't been in many serious relationships in my life. I have a lack of experience. I really learned so much in my relationship with Janna, but like all good things, it has ended. I learned a lot about myself, and how I need to be more considerate of others, and about some of my own weakness's. It's frustrating when you give your whole heart and in the end get hurt. This is how we learn and grow. I believe it's all part of our mortal experience that God intended us to obtain when he sent us here. We're here to gain mortal bodies, and experience the heartaches and pleasures that come with the use of a physical body. Since family is so important to God's eternal plan of happiness, I honestly believe that gaining experience in a relationship is probably the most important thing we can learn here during our time on earth, especially if eventually this relationship should and will turn into an eternal relationship that will last through eternity. It takes a lifetime to figure out ourselves and become perfect. Part of becoming perfect involves learning how to accept, love, and appreciate others. You would think that Godly attributes that we all inherit naturally wouldn't make it so hard to have success in a relationship. Also within a relationship, you would think that with such a strong connection and so many mutual similarities that you would be able to eventually work things out and accept and love the differences that exist in each other. But there seems to be the natural man that gets in the way of accomplishing our ambitions. It's odd how so many of us are naturally stubborn, insecure, selfish and indecisive. I think overcoming our own selfishness, and learning to have charity is eventually what we are learning to achieve. It can't be easily achieved if we aren't willing to accept differences in others. Sometimes we have to give up some of our freedoms, and our autonomy in order to accommodate other differences in those we love. This should be mutual. Nobody wants to drag their spouse to the celestial kingdom. Unfortunately Satan doesn't want us to succeed and will do anything in order to keep us from coming anywhere close to marriage. He's against anything good. He will use simple things that aren't necessarily evil in order to distract us and keep us from succeeding and reaching our mortal goals. Is this part of the learning process God wants us to get that comes more natural to others than some, or is it human will that determine how much we fall when we're tempted? We know that wickedness never was happiness. We might begin doing things that we don't see wrong at all, because we have become so desensitized to how things should be. We tend to want to follow the world rather than follow God. Interesting how that's what we naturally do. It's also funny how we begin to reason, and rationalize the good between the bad. We can't have one foot in one side, and the other foot in the other and expect things will flow smoothly. I wish I could say I was good at staying on the good side all the time. Learning to control our actions is part of the mortal learning experience that we are to achieve in the great plan of happiness. Overall, we should never forget that God has promised us blessings if we will but do his will and follow Christ. We can't expect blessings if we don't do a good enough job on our part. It's essential to fully repent of our past transgressions and continually persevere always. If we aren't realistic about life, and don't set goals, then how on earth can we expect to grow and become better in anyway? How would you even expect God to even send blessings? I don't know how anything would ever work out, cause we're not perfect. Dedication, commitment and perseverance is probably the key. At least with those things, you can conquer your faults one-by-one until a lifetime has gone by and you are that much closer to perfection. What a journey life would be if you were actually able to work on this with someone you loved so much and cared so much about.... Someday.... someday.... Another important fact that I learned and became very aware of is the distractions of text messaging and chatting using modern technology. There is NO substitute for person to person communication. That just makes things worse when you don't communicate important issues in person. Whenever this happened I forfeited important opportunities for developing and improving interpersonal skills. There is no substitute for laughing together, crying together, and creating rich and enduring bonds of emotional intimacy. To feel the warmth of a tender hug or kiss, to see the sincerity in the eyes of one another as you are talking to each other in person is much more valuable and goes a lot further than megapixels, online chatting, or text messages. Things always get misinterpreted anyway using this type of technology for physical expression. Satan wants us to sacrifice the kinds of experiences that will allow us to experience things as they really are, using our whole bodies. Satan knows that we can be displaced from the full range of physical capacity and experience that can only be obtained in person. We could easily lose ourselves in this type of technology, and cyber experiences. It is very possible to become past feeling. And with this I mean that it's possible to disconnect gradually from things as things are really meant to be, physically. I always had more success talking in person, rather than combating out a conversation over a text message. Things just become confusing. Don't get me wrong though. These things can be used for good. It's important to give reassurance of love, info and other relationship functions via text message, or other technology. But you can easily avoid absolute senseless arguments that manage to blow up and break couples apart every day if you don't abuse the importance of your physical body in a relationship.
This past week I thought i'd put my GSXR, aka crotch rocket and my guts to the test, and open it up on the freeway. Now in no way am I bragging about how fast I went. I do think it's really cool to be able to say that I have been this fast without leaving the ground. How many people do you know can say they have ever achieved this kind of speed on the ground? This can easily make for a good story to the grandkids someday. I will never go this fast again, but it was quite the rush. How fast did I go you ask? 160MPH!!!!!! I know... I'm nuts. Immediately after reaching that speed I slowed down, so it wasn't like I held that speed for a long time. My bike can reach that speed quite fast and slow down just as fast; all by the touch of the throttle.
A couple of weeks ago Janna, Sklyer and I went on a date to the Rocky Mountain Raceway to check out the jet cars. I have seen the jet tank before at an airshow, but have never seen jet cars race down the drag. It was the coolest thing ever to be there. Those engines are so loud. You absolutely have to go see them next season if you get a chance. Ear plugs is a must, unless you want to loose your ear drums. When the engines fire up they make multiple loud explosion sounds. Once they take off, they roar by reaching speeds from 0-275 mph+ in less than 6 seconds! That's got to be the biggest rush ever. Sklyer was pretty scared with how loud the cars were. Not only did he have his earplugs in the whole time, but also had to have his ears covered up nearly the entire time to. The people watching is pretty good at the races as well. You have all kinds of interesting walks of life surrounding you. Good times though.
I have pretty much disappeared off the map during this past month. It has been difficult to find time to write on my blog, when I am always busier than a honey bee. Aside from work taking up almost all of my time, since I work overtime almost everyday, I have met someone very special who has been taking up whatever extra time I have left. Next month I will be turning 29 years old, and as most of you know, I'm still single. Being this is undesirable living in a Mormon culture; I'm already a "menace to society" according to Brigham Young. I have always wondered when I would meet my special someone who can keep up with me and love me for who I really am. Last month I think my dreams have finally come true! I met a very lovely girl named Janna who has come to fill the empty void in my life. She's originally from South Carolina, but lives in Salt Lake City. It is quite a commute for me, but she's worth every bit of mile I have to travel to see her. She has every qualification that i have ever looked for in a girl. Some have told me that i was unrealistic, and that I was searching for a girl that didn't exist. I hope that I have now proven these people wrong. My sacrifice of holding out nearly 29 years has paid off, and will indeed bring about a true happiness that I have been longing for. Aside from sharing common interests, we share the same goals, views, and similarities on a ton of topics. I must say that meeting her and becoming close to her has completely caught me off guard as well as catching her off guard. We didn't expect to fall in love, but somehow that just kinda happened. We feel like the timing couldn't have been any better to meet. We now have been dating for a month. If you know me, and know the type of guy that I am, then you pretty much know Janna. She really is much like me; in essence, she is my mini me. She completes me. We are both very excited about a bright future together. I just hope I don't blow it :)
As I was at work driving home, I heard this song come on the radio. It's quite catchy and has been stuck in my head since. I came home and looked up the music video on it; even more catchy. It's priceless 80's music video. I think this video came out in 1979. This was before the time of all the fancy music videos that had budgets to make them appealing. This poses one question to me. How the hell did men get lucky with women back then?
I have been way too busy to even set down for more than 10 minutes at home, let alone try to do some blogging. Sorry to all of my blogger fans.. Last week I went to Heber Valley Camp with my mom's extended family to have a surprise family reunion for my Grandma Storey who is turning 70 yrs. old this week. This reunion had been in planning for more than a year, and it finally happened. My grandma had no idea. It was a ton of fun. Heber Valley camp is a LDS church owned camp place that is usually used for girls camp. We rented out a camp site that had 4 cabins, and a big pavilion. There was plenty of hiking to be had. I went hiking with my little niece and my aunt and some other fam. Little Averie is quite the trooper. She did really well and wanted to lead the whole time, so she could show us "the magical way" It was great. If you're already my facebook friend, then you've seen the pics. Still too busy to blog.. stay tuned for the newest excitement in my life... When i get a chance to blog about it :)
These past couple of days I went out of town near Vernal Utah for work. Every summer I usually go out of town every now and then to do asphalt maintenance. I have been to some places that I considered to be in the middle of nowhere, but I was way off. This place I went to beats everywhere I have ever been for the middle of nowhere. It was at a place called Jones Hole Fish Hatchery. It's a national fish hatchery, so the government runs it, and the fish raised there is put into rivers and lakes all over the country. They mainly raise four different kinds of trout. Can I say that I got to feed the fish once? Haha. This hatchery is located about an hour drive north east of Vernal, way close to the Colorado boarderline. There is absolutely nothing along the way. The good thing about this place was that it is located in a very beautiful canyon. I wouldn't mind going there sometime to do some hiking. This was a very tough job. We slurried all of the raceway areas, along with parking lots and roads all around the facility. The maintenance guy was EXTREMELY picky. The cleanup before coming home took longer than we had anticipated. I worked there two straight days and came home with a total of 32 hours including drive time. Luckily I got the rest of today off once I got back home, so I could rest and write on my blog :) I found this spider on this post thingy, and it was the creepiest thing i've seen in the wild. It looked like it had a smiley face on its bum.. see for yourself. I was freaked out just getting this close to take a picture of it.
This past weekend I got to reminisce about the days when I once was not so popular, not so cute, and kind of a band nerd. Yes that's right; my 10 year high school reunion. It was interesting to go and see people who I had classes with. Some people I didn't really recognize at all. I ran into other friends who I was happy to see. It was fun. I wasn't popular for a couple of hours. hahaha, just kidding. It seemed like I talked to people's spouses more than the people who I actually knew. At least my best friend Dave was there to with his girlfriend, so I got to tag along with them, since most everyone else was married. There were a few friends who are still single, but not many. It was held in the grand ballroom at UVU. The food was terrfic. They had a few interesting facts about 1999, but overall it wasn't too exciting. I wish college had reunions as well, cause I was in college for more years than high school, and actually know the people I graduated with. This is actually the only pic that i have from my high school graduation at Provo High School. This was after I changed my hairstyle. Pictured is my buddy Cody.
It has been awhile since I've had a chance to update my blog. Work has been keeping me so busy that I never get a chance to go out and do fun things, let alone write about them. Doesn't mean i don't do anything fun, just no time to blog about it. Working 60+ hour weeks and being all over Utah doesn't leave me with much time for much else. Luckily there are birthday parties. My best friends Dave and Mike share a birthday. Every year we go to the lake and go Wake boarding. Mike has a boat and takes us out. He's married now, so i don't see him too often. I got to bring my new camera to the lake and test out all of the cool features. After boarding on Utah Lake we surprised Dave at Texas Roadhouse. It was a good day off work, and a great time to be with my buddies, and celebrate birthdays with other friends.
My buddy Javier has this hobby visiting girls and serenading them. I'm not exactly sure why he does it, but it's pretty fun and all girls love it and i can see how it would be a good way to get them to fall in love with you. There is something that goes on in a girls mind when a guy can sing some music to them and make them laugh that makes them want more. I have played music with Javi on some ocassions, but recently I joined Javi in playing for some friends of mine. Javi's friend Chase came along ith the yuklali and smooth vocals, and I put the beat down with the Cajon like usual, and a touch of some harmonizing vocals here and there depending on the song. Javi plays the guitar and oohs and aahhs the girls while he plays and sings. He sings some Spanish songs, and a couple of songs in English. It's pretty fun. Jamming out to music always makes for a good time and is clean, chill fun. If you would like for us to come visit you for your very own personal concert, let us know. We have a Jason Mraz song, Enrique Iglesias, Antonio Banderas, and some other random songs on the list. The requirement, since our services are free, is that there be cute single girls there :)
My sister-in-law took this picture of my niece Averie in the car the other day while my brother was in the store renting a movie. It has since become one of my favorites and just had to share it on my blog. While Averie waited in the car with her mummy she got a little creative trying to get rid of some of her energy. She's either a reincarnated spider monkey, or a spidergirl. Not sure which one yet.
I thought i'd put up some pics that my buddy's girlfriend took of me and my new bike. I just replaced both front and back tires today. I could have bought 4 brand new tires for my SUV for the same price of two bullet bike tires. Way expensive, but worth it. I got a matching helmet for the bike, but i had to do the yellow vinyl stickers for the helmet to make it match the yellow bike.
Now that I have a motorcycle I can go for sweet rides up the canyon and enjoy the beauty. Before I sold my last bullet bike, i used to always go riding up the canyon, and ride the Alpine Loop about once or twice a week. Now I have been making it up there like once a week. The Alpine Loop is a very beautiful windy road that starts up past Sundance Ski Resort and Aspen Grove up Provo Canyon, and comes out American Fork Canyon. The best part about the ride is that once you reach the highest point, which is around 8,000 ft., it's all downhill from there until you come out of American Fork Canyon. It's about 11 miles of coasting with the engine off. The best part about it is that when my bike ignition is turned off, it doesn't keep track of the miles that are being put on it. It's pretty beautiful up there and there are streams all over. I stopped to take this picture the last time i was up there.
A bunch of peeps from my ward got together yesterday to have a little pool party. It was at Trevor's parents' house in Mapleton. Let me just say that I want to work for his dad. Their back yard was greater than or equal to a park. They have a tennis court, putting green, and a sweet pool and jacuzzi. Pretty much my dream house.
We had a nice BBQ and played some games. It was a lot of fun. It is good times like these that make being single worth it. Unfortunately this doesn't happen often enough to really making being single worth it.
This is a pic with my first bike that was taken just after I turned 17. I wasn't the cutest kid in high school, but that's ok. I have been having this random craving on and off during the past few years, and recently during the past few months to buy another bullet bike. Last summer when the gas prices sky rocketed I decided to buy a scooter. Well the prices have come down a little bit, and I have been getting bored riding that thing around, so I sold it. I know there what you're thinking. A bullet bike? He's going to kill himself on it! Let me reassure you that I am an excellent driver. I bought my first motorcycle when I was a senior in high school at the age of 17. My friend TW drove bikes and got me into it and helped me to find a cheap bike. I had to do some major fixing it up but eventually, after re-welding the frame straight and bending the forks back straight, I had a nice ride to school. Since then I have owned 3 other bullet bikes, a scooter, and now I finally when out and bought a new bullet bike! This is now my 4th bullet bike. I liked my last bullet bike so much that I decided to stick with Suzuki GSXR. My last bike was a 01 600cc. I am excited to announce that I am now the proud owner of an 06 GSXR 750. This bike has more nuts than the 600's. I love it! After riding it around for about 20 min. my riding skills came back and it seemed like it wasn't too long ago since I last drove a bike; even though it has been 4 years! I bought it at a place up in Salt Lake. As I was driving it home on the freeway, some wind caught my sunglass and tossed them off in the middle of the freeway. Luckily they weren't too pricey, but that is the first time that has ever happened. I need to be carefull which way I turn my head at 90 miles an hour. There are a few guys in my ward that ride bikes to, so maybe I'll have some riding buddies since my best friend Dave doesn't have a bike anymore.
The cutest thing happened to me today at Walmart, when all of a sudden my two little nieces came running up to me shouting out my name.."Ustin, Ustin, Uncle Ustin!" It was so dang cute! They ran up to me and gave me a big hug on my leg. They miss their uncle, and their uncle misses them. I'm so glad that I can be an uncle.. Like all other aunts and uncles know, it's great to be able to hand them back over to their parents when they start crying, and don't have to worry about finding a baby sitter, but being a babysitter. Kaylie is two, and Averie will be turning four in August. Someone should designate a day similar to mother and father's day for aunts and uncles day. They should call it Auntcles day.
I woke up one morning with a fo-hawk hairstyle as my morning bedhead. I kept it that way for the rest of the day, and then the next day I woke up with it automatically styled like that again.
Christmas Season reminds me of some of my childhood memories and my ideas for my future Christmas years to come.
He would go outside and turn the light on while his wife would get the kids up and run outside to investigate. As soon as the kids saw the red glow on the roof they all freaked out and ran back inside and jumped in bed. This way Santa would be able to deliver their gifts while they were sleeping.
This past week I thought i'd put my GSXR, aka crotch rocket and my guts to the test, and open it up on the freeway. Now in no way am I bragging about how fast I went. I do think it's really cool to be able to say that I have been this fast without leaving the ground. How many people do you know can say they have ever achieved this kind of speed on the ground? This can easily make for a good story to the grandkids someday.
A couple of weeks ago Janna, Sklyer and I went on a date to the Rocky Mountain Raceway to check out the jet cars. I have seen the jet tank before at an airshow, but have never seen jet cars race down the drag.
I have pretty much disappeared off the map during this past month. It has been difficult to find time to write on my blog, when I am always busier than a honey bee. Aside from work taking up almost all of my time, since I work overtime almost everyday, I have met someone very special who has been taking up whatever extra time I have left.
I have been way too busy to even set down for more than 10 minutes at home, let alone try to do some blogging. Sorry to all of my blogger fans..
These past couple of days I went out of town near Vernal Utah for work. Every summer I usually go out of town every now and then to do asphalt maintenance. I have been to some places that I considered to be in the middle of nowhere, but I was way off. This place I went to beats everywhere I have ever been for the middle of nowhere.
This past weekend I got to reminisce about the days when I once was not so popular, not so cute, and kind of a band nerd. Yes that's right; my 10 year high school reunion. It was interesting to go and see people who I had classes with. Some people I didn't really recognize at all. I ran into other friends who I was happy to see.
This is actually the only pic that i have from my high school graduation at Provo High School. This was after I changed my hairstyle. Pictured is my buddy Cody.
It has been awhile since I've had a chance to update my blog. Work has been keeping me so busy that I never get a chance to go out and do fun things, let alone write about them. Doesn't mean i don't do anything fun, just no time to blog about it. 
Working 60+ hour weeks and being all over Utah doesn't leave me with much time for much else.
My buddy Javier has this hobby visiting girls and serenading them. I'm not exactly sure why he does it, but it's pretty fun and all girls love it and i can see how it would be a good way to get them to fall in love with you. There is something that goes on in a girls mind when a guy can sing some music to them and make them laugh that makes them want more.
Now that I have a motorcycle I can go for sweet rides up the canyon and enjoy the beauty. Before I sold my last bullet bike, i used to always go riding up the canyon, and ride the Alpine Loop about once or twice a week. Now I have been making it up there like once a week.
A bunch of peeps from my ward got together yesterday to have a little pool party. It was at Trevor's parents' house in Mapleton. Let me just say that I want to work for his dad. Their back yard was greater than or equal to a park. They have a tennis court, putting green, and a sweet pool and jacuzzi.
Pretty much my dream house.
This is a pic with my first bike that was taken just after I turned 17. I wasn't the cutest kid in high school, but that's ok.
The cutest thing happened to me today at Walmart, when all of a sudden my two little nieces came running up to me shouting out my name.."Ustin, Ustin, Uncle Ustin!" It was so dang cute! They ran up to me and gave me a big hug on my leg. They miss their uncle, and their uncle misses them.
