Marie, the baguettes, hurry up!

Sam and I machining the mold for
the carbon fiber fuselage lay up.

During a stake conference in Livermore a few years ago, a recently converted member of the Spanish branch bore her testimony in her native language. Fortunately, for most of the congregation who didn't understand Spanish, a young woman was translating. She was probably in her mid-teens, and I imagined that she had grown up in the US but with Spanish speaking parents. I think I was unkind later as I expressed dissatisfaction at her translation.

Tiny lizard sun bathing on the back
porch.

The woman who bore her testimony talked about the bitterness and the darkness that filled her soul before she found the gospel. The young woman's translation: "I felt really bad before I found the gospel." The testimony went on, explaining the emptiness, despair, and hopelessness she felt going through life. Translation: "She felt really bad."

I think I didn't feel mean chuckling about the poor translation with others afterwards because it was truly a bad translation. Those who didn't know the true meaning behind the convert's words were given a fuzzy image of what that woman had been going through.

Recently, the bishop in our ward issued a challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. Going through it a little faster than usual, something stuck out to me while reading 1 Nephi 17. In the past, I would share select verses of this chapter with people to compare Nephi's perspective of his blessings in the wilderness to that of his brothers who only saw trials.

Observe Nephi's pairing of blessings with trials:

1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.
2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

6 And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.

A few minutes before egg harvest.

I've heard it said that the reason behind the frequent repetition in scripture is because that was the way to emphasize ideas. Given that this chapter is full of verses outlining trials and blessings, and that Nephi mentions a quantity of trials incapable of being written, I'm wondering what exactly he went through, and if I could even understand it if I knew.

In the last year or so I've been frustrated a few times when trying to express myself to people. Sometimes I just keep things more or less to myself. When I don't, I often hear myself and I sound like that young woman trying to translate depth of emotion that I understand natively into the English language.

Then here's Nephi trying his best to tell me how hard things were for him and I just turn the page and hope there's not an Isaiah chapter coming.

It's like there's some sort of communication barrier that sets the cap at 98%. The last 2% is always the hardest. That's why they leave it in the milk.

Squash and quesadillas because
I love you.

So I'm trying to be more compassionate. Maybe people are doomed to never fully understand each other, but they can get a lot closer if they try harder. I'm also recognizing that coupled with my trials are immense blessings. Even so many that I could not list them here. I have a wife who loves me truly and fully, and I feel a happiness in that which alone makes up for everything else.

$3 Boo-ritos at Chipotle. No we didn't get sick

Those of us who have testimonies of Jesus Christ have hope in the atonement, something that is free and which encompasses and surpasses all our needs. I could go on and mention all the tender mercies Mer and I have received as we confront our challenges, but in the end my truest feelings of gratitude would just end up lost in translation, leaving here a fuzzy image in their place.

Trying to get the right lighting for our fundraiser picture.

Still not right

Making Chipotle at Home

I've had plenty of time to blog all Summer but when I finally wanted to, we got rid of our internet. We got it back by being sneaky. I'll explain the how.


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Step 1: Prepare

I cook small pieces of chicken in taco seasoning and add some beans. Keep it on the burner on low if you want to keep it warm. We usually add cheese, rice, cilantro, diced tomatoes, guac, salsa, sour cream, and some cumin (though I forgot it this time). This made almost 30 small burritos, so try to get about that many tortillas. We usually use medium flour tortillas

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From what I hear, cable companies are part of an oligopoly, so they basically charge as much as they want. That was evidenced by our monthly internet bill doubling from $30/month to $60/month Just. For. Internet.


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Step 2: Prepare more

A large piece of wax paper taped to the counter is nice. It keeps food off your counter and your counter off of your food.

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Given our current frustration with having to pay lots of money for lots of things, and not being able to make as much as we'd like, we decided to live without internet. Merilee almost never uses the internet at home, and I can get free internet at school or even at church. It seems crazy to not have internet access but we figured that we'd make the sacrifice.

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Step 3: Get ready to wrap

If you're making a bunch to freeze, I recommend placing plastic wrap down before building each burrito. It makes it easy. It doesn't have to be the good kind that actually sticks because you're just packing it into the freezer.

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The biggest difficulty was not being able to do video calls on Sunday. Since I'm not back in school and use the internet a lot for tutorials, I was using my phone as a hotspot until my high speed data ran out. Eventually, we decided to try going back, but having me sign up for it this time instead of Merilee. Previously, when I tried to call to talk about our service, they couldn't speak to me because my name wasn't on the account. Well it worked. We're back at the year-long promotional rate of $30/month for another year.

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Step 4: Tortilla

No explanation needed. (not that you need any of these instructions anyways)

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So I'm back at working on projects. I'm nine chapters through a book I borrowed on programming in C++, I finished the Python course on Codecademy a while ago, I've finished some conceptual CAD models and some other things for my guided-rocket project (Edwina). Though I don't plan on using C++ or Python much, going through the book on the former and the course on the latter have really helped me to understand coding a lot better. In fact, a lot of the Arduino codes used to receive accelerometer data are actually legible now.

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Step 5: Protein

Don't overdo it if you're doing small burritos. They don't need a lot of meat and you still have lots to add before folding.

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Mer and I had a great visit up in the Bay Area last month. We were invited to a ball game with friends. It was the A's versus the Giants, which was great to see since they were the two big teams I grew up next to. Mer successfully surprised me and her sister at a surprise birthday party with lots of friends from the singles ward, our Hayward ward, and some family. Mer's oldest sister also gave us a bunch of her old food storage since she was moving. Now Merilee's youngest sister is the only family we have in the Bay Area. It could be a while before we return. Weird.

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Step 6: Cheese Please



If the chicken/bean mixture is still hot, it will melt together. This is an added benefit if you're eating any fresh.
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We've been in our current ward for just over a year now. Mer was recently called as the first counselor in the Primary. We're trying to prepare for scouts that starts up again in about a week. The program is somewhat different than last year, and we'll have less scouts in our den since we had a few age out over the Summer. It's been nice having a break, and we're hoping that this time it won't be so crazy. Someone the other day asked if we were still doing scouts because of the recent changes in policy. As far as I know, there haven't been any different instructions given to us, so it's business as usual until we hear otherwise.

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Step 7: Rice

Use whatever type of rice you'd like but make sure to season it. I usually don't even add salt to rice since I always have it mixed with something tasty and find salt flavoring unnecessary. Occasionally with these burritos, the inside isn't so homogeneous and you bite into a chunk of white flavorless rice.

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We got a new nephew last week. He was named Emmett Indiana (after the dog), and we're excited to see him at Christmas. Since the new baby, Mer and I have been thinking of some awesome names for our own eventual children. No, this isn't an announcement of anything. We're not pregnant. However, we did want to call dibs on the following names:



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Step 8: Tomatoes

Add them.

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-Armando Armadillo Ward                    -Shenaynay YesYes Ward 
-Cockatrice Crocodile Ward                   -LaFaunte Shaniqua Ward
-William (Billy) Goat Ward                   -Cadfael Wassail Ward
-Sheriah (from Sheralyn) Ward              -Mohammed Faheem Ward



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Step 9: Cilantro etc.

Feel free to add any desired spices. Just know that the chicken will have enough and it should really go on other things like the tomatoes and rice etc

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I hereby call dibs, even retroactively if you already had any of these names picked (whether first or middle) times infinity I win.

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Step 10: Getting to the good stuff

Add sour cream. You have to.

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Names can be hard to think of, so let us know if you need any ideas. The ones I listed were only our top picks but there were plenty others we wouldn't mind parting with.

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Step 11: Guac

You obviously want to add tons of this, but just make sure you don't run out too early or else half of your burritos won't actually be burritos.

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I almost forgot, I got a job at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Having said that, they instructed us in training to put disclaimers whenever mentioning the store.

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Step 12: Salsa

Some salsas can have a lot of juice. We don't want burrito soup when we reheat these things, so be careful.

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The content of this posting is the poster's own opinions and views and does not contain or reflect the opinions or views of Bed, Bath, & Beyond or its affiliates.

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Step 13: Folding time

I learned how to fold burritos the way I do from YouTube. I highly recommend you do the same even though I'm about to explain it. First, push the insides towards the middle by lifting up on the tortilla from nine o'clock and three o'clock.
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Though it has cut into my time for my many projects, I have been enjoying being able to work. I'm hoping this will be my last retail job, however. They started me pretty late in the Summer, which is too bad, because there's a strong possibility that I'll be leaving once school starts.

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Step 14: More folding

With the filling pushed inside from the left and right, take the tortilla from six o'clock and fold it over to 12 o'clock. Press the 12 and six o'clock lips together and slide the six o'clock lip down towards the center to wipe the filling back towards the middle. As you do so, the pocket inside will "fill up."

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Classes begin on the 21st again. I think it's weird that it was the same exact day last year. We start so late but it's all good. Things will definitely start going crazy once it hits so I'm excited yet apprehensive. I'm taking three classes, all of which are AERO (yes! a thousand times yes!)

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Step 15: Halfway done

Now there should be filling in the center of the burrito, but hopefully not spilling out from anywhere. Fold the right side in so that you have a straight edge on that side...

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There's Orbital Mechanics, which should be fun. Also the second quarter of Aerothermodynamics. That should also be very good. Lastly, there is a Controls class, which I'm not %100 sure about. I'm not even really sure what Controls will be like at all.

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Step 16: Keep going

... then do the same on the other side, holding it together.

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I will be the Vice President for the composites club. During the Fall, that doesn't involve too much, but there is some preparation and paperwork that needs to get done for events in the Winter and Spring. Sam and I were also going to get involved with the rocketry club. It will be nice having so many things to do.

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Step 17: Really? 17+ steps for a burrito?

To finish it off, roll the burrito over like it's rolling away from you. The lip at 12 o'clock should tuck under and your masterpiece is complete.

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I just wanted to pause here and say good job to those that have made it this far down. You're either awesome because you're reading burrito making instructions, reading an update, or reading both at the same time. You're awesome. Keep going. It's almost finished.

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Step 18: That's a wrap!

If you put down plastic wrap, it should be easy to do the rest without any spills or having it fall apart on you. However, even if it comes loose a little bit, it's no big deal.

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Next week I'm starting P90x again. I was interrupted during my last attempt by illness and it's taken me a while to get back into it. I was two thirds of the way through it :( Oh well. I think next week I'll actually just run and then start P90x after that. The church pants that Mer got me for Christmas are starting to feel tighter and that is not acceptable.

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Step 19: Cleanup?

I neglected to mention that I'm usually hungry when I make these, so I grab a spare tortilla and munch on it.

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The two pies she just took out of the oven probably won't help.

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Step 20: Snack

The extra tortilla also makes any spills easy and delicious to clean up.

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I should probably try to set a routine now anyways. That way, when school starts, I'll keep it going. My first class doesn't start until one in the afternoon. So, going for a run in the morning shouldn't be an issue.

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Finally
If you have a small T-Rex, feed it.

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Everyone enjoy your week and be safe!

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A place downtown by the library.
They probably sell crossbows.

Sé que Soy Hombre Visionario

Hey everyone. I hope you all are doing fantastic. Sorry I don't call. Mer just got a call yesterday from a friend she hasn't spoken to in a while. There's always that guilty feeling you feel when you're the friend being called. Like, "why didn't I care to call during all this time?" Anyways, so that's why I haven't called you - to save you from the guilt. You're welcome.

The spring quarter ended last week. I had two finals and a paper due. Usually people hate having finals on Friday, but I appreciated the extra time to study and work on the paper. It was for the LGBT Literature and Media class (not the math class, surprisingly). I wrote about how a poem we read in class described the experiences of many during the AIDS crisis. It was sad, but also surprising that I hadn't really heard about it until this class. I guess it was at its worst around the early '90s or something, so I would have been really young (I was born the same year as Taylor Swift). I'm glad I survived that class with a B. The class was insightful in many, too many, ways.

I got A's in my other two classes though. It seems like I got through the two weeder classes and will probably be relaxing up a bit on my grades from here on out. Besides being Mer's movie-buddy, I'll have several extracurricular things going on.

1. I'll still be in SAMPE. In fact, next year I'll be the vice president working with my friend, Sam, who is the president.
2. Sam and I are also planning on participating in CPSS, which stands for Cal Poly Space Systems. They're basically Cal Poly's rocketry club.
3. Also with Sam (you'll think we were dating by this point), I'll be working on what I call the Edwina Project. Edwina is the pet name that Mer's given to my Arduino. Basically, the project is a personal project, the goal of which is to launch a rocket with electrical components for data acquisition and possibly other things (such as thrust vectoring, controlled recovery, remote ignition, etc.). It should be fun. I've been thinking about starting a new blog to follow us through the project.

You may remember how last time I mentioned a competition in May. Me and my partner, Anthony, did not place. We finished making the tooling for the project, which was awesome, but didn't have a lot of time afterwards for testing. The first bridge we made came out a little dry (meaning we didn't add enough resin), and we didn't have enough time nor material to make another one. I don't think the resin was the problem, however. It was the air bladder. We had time to finish the aluminum mold, but for next year we need to have an air bladder made to fit the bridge. We tried using a taped piece of vacuum bag material but we couldn't get it past 30 psi without leaks. The bridge broke at 5700 lbs or something.

So this summer, I didn't get any kind of job. I will probably go into Mer's work next week. The call center always hires people, and they have a pretty quick turnover since everyone hates calling people all day to sell stuff. I'm pretty sure I'd hate it, but we could definitely use the money. I'll only do it part time though. Partly for my sanity, but I'm also working on a few projects. CPSS isn't doing anything over the summer, but the Formula SAE team is doing some stuff, so I'll probably work with them to get some experience. I don't know if I'll continue with them into the fall, though. I need to learn more about how to use my Arduino (it's basically a mini computer for controlling things). I also wanted to learn another programming language besides Arduino, probably C++. I wanted to do some more stuff in MATLAB as well, such as finish a program I've been working on that makes a shopping list for you after you select from your list of recipes which ones you're shopping for. That would help us with meal planning because I hate hate hate hate having to look through each cookbook to see how many onions or peppers or whatever I need to buy.

Wife and husband, fresh out of the temple

What else is going on? Since I have more free time without school (obviously), I've been able to start reading the Book of Mormon in the mornings again. Mer and I are in the Old Testament in our reading. We will be there for a very very very long time, so the Book of Mormon is nice. This morning I read the chapters right after Lehi's son's obtain the plates of brass. I was reminded of how a mission companion of mine once humorously interpreted the dialogue of Lehi and Sariah. When she calls him out on being a visionary man, he responds saying "I know that I am a visionary man," then proceeds to tell her what would have happened had he not been. It's an interpretation people might be able to relate to.

Two years later and we're still eating cake

On a more serious note, I found myself relating to Lehi, possibly for the first time. He and I are both husbands. The trek out into the wilderness must have been hard to do. Mer and I haven't even been camping together with our six person tent and queen-sized air mattress. I guess everyone has their unique challenges. For Lehi, he had this great work to do. His marriage was probably a source of joy for him and helped support him as a prophet. However, I don't think that the proportion of Nephi's writings which describe Lehi as a spouse are representative of his dedication to that role which we are both called to fulfill. I mean to say that this wasn't the one and only time he needed to support his wife. But unlike what would happen in today's sitcom I don't see him responding to Sariah with a witty comeback. I see him with a comforting arm around her while he attempts to assure her that everything will end up alright, that God will protect their children, and that beyond the current wilderness there is a promised land.

Tall brothers I could never measure up to (I'm 5' 10")

Mer and I don't have any deserts or oceans to cross, but we are having our own trials. Thankfully, our marriage itself hasn't been one of them. Some A lot of people do mention, even publicly, that their marriage is hard even before children. Of course, we don't have children yet, though that itself has been a challenge. I'd like to blame part of our marital bliss on lessons learned from my parents' marriage, but it's at least 100% due to Mer. She's such a great example of how families should love each other, and how to be cute. My wonderful wife's only desire after a long and hard day at work is to spend time with me. Sometimes I'm so foolish that all I can seem to think about is all the things that need to get done. Merilee, you are my media naranja, eres un cacho de pan, you are so good to me. It's true what they say that we cannot treat our wives good enough.

Like I said at the top, I'm sorry for not calling anyone. I'm trying to pray for more people. Part of that is because I've noticed differences as more people have been praying for us. However, it's hard to know who to pray for since we don't talk. I'm going to start calling people, but in the meantime please include us in your prayers, and give me a call! That way you won't feel guilty when I call you.

Peace (which I heard means peace)

Chip-Chip, Hooray!

Hey guys. The winter quarter is over, and that means that it's time for me to finally give everyone an update and talk about the same stuff I always do. You're welcome.

Yesterday, we had a pack meeting for scouts. Merilee and I are still the wolf den leaders, but I've also taken up the role of Cubmaster since the last one moved up to the bay area (to my old stomping grounds of Walnut Creek, actually) with his wife. They didn't end up in my old ward, but they were close.

Anyways, it was pretty fun. We're trying to get the parents more involved and having fun with scouting. Scouting should be fun, right? I forgot to bring the cheer box though. The cheer box is not a box of Cheerios; rather, it is a box that scouts can stick their hands in when it's time for a cheer and they pull out a slip of paper with one of many cheers on it and we learn and perform the cheer. Without the box, Merilee made some up. They were goofy and pretty awesome! One included chipmunk impersonations. She is the cutest.

There are no cats in America

Last quarter ended up going alright. I got three A's and an A- in my English technical writing class. Boo. I hate plus-minus grades for a few reasons, one being that an A+ grade doesn't exist. Anyways, I'm still content with the quarter. One thing that was hard for me about that class was that a lot of things are subjective. Of course, when you're writing a report or making a fact sheet or composing a resume, there are certain things you should or should never do. However, there's still a lot of "I think it would look better if..." which pretty much means that there's no perfect way to do things. Am I venting because that class dropped my Cal Poly GPA down to 3.95? Of course.

I finally went to the doctor for a first visit/physical. It went fine, except when I weighed in at around 200 lbs. What the heck! I'm pretty sure all the weight that mom has lost has gone over to me since I got married (I was 165). I knew weight was just a number and didn't really measure fitness, but since I was fairly certain that I hadn't gained 35 lbs of muscle in the last year and a half, I felt I really needed to start working out again.

So now I'm on week five of P90X for the second time. I did the program last year around this time but then didn't do anything until about a month ago. The first week and a half were so so painful. I also got P90X2 so I have something to do after the program. I could alternate between the two, since I'm sure a three month program will give plenty of time for the muscle-confusion strategy to work. Adding exercise into my schedule was hard. Many people say you don't have time for it, but you have to make time for it. I'm sorry, but when you're married and studying rocket science and have other responsibilities, something has to give. Last week with finals and some assignments due, I had to stay up a few nights and didn't get all my workouts in.

I also am trying to diet. The program comes with a nutrition guide which I'm using to some extent. I'm not following it verbatim because I would need a personal chef in order to follow it exactly. I pretty much look at what they're telling me to have for each meal and snack, and try to match it the best I can. For example, for a typical breakfast they have you eat something like 8 oz 1% cottage cheese and a cup of strawberries. Instead, I get 2% cottage cheese because that's what Costco sells, then have a cup of whatever fruit I have. For a snack I usually have some mixed nuts. I'm also trying to have more soups and veggies with dinner. Mer and I have usually just made main dishes for dinner and skipped sides. It's easier that way but not very balanced. I ended up losing 10 lbs in the first two weeks, but have halted since then. I think I need to add running or something to start losing weight again.

This is the part when I tell you about the classes I have planned for next quarter (which starts on Monday)

I'm pretty psyched about only having 3 classes (still 13 units though). AERO 300 is Aerospace Engineering Analysis. Basically it's advanced engineering mathematics. It's supposed to be the first hard AERO class to see if you can get through everything else, and it's five units. I'm excited for it. AERO 301 is Aerothermodynamics I. I'm also excited for this class (although a lab with it would be cooler) because my physics teacher that covered thermodynamics at community college was brilliant but terrible at teaching. Learning about heat is actually pretty interesting and obviously important.

My third class is LGBT Literature and Media. I usually avoid taking classes about sexuality mainly because I don't feel like they would be very beneficial and I also do not value the opportunity to hear many of my peers' opinions on it. However, I have lots of GE requirements that can all be met with this one class. The first is an upper-division English class. Don't ask me why I have to take an upper-division GE class. To me it sounds like an oxymoron. The second is a United States Cultural Pluralism course, which is some random class having to do with american culture I guess. The last requirement it fulfills is the graduation writing requirement. There's a test you can pay to take once a quarter to fulfill it, or you can take a GWR-approved class. If you take the class option, you don't pay and you get multiple chances with your in-class essays to fulfill the requirement. Because of how crazy registration has been, I barely got into this class, but I'm glad I did. It will be the last GE I ever have to take (knock on wood), and it probably won't hurt to see things from another person's point of view.

The old (crappy) way to make a square beam

Other than that stuff, there's really not too much going on. I am still doing stuff with the composites club on campus, SAMPE. We have another competition in May. Me and a few others in the club have been working with a company down around San Diego to get some new tooling so we can use a better process for lay up and curing for square beams. So, that's exciting. Hopefully we can get it going fast and have better square beams done for the competition. The new process involves laying the carbon into an aluminum mold and inflating the inside with a bladder instead of wrapping layers around a two-by-four and adding pressure from the outside.

Failure somewhere around 2500 pounds

Last year until now

Do you like root beer floats? Our Elder’s Quorum has occasional ice cream socials for fellowshipping and good times. Today someone asked if they could bring root beer. I let slip my feelings that root beer floats are a waste of ice cream. It was a funny comment in my head, but it came out differently. Oh well. Hopefully no one leaves the church.

Since we last talked, we had Christmas and New Year’s. We had Merilee’s sister’s family over for 5 days before Christmas, and three of her single siblings stayed an additional week. We also adopted a member of the single’s ward that we met at church (their own church doesn’t meet over the holidays). Her family was in Mexico so she spent most of the holidays with us. We had a total of 10 people and a baby in our one bedroom apartment. Everyone fit during the day, and at night we took advantage of our neighbor’s empty apartment that they let us use so the baby could sleep while the adults continued with the party.

It was an eye opener having to buy/prepare food for 10 people. I guess Mer and I are ready for when she has two sets of quintuplets. Thankfully, we had multiple people helping out with getting and preparing food, so it wasn’t stressful. We ate well and enjoyed lots of quality time. We took a tour at Hearst Castle, saw some sea lions, spotted a zebra, walked on the beach, saw the 3rd hobbit movie, saw many other movies, had bacon waffles, ate lasagna, chilled in the hot tub, skyped with people and a missionary, discovered our garbage garbage disposal was leaking, had a money run (Canute won), slathered fresh homemade bread with butter and homemade lemon curd, made gingerbread houses, hosted a talent show, played soccer, tossed a frisbee, returned a defective piece of furniture, took a tour of our neighbor's doll collection, saw butterflies, and took naps. If I left anything out, let me know.

On New Year's Eve, we left SLO and went to visit my brother's family in Irvine. They were super great to visit. We also got to spend some time with Merilee's cousins and their families. Everyone got homemade toffee (you're welcome). During our time there, we visited an awesome aquarium. Seeing all those amazing creatures just reminds me of what a wonderfully amazing world we live in. We also got to go to Griffiths's Observatory, a place I had only been to previously in GTA San Andreas. We got to celebrate a birthday, visit with friends, checkout downtown Disney, stop by the Lego store, play games, and get our hair done in our nephew's California Hair Salon. It was lots of fun, plus we got to do free laundry.

We had to recover from Christmas pretty fast. Work and school started back up at 8 AM the morning after we drove back. We arrived late Sunday night but luckily had already put most things back in order before we left. This quarter I'm taking 13 units. I have class every morning at 8 this quarter, which sounds horrible every day before I go to bed. But I really don't get up much earlier than last quarter since I used to see Merilee off to work every morning anyways. It's also nice being done Tuesdays and Thursdays by 11 AM. I'm taking Introduction to Aerospace Design, a fun class where we use computers to analyze aerospace problems (my teacher looks kind of like Orlando Bloom). My morning class is Technical Writing for Engineers, a class about writing memos and technical reports and that kind of thing (my teacher is Kiefer Sutherland). I also have Statistical Methods for Engineers, a class about... (Jon Voight).

 My fourth class is the second half of Mechanics of Materials. The teacher is actually my Stake President, Eric Kasper. We've so far only had one stake conference here, and I didn't remember his name but recognized him when he walked into the classroom. I checked the LDS tools app and it was him. So far, all my classes have been really fun. My teachers, especially President Kasper and Jon Voight are pretty energetic and funny lecturers, something that I'm not used to.

Not much else has been going on yet. Mer's birthday is on Tuesday. You should call her or send her a message (but not like the random ones she gets from weird people). Church starts at 11 AM now. We went on a hike yesterday on the Irish Hills (3 minutes' walk away from our apartment). We told ourselves back on labor day that we'd do the hike (but never did), and have been telling ourselves the same thing every Saturday since, so it was good to finally do it.  It was only like 2 miles but we are still sleeping to recover. I was pretty dizzy for some of it but it was still beautiful. I got Bell's Palsy almost a month ago and not all the symptoms have gone away yet. I'm still praying for full recovery, but really I'm still grateful it was this and not a stroke or something. I have double vision when looking left or right, but have learned to close one eye when backing up. The dizziness is more annoying than anything. It hasn't caused me to fall down yet, I just feel clumsy.

Sunday Games

Thank goodness someone brought their table!

In search of the sea lions. They were supposed to be underneath the dock.

Found the sea lions.

Watching sea lions from a distant.

Getting close.

Even closer.

Beautiful sights in the castle.

They decorated for Christmas.

By the pool 

Playing heads up seven up after the tour.

Canute's Stocking bag (Merilee made them out of shirts).

My stocking.

Mer's stocking.

Christian's stocking.

Bonnie's stocking.

Christmas Eve, everything is ready.

Everyone  picked up a bowl to collect their money. There were snowballs for a fight.

The tunnel to the money run.

View from inside the tunnel.

The pre-chaos lineup

The cardboard part of the tunnel lasted 2 seconds. 

Inside the tunnel.

Something that got missed. I spotted it a few days ago.

Hiking in the Irish Hills

We found a bridge