For all of you who don't know (but most definitely should know), Jack Johnson is releasing a new cd in twelve days! To say that "I'm stoked", would be a total and complete understatement.
This video makes me smile. You can just feel the love.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
never a dull moment
I haven't written in a long time. Working three jobs might have something to do with that. Well, three jobs, four sources of income. You see, I fall into that desperate clan of starving college students that sell plasma for cash. It's not bad, I've had a lot better luck with it than my poor fiance. She once had an experience selling plasma involving the needle pricking a nerve and sending incredible tingling pain down her arm, then while attempting to use the other arm the blood returned outside the vein and visibly bubbled up her skin. And after all this, she's agreed to come with me every time I go, so she can bring in that extra $200 a month that we desperately, desperately need.
I hope my best guy friends end up with a girl like Ellie!
Like I was saying, three jobs, four sources of income. Working at Ray's Chevron, a developmental facility for the handicapped center, teaching piano and guitar, and selling plasma. I don't count plasma because well, you don't really do anything. My good friend Russell Gordon, who sells plasma and works as a male model on campus, takes pride in the fact that neither of his jobs require any skills. He just kind of shows up and... is. Ellie and I both laughed really hard when he told us this.
He told us this on a road trip the three of us took to Spokane on a three day weekend last month. Ellie's old college friends from NIC wanted to throw her a bridal shower so we took a special trip, it'd seemed like ages since I saw my family. We had a blast! We went and saw my graceful sister dance at Valleyfest, Ellie had her bridal shower, I laughed harder than I have in a long time helping my brother move (they always wait until you come to visit don't they?), spent time with my hilarious nephew age 1, and saw my friend one last time before he leaves on his Church Mission to the West Indies.
The trip seemed eerily serene and without incident. The adventures of Ellie and Randy are never that way (example: our first date, another story for another day). We were making our way back to Rexburg at 1 a.m. when Murphy's Law payed us a visit. First the CD Player stopped working, then all the needles on the dash dropped to zero, then the lights started fading, and finally the engine died and we slowed to the shoulder of the highway. A highway in the middle of Nowhere, Montana. I knew that it was either the battery or the alternator, and five seconds after we slowed to a stop Ellie, Russell and I were all on our phones to our dads. They confirmed that it was probably the alternator and that we should get it towed to the next town, Dillon, fifteen miles away.
Me being nervous about being hit by oncoming traffic, I recruited Russell into pushing the car to the next exit. Summer had been holding on rather late in both Rexburg and Spokane, so none of us had packed very much in the way of warm clothing. So in sweatshirts and jeans, we pushed and pushed and pushed with Ellie steering and cheering us out of an open window. It was a freezing night and soon my heavy breathing my made my lungs feel like they were filled with battery acid. But push we did. In my head all I could hear was that classic Primary song "Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked... and walked and walked and walked." Despite everything, all of us kept our happy moods and laughed at the image of two guys bent behind a Ford Focus, pushing it down a highway under a silent Montana sky at night with a girl yelling "C'mon boys, you can do it!"
Finally reaching an exit, parked the car at the end of the off-ramp and I called my dad again. He had one number for a towing service in Dillon but warned that my insurance would only cover the cost if it was done during normal business hours! Suddenly I wished I was with AllState, they always say "you're in good hands"!!! Unwilling to cough up the cost, the three of us collectively agreed to spend the night in the car. And I welcomed the idea of snuggling next to my fiance through the night, however cramped we might be.
Cramped we were.
And snuggle we did not.
We almost froze to death. Not paying heed to my practical Boy Scout training, I was anything but prepared. I had no blankets. We opened out suitcases and threw random clothing on top of us in an attempt to block out the cold. Out of the three of us, I got the most sleep, probably three hours, Ellie slept maybe an hour and Russell pulled an all-nighter. We were miserable. But morning came, and eventually we saw the first rays of sun hit our windows with frost collecting on the inside from the cold and humidity. We opened the doors to a crisp, beautiful, cloudless morning, but there's no way anyone can appreciate these things without any sleep the night before!
I called the tow truck and a very nice man came and saved us from our freezing state. When we got into town he let us take his truck, we drove as fast as we dared to McDonald's and had a breakfast that tasted better than any meal I have ever tasted!
What did I learn from this? You can endure anything if you're surrounded by good friends. When I dropped Russell off at his house, I said "We'll be laughing about it soon. I mean, not right now... give it a week." I'm so lucky to be engaged to my best friend and have someone to laugh with through all the hard times and struggles that will most-assuredly come!
I hope my best guy friends end up with a girl like Ellie!
Like I was saying, three jobs, four sources of income. Working at Ray's Chevron, a developmental facility for the handicapped center, teaching piano and guitar, and selling plasma. I don't count plasma because well, you don't really do anything. My good friend Russell Gordon, who sells plasma and works as a male model on campus, takes pride in the fact that neither of his jobs require any skills. He just kind of shows up and... is. Ellie and I both laughed really hard when he told us this.
He told us this on a road trip the three of us took to Spokane on a three day weekend last month. Ellie's old college friends from NIC wanted to throw her a bridal shower so we took a special trip, it'd seemed like ages since I saw my family. We had a blast! We went and saw my graceful sister dance at Valleyfest, Ellie had her bridal shower, I laughed harder than I have in a long time helping my brother move (they always wait until you come to visit don't they?), spent time with my hilarious nephew age 1, and saw my friend one last time before he leaves on his Church Mission to the West Indies.
The trip seemed eerily serene and without incident. The adventures of Ellie and Randy are never that way (example: our first date, another story for another day). We were making our way back to Rexburg at 1 a.m. when Murphy's Law payed us a visit. First the CD Player stopped working, then all the needles on the dash dropped to zero, then the lights started fading, and finally the engine died and we slowed to the shoulder of the highway. A highway in the middle of Nowhere, Montana. I knew that it was either the battery or the alternator, and five seconds after we slowed to a stop Ellie, Russell and I were all on our phones to our dads. They confirmed that it was probably the alternator and that we should get it towed to the next town, Dillon, fifteen miles away.
Me being nervous about being hit by oncoming traffic, I recruited Russell into pushing the car to the next exit. Summer had been holding on rather late in both Rexburg and Spokane, so none of us had packed very much in the way of warm clothing. So in sweatshirts and jeans, we pushed and pushed and pushed with Ellie steering and cheering us out of an open window. It was a freezing night and soon my heavy breathing my made my lungs feel like they were filled with battery acid. But push we did. In my head all I could hear was that classic Primary song "Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked... and walked and walked and walked." Despite everything, all of us kept our happy moods and laughed at the image of two guys bent behind a Ford Focus, pushing it down a highway under a silent Montana sky at night with a girl yelling "C'mon boys, you can do it!"
Finally reaching an exit, parked the car at the end of the off-ramp and I called my dad again. He had one number for a towing service in Dillon but warned that my insurance would only cover the cost if it was done during normal business hours! Suddenly I wished I was with AllState, they always say "you're in good hands"!!! Unwilling to cough up the cost, the three of us collectively agreed to spend the night in the car. And I welcomed the idea of snuggling next to my fiance through the night, however cramped we might be.
Cramped we were.
And snuggle we did not.
We almost froze to death. Not paying heed to my practical Boy Scout training, I was anything but prepared. I had no blankets. We opened out suitcases and threw random clothing on top of us in an attempt to block out the cold. Out of the three of us, I got the most sleep, probably three hours, Ellie slept maybe an hour and Russell pulled an all-nighter. We were miserable. But morning came, and eventually we saw the first rays of sun hit our windows with frost collecting on the inside from the cold and humidity. We opened the doors to a crisp, beautiful, cloudless morning, but there's no way anyone can appreciate these things without any sleep the night before!
I called the tow truck and a very nice man came and saved us from our freezing state. When we got into town he let us take his truck, we drove as fast as we dared to McDonald's and had a breakfast that tasted better than any meal I have ever tasted!What did I learn from this? You can endure anything if you're surrounded by good friends. When I dropped Russell off at his house, I said "We'll be laughing about it soon. I mean, not right now... give it a week." I'm so lucky to be engaged to my best friend and have someone to laugh with through all the hard times and struggles that will most-assuredly come!
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