the BIG update

Hey Friends,


Well, I had a new years resolution to keep a journal better... (aka update my blog more)... and this is my forth posting of the year ha. A lot has happened in my little world since January 2012. So, lets start.

If you read my last post I talked about preparing for my great alaskan adventure part 2. Well, now that it is September I can say that I successfully completed my adventure. Driving a Motor coach (a giant 55-62 person bus) for Holland America and Princess this last summer was a wonderful experience. Aside from working 60-70 hours a week, I was able to meet wonderful people from the company as well as many remarkable tourists from all over the world. I also was able to see and catch up with so many of my good friends from Alaska. I also decided to drive up to Alaska which was an adventure in and of itself. Alaska is SOOO far away and Canada is SOOO big!! and full of mostly tree's.... My contract started on May 2nd and went all the way until August 18th. I enjoyed it so much that there is a very good possibility I will be heading up again this coming summer. I have so much gratitude especially for the Heath family who let me live with them the whole time! We had so many great times!

Also I am sorry to report that my sister missionary and I decided to go different ways over the summer as well. Although it hasn't been easy, I am enthusiastically (... kind of) diving back into the dating world. That is for you Mom ha!

I am currently in my Senior year at UVU with expected graduation pending in April of 2013... then real life starts. This last week I hear back from the State Department, with whom I was in the middle of applying with, and they invited me to try back again in 11 months. I previously had surprisingly passed the first two cuts in the application process so I was not surprised when I didn't quite make this third cut. My hopes have not been shattered though ha, the average new hire for the State Department is 32 so I would have been beside myself had I made it. I have some time.

Other than that I occupy my time being involved with UVU's clubs and my Church. I am the website guy for utahimf.org and am involved with the Utah International Mountain Forum as well as the Foreign Affairs Club. Before this job, the extent of my website design capabilities involved changing the layout and colors of this blog ha. However thanks to my Uncle and Friend Rick he has helped me learn a thing or two about website design. It has been great learning from a master! Both clubs have been very rewarding to be involved with and I have been able to attend and meet many international dignitaries. Being an active participant of my LDS (Mormon) faith, I have been given a calling as a ward clerk. I really enjoy seeing how the Church operates behind the scenes and my responsibilities include counting tithing weekly, attending administrative meetings, counting people in church attendance, updating the ward directory and other ward records, monthly reports, counting more things and keeping a history of our little ward. It is something that I enjoy immensely!

Basically all of the time that I am not schooling, websiting, or churching is spent ... reading political articles and blogs. I am such a political junky and I am loving every second of this presidential election year... most of the time. Because I have not yet found "that" source that I can 100% trust 100% of the time, I have found that I have to read articles from all over the spectrum, the crazy right, the crazy left, moderates, random people who think they know something about someone, polls, and everything in between. I love it! Although I am ready for November 6th to come around so we can focus on solving issues. But hey I still love it!

Thanks so much for reading about me! Follow me on twitter and instagram @akguy2010!

Have such a wonderful day!

-J

The Great Alaska Adventure 2

I can't believe that I have not posted about this yet. As the title of this post suggests, I am going to be going on another Alaskan adventure, and this one I am going to get paid for! I am going to be driving a tour bus (motor coach) for HAP Alaska (Holland America Princess... Alaska) My contract starts at the first part of May. I am super excited to have this adventure. I am currently in my training course right now and it has been most informative. I now know a lot of random things about busses and how they run. I will be based of of Anchorage and from my understanding will mostly be taking people from the airport to their boats. 

As part of this adventure I will be driving up at the end of April. A good friend of mine, Michael Nelson will be joining me for this adventure as well and we are looking forward to becoming a lot more manly when we are up there haha! Lots of camping/hiking/kayaking and other manly things. 

I can't wait for the end of April!!! Maybe in preparation I will change my my twitter name from @akguy2010 to @akguy2012! 

The Great Vegetarian Experiment: Half Way

So being a vegetarian is way less intense than I thought it would be. In short, I am going strong and really enjoying it. I just feel better. My grandma who asks a million questions kept asking to give more details about how I was feeling better ha. Well, I have more energy, I am eating a lot better things for me, I also have been avoiding sugar and soda. 

The first week was hard, I felt like I was always hungry... then I realized this probably has nothing to do with being a vegetarian. Lets face it, when I want a snack, the chances of me eating something with meat are slim, even before I was a vegetarian. It was a mind game. Don't worry, I won it ha.

The hardest part of not eating meat has to be when I go somewhere where someone has already prepared dinner. I feel super rude/ slightly embarrassed when I pile up with lots of everything minus the meaty main dish. Then I have to explain what I am doing yada yada.

I have been surprised by the people who have said it was a great idea. People like Brian Hardman or Teddy Haslam. Needless to say, I foresee myself as a lukewarm vegetarian when this January experiment is over, meaning eating small amounts of meat when it is prepared for me. When I do fix something for myself it will most-likely be fish. But we'll see.

I do not regret this strict month-long experiment and may make it a lifestyle choice with a couple of adaptations. 

The Great Vegetarian Experiment

Happy New Year everyone! So one of my good friends @notjustwatching (Teddy) and I decided that to kick off the new year we are going to be vegetarians for the month of January. Crazy right? It is something that I have always wanted to try after working around so many heath aware folks throughout the last couple of years, plus I don't eat that much meat anyway. I am going to do weekly posts to share my thoughts along this process as well as share any funny vegetarian stories that happen to me. It will be a learning experience for all of us :)

Now, we are not being vegans, just vegetarians. If you have any great, easy vegetarian recipes will you please let me know!