Me, Me, Me....HAHAHAH!!!!!

Book of Mormon : An Introduction

2011-05-18T17:49:00.000-06:00

Sugar: What Is It Good For

2011-03-24T21:43:00.001-06:00

I edited this video for my friend Abbey for a class project. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Eureka! - How to Randomize Playlist on PSP

2011-03-16T10:08:00.025-06:00

I love my PSP. I always have it with me so I have access to my movies, music, pictures, and more importantly my games. Unfortunately it has one flaw: there is no easy way to randomize your music playlist files...until now. Here is what you will need:

Sony PSP
Media Go to create a playlist and transfer it to your PSP
USB Cable to connect PSP to computer
Microsoft Excel (2007 or later)/Google Docs Spreadsheet/OpenOffice Spreadsheet*
Notepad

*Excel 2003 and earlier does not have one of the necessary functions that you need to perform, so if that is all you have, I suggest using Google Docs Spreadsheet or OpenOffice Spreadsheet, both free.

The first thing to do is to connect your PSP to your computer, open Media Go, create a playlist using Media Go, and transfer said playlist to your PSP using said Media Go.

Then with you PSP still connected to your computer, go to the following directory: My Computer/E:/PSP/PLAYLIST/MUSIC

Find the playlist you created (it will have a .m3u8 extention). Right click, select "Open As", and select Notepad. This is what the file will look like:

All your songs are displayed by album, alphabetically. Select everything, (starting with the second line), hit Ctrl+C to copy everything, go over to Excel, select cell B1, and hit Ctrl+V to paste the information you just copied. Starting on cell A1 go down along with the file names and number all the cells (1,2,3,4...all the way to the last song). It should look like this:

Starting on cell H1, hold Shift and select all the cells down to where your list ends (similar to the step above). After all the cells are selected, type "=randbetween(1, 50)" without quotation marks ("1" represents the first number on column A and "50" is the last number on column A). Hold Ctrl and press Enter to fill all the cells you selected with random numbers between 1 and 50. You will use these random numbers to randomize your song list.

Repeat the same step on cell I1: select all the cells down the column until the end of your list. Type "=OFFSET($B$1,RANK(H1,$H$1:$H$50)-1,0); hold Ctrl and press Enter. Voila! Your songs are now shuffled and Excel will look like this:

Copy the newly-created, newly-shuffled list of songs and paste it back onto the original Notepad that has your playlist, starting on the second line. Save and close the playlist. Your playlist is now randomized when you access it from the Music menu on the PSP.

Guess Who's Back!?!

2011-02-23T23:08:00.005-07:00

Hello Loyal Readers:

I know it has been a long time since last we saw each other. I have not forgotten. I have simply been overworked, overstudied, and over-anything-else that would indicate why I have not written for such a long time. Rest assured, things are well.

Here is what has been in my mind lately:

I am very blessed because wherever I go because I am always surrounded by (1)family, (2)good friends, and (3)good food. Living in Idaho was the biggest change I have made in my life and I am so happy I did it. I cannot imagine being anywhere else, and I am humbled/grateful that Heavenly Father is in charge because He led me here. If it was up to me...well, let's say I would be the same person I was last year and I would most likely not have grown the way I have because I would not have had the experiences I am having here in this frigid land that people call Rexburg.

Things are good, even if all I can think about is chemical reactions and ventricular chambers. I know that because I am where I am supposed to be I will continue to be blessed, and I will grow even more that I already have.

The Wind Beneath Our Faith

2010-07-10T22:01:00.011-06:00

Today I spent the day studying for upcoming finals and preparing the Sunday School lesson.

The title is King Solomon: Man of Wisdom, Man of Foolishness. I read through all the material

(it was quite long) then I decided to take a break and I went to YouTube and searched for videos of Star Trek Voyager. I had already watched some episodes earlier this week, and I was looking for some different ones to watch. I stumbled upon The Void. In this episode, the starship Voyager gets pulled into this strange place that is completely devoid of stars and Voyager immediately attacked by a couple of other ships. The captain is confused and wonders why they are attacking her ship. It turns out Voyager has been pulled into a void and there is no way of escaping so everyone that is already there will steal from each other in order to survive. The captain's set of moral values is ultimately what she sticks with, no matter how difficult or what the consequence and because of her choice everything worked out.

I was very moved by the story (my summary does not do it justice)and the idea, and while I was watching the episode and thinking about choice and consequence (and how to apply that to my lesson), I was reminded of another T.V. show episode that had a very powerful message that moved me profoundly.

In 2003 I went to Montana to clean a Smith's grocery store. I had been there for almost an entire week, and the only thing to do during the day was watch T.V. and play Dreamcast in the hotel room and my favorite show to watch was 7th Heaven. The only thing I remember about this episode was the video below, but I was so moved by it and I have never forgotten the message or how it made me feel.

While the reverend doesn't talk about Solomon, what he said goes perfect with what I studied for the lesson: Solomon had been so greatly blessed and and so have all of us. We have all received wonderful spiritual gifts and we have to put them to good use. Not once. Not twice. Not three times. We have to always take the blessings we have received and use them for the benefit of others, no matter how great or insignificant we think our talents are. We have them for a reason, and as we can learn from King Solomon, how we use our talents and blessings will determine what we ultimately will become.

Solomon was not a bad person. I mean, he built the first Temple and he used the best of the best. He spared nothing for the Lord. He simply made mistakes after that (like we all do) and we have to take the good and the bad so that we can learn what it is we need to do and/or avoid.

Thanks for Nothing!

2010-06-17T22:38:00.004-06:00

I have re-learned a valuable lesson -- don't rely on other people! Here's how the re-learning process came to be:

I have been looking for a cheap place to live after this semester. Because of my plan to super-penny-pinch as much as possible I have been looking for something that fits my budget and is still considered decent (no living in the car), and I found this lovely (by which I mean dirt-cheap) that perfectly fit my plans. I called the number listed and got voicemail and left a message. Three freaking days later and no returned calls, so I stopped by to ask. The woman asked me to return later because her husband would know if they had a room for me. I returned at the appointed time and found nobody home and felt like kicking the door but decided instead to go to school and meet with my study group (which I was going to do anyway). Soon after I got to school I received a call from the lady apologizing for not being there, but that she would call me back the next day (at the latest) after talking to her husband who would talk to the guys living there to see who was leaving and who was staying. Well, that was 2 FREAKING WEEKS AGO!!!!

Today I was quite discouraged at the prospect of having to spend more money than I would like to spend. After more searching I found this place that had good price (not as good as the first one) and ran over there and signed a contract (and paid rent)and felt really good because it is closer to campus than anything I found before.

Just 10 minutes ago I received a text message saying the perfect apartment (the cheapest) was indeed available (I should mention I kept calling the lady but there never was any answer and voicemails remained ignored).

I don't regret paying a bit more. Don't get me wrong. It bothers me that there is never any consideration/regard for other people. Before doing things (or not doing things) people need to stop and think about how much actions affect other people.

Anyway, that's out of my system. I feel better!

No, This Is Not A Dream (Nor A Nightmare)

2010-06-06T14:34:00.004-06:00

Dear Readers:

I am back! I am sure it has been very hard to be almost 6 months without an update from me, but rest assured things are about to change!

Here is a quick recap: I moved to Idaho in April to attend BYU-Idaho and I could not have made a better decision. It all started in September of last year when I started to look for schools that had a reputable nursing program. My perfect plan was to attend BYU Provo and live with my dad and his family. I talked to moms and dads, planned the details, submitted an application to BYU Provo and everything was set. It was the perfect plan.

Skip ahead to February. There has been no answer from BYU. My work authorization was set to expire April 10, 2010, which meant I had to be accepted to school soon after that and an answer from BYU would be appreciated. My perfect plan didn't look so perfect anymore...

On a fateful night I was talking to Dawn about how bad I had been treated on a visit to BYU Provo and she recommended I apply to BYU-Idaho. Long story short, I did and was accepted in 2 weeks. Then in March I planned a one-day trip to Rexburg to find housing and work out some details. Rigo and Luci also came because he had also been accepted, and to me it was an amazing opportunity to see that Rexburg was what was meant. I don't remember the last time I was treated so genuinely nice. Everybody on campus was sincerely nice and helpful and I felt really good. Before we left Rexburg at five in the evening Hernan (who tagged along) called a friend to ask if we could take a nap in her apartment before we left. We got to the apartment and were greeted by fellow students who brought blankets and pillows for us, and they even baked bread! What crazy city is this?

Like I said before, coming to Rexburg is the best decision I could have made. I fell that all the events before had led to this and I am excited to see what opportunities and challenges will come.

Nano's Resolutions

2010-01-20T21:15:00.002-07:00

There is a wonderful movie called Brasil Doce Lar that tells the story of Wayne and Evelyn Beck, who served a mission in Brazil during the 1940's. It is only 26 mins long, and at the end their grandchildren talk about the impact their grandparent's experiences had on them.

One granddaughter tells how when grandma Beck was on her deathbed, surrounded by her loving family, she was asked what she needed. Her response was that she wanted to sleep because she had the most lovely dreams when she slept. I thought about what that meant and this is the conclusion I came up with: our dreams come from what is on our mind, so if I surround myself with beautiful things. A quick inventory of say...my video games: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, God of War, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Resistance: Retribution, inFamous....and the list goes on and on and on. Let's not even talk about movies/television...

My resolution? Better environment =better dreams

Nano's Movie Recommendation

2009-12-11T22:53:00.003-07:00

Tonight I watched The Blind Side, and it was awesome!

While I was watching, I couldn't help but think of a similar movie, but the biggest difference the movies is that The Blind Side is all inspirational without making you sad and depressed. In fact, it's the exact opposite - while watching the movie I thought of way I could emulate Sandy.

My recommendation is to stop reading this review, and head immediately to the nearest movie theater and watch this movie and be inspired!

Straight Ahead

2009-11-27T13:42:00.007-07:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful yesterday and I had a wonderful time! While traveling through a vale of people at Golden Corral in Layton looking for desserts with Mommy Dearest, she mentioned she has a long-time friend who is still bitter about something that happened decades ago. This man is so bitter that his wife left him and he continues to push his friends away.

This sad tale reminded me of a story I heard in seminary many years ago:

Once upon a time, there was a farmer who had a son. One day, while planting seeds, the son was being very careful about making sure he was going on a straight line. No matter how hard he tried, his rows never turned out straight. His father, with his many years of wisdom, showed the son what he was doing wrong: as he planted the seeds, he kept looking back at the seeds behind him, thus changing his course ever so slightly. The best way to stay on a straight course, the farmer taught, is to find a point of reference in the distance and use that as your guide.

The path to happiness is to find our point of reference in the distance and focus on that one point as our guide. Mommy's dearest's friend needs to find that point and focus on that so his life can be one straight path to happiness. The lesson for us all is to take what has happened to us before and use that to help us grow and be better.

This also reminds me of the talk Elder Perry gave at the last General Conference.

Crazy French Elevators

2009-11-12T21:46:00.003-07:00

The other night I had this dream where I was in France with Hernan and Rigo and we rode on this weird elevator that was a long rectangle that was slowly spinning and it was actually cool! Then we were riding in a train when 3 girls came over to me and hugged me, except one of them took my new PSP from my pocket...I was not happy and chased them onto their streets (I will not mention me calling them women of the streets...). I woke up yelling at a cop for not doing anything about my Precious System of Phun.

_______-like symptoms

2009-10-20T21:27:00.008-06:00

So I was reading my friend's blog, and I was inspired. You see, she is a fellow medical assistant and will occasionally give helpful advice, sometimes relating to her line of work, which I like. So without further ado:

Flu season has not started and yet all we see at the Ogden Clinic is flu-like symptoms. It gets so bad that if you go there for anything other than flu-like symptoms, you will very soon get flu-like symptoms. It actually happened to a patient who came to see us for his injured arm and then came back in a couple of days with more than just arm pain....

Here is the recommendation from the CDC: If you think you have the flu you should stay home and assume and have the flu...I mean, chances are, we have all been exposed to it in one way or another. Stay home and treat the symptoms:

Fever - Tylenol/Ibuprofen/Motrin. You can alternate between two of those medications every 3-4 hours to control the fever.
Cough - OTC cough medication
Vomiting/Diarrhea - The most important thing is to make sure you stay hydrated. For obvious reasons, if you are outputting more liquids than inputting, you will get dehydrated and that means bad news and things go down hill FAST from there. This is especially important for the little ones.

If you are afraid of staying home because of your job, by all means, go see your MD and get a note excusing you from work. Just make sure you wear a mask (which should be provided by your healthcare place of choice)...while writing about masks, also wear your mask when you are in the exam room with the healthcare worker...I don't want to get sick :D

DON'T DO IT!

2009-10-11T21:31:00.004-06:00

Saturday I had a 12-hour shift at the Ogden Clinic which was VERY busy. Somehow in the midst of the seeing patients a million patients I was able to listen and obey the prompting of the Holy Ghost. Here is how it happened:

It's the flu season and everyone who thinks may possibly remotely maybe have H1N1 will come and be evaluated by the provider so they can ask for Tamiflu (which, BTW, does not work for H1N1).

I got a phone call from a man who said that the previous day his son was seen by Dr. So-and-So and was diagnosed with the dreaded H-worded virus. Supposedly, the Dr. told this man that if anyone else in his family developed any of the symptoms, then all he needed to do is call the clinic and we would give whoever needed Tamiflu. I took the patient's word for it and said I would call the prescription to a nearby pharmacy, but not before I checked the information on the drug to make sure I called the appropriate dosage. Right then I had the distinct feeling that I shouldn't call the prescription for the patient because she could be pregnant (which I had not asked the husband about).

Long story short, I called the previously mentioned man and told him that his wife would have to be seen by one of our providers before she could get any prescriptions. I happened to be the one who checked her in and the first thing the wife told me when we entered the exam room was that she was pregnant.

It felt really good to listen to such a brief - and yet important - prompting from the Holy Ghost. I don't know what I would have done, other than be fired and lose my credentials, if something happened to that unborn child because of my lack of attention.

Comings and Goings

2009-08-24T21:54:00.004-06:00

I just got home a few minutes ago and I wanted to update my loyal fans out there:

I worked almost 50 hours last week
I went to the temple dedication
During the dedication I was very touched the father who set next to me with his just-barely eight-year-old son. The son was naturaly curious about everything and kept asking questions about everything. I didn't mind the minor distraction because it was actually quite moving how good of a lesson that was for such a young mind. The highlight of the chatter was during one of the hyms that had some high notes and he mentioned to his dad how the "lady looks like she was in pain". I didn't mean to, but I laughed :D
I have seen more butts than in a locker room.
Last night I had a dream where I grabbed a man by his arm to put a band-aid on, when I realized I wasn't wearing gloves. I was so disgusted that I immediately woke up and ran to the bathroom to wash my hands. I was actually a bit confused and had to tell myself that it was only a dream and I really didn't have to wash my hands.
I hate repacking wounds. I literally stick my finger in a wound and it is not fun for the patient and/or me.

When I started my new work routine, I expected to be miserable, but I am happy! I am tired, but I am happy. The other day on the news there was a story about the two young men who died after being run over by someone who was running from the police. The young man running from the police isn't much older than the two who were killed and it was an interesting contrast and I had the distinct thought that if the gangster most likely didn't have a job and was up to no good. If he had something good to do (like a job) things would have been very different. Having a job never killed anyone (unless it's the army...) and I am happy that I am healthy enough to have a job and I can work super hard.

Oh Please...

2009-08-08T22:21:00.003-06:00

So here is a real post: today I was scheduled to work a 12 hour shift and I was actually excited to go. I got there at 9:15 and the only other person there was one of the receptionist and right away she started complaining that the computer was not working. I checked my computer and sure enough, the schedule and chart programs weren't working, which meant everything had to done by hand. Then this other lady walked in and the halls of the Ogden Clinic were filled with the beautiful duet of two whining people. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the 11 hours as other people joined the choir of complaining. ugh...

Here is the moral of this story: I had a great time at work, even if it was long and we saw a lot of patients. I am tired and my legs ache. Will complaining make that go away? That would be too easy. So the next time things look bleak, take the situation and make the best you can. Please! Your day will go better :D

Mourning the Death of Handwriting

2009-07-28T15:25:00.001-06:00

I read this really cool article at work during my lunch break one day and I thought it was very interesting. I was actually thinking about different styles of handwritting and how you can tell a person's age (sometimes) where they are from. Enjoy!

Mourning the Death of Handwriting

Oh, Uhura...

2009-05-31T09:54:00.004-06:00

Whoever can guess what is wrong with this trailer will win an AWESOME prize!

hint: it's rather funny...first time I saw it, I couldn't stop laughing.

I Actually Like Tails...

2009-05-27T18:03:00.001-06:00

Video Games - E3 2009 - X-Play

Coolest Show!

2009-05-23T15:24:00.003-06:00

2009-05-23T11:43:00.001-06:00

DONUTS ARE FOR SUCKERS!

What happens when you go to help plant flowers at Temple Square and you're told there will be donuts at the church?....you get tricked into cleaning the church too! Funny how that works :-)

Helping plant flowers at Temple Square was actually fun! There were a lot of people helping out and that made the job much easier and more fun, especially at the end when literally everyone came together to help prepared the soil for more planting. It was quite a sight to behold.

The donuts were yummy too!

Constructive Criticism

2009-05-19T18:44:00.011-06:00

So in 2 weeks the single's ward will be going to Heber Valley again for another overnighter...hopefuly this time there will be no snow.

To help promote this anual event I got together again with my friend Photoshop and brainstormed for a brief moment and came up with another creation.

What do you guys think? I need some C&C (not Callous and Corns!). Not to be boastful, but note the reflection in the eye. Thank heavens for photoshop and over-the-internet tutorials!

I've since made some minor adjustments to the poster, which can be seen on the poster located on the right side of your screen...better? worse?

Life Under The Sun

2009-05-11T21:15:00.004-06:00

So today at work....actually for sometime now, I have been pondering as to how fleeting life is. This sounds depressing, and it probably is depressing, but that is what is on my mind...

I first had this thought when I was in Fountain Valley last summer: I left work on a Friday afternoon and went to help Fe and Ruth move from Orem to Fountain Valley. We loaded the truck and cars and drove all day to get to Nevada where we spent the night, and the next day we drove some more until we arrived in southern Cali. Once at our location, we spend the rest of the evening unloading. At one point we got news that Bernie Mac had passed away...the sun was setting and there was a cool breeze in the air when I had the thought: he was only 50-years-old and (to me) he was so young and (again, to me) he passed away so suddenly! I quickly imagined all that he accomplished, and suddenly he's gone. How will he be remembered? How will I be remembered?

This weekend the thought came to me again when I went to ice skating with the singles ward. The 7 of us were having a good time until my friend and co-chair in the activities committee fell and hit her head pretty hard on the ice. She seemed fine when we got her off the ice, but as time went on she remembered less and less what happened. Long story short, she had a CAT scan that showed a concussion. One minute we were having fun and the next my friend has memory loss. She is fine now, but it was interesting how quickly things changed.

Last but not least, there is an elderly woman who every two months gets her toenails trimmed by Dr. Green. She is blind and her elderly husband always brought her and lovingly guided her to and from the car and the chair. Then this week when this patient came she had her daughter guiding her, which I thought was odd. As I showed them to the exam room I inquired how the husband was doing and the reply was that he had passed away from BRAIN CANCER!

What's the lesson to be learned here? 1)We are here on Earth for a purpose and there is little to no control over how much time we have. 2)We have to use this time to grow and learn all we need in order to be ready to return home.

On a lighter note, the new Star Trek movie is awesome!

2009-05-07T21:17:00.002-06:00

BEHAVE!

I highly dislike unruly children! I don't mean crying babies or restless toddlers... I mean rude, disrespectful children who don't listen to to their parents.

Today at the clinic there was a group of children who came with their brother and when they left I was seriously surprised we still had an office standing. The dad tried but could not control his children. Growing up this type of behavior would never be accepted and I wish parents today would do more than just say "stop" over and over. There is nothing wrong with a little spanking at home and by spanking I don't mean "A Child Called It" if you know what I mean...

Me, Myself, and Photoshop

2009-04-15T19:58:00.006-06:00

In case you loyal readers didn't attend the sacrament meeting where I gave a talk last year, I am the co-chair of the activites committe for the Centerville 18th ward and for this month have a blind date night planned. To help spread the word I have come up with a poster to hang at the institute and at church...thank heavens for photoshop!

The image on the left is the final prototype, which I happen to like better.

It's Here!!

2009-04-14T18:19:00.007-06:00

As everyone knows I have a Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) which I am quite fond of, especially it's capabilities: playing high quality games (playstation...hello!!), playing music, playing movies, surfing the internet, blah blah blah...all in the palm of my hands. I have owned it since 2007 and have always enjoyed it, but one feature that I always wanted to use but never could is what is known as LocationFreee.

Basically, with locationfree I can stream my television to my psp from anywhere in the world. This would mean that if I am in Japan and have access to the internet I can use my PSP to watch my movies I have back at home.

Sounds like a good idea, but it's quite expensive to bu

y the equipment. This weekend I had

a strong desire to buy one, no matter what the cost so I went to Sony's website and found it for a super good price, even with next day delivery.

So I hooked it all up in a few minutes and voila!! So now next time I am in Japan or anywhere with an internet connection, I can be watching tv or whatever is on my DVD player...

It's Coming...

2009-04-13T21:31:00.003-06:00

What a Weekend!

2009-04-04T23:27:00.009-06:00

So this weeked was a heck of a weekend, with my brother's wedding and all...While there I had the chance to revisit with a very dear friend from yonder...Adriana Olvera, or as I call her still, Ms. Olvera.

I was introduced to Ms. Olvera in 1998 when I arrived at Orem Junior High for my first day of school (without knowing a lick of English). Sister Martin took me there with Rigo and my dad and we got to the office and Sister Martin talked to this lady. The lady asked me if I spoke Spanish and I remember responding "un poquito" and she spoke on the intercom and soon after that another woman walked in who started speaking Spanish to me and took me to class....okay, long story short, toward the end of the semester we made our own version of Cinderella, based on the 1997 movie with Whoopi Goldberg.

Enjoy!

♫♫Estas Son Las Mañanitas♫♫

2009-03-28T17:22:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday Fex! Nao se misture com essa gentalha!!!

Holy Cow!!!

2009-03-26T19:00:00.003-06:00

This birthday has been huge! It started last Friday when Brenda (who was going to be away this week) gave me her present, but told me not to open it until today. Then, fasting foward to the present time, I got a phone call from Marcinho and Ginger and I got my first harmonized happy birthday song...AMAZING! Then the computer at the gym sang happy birthday and for the rest (not to undermine everyone else)....lest just say it took quite a while to respond to everyone's happy wishes.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

Shoo! Shoo!

2009-03-18T21:55:00.003-06:00

So today I was talking to a friend via Facebook (what would we do without you, mr. facebook?), and I suggested that she blog about the feelings and thoughts of her heart...what do you know, that's what I'm going to do!

My only activity for Wednesdays (beside hittin' the gym in the morning) is my Accounting 104 (quickbooks) class at night. Basically I go to school for 1 hour to work on the two projects that are due at the end of the semester (2 weeks). Sounds good, right? It is nice to have a nice and relaxed class, but I have a problem with moochers, specifically, a boy named Grebdnil (name has been changed...kinda...to protect privacy).

The bone I have to pick with this boy is that I work very hard in this class (as well as the last class we had together), and he...well...he kinda doesn't. EVERY week he comes to class and expects me to walk him through every step of the project. This would be fine if I was the only one with the instructions....but he has the same material that I do! Could this get any worse? YES!

As I mentioned before, there are only a couple of weeks before the semester is over and what does my beloved friend decided to do? He goes on a VACATION! Talk about messed up priorities. Normally I don't care for people's priorities, but when he announced his vacation's plans I immediatelly knew that upon his return I would be a casualty to his lack of focus and care...So tonight me and this girl who have worked very hard during the semester had to put our projects on hold and give my friend the attention he required. VERY DISRESPECTFUL!

So, like mr. Jerry Seinfel, I am making a stand! My stand is against moochers, freeloaders, and whatever name they go by nowadays. It is not nice that I work so hard for my grade and then freeloaders who don't work hard try to ride other's success train.

Cry Babies!

2009-03-14T17:41:00.007-06:00

So I've become somewhat of a Facebook fan as of late, and I like to see what my friends/relatives are up to. Earlier this week I saw that 2 of my friends had joined a Facebook group of church members who were offended by the upcoming episode of Big Love where a temple ceremony will be shown.

I did some looking around the internet, and there is an official statement by the church. Basically some members felt that the way to go is to write angry letters to HBO (the producers of the show in question) and DEMAND that they cancel the show. Others started chain-letter emails proposing a boycott of HBO, AOL, and anything related to Time Warner (the parent company for HBO and AOL). I was so happy to read the statement, because it just made sense! Throwing a hissy fit and making a big fuzz about this issue will only attract more attention to it.

I was offended when I heard that a very special and sacred ceremony would be broadcast for all to see without any regard for other's feelings, but like you do when someone is buling you, I decided it best to ignore them. As it says on the church's statement, this type of situation will not hinder the work from progressing, and if I want to do something about this situation I will strengthen my testimony so that I can help others understand what they don't.

What do you guys say? If you agree, join my group on Facebook here. If you don't agree, tell me why!

More Designs

2009-03-10T05:48:00.008-06:00

Adobe Photoshop is a heaven-sent program (thanks Rigo!) and since I made my first t-shirt design my creative juices have been raging and I've come up with some different designs for different shirts. What do you guys think?

My idea is to have the above design with dr. green's name and phone number below, like I did with the t-shirt concept.

Get it? What's your favorite?

How Stupid Do You Think I Am?

2009-03-03T18:03:00.003-07:00

So, while I wait for class to start in 2 hours I decided to look at the spam folder in my email and I ran across this beauty:

From Mrs Susan Morgan

BP [38 Rue Des Martyrs Cocody

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
ATTN
DEAREST ONE OF GOD

I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr.Abram Morgan, who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

Before his death we were both born again Christian. since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million and Five Hundred thousand U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account.

Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have seriouly sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained.

The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.

I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life.

Contact me through my e-mail address for more information’s, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply. Remain blessed in the Lord.

Yours in Christ,
Mrs Susan Morgan.

C'mon!

Got Advertising?

2009-03-01T01:03:00.011-07:00

So this weekend I went with my singles ward up to Heber Valley for an overnighter and it was awesome! (more details to come), and couple of weeks ago I had an epiphany to help my boss bring in some more business. I have never done any advertising, but the second amigo has given me some good tips and this is what I came up with in a couple of minutes...what do you guys think?

Update: Since last night I've made a change to the design. Instead of just having "got foot pain" in the shape of a foot, I now have the name of common foot ailments. Better?

Update 2: I have now come up with a rough draft of how a t-shirt would look. Any other suggestions?

Update 3: I'm going to present this to Dr. Green. I don't see why he would object, but wish me luck, anyway =D

Please, Make Her Stop!

2009-02-19T20:19:00.001-07:00

So every time I play the Bee Gees, Hernan whines and cries that their voice is annoying. Well, I found something that REALLY IS annoying...

Thank heavens she was eliminated last night!

Maybe It's True...

2009-02-15T16:27:00.008-07:00

Dear Gigo:

I read your post about time. Then I went to the movies with a good friend where we watched the new Friday 13th and one of the trailers reminded of your post. This one is different from what I saw in the theater, but you get the idea...Enjoy!

Megaman: Back in Action

2009-02-13T15:16:00.002-07:00

If you enjoyed the last megaman video I got on youtube, you'll like this one too.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Ruth

2009-02-10T07:40:00.001-07:00

So today is Ruth's birthday and I asked a friend to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Superwhat?

2009-02-04T10:28:00.005-07:00

For the first time in my life I watched the Superbowl, and it was AMAZING! The one thing I was looking forward to was the commercials that you always hear about: they are VERY expensive and very good. I have always heard about the famous 1984 Apple commercial that cost a lot of money and was only shown once...

I was looking forward to some good commercials and while the game was good, the commercials were...not so good. The can basically be summarized as cars, food, and movies with a few others thrown in for good measure. There was one commercial, however, that grabbed my attention.

Here it is...enjoy!

Ode To Spontaneity

2009-02-03T16:30:00.008-07:00

I have recently discovered that I am spontaneous...some of my spontaneity includes going to Idaho to meet a girl, kidnapping grandma Cida to Las Vegas, and going to Vernal with Steve to see my mom for her birthday while she traveled for the Utah courts. My most recent burst of spontaneity occurred yesterday and here's why:

My current car stereo was giving me grief, so I looked around at Walmart and saw that their least expensive model would cost me $150 (ouch!). I went home and looked on KSL and found an ad for a car stereo that plays regular CDs, MP3 CDs, USB, and (last but not least) it has bluetooth connectivity for handsfree talking. The most attractive part was the price, $60 and the only obstacle was location: Logan. I called the guy on Monday during my lunch and he informed me everything was working good, so at 5 pm after I clocked out I drove to Logan.

Long story short, I have a new stereo that plays nicely and now I'm a better driver! Spontaneity has brought me no regrets, so go ahead and be spontaneous.

On another note, I had a dream last night that I was in the country of Laos walking through a cave. When I was done looking around the cave I got out and went to my truck and a woman came over with her daughters and another woman. The first woman was sweet-talking to me and I had the impression she was going to do something bad, so I yelled the F word and drove away (dodging some bullets from the second woman). I drove home and parked my car at the Serra Verde apartments where I lived long ago. I was walking to the apartment we used to live (on the 4th floor) and I saw my best friend from back then, Denis standing there. I was really happy to see him and I woke up.

Must have been the Double Quarter Pounder I had during my trip to Logan =D

Simpsons Favorite

2009-01-31T23:30:00.004-07:00

I haven't done this in a LONG time, but here is another favorite Simpsons moment:

Enjoy!

As Promised

2009-01-29T18:44:00.001-07:00

Lucky you!The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.
The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!
Good luck!

Waiting Vs. Procrastination

2009-01-20T23:56:00.002-07:00

I know it has been a LONG time since I shared my thoughts and impressions on things, but the wait is over, loyal readers...at least for now...

As Dr. Green's assistant, it is my pleasure to keep track of all the supplies we need to keep our clinic running smooth. The great majority of things I buy come from catalogs from different companies that compete for our business, but one such company had a sales rep who went out of his way to earn our business, and (who can blame him) earn some commission. Unfortunately for this pleasant gentleman, every time he came around the office we didn't have anything to order from him. He was constant though, always hoping we would have something for him. He had to be my favorite salesman. Pleasant but never pushy. Then the blessed day finally came. Dr. Green asked me to purchase some medications from the very company my favorite salesman hailed from. I called his cell phone from the business card he gave me on our first visit, and my heart was broken when he told me he was no longer worked for that company.

Why, do you ask, did such feelings came over me? In my mind, my friend depended on our business to sustain his family and we let him down. Is that what happened? I don't know, but I could have ordered things from him sooner.

Super Mario Reloaded

2009-01-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

I really like the Matrix trilogy and I also like Mario, so this seemed like the perfect combination. Well done!

But Bishop...I Swear It's The Truth!

2008-12-22T18:57:00.004-07:00

Here's a trivia question: What happens when you visit with the Bishop about renewing your temple recommend when you have a cough?

Well, it goes kind like this (not the actual words...I don't remember them off the top of my head):

Do you believe in the church?
Yes.

Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
Yes.

Do you sustain all the leaders?
Yes.

Do you keep the law of chastity?
Yes.

Are you honest in all your dealings?
Yes...cough cough!

Are you part of a group that opposes the the Church or its teaching?
No.

Are you worthy to attend the temple?
Yes...cough cough cough!!

I don't think the Bishop doubted my sincerity, but I sure felt like the guy in the Ricola commercial.

What's the lesson here? Don't make an appointment with your Bishop when you have a cough.

Appeals - Unrated Director's Cut

2008-12-03T21:12:00.003-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a very long time, but do not despair, loyal readers, Nebes is back....at least for now.

To celebrate to return from the ashes I call working and taking night classes, here is a video I created for a group project for my Beginning Coding class. The teacher only wanted a simple Power Point, but I wanted to blow her mind and I got really excited to make this project, which I only finished last night because the last group member finally sent me her information at the last minute.

Without further ado, please enjoy my latest creation!

♫♫ I Feel My Savior's Love♫♫

2008-11-04T22:26:00.004-07:00

I highly dislike driving when it's dark and wet outside and here is why:

My wipers will rub against the windshield and make an awful sound if the windshield is not wet enough, which stresses me out!
I can hardly see the lanes
The other drivers drive way to fast, which scares me

So tonight I was driving home from school under the above conditions and although the other drivers were doing the regular speed, I was going 50. It was raining a little bit so I had my noisy wipers on and I was listening to Burt Bacharach's Best That You Can Be (at a moderate level because loud music with the wipers make me really nervous). By the time I was coming up to my exit in Farmington it started to hail and I could see the ground was white.

When the song came to the part "living your life one day at a time" (very appropriate) I noticed a white Honda on my left side, and the driver had lost control of her car, so when I say she was next to me I mean that her headlights were facing me. Her car continued to spin and because she was going faster than me, by this point her car is directly in front of me, continuing to spin and throw snow on my windshield (completely blocking my view). We all know that in this situation DON'T SLAM THE BRAKES, but that is easier said than done, so I did it anyway knowing it would probably cause my car to lose control.

I was blessed that I was able to slow down my baby because otherwise I would have hit the Honda face-0n (our headlights were mere inches from each other). I pulled over a little ahead of her and wanted to get out and see if she was OK, but I decided against that just so that I wouldn't get run over by other drivers who weren't as blessed as me and the other driver. Instead I stayed in my car and tried to make sense of what just happened.

As I drove home I couldn't help but feel my Savior's love for me and be grateful for it. I also couldn't help but feel a HUGE adrenaline rush. Even now my entire body is shaking and I probably won't get too much sleep.

Count Your Blessings

2008-11-02T21:24:00.002-07:00

I have always believed that technology is God-given, and tonight my belief was reassured.

As I previously discovered, my blog has attracted a handful of international readers and I thought this could be an opportunity to share what I believe and hopefully inspire others. The only problem is that not everyone speaks English and the electronic translators available have always been awful! To illustrate this, here's a sample from what my mom wrote, translated from Portuguese to English using a popular web translator:

Moral of the estoria: in them we are these perpetual apprenticees. In the all we came to this terrinha blessed with many, many expectations of improvement, change. Changes in fact had been many, " melhora" it is on account of the personal interpretation and the perspective of each one. Fact eh that all we are more mature, stronger, smarter, etc etc. Very even so the original plans did not sairam extamente as planned (it had some plan exactly), all were adaptaram and had moved

Does that make sense? Not to me. Here's the same thing using an alternate translator:

Moral of the Estoria: we are the eternal apprentice. In all came to this land blessed with many, many expectations of improvement, of change. Movers were in fact many, the "improvement" is on account of personal interpretation and perspective of each. Eh fact that we are all more mature, stronger, smarter, etc. etc.. Although the original plans extamente not out as planned (there was even a plan ???), all have adapted and changed

My point is that google came up with this gadget that you put on a website that translates the entire web page into many different languages. I was pleasantly surprised to find how better google translates pages, and I have put it on my blog so that my new friends will actually stay for more than 1 second. Happy translating!

I Dreamed a Dream

2008-10-29T10:21:00.005-06:00

Last night I woke up couple of times throughout the night but between awakenings I had couple of different of dreams, all of which I don't remember, except for the last one. Here's what I wrote down half-asleep:

I had moved back with grandma Cida [my mom's mom, in Brazil] and I was really happy to be there. I was giving myself a tour of the house when I got to the laundry room and saw a huge pile of laundry to be done. I wondered who would finish it when this boy/teenager came over and introduced himself to me as a neighborhood boy who grandma paid to help her with the laundry. Some time later someone was at the gate calling for the boy and I went with him to see who it was, and there was his mother and two sisters. The three of them started chanting and that caused the boy pain and they wouldn't stop until I stepped up and ran them out of the house. I especially went after the mother, who I chased into the street. I was so upset that I even called her a bi*** [when I woke up I wondered if my brother heard me swearing]

After that I was back in Farmington with my mom, Steve, my brothers, and grandma having FHE and watching Together Forever.

Weird, huh? I have no idea what it all meant...

More Holiness Give Me

2008-10-26T15:31:00.014-06:00

Today's Priesthood lesson was really inspiring and made me realize how lousy I have been, not only as a church member, but also as christian in general. The lesson was based on President Utchdorf's talk last general conference where he talked about standing where we are.

Here is the story he told:

"Some years ago in our meetinghouse in Darmstadt, Germany, a group of brethren was asked to move a grand piano from the chapel to the adjoining cultural hall, where it was needed for a musical event. None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.

As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”

It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood."
How can we stand together? We are all here for the same purpose which to help all come unto Christ and there are many ways to do that, but what the Holy Ghost whispered to me during the lesson was that I needed to be a better home teacher and a better attendee of the ward activities.
Another part of the lesson included the story, still by president Utchdorf, about John Rowe Moyle. You will remember that John, who was a convert from England, walked six hours everyday to go to work on the Salt Lake temple. One day he had to have one of his legs amputated after an accident. His desire to work on the temple led him to construct a wooden leg so that he could make the walking journey that, with two normal legs, took six hours and probably longer with a wooden leg.
He continued to do his daily work on the temple and today his sacrifice can be seen on the outside of the temple with the words holiness to the lord, which brother Moyle carved in stone.
I pondered during the lesson how I could be more like brother Moyle, who had every right to stay home and not walk a painful walk on a wooden leg to do something that someone else could have done. Instead he showed us all how to build the kingdom on Earth. We are all very busy with school, work, social life, family, blah, blah, blah, but nothing is as important as helping build the kingdom of God on earth and bring souls to the fold.

Is Tamara Home?

2008-10-25T22:07:00.008-06:00

To celebrate the spirit of the season, I went to Blockbuster and rented the newly released movie "The Strangers". Let me cut through the chase and say that it is freaking awesome! It is a scary movie but not the kind where it disgusts you. Here's why I liked it:

I was watching it Friday night after coming home from a church dance and I was so tense (freaked out) that I had to pause the movie and regain my composure after Ruth sent me a text message that almost gave me a heart attack. It was around 11 at night, my parents had gone upstairs and I was by myself in the dark living room watching this movie that is really spooky.

Obviously there is blood and murder but I felt that the movie wasn't overly violent, with gallon after gallon of blood, but it was more like the first Halloween movie with Jamie Lee Curtis.

The picture above has to be what represents my favorite part of the movie and what the movie is all about. Unfortunately it is rated R so you will probably never watch this. For your enjoyment, here's the trailer:

I Told You They Were Good

2008-10-18T19:02:00.006-06:00

I remember when I first heard the The Bee Gees back in 2002 and I immediately fell in love with the way their three voices blended, but I had no idea how good they were. The occasion was the Orem Suncrest Stake Road Show and my ward's skit was dances from several decades. My part in it was the 70's and I dressed as Saturday Night Fever's John Travolta, and we danced to Stayin' Alive (the theme song of the same movie).

Ever since then two things happened: (1)All the little kids in the ward called me John Travolta (darn parents); (2)I became a fan of their songs, but I had no idea how good their songs were until now:

I guess that not only are they good, but they are good for us. Who would have guessed...

Who Knew?/Who Cared?

2008-10-18T15:14:00.007-06:00

As I am preparing my talk for tomorrow on the importance of missionary work, I decided to look over my google analytics to see how my personal blog is doing. Hernan always talks about how all these people from all over the world visit his blog, so I got curious and decided to set it up couple of days ago and I was interested to see what happened since last night:

The dark-colored green regions represent where most visitors come from (U.S.) and light-colored green (you guessed it) means countries that visited the blog less often (Brazil and Canada).

By setting up google analytics to keep track of your Web-site, you get the following: how many people visit your Web-site, where they come from (duh!), average time visitors stay on your blog, and some more not-so-useful information that people may find interesting. Click here to start finding out useless information.

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

2008-10-15T16:30:00.010-06:00

Yesterday marked the 10th year anniversary of my family coming to the United States. When my father first announced the move, I am certain none of the seven of us had any idea what such a move would mean to the family and what was in store for us. To celebrate this monumental occasion I have created a website where family, friends, and all those who have touched us these past 10 years are MORE than welcome to participate and help us remember all the blessings we were blessed with so abundantly.

The main posts are in English so as to accommodate the unilinguistics out there, but comments are welcome in whatever the user may wish to use.

Please visit quemimaginaria.blogspot.com.

If you are reading my personal blog then this means you are one of the people I made mention of above, so please visit the blog and learn about what we have accomplished in the last 10 years, and what we hope to accomplish.

To Lighten The Mood

2008-10-11T16:40:00.004-06:00

I just realized that my last post was the most depressing thing I have ever written...so I went to youtube and found the video below. Please enjoy!

Warning: Not For The Weak of Stomach

2008-10-07T23:10:00.004-06:00

Today at work I held a man's amputated little toe and half his 4th digit on my hand (sorry for the image, but I needed to get that out of my system).

The man's wife brought him to see Dr. Green because of the husband's diabetes. Without saying much, he has severely hurt his feet, but because of diabetes he was not aware of any pain so he continued to injure his feet. He had already come in and Dr. Green had been taking good care of him and we were all hopeful. Today they came in, I took them to one of the rooms, and took got him ready for when Dr. Green would come in. I thought I knew what to expect as far as the condition of his feet, but his wife warned me and I was surprised that thing had turned for the worse and the side of one of his foot was BLACK.

Dr. Green came in the exam room, and after inspecting the foot informed the wife that it was gangrene. She became immediately emotional and the only thing left to do was remove the affected areas.

This experience was VERY traumatizing, but it made me realize how much we (by which I mean me) take our bodies for granted. I have spent the last couple of nights burning the midnight oil, and when I went to work this morning I had already planned to buy a BIG coke so that I could go to class after work and make it for 5 hours of class. For the rest of the day after seeing that poor man and his wife suffer I have made the resolution to take better care of my body, and mark my words: there will be big changes to the Renato you all know.

Thanks for reading!

Angels Among Us

2008-10-04T17:40:00.008-06:00

I just finished watching the second session of general conference, and my favorite talk was by Elder Holland. As you all should know, he talked about angels and that was my favorite talk today.

His story about former BYU president(?) reminded me of a time long ago when my mother was the student body president at law school, and there was a party on a rainy Saturday. I don't remember how old I was, but I think I was between 4-6, and while playing with my brothers I got soaked. By the time we were heading home, I felt that I was going to either freeze or get really sick, and while we driving back my dad took off his shirt and gave it to me. I was very young, but I still remember and will always remember my dad's selfless act (he was cold too).

After the talk was over, Steve told me of a song by Alabama that perfectly illustrated what Elder Holland talked about, and this is how it goes:

Enjoy....I sure did!

"Hahahah!!! You Have a Tiny Mouth!!"

2008-10-02T21:29:00.010-06:00

Today I went to the dentist. It's been fiver years since my last visit to the witch doctor, and here's the good news:

No cavities

It's been five years since my last visit, and here's what happened since last time:

I brushed my teeth too hard, and some of my gum has receeded, which means more sensitive teeth, especially when the hygienist was scraping my teeth
I wasn't as faithful flossing, so now some of the buildup is starting to cause the bones on my mouth to disconnect from my teeth.

Now I have to go back two different times, the hygienist will numb me up (sniff sniff...) and go at it cleaning my teeth. She was kind enough to go really easy today because my teeth were specially sensitive to her metal instruments.

The only thing that saved the day (besides no cavities) was the hygienist telling me that I have a tiny mouth. It caught me really off guard, but I got a really good laugh whenever I thought about it the rest of the day.

"don't panic...Don't Panic...DON'T PANIC!!!!!"

2008-09-27T17:26:00.014-06:00

Every once in a while, the Red Cross will call me asking me to go to their Layton donation center. It's just my luck that when I get the blessed phone call, I'm either:

learning at an institution of higher learning
working for the most humblest doctor
doing whatever else, and I cannot answer the phone

I can tell when it's the Red Cross because I'll get a reminder on my phone that I missed a call, and there is a voice message (only the Red Cross leaves me messages, while everyone else expects me to call back). I always listen to the message (the usual "we need you to come...") and when I can, I pay a visit to their Layton center (although it has been awhile).

Today I went to Scott's mother-in-law's baptism, and while I was there, the Red Cross called me and left me this message:

http://www.mediafire.com/?dqvhmrytymj

There have been some pretty dramatic situations lately, like she mentions, but please STAY CALM...gosh!!

"Jerry!!!"

2008-09-23T23:33:00.015-06:00

Couple of weeks ago, as y'all know, I took my good friend Hernan to Rexburg, ID, so he could start his life anew at BYU-I (I recommend you follow his chronicle here).

When he had finally settled in his newly found apartment (a hostel?), I checked myself at the nearest Super 8 Motel, and during the night I had the most interesting dream. When I woke up, I couldn't help but write down the details using my cell phone, and this is what I wrote:

"Ginger and I are visiting a couple who we know, and we are talking and eating. The wife made grilled steak and eggplant and we are eating it with home-made toast.

While I was telling them about Steve [my beloved step-father] being attacked by our neighbors, Seinfeld comes in with Elaine and Newman. When the three arrived they started eating the food, which now includes cakes and a merengue pie. In Seinfeld fashion, things go bad (Jerry, Elaine, and Newman weren't using plates or utensils), and the three started to spill food on the clean carpet. I immediatelly started to pick up the mess when Seinfeld decided to simply hide his mess by stepping on it." I didn't write this down, but I remember that when Jerry (he was had an ace-bandage on his foot), stepped on his spilled cake, the recorded laugh from the show kicked in, and I woke up.

Good luck to whoever can decipher this one...

"God Bless America...And The Rest Of The World"

2008-09-11T22:48:00.007-06:00

As everybody better remember, today is (was if I don't finish this soon enough), the seventh (7) anniversary of 9/11.

When this tragedy happened, I was living in Fresno, CA, and was returning home with my dad after working all night at some Target store somewhere in central CA. As we drove on the freeway, we started to notice signs on the off-ramps indicating that all airports were closed, so we decided to turn on the radio and there were reports about something happening in New York. There was a lot of confusion but we soon found out what had really happened, and that was the first time I felt fear. Truly 9/11 was a day that will not be forgotten, and I hope we will always remember it too.

My friend Lance posted some new recordings on youtube, and I hope y'all enjoy, just don't play all three videos at the same time to avoid confusion... :)

"The Song of the Righteous"

2008-09-09T23:32:00.004-06:00

I don't remember when it happened, but I found this channel on youtube by this guy who is a "Former Episcopal Church Organist / Choir Master / AGO - American Guild of Organist" who plays beautiful hymns on his organ at home. He plays hymns ranging from REALLY old Catholic to LDS Hymns, and then some.

I have always loved the way Lance plays the organ, so I searched the great and marvelous world wide web and found this handy program that allows grab a youtube video, and record it audio as MP3. I tried it out and loved the quality.

You can download "Free Youtube to MP3 Converter" for free, and legally here.

Do enjoy!

BTW: Lance recommends (and I second him) that you should listen to his videos using headphones for best effect.

"Guess Who's It?"

2008-09-02T23:28:00.009-06:00

So I was reading Ruth's blog, and found out I got tagged. Basically (in case you've been living under a rock and don't know the rules) if your name is at the end of this list you have to do what I am about to do: answer few questions and then tag other people. Here we go:

3 Joys:

Me
Me
Me (hahahahah!!!)

3 Fears:

Ladders and height in general
Not being able to perform what is expected of me (school, work, life)

3 Current Obsessions:

PSP
Having enough money to pay for school (it always works out)
ER

3 Surprising Facts About Myself:

The name Renato comes from the Latin, and means "born again" (natum=born, re=again)
My family's original last name is Espirito Santo (Holy Ghost, for non-Portuguesers)
I don't really like the Bee Gees**

I am tagging: Hernan, Rodrigo, DeFreese(s), and Dawn.

**Just kidding...I never get tired of their falsetto!

♫♫The Miracle of Love♫♫

2008-08-05T19:01:00.007-06:00

For the longest time in church I would hear people talk about how they received an answer to prayer through dreams, and I have always wanted to have that experience. Last night it happened....

It all started yesterday when I went to work and I found that the clock Dr. Green's wife bought, and I insisted on hanging myself (it is a big fancy clock that looks very expensive) was on the floor and broken....I immediately thought it was a bad omen to the rest of the day. I spent the half hour I had to clean the clinic trying to fix the dang clock before Dr. Green arrived, and if you look at the clock now it has a big crack right on the six o'clock spot.

When the patients started to come in during the morning for their appointments, things ran pretty smooth and I was very confident. Then came the afternoon.....

To make a long story short, I have to make sure everything runs smooth for Dr. Green during the day and sometime during the afternoon I lost it, and instead of leaving the clinic shortly after five, Dr. Green left at 7 p.m., and I got home after 8 p.m..

No doubt I was very disappointed with myself, and when I got home I went straight to bed. My legs were aching, but I soon fell asleep. Then came the miracle....

I had a dream where I was with Batman and Robin and we were making a plan to fight against the Joker, much like THE ultimate battle. When everything was set to go Robin got shot by an arrow on his chest and Batman had me take Robin to the rooftop where he would receive help while Batman went to fight the Joker. Just then I heard Commissioner Gordon on the radio asking for all other super heroes to help Batman fight the Joker, who had all super villains with him.

With Robin on my arm I had to use Batman's grappling gun and go through the elevator shaft to reach the rooftop as quickly as possible to save Robin's life. The problem was that I had never used Batman's grappling gun and on my first try I lost my grip and the gun went to the roof without me. I was feeling desperate when Rachael (from the last two Batman's movies) came down the shaft with the grappling gun I lost.

Rachael then helped me use the gun properly, but it was still hard because I kept on bumping onto things. Just then I had some more unexpected help from regular people (I specially remember Alice in Wonderland's characters and a bunch of Chinese acrobats).

Along the way up the shaft, all the people helping me were singing a song, kinda like in a musical, and when I reached the rooftop all the people who helped were there cheering for me and the title of the song popped on the screen (the title was something like 7,000 which was the number of floors I went up with Robin on my arm). I tried to thank everyone for helping me, but my emotions got the best of me. Then I woke up....

I was feeling really good when I woke up and realized it was 2:3o in the morning. I grabbed my phone to write down what I could remember of the dream, and started to ponder the meaning of the dream and I had the distinct thought that just like in the dream, I was having a hard time with something that I had to do, but I had never done before nevertheless.

I was (am) so grateful that Heavenly Father reminded me that although I am struggling, there are many people cheering for me and my success. I was humbled (and sleepy) but I immediately said a happy prayer thanking Heavenly Father for his love, mercy, and kindness to me.

Well, if you stuck with me this far and read all of this entry, (my unusually long entry) I thank you for reading my testimony that I know Heavenly Father hears our prayers, even the ones we don't ask for, but that we want nonetheless.

Maybe This Time It'll Work.....

2008-07-26T09:51:00.005-06:00

So I made a post two days ago, and when I tried to make some changes, I keep getting errors every time I try to post it.....Ruth even left a comment before I edited it....dang it!

Today I realized that the meager 40GB on my hard drive is almost all taken so I was looking for things to delete and make more room on my precious HDD when I stumbled upon the only pictures I have left of my missionary days.

After relieving some good times, I realized that a lot has happened and changed in the last four years, and the biggest changes were.....ME!!! So I decided to make a simple video to illustrate such changes.

In the movie below, you'll notice I have gained and lost weight, my hair goes from very short to very long, I'm more tanned in some instances than others, I wear eyeglasses and sometimes contacts, sometimes I look very sharp (my favorite is a picture in the San Diego Temple) while at times I can barely recognize myself...

In the end, I can say I am happy with ME, and I hope you all enjoy this homage I made to ME. I realize this may seem very self-absorbed, and it is...what else can I say? Enjoy!

GO CLEAN YOUR ROOM!!!

2008-07-20T22:11:00.007-06:00

What happens when you clean/organize your bedroom after a period disorganization and chaos? I don't know about the rest of you, my loyal fans, but I find thing that were lost, either in the sense that I could not find it, or in the sense that I forgot about it.

This magnificent discovery came about after I decided to clean/organize my room last weekend. What did I find, you may be asking yourselves? In the "could not find it" category, I found a watch my mommy dearest gave me for my birthday this year; in the "forgot about it" category I found my 128MB memory card that had school work from last summer and beyond.

The highlight of my newly found (re)discovery was a portfolio I had made for my photography class in the fall of 2006, which I want to share with all of you tonight. Since I wanted to make sharing my photographies cooler than just allowing everyone to download a power point presentation, I decided to make some modifications to the file and make it into a movie file. This allowed me to put music, which after arduous pondering, I chose Rosemary Clooney's Come On-A My House.

The assignment was to use pictures we had taken during the semester, divide them into different categories, and make them better. The original file explained what such changes were, but I removed such redundant explanations from the final work.

Enjoy!

Update: I "cannot find" my watch again....

Do I Beg Your Pardon?

2008-06-12T21:39:00.005-06:00

As many of you, my loyal fans, know, I left my job at the LDS Business College to start my externship and career in the medical field.

I must say, before I continue, that the two-and-a-half years I worked at the LDS Business College was amazing! When I got accepted to the school in 2005, I could never have imagined that so much would happen, and how much I would learn and grow while working for the admissions office and public relations. I will not mention names because you know who you are.....thank you!

Anyway, I now work for Dr. Gary Green who is a podiatrist in Farmington, conveniently located less than five minutes from my house, and it's been amazing! Even though next week will only be my third week working there, a lot has already happened and I am physically exhausted, my feet hurt, but I am happy. The highlight for today included this patient who loves to swear and freaked out the manager and the other medical assistant, and this senior citizen of the female gender who while filling her new patient paper work asked: "Under sex, can I put yes?"

Because of HIPAA (a cousin to FERPA), I unfortunately cannot say much more than what I have already said about what happens in the clinic, but it suffices me to say that I plan on being there for a long time!

Comando Estelar.....Flashman!

2008-06-01T21:12:00.005-06:00

I have so many thoughts about this post I don't even know where to start....

Maybe I can start by explaining that what many in Americans know as Power Rangers, actually started in Japan in the 70's under the name Super Sentai (スーパー戦隊シリーズ, Sūpā Sentai Shirīzu). Super Sentai's basic premise is about the fight of good against evil in order to save Earth.

To make a long story short, I am a HUGE fan of super sentai, and if you come to my house on Saturday morning (10-11 am to be exact) you can catch me watching the newest episode of Power Ranger: Jungle Fury....

Go ahead and laugh.....take your time.....ok enough!

Every once in a while I'll have a dream of a favorite TV show or movie, and sometime last week, I dreamed that I was one of the Flashman, and as it happened in the show in 1986, the Flashman started to lose their powers.

The only thing I remember from the dream was that we were being chased, and we couldn't transform because our super powers weren't working, and when we were about to be caught, we used our transforming-watch to flash a bight light and blind our enemies (something often done in the show in such situations).

This 20-minute episode is one of my favorites. Pardon the Portuguese, but since I couldn't find anything in English, the choice was between Japanese and Portuguese and I like my language better.

ps.: video coming soon

♫♫ Mr. Bush is Coming to Town ♫♫

2008-05-29T09:36:00.008-06:00

What happens when the President of the United States comes to Utah, and the LDS Business College is on his direct path to see the First Presidency?

This is what happens:

You can read the story published by the LDS Business College here (you'll need to have Adobe Reader to read the article.

Here's a picture of the limo that Señor Bush rode on:

Me...Me...Me...hahahahaha!!!!!

2008-05-20T19:43:00.006-06:00

After much persuasion, Hernan convinced me to watch the episode of Family Guy that has Julia Roberts in it. As many may or may not know, I love Julia Roberts, and highlights include Erin Brockovich and The Mexican, and when Hernan told me she made a guest appearance I just had to watch.

On the other hand, I never liked Family Guy, so thanks to the marvelous wonder of being able to download illegal clips of pretty much anything I want, I found this wonder online:

Enjoy!

Rich People Stink

2008-05-12T09:28:00.007-06:00

Due to popular demand, I will finish my thought on this post, and explain why rich people stink.

Some movies are fun, and in such fun movies, there are subtle lines that catch my attention. The first example that comes to mind is the movie "You've Got Mail".

In it, Meg Ryan (who by the way, is way gorgeous) runs a cute little independent bookstore, and Tom Hanks runs a mega-super bookstore. Meg Ryan and her friends are furious when Fox Books (Tom's) opens close by, and they start to plan what to do to fight to stay open. One scene shows Meg and her friends in her bookstore discussing what to do, when everyone starts talking at the same time, but you can hear someone say: "Let's bomb Fox Books." When I heard that line, I couldn't stop laughing and thought it was hilarious.

Now, here's why rich people stink: I was watching the movie Penelope in the dollar theater with my brother and some good friends. In the end of the movie (no spoilers, I promise) Penelope is shown telling her story to a group of children. Then she says (paraphrasing): "boys and girls, what did you learn from this?" All the children start talking at once, but you can hear one of them say "Rich people stink." That line had the same effect on me as the movie mentioned at the top, and it stuck with me.

So boys and girls, what did you learn?

What Happens in Vegas.....

2008-04-27T10:08:00.004-06:00

What happens when you have a dear relative that you haven't seen since 2004, and such relative comes several thousand miles to see you, but have work all day every day and don't see your beloved relative as much as you would like? It's simple, you go to Vegas.

My grandma came from Brazil almost a month ago, and my mom was feeling depressed because she could never spend time with her mom, so on Friday, while I was getting ready to go to an activity with my single's ward (I was at WalMart buying tortilla chips), when my mom called and said she wanted to kidnap grandma and take her to Vegas and see the lights (by then it was 5:30 in the evening).

To make a long story short, I dropped the chips at the church for the activity, ran home as mom got home and we told grandma we were going for a ride and while grandma showered my mom packed her things and put them in the trunk of the car and we drove away (she was expecting us to show her a canyon somewhere), but she got the feeling we were hiding something from her. When we were around Spanish Fork she asked again were we were going and we finally told her the truth and her first reaction was to say in an almost panicked tone: "how can this be?" and "you people are killing me!" Couple of minutes later she was calmer and actually enjoyed the idea, except for the long time it took to get there.

It was an awesome trip, but right now I am dead tired and don't want to write anymore. Left the next day at noon and got home at 8:30. Enjoy some picturas.

It Is Hard For Thee To Kick Against The Pricks

2008-04-23T11:01:00.004-06:00

I have always wondered why it is that sometimes we need to make the same mistakes before we learn a lesson.

Long story short, I wanted to download a "free" program for my cell phone so it would play the music I had on my computer without me having to either rip the music again, or convert all of them. I quickly found a program that promised to give me what I wanted, so I downloaded it into my laptop, only to find that the program messed up the system files on my laptop and it became near useless. The only solution was to re-install Windows.

Not long after that (less than a week), I wanted another "free" program and this time the file that supposedly had my program had a different program called "xp antivirus". This program proceded to scan my computer and supposedly found many viruses, worms, spyware, and all sorts of -wares on my computer. I felt something was not right, so I did a quick search on google for xp antivirus, and found out it was not an antivirus at all, but an actuall virus. Because I had barely re-installed windows on my laptop, I still didn't have an antivirus and crapware remover running, so my reaction was to immediately download one. Unfortunately the program did not allow for my program to download, so I immediately grabbed my re-installation CD and ran it.

What's the lesson here, boys and girls? Get your illegal programs from a trusted source.

Now Why Do We Have To Do That?

2008-04-03T21:42:00.007-06:00

Today I couldn't help but ponder a very poignant question: "how come goodbyes are so hard?"

My question came because I have a very dear friend who went home to Chile today. I didn't realize what I had lost until hours later when I drove home from work, and it was very hard.

I believe that at least once in our life time, we meet that one person that grows to become something that is much more than just a friend. We make friends that help us grow and become much more than we were before. Such a friend is Vivian.

I met Vivian when I started working in the admissions office at the LDSBC in March 2006, and in a few months so much had happened. Vivian taught me all that I now know about work ethics, professionalism, how to be empathetic to others, how to be strong.....so many things! Together we moved the admissions office to the triad center, organized it, and established many procedures that are in effect to this day. That summer was the best summer I can remember. We worked so hard, and it was so worth it!

One of my favorite memories was when Vivian's mom came to visit from Chile, and they invited me to go with them to Manti for the annual pageant. I left work that day, and met them in Provo, and we went to Manti on a car that belonged to a mutual friend. All was well until we arrived in Manti and Vivian parked the car. Someone asked us to move the car, but it wouldn't start. We decided to leave the car alone until after the presentation, and when we came back the car started without hesitation, so we started driving home. Not long after that (we were still in the city), all of a sudden all the lights in the car died and when I pulled over, the car died too. We didn't know what to do, and the police came and helped start the car (it seemed to be something with the battery). After the car started, everything worked, so I started to drive away, and as soon as we left the city the lights died again. While the car still worked, we decided to stop at the McDonald's right at the end of Manti, and the three of us "spent the night" there. When I say spend the night, I mean spend the entire night laughing at our situation. Somehow I made it to work the next morning.

Another experience I had with Vivian that I cherish was in the admissions office. One day in the office, I made a mistake and Vivian reprimanded me. I was very offended by her "rudeness", and for a while I let that brew inside me. Then my brother gave a lesson during FHE about Satan, and in it he said that when we are offended we are doing the devil's work. At that point the Spirit touched my heart and I felt bad that I had let a comment (not a wrong comment) take me far from the Spirit. The next morning I went to the office earlier and I explained to Vivian what had happened and how I felt. Vivian was very understanding. This experience, which many times ruins friendships, served to strengthen ours.

When I think of Vivian, I can't help but remember the words to a beloved hymn from the Church. It represents my feelings for friends, and not just any friend, but a friend like Vivian. The hymn number is 293, and is called Each Life that Touces Ours for Good.

The lyrics are:

1. Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.

2. What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

3. When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.

4. For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior’s name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.

God Bless Friends!

National Hobo Convention

2008-04-02T15:02:00.007-06:00

While at work, I happened to stumble upon this interesting piece of information:

National Hobo Convention

The National Hobo Convention is held in Britt, Iowa each year in early to mid August. Hoboes come to town and stay in the "Hobo Jungle" telling stories around campfires at night. A hobo king and queen are named each year and get to ride on special floats in the Hobo Day parade. Following the parade, mulligan stew is served to hundreds of people in the city park as live entertainment, a carnival, and a flea market give everyone something to do.

In the year 1900 the town fathers of Britt invited Tourist Union #63 to bring their annual convention to Britt (it was previously held on Market Street in Chicago). They did, it has remained in Britt since.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo

Go figure.

Then, while reading about hoboes and such, I found out about this guy, who happens to be called Robert Joseph Silveria Jr......He was arrested in the 1990's for killing 34 hoboes and homeless men.

♪♪And Many More♪♪

2008-03-26T23:31:00.002-06:00

For those of you who didn't know this (either because you don't attend the LDSBC, or because you live under a rock), today is my birthday (right now it's still before midnight), and it was awesome! I spent the day surrounded by my dearest friends and family, and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

One of the highlights was when people kept asking me "are you working right now?", or "aren't you supposed to be in class right now?". When I answered yes and no respectively, Adrian asked Hernan to take me to the sixth floor to teach me how to use the copy machine. The five minutes I spent there were the most BORING minutes of my life, and it seemed to last forever, but when we were done, we went back downstairs and the same Adrian that took me on the wild goose chase called Hernan into his office because of an "emergency" and said I could come to, so I followed them to his office. On the way to Adrian's office, we passed by a dark office, where everyone from the second floor was hiding and they all sang happy birthday to me. That was when I realized that "learning to use the copy machine" was a diversion so they could set up the surprise! Poor Hernan.... I gave him such a hard time about the copy machine....oooops.....Hernan rocks though...."You Rock!"

I got an email from my grandparents in Brazil (my dad's parents), and I talked to my mom's mom on the phone, and everyone remembered, and I loved it!

I want to send kisses to my mom, my dad, and to you!

Now That is Cool!

2008-03-13T19:24:00.004-06:00

Today I was driving home from work, and it was raining. It wasn't raining very strong, but it was raining nonetheless. Traffic was stop and go, and that is when I noticed couple of rainbows in the sky, and I thought I'd blog about that.

Barbara Is No More

2008-03-10T09:27:00.002-06:00

As many of you know, I had a secretary that I assigned to help me remember important events.

Barbara (as she was named) can be described as a cute, fair-skinned secretary, and we had a wonderful time the past year or so.

Last week there was the opportunity for both of us go on to better pastures, and this is when Pepper Potts come in. Those of you comic book aficionados will know that Pepper is a famous secretary from the Marvel universe. She had a good resume, including working for Tony Stark (aka Iron Man). She didn't like his drunkenness, so she came to work for me.

Having worked for such a technologically advanced individual, Pepper offers many features not offered by Barbara.

In the end, what happened to Barbara? As I said she is in better pastures....my mom adopted her.

Aaawwww....His First Blood Draw.....

2008-03-04T18:42:00.002-07:00

Today for my Medical Laboratory Procedures Lab we got to practice drawing blood, and it was very very....cool!

This vial contains blood I drew from a fellow classmate (Natalie). She was really good sports about it, because I was so nervous about it, but after you poke a person, and it is successful, it actually feels like it is really easy.

This vial is blood Natalie drew from me, and although she was just as nervous about drawing my blood as I was about drawing her blood, she did really good. We all had two attempts to draw blood, and we both failed the first time. After that we kinda got the method down and we were successful!

♪♪Too Much Heaven♪♪

2008-03-03T22:54:00.004-07:00

For those who know me and my musical taste already know that the Bee Gees rank high on my list of favorites. While burning the midnight oil, I found this rarity online:

The Simpsons (pt. 4)

2008-03-01T21:01:00.006-07:00

Another favorite character of mine is Gil Gunderson, and he is likable because he is always shown to be in the most pathetical of situations (I am so evil!). One can even say he is a loser, except that he passed the bar, even in the situations he is always in, so he deserves kudos! He has had all kinds of jobs (all failures), such as:

Real estate
Car salesman
Doorbell salesman
Lawyer
Mall Santa Claus
Bank security guard (where is was shot several times.....)

NNNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!

2008-03-01T19:13:00.002-07:00

Today I woke up around 7:40 with sunlight peeking through the blinds in my room. I jumped out of bed, excited that the sun was shining, and the events of the coming day (in my mind) made me happy. My game plan was:

9:30: get the oil changed on my car
After oil change: take things to D.I.
After D.I.: clean up car, inside and out
13:30: help Scotty finish move in to his new home
After moving: come home and enjoy a nice and warm day.

Thankfully, my wise and all-knowing step-father advised me not to wash my car because it would rain later in the day. Reluctantly, I followed his advice and only cleaned the inside of my car (the first time since the summer....ooops), and now I'm happy I don't have to regret washing my money down the drain, and at least the inside of my car is clean.

Norah Jones

2008-02-29T22:35:00.004-07:00

Among things I enjoy is music, and among my eclectic taste, I really enjoy Norah Jones. The reason I enjoy her work is because it is easy to listen to, plus it's jazzy and hippie at the same time.

Here's a sample:

Cosmo!!

2008-02-29T21:33:00.006-07:00

Couple of nights ago I was watching Seinfeld, another favorite of mine.

For those of you who don't know anything about it, Seinfeld is a sitcom that ran from 1989 to 1998, and stars Jerry Seinfeld (who plays himself) and his three friends (Elaine Benes, former girlfriend although they are still friends, George Constanza, high school buddy, and Cosmo Kramer, next door neighbor). The show revolves around their lives in New York, and is often very comical.

Kramer is always popping in Jerry's apartment (anytime of the day or night and mooching food), and at one point Jerry gets annoyed at Kramer, and takes the spare keys to his apartment from Kramer. Kramer gets offended and leaves to Los Angeles to become an actor. Jerry who is a stand up comedian, gets tickets to go to Los Angeles to appear in the Tonight Show and he takes George to help find Kramer in Los Angeles.

Kramer, in the meanwhile, is taken for a serial killer when a girl he met is found dead with a script he wrote. Towards the end of the second parter-episode, Kramer is arrested and Jerry and George go to see him at the police station. This clip is what I consider Kramer at his best, and a Seinfeld classic:

♪♪ I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself....♪♪

2008-02-29T17:33:00.001-07:00

Thursday was a moderately busy day for me, but I felt like I was on top of my game. I have to confess, my mind wasn't all there because of the events of the day before, but still I felt like I was on top of things.

About 16:30, I remember I hadn't looked at my work e-mail, so I looked and found three e-mails from my supervisor (she was going to be out of town on Friday). The e-mails had instructions for Friday, and the projects she outlined on the e-mails were not to be started until Friday. I don't know what happened to me, but I suddenly thought it was Friday! I immediately freaked out and hurriedly did all the projects that weren't to be started until Friday.

I drove home, satisfied with the thought that I was so diligent, and completed all I had to in such a short time, and within the time frame. I even thought about renting couple of movies to watch when I got home, and well into the night, since the next day was supposed to be Saturday.

I could feel Saturday within my reach, I could even taste Friday, until a classmate called me to remind me that on the next day we had a group presentation at 09:00. Right then, I felt like I was dreaming, and I realized it was not Friday yet, but only Thursday and all the work I rushed to do didn't have to be done!

As of the time of this post, it really is Friday and I am happy I still had enough time to work on my group presentation.

Let The Holy Spirit Guide....Let Us Then Follow the Holy Spirit

2008-02-27T23:32:00.003-07:00

I remember one institute class last semester about Peter denying Christ three times, and how after the Lord told Peter he (Peter) would deny Christ three times before the cock crew, Peter should have never gone into the palace.

I imagine Peter walking to the palace, and then the Spirit told him in Peter's thoughts that he shouldn't be going to the palace, but Peter went anyway and there he denied Christ three time, the cock crew and Peter "wept bitterly".

Yesterday at school there was an experience that put me in Peter's shoes. Last Friday, after I left work at 17:00, I went out to buy a fish taco and then returned to the school to pick a book for a friend. When I got to the school, there was a guy soliciting money to help buy uniforms for a children's basketball team he was coaching. He had found some students that were helping him solicit, and when they called me, I liked the idea of helping kids, so I gave him $5. Nevertheless, I had the distinct feeling that that man was not supposed to be where he was, but I ignored the feeling.

Tuesday night, after my night class, I saw the same man still soliciting for money, and I had that same distinct feeling that he was not supposed to be there, but because I was tired and it was late, I again ignored the feeling I had for the second time now.

Wednesday morning, all students received an e-mail from the administration that a female student was solicited sexually by a man that fit the description of the man I met the week before, and after talking to some friends that I knew had contact with him, it was confirmed that indeed it was the same person.

I have to admit that at first I felt guilty that my ignoring the feelings I had was almost catastrophic. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the perp was arrested the same day the reports were filed. Still, I can't help but realize that just like Peter of old, I ignored not just a feeling, but the Spirit, who was telling me something was wrong. Then, just like Peter, I couldn't help but "weep bitterly", which sounds really dramatic, but it's how I felt, and still do.

I hope I can learn from this experience, and I also hope my friends will learn from my mistake. DON'T ever ignore a feeling, because that is how the Spirit will prompt us. Some people will hear a loud and clear voice, while others, like me, simply have promptings, but whatever way the Spirit communicates with us individually, we have to respond to Him.

Each Life That Touches Ours For Good

2008-02-26T18:32:00.002-07:00

Writing my last post helped me remember something nice that happened today during the luncheon with Sister Rogers.

When all the invited (three students, faculty, staff, and administration) had arrived at the conference room on the 10th floor and we all sat down, a blessing on the food was pronounced, and then Craig Nelson asked that we all introduce ourselves.

The two other students that were with me and I were the first ones to introduce ourselves to our guest of honor, then the faculty, staff, and administration introduced themselves, and some of them would ask Sister Rogers a question. My former boss, Renae Richards, introduced herself when her turn came, and before she asked her question, she publicly praised me for the almost two years I work for her.

It felt really good to be recognized like that, especially in front of someone who is a special guest......it sure made me feel good!

Hooray!

2008-02-26T17:21:00.001-07:00

My Office procedures teacher received a complaint from a student (probably an angel from on high) that the teacher just reading from the book isn't worth the money we are paying in tuition to have someone read from the book, so for our class today (which is in progress as I am writing) he said he is going to be making changes! That is one of the most wonderful thing I have heard today.

The church is true!

Luncheons+Important Figures=Good Times

2008-02-26T13:55:00.002-07:00

Today's devotional speaker at the LDS Business College was Sandra Rogers, who is the international vice-president of BYU.

She has earned multiple degrees as an RN, and because of that, the school administration asked some of the medical students to go to a luncheon to be held on the 10th floor, following devotional.

As a side note, the chair of the medical department told Sister Rogers that when he was asked which of his students should go to the luncheon, our names (me and two other medical students) came to his mind. Funny thing is that the only reason I went was because my boss, Louise asked me to go......not my teacher. If I didn't work for Louise I probably would never had gone to the luncheon.

The lunch itself was very good (activities that include catering and lunches are provided by the church itself, so the food is blessed). The main course was a salad (a huge one, and mine was a lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon and tomatoes), with a ranch dressing. Desert was a HUGE éclair, so for a lunch I wasn't invited to, lunch was really good!

HHHHMMMM.....I Didn't Know Fruity Pebbles Were Zesty.....

2008-02-25T22:46:00.002-07:00

It's 22:33 on Monday night, and I while doing some algebra home work, I craved some Honey Bunches of Oats (the kind that has peaches with it), and it made me remember an experience I had with cereals while I was serving in California.

Because of traveling issues (a story for another occasion), towards the end of my mission, I had to spend the night with the zone leaders. In the morning I hungered, and asked the missionaries if there was anything I could have for breakfast, and they told me there was some cereal in the cupboard. I noticed there was a box of Fruity Pebbles and some milk, so that's what I chose to eat.

Until then, I had never been a fan of cereal, so I had never had Fruity Pebbles before, so the fruity aspect of the cereal intrigued me. I started, with much happiness, to enjoy me bowl, and realized it tasted a bit.....zesty, which I thought was because of the fruit-flavored cereal (especially citrus).

It turned out the milk was bad and the zestiness I tasted was nothing but rotten milk! Disgusting!

Will It Blend?

2008-02-25T21:23:00.008-07:00

I don't know how many of you have heard about this guy that blends *pretty much anything (I stress pretty much because...somethings just wont blend), but I am always amazed at what he blends, so here is some of my favorites.

RE: Best of Simpsons - Part 3

2008-02-21T16:32:00.002-07:00

My friend told me that he doesn't like the Simpson's episode Sharry Bobbins come to help the family, because he likes Family Guy better (apparently there is an episode in Family Guy where a Mary Poppins-like lady comes and they all sing a song).

I did some research but found nothing on such episode, but as it is, I find Family Guy to be nothing than a plagiarized version of the Simpson's.

Best of The Simpsons - Part 3

2008-02-20T15:46:00.024-07:00

Another of my favorite episodes is called Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious (pronounce that, and you win a million dollars).

Anyway, for those of you Disney Buffs, this is more or less a spoof on Mary Poppins, but in this episode, her name is Shary Bobbins. She was hired to help Marge, who is losing her precious blue hair due to stress.

One of the first this Shary does is help Bart and Lisa clean their rooms. At first they protest, but then Shary shares a song with them that helps them get started. This song has always been a favorite of mine, so I'm posting it here. It's called Cut Every Corner.

What Would You Do? - Part 2

2008-02-18T21:54:00.005-07:00

I saw this great ad for car insurance that really hit close to home. In June/July 2006, my 1989 Honda Accord was stolen while I was at work.

I hope no one else gets through this experience, because IT SUCKS! I remember walking to the street where I parked my car and not finding it. Here's what went through my mind:

I must have parked it elsewhere
Maybe it got towed away (I had one unpaid ticked)
Last but not least, maybe it got stolen.
Holy crap! my car just got stolen.
Oh my gosh! my car got stolen
(sniff...sniff....)My car......nnnnoooooo!

It is such a weird feeling, because you don't think it could ever happen to you (it happens to everyone else, but you). I tried to call my brother Marcio (he works in Sandy) but he was with his sister-in-law in the hospital, then I called my mom (who at the time worked downtown Salt Lake, but by then was home in Orem) and between sniffs I told her I couldn't find my car.

Long story short, I got my car back the next day. The video bellow is very appropriate in describing the moment:

My Papa

2008-02-18T20:58:00.003-07:00

As I mentioned on Moving Party - Part 2, I had some major car problems (car wouldn't start, leaking gas....that sort of thing). Whenever I have problems or questions about cars my first instinct is to call my dad, who is usually busy at work, but nonetheless, always has time for my questions.

In this specific instance, when I called my dad, I was in Ogden and he was in Provo, busily working, but he said he would come and help me anyway since he had to take my brother to Farmington (which is between Provo and Ogden).

Picture this: my dad drove 80 miles to help me get my car to work, and when we got to my car, it started on my first try. It almost felt like I did it on purpose, just to make him drive faraway (it was not on purpose). As always, my dad had a big smile on his face, just like on these pictures I posted.

I have the most wonderful dad!

Moving Party - Part 2

2008-02-18T18:48:00.002-07:00

As I said on my last post about my brother's new house, we weren't able to finish it all on Saturday, so I went back today to finish it today.

Plans changed about what was going to be painted. Originally the Pepto-Bismol room was going to be changed to chive-green, but my brother asked me to just put another coat of primer, paint the door, and put one coat of primer on the room next door.

After some major car-related complications, I finally made it to the house, and finished it all in about two hours (give or take).

I was lucky enough to take some pictures of the casualties:

The palms of my hand were completely covered in white primer because I accidentally kept on putting my hands on wet paint (maybe I needed a wet paint sign). I got it cleaned with gasoline right when I got home, so I couldn't get a picture of it, but these pictures should give an idea of how painting went.

Moving Party

2008-02-17T10:33:00.002-07:00

My brother Scotty is getting married, so he and his wife bought a house. However, before the happy couple can move in a few things need to be fixed.

The highest priority was what we named the Pepto-Bismol Room:

The plan is to take out all the Disney stickers from the wall, put two coats of primer and then paint the walls Chive-green. We got one coat of primer, but because it was really cold it didn't dry, so we left it to dry until Monday.

Another thing Scotty wanted to change was the door knobs on the front and back doors, and this is what he bought for the front door:

The only problem was that the door knob we bought was bigger than the door, so Scotty made some adjustments to the door. When he put the knob in place, his adjustment left a big gap on both sides of the door.

The solution we came up with was to caulk the gaps (Scotty bought stuff to caulk the toilets, so there was some on hand), and re-paint the entire door to hide this little surgical procedure (if you look look at the picture closely you can see the gaps, which fortunately are only on the front door).

The house is adorable! We are going back to finish painting the Pepto-Bismol room and "fix" the front door before the end of the week so they can move in.

The Simpson's (pt 2)

2008-02-15T09:27:00.005-07:00

As I mentioned before, I am a fan of the Simpson's and I decided to occasionally talk about my favorite characters (not including the main family)

I already talked about Yes Guy, and today's featured character is Crazy Cat Lady. Her real name is Eleanor Abernathy, and underneath her demented appearance, is an intelligent woman who became a doctor and a lawyer by the age of 24. Enjoy this simple clip I put together.....I'll sure enjoy it!

Before

After

Dinner at Angel's

2008-02-15T00:28:00.002-07:00

I have this great friend at school, and to protect the innocent, I'll name her....Angel.

Once day we were talking about cooking, and we decided to have a good ol' fashioned competition a la Iron Chef America (or in our case, Iron Chef Latin America). The secret ingredient was Fried Chicken, and to make a long story short, I greatly disappointed her son who placed his young faith on my fried chicken.... ooops.... For unknown reasons, my chicken, which was placed on the deep fryer at the same time as hers, burned almost immediately.

Ever since then, we have talked about a rematch. Unfortunately neither of us (especially me) have had the time to actually sit down and battle.

Tonight we decided to simply get together and have a friendly dinner, which, by the way, she cooked (I brought drinks and desert, which I made from scratch at Smith's, using an ancient family recipe). Angel cooked some mean tacos and I helped make spanish rice, which we all enjoyed a lot!

Way to go Angel!

Flashdance

2008-02-14T22:28:00.003-07:00

This movie shouldn't be watched because of its mature content, except for the very last scene, which has always attracted me. May be it's the song What a Feelin', or the fact that the main lady does a head spin.... go figure.

I never really saw the movie, except for the dancing scene, but after some research, I found that the movie is about these three friends that work in a bar: Alexandra, or Alex (welder by day, exotic dancer by night), Jeanie (waitress at the bar), and Richy (short order cook). All three friends have bigger dreams for themselves, the main character being Alex, who wants to be accepted to the prestigious (and fictitious) dance conservatory called Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. In this specific version of the dance, a scene is omitted where Alex, at the beginning of her routine makes a mistake and asks to start over. My source says it's the "original version" After closer examination, I realized that this clip starts right as Alex is starting her routine again.

Check it out for yourself:

Update: On February 16, 2008, I got home at 18:30 after helping my brother paint his house, and was pleasantly surprised TV Land showing Flashdance, exactly where Alex's is scared of going to the audition, had a fight with her boyfriend, and her long-time mentor just died of old age. My step-father and my mom came to see the dancing scene, and they really liked, especially the head-spin! Good old 80's!