The Vacation

My trip to California has been a pleasant one. I have enjoyed my stay here and I enjoy the chance that I have had to work with my father. It is a nice feeling having a job. I enjoy it a tremendous amount. With this being stated, it is incredibly difficult for me to go back to Utah where I don’t have a job and I am not being productive what so ever. The difference is very little between me here and me there. However  I feel as though I am so much more productive here. While I know that it is just as productive, if not more so to find a job independently from my father, it is still just very frustrating to be disciplined enough to go ahead and find one.

                Living in a heavily guarded mormon society does really have its perks though; especially in being able to make correct decisions. Swearing is far more common in secular society than the mormon monastery that I have called my home for the past year. So to is the temptation to watch uncouth and salacious television and movies. It is just so commonly accepted to watch these shows here that it is easy to accep the standards of others as your own. I think Provo is a fitting place for me at the present moment. With this in mind, I think provo has ripened me for satan’s harvest. I havfe loosened my standards while living in Provo in an attempt to be accepted into the mormon culture and as I return down to the real world I am more easily swayed to sin.  

                Regardless of what has transpired throughout this entire trip and my susceptibility towards sin, I have come to the conclusion that I am very glad that I have taken this trip. I have managed to both relax in a different way that I would be able to than in Provo and I have been able to work in a different way than I would be able to in provo. It has been a good trip.

                It is my belief that this trip is merely a microcosm for how my colligiate life is. Since returning home from my mission I have been quite frustrated in regard to my lack of focus on others. It is frustrating to do things for oneself. It is frustrating to educate, feed, and entertain yourself without the thought of others. During my mission it was these actions which constituted a hedonistic lifestyle.  Throughout this time I have felt frustrated and upset.

                During this break I have been reading a book called Same Kind of Different As Me. It is a rather inspiring story regarding the friendship between a rich art dealer and a poor black homeless man. It was during my reading of this inspiring story that I began to reflect upon my future career as a teacher. For the past few months I have been driven to live out a benevolent dream. I have been inspired to help serve people from the ghetto by helping them as a history teacher. It is such a pure and wonderful dream. It is as if I will be stepping back in to my mission doing a thing that is far more worthwhile than just making money. I will be helping and inspiring children to transcend the racial, social, and economic fetters which presently keep them bound.   

                It was at that moment that I realized that my vacation indeed was symbolic of my college experience. Currently I am on a vacation in California, but in the same way, currently I am on a vacation from doing that which is benevolent and kind, but is also difficult. In college I am focusing upon myself and bettering myself in order to better those who I will serve in the future. All that I must now do is learn to enjoy myself and for the present time living for myself.

Scholarship Letter

Dear Call Family,

            I would like to thank you for your contribution on my behalf. Words cannot express the joy that I have experienced since I have received this scholarship. I thank you so much for your desire to assist students in regard to their schooling.

            Receiving this scholarship is one of the most rewarding things has ever happened to me. Allow me to share a little bit about myself. I am an individual who in some regards has been dealt a very difficult hand of cards to play with in the game of life. I am dyslexic. I have ADHD. I suffer from spouts of anxiety and I am clinically diagnosed with depression. I have been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder.  At times life has been difficult for me to live. I could not read until the fifth grade. I was in remedial classes for the majority of my adolescence. There have been times in college where school just seemed far too difficult. At those times I wanted to quit. I have wanted to give up.

            Growing up with such problems was difficult for me. I have had to endure the jokes that come from unkind and insensitive peers, who considered me to be less than them. I grew up having the world think that I was stupid and incapable. However, I always have known that I was intelligent. I have always known that I was far more capable than anyone has given me credit for being. For many years, however, it bothered me that no one else knew that I was smart.

            While my disabilities have given a great amount of grief, they have also allowed me to learn and to grow in ways that none of my peers can. I have had to work harder and become far more committed to my schoolwork and extracurricular activities because of these disabilities. I have had to humble myself and ask others for assistance. I have had to learn how to win at the game of life even when I was given a lousy set of cards to play with. How I am grateful for those disabilities. They have made me who I am today. How I am grateful for the lessons that they have taught me. I would never trade them for anything. I thank God for giving me these disabilities. I would not trade the hand of cards I have been dealt for anything in this world.

            The scholarship that your family has given me is a momentous occasion in my life. It is physical proof that I have transcended those things which for so many years kept me bound. This scholarship is evidence that I have overcome much in my life. I thank both your family and God for the opportunity to receive this scholarship. You have no idea what this means to me.

With much appreciation,

P.S. If you wish to stay in contact with me please feel free to email me at Jromneyevans@gmail.com

My Week in California

Dear Family 

 I have finished my semester as a BYU student and am now in California. The land and the people are far more brown than the white driven snow and people of Provo. I love it. It adds flavor and character to a world that most certainly needs some. I spent the entire weekend trapped in Saint George. Sometimes my entrapment was a good experience at other times it certainly was not. Friday and Saturday were spent hiking throughout all of Gods country (which is the outskirts of the beloved Saint George). It was a magical time in my life. I love to see the scenery of foreign places. However, on sunday which coincidentally happened to be easter, I missed being with my family. We attended a ward in a strange town known as snow hills or something of the likes. It has been a good trip thus far and most assuredly will get better. 

The life of a celebrirty

In an attempt to avoid studying for my Greek History test I turned my attention to the world of wikipedia. I love the random amounts of information that one can access from that great bastian of knowledge. It is astounding for me to think how much information is contained on such a sight. However, that is a tangent for another story. As I was writing my paper ben folds tiny dncer (a cover of elton john's orignal song) came on. I love that song and as a result I began to be inquisitive as to what the story was behind it. it turns out that the song is a story about marylin monroe (norma jean). I then quickly turned to wikipedia to look up Ms. Norma Jean herself. As I did so I could not help but feel pitty for this women. Here this girl was who had everything given to her on a silver platter and yet she had nothing. She was bitterely alone and estranged from society. her worldly ways led to the destruction of her marriages, careers, and life. She is a beautiful tragedy. Her life was of little worth. What good did she accomplish? What did her legacy bring? a few topless photos, a couple of movies, a golden globe, and a cult following who worship her for no describeable reason (I'm serious ask any woman who worships Monroe and they will never be able to tell you why they like her. The best explanation I've ever heard was that she was a size eight and still managed to look good, but in all honesty thats a pretty freaking stupid reason why to like someone). She is a testament to the fact that your can be loved and adored and still remain useless and bitterly alone. Indeed her life is a tragedy and should be looked upon as such. She inspires me not to be like her. I hope that one can say on the day of my funeral that "Romney was the antithesis of Marylin Monroe." I think if someone states that then I will look on from heaven and know that my life was a success. I hope that my name is not immortalized for no reason at all like Monroe's is. I hope my name is forgotten but that which I bring is remembered by all. I hope the changes that I make as a teacher, a father, and a priesthood holder can make a difference in peoples lives.

Dinner With the Parents

I've made it a goal to write on my blog at least three times a week. As a result such I have decided to write a post for the express purpose of fulfilling my goal. The only explanation for why I am doing this is the fact that I have obessive compulsive disorder and if I do not write three times a week to fulfill my goal my world will not be correct. For those of you who have obessive compulsive tenancies you completely understand where I am coming from. For those of you who do not...Your not missing out on much. I envy you. However, I hope you enjoy my post.
I a sizeable portion of my day up in Park City with my parents and the haynie family as well as Sarah. (I give a shout out to sarah becuase she probably is the only girl who will ever read my blog). While there I was glad to find out that my family is not the only family who randomly breaks out into "go my son" from the laminite generation.
Well thats all that I got.

The Gauntlet has Been Thrown Down.

Dear Family,
   Greetings from Provo Utah, "home to players and the played." In recent times I have developed a tad bit of a player status. I enjoy dating. I go on lots of dates. I ask a great amount of women out. I have enjoyed doing so thoroughly. True, there are some parts of being a player that I do not like but for the most part I enjoy it. Being labeled in-genuine-which is a statement that I detest in all ways shapes and forms. I am not in-genuine and if anyone calls me that they do not know me. I attempt to be the most honest person that I can be.- is a small price to pay for the company of numerous friends made.I have taken much pride in always having more women than my dates have men.
Last Saturday, however, I ran into a minor speed bump. for the first time in my life. I encountered a date that had more men than I had women. When I told her that I wanted to be honest with her and said that I was dating other people she retorted with a "well thats ok because I'm dating four other guys." I was flabergasted, hurt, and upest. However, as I reflect upon the situation more and more I have decided not to get mad but rather I need to get more. and so my quest now begins.
Another thought. I am going to make up a documentary called forty dates in forty nights.

Rob must have spent a little more time on you

Dear Family,
Hello and greetings from Provo, Utah "the land of milk and honey's." Yes your son has been inspired by a number of factors to put his literary talent to use and start blogging. I have wanted to do this for a number of years, but I have not had the discpline nor have I had the time to actually go and do it. However, as I review the majority of my days I have decided that there is one striking commonality to all of them. I have decided that there is one thing that I do every day multiple times a day. I like the rest of America am obsessed with Facebook. Its a redicolous and shameful admission. I feel as though I like the rest of America am subject to the whim and will of Mark Zuckerburg's evil creation. In fact as I am writing this blog post in the library right now and as i look around the room I can see at least three people on Facebook. Why do we as students look at faebook? What is so appealing about this social network that we check facebook at least on the hour. It makes no sense whatsoever to me. Do we actually believe that within the last hour that we have checked facebook that something has changed? Do we sincerely believe that in the past forty five minutes anything on any of our friends facebook's will have changed? The answer of course is yes. All the reason and logic in the world defies it. However, we still check our facebooks.
  Ever since writing a paper on my media intake for my communications class i have been attempting to shift what I do with the majority of my time. After comming to the conclusion that I look at facebook at least ten to fifteen times a day, I have attempted to cut down the amount of time that I am on facebook. With this being stated, however, it is far easier to state that you will change a habit than to actually change the habit. To this point I have failed miserably. I have tried to stay away from the old FB by reading newspaper articles off of Google news, emailing friends and family members, and checking the blogs of ESPN writers, but in all honasty my facebook intake still remains out of control.
 And so in a last ditch effort to avoid the evils of facebook I have decided to turn to blogging. That is the reason for me to begin my blogging career but my inspiration to do so is actually two people. The first person who inspired me to begin my blogging career was Sarah Holden. She has often spoke fondly regarding the joys of blogging and it has sparked an interest in my heart. however, this was not enough for me to begin my blogging career. There needed to be someone bigger someone better and someone far more inspirational than just my friend sarah. My answer came to me on Friday in the form of a man. His name was Rob. Sarah and I saw him when we were at a cupcake store.  While I hold firm to the fact that my sexual orientation has not been tainted since seeing Rob, this man was the most beautiful man I have ever seen. My admiration for Rob is not driven by some sexual desire. Quite the contrary, I look at Rob as I would look at the David. I do not lust after the David. I do not think that the david is hot. No I look at the david and marvel at the divinely inspired work of Michelangelo. When I look at Rob I look at the divine work of the angels.
  I am puzzled as to what Rob is. Is his overwhelming beauty a gift from God? Was he sent from heaven for us to appreaciate he and his beauty? Or his he a curse from heaven? Is he a plague comparable to the biblical plague of locusts and the death of a first born child? Is Rob sent from God to remind us of our beauty and imperfections? Is he sent to humble us and remind us that we are mere mortals? I do not know. I think if I ever see Rob again I will slit my wrists but die a happy man. and it is truly for this reason I have created this blog. To priase the work that is Rob and to rid myself of the affliction that is facebook.