Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Catch up

  • Started a new semester
  • Voted president of Phi Alpha Theta
  • Grad schools?
  • Graduate school applications
  • SPANISH!
  • Research of Shoshone Falls
  • Research on race and gender in the American West
  • GRE
  • LDS History Museum
  • LAMBOURNE PAINTING!
  • Grad schools!
  • Preparing to graduate in December
  • Applying to Stanford, University of Oregon, University of Utah, and maybe more.
  • Peggy Pasco Fellowship
  • Phi Alpha Theta is ROCKING!
  • Waiting to hear about a grant I applied for.

That looks like everything since I last posted. If you are confused, let me know and I will try to explain something.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Changes

Over the past year Becky and I have tried to make a lifestyle change for our family. We were getting tired of our kids eating the horrible things that they were eating. They were also asking for chocolate and treats throughout the day as well as soda. We decided that we wanted to start eating better for the betterment of the family. On a trip to Utah we discussed this with Lyric and Scott to see what changes they had made to help Scott with his arthritis. We started trying to mimic their diet however, over time we found that we could eat other things as well. The past couple of months people have seen us and asked what we have been doing and most of them are amazed to hear that it is strictly diet and no exercise (not that I am saying you should not exercise, we just have not). Both Becky and I feel much better and have more energy. On a recent trip to Boise a friend of mine just kept saying how different I looked so I thought I would post some pictures. Let me know what you think when you get the chance. Also Becky wants me to do a post about our food choices and I will probably do that in the next couple of days.



Left: 247lbs at Audrey's sealing. Right: 185lbs at Phi Alpha Theta Conference

Left: 240lbs at 2011 Willard Reunion. Right: 185lbs Phi Alpha Theta Conference


Family at a waterfall in Twin Falls last weekend for the Vipperman Reunion. Me: 177lbs

Hopefully Becky will do a post like this soon because she has lost more weight then I have and looks AMAZING!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

My Reading List is Better than your Reading List

Earlier this year I started a collection of books that I wanted to read over the summer. It included a variety of books from historical, biographical, fictional, a classic, and one that I thought would be a great book because I love the show Destination Truth on SyFy. So far I have finished two and I am on to the third. With less than two months left and the GRE coming up I am nervous that I will not finish all the books on the list. Regardless I thought that I should share the two that I have read with my loyal readers.

The first book that I started was a book by Tony Horwitz about confederate reenactors in the South and how the Civil War is still going on in some places. The book travels through several different battle sites and even on a Civil Wargasm where Tony and a friend try to hit as many Civil War spots as they can in a week. The book offers reasons for southerners attitude toward the Civil War and I found it very interesting because I could relate to many stories since I had served my mission in the South and seen many people flying Confederate flags or shirts. The Civil War is still raging in the South and I am sure that it will for years to come. As one ward mission leader told me; "The war between the states ain't over, we're just waiting for a good time to attack."



The second book that I finished this is Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter. Anyone that has read my blog from the beginning may recognize the name Josh Gates. Josh was on my man-crush list a few years ago and was even in the top two. When this book came out I told Becky that I wanted to read it and see all the fun that Josh had behind the scenes. For my birthday Becky surprised me with the book and I put it on the shelf because I was in the middle of my semester. The other night I was explaining the book list to Becky and trying to see if I could get through the entire list before the summer was over. She said that she was bummed that Destination Truth was not on the list. To be honest I had forgotten about it when I put it on the shelf mid-semester. I was so excited to pull it out and read it this past week because the season premiere of Destination Truth was on Tuesday and I was more than half way through the book.

Josh shares a lot of behind the scenes experiences from the show but also some personal experiences from before becoming the Monster Hunter. You can hear Josh in his writing and it was so much fun to read. I was prepared to watch the premiere on Tuesday and sat on the edge of my seat thinking of all the things that were going on behind the scenes to make these trips work. The book also offers some insight into travel and finding yourself (if you haven't already). It was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone that likes the show or just has a man-crush on the author.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

This morning I posted my senior thesis on my other blog. I recently submitted it to the Journal of Mormon History for approval and I am waiting to hear back to see if they want to publish it. This has been a great project for me and I feel that I have found an area that I am excited about and something that I can continue into my masters thesis.

This summer has been pretty low key as I have not had any classes. I have a reading list of books that I want to read over the summer and I have been working my way through them. Also on Monday July 2nd I start my new intership as a research assistant for a professor at Idaho State. I am excited about the possiblilty but sad to be leaving the museum as I have had a lot of fun there.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mothers Day

I am so grateful for my mother and all she has done for me. However on this Mothers Day I am especially grateful for the mother of my children. Becky is the perfect mother for Audrey and David. All you have to do is take a look at her blog and you can see the wonderful mother that she is. Running the apartments is a hard job however she still designed an amazing birthday party for Audrey that included a six layer cake, dipped cookies, fruit and a piƱata. She spends countless hours with David at night while the rest of us are asleep. She is amazing and she does not get enough credit for being the most wonderful mother that she is.

Today is Mothers Day and I want to tell Becky what a wonderful mother she is. I want her to know that she is loved. Our children love her, she makes our home exponentially better, she is the mother of our home and she is puts the needs of the rest of us above her own. Becky I hope you know that we love you and although we take you for granted, we do know what we have the most wonderful and amazing mother in our home.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

My Grades are Better Than Your Grades

After waiting patiently this past week for my grades, they are finally here. I was excited to start this semester off however after a few weeks I found that this was going to be a tough semester with all of my classes being upper division and 24 books to read. I was unsure that I would be able to keep my GPA up since I would also be working on my thesis. Now that it is over I am pretty happy with my grades. What do you think?

Urban History  A
Political Philosophy  A
Anthropology of War and Violence  A
Women in History  A
Senior Seminar  A
Economic History of Greece and Rome  A

GPA - 4.00
Cum. GPA - 3.90