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.

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!

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.

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.

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 piñata. 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.

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

Happy Birthday Audrey!

SLC

Our weekend via instagram

Working in the Right Direction

This past week was a tough one as it was the end of the semester. It was hard to get everything done that I needed to however it was a pretty good week. I was able to get all my papers in on time and even got a little ahead on a couple of other assignments. Now all that is left is to take the final in my Economic History of Greece and Rome. I don't have to take finals in other classes because my grades are high enough that I am not required to do so. I have an A in Greece and Rome but she requires that everyone take the final so I have to take that regardless.

On Tuesday I received an email from the LDS History Library offering an internship for this summer. Although I had to decline due to the research internship that I have already accepted, I was excited about the possibility of working with artifacts in the church history library. I explained to the director that I would not be able to participate in an internship until January and he thought that they could make that work. I would really like the opportunity to do this and I really believe that the Lord is letting us know that we are moving in the right direction by showing us that there are options out there.

I graduate in December and I am working now to get into grad school. I know that if we keep doing what the Lord wants us to do that we will end up where the He needs us. Let's hope that is somewhere really cool.

Pics From Spokane

I had a great time in Spokane a couple of weeks ago. I was able to present my senior thesis and it was really well received. What a great experience and I hope I get to do it again.

Hilarious

I don't really worry about my age however, I find this video hilarious.

We Don't Need No Stinkin Education

Things have taken on a mind of their own over the past couple of months. My educational goals have taken on new meaning and I have been lead in a direction that I didn't think of before.

Whats been happening:

• Tried to intern for a professor but was told that I should try the museum instead.
• Started at the museum reluctantly and found that I love it.
• A goal that came out of this was to start learning how to write grants.
• My advisor found out and made my project at the museum writing grants (I have written two already).
• Found that I have a knack for museum studies and my advisor as well as the director thinks I should pursue a career in public history.
• In order to do so I would need to drop the Education piece of my studies and just do History as my major.
• We fasted on a Sunday that we would be guide to what we needed to do (we received no answer).
• The next Sunday we made the decision to drop the Secondary Education and fasted about whether it was the right decision (not really an answer per se put we felt comforted).
• The following Friday I received an email asking me if I could be a research assistant.
• The professor said that I came highly qualified by two professors in the History Department.
• The job is a paid internship with an office where I would be researching with the possibility of being published (an answer to fasting because if we had decided to stay in education I wouldn't have been able to do it).
• This opportunity offers me the possibility of getting into a better graduate program and getting to be a research assistant.
• This Friday I will be presenting my paper at the Pacific Northwest Regional Conference for Phi Alpha Theta.

We feel that we have spiritual confirmation that we need to head in this direction and we are grateful for the opportunity that we have been given. In talking with my advisor it has come to my knowledge that there are multiple graduate programs that offer programs in history and public history combined so that I could teach at a university or be the director of a museum. There are other opportunities that are open to us by doing this as well and we are excited about the future.

A Couple of Things

I posted a couple of new papers on my other blog that may be of interest to some of you. One of them is a paper on Machiavelli's political concepts and how some work and some do not. The one right below that one is the paper that I am presenting on Friday at the Phi Alpha Theta Conference in Spokane. I am still working on where this paper is going for my thesis but I am excited about the opportunity to present my research thus far. Let me know what you think if you have a minute.

I found this video on Yahoo this morning and found it interesting. It is about the LGBT community at BYU and I was very impressed by the video. If you have the time watch it, I thought that it was done really well.

Our New Collection

A couple of years ago we decided that it would be cool to start a political button collection since we are both political junkies. One of our fun New Years resolutions was to make some headway on our resolution. So we have added some new buttons to the collection. The set of 36 have a bunch of different buttons from FDR to H.W. Bush. The new set is the FDR set of three that we just go this week.

32 Years

I am not the type to worry about my age. I think part of that comes from looking like I am 12 so that I have always wanted to be older. The other night while I was reading to Audrey she asked how old I was going to be. Before I could answer she said "I'm going to be 5, are you going to be 5? Or 7?" I laughed and said "No, I'm going to be 32." Her response was "32, that's weird!" As I think about turning 32 I have to agree with Audrey that it is "weird." I often tell Becky that my 16 year-old self would kick my rear if he were to see me now. Rocking a beard and not a goatee, going to college and doing well, not being a snowboard bum at Mt. Hood, and having kids. I am pretty sure that my 16 year-old self would almost die at the thought of sitting in bed with Audrey reading and coloring Ni Hao, Kai-Lan.

One of the biggest changes in the past 32 years is the ideology of my birthday. The 7th will be spent taking Audrey to school and then hours spent in the library working on my thesis until class. After classes I will rush to the museum to get my work done there to be back at the school in the afternoon for an honor society meeting. The day is packed full and I am completely busy with other things then birthday events. However I am excited about being busy because it means that I am working on something. A few years ago I would have taken work off for my birthday and made a day out of just me. This birthday will be spent securing my future which has a better ring to it then a day for Justin.

After 32 years I have come to realize that my 16 year-old self did not know what he was thinking. Sitting on the couch with my wife is a lot more fun then I thought it would be. Reading to my daughter is more enjoyable then I could have imagined. Spending time with David is better then anything I did at 16. If my 16 year-old self does show up maybe I will have to kick his tail instead. I am not sure that it would make much difference though.

Looking for Something

I have posted a couple of essays that I have written for classes on my other blog. I thought that some of you might be interested in what I am studying so I am providing a link to the other blog so you can check it out. Just a quick post to let you know what I am up to.

Click Here

More Research

I'm headed to Salt Lake City for a few more hours of research before I start my paper. Time is running out and I feel more lost now then I did before I started. This Friday I will head out, without my family, and spend three to four hours in the LDS History Library. I will then get up and spend another five hours there the next day. All this work for a few items that will lead me in a direction to build a thesis. My professors tell me that the artifacts, the primary sources, need to speak to me. I am hoping that during this trip the primary sources will scream at me. The interpretation of these sources is the hard part of research and I am finding it a tough task. What does one source say about another and how does it fit in the broader historical context? How does one historian interpret a source one way but another is able to get something completely different? I am about to spend eight to nine hours trying to figure that out. It is perplexing and yet I am having the time of my life digging through old letters, photos, and notes. Let's hope that this weekend produces the results that I am looking for.

Happy Valentines Day

I am so lucky to have a wife that is:

Such a wonderful mother

Great wife

Beautiful

Loving

Willing to put up with me

Caring

Gorgeous

Spiritual

Strong

Courageous

Motivated

Happy

Able to push me to be better

HOT!

Happy Valentines Day! 

(It will only get better from here.)

Phi Alpha Theta

Earlier this week I decided to join Phi Alpha Theta which is the National History Honor Society. I was asked to join others but thought that this was the right fit for me. When I joined the advisor asked if I wanted to present my paper on Slavery in Utah at the Pacific Northwest Regional Conference in April. I told her that I thought it would be exciting but that I wasn't ready but maybe next year. Today I had a fellow student ask me if I was going to present my research at the conference and I told her that I didn't think that it was refined enough to do so. I then ran into the advisor again and she said that she had talked to a professor who had seen my paper and that he suggested that she invite me again. I was still unsure about my progress and research and told her that I would have to think about it. Then this afternoon I met with one of my professors about my paper and the first thing he asked me was if I was going to present my research at the Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference. I told him that multiple people have been asking but that I was nervous. He assured me that the topic was excellent and that my research had already yielded unusual results. After talking it over with him I decided to go ahead with presenting at the conference. I had to have an abstract in by tomorrow (which I have posted on my other blog) and I am leaving tomorrow to do more research in Salt Lake. I am really busy with school, the apartments, the museum and the my family but I feel so productive. Lets hope I can get this paper finished by March!

UPDATE
My abstract was accepted, I am headed to the Pacific Nortwest Regional Conference to present my research on slavery in Utah. If you want a more focused idea of what I am doing click on the link above and read my abstract and, below that, proposal.

Break Through!

Last night I got caught up in doing research for my thesis and before I knew it I stayed up until 12:30am. This past weekend we had made a trip to Salt Lake to do research in the LDS Library. We went down on Friday and got a room at the Hilton so I would be close enough to Temple Square to walk so that Becky had a car. Friday afternoon I walked over to the library to start my research. One of the patrons informed me that one of the pieces I had picked out was not available to me because it had not been processed so I was not allowed to look through it. I was bummed about it because it was a box full of Brigham Young Memorial Association material that could yield reasons for adding colored servants on the plaque. This patron informed me that I could submit a request to go through that box, so I did while I was waiting for the other materials to come down.

I was able to look through microfilm for a couple hours but the first two films did not yield any evidence that would be helpful. Finally at 4:45pm I came across a newspaper clipping that talked about the Pioneer Jubilee in 1897 and the Brigham Young Memorial Association. Unfortunately I had to return my materials because the library closes at 5pm and they ask that you return everything by 4:45pm. I thought that it would be fine because I could return to the library on Saturday and continue my research.

Saturday morning came and the library didn't open until 10am and then the missionaries had a meeting so I was not able to get into the library that morning. However I was able to check out some other historical monuments that are relevant to my thesis.

We met Lyric and Scott for lunch and Scott suggested that we go to a new book store that is located near their house at Trolley Square. We headed over there and found that they had a rare book collection. As we were going through it I found a book that was published in 1891 that talked about the migration of the saints to the Great Basin. I was so excited to see that in its pages the three African Americans were listed as pioneers and not colored servants.

As I was doing my research last night I came across a book that was listed as "others have also bought" at the bottom of the page. I started checking out other books and found one that was published in 1909. This book referenced the Pioneer Jubilee and talked about a book that contained all the pioneer signatures of those that were still alive in 1897. This book was titled The Book of the Pioneers. I did a search for the book and found it in the Law Library at the University of Utah. The University of Utah had it available online so I was able to flip through pages of signatures and stories of the pioneers.

Book of the Pioneers

I flipped through over 400 pages looking at signatures trying to find Green Flake because he was the only African American, out of the three, that was still alive at the time. I was so excited to come across page 242 and see his name scribbled on the page. At the bottom of the page is a story that he relates about crossing the plains with Brigham Young as well as seeing buffalo for the first time.

A portion of page 242 of The Book of the Pioneers

This book was to honor the pioneers and their achievement of reaching Zion. It amazes me that in this book is a page devoted to Green Flake and his accomplishment. To me this would mean that rather than looking at the plaque on the Brigham Young Monument as continued racism, this should be looked at as a progressive way to honor the three African American pioneers that traveled with Brigham Young to the west.

What, Honor Society?

Today I received this letter from Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education. This is the third honor society that I have been asked to join. I realize that you have been asked to join honor societies, but I have not. This is a first for me and I am really excited. I have always been a goof off and have never been recognized for my academic achievements. It feels really good to be in this position and that is why I feel the need to brag.

Senior Thesis

This semester I am working on my senior thesis. I have mentioned it in a couple of blog posts and thought that I would let me loyal readers know exactly what I have decided to research.

In a U.S. History class last semester we were discussing slavery being predominately in the South. A color coded map was shown that revealed slavery in Salt Lake City. I was shocked to see that slavery had made its way to Utah when the Territories were suppose to be "free" territories. I asked the professor after class what he thought about the map showing slavery in the Utah and said that he thought the map was incorrect in that aspect. I went along my way satisfied with thought that it was in error but something kept grating on me. I decided to look into the issue and found that Brigham Young had brought three slaves with him from Winter Quarters, Nebraska. I couldn't believe what I was reading and as I read further I found that the names of the three slaves (Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby) were actually on the Brigham Young Monument.

On a trip to see Lyric in Salt Lake City I decided to go and see for myself. In the photo below, on the bottom right hand corner you can see that it says "Colored Servants" and below that are the names of the three slaves. After doing some research I am not shocked that LDS church members had slaves but rather that someone decided to make a divide among the white pioneers and "colored Servants". Therein lies the basis for my thesis. I want to find out the reason that there is a disparity between the races when this monument was erected in 1897 which is well after the Civil War. I have done some research and found that there are many primary sources in the LDS Church library and I am excited to get started. I think that this semester will be a tough one but this experience should be fun and rewarding.

In case you would like to read my senior thesis proposal I have included it here. I did receive an A on the paper even though there are some corrections that need to be made.

photo from www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=35317

A Little Embarrassed/Christmas Break Reading

I have looked at my blog for over a month now trying to figure out how to post my grades without being embarrassed. At the end of the summer semester I posted my grades with pride and admiration. I took six credits and received a 4.0 GPA for my hard work which even made it to Becky's blog. The fall semester came and I worked equally as hard to gain the necessary grades I would need to continue on with a graduate program. The embarrassing part is that I fell short this semester. Becky tells me that It will be fine and that I can still be proud of my accomplishments however my grades have kept me from posting on my blog. In order to get over the hump I am going to post them and move on to something else so that I do not have to dwell on them any longer.

U. S. History and Culture - A

Historian's Craft - A

Modern U.S. History 1929-Present - B+

Comparative Politics - B+

The Presidency - A

Voting and Public Opinion - A

Semester GPA - 3.77

Cume GPA - 3.83

Christmas Break Reading

Over the Christmas break I was able to read a couple of books. The first book was one that I own but was having trouble finding time to read it. The other was a Christmas gift from Becky and she knows me too well.

Yes...this is another Kurt Vonnegut book. I bought this book from a little shop in Hyde Park before we left Boise. It has been the one book that I have held in my hand the longest for fear that once I read it my last tie to the city that I love would be gone forever. It has sat on my night stand since we moved to Pocatello reminding me of the quaint book shop in Hyde Park, Java (a coffee shop where we bought hot chocolate every chance we got), the bustle of the city, the warmth of a small town, the feel of home. Once "Cat's Cradle" was over everything regarding Boise would come to end and Pocatello would be at the forefront. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, however there has been some pain and a urning for the city that gave me so much.

"Cat's Cradle" is not a book for everyone. Like all of Vonnegut's books there are recurring anti-war themes and liberal undertones. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the next Kurt Vonnegut selection that Becky gave me for Christmas entitled "Armageddon in Retrospect".

The second book I read over the break was the new book by Chris Matthews entitled "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero". A few years ago I read my first biography and really enjoyed it. Since that time I have read a couple of others and have found that I love biographies of political figures. This book took me back to that first biography in more ways then one because it was the biography of Bobby Kennedy titled "RFK". These books span almost the same time period with a lot of overlap since Bobby worked with Jack on his campaign. This is a great book that discusses John Kennedy's experience in World War II, his campaign tactics, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the legacy that "JFK" left on the executive office. A great read for anyone looking for a biography to start 2012.

I was so excited Christmas morning when I received this book. I had been talking about this one and the new Bill Clinton book. This selection proves that my wife knows me too well. She knows that I am fascinated by the Kennedys and that I love political history almost more then any other genre. Thank you Becky for this book and the many others that I was given Christmas morning.