Best Shots of Vienna :: The Group

Okay. This post has been in the workings for quite some time now. I had to dig through all of my photos from Vienna to make sure that I found the perfect ones for this post. I had to hand-pick my favorite shots of the members of my group. I thought it would be a lot easier than it was. I spent hours just deciding which ones I liked best. Not the ones they probably would love the best, but the ones I loved the best. Some were quite flattering. Others, well... not so much.

I tried to keep it to one or two pictures per person. Some I would like to post ten, which I still may do in the future. So, for your viewing pleasure, we will proceed alphabetically.

Adriana

Probably the coolest and kindest person I know. 

Alexa

That one time she fell asleep on the bus and nobody woke here up. haha!

Aly

This is one of my favorites for so many reasons. 

Becca

Always so happy. Always smiling. Always having a good ol' time. 

Christina

She always has her vogue face on. Not many people notice it. Beautiful.

Gabriela

It is impossible to take a bad picture of this girl. I tried to find an embarrassing on, but there just aren't any.

Grace

One of my favorite people ever. There are so many great pictures of her that I wanted to put up, but had to settle with these ones. Love this girl to death.

Hannah

Working hard and working her new Italian leather.

Jarom & Andrea

She can work it just fine without her husband.

Jeanny

"What's that? Oh, I'm pretty even when caught off guard."

Julia

The pretty princess that always has the perfect pose.

Kiely

Had to get one with the Ferrari driver.

Kristen

Super sweet. Super nice. Wasn't ready for my itchy trigger finger.

Kristin

I think I scared her a little when I took this.

Michelle

Amazing pianist. Models beaches on the side.

Lucy

Gentlemen, you can find her in a practice room deep in the HFAC.

Lisa

She always has a face for the camera.

Paige

I love this picture. I don't even remember what she was doing. We had some good times together.

Stuart & Kathryn

The pointed fingers. Trumps every dance move I know.

Teancum

My roommate. Also one of the brave men to travel with so many beautiful ladies. We had a hard life.

There you have it! My study abroad group. I love them all so much and I miss them a lot. We need to get together soon! Waffles, anyone?

Secret Birthday Admirer

Yesterday happened to be my birthday and it was a fantastic day. Let me recount the details of my day.

I got a lot of practicing in. Yay!

- - - - - - - - - -

"Umm... Why are you celebrating the fact
that you practiced on your birthday?

That sounds pretty lame to me.

You should have done something fun and exciting."

"Well, it was a lot of good practicing.

I wouldn't expect you to understand.

You're always too busy doing dumb stuff like
researching how to build your own carbon fiber components."

"Hey! 

That is legit research.

You'll thank me later when we have an
awesome car with beautiful carbon fiber parts."

"Whatever..."

- - - - - - - - - -

I went to the India Palace with my dad. Mmm... All-you-can-eat Indian food. That was the best.

I went to the Brick Oven with the rest of my family (not everyone will eat Indian food). I had an awesome chicken artichoke pizza. It disappeared pretty fast. And I had lots of root beer to drink. So good.

We took a cake over to my grandparents house so that we could celebrate with them. They were pretty happy and excited we were there.

To top off my day, I received a thing of balloons with a snickers weighing them down. Hmm... Sound familiar? 

The difference being, I know who gave them to me last year. I have not the slightest idea from whom these ones came. There was a note on the door that said they were delivered to my neighbors, seeing as I wasn't home at the time, but there was no note. Nothing.

- - - - - - - - - -

"You should get on that.

Find out who it is.

She's probably pretty cute.

You could get working on that dating
thing I've been pestering you about."

"I don't know, man. 

I haven't dated in a while.

I'm probably not good at it anymore."

"Who are you kidding?

You never were any good at it."

"And why do I even talk to you?

Goodbye.

Go away now."

- - - - - - - - - -

So, readers, if you have any leads, that would be helpful as I would like to thank said "secret admirer" for the thoughtful balloons. If it's a guy, forget the "secret admirer" part, but I have a feeling it wasn't a guy. Just a hunch. 

And last, but not least, I ended with a nice Insanity workout session. The quest for the summer 6-pack is still on. And I'm closing in on it.

Solar Eclipse

There was a solar eclipse yesterday that could be seen in Utah. I was pretty excited about this and wanted to get some pictures of it. It was pretty tricky to get the pictures to come out, but eventually, I managed to figure it out. They really look a lot like shots of the moon, but that aren't. Well, they are, actually, shots of the moon, just with the beaming bright sun behind it.

I hope you enjoy some of these shots. Well, you better enjoy them because I sacrificed my vision for these ones.

I love Sundays

I get pretty excited for Sundays, because I get to wear this.

My new favorite suit.

I don't know why I wait for Sundays to pull this out.

I should just wear it every day.

But if I did that, it wouldn't make Sunday such a special day.

Denver Zoo

This last week, I went on a trip with my parents, my brother and his wife and their adorable little girl to Denver to visit with family. It was a ton of fun. We had a good trip over there and everyone was happy. Just check out my little niece. So adorable.

For one of our days there, we decided to head to the Denver Zoo. It was really cool and a lot of fun for my little niece. We saw some cool animals that she just loved it. I did start getting quite warm outside and she eventually got tired. Here are some of the fun things we saw!

All ready to wander around the zoo.

With daddy looking at the cool animals. 

Pretty happy to be seeing fun things, especially the monkeys and penguins.

The zoo was a lot of fun. Even more fun with my family and the cutest niece in the entire world. 

Waffles

While in Vienna, we often had the chance to visit the Church Outreach Center. The Outreach Center is basically a haven for young adults that want to enjoy a good time in an environment thriving with the Spirit. There were many activities going on throughout the week here, such as Family Home Evening, Institute and game night.

Well, game night, which was on friday, quickly turned into waffle night. It was the best night and I would look forward to it every single week. Not only were there waffles and fantastic company, but the wonderful senior missionary couple, the Zauggs, were there to make sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed and wanted. They were basically our sweet grandparents over in Vienna.

At a typical waffle night, I could easily down 5 or 6 of these delicious waffles. I would have to put a limit on myself so everyone could have one. Sister Zaugg had this amazing buttermilk syrup that just knocked my socks off and kept me going back for more and more waffles. That syrup seriously turned off the mechanism in my body telling me that I was full. It is so good!

One of my many waffle compositions

Upon returning home to Utah, I quickly noticed that something was missing in my life. I only felt this on friday nights. I thought about this for a little while.

- - - - - - - - - -

"What is missing this lovely friday night?"

"Umm... Probably a date."

"A date?

I don't even know what that is.

No, something else is missing."

"I'm telling you.

It's friday night.

Dating is totally missing from your friday nights."

"No, it's not dating.

I just can't put my finger on it.

For some odd reason, I have the strangest taste in my... WAFFLES!!!"

"Waffles...?"

"That's what's missing from my friday nights!

WAFFLES!"

"I'm still pretty sure it is dating that is missing."

"I need to have a waffle night."

- - - - - - - - - -

And a waffle night I did have. Not by myself. Not with a date either. But with good friends from the study abroad. It was a good thing that I got some recipes from Sister Zaugg, especially her coveted buttermilk syrup recipe. Oh man! It is so delicious.

Friday night was back to normal :)

Centennial Post

Fellow readers, this is my 100th post on my blog. It will have been almost exactly three years since I started my blog. When I first started my blog, I thought it a little silly and didn't know how long it would last. It has become a lot more than what I expected it to be.

It is a place for me to be funny, quirky or serious.

It is a useful tool to help document notable and not-so-notable times in my life. 

It helps me update friends and family, that may be far away at the moment, on things that are happening in my life. 

It is a creative outlet. 

It is a piece of my personality.

A lot of things have happened in my life over the last three years. My blog definitely does not cover everything that has happened. You don't need to know everything that has happened. If you did, I would have reached 100 posts about a month into starting this blog.

I love all of your support and comments. They really do make my day and help me feel that there is someone out there reading this.

I definitely do not have any specific theme running through my blog, unless you can call 'awesomeness' a theme. So, I want to try and sum up the important things in my life for this centennial post.

First, I have an amazing family. I don't post a lot about them because I'm a little bit selfish. I like to keep them all to myself because they are so amazing. They are the most influential reason of why I have become who I am today. And that's a good thing. I love who I am.

What's left of us at home. The other two got married.

Second, I have amazing friends. So many things that have happened on this blog have been in the good company of friends. They inspire me. They uplift me. They make me want to be the best that I can be. I love my friends and I hope they know and feel that I do. 

Third, the best medicine really is laughter. There is nothing that heals like a chuckle or a smile on the face. Suddenly, our worries are behind us and we're feeling better. I really do believe in living a happy, funny life. That doesn't dismiss the hard times or the serious things that happen, but it does make them just a little bit more bearable. It's just too hard for me to be serious all the time.

Fourth, I am really blessed by my Heavenly Father. He has given me more than I really deserve. I can go to Him anytime and anywhere. He is always there, ready to listen to me.

Fifth, I'm grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its teachings. I have based my life off of these teachings. There is a peace and spirit that is brought into my life because of this and I have quickly learned that it is something that I would not want to live without.

Lastly, I really am a devilishly handsome young man. I was a lady-killer from the very beginning.

I wish I looked this good now