Are you hungry?

The Hunger Games.

A fantastic series.

My continued love affair with the written word.

It's a beautiful thing.

For those who haven't read this awesomelyamazing series yet, DO IT!! You won't regret the time spent. Of course it may mean that you sacrifice other, unimportant things in the process, but these things are irrelevant. Trust me. I know.

Okay confession time. I may or may not be writing right now to avoid going back to that black hole the rest of the world refers to as homework, so don't judge too harshly. I'm sure all of you know that wall that comes up outta no where and just WHAM, hits you. I'll attempt to climb over it.. it's pretty dang high though...
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Playing catch-up

Wow, first of all want to apologize for the lack of posting. I hope anyone who regularly reads this blog understands that this IS the end of the semester and I AM trying really hard to get good grades. Hopefully that is sufficient to explain.

In recognizing the recent starvation of my blog, I need to make serious amends with this post in the hopes that I can fully satisfy it for the time being and be forgiven. So get ready for a lot of stuff, it's all comin in at once.

A FAIRLY LONG LIST OF ITEMS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BY JOEY (THAT INCONSIDERATE BOY) SINCE HE TOOK HIS SWEET TIME RETURNING TO THE BLOGGING WORLD:

-My blog turned ONE YEAR OLD!-
This might be the most rotten of my extensive actions of rottenness.
Ok.
Maybe not that bad.
NO IT IS!
How would you feel if the person who cares about you the most FORGETS the day of your birth hmmmm? I don't know about you but I would feel just despicable! So here is my making up for it-Regardless of that fact that some of you will not believe it, I baked a cake. With love.
Fine, keep on not believing. No cake for you.
But seriously this blog has come a long way from very humble beginnings. I've definitely grown a great deal in the past year and I am grateful for all the experiences that have continued to shape me into the person I am becoming/am. And of course I'm grateful for all you wonderful readers who (for reasons unbeknown to this individual) read what I share. I hope you will continue to do so. Here's to another year!

-Thanksgiving-
Fantastic holiday. Not my favorite, but still fantastic. Food, T.V., family, football, food, no school, food. I did mention food right? Oh and I guess all that jazz about being grateful for the things that we have. That's pretty cool too, I guess. Perhaps President Thomas S. Monson could say it better:

We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

I hope everyone had a wonderfully thankful Thanksgiving with those that they love. I know I did!

-A quite large amount of snow did (and didn't) fall-
The setting is Provo, UT, a day or two before Thanksgiving Break. Students brimming with anticipation for the much needed relaxation of time away from school. A sense of euphoria in the air.
Cue sinister music.
But all was not well in Provo. The evil weather "predictors" stated that a hugelyhumongousginormo blizzard was on its way and that everyone better prepare for the end of the world! People panicked. Locked themselves inside their houses. Refused to go anywhere, though the holiday was only a few days away. Schools closed down, concerts were canceled. A few brave souls ventured to continue to try and leave for their vacations that night. The end of the world had hit Idaho and Montana and had even reached Salt Lake City, it seemed like it was inevitable.
1/2 an inch.
That's all that fell.
1/2 an inch.
Needless to say, the citizens of Provo were not very happy with the weather people, not happy in the least.
They received their redemption, however. At the very end of the break, the heavens opened and quite a load of snow was dumped on the frozen city. Not quite blizzard status but definitely quite the snow storm. Annoyingly wet and cold, beautifully picturesque it felt like the official beginning of wintertime in Utah.

Now due to the fact that by now, most of you are face down on your keyboard, drool dripping onto the keys as you catch a few Zs in between items on this list. Therefore, the remaining items will be mentioned in a rather quickish fashion. Fair enough?

-Concert season at UVU has begun-
-December 1st has reached us-
-Harry Potter 7-
-Best and worst days, consecutively-
-Homebound in 15 days-

Whew! Now we're caught up.

Photo, photo on the wall

New goal:

Learn how to properly use Photoshop.

Lately I've been wanting to do bigger and better things with this blog (a natural feeling) but of course I needed to start small and work my way up. Baby steps, baby steps. I talked with my friend Celeste about Photoshop just the other night and how much both of us reaaaaaalllyy want to have it and use it to create amazing pictures like those that we see on other people's sites *jealous monster peeks his head out of cave*. Today I decided to take it a step further and actually try it out for myself before I invested in such a thing. Luckily for me, my school owns a few Macs with all of the programs on them that are free for anyone to use. Jackpot!

I got on the computer, pulled up the program, got all ready to go... and just stared at it. How in the world was I supposed to figure this out?! It all looked like gibberish to me. Fortunately, my quote-unquote sister Sydney, the author of an amazing AMAZING (did I say amaaazing?) blog that everyone and their mother follows, does some amazing things with Photoshop and photography in general and was kind enough to post a tutorial on an example of how to use Photoshop. Thanks Syd!* It was really fun just playing around with things. Well shall we see how I did? Don't judge too harshly.

I mean it.

Before and Afters:

*Happen to have a way to use Photoshop and you have no idea what you are doing and want to give it a try? check out Syd's original post here.

Welllll? What do you think?

Still could use some tinkering? I think so too.

I work on it and get back to you.

"There should be a need for books such as this"

Success!!

I finally finished Les Miserables! It took me about a month but I mastered the book and loved every minute of it. If you haven't already, READ IT!

It was amazing for me because I've seen the movie and know how it ends but the ending still takes me by surprise and leaves me on the edge of this huge abyss along with Jean Valjean, only to bring me back to the safety and peace of the beautifully poetic ending. Reading the novel from front to back you can really see the transition or metamorphosis from dark to light, from evil to good. Jean Valjean is a man who made some mistakes in the past, some not-so-small mistakes, that are not readily accepted in the eyes of the law of the land, even after he turns his life around, attempting to be a man of God.

In fact, to me this novel was ALL about the difference of perspective between God and Man and how far apart, sometimes, those perspectives can be.

"A cannonball travels only two thousand miles an hour; light travels two hundred thousand miles a second. Such is the superiority of Jesus Christ over Napoleon."(p. 1197)

What are the convulsions of a city compared to the émeutes [uprising, emotion] of the soul? (p. 1148)

Men do not always see the acts of other men. But the Lord does. He sees everything, down to the deepest desires of our hearts. "With eyes closed is the best way to look at the soul. (p. 1010)" says Hugo. That's is part of the key in becoming more like our Heavenly Father I think, "...Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)"

Though Valjean stole, lied, hurt, and many other things at times, in the end he always came back to the Lord and tried to undo the wrong he had committed. And that's what the Savior wants for us. To come unto Him so that He can heal us.

And I have no doubt that when "[Jean Valjean] was dead," what Hugo said was true-

"The night was starless and extremely dark. No doubt, in the gloom, some immense angel stood erect with wings outspread, awaiting that soul. (Volume V, Book 9, Chapter 5)"

What can I do?

You know how we look on television, and see all those commercials for kids in Africa or some other third-world country and they ask us to donate something, but we all roll our eyes and say how on earth will that help? How will my $1 donation help some poor child clear across the world?

And we don't do it.

Don't let this be one of those times.

My good friend Katelyn, author of Nothing More Beautiful, recently posted a story about a young boy who has suffered more than any 11-year-old should endure. His name is Marius and he's from Romania. Katelyn relates that:

One night a boiler exploded in his house, killing his parents and leaving him with third and fourth-degree burns over seventy-five percent of his body. Thanks to some skilled surgeons, a couple of BYU students and their families as well as countless others who have contributed to his recovery, Marius has made tremendous progress and is now about to be adopted into a loving family here in the United States.

Katelyn's friend Mark is creating a documentary about Marius's story and needs funds to do so. The mother of the family wanting to adopt Marius has just found out she has cancer, something that has obviously added to the stress of the situation and stretches the financial difficulties. I'll let you read more about the cause here,where Katelyn outlines the problems in a better detail. Here is the actual website for Marius with a small clip about his story.

It will tear your heart out.

Now before you say, Oh sad! But someone else will donate, I'm sure of it. Pause and take a second to think. How often are we given these opportunities to follow the example of Jesus Christ, who gave of Himself selflessly to all who came to Him. Who was a mender of broken things. And how often do we take those opportunities? I can honestly say for myself, not a whole lot. So can we take just a little bit of ourselves and give it to a boy who has lost so much, who remains happy and positive, even in the face of all he has been through? I will give what I can. And that's all the Lord asks. Is to give what you can. So please do.

Finishing off with a poem quoted in a talk that Katelyn references in her post, a talk given by Elder Jeffery R. Holland in the LDS General Conference of April 2006:

In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.
And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.
The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"
And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.
So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:
"O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that's broken past repair,
This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"
And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation—"all things new."
"The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"1

We can do this guys!

you say it best when you say nothing at all

I'm having a hard time deciding what to write about cause I'm having serious writers block right now and I don't know why because I usually have a lot to say but I'm not sure what I want to say today because maybe there's so much to say and if I don't say something then nothing will ever be said and my blog would be sad and I don't want it to be sad because I've come to like my blog and when it's sad I am sad and everything is just sad.

If you're wondering what all this gibberish is, that would be attempt to come up with something to write about today (don't judge). And know you say, Joey, it can't be THAT hard to come up with something to write about on your silly little blog. Well my friends, I have news that will shock and awe you.

It is.

Not all the time, but sometimes.

Like today.

And today I think I just have too much to talk about, so I don't really know where to start. I'm sure none of you have ever had that happen, right? Right. I'm unique. Let me keep thinking that.

But sometimes, I postulate that saying nothing at all can be saying everything at the same time. WHOA! Slow down there buckaroo! Getting too deep for this early in the morn for my taste.

Sorry sorry... apparently I'm too chipper this morning for my own good. But I think that it's a true statement. Often times when we're trying to get something across or send a message, the best thing that we can do is not say anything. When are those moments? Well, I can't really say I'm an expert. Actually, I would say that I'm the farthest thing from it. I'm one of those foot-in-the-mouth people.

Let's just say viewer discretion advised.

oh the weather outside

dictionary states: a precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into flakes, formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air.

any guesses?

you're so smart!

that's right people it is SNOWING!

am i allowed to say i'm excited?

i think a few people my consider killing me as i sleep if i do, but i'll say it anyway. i'm super excited about this precipitation coming down from the grey expanse of the sky. cold is no fun unless there is snow involved. it's actually quite funny. as i sit here in the library right next to a wall of windows, you can see everyone sneaking peeks at the flurries outside. yep, that's right. i can SEE you! there's just something about watching it fall i think...

a couple things that snow gets me in the mood for:

-hot chocolate
-raging fires
-Christmas
-Christmas music
-sitting by windows
-caroling
-seeing fur EVERYWHERE
-did i mention Christmas?
-snowboarding

just to name a few.



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