My New Quest...which I offered myself...and which I already chose to accept

For the rest of 2011, I will eat no sweets. No store-bought candy. No homemade brownies, cookies, or other delights. I have become very good friends with Double-Stuffed Oreos as of late. I've been best friends with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for a long time, and this newfound friendship with Oreos has got me thinking. I just need a break. It's time for me to take some me time and just think about things. This time away will be beneficial. It will allow me to hang out with someone I hate much less...my gut. That's the problem with these friends of mine. You can't hang out with them without also hanging out with Mr. Spare Tire. I've decided it's not worth it anymore. I'm going to rediscover my younger days.

Ok, enough cryptic talk. I'll start updating my blog with thoughts and other updates during this quest of mine. Should be fun. This quest will also be accompanied by working out a lot more and eating smaller portions. I haven't done awesome at the smaller portions thing quite yet (read: I've been terrible at it), but that will change. I'm excited for this challenge. Wish me luck!!

Life is busy!

Sometimes I look at my blog and am shocked that it's been months since I posted. Life gets so busy! Here's what I've been up to for the last little while:

School - I spend my fair share of time studying and writing papers. The end is in sight, though, and I'm trying to bust my butt to the finish.

Work - Same ole same ole here

Getting better - I injured my back about a month ago and I haven't played basketball since as I try to recover. I've become good friends with the elliptical machine. We may stay friends even after the back is better.

The Stock Market - I got my tax return and decided to start learning about the stock market. I invested most of my return and have made some good returns on it already. If any of you are into the stock market and have a bit of an aggressive side, I would recommend buying yourself some OTOW. It's looking great!

Those are some of the things I've been up to lately. I'll try and be more regular in posting.

Also, question for the day: If you could go anywhere in the world right now for two weeks, where would it be and why? I've been itching to go Maui and Italy lately. I'd choose Maui if I had to choose right now. You?

The Anticipation of Today

Sometimes I lay in bed at night and think. Ok, I lay in bed and think every night. Sometimes, though, I can't sleep because I think so much. Most of the time this is the case, it's because I'm excited about some upcoming event. These events can be anything: seeing a certain person, traveling somewhere, a holiday, a sporting event, turning in a big assignment, a forecasted storm, a trip to the temple, wondering what event will make the next day significant, etc. I used to hate that I had trouble falling asleep at night. Then I realized the reason.

I'm very grateful that I have things in my life that I look forward to often enough to make sleeping seem burdensome. Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping. There are few feelings in the world better than going to bed and not setting an alarm, pure bliss. At the same time, I'm so blessed to have people and events in my life that I love more than sleep. People occupy the majority of my thoughts. Even the events are usually centered around people.

With the Christmas season upon us, I've been thinking about people more. I've been trying to figure out how I can make someone's life better. I think that's what the Christmas season is about, at least to me. That's what Christ would do if he were here, and that's whose birth I'm celebrating. With Christ it was always about people, and I want to be like Him. That's what I've been thinking about lately when I should be sleeping.

Today's Quest: 1000 push-ups

So I do this from time to time. Throughout the course of the day, I am attempting to do 1,000 push-ups. I usually average about 200/day, so 1,000 shouldn't seem like that much of a long shot, but after about 600 my arms feel like rubber. I'll keep updating with my current status for those that would like to follow along/cheer me on/belittle my efforts/trash talk/or any other option you can think of.

Current push-up count: 1,000

1:26 p.m. - 600 push-ups.

3:36 p.m. - 700 push-ups. I'm definitely slowing. It's gone from sets of 50 to sets of 10.

5:31 p.m. - 800 push-ups. Every set is a struggle now. My arms are hurting even when I'm not doing pushups.

7:45 p.m. - 900 push-ups. It's all will power from here on out.

11:53 p.m. - 1,000 push-ups. My chest and shoulders are on fire. Tomorrow is gonna be bad. I did it, though! 1,000 push-ups in a day. Booyah! It hurts so good!

Today I'm Grateful for...

The soundtrack to Les Miserables. It speaks to my soul.

The talk "Of things That Matter Most" by President Uchtdorf.

"Yet amidst the multitude of voices and choices, the humble Man of Galilee stands with hands outstretched, waiting. His is a simple message: "Come, follow me." And He does not speak with a powerful megaphone but with a still, small voice. It is so easy for the basic gospel message to get lost amidst the deluge of information that hits us from all sides."

One of my favorite talks ever, "Brightness of Hope", by Elder Maxwell

"Hope helps us walk by faith, not by sight. This can actually be safer. When unaided spiritually, natural sight often shrinks from the odds. It is immobilized by improbabilities. Mauled by his moods and intimidated by his fears, the natural man overreacts to, while hope overrides, the disappointments of the day."

The rainy-ness of today. There's a surrealness, a heaven-and-earth-meeting feeling, when the weather matches your mood.

Today I'm grateful for...

The warmth on a beautiful fall day.

The chance I have to be at school.

The two granola bars that have been my sustenance.

The uneasy optimism of the unknown.

The anticipation of a great weekend of sports.

Unconditional love, in all its manifestations.

Unwaveringly loyal friends.

Hope is the Hero's Domain

I love quotes, and I love reading. I was recently looking through some old quotes I had written down from books I've read. Here are two that I especially loved:

"...as ordinary as we might be, we can, if we choose, take the harder road, walk forth bravely under the indifferent stars. We can hazard the ravages of chance. We can choose to endure what seems unendurable, and thereby open up the possibility of prevailing. We can awaken to the world as it is, and, seeing it with eyes wide open, we can nevertheless embrace hope rather than despair. When all is said and done... hope is the hero’s domain and not the fool’s. Because we dare to hope—even when doing so might undo us—we leave the worlds we create behind us, swirling in our wakes, eternal and effervescent with the beauty of our aspirations.”

-Daniel James Brown, The Indifferent Stars Above

“You have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else but you can’t make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it. If you won the Irish Sweepstakes and bought a house that needed furniture would you fill it with rubbish? Your mind is your house and if you fill it with rubbish from the cinemas it will rot in your head. You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.”

-Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes

And this is why I love reading.