oh, hey there texas

For my birthday I was given the opportunity to fly down to Texas for a weekend so that I could see Katie.  We did all sorts of Texan things like eat Tex-Mex, go to the rodeo, and go to six flags.  Here are some statistics of my trip.

•  That's so true stories looked at: 157
• Rides ridden: 10
• TV show episodes watched: 3
• Hours of sleep gotten: 16.5
• Texas flags spotted: 137

Katie and I visited the Nasher Sculpture Museum in Dallas where they had this awesome woven sculpture that you could walk on, so long as you wore those stylish booties.  Katie and I were just as excited to walk on it as the five year olds were.  

If you're planning a trip to Fort Worth anytime I would suggest going to Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant for some delicious Mexican food.  Be warned, however, the portion sizes are huge (it would seem that everything is bigger in Texas), about three people could share one thing of fajitas.

Fun fact: the Cowtown Coliseum is where the first rodeo was held and where bull riding first became a competitive sport.  The rodeo was awesome.  Thaddeus is also awesome.

Six Flags day was awesome because Six Flags is legit.  I mean, what isn't awesome about almost passing out several times on a roller coaster?

It's bigger on the inside.

getting paid to read? ya, i'll take that job any day.

Silicon carbide is really hard.  As in REALLY hard.  As in it is used in car brakes and bulletproof vests.  So when I was told to grind and polish a piece of silicon carbide I wasn't exactly what you would call thrilled at the prospect.  I knew hours upon hours would be spent doing this.  I was not incorrect.  Four full work days were spent on this arduous task.

Typically at work I'm in several different places in a given week, but this week I sat in one just one lab in just one chair with just one piece of silicon carbide.  All I would do is place my hand on top of the silicon carbide and then place it on top of the grinding wheel, and then stay there for the rest of the day. Pretty soon I began to get questions and comments such as these:

• You're STILL grinding that silicon carbide?
• Your silicon carbide missed you when you left for lunch.
• Do you EVER move??

Soon I learned that if I didn't bring something to work with me to keep me distracted I would probably fall asleep.  So what did I do?  I began to bring books to work and then read them as I ground my silicon carbide day after day.  So, yes, those days of work when I didn't bring a book to read will most likely remain forever as the most boring work days of my entire life.  And after this miserable silicon carbide experience, I do have some advice.  If you are required to grind silicon carbide for days on end bring a book with you to keep you distracted.  Because, after all, who doesn't like getting paid to read??

school

Because the students of BYU aren't allowed the luxury of a spring break, we get out of school a lot earlier than everyone else.  When I say earlier, I mean A LOT earlier, as in finals begin two days from now and I will be moving home one week from today.  Awesome.  However, because finals begin two days from now I have posted the picture below because it pretty much sums up exactly how I feel.

aquila ha vinto

For those of you that don't speak Italian, the title says "eagle has won."  Yes, aquila won the BYU Palio! To many this may seem trivial, but to me and the rest of my aquila family, this is a victory that will be always remembered.  FORZA AQUILA!

Oh, and yeah, those are ciucci (er...I mean pacifiers) in our mouths.  They symbolize rebirth and are the prize for winning.  And yes, I will cherish mine forever.

you had best be wearing green

The one day a year where we get to cause pain to others because they have forgotten to wear a specific color that day.  Wonderful.  So with that said, I most certainly did not forget to wear green.

I loved St. Patrick's day when I was little because my parents, I mean "leprechaun", would come to our house and give us stuff that was colored green so long as we could solve the scavenger hunt.  I'll admit, there were a couple of years where we might not have found the treasure if it hadn't been for sheer luck.  But now that all of us are grown up, our celebration of St. Patrick's day only includes wearing green and maybe eating a bowl of Lucky Charms.  I guess that isn't so bad, after all, green is a great color and that cereal is magically delicious!