Happy New Year. . . .[not]: My First Accident

My Christmas break was pretty fantastic this year. It consisted of a lot of play time with my family (especially my nephew Jared), plenty of chilling around the house, and enough fun times with my friends from home-- exactly everything I really wanted for my break.

The real problem came when it was time to go back to Provo. I put it off until literally the last minute (8:30pm Tuesday night) before I had to be back to work at the prison on Wednesday, Jan. 4th. Obviously I wasn't eagerly looking forward to my return (for multiple reasons really).

That Wednesday, I made it to work on time and actually had a decent day at work, considering it was my first full day in over 2 weeks. It was still light outside when I started my journey back to Provo, and I had luckily remembered to grab a book and a receipt I needed to make a return (Christmas gift style) at Barnes and Noble on my way home. So instead of taking the Provo Center Street exit on my way home, I took University Parkway in order to make a stop at Barnes and Noble.

Bad, bad idea.

This meant I would have to navigate my way through Orem and Provo in order to get home. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but that night, it happened to be a HUGE deal.

As I was driving down Freedom Blvd. in Provo (almost a mile away from my apartment), I got distracted by my stereo for seriously point five, but that point five was long enough for me to fail to notice the vehicle in front of me was stopped. I had just gone through a green light on 960 N., so I thought I was good, but the reality was that the light at 800 N. was red and the cars had backed up to about 100 ft. past the intersection I had just gone through. My moment of distraction resulted in me smashing into (and under) the truck in front of me, totaling my car (essentially about where the car is in the picture above). When I say under, I mean it. I was going the speed limit- 35mph- and when I crashed, I had literally gone under the truck and lifted it's back wheels off the ground so they couldn't move. A tow truck had to come pull us apart.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Luckily nobody was hurt (other than whiplash after effects), and although my car is done for, as far as I know the other truck didn't have too serious of damage- it drove away from the scene. Also, thankfully, my sister was kind enough to meet me at the scene of the accident, help keep me calm, make sure I had all the info I needed, and most of all, give me a ride to my apartment after all was said and done.

Thankfully, my parents have been extremely kind to me through this all (especially because it was their car). I was pretty terrified of what they were going to do/say, but they were very gracious after having to come up to give the title to the junk yard and having to clean out all of my junk from the car. (I'm thinking it helped that this was my first accident ever. As for some other members of my family. . . it might have been a different situation. Only kind of kidding.)

So here I am:

• nearly 3 weeks later;
  
• a $310 ticket later;
  
• no car;
  
• a bus pass;
  
• plenty of gracious, kind friends (with cars);

and I'm only beginning to be able to laugh at the situation.
In fact, I can hardly believe I'm posting an entire blog post about it- I didn't even tweet about it!

If this is how the year is going to be, I'm not that excited to see what else is in store.
Also, I'm fairly sure I say that every year.

2011 in Review

2011 was an interesting year. I'm sure everyone has their exciting memories of all the special things that happened, but the following pictures document some of the most exciting moments of my year-- meeting famous people (mostly thanks to twitter) and having a great time doing it! So here it is, my 2011 highlight reel!

Last January, my parents and little brother came up for a day to celebrate Tommy getting good grades (or something like that) and we ended up at the International Auto Expo in Sandy. While there, we got to check out all the new models of cars, get a picture with a race car from Miller Motor Sports Park, see the Lambo that Maverik was planning to give away, and I got to meet these two guys-

Alema Harrington and Ben Bagley, both guys who work for 1320 KFAN sports radio. I knew who Alema was already, but I discovered Ben through twitter (I don't listen to the radio station much) and got my pic with them! Super nice guys, and a great way to start off my year. :)

In March, the BYU Men's Basketball team made an impressive run in the NCAA Tournament, and the night they beat Gonzaga to move on to the Sweet 16, I helped organize (through a few connections on twitter- aka @BYUrally, @Voler, and @NatHarward) a pep rally at the Provo airport to help welcome our boys home. The flight didn't end up landing until almost midnight, and there were a few hundred of us (including my roommates and other friends) waiting out in the rain, but it was totally worth it.

The Jimmer himself walked past us, and afterward, we got to meet and get our picture with anyone else on the team- Magnuson, Hartsock, Emery, Collinsworth, and Abouo. Definitely another memorable experience!

A month later, the Shops at the Riverwoods had a Grand Re-Opening to celebrate new management. As part of their Grand Re-Opening event, they had planned a concert featuring local (and Rolling Stone Magazine contestants) Fictionist opening for none other than Sugar Ray (yes, I know they were cool in the 90's, but it was a free concert, so how could I say no??).

We showed up early in order to claim our spots (front an nearly center). In fact, we were so close Jimmer gave me a high-five when he made an appearance, and Mark McGrath himself gave me a little hand squeeze when they opened with "Every Morning". haha. It was pretty awesome if I say so myself (and I do)!

It was a few more months until I had my next celebrity interaction. While I was watching my updates on twitter one day, I noticed that Sondre Lerche had tweeted about his North American tour dates. Knowing that he had never come to Utah on a tour before, I wasn't too confident that he would be making a stop here at all. When I opened the page, however, I received a pleasant surprise! He was making a stop in SLC after almost 20 years of him going on tours. I was pretty stoked, but it was at the Urban Lounge (a bar), so I knew it wasn't a good idea to go by myself. Another problem is that he is a Norwegian singer so not many people have heard of him (although he did the entire soundtrack for "Dan in Real Life"- that's how I first discovered him), so not many people would be willing to go. Eventually I convinced my friends Ty and Kyle to come along, and we had a great time, which included me meeting the man himself- Sondre! I'm really hoping he decides to make another stop in Utah soon. :)

Some favorite songs-- although I really love them all!-- : No One's Gonna Come; Days That Are Over; You Know So Well; Modern Nature (from "Dan in Real Life").

Fast forward a few more months to the middle of the NBA lockout. I was desperate for some kind of professional basketball (I'm not a super big fan of college ball most of the time) and Jimmer made my dream come true with Jimmer's All-Stars! I convinced my friends Elyse and Jacob to come along, and we bought our tickets the morning of the game (Sept. 22nd).

During the game, while everyone else was realizing it was an "All-Star" game and not just the Jimmer Show, a certain player caught my eye. With a quick search on twitter, me and Elyse discovered this player to be known as Manimal, (@KennethFaried35; @TeamManimal) a rookie player drafted to the Denver Nuggets (aka the Thuggets-- he totally fits in). He's incredible!!! We also noticed that he had agreed to meet up with some people after the game for pictures, so we tweeted at him and hoped for the best. After waiting for almost a half an hour after the game, and having the security people try to trick us into leaving, he came out the door of the Marriott Center, and we yelled to him, "Check your twitter!" He looked up to us and said, "Sure." So cool!

We were able to get our picture with him and also got autographs from him and a bunch of the other players, including Isiah Thomas! Such a great night, and it just got me more excited for Jazz basketball (whenever the lockout would be over. . . )!!

Then in November (11.11.11) The North Face announced they were opening a new store in the Fashion Place Mall (along with Crate and Barrel and H&M). To promote the opening, they had a contest with their twitter account to enter to win something. They were giving away all sorts of things for people who followed them (beanies, duffel bags, t-shirts, and jackets-- like the one I won, a $99 value!). The only catch was that you had to be there sometime during opening weekend to claim the prize they messaged you about.

Me, Elyse, Dave, and Kelli went opening night to claim our prizes. After we got them, we decided to take a walk around the store just to see what they have. As we were doing this, I walked past someone I thought I recognized. I looked at Elyse with wide eyes, but she didn't recognize the person like I did. Next I looked over at Dave with my wide eyes, and he understood my excitement. We had walked right past Greg Miller!! When we were far enough away from him, we explained things to Elyse who told us to get our picture with him. I was nervous, but luckily Dave is very confident, so he went right over and asked if we could quickly get a picture with him. He kindly obliged. :) (So pretty much, we met Greg Miller before it was "cool" to meet Greg Miller, see: @dianaallen's experience: http://www.utahjazz360.com/diana/sitting-court-side-with-greg-miller/).

Basically, twitter is amazing and is responsible for most of my meetings of these cool people this past year. I can't wait to see what kinds of adventures and fun twitter will bring to me in 2012 (aka, #TwentyDozen)!!

Sondre Lerche LIVE in SLC

Last Wednesday night I had the amazing opportunity to see one of my musical idols, Sondre Lerche, perform live at the Urban Lounge in Salt Lake. I knew I had to be at this show when he first announced it over 2 months ago, but up until last Tuesday, I had nobody to go with. Luckily some of my awesome friends, Ty and Kyle, agreed to go with me, and I was able to make a dream come true!

I first discovered Sondre Lerche's music when I saw "Dan in Real Life"

when it came out back in 2007. When I saw the show, I decided I liked a few of the songs I heard on the show, so I checked out the soundtrack. That is when I found out Sondre wrote all of the songs for the soundtrack. So amazing! I quickly became addicted, and picked up a few other random songs by him that I liked.

Because I follow him on facebook and twitter, I was able to find out about the concert and ALSO that he was releasing a new album in June. I was so incredibly excited, I made sure to pick up a copy (the LAST copy) of it at Graywhale in Draper the day it came out-- June 7 (luckily it was a day I was working at the prison, so I was already up there). I immediately fell in love and it reignited my excitement for his show that was scheduled for 2 weeks later.

Fast forward a week and a half and I was still looking for somebody to go with me to the show. I found out quickly that Sondre Lerche was not a very well known artist, and many of my friends are pretty hesitant to trust me and my music taste (I know, unbelievable, right?). I was getting nervous that I wasn't going to be able to make the show. I knew I couldn't go on my own-- I had considered it but decided it wasn't the best decision. I was getting desperate. . . I HAD to be at that show. Then my true friends came through! Ty offered to meet me there, and Kyle decided he would come along (although on our way to the venue, Kyle then asked me who we were going to see. haha. He's such a good friend!). I was so stoked!

The show was everything I could have hoped for and I even got to meet Sondre after the show! Hopefully we made a good enough impression to have him come back (soon!).

the [crazy busy] week of a BYU student

This last week has been pretty crazy and intense. Between the usual fun of being a student,

this week brought random snowstorms,

sitting through an entire game of misery of Jazz vs. Lakers,

waiting in ridiculously long lines for wristbands

to get into the sold-out BYU basketball game

(which Jimmer was so kind to have won for us),

staying up way too late making t-shirts for said basketball game,

visiting the career fair and having an interview with Oracle, and visiting a comic book store for the first time. Needless to say, it was a pretty exciting week.

I wasn't cool enough to storm the court after the game, but here is a picture of the madness. It was a pretty sweet game, and my voice is still recovering. Waiting in line for hours was worth it, but I think I've got my friends convinced we just need to buy tickets to the rest of the home games. It would make things so much easier.

Facing my Fear

For the last 4 years, I have been deathly afraid of one thing.

ICE.

Not the kind you put in your drink- The kind that happens after it snows and the snow gets packed down before it's shoveled or plowed; the kind that is hard to see unless you are really looking for it, and even then, it can sneak up on you; the kind that makes me petrified to take a step because I am so afraid of falling and landing on my precious wrist, like I have done time and time before.

If you think I'm exaggerating this fear, ask my friends. Ask my family. I can't even slide on ice for fun. I literally freeze up and am afraid to move, not sure if my next step will be stable or will miss and make me land flat on my back.

But today, I faced my fear- in an Olympic Ice Arena even!

I was invited along to play a few games of broom hockey with my friend's ward. I was kind of hesitant to begin with, but I agreed to go. I put on my old brace and my game face, and took my first steps onto the ice, knowing full well exactly what I was doing.

Of course there were some extremely slick spots, but after the first game, I was getting competitive (our team was losing, sadly) and I began to overcome my fear. I started not only walking on the ice, but running across the ice! There were a few times where my balance was in question, but after all was said and done, I didn't fall down once! I feel nearly invincible! Ok, maybe not quite that confident, but I do feel proud of myself that I was able to face my fear and have a good time, even if our team didn't come out on top.

2010 in Review

Here it is. My 2010 in Review. With Pictures. Enjoy!

January-

2 new casts, and a haircut.

February-

Valentine's Dance at Snow College

March-

Pins out!

(No more casts!!!)

April-

Finals (not much time for blogging)

The beginning of #twuddytuesday on twitter

May-

The End of Physical Therapy

June-

Toy Story 3 came out!

(the shirt I made is shown under October)

July-

Road trip to Oregon/Washington with my Sparks buddies!

August-

Ryan and Laura's Wedding

Trip to New Orleans

Trip to DC to see Justin, Sarah, and Elliott

September-

My first niece Eleanor Marie was born!

October-

Rocktober Party 2010

Carving Pumpkins

BYU football games with Tommy, Richfield Singles Ward,

Glenwood YM/YW and Sparkies

November-

MAE concert---AND Meeting the Band!

The beginning of BYU Basketball

December-

Festival of Trees

(Me and Elyse with the tree we donated)

Christmas (my 21st birthday)

Finals, Parties, Family, and New Years Eve.

2010 was one of the best years of my life. It makes me even more excited to see where 2011 is going to take me! Happy New Year!!

Lately:

I love my boys! The season just started at the beginning of this month, but we're already doing amazing. I was able to go to the Jazz vs. Clippers game with some friends from my ward, and we won in DOUBLE OT. It was amazing. Since then, we've beaten Miami in OT, and then last night we beat the Magic. So awesome. I love it. (This means we have a better record on the road than we do at home.) PLUS, I'm legit friends with #44 Kyrylo Fesenko on Facebook. ha. I feel awesome.

This version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" is LEGIT. I've been listening to it non-stop. Amazing! (if you right click on it, and hit "show all" you'll be able to see the full screen)

Haha. I loves me some twitter. I'm actually going to be on TV for using Twitter! I was interviewed by BYU Weekly about tweeting about Conference. I'll share the link once I get it. :)

Last week I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Mae concert and I met the band! So awesome!

Other than that, it's all about school until I make it to Thanksgiving. So far, I haven't fallen down, so that means no doctors appointments or casts. :) Always a big plus. Until next time then- Keep it real!