Allison Kaye Parker

Whoa what? A girls name for the TITLE of a blog entry? What does this mean? Well i don't know, i guess titles to blogs usually tell what they are about right? Well i guess you have your answer then.

In today's ever changing world, there are so many ways people meet people. Through school, church, extracurricular activities, being social, clubbing (one thing I've never been into but I'm sure some people get into), and a plethora of other ways as well. Among that plethora, there is something called online dating. Many people do it, many people don't, many people love it, many people hate it. The fact of the matter is, it's really not much different than going to a club by yourself, where you don't know anyone, and meet a new friend, a boyfriend/girlfriend, or just an acquaintance. In all honesty, i never thought i would be one to go online looking for someone to date. But seeing how anyone I've ever dated before hasn't been up to the standards i set, or for whatever reason....look, simply said: Dating is annoying and sucks no matter how you look at it. That is until you find a special person, and you're whole world turns around and makes you wonder why it was so hard to find this person.

As Defined by Dictionary.com:
Soul Mate: 1. A person with whom one has a strong affinity;2. One of two persons compatible with each other in disposition, point of view, or sensitivity.

Lets dive deeper ok?

Affinity:

1.	a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, etc.

2.	a person, thing, idea, etc., for which such a natural liking or attraction is felt.

3.	relationship by marriage or by ties other than those of blood (distinguished from consanguinity).

4.	inherent likeness or agreement; close resemblance or connection.

5.	Biology. the phylogenetic relationship between two organisms or groups of organisms resulting in a resemblance in general plan or structure, or in the essential structural parts.

6.	Chemistry. the force by which atoms are held together in chemical compounds.

1 and 2 are basically the same thing. Basically, an affinity is an attraction for whatever reason. Usually a natural feeling, or reason
3 is more of a bigger perspective view. In the dating world, of course it generally leads to marriage. Of course not in all cases, but if 2 people have an affinity, why not get married right?
4 is pretty interesting. Inherent Likeness or agreement. Lets dive deeper!!
Inherent-existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute.
A PERMANENT and INSEPARABLE "Something." Something that doesn't go away. Something that stays with anything forever. For example, Females Inherently conceive children and give birth. A male cannot by any REAL means give birth. Ok you could probably argue "What about hermaphrodites born with both parts?" Or "Haven't you seen the movie Junior?" Both arguable points, but in any natural, normal, selection it is impossible for a male to conceive a child, carry a fetus, and give birth. Ok...so I'm off on a tangent, back to the main issue.
5 is rather fascinating don't you think? Who would have thought you could get down to a biological stance when talking about a soul mate. But i guess it makes sense, since the world basically thrives on the idea of things living together in a given place and/or time, with pro-creation and, the circle of life. I could go into what Phylogenetic means, but i really don't want to....you want me to? Jeeze...OK
Phylogenetic:the development or evolution of a particular group of organisms.
So basically if you get down to it, Affinity could mean the evolution of organisms living together in a given environment, or whatever you want to call it. Ok I'm done trying to sound smart now.

Basically my point and question is this: Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Well according to our little study and research, a "Soul Mate" could be anyone that shares similar characteristics and traits, where there is a natural attraction or liking to the given person. So seeing how there has been a certain flow to this blog entry, let me get to my main point.

I met a girl online one day a few months ago named Kamee Price. I went out a few times with her, thought things were going well, then for whatever reason she disappeared off the face of the planet. I don't know what her deal is, or what happened. Things were going really well, at least i thought. I suppose she has some growing up and maturing to do, and has some issues in her life she needs taking care of, and probably a variety of other reasons as well. Well since i haven't heard from her basically since i got back from Spain, and even then it was very limited, i ultimately decided to move on and start dating other people again. I hadn't really stopped yet, but as i was interested in her and wanted to see where things would go, i was devoting most of my "dating" time to her to see if things would progress. I rejoined the previous website where i met Kamee to see if i would have any chance at meeting someone again. I really wasn't taking it seriously, and was looking for other people in different social situations i found myself in here in Happy Valley AKA P-town AKA Provo. But guess what, as much as it may surprise you, things just weren't going that well at all. I wasn't down or anything, i just knew it wasn't my time yet and felt like something could come up soon. Well it did.

I met a girl named Allison Kaye Parker on May 9th, 2008. The only reason i know that date is because that's the date i first received what Online Dater call "flirts". Really not a tactic to actually meeting people in my opinion. It's kind of like throwing a fish hook in a lake without bait on it. I mean it's there, and if the fish takes it, awesome. If not, well i guess you get the bait right? Well usually i don't pay attention to flirts just because it's usually people w/ no pictures trying to get a nibble. Well i looked at some i had the day in question, and saw a flirt from Allison. I saw her picture and thought "This can't be right...really." So i looked at her profile and decided to write her a message. I think she responded to the message, but something just really basic. Then i responded back, and never heard from her for a couple days. Then i got online one night, and she was online and available to chat. So, i said hi. (I feel like I'm telling a suspense story...although it's not a suspense story...but it could be!) We started talking, and i don't remember very well, but i think we just talked for a little bit the first night. It's gone flying up hill from there

Basically for the last week and a half of my life, i have discovered a person who i feel truly is, by definition above, a soul mate. We have so much in common. We think alike. We know what the other is going to say before they say it. We feel the same about so many different things, it almost seems surreal. It feels like a fantasy. How is it possible to get to know someone SO well in just such a short period of time, that you literally and honestly feel like you have known them you're entire life, or longer. Anyone that knows me, knows i like to believe things happen for a reason. It doesn't have to be that God set the stone rolling in motion, and made things happen, but simply things happen for a reason and at the given time because if they happened any other time, it wouldn't have the same effect. I have various example from my mission, current situation, school, mission, etc. Whether big or small, things do happen for a reason.

I can't say what's going to happen in the future. I can't see the future. All i know, is that for now, things with Allison are so awesome. We haven't stopped talking since we met. Whether it has been talking online, through texting, and yes people EVEN on the phone, we haven't stopped or had a dull or awkward moment. I feel like i can tell her anything, and i know she feels the same. A really great friend once told me he met his wife, and they became best friends first and then things progressed from there. Right now I have a new best friend. Jake Beuchert is getting married. Mike Bready is getting married. I'm losing 2 best friends. I know I'm really not losing them, but in a way i am. They will be marrying their new best friends and be with them 24/7, loving and cherishing them. It's really been hurting me lately just realizing i will be losing them. I will still see them, but it will be different. Allison is also losing a best friend. Her name is Sarah, and ironically, she is marrying a guy named Jeff. The timing with us meeting was right on, it happened when it did for a reason. Again i can't say I'm going to marry her, of course we have only even KNOWN each other for a week and a half. We haven't even met yet for crying out loud (That will be happening on Monday May 26th, 2008. Thank goodness for holidays...) Even though i feel like i know everything about her, i know i have barely scratched the surface of who she is. I'm so excited to meet her, and get to know her on a different level. Hey, maybe things won't work out in the long run. But for now, they are awesome and I haven't been this happy in such a long time, maybe ever. So keep your eyes peeled for more updates on the Allison Kaye situation :)

PS. I know i need to get another blog entry up on Spain, I've just been SO busy with school and work and life, i just haven't had time. In fact I'm putting off homework right now to write this. But this couldn't wait, since many of you have asked me recently about my dating situation, i had to share it.

Stepping Out

No, not out of the closet. But a bubble. What kind of bubble? Well i guess there aren't many bubbles you can step out of. I know that I actually am a pretty social person, but i'm not usually one to actually make an effort to make friends. It just sort of happens for me. I think other people just automatically sense that i'm a friendly person and that they can talk to me, and even share things with me. It's kind of uncanny how people seriously just randomly open up to me. I don't mind it at all, i think it's just one of the talents the Lord has given me. So anyway, the reason i'm even talking about this....
Tonight we had a ward activity. We went up the canyon to a park, and made tinfoil dinners and just played outdoors games and stuff. Since it is spring/summer term right now, basically Summer Semester, and there is like no one around, the stake joined our ward with another ward. Since our ward is mostly full of people that are already working in a career or older and more established, they thought the other ward would be way small and joining it with ours would make things nice. Well, the other ward anticipated only having at maximum like 50 people there for this coming semester, but it really turned out they have a huge ward still. So joined with our ward, now the combined ward is extremely massive, thus making it even harder to get to know people. So anyway, tonight at our ward party i kind of made it a point to try and get to know some of the people there. I mean i honestly still don't know even half the people in my own ward, but i guess you can never really get to know everyone. So tonight i just really thought, you know, i have no reason to not make friends with other people. We were playing Frisbee, and had been playing like seriously over an hour or so, even longer than that, so i got pretty tired. I went over to get some water, there was none, and there was a girl sitting there just watching people play so i went and sat down and started talking to her. She wasn't really my type, and when i realized that...i guess you could say my normal reaction would be to kind of break away and go play again, or distract myself....probably not right or a good thing? I don't know. But i decided to just sit down and talk to her. Who doesn't like to sit and talk with a new friend right? Basically she just opened up to me. Even she was like "i don't know why i'm telling you all this stuff." Kind of validated my knowledge of how easy it is for people to trust me. I could probably get into trouble, and abuse this gift i have, but I use it wisely and i enjoy being a person people confide in. So anyway, now when i'm at church and i see her, i will be able to say "Hi Laura, how are you doing?" And she will feel happy because we are friends now. I also made another friend, Emily, while we were eating dinner. She's pretty cool, and she brought her dog with her, which made an easy in cuz i love dogs. She, i normally would take interest in, but she may have come along to late..... I will keep you in suspense. Just know for now that there is a girl named Allison, and she is amazing! :)

My Day. Today.

My day today: (roughly)

7:00 am-Alarm on cell phone goes off, and i look at it thinking "Today....i can turn it off and go back to sleep as long as i want." Oh the glory of having no work today.

10:00 am-Stereo alarm goes off to get me up so i can be productive. What do i do? Anyone want to guess? yep, i turned it off and went back to sleep. Oh it was amazing.

11:30 am-I hear the doorbell ring...that's odd, no one EVER rings our doorbell. I hear some voices out by the front door, then i hear a knock on my door. My new roommate is like "hey i think there is a package for you, I'm not sure though cuz it has the address off by 2 #'s" All i could think was...*dude, I'm sleeping...can't you tell that? I mean i know it's 11:30, but my door is closed and have you seen me yet?* Although i suppose it was good that he woke me up, other wise my day would probably been a complete waste....which i guess wouldn't have been so terrible, other than i did have stuff to do.

12:00 pm-Finish the episode of Lost i started last night, now i have 1 to go to get caught up...except with today being Thursday it seems I'm 2 behind again. Oh well.

1:30 pm- After reconnecting w/ an old friend from high school, through facebook, i decided to get up and freaking get ready for the day. Jenny Dal Soglio...i think i spelled it right? Anyway...she was a friend from school back in the day. She had been married, so the name on her profile i didn't recognize. But i guess she just got divorced, which is unfortunate, but it was neat to get to talk to her again after so many years...especially considering i had a crush on her in 7th grade :)

2:00 pm-$5 footlong sub from Subway. Oh baby. Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki. AMAZING. While i enjoyed this delectable sub, i watched the movie called The Last Castle. It was pretty good. It had the guy from The Sopranos in it, and a couple other famous actors. It reminded me a lot of Shawshank Redemption, but really only til the end...cuz the end was way different. Both good movies though. Shawshank is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. I recommend it if you haven't seen it.

4:00 pm-Go into my room to do my homework, but ha...did i start it? No. I think i got stuck talking to someone on facebook...freaking facebook chatting thing...i actually love it, but it's annoying cuz it makes facebook a billion times more distracting now. Oh well.

5:00 pm-6:30 pm- Did Spanish homework...well i got caught up, and finally got to the point the class is at. It sucks when you wait to get your book til the first day of class, then you go to get it and they are out, so you have to pay full price because they have to order it for you AND you have to wait for it. Luckily it's only a handbook, and was only $20. But waiting for it was inconvenient and annoying. But getting caught up, and understanding more or less what the guy was talking about, makes the class that much better. That class is pretty cool in itself. Spanish Phonetics. I remember a guy from work telling me it was worthless and boring when he had it, but I'm guessing i have a different teacher cuz the guy is freaking funny and makes the class actually interesting.

6:30-7:30-I recently started watching the show Bones. (watch it here) It's pretty interesting, and it makes me want to be a forensic detective. She's such a genius. So i spent this hour watching an episode of the show. Again, i highly recommend it. I'm only 5 episodes into the first season, but it's pretty awesome. I don't understand how people can start a show NOT at the first season. Even if each episode is a story of its own, there is still character development and plots that continue throughout episodes that i think make a series what it is. That's my 2 cents.

7:30-9:00- Read for my history class. Really, this history class i'm in, normally i don't think i'd enjoy it. But seeing how it's spring term, and there is literally like 10 people in my class total, it makes the class pretty cool. We get into some pretty deep discussions about the issues we are discussing. For instance we talked about slavery the other day. We got into basically if there really was a moral issue with it, or if it was wrong, or right, or things like that. The people back in the day REALLY didn't see it as being a bad thing. I mean people have been enslaved throughout all periods of history. I'm not going to say it's right, and it ever has been, or ever will be, but there are people that would argue differently. The Lord used slavery to punish his people for a long long time. So you know, it's just in how you look at it.

9:00-10:00 pm-Watched Planet Earth ON BLUE RAY w/ Ace and Bob, while eating a soup Mike had made for himself and Becky for their date night. The combination of the two, was pretty awesome. The soup was really really really good, and Planet Earth on Blue Ray....well it doesn't get much better than that. We learned there is a creature that dwells who knows how far down in the ocean, called "The (something) squid from Hell. I'll get the exact name from Ace....but seriously, the Blue Ray makes SUCH a big difference. I don't know how I'll ever be able to go back again...

10:00 pm-now-Goofing off online and talking to random people.

Ok so those times are basically REALLY rough estimates. Of course i didn't write down the times and exactly what i was doing. I think some of it may actually be out of order? And i think i watched Bones twice, not just once...but anyway. I think my day was full of pretty random and kind of relaxing stuff. I just needed to prove i'm living life and trying to be good at it. I really am going to write about the second half of my Spain trip. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Don't be a hater. I'm gunna go see what movie mike and becky got. Later!

Spain part 1-April 10th-13th (Not even spain yet...but still good)

Honestly, i just haven't even had the motivation to write about Spain yet. It's like when you know you have a huge project due for a really hard class, and you know about it 2 months in advance, but you wait until the weekend before it is due, and are up all night for 3 nights straight, and you get it done and barely scrape by. Ok it's not that bad, but i just have so much to talk about and mention, it's just going to take me awhile. I've debated breaking it up into parts, and i think i might do that just to help out the reader....if anyone besides me is reading this :) And just fyi, I'm at work right now at 4:31 AM on April 30th, 2008. I'm here at work to take overflow calls from Spain. They are paying me $5 extra/hour. So far i haven't had a call, thus giving me the time to write this. Here goes.

Thursday April 10th, 2008

The only reason i even mention this day is just from the night and the events following this night. I had gone up to Sandy to get some stuff for the trip. A camera battery, suitcase, passport, etc. By the time i got back to Provo, it was pretty late, around 11:00, or something like that. I still had a bunch of laundry to do, thus the possibility of even thinking of going to bed wasn't an option. I put in a load, and then didn't know what to do. Mike and Cami said they were going to go to the hospital to get a shake. (It's a pretty well kept secret...the cafeteria is open til like 2 am, and their shakes are pretty amazing) I didn't have any reason to go, so i joined them. We took some interesting pictures while there. When i got back, i don't remember what they did, but all i know is i didn't go to bed until 2:30 AM just being up packing and doing laundry, etc. The plan was to pick up Mike at UPS and then drive to the airport, and be there at 9, giving us an hour to make our 10:00 flight.

Friday April 11th, 2008
Woke up at 6:45, got ready, and left at 7:15. We got to Mikes work and still had to wait for him until almost 8:30. Since it was Riki and Kevin's wedding this day, Cami came with Mike (who was dropping us off at the airport) so they could just go to the wedding, which was in Sandy. Needless to say, Cami was pretty exhausted, and this angle proves it.

If you look close, and turn it around, you can see that it's actually her check, not her forehead....classic eh?

Since our entire trip was based on us not having to spend a lot of money on the plane tickets, we were flying standby. Mike Madsen's Mom worked for Delta, thus enabling us this option. Mike has been flying standby his entire life, giving him the knowledge and all the ins and outs of flying. A few days before the start of our trip, American Airlines had to cancel like 700 flights for some kind of inspections on a certain aircraft of theirs. Since we were flying Delta, i really didn't think it would affect us at all. Man was i wrong. We got to the airport, and got to our gate with at least a half hour to spare. Right when we got to the monitor showing the status of the flight, and how full it was, Mike knew we weren't going to get on that flight. Our plan was to fly to New York JFK airport, then catch the night flight to Spain. We watched the plane fill up, and leave without us. Of course to Mike it was no big deal, since this kind of thing does tend to happen when you are flying standby. So we went and talked to Delta to see what our options were. Both of us extremely tired and hungry too, it was the start to a really long day. We got tickets for a flight to LA that left a few hours later. We went and got a Cinnabon, an airport must, and just chilled for a while. The LA flight came around, and again we watched it fill up and leave without us. Again, we talked to Delta and then decided to get tickets to Boston. At this point we already knew we wouldn't get on the flight from JFK to Spain since it was already to late. The Boston flight would get us there that night, and we'd have a flight to JFK early in the morning. Well the Boston flight came around, and guess what, it filled up and left again...without us. ONE of us could have gotten on, and had Delta actually stuck to their rules, we both would have gotten on. There was a family of 3 RUNNING to the gate right before they gave us their seats. We were pretty mad, which i guess probably isn't right because those people DID pay for a full priced, reserved seat....but still, we were on vacation! So we didn't get on the flight. Neither one of us thought to bring our cell phone chargers...since we thought once we got to Spain, we'd just turn our phones off and have full battery when we got back. Yeah that was a mistake. And no where in the freaking airport had phone chargers...you'd think they would...honestly. So both of our phones were still pretty full, but Mike's was dying quickly, from talking to his Mom to figure out our options. Mine was ok, but it was dying too from using it for whatever. So our plan was to have Mike's Mom come pick us up, we'd go to his house and sleep (by this time it was like 4 or 5 in the afternoon), then come back for a Midnight flight to JFK. The flight looked awesome, and we were pretty much guaranteed to get on.
We went to his house, and crashed immediately and slept for 5 or 6 hours. But when we got back to the airport, things were just not going our way. The flight was delayed until 4:00 AM. We went back to his house, and slept for 2 more hours, woke up and came back and GOT ON THE FLIGHT!! WOO HOO!! Ok, so here's the craziest thing ever about this whole airport experience. I'm sitting there in my seat, a window actually, with a little girl next to me and her dad next to her. I'm kind of wanting to doze off, but really couldn't just because my body clock was already messed up. I look up, and see the back of a head, and a side profile that I swore I recognized. The girl turns around and i still couldn't catch a full view of her face, but at this point i was 90% sure i knew who it was. I turn around and tell Mike I thought i knew this girl, and he looks over. The girl was finally sitting down, and talking to her friend. Her friend notices that I'm kind of pointing and talking about them, and Hermana Jones from my mission looks over. We both have this look of "QUE!?!? COMO!??!...Are you serious?" And we're both like, "Wow, hey...how's it going?" How RANDOM is that? To see a sister from my mission that i haven't really even heard from or talked to in 2 years. After all the flights we couldn't get on, after the flight we were on was delayed until 4 am, etc. I don't know. I mean for whatever reason, it fell on both of us to be on an airplane at 4 am to New York. She said she was going to NY for her birthday, and when she got there, she met up with some other people. Now, I can't remember if she is married or not. I swear she is, but I didn't see a ring. It could have meant nothing, and been pure coincidence. I mean I always did think she was attractive, but if anything I think it was more of a "Look, remember the mission? You'll have missionary experiences. Take them, and help someone." (will be explained further ahead) I really didn't have a missionary opportunity at this point with my seating arrangement, but Mike did. He kind of talked to the lady he was sitting next to, but not really about the church at all. We both decided later on that we couldn't figure out what made it so much harder than being on a mission. It's sad, but the truth. So we waited an HOUR in the plane to take off. I guess since it was so early in the morning, they only had like 1 runway open, so we had to wait for some planes to come in and land. At 5:00 AM, our vacation was officially started.

Saturday April 12, 2008
Our flight got in at NY JFK around 11:00 AM, New York time. Our flight didn't leave for Spain until 7:30 PM that night, so we had some time to kill. We walked around, checked things out, looked at the flight, and did whatever for awhile. We found a gate area that was basically empty, and made ourselves a neat little space with two benches. We bought some breakfast sandwiches, and dunkin donuts to hold us over until the flight. New York is expensive. I brought my laptop so we would be able to communicate with people once we got to Spain, so we watched The Count of Monte Cristo. Mike hadn't ever seen it, and since there were no people in the area we were at, we didn't have to use headphones, which was nice. Mike talked to Becky for a while, and had a pretty good conversation from what i understand. But this turned out to be a mistake later on, as it drained alot of his phone battery. Time started rolling around for us to make our way to the gate for the flight to Spain. We exchanged our cash, and i won't even say how much because it kind of pains me to think about it...not really anymore since i was planning on spending a lot of money. All i can say, is having dollars and converting them to Euros...you get screwed. I'm glad i live in America. We checked in at the gate, and waited for them to clear our names on the flight. Mike had talked to his Mom, and she had said that basically the flight looked fine. Well, guess what, it wasn't. We again, now for the 4th time, watched the flight fill up and leave without us. Again, one of us could have gotten on, but seeing how we weren't sure at the time how the next flight would look, we decided to go together on the next one. So now it's 8:00, we're in New York, the next flight to Spain at all still wouldn't be until the next day. There was one to Barcelona at like 5, and the Spain flight at 7:30. Mike's phone, now with only 1 bar of battery left, was put to use again so he could talk to his Mom and see what the options were. He turned his off, and we used mine. I still had 2 bars of battery, so we were good for awhile. We figured out that one of his sister's had a friend that lived right there in New York, in Manhatten, and they had agreed to take us in for the night. Since it's New York, and no one has cars there at all, we had to take the Subway to get to their house. I wish i remember the lines we had to take. All I remember is we had to get on a train out of the airport, then catch the subway and make all kinds of connections to get to the guys house. The coolest part of this whole experience, for me at least, was this:

Only in New York can you see a sax player in the subway. I especially like the part at the end when he gets into the girls face until she gives him money.

Only in New York. So we got to the guys' house around 10 or 11, after taking about an hour on the Subway's to get there. I didn't take many pictures or anything on the subway, mainly from fear of being robbed, which probably wouldn't have happened...but still. The guy met us kind of halfway in between the station and his house. His name was John...i think...and his wife was...i can't remember, seeing how we never met her anyway.
So we get to his house, rather his apartment, and he shows us around. Man that place was so freaking small. It was just this tiny apartment with two bedrooms, a hallway, a kitchen, bathroom, and a "living room." We later found out that they pay $1800, which isn't even the full cost of the apartment. The apartment was nothing special, and he said it was pretty nice for the area. I like Utah. So since they only had one bedroom, Mike took the bed and I took the couch. He said his wife would be coming in to get her stuff for work like at 6 in the morning, but I don't remember ever even being stirred awake at all. We were both so dead tired, I don't think even like a firetruck, in my room, with the sirens blazing, horn honking, lights flashing, people screaming, and dogs barking would have woken me up. It was one of the best nights of sleep I have ever had.

Sunday April 13th, 2008
John informed us that his ward started at 9. We really were planning on going, but after the extra long day, days, we had had, there was no way we were getting up. He actually came in at like 8:30 and checked to see if we would be going. Mike wasn't awake yet, and i was still out of it, and i told him not to worry about it. We both really woke up around 11 or so, both fully energized. He got back at about 12:30 and informed us about a singles ward that met at 1. We decided it would be pretty cool to go to church there, even though we really had wanted to go in Spain, but it was still cool. We got ourselves as ready as possible, and went. The ward met in a chuch house, but it really wasn't a church house. I mean it was, but it was just a building in the middle of Manhatten that didn't really even look like a Church. But the coolest part was once you were inside, it really did look exactly like any church that i have ever known. That, to me, is one of the absolute coolest and most amazing parts of about the church. Anywhere and everywhere you go, it is the same. The structure, the teachings, the buildings, the hymnbooks, the beliefs. Everything is the same. There really isn't another church on earth like that. The ward was actually two wards combined. I guess one of the ward buildings was undergo construction, so needless to say the place was pretty packed. We found some seats like on the 3rd to back row, which made us feel weird since we generally try to find seats near the front at our normal ward. We decided not to stay for Sunday School and Priesthood since we really didn't have much time until our flight left. We went back to the apartment, and ate a sandwich that John had stuff for, and just kind of chilled for once. Mike looked at the flights, and we started to realize it wasn't looking to great. There were some open seats, but it wasn't looking for sure good at all. We made a decision to stay another night, which he said he was fine with...but really he wasn't. I guess his wife is a pediatrician, and had worked 2 full days including the day we were there. She would be coming home the next day, and he wanted her to have the full house to do what she wanted. He said it would be find if we slept there that night, but he would need us to leave in the morning. We were fine with that, but then we started making plans for stuff to go and see the next day, and kind of mentioned that we would just leave our suitcases there and come back and get them. He said he would want us out completely....we were like, "umm...ok." We later found out that he is extremely protective of his wife, and just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of us coming back without him being there. Not that he thought we were going to attack his wife or something, but his point was he didn't want her to have to worry about us coming back. We were even thinking just leave our bags at the door and slip in and out and she wouldn't even know we were there. Mike left the room, then 2 minutes later called me in and we decided to just go to the airport and see if we could get on the flight. It would be better staying there the next day than lugging our suitcases all around New York. It was pretty rude that he wouldn't let us keep our bags there, but at the same time he DID put us up for a night...and gave us food...two complete strangers....but it still bothered me for awhile. He even said something to the extent of "I know a lot of places have somewhere to store your bags while you visit the museums or what not." Yeah, not gunna fly dude. oh well.

We went out and decided we didn't have enough time to get to the airport via subway, and flagged down a taxi. The standard rate for a taxi to the airport from anywhere in Manhattan, was $45 plus fare, which was like $5. We didn't really have a choice, so we coughed up the money. In reality, it was a pretty neat experience being in the taxi. I mentioned previously that we both decided we needed to take the missionary opportunities when they arose for us. The guy's name was Abdhoul, or Rabuhl...we really aren't sure, but something close to that. He was African, actually from Africa, not just a black guy in New York. He grew up Muslim, but said he had talked to some Christians and liked the things they talked to him about, and knew some really good people. We then proceeded to give a really basic first discussion. I mean it wasn't in depth at all like i would have given in the mission, but it wasn't just a fly by either. We talked about where the name Mormon comes from, where the church was organized, kind of what we believed, and other things he had questions about. It was easy bringing up the church since we were on our way to Spain, and people asked us how we knew spanish, which brought up the mission, and so forth. He was pretty interested, even if it was just purely interest for information about other religions as he told us. He did tell us though that he would like to read The Book of Mormon sometime, if anything more than to learn more. That's kind of the world views as i see it, alot of people just think it's good to know about every religion and things they believe in. Obviously it is a good thing, but knowing there is a true church on planet earth is the most important thing. Mike had a Book of Mormon he had been reading, and i guess it was pretty hard for him, that he decided to give to him if he promised to read it. He wanted us to put our names in it so he could remember us. Mike had a hard time giving it up i guess because it's the one he had been reading since he got home from his mission. But he decided it was more important for him to have it. Who knows, maybe he didn't even read it and gave it away and someone else will read it. You never know and i think that's kind of the point we started to discover on the trip, that the most important thing is to implant the seed. This is the man we taught and gave the Book of Mormon.

Kind of a crappy picture. Not sure why. But this is the guy, he was pretty cool.

We got to the airport, checked in, went through security, and got to our gate. There was already a bunch of people there, which of course wasn't unexpected. We told them we were there, and they got our names on the list. Well the people started loading the plane, and it came down basically to us being there. They were saying there was only 1 seat in coach available and 1 seat in Business class. We were bummed that we both couldn't get business class, but that's the luck of the draw. We get on, and lo and behold there were like 5 Business class seats open. We both got business, which was a blessing from giving talking to Abdul....at least that's what i think :) Holy crap, Business Class Elite is AMAZING. They wait on you hand and foot. You have your own tv to watch whatever the heck you want, they give you these amazing noise canceling headphones, they give you amazing dinner, the seats recline basically all the way back to laying down, the blankets and pillows are way nice, the people treat you like a king, and it's just awesome. I ate a pasta dish, with a Lobster Bisque soup...both of which were pretty dang amazing. Then the Ice Cream Sundae, was also amazing. I think i drank more soda on the flight there than i had in the past 2 months at all. There's just something about drinking a Coke on the airplane that makes it taste SO amazing. I also got addicted to Cranberry juice w/ Sprite, one of my favorite drinks ever. I watched The Golden Compass and Dan in Real Life. Everyone said The Golden Compass was all about the anti christ, and anti religion, but i don't know why people think that. It was just a good movie, period. Dan in Real Life is pretty amazing too. Steve Carrell is pretty dang awesome, of course i already knew that from watching the office. But it's true, he's such a good actor. On the plane i sat next to a guy named Victor. He was really a nice guy, and really helpful. He showed me on a map where we were going and where Malaga (where our hotel was) was, and how to get there. He told me what buses/metros to take to get to the train station, etc. I got his phone # and email in case i had any questions or anything, and he gladly gave them to me. I haven't emailed him yet, but i am planning on it. I think it could be to my advantage in the future to have a friend in Spain, for whatever reason i may need it one day you know? So that was our plane ride to Spain. It was about a 7 hour flight, but didn't feel like it since we were in such nice seats and i watched movies the whole time.

Well that's going to be it for part 1. I know this probably isn't 100% complete since it's only part 1, and i haven't added any pictures in yet. I am at work right now, so i don't have any way to add them. But i will, don't worry.

lalala

K. So i just organized my pictures on my computer. Why does have to take so long? I love blogging....maybe it'll be up sometime...we will see

Oh and work has been crazy and i hate it and i want a new job, preferably at a hospital...any help would be appreciated!

AIGHT!

Spain, more to come.

I went to Spain. It did rain. Just like they talk about in that movie...My Fair Lady? Never seen it. Anyway, i'm going to blog the whole thing, with pictures and stuff. It was pretty sweet...It was an adventure. And adventure Charleeeeee, i went on an adventure!!

Spain is neat.

Is it worth it?

Is it worth it? That's my question. Honestly i really don't know if it is. I realize the majority of my posts probably have had some mention about the dating life, and just really how annoying it is. You know what, it's the truth. It's annoying and i really do not like it sometimes. I'm tired of being the nice guy. Green day really did say it how it is:

Nice guys finish lastYou're running out of gas
Your sympathy will get you left behind
Sometimes you're at your best
When you feel the worst
Do you feel washed up like piss going down the drain

Pressure cooker pick my brain and tell me I'm insane
I'm so fu*#@$* happy I could cry
Every joke can have it's truth but now the joke's on you
I never knew you're such a funny guy

Oh nice guys finish last
When you are the outcast
Don't pat yourself on the back
You might break your spine
Living on command
You're shaking lots of hands
You're kissing up and bleeding all your trust
Taking what you need
Bite the hand that feeds
You lose your memory and you got no shame

I know that it never hurts to be a nice guy, and of course it's best to treat girls with utmost respect and kindness, but seriously i've gotten to the point i just feel like it's not worth it. I have some really good friends, which is great i know. Don't get me wrong, i like having friends, however there comes a point....when friends just doesn't cut it anymore. Especially when you lose friends when friends get a boyfriend or whatever, and you're left hanging in the air alone. I don't mind being a nice guy, it's what i'm known for. But you know, it just seems like it's not getting me anywhere. I don't want friends anymore. I mean, JUST friends only, always. Friends are good to have, and i know really to find a "companion" i need to be friends first with people. My problem is, it always ends up being JUST friends and i'm sick of it. I see guys that are not nice; guys that are jerks; guys that treat girls like crap; guys that are just retarded....somehow all manage to get the girl. Maybe i should stop being so nice and just start not caring about how girls feel, and stop playing games. I really don't think i could do that. It's not in my nature. I'm just to caring and nice, but i'm seriously considering dejando de ser el heroe y amigo de todos.

On a better note, last night was amazing! I went and saw Story Of The Year at the "Rock in UVU" concert that X96 put on. It was a free concert, if you could win tickets off the radio. But you could also buy them at the venue for 9.63 (96.3 fm). I had my buddy Pace pick up a ticket for me, Steve, Aubrey, and Tyson. We got there a little late, but it was still just one of the opening bands. The Brobecks...they were ok...not amazing. The thing that dissapointed me the most, was the fact that Story of the Year didn't play last. I guess the "Highlight" of the show was supposed to be "The Bravery". Don't get me wrong, they were pretty cool...just to follow suite after Story of the Year, is basically impossible. Had The Bravery gone first, i think i would have enjoyed them much more. Story of the Year was basically and utmost amazing. They put on a wicked awesome show. Throwing their guitars around their necks, throwing guitars across the stage, doing back flips off the stage, freaking standing on the crowd (the singer) while singing....they were pretty freaking insane. One of the best shows i've been to....the only show i've been to in freaking so long. I NEEDED to go to a show. It wasn't just a want anymore, but a physical need. It just relieves me of so much stress and i can think about stuff at concerts. Call me weird.

Anyway. Story of the Year: Living life and being good at it. A prime example.