The Adventures of Señor Turtlefish, the Incredibly Awesome Guy, Part V

Continued from Part IV...

****

Over-Here-ville was one of the strangest places on earth.  On the outside it appeared as though it was perfectly normal and average and anything else you could ever want.  But upon closer inspection, you noticed that it had only one school, just like any other small town; but this one was different.  It of course had many teachers and students, as many schools do.  There was a teacher in particular, though.  He simply had this oddness about him.  He had super huge goggles, a long black lab coat, hair that was permanently spiked upward, and crooked yellow teeth.  Being the Chemistry teacher, he didn't seem too out of place.  His name was Dr. Nemesis.  Everyone thought that Nemesis was his strange last name and that the doctor signified that he had a doctorate degree in something.  In reality, Nemesis was a mad scientist name and Dr. really did signify he had a doctorate degree. 

One day during school, Nemesis went to the glorious haven of the teacher's lounge.  Here, teachers could relax and let the care and worries of school float away into nothingness.  Returning to our story, as Dr. Nemesis sat down on one of the comfiest couches in the room, he thought he felt something brush his hand as he reached for the remote.  Dr. Nemesis, now looking down at the little side table, saw Señor Turtlefish's colorfully decorated invitation.  He stopped to open it, when one of other teachers in the room yelled, "PARTY!!!"  Suddenly, a disco ball dropped from the ceiling and they began to dance and scream in the soundproof room.  While this was going on, Dr. Nemesis tried to yell to the other teachers about the party he just learned about, but the music was simply too loud.  He figured that since they weren't invited anyway, it would be okay.

To be continued...

The Adventures of Señor Turtlefish, the Incredibly Awesome Guy - Part IV

Continued from Part III...

...His printer was out of ink!  Señor Turtlefish didn't have time to wait for the stores, like OfficeMax or Staples, to open.  He need the ink now, before Dr. Nemesis woke up.  He sat down and began to ponder over his dilemma.  As he thought, all of a sudden, there was a popping-type noise.  This caused Turtlefish to look up and observe the ink cartridge sitting on the desk in front of him.  He began to wonder, "How did that get there?"  It obviously hadn't been there before; the frantic search would have revealed its location on the walnut-stained piece of furniture.  But Señor Turtlefish didn't have time to think about that now.  He hurried and installed it into the printer and printed his beautiful invitation.  Little did Turtlefish know, but creating things by thinking about them was another side-effect of the August 25th event.  Turtlefish hurriedly grabbed the print-out and was out the door in a flash.

 

To be continued...

A Summer-y Summary

Turns out that it's been forever since I've blogged.  I mostly blame getting a smartphone for that (yes, I just got one this summer) and Twitter.  And Facebook.  And social media in general.  And writing in my journal, which is exactly like blogging, except that I can be perfectly honest and candid without offending anyone.

So, I guess it's time to set some new blogging goals.  How about monthly? Maybe more often if I can.  For the between times, be sure to check out my Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts, where I'll post my spur of the moment thoughts and ideas, and where I don't feel bad about forgetting to post anything.

A note on my social media policy: anyone can follow me on Twitter and see all my tweets.  Anyone can follow me on Google+ and see some of my posts.  Only people who I know in real life and I would call my friend (like I might give you my cell phone number) can add me on Facebook and see anything.  I think I'm essentially invisible on FB otherwise.

Back to the summer-y.

Baby Thor is huge now!  He can walk around (while supported by the couch, his parents, or whatever else he can climb up on) and loves climbing all the stairs we let him find.

My favorite thing is that he can now understand things we say to him (like No, Touchdown, and questions he doesn't know the answer to).  He is the cutest boy in the world and now I can't wait for football season to start.  (Thor, Touchdown! *Baby Thor throws his arms up above his head*) Maybe he'll learn to say words soon.  Then we'll be in trouble.

I spent the summer working at a temporary position ultimately for a pharmaceutical company called Actavis in their Salt Lake location.  It's been a real adventure and I've learned a lot about future careers.  (I will not spend the rest of my life conduct the same tests over and over on different products)  I somewhat surprised everyone by putting in my two-week notice, but when you're moving to another state there's not a real possibility of continuing your work.

I expect great things from you Wisconsin.

Speaking of moving to another state, we're getting ready to move to Madison, Wisconsin for graduate school in the next few days.  I have a vague idea of how cold the winters are going to get and how good the cheese will be.  At least those seem to be the only things my fellow Utahns know about the state.  All I know is that if your license plates say "America's Dairyland," there better be some incredible milk and cheese, to rival even the BYU Creamery.

Hayley and Sam took a trip to Oregon for a family reunion with Hayley's folks.  They had a great time, but it left like they were gone for way too long (10 days is a long time.)  While they were away, my 4th cousin from France named Christophe Doremus came to visit.  We had an awesome time, I found out that I can somewhat understand French, and I learned some basic vocabulary (breakfast, lunch, dinner, cake, ice cream, apple juice... we mostly had meals together.)  He and my parents took off to San Francisco and to Bryce Canyon, leaving me all alone on two separate occasions.  Worst days ever.  0/5 stars.  Would not buy again.

A Utah Railway train. Way different than Frontrunner.

I've been riding the Frontrunner train this summer, which has been a good adventure.  90 minutes each way
gives you a lot of time to think about life and the universe.  And restart my scripture reading habit - I read through the Book of Mormon again this summer.  And it helped me study for the advisory exams I'll be taking as soon as I get to Madison.  Did you know that there's no official publication to study for the ACS Analytical Chemistry exam?  Neither did I, and I'm confident that all my class notes from forever are packed up in a box somewhere at the moment.

But I miss seeing my family most of the day.  Leaving home at 6 am to be at work by 8 am, then not getting home until 7:30 or 8 pm makes for a weird loneliness.  It's hard to describe.  But getting to work as much overtime as I wanted was nice.

By the way, has anyone noticed that Pinterest is just Google Image Search except that you can save things?

Wow.  This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was going to be.  I guess it's okay because I'm making up for months of no posts.

I watched the Saratov Approach on Netflix the other day.  It was really good, especially for an LDS film.  Go watch it right now and then come back to this.  Seriously.  It's only 100 minutes long or something.

And I'll be watching Guardians of the Galaxy soon.  That will be exciting.

You can tell that I'm running out of things to say by the increase of one-sentence paragraphs.  Let's call this the end for now.

Thank You for Tithing

Tithing is one-tenth of our income.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we have the opportunity to pay tithing. Tithing is mentioned in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. As revealed in modern times, the law of tithing requires members of the Church to "pay one-tenth of all their interest [or income] annually." These funds are used by the Church to pay for meetinghouses, temples, help support missionary work, manuals and publications, and even subsidizing the education of those attending Church universities, like BYU. None of these funds are used to pay or compensate local Church leaders for their service.

Now, ten percent may seem like a large commitment, but the blessings of the Lord are equally as large. As we read in the Old Testament, the Lord promises He will, "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10)

I believe the Lord in this promise. I have seen great blessings come because of my paying tithing. Recently, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have a job while I am between finishing my bachelor's degree and starting my Ph.D. program. I was busy finishing my finals, so I wasn't able to very actively search for jobs. I just sent my résumé into the void with a little prayer. I now realize that the opportunities I have been given are because the Lord is blessing me for paying my tithing.

So I don't see tithing as a tax or a burden. I see it as an opportunity to receive some of the best blessings Good promises his children. And I only have to pay 10% of my income! For these blessings, I would be willing to give all. I am thankful for tithing.