Yesterday morning I started the cleaning process. The main thing right now is just going through paper, trying to figure out what needs to be dealt with, what needs to be filed for later and what can just be thrown away.

I spent the afternoon at Chad’s with Pryo, Kalene, Richie, Bouse, Batch, Nate, Stefanie and Kelly. We played volleyball in the pool, or maybe fetch the ball which is out in the dirt would be a better description of the game… It was fun and nice to just hang out for a while.

After that I went to Walmart and looked at some furniture along with picking up some other stuff. It got me thinking about ways I could organize the mess I call my room and the rest of the house. I did some experimenting today and went back to buy some stuff. We’ll see how it works out tomorrow when I get it all put together (hopefully).

. . .

I spent most of today working on pushing paper as usual. I still didn’t get payroll done as I’m waiting for time cards from some people still… We’ve got to be close to paying off the airbands debt with Patty and I’d like to know where we stand. I went out to dinner tonight with Alison, Richie and his friends, Chad and Pyro at Johnny Carino’s. It was good, but I think I’m about to exceed my driving to Temecula and dining limit for the week.

School shows for CYT tomorrow, so it’s time for bed. Good night and God Bless.

Update: I just got the time cards from Bouse so it looks like maybe I can figure out where we are and run payroll tomorrow after CYT!

Alanna says: Ok, so either this would be really cute, or if the guy totally creeped you out and he still liked you, it would kinda be like he was stalking you, so anywayz! It’s still totally cute!

1. Know how to make you smile when you are down.
2. Try to secretly smell your hair, but you always notice.
3. Stick up for you, but still respects your independence.
4. Give you the remote control during the game.
5. Come up behind you and put his arms around you.
6. Play with your hair.
7. His hands always find yours.
8. Be cute when he really wants something.
9. Offer you plenty of massages.
10. Dance with you, even if he feels like a dork.
11. Never run out of love.
12. Be funny, but know how to be serious.
13. Realize he’s being funny when he needs to be serious.
14. Be patient when you take forever to get ready.
15. React so cutely when you hit him and it actually hurts.
16. Smile a lot.
17. Plans a romantic date full of cheesy things he wouldn’t normally like to do, just because he knows it means a lot to you.
18. Appreciate you
19. Help others out.
20. Drive 5 hours just to see you for 1.
21. Always gives you a peck on the cheek when you depart from each others company, even when his friends are watching.
22. Sing, even if he can’t.
23. Have a creative sense of humor.
24. Stare at you.
25. Call for no reason.
26. Quit smoking, chewing, drinking, or drugs – just because he loves u that much to quit it.

The day finally arrived; Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven. He is at the
Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed and
Forrest approaches the Gatekeeper. St. Peter says, “Well, Forrest, it’s
certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you,
though, that the place is filling up fast, and we’ve been administering an
entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass
it before you can get into Heaven.”

Forrest responds, “It shor is good to be here , St. Peter, sir. But nobody
ever tolt me about any entrance exam. Shor hope the test ain’t too hard;
life was a big enough test as it was.”

St. Peter goes on, “Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three
questions.

First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second: How many seconds are there in a year?

Third: What is God’s first name?”

Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees
St. Peter who waves him up and says, “Now that you have had a chance to
think the questions over, tell me your answers.”

Forrest says, “Well, the first one — which two days in the week begin with
the letter “T”? Shucks, that one’s easy. That’d be Today and Tomorrow.

The Saint’s eyes open wide and he exclaims, “Forrest, that’s not what I was
thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I didn’t specify, so I’ll
give you credit for that answer. How about the next one?” asks St. Peter.

“How many seconds in a year?”

“Now that one’s harder,” says Forrest, “but I thunk and thunk about that a
nod I guess the only answer can be twelve.”

Astounded, St . Peter says, “Twelve? Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven’s name
could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?”

Forrest says “Shucks, there’s gotta be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd,
March 2nd. . ”

“Hold it, ” interrupts St. Peter. “I see where you’re going with this, and I
see your point, though that wasn’t quite what I had in mind. But I’ll have
to give you credit for that one, too. Let’s go on with the third and final
question. Can you tell me God’s first name”?

“Sure” Forrest replied, “its Andy.”

“Andy?” exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St. Peter. “Ok, I can
understand how you came up with your answers to my first two questions, but
just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name
of God?”

“Shucks, that was the easiest one of all,” Forrest replied. “I learnt it
from the song. . “ANDY WALKS WITH ME, ANDY TALKS WITH ME, ANDY TELLS ME I AM
HIS OWN. . . ”

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates and said: “Run Forrest, run.”

Give me a sense of humor, Lord,

Give me the grace to see a joke,

To get some humor out of life, and pass it on to other folk . Because it
does not get any better than this -

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us
to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around
when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a
smile that lit up her entire being. She said, “Hi handsome. My name is
Rose.

I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave
me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and
have a couple of kids…”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be
taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate
milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would
leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to
this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made
friends wherever she went.

She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her
from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football
banquet.

I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to
the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her
three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and
simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this
whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just
tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing
because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving
success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a
dream. When you lose your dreams, you die

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do
one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven
years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn
eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea
is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for
things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with
regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.”

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our
daily lives.

At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those
years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the
wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all
you can possibly be

When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to
your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it!

Stop telling God how big your storm is.
Instead tell your storm how big your GOD is!
In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared
down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of
terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled
with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of
determination. Like any parent, she wanted her
son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now
that was no longer possible..
The leukemia would see to that. But she still
wanted her son’s dreams to come true. She took
her son’s hand and asked, “Billy, did you ever
think about what you wanted to be once you grew
up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do
with your life?”
Mommy, “I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.”
Mom smiled back and said, “Let’s see if we can
make your wish come true.”
Later that day she went to her local fire
department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met
Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix.
She explained her son’s final wish and asked if
it might be possible to give her six-year-old son
a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, “Look, we can do better than
that. If you’ll have your son ready at seven
o’clock Wednesday morning, we’ll make him an
honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come
down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on
all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if
you’ll give us ! his sizes, we’ll get a real fire
uniform for him, with a real fire hat-not a toy
one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire
Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear
and rubber boots. They’re all manufactured right
here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast.”
Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy,
dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him
from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and
ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the
truck and help steer it back to the fire station.
He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in
Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all
three calls. He rode in the different fire
engines, the paramedic’s van, and even the fire chief’s car.
He was also videotaped for the local news
program. Having his dream come true, with all the
love and attention that was lavished upon him, so
deeply touched Billy that he lived three months
longer than any doctor thought possible.
One night all of his vital signs began to drop
dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in
the hospice concept that no one should die alone,
began to call the family members to the hospital.
Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a
fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked
if it would be possible to send a fireman in
uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he
made his transition.
The chief replied, “We can do better than that.
We’ll be there in five minutes.
Will you please do me a favor?
When you hear the sirens screaming and see the
lights flashing, will you announce over the PA
system that there is not a fire? It’s just the
fire department coming to see one of its finest
members one more time.
And will you open the window to his room?
About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck
arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder
up to Billy’s third floor open window
16 firefighters climbed up the ladder into
Billy’s room.
With his mother’s permission, they
hugged him and held him and told him how much
they loved him.
With his dying breath, Billy
looked up at the fire chief and said,
“Chief, am I really a fireman now?”
“Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand,”
the chief said.
With those words, Billy smiled and said,
“I know, He’s been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been
singing..”
He closed his eyes one last time.

My instructions were to send this to at least
four people that I wanted God to bless and I
picked you. Please pass this to at least four
people you want to be blessed.
This story is
powerful and there is nothing attached, please do
not break this pattern; uplifting stories are one
of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost
but a lot of rewards, let’s continue to uplift one another.
********************
Stop telling God how big your storm is. Instead, tell your storm how big your God is!

The Lord be with you this day, my friends

One day, I woke early in the morning to watch the sunrise.
Ah the beauty of God’s creation is beyond description.
As I watched, I praised God for His beautiful work.
As I sat there, I felt the Lord’s presence with me.

He asked me,

“Do you love me?” I answered, “Of course, God!
You are my Lord and Savior!”
Then He asked, “If you were physically handicapped, would you still love me?”
I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs and the rest
of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn’t; be able to
do, the things that I took for granted. And I answered,
“It would be tough Lord, but I would still love You.”

Then the Lord said,

“If you were blind, would you still love my creation?”
How could I love something without being able to see it?
Then I thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them still loved God and
His creation.
So I answered, “It’s hard to think of it, but I would still love you.” The Lord then asked me,
“If you were deaf, would you still listen to my word?”

How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood.
Listening to God’s Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts. I answered,
“It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your word.”

The Lord then asked,

“If you were mute, would you still praise My Name?”
How could I praise without a voice?
Then it occurred to me: God wants us to sing from our very heart and soul.
It never matters what we sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but
when we are persecuted, we give God praise with our words of thanks. So I answered,
“Though I could not physically sing, I would still praise Your Name.”

And the Lord asked,

“Do you really love Me?” With courage and a strong conviction, I answered boldly,
” Yes Lord! I love You because You are the one and true God!”
I thought I had answered well, but…
God asked,

“THEN WHY DO YOU SIN?”

I answered, “Because I am only human. I am not perfect.”

“THEN WHY IN TIMES OF PEACE DO YOU STRAY THE FURTHEST?
WHY ONLY IN TIMES OF TROUBLE DO YOU PRAY THE EARNEST?”
No answers. Only tears.

The Lord continued:

“Why only sing at fellowships and retreats?
Why seek Me only in times of worship?
Why ask things so selfishly?
Why ask things so unfaithfully?”
The tears continued to roll down my cheeks.
“Why are you ashamed of Me?
Why are you not spreading the good news?
Why in times of persecution, you cry to others when offer My shoulder to cry on?
Why make excuses when I give you opportunities to serve in My Name?”

I tried to answer, but there was no answer to give.

“You are blessed with life. I made you not to throw this gift away.
I have blessed you with talents to serve Me, but you continue to turn away.
I have revealed My Word to you, but you do not gain in knowledge.
I have spoken to you but your ears were closed.
I have shown My blessings to you, but your eyes were turned away.
I have sent you servants, but you sat idly by as they were pushed away.
I have heard your prayers and I have answered them all.”

“DO YOU TRULY LOVE ME ?”

I could not answer. How could I? I was embarrassed beyond belief.

I had no excuse. What could I say to this?
When my heart had cried out and the tears had flowed, I said,
“Please forgive me Lord. I am unworthy to be Your child.”
The Lord answered, “That is My Grace, My Child.” I asked,
“Then why do you continue to forgive me? Why do You love me so?”

The Lord answered,

” Because you are My Creation. You are my Child. I will never abandon you.

When you cry, I will have compassion and cry with you.
When you shout with joy, I will laugh with you.
When you are down, I will encourage you.
When you fall, I will raise you up.
When you are tired, I will carry you.
I will be with you till the end of days, and I will love you forever.”

Never had I cried so hard before. How could I have been so cold?
How could I have hurt God as I had done? I asked God, “How much do You love me?”
The Lord stretched out His arms, and I saw His nail-pierced hands. I bowed down at the feet of Christ, my Savior. And for the first time, I truly prayed.

In God%u2019s eyes you are special.

Other than starting late, Saturday morning’s wedding went well. I was still able to get out of there early enough to grab lunch before heading to the Bob for CYT.

The shows could have gone better, but they could have gone worse too. I don’t remember what was wrong with the first one, but in the first half of the second one we had a couple problems. During one of the scenes I discovered there was water on the stage. Even worse: there was ice on the stage! We later found out that they had put in twice the amount of dry ice and therefore when they put the water in, it went over the “fill” line and the water started coming out the fog tube. It wasn’t fun, and definitely no one was happy, but pyro and I went out there mopping up water behind the scrim while they were performing a scene. Later, the house lights came on during a cue. Needless to say, Riley was way stressed and I felt really bad. Fortunately, the second half of the show went better, or at least I didn’t notice anything. Amy (one of the stage hands) and I spent most of Act 2 playing tic-tac-toe. I must admit that she was a really good sport. I figured out a strategy and kept using it on her. I don’t think I could have put up with continuing to lose, but fortunately she at least appeared to have good spirits about it. I think she was just really bored!

. . .

I didn’t make it to church this morning as I couldn’t get myself out of bed in time. I even came straight home after work last night and went to bed fairly quickly! Oh well… Next week is looking good.

We again had a problem with water on stage from the dry ice machines, but fortunately it wasn’t as bad. Michael, the director, wasn’t very happy about me mopping during the scene, but I hope that he understands that safety is my number one priority. I think some of the CYT people are getting frustrated with me, but I’m sorry people, I’m just trying to protect everyone! Amy and I played some more games today. She finally got tired of tic-tac-toe and we moved on to hangman. I included everyone on com in the hangman games… hopefully they enjoyed it.

Now I have two days off before the next show and no school. Summer is here and now I have to figure out what I’m going to do since I’m not going to be in school and work at the Bob seems a little sparse.

The first project of this summer is going to be getting this house cleaned up. Things have just been accumulating and I absolutely cannot stand it anymore. I have stacks and stacks of papers and boxes of stuff everywhere. I need to figure out what to do with all the inventory that we are starting to accumulate… We really need an office! After cleaning, I want to work on getting more stuff in our online store and try pushing our sales/services to try and keep things going. Maybe if we can really keep business going we could afford an office!

No sabbaticals to Idaho this summer. It might be worth a short trip out there or something though… I should probably plan a trip out to Arizona at some point and I don’t know what else the summer will bring. I guess I’ll just wait and see what God has in store for me! Maybe I’ll get a glimpse of what I’m supposed to do with my life while He’s at it!

Today was fairly stressful, and most of it had nothing to do with the show! I am incredibly happy to be done with school though! I got my last final done this morning (poly sci) and now hopefully I am “free” for the summer. I should be taking classes, but I just never got around to figuring out what concentration to apply for so that I could sign up for classes!

I had to go to Temecula today to get some all important stuff for the show this evening (flowers for a beautiful young lady named Riley who so graciously volunteered to be stage manager again). I felt like I was battling traffic the entire time and I was way stressed out over that. I kept trying to calm myself down, telling myself that I would get everything I needed and that I would get home in time for the show, but everytime we came to a stop, life got frustrating again. Fortunately, I did make it home in time. I changed and played florist really quickly before heading out to the Bob for the show.

The show went pretty good. No major mistakes that I can think of. I think Riley and I had fun putting more Dove promise wrappers around the stage managers box. I didn’t make it to the party tonight because we didn’t get out of the theater until about 10:15. The part was scheduled to end at 11. Seeing as how I had already driven to Temecula twice in the last 24 hours, I really didn’t feel like driving up there again just for 15 minutes. Plus, I have to get up for a wedding in the morning!

Tomorrow is a full day of work. Wedding in the morning and then straight to CYT. I’m hoping that I at least get a dinner break tomorrow!

Good Night. God Bless.

We finally made it through a rehearsal tonight!

. . .
. . .

Went to the bar with Batch, Bouse & Pyro after the rehearsal.

Came home to find that my phone hasn’t really been synchronizing with my computer for some time now… More synch problems… I knew I should have just stuck with Panther!

I really hope that the cast can pull this show together tomorrow and be ready for opening on Friday night! We barely made it through Act 2 tonight, and boy was it stressful, at least on many of the others. (I was mainly bored, but I was feeling Riley’s stress.)

Fortunately, Ben kept reminding us that everything would be ok, that “Jesus loves you.” We even had a prayer during the middle of the show on com. It really reminded me of BYU-Idaho. I miss saying prayers to start each class and of being with people who share the same beliefs. . . . I thank God that I get to be in such a wonderful environment with such beautiful people. And the best part of it all: It’s my job!

. . .
. . .
. . .

I’ve got lots of work ahead of me for tomorrow. I’m still working on trying to finish reading this book for religion class and I still have a paper to write, which I have to have done tomorrow morning! And of course, I haven’t started on my essays for political science either!

. . . in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Jessica posted this and I think it is worth reposting… Something for everyone to think about!

ive decided that life is too short. do you agree?…should you tell that person that you like him? should you get mad at someone for cutting you off, i mean, they wont even know that youre mad? should you be mean to someone, and just assume that you’ll have days to make up with them? should you say something that you know will hurt someone? should you pass up an opportunity? should you not tell her that she did a good job, or that you think she is really talented? should you forget to tell your family that you love them, cuz when it comes down to it, your family is all that you have? should you fight for your dreams, or just go with the easy path? should you tell him that you wait for his phone call, that you hope he’s online, that you love seeing him in class, or just keep living day to day wondering what could be? should you tell her that she’s the best friend that youve ever had, or just go on assuming that she knows that? should you go to bed mad? should you smile?

Thanks Jessica!

Memorandum

Date: 24 May 2005

To: You All

From: Scott Chester, Your Publisher

Subject: In 16 Weeks I Learned How to Write a Memo

I had another busy paperwork day.

I met with Desoree and CBC is now going to be providing all the labor for the Grand Tradition… Batch, Bouse and Nate have been working hard installing conduit at the Mission… It sure looks like lots of fun!

I was about to head out to dinner with the boys this evening when I got an email from my business writing professor. He said I could come take the final at 7 tonight. Of course, this was slightly after 5:30! Surprisingly, I made it there on time, with even a couple minutes to spare! I didn’t get to have dinner with the boys though. I was going to get some Cheesecake, but they had a 40 some minute wait, so I said forget that and I talked Pyro into meeting me at the Bar to see Donna. Of course, that plan didn’t work either cause Donna was off by the time we got there!

. . .

. . . Amen.

Actually, my end of things was downright boring, but I sure was feeling Riley’s stress! Sorry Squeakers! Hopefully things will get better in the next two rehearsals. I’ll refrain from making any comments about the show until after opening night.

Before going to the Bob I had to setup another wedding at GT. I was able to get Justin to run it, so I hope that things went well for him. Neither Chris nor I got any calls, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

I spent the rest of the day doing work. Tomorrow is going to have to be my busy homework day since I’m so far behind now. I also still don’t know what’s up with my business writing final as the teacher hasn’t responded to me yet. I hope that we can figure something out though!

. . .

Good night to all. God Bless.

I don’t really have much to report for the day. I went to church this morning and then did a wedding at GT. I pretty much took it easy the rest of the day, but did get some stuff done at home.

. . .

Lots to do this week. I have a lot of scheduling to figure out too… I’m going to bed now cause I don’t even want to think about it!

Prince Humperdinck: Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work. But I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.

Inconceivable.

As you wish.

Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.

Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today.