My summer started about two weeks ago. I think I've been up till' at least 11:00 each night, which is about an hour and a half past my typical sleeping time. Needless to say my body is all out of whack, and my schedule has been thrown out the window.

This I think is the bitter sweetness of summer. It is really awesome that I don't have to worry about grades for a few weeks, but on the same note school is a big foundation in my life. It provides a schedule to wor koff of, and it helps me to plan. It's hard for me to plan free time, especially when I don't want to waste it.

So In an effort to make a better use of my summer (and have an excuse to make a blog post), I figured I'd put a few things down that I want to make time to do. So here it goes...

1. Run AT LEAST (prefferabbly more) 50 miles this summer.
2. Take a walk in the forest.
3. Pull an "all-nighter".
4. Finish the Book of Mormon.
5. Memorize the 100 scripture masteries, and 13 articles of faith.
6. Have at least 50 Chinese characters mastered.
7. Spend a day working on my novel. (Still LOTS of work to be done)
8. Finish going through my ACT prep book.
9. Choreograph a new dance.
10. Work on getting Eagle Project.

So there it a few things to do. I may even print this out and put it on my mirror to keep myself in line.

I hope that everyone else is enjoying their summer, and taking advantage of the opportunities it brings.

The Guy Who Flies Like Lightning

So today on this Memorial Day, I will be getting together with several of my good friends to engage in a game requiring smooth moves, and stealthy skills. We call it "stealth". It isn't a very original name, but it encompasses the main idea.

The game is played right off to the side of our house where a variety of shrubs, trees, and rocks reside. The goal is to get from one side to the other, get the "ball" (actually just a fancy looking rock) and get it back to the other side. Of course that would be easy, so we made "it", otherwise known as that guy or girl trying to stop us. They remain in one specific location and rotate at a constant pace in a circular motion. They attempt to use their senses to target each person specifically.

So it's pretty fun, and we play it a lot, and every now and again we get a really large group to play with. It makes for some good outdoor fun.

So why my post name? Well on Friday and Saturday we were out camping. Once again there was large group of us, so we went out and played capture the flag. Boundaries were set according to a river. Well time was getting slim and neither side made any progress, so I decided to go Ninja style. So I took off all my clothes except for my under armour pants and long sleeved shirt, and ran across the bridge as fast as I could.

It was super exhilarating, I felt kind of like Wolverine from the new X-Men movie. I could run super fast, and it didn't matter what anyone threw at me because I'd still be there. Well I had like 4 guys chasing me and none of them EVER came close. I love it when that happens.

Unfortunately we were on a pressing schedule and we had to stop before I could run and snatch the flag. I would have had it though.

So in relation to today, I'm going to fly super fast, and unnoticed. My goal is to never get caught, and I think I could do it. I'm gonna be The Guy Who Flies Like Lightning.

Bring It On AP TEST!!!

So tomorrow is my first legitimate AP test, the AP Language and Composition test. The day after (or Thursday) is the AP Macroeconomics test. How am I feeling? I'm feeling alright.

I suppose I'm writing this just to clear my thoughts a little. As I've learned this year I'm not a test taker, but that doesn't mean I throw in the towel. I always put up a fight, give a good show, give it my all etc...

So now I anxiously await the big moment. The AP Lang and Comp test is composed of a multiple choice section, and then a paper writing position. I get about an hour and a half or so to write three types of essay's. It will be a challenge, especially because there's no time to have writer's block. It pays off to have an overly active imagination sometimes. It also pays off to read. I'm thinking that the essay portion will be so-so. The Multiple Choice part though could be anywhere. They could ask me to identify the irony of a specific word choice, or ask me to relate the meaning of a metaphor. It could go anywhere.

AP Macro is the big test for me. For this whole year I've struggled to pull of a good grade in Economics. I made a choice to take the Macro exam instead of both the Macro and Micro exams. I think I would have shot myself in the foot if I'd done that. Ultimately it comes down to how well I prepare after my test tomorrow. Thankfully Macro makes a lot more sense to me than Micro does. I'm thinking I could do well on both tests.

Overall what have I learned about AP classes? I've learned that it's a lot of work, especially if you discover a bit to late that it isn't enjoyable. That's how economics turned out to be.

On a brighter note though, my schedule next year is probably the most perfect set up I've EVER had. I look forward to my senior year, and I'm going to go for strait A's for once in my high school career.

Here's the line-up.

1. Concert Choir (Still can't believe I made it in!)
2. AP Psychology (Don't worry I KNOW this ones good)
3. College Composition (I enjoy writing papers)
4. Chinese 7-8 (Otherwise known as 4th year!)
5. Photography (I'm super happy about this one. I LOVE camera's!)
6. CWI(Continuing World Issues) for one semester, and TA (Teacher's Assistant) in Chinese for the other.

It'll be a good year. I especially like that it's all social sciences, and no Math or Science classes. That's the way a schedule should be; free of stressful activities.

In the meantime though, I've got tests. So I'm gonna do a last quick review, and hit the sack.

Chiguy15

You can dance if you want to...

Hey family, Friends, and other people who may randomly watch me!

So about a month or two ago, the TA in my class was trying to encourage people to sign up for our school talent show. Upon asking "does anyone have any talents?" The class was like "Joseph can dance!", and I'm saying "Uhh only to one song". When the TA started singing the song we dance too, completely free of my naming the song, I took it as a holy sign from the lord that I should sign up.

I consulted my friends, and we got working to try and organize a legit group, and finish choreographing our dance. It took some work, and it was a little hard to get together for practice.

When try outs came, only four of our seven could make it. We actually tried out without the dance firmly set in stone. We didn't even have a name. Through some miracle, after we messed up a few times, we were asked our group name. My good friend ________ said "we're the Mormon Mafia". Although this seems like an overused name,it is actually a revival of a group that came before us. We are the predecessors.

A week later, we got the confirmation note. It was time to figure out a good formation, and figure out how to spice it up just a little more. It was really hard to come together, because some of our group has Really early morning seminary, and some of the girls have after school play practice.

Well the big day came, and we decided to promote ourselves. We dressed in our white shirts, and wore some good looking ties. We advertised just a little bit, and we mentally prepared ourselves for what was to come.

Well the talent show started at 7. We got there early and made sure we were ready to go. We expected to be one of the worst groups, and least anticipated. WE WERE VERY WRONG.

Our Que came up, and we took the stage. Us guys took a quick look up pulled down our ties a bit, and looked back down. Then the music started.



After that we went out into the lobby, because we were right before the intermission. Everyone swarmed our group. People I didn't know were coming up to me and saying "you were my favorite, can I get a picture with you?" People I knew from school were coming up to us and glorifying us. It was REALLY crazy.

I don't know what this will mean for missionary work around here. But I know that our name is now very publicly popular at school. People are going to be watching us, and it's our job to be an example.

I gotta pocket full of sunshine...

So I've decided before the day even truly begins, this IS going to be the BEST "regular" day.

The last few days have been everywhere, very stressful, filled with some happy things, and some sad things, and some unanticipated issues. For instance on the bad note, I recently found out I have some credit deficiency for graduation. I'm apparently missing a .5 credit of US History. While it's rather tiresome, I'm confident that a solution will be found. An example of good stuff that's been happening is something like Friday Afternoon after school. Even though I swore I'd never join a school choir, I auditioned and you know what, I GOT IN! I was super pumped, and to top it off, she told me I should audition for Vocal Ensemble, which is a select group of 18 people. Tryouts are competitive, so I look forward to it.

Today I have another test in AP Economics. I got up really early today to study it. I feel better about it, and after that I studied for a Chinese quiz. In about 45 minutes I'm going to Seminary, and I'm going to give my 100 percent. I'm going to give everything I've got on the tests, and I'm going to tear through today.

So if you want a little dose of how I'm going to act/feel today, listen to Track 20 on my play list. I may even be singing it while I'm blazing through school.

I'm so on fire right now I felt like I should share and I hope you catch fire today and have a wonderful day.

Here's to happiness!

BEST DANCE EVER!

Hey all!

So I figured since I told you I was hosting dinner, and going to a Prom, I had to tell you how it all went. I was waiting for some pictures to show you before I said anything. So here it goes from start to finish.

The Saturday began with me coming downstairs and realizing that I needed to start preparation immediately. The table cloth for our dining room table was a pain in the neck, for some reason it didn't want to cooperate with me. After getting the table cloth all spread about, I set the table with our fancy stuff (wine goblets, good silverware, napkins etc...). All in all, it looked pretty good, and I thought it was a job well done.

Next was Bread stick making time. This usually takes a good long bit of time, so I got working immediately. After I'd let my yeast rise, and stirred in the salt and oil, I realized something; I'd forgotten to put my sugar in in the beginning. Well I put it in, and gave it a lot, A LOT of extra time to chill out. This may have been a good thing later, but I don't know. The bread sticks themselves took forever, but they were probably the best looking I've made. I went light on the garlic, and that's REALLY hard for me.

I still had a problem though because I still had eight more people to seat for our dinner. I pulled out all the table settings, and put them off to the side for use later. Then some of my guests began to arrive.

It was only the guys though. I'd asked them all to show up early so we could finish meal preparation. I've never seen that much chaos in my house at one moment. Thankfully my Mom popped in with a small table perfect for eight people. We quickly set that up, and finished food prep right as our last guests got in.

Dinner was great, and we ended up being short one person (which was ok because otherwise we would have been cramped). I thought the bread sticks turned out nicely, and dinner seemed to be enjoyed by all. Before we left for our Prom we took some pictures on the stairs.


The dance itself was really good. The decorations were very extravagant, and the music selection was good. I danced ever slow dance (like always), and I danced with all the girls in our group at least once, and danced with some other friends who went with a separate group.

While at the dance we took another group photo with some of our other friends...



and then later I had this one taken of just me for future reference.



Yup so I'm doing well, and I'm having loads of fun over here. I deemed the Prom night a huge success, and I was happy that I ended up at the Mormon Prom, rather than the school dance. I may have more pictures to put on later, but for now this is what you get.

OH YEAH...

Well for those of you who read my brothers blog, this story may sound familiar.

I was getting a ride home from one of the young women's presidency members. She lives in our neighborhood, and she's pretty cool. Well when I was saying good bye it went a little something like this.

Joseph: Good Night sis. Matthews

Sis. Matthews: Good Night Joseph

Joseph: So you at church tomorrow.

Sis. Matthews: See you at church as well.

Joseph: I love you... ummm

Sis. Matthews: It's ok Joseph, I love you too (I then took that opportunity to close the door, and go up to my doorstep).

Yeah it was pretty embarrassing, I told all my friends on Sunday, and I told my parents. If anything it makes a good story, and I'd rather tell the story then have someone else telling it.

So I'll write more later!

Chiguy

Fight the Flu!

I was in my Seminary class on Thursday and somehow the topic of fighting off sickness came up. I boldly stated that I would fight illness, and would not get sick. My seminary teacher then made some jokes about what the fight would look like. It was all quite funny.

Well Mom and Dad donated the house to some girls from another stake so they could do Personal Progress stuff overnight without distractions. That meant I had to find a place to stay for Friday Night. I called up my friend to see if I could stay and he was cool with it. His parents even suggested I come over on Thursday night, hang out all of Friday and then return mid Saturday. Things looked pretty good.

The big day came and I went to his house. It was a good night filled with laughs until my friends father came downstairs and told us that their son was throwing up. I quickly said a prayer (because I'm serious, I can't afford to be sick), and then attempted to go back to sleep.

So the idea was we'd just stay away from him for the day, and we'd be outside a little more. It was a pretty awesome Friday until around 7:00 Pm when my friend went to take a little nap. about thirty minutes later, he calls his downstairs phone via his cell phone to tell his Mom he just puked.

So now I'm in a dilemma, here I am in a house full of sick people, I've definitely had exposure and could be a carrier, and I can't go home. After calling Dad I told him I'd call about and see if I could find a place to stay. I managed to stay at another friends house and I called up Dad again. After swinging by home for a father's blessing, and some Kangen Water I went to my friend's house.

I have had no issues, felt no symptoms, and I feel good. I slept fine, and the closest thing to medicine I've had is Kangen Water. I haven't had the Flu this season so the likeliness that I got it would be pretty high. It's rather odd, but that has been a real faith builder. I can see that by believing in the power of the priesthood, and believing that I'll be fine, I can be just that. I know for myself that Priesthood power is real, and that it does bless lives, so long as we are ready and willing to receive it.