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I had to take a picture of this because it's the last time that I'm ever going to see this. Since I was in a grumpy mood last night, Diane decided to give me some wall love.

Pumpkin Stealing Update

OK, so in the end, it seems that my apartment was one-up'd by some other guys in the ward. It turns out that we only had 9 pumpkins because three of them were stolen from one of our paint buckets a few days ago (by these same guys). I'll post some pics in a few hours when I have nothing to do at school. The winning condo was able to amass 22 pumpkins (10 of which they stole in the last 24 hours from some guys two doors down from us. All I can say is that I'm happy for the activity to be over with. No more 24/7 lock downs and no more screening who can and cannot enter our apartment. In addition, I won't be coughing up the insulation from our small closet. Hopefully, it's not asbestos; otherwise, I may die soon and that would be a sad day.

After the pumpkin game, we had a ward trunk-or-treat...which was OK, but not nearly a good as last year's. I'm not sure why fewer people participated (in decorating their vehicles), but it just wasn't happening like last year. Diane and I won the "most original" award for wearing her 4-year old McDonald's costumes. This year, I went as a Big Mac and she was fries (which is a big step for her since she's been a milk shake for the past three years). I'll have to see if she still has our awards certificate. Hopefully, she does so I can post it online. I'll have to add it to the endless list of awards that I've won over the years.

And now I'm off to school for an enjoyable (hopefully—seriously have been apathetic towards people lately) day of Enterprise Architecture.

Moment of Freedom

So, my roommate and some friends have decided to leave the world of Facebook for blogging. As described by their Facebook group:

"On Monday, November 5th at 6pm we are going to deactivate our Facebook accounts. We are leaving the increasingly silly world of "Facebook" and are entering the world of Blogging; a place free of lame, immodest advertisements, stupid poking, perverted stockers, lame gifts, and ridiculousness. We invite all to join us."

I can't say that I am going to unite with them and leave Facebook. I still find value in finding old friends. Scrabulous is fun to play on occasion (if my friends are actively playing it—otherwise, it's lame). SuperPoke is OK, but I still use it. I must say that I am not a fan of people who clutter their profiles with tons of apps. It is ugly and I am disgusted by it. If I stumble upon a friend's profile that it too cluttered, I pay my final respects as I will probably not be back.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I am not leaving Facebook, but I am going to get back into blogging (I took a break during the summer).

Pumpkin Stealing

About a week ago, my ward decided to implement an activity where each condo received a small pumpkin. The goal was to accumulate (i.e., steal) as many pumpkins as possible. You could hide it anywhere on the main floor of you condo, but not in bedrooms (some condos are only one story, unlike my condo). The goal of the activity was to foster interaction between ward members and to have fun.

Well, it's hard to say if these goals have been met. My roommates have gotten really into the game. It appears that lots of people hate my roommates because they have stolen a fair number of pumpkins and been a bit extreme at times (the all-time low of the activity is when one friend got bitten by another person, who shall remain anonymous). To make matters worse, nobody has been able to steal a pumpkin from my condo, even though my roommates have given them a few opportunities to search the condo. They have gone as far to tell them a specific location (e.g., it's in this corner of the kitchen, it's within one foot of the wall, etc.) I found it particularly amusing when we were staring at one of the pumpkins and nobody found it. I can't say that I've done much to steal pumpkins. Last night, I spent about 10 minutes trying to help people steal pumpkins, but then I went back to doing homework. My participation has primarily been making sure that the condo is locked down 24 hours a day.

The activity ends tonight and we're excited to reveal our hiding spots. I am sure some people will say that we went beyond the rules of the game.

Lessons Learned

• Stealing is OK
  
• Breaking and entering is acceptable
  
• Ruthless competition is the name of the game
  

OK, so I don't believe these lessons.

Washington

OK, so I went to Washington about two months ago. It was my second trip there (the first being this past May) and I must say that I had an enjoyable time. After giving Diane a tour of Southern California, it was her turn to convince me that Washington was the place to be. I'll give you my answer later in the post. Diane's dying to know. I have kept it a secret for these past two months. My first thought as I arrived at SeaTac is that Seattle is green (surprise, surprise). I already knew this from my first visit to Redmond. As part of my welcome agenda, we grabbed some fish 'n chips at Ivar's in the airport. We snacked on it in the car ride home to Diane's home. It was tasty, but I can't say that I'm a huge fish 'n chips fan like my friend, Melissa. When we arrived at Diane's home, we were greeted by one of her sisters and her family. It was the beginning...

While my journey began in Redmond, I didn't spend much time there. After a day, we headed off the Chelan for a wonderful time. I worked 10 weeks over the summer and I was in desperate need of a tan. The lake was a bit hazy due to a fire at the north end of the lake, but I didn't let it ruin my day. During the first half of our stay at the lake, a few other families stayed with us; it was so much fun to have them around. While I enjoyed my time in California, it was a little quiet since only mom, dad, and grandma are the only ones at home. Having kids around was very entertaining as I have forgotten what it's like to be a little kid. I can't say that I don't miss my high school years. Teenage arrogance and immaturity is hilarious. It's so funny to see them think they're always right and "cool."

After the guests left, things quieted down a bit. It was just Diane and her family. Different siblings and their families came and went while we were there. It was great to be able to meet all of her family. Over the two weeks, I improved my wakeboarding skills (not that I'm any good), got tan, and played a lot; lots and lots of Wii, badminton, horse shoes, etc. So much so, that I was feeling like I needed some order and productivity in my life. Diane even took me fishing for the first time (although she claims that it really wasn't fishing since we didn't catch anything, saw almost no fish, and got our lines tangled). Near the end of the trip, the family and I went to a Michael Buble concert (they're big fans). I really didn't know his before the concert, but I still found it enjoyable. I can't say that he's better than Frank, but he has some songs worth listening to.

I could write more, but doing so would mean that I would get even less out of my class than I am at the current moment.

Dusting off the Page

It's been so long since I've last written a post that I had to go back to my blog to see what was on it. Sad day. Over the course of the next few days, I will try and do my best to update my blog with the latest and greatest from my life. Suffice it say, I am kept quite busy with school and work. I don't really think I can manage it all, yet I find myself wanting to tackle more and more projects. As the end of October nears, I am hoping to pick out a Halloween costume. Diane and I have talked about this for some time, but we have not made much headway. I think we may end up going to Target and picking up whatever they have left...

At the current moment, things seem to be more under control back home. The fires in Orange County are being controlled to a greater degree and my life seems in more order. I have recently gone back to the gym at 6:00 am—it is killing me. By 8:00 pm, I am so tired that I want to go to bed, but I can't. Too much to do. And so goes my life.