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Being in the Midwest has its perks. For example, it's humid, so I don't have to pay to go to a sauna, I just have to walk outside. Also, we have some pretty crazy thunder storms. I've already seen two intense ones.

My favorite experience however, occurred on Wednesday evening. It was cold in the morning and quite warm in the afternoon. So by evening time a big thunder cloud had formed on the horizon. My roommate and I were driving into the grocery store parking lot when all of a sudden the wind really picked up. I thought to myself, "Self, this appears to be tornado like weather," which my roommate later confirmed.

Anyway, we were stopped in front of the store when all of a sudden my roommate shouted, "Shopping Cart! Shopping Cart!" I looked at him funny wondering what in the world he was talking about. Then I looked in front of me to see an unmanned, empty shopping cart headed straight toward my cart going at least 10 mph. Seeing as how I didn't want a dent in my new vehicle, I gunned it through the intersection and barely missed being scraped by the unleashed terror on wheels. Apparently, I also narrowly missed being hit by the stop sign as well.

Possibly more unnerving is that we proceeded to park the car, walked inside and completed our grocery shopping with all of the other people in the store. No one seemed too concerned about the storm outside. Kind of crazy...

(There was no tornado by the way)

The Waking

So, I suppose that it's apparent that I'm in Indiana now, and it has been a really good change so far. As I was moving out here though I had words to this amazing poem run through my head almost constantly. I thought that I would share it with you all and I would love to hear your comments on it.

The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

T. Roethke

Moments

I recently discovered this Mormon Message titled "Moments that Matter Most." It's become my new favorite. The cinematography was what gripped me the most. It caused me to think about the many, many moments that make up every day. Even more so, it caused me to think about the many, many moments that make up the memories of our lives. How often do I take the time to slow down and remember to spend time with the people that mean the most to me? How often do I remember to get up after I've fallen down and keep going. The success of our lives has every bit to do with the way we treat the moments that matter the most. I sincerely hope that I can do better at slowing down and taking advantage of the gift of time God has blessed me with.

As a side note, a friend recently pointed out that the music in this video is strangely familiar to
"Forbidden Friendship" on the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack. That could also be a contributing factor as to why I like it so much.

My New Toy

Yup. I have a new car. A used 2006 Mercury Milan. This isn't a picture of my car, but it looks almost exactly the same. This is the last thing I needed in my preparation to go across the country and start graduate school at Purdue in the Fall.

Quick Wit

Here's some of the funny things that I have heard or said over the past few days. Hope you enjoy!
So, I'm currently living with one of the coolest people ever. (We'll call him D. Purnell--no, Dustin P.--to protect the innocent). He's Canadian living in the United States for schooling. What makes it particularly fun is that Dustin takes nearly everything I say seriously, at least until he realizes that I was joking. I get such a pleasure from saying a really punny comment, waiting for a few seconds, and then seeing the lights come on.
The other day we were talking about how when engineers in Canada become professionals they receive an engineering ring. The two engineers in the room, Dustin P. not included, then proceeded to say that in America we don't generally do that, but that it isn't unheard of. We then asked the fountain of all knowledge (Wikipedia) for the origin of such a practice. Apparently, the bestowal of an engineering ring originiated in Canada and migrated to the United States. Astonished by the mere possibility that something of Canadian origin moved to the US, Dustin P. exclaimed, "How often does that happen?"
"Well, Canadians do it all the time," I said.

Speaking of Canadians, I have a friend, Ms. Bennett I like to call her, that likes to ask lots of questions when she hasn't seen a person in a long while. Here's some of her questions and my answers in a recent email I sent.
Ms. Bennett: When introducing yourself, do you say that you are good friends with Ms. Bennett?
Mr. Darcy (Me): How could I not. They have Billboards everywhere mourning your loss. It's all I can do to console them.
Bennett: Have you been on any dates?
Darcy: Well, I stood on my calendar by accident, if that's what you mean.
Bennett: How's work?
Darcy:It's give and take. They give me money and I take it.
Bennett:What's the moral of "The Tortoise and the Hare"?
Darcy: There's a few of them. First, if you are fast, you should take a break for a long time because you will still finish the race. Second, comparing apples to oranges was never effective anyway. Third, there are way more turtles than hares, and the minority wins by default. And fourth, you can't tip a cow over.

My final funny story comes from last year. It's titled, That's Against the Honor Code.
So I was going to work last year and the custodial posted numerous signs up and down the hallway indicating that they were intending to refinishing the floor later in the week. I didn't think anything of it until I read it again the next day:
"Custodial will be stripping and waxing in this hallway on May 25 2010. If you need access during this time please contact Custodial at 422-5555."
"Hmmm..." I thought to myself, "That's definitely against the honor code."
It's amazing what one little preposition will do to the meaning of a sentence.

Here's Machu Picchu... oh and me too. (I lost the screw to my glasses, so I wasn't wearing all them all day)

One Eventful School Year

You know, I noticed an interesting phenomenon while reading Harry Potter last week. Every school year of Harry's ended in some type of catastrophe where he narrowly escapes with his life, then each school year starts off peacefully until the next climax a year later. You would think, at least any normal person would, that he would recognize a pattern....and then promptly move to Australia for the witness protection program.

Well, we can't all suffer from life-threatening catastrophes at the end of every school year, so I'll just give an update on my humdrum life. As a Senior at BYU I did what most people do: I graduated. The end.

Okay maybe not quite the end. I'm so excited to be finished. I'm actually surprised that I made it through all of my Chemical Engineering classes alive. I even managed a music minor on top of it all. Additionally, I got accepted to five different graduate schools and I just got back from a two week humanitarian trip in Peru. Now how cool is that?

The trip was a graduation present to myself. I'm so happy!