Happy Birthday President Dester!

So, it's one of my most favorite person's birthday today. His name is President Dester. He's pretty great, so here's some birthday wishes for him!

Happy Birthday President Dester! :)

I Hate Goodbyes.

Another school year has passed. Credits have been earned and classes have been passed (hopefully). Friendships have been forged and relationships have been created. But this year was different. Something about it made it unlike any school year I've ever endured. As I reflect on the past eight months that I've spent at Snow College, I try and pinpoint what was different than other years.

Maybe it was the town I lived in. I mean, Ephraim is a beautiful, small town with a safe and secure feeling that's hard to find in other college towns. I spent many a late night walking around campus breathing in the fresh air and looking at the stars.

Maybe it was the adventures. From hiking in Capitol Reef with my Literature of the Outdoors class, to taking pictures in the autumn foliage in Maple Canyon with Callie and Brianna, to drives up Fairview Canyon with Weston, only fall into the snow and almost lose a flip flop, to singing around a campfire with the greatest ward ever to exist, to impromptu snowball fights with my Mountain View besties, to walks down Main Street with Laura, and much more.

Maybe it was the hardships I faced. The passing of Marissa Watkins brought me closer to the friends I had. Tough times at school made me grow closer to my best friend and sister, Callie. Bouts of sadness and anxiety made me come to love my Heavenly Father and the comfort He brings me.

Maybe it was the friends I've made. Let me tell you, I've never had a better group of friends in my life, ever. The people I've met have been warm, friendly, kind, accepting, funny, outgoing, adventurous, happy, optimistic, trusting, honest, sarcastic, and simply amazing. 

Maybe it was D, all of the above. I often look at my life as a puzzle made up of thousands of puzzle pieces that I get from everything I've done in life and from everyone I've met. If you know me, you've contributed a puzzle piece to my gigantic puzzle. Thank you for everything you've done.

So I'd like to thank the following individuals that I've associated with at Snow College for changing my life:

Dain Christensen, Marissa Watkins, Callie Roberts, Rachel Staheli, Tessa Bradford, Samm Boldrin, Amber North, Camille Densley, Laura Sorensen, Janelle Clark, Chelsey Powell, Jill Hammond, Taylor Anderson, Chelsea Crowther, Jessican Groo, Heidi Luscher, Weston Allinson, Yosuke Tsuda, Bradie Shelton, Brittany Attanasio, Sage Griffin, Bekah Nelson, Becca Allen, Kacia Jacobson, Brianna Packard, Mariah Dawe, James Marsh, Shelby Patterson, Martha Beh, Taysen Barben, Brooke Bradley, Jason Hill, Lindsey Zea, Hayden Worwood, Kylee Hone, Gentry Wilson, Chaelyne Cook, Kim Marsden, Kylee Morse, Colton Purcell, Joe Fishietau, Ciara Ruesch, Tiffany Rasmussen, Emily Goates, Trevor Brimley, Christian Willardson, Chris Dodge, Tyler Clark, Kailey Doty, Adam Smith, Jessica Johnson, Caleb Swallow, Nick Wells, Kade Flake, Josie McBride, Michael Southwick, Alenia Robertson, Chelsea Herrin, Kirsten Winther, Vanessa Moses, Adaire Provost, Ally Anderson, Scott Mason, Nicole Bradley, Nathan White, Paul Davis, James Davis, Holly Troskie, Andrea Cox, Tyler Olsen, Shantae Maddocks, Bethany Farley, Kim Van Duker, Cassidy Bailey, Jon Daisson, Shaleese White, Caleb Coleman, Karlissa Bradley, Chloe Palmer, Dannika McBride, Bryce Stephenson, Kallie McCullough, Mellaina Adams, Morgan Thompson, Sam Thomson, Jessica Harris, Brianna Wright, Kenny Fong, Lindsey Nicholes, Kieran Meeks, Ashlee Hess, Devin Mitchell, Kayla Huff, Brianna Anderson, Katrina Bowen, Hailee Zeeman, Emily Christensen, Chris Jenkins, Heather Reynolds, Kaylyn Sly, Bishop Eddie Hanson, Taylor Holden, Jade Barben, Greg Boothe, Chad Carter, Nathan Sutterfield, Lorenzo Garza, Alyssa Shewell, Tori Turner, and many others (sorry if I missed you! There's so many of you!).

I love you all very much! I hate saying goodbye, but I know that someday we'll see each other again.

Thank you all for changing my life. I am who I am today because of you!

Love,
Drew

We Can't Do It Alone.

We truly need God in our lives. We cannot do anything alone.

May we all have even a little faith in our loving God.

Winking Attacks.

It has been yet another long day in the day of a college student, so I feel the need to share some lessons learned. Here we go.

If you want people to notice you, get a haircut. It's the easiest thing to compliment someone on.

Getting someone to talk is as easy as mentioning something they love.

Bald people are funny. 

Today felt like yesterday. It was almost exactly the same.

When you understand Calculus, you feel like you can rule the world.

I'm not cleaning my apartment anymore. Unless it's my mess, I refuse to clean it. 

I love drawing buildings, especially the cute old ones.

You never know how much you appreciate something until you draw it.

Brains aren't exactly VCRs...more like hyper-sonic BluRay players on steroids.

Some teachers just rock. Seriously. They may be old and strange, but that makes them even better.

There exists in life people whose entire purpose is to annoy me. Or so it seems...

I have friends who I enjoy being around, but make me feel conflicted about myself later on.

Why do English teachers always tell you different ways of writing? I should only need one.

Having three bloody noses in 9 hours is not fun, especially when one occurs at 2:30 am.

I think I'm gonna make cookies tonight...maybe.

Maybe is a very subjective word.

Bones is a super interesting show. Dain might have gotten me hooked...

If I winked as much as I did in real life, I would probably be arrested for harassment.

Everyone is getting into a relationship. Holy cow.

Life is wonderful. Have I ever mentioned that?

I love you all! Keep being stellar!

[Insert Emotion Here]

I know this isn't the place for my emotional rants, but there are just a few things that I feel the need to say.

1. I miss my cousin, Laura. Whenever I was having a down day, I could go and say hi to her and she'd fill my heart with warm laughter and smiles. When she was having a down day, we could hug each other and cry. If she reads this, I want her to know that I love her and think about her constantly and wish her the best at home!

2. Once high school ended, I've became distanced from some of my closest friends. When you don't spend time with someone, it's amazing how quickly the gap of friendship widens. I miss these friends even though I realize I've made tons more at school. You can never replace someone you love.

3. I love being busy. With my recent self diagnosis of slight to moderate clinical depression, I've found that keeping myself busy stops my mind from wandering and starting to feel down on myself. It's a great blessing (even though to most people, 20 credit hours is not their cup of tea).

4. I think I want to be a landscape architect. That combines the best of both worlds in my case. As I continue my studies, I'm definitely going to look into that.

5. I love life, especially right now. College is great. Ephraim is the best. Knowledge is amazing. It's just so spectacular!

I challenge you all to love everyone, no matter their circumstances. Everyone needs to know that they are loved.

I love you all so so much! Keep being stellar!

Burning Marshmallows.

This post seems to be coming from another time or another place. For who would be burning marshmallows in the winter? That usually happens around a campfire on chilly summer nights and half the time it only happens because someone isn't paying attention to their marshmallow and it catches on fire.

Well it did happen. Tonight for Family Home Evening, our ward built marshmallow castles. We stabbed big and small marshmallows with toothpicks and shoved them together in a hope that we could make a shape that somewhat resembled a castle. Our objective was to make the most indestructible towers that could withstand even the most brutal attacks. Little did we know how brutal they might be.

As we headed to the parking lot with our castles in hand, we were pitted against another castle armed with a pair of dice and instructions. If you rolled a 1, you would stick a cotton ball in the other person's castle. If you rolled a 2, 5, or 6, you would hold a lighter to the opponent's castle for a maximum of 15 seconds. If you rolled a 3 or 4, you would take out one of the toothpicks that held together the castle. The war was on.

As we aimed to destroy the other team's castle, we soon discovered that the only truly menacing weapon was the lighter. As it became apparent that no one would win due to the significant amount of marshmallows each castle contained, we decided to just burn both castles as much as we could. So we stuffed cotton balls everywhere and lit them all. Soon both castles were in flames and the smell of burning marshmallows was in the air.

It was great fun. I learned that even though it's cold outside, there is still great fun to be had!

I love you all! Keep being stellar.

Wrong Time for Me.

The year is 2013.

It should really be 1930.

Why? Because I don't belong in 2013. I don't belong with all this technology, governmental corruption, and instant gratification seeking. I'm not someone who drives around to see the sites. I walk on my own two feet and live on what I can provide myself with and what I can survive on. I should have been born at the time when letters were written instead of emails sent. I should have lived when there was no computers or TVs, only books and God's beautiful world to learn from.

There is something about the past that fascinates me. People cared about what they made and what they did. They were respectful and kind. No one is like that today. People don't care what others say, only that they get in their say when they want to. We are so obsessed with money and time that we don't live in the moment.

I don't want to ramble so I won't. I guess I've got to learn to love the time I live in. I will make 2013 worth it to live in.

I love you all! Keep being stellar!