Christmas Time!

I just want to mention a couple of my favorite things about Christmas Time.

First of all, the happiness. I love how the Spirit helps to make people so happy! I love seeing people walking around with a smile on their face because they've tried a little harder to keep their thoughts focused on the Savior and on helping others. I wish people would always stay so focused so that happiness could always be so thick in the air.

I love the lights. Christmas lights are so wonderful and beautiful. They help to remind me of the Savior, and that He is a light for us; that looking toward Him will help us to be happy and help us to see through the darkness.

The music. Songs about Jesus Christ that are sounded all across the nation, gladdening hearts everywhere and bringing the spirit into many lives. Music that can soften the heart and turn people to look selflessly outward.

People. People everywhere, with thoughts on their minds of giving instead of getting. People who are focused on others are so beautiful to see, to talk to, to watch, to hear. It is so wonderful to see people with a smile on their lips as they walk with a close friend or family member, eager to see their face when they unveil the wonderful surprise they have for them. People laughing, skipping, running, smiling, singing, holding hands, handing off presents, presenting surprises, surprising each other with acts of kindness. Adventuring. People who get that it doesn't matter where you go, what you do, what you gift, what you get, as long as you are focused on other people and the savior. People who would sing even if the Grinch took all their presents and fancy decorations because they can feel the Savior's love and they have each other.

Laughter. Hearing people laugh, seeing people smile. It just shows that people are happy, and it makes others happy as well! Laughing is literally a way to share your happiness!!

Food. Food is good. And candy. And Chocolate. Oh, and pie; we mustn't forget pie.

The cold. I'm not sure why, but around Christmas Time, I love the fact that it's cold outside! The chill in the air is so refreshing! And it helps people to be grateful for their warm cozy houses and their delicious hot chocolate. It gives one another reason to be close to loved ones. It helps one remember the humble circumstances of Christ's birth.

The stories. Stories are so beautiful. I love to hear touching tales of the lives of people; a time where somebody made another's Christmas though selfless service and charity. I love to hear reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. I love to get to know people better through tales of their lives.

The love. To see a general shift from people being grumpy to people being grateful. For people expressing their love for the Savior, for each other, for Christmas, for friends, for family, for food. I love hearing that people love stuff!!! It's far too easy to dislike something; and around Christmas Time, we realize that liking that very same thing leads to much happiness! It's too easy to say, "This song is dumb. It's cheesy, and it has nothing to do with what Christmas is really about." But it's far for enjoyable to let it make you smile, and to dance about to it, and say it's cute, and then remember what Christmas is about anyway!! Why would you let yourself be unhappy in such a time of love? People love things for a reason, and if you can figure out how to love the things they love, you come to love them more as well. That's what Christmas is about. Learning to love as Jesus loved.

Folks, I love Christmas.

I want to be a missionary now.... AND I DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I'M GROWN

I cannot express how happy I am right now. Everything in my life has led up to this moment. All of my greatest wishes are fulfilled and also all of my greatest fears are quenched. Brace yourself, world, for elder Oldroyd #2. I am so ready to go. The Lord has been preparing me for this in ways that I had no idea of. My gratitude cannot be expressed by any words my feeble mouth may be able to come up with. My life just changed a ridiculous amount.
To be a part of this is just absolutely incredible. The work of the Lord is moving forward, friends, and I'm going to be right there helping push it along. Wish me luck!

Friday.

It seems like I started college only a couple days ago, but really it's been almost two weeks! Oh how time flies when you are slowly collecting more stories to tell. 

And speaking of stories....

It was a warm late afternoon, the sunset smiling majestically as always as I made my way over to Helaman  Fields where I had heard there were shenanigans going down. Sure enough, when I arrived there were plenty of awesome people throwing around those wonderful 175 gram really sweet frisbees that BYU makes out of recycled plastic bottles, so I did not hesitate in joining in. Soon, the party was in full swing and we were playing some pretty cool getting-to-know-you games, and then there was a dance. Naturally I danced for a little bit, but then I saw a group of people playing ultimate, and that definitely takes priority over dancing. I soon joined in and we had an awesome game going on. I nailed some pretty sweet tricky tosses right to people in the endzone, and I even caught some really tricky tosses to catch. Anyway, I was really into the game, and so I was running forward to catch a frisbee that had been thrown in my direction. I stretched out my arm and snatched it from the air and then tried to make my feet stop moving. Unfortunately, the grass was wet, and my shoes were the not of the most frictitious footwear variety, so I successfully stopped my upper body, but my feet kept right on going. I fell backwards, thrusting out my arm at an awkward angle to catch myself, and then pop. My arm didn't feel so good. Before I worried about that though I switched the frisbee to my left hand and tossed it to an open team mate. After that I went over to my paramedics and they relocated my dislocated shoulder, and all was well. But while it lasted the dislocated shoulder felt pretty strange. 

Anyway, after all that I came home. After being home for about five minutes there came a knock at the door. I answered it and who was there, but Preston Sharp! My friend whom I haven't seen in about 7 years. Anyway, he was just going door to door with a group of other kids playing "Bigger or Better" which is an awesome game, by the way, and it was super random and awesome. 

After that Eva and Taylor came over to make sure my arm was okay, and then we went over to their apartment because we were going to watch a movie or something, but then we ended up just talking until 1:29 in the morning. This is my first time in college going to bed after 1. Sad. 

I'm not sure how exciting those stories were for you, but I like them, so I wrote them down. 

BYU LSH

Late Summer Honors has just been an absolutely incredible opportunity for me, and I am so very glad that I decided to do it. My class is absolutely wonderful, and I just love having real conversations about books with people who actually know what I'm talking about! Also people that give me good feedback on my writing.

What could be better than random firesides and presentations where the speaker can talk about Hermeneutics of the Bible, and then relate Exegesis and Eisegesis to our own scripture study, and tie in an awesome spiritual message, and the people in attendance don't grow bored or confused of it?!

It's so incredible to open meetings with songs and prayers, and especially be able to mention scriptures at any point in the conversations/lesson.

It is my favorite thing in the world to meet so many amazing people who share my love of learning and love of the gospel. I love being able to instantly connect with these people because they're so much like myself. People that make me smarter and better in only a few minutes of conversation with them.

Thank you, everybody. So very much.


I'd like to specifically mention:

Erin
Emma
Rachel
Eliza
Matt
Mark
Katherine
Alyson
Isaac
Ben
Sean
Vera
Sarah-Elizabeth
Elsa
Lindsey
Emily
Travis
Mary
Marli
Other Emily
Other Rachel
Ariel
Justin
Sarah
Amanda
Victoria
Rebecca
And everybody who played games with me or participated in activities with me or I met in any way.

And of course my friends from Timpview.


I've loved hearing everybody's stories, as they've had some incredible experiences, and I've really loved meeting people from other states and countries.


And anybody, feel free to come visit me any time that you want.

Wyview, Building 26, Apt 352.

It turns out that I'm lucky enough to have some pretty fantastic adventures.

I am going to tell you my story of today. It's a very good story, so hopefully I can do it justice. Basically the gist of it is that I hiked mount Nebo (tallest mountain in Utah county) today with my dad and a couple brothers. But there is so much adventure and awesomeness that stemmed from this experience, so I should like to share a portion with you all.

First, I drove there, but that's not the exciting bit.

The exciting bit is the actual hike, which turned out to be one of the most absolutely gorgeous hikes that I have ever been on. It was also extremely long and extremely difficult, which only made it better, of course.

The first section of the hike was just a bunch of fields and stuff, but they were still awesome because they were filled with happily colored shrubbery and exciting insects. The next section of the hike made me feel like I was a hobbit in the shire, which basically means it was the best forest path that there ever was. After that we hiked over one mountain and got to see all of the cool stuff on both sides! Then we climbed a mountain and walked along a ridge and scrambled up some boulders and did some other crazy stuff, eventually reaching the very top of the north peak of mount Nebo, and reaching an elevation of 11998 ft! I jumped two feet in the air so that I could say I hit 12000.

At the top, it started to thunder storm and rain and wind very scarily, so we climbed down as fast as we could. It's rather intense when lightning is striking closer to you than you've ever seen it before, and you're on top of the tallest mountain in the county, and your hair is standing on end from static electricity. That storm made me feel like a character in an awesome adventure book.

Overall our hike took over 9 hours and I had to carry my brother Jacob for that last bit because it was too far for him. It was very long, and very intense, and very perfect. I would definitely like to hike that with some friends sometime. If they can handle it.

When it rains, you put on a coat.

I'm am getting rather excited for BYU. Well that is an understatement, for I may appear calm on the outsite, but on the inside I am just jumping up and down like a five year old waiting for christmas. Lately I have taken to just going over to campus and wandering around the Wilk. Sometimes I read books in the BYU Bookstore, sometimes I buy candy from their magnificent candy supply, and a couple days ago I even watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs on the giant TV in the electronics section of the Bookstore. So yeah. I adventure sometimes. :)

Phone Pictures

 Sometimes I walk up to the temple at night. It's always pretty fantastic. 

 You know it's spring when there's green grass poking through the snow. 

 Shoes! 

 Bald Soprano. What a beautiful, beautiful play. I still quote it constantly. 

 Same color!

 A Nutella Oreo. It actually tasted pretty terrible. I wouldn't recommend it. Ever. It was like chocolate paste on cardboard. 

 Fish sticks and custard, on the other hand, really tasted pretty good. 

 My lovely little yarn snowman named Andrew. Too bad Kat ruthlessly unraveled him while he was still young. 

 Ummm...

 Gee, I wonder who wrote what.... Not. 

 I felt honored that there was a statue of me.

 A dragon for Kristen. 

 Despite the blurryness, I still think this picture is cute. Mostly because Kat's in it.

 I think these are my favorite people ever. 

 :)

 Boss it. 

 They're in a fight. 

 Sometimes I beat Joseph at checkers. Like always. 

 Bald Soprano Shoes!

 Flowers. I like flowers. Flowers are manly. I bet you could shoot roses out of a bow and arrow. 

 I love it when it rains ice. 

 This is that one time that I beat Riley at Blokus. 

 Run. Run for your life. 

 At Jacob Jespersen's Farewell. There were so many people there! I wish I knew half that many people! Jacob is a good guy. We'll all miss him, but he'll be a top-notch missionary. 

 My greatest chalking endeavor. I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

 This is Rebecca. She gave me a private concert, because I could not attend her senior recital. How is she so perfect? The world may never know, but will always be happy because of her. 

 Yes, I made this for Riley's birthday. Brownie chess cake = awesome. 

 That was a good ballroom concert. I liked it. 

 Our shoes are on a date. 

So are we. 

 I found Pinocchio. 

 Once upon a time I started walking, and I just kept walking until I found a little trail, and off that trail I found a path, with lead to a smaller deer trail, which I followed until I found deer, and then I climbed some stuff, and then it was getting dark so I scrambled back down the mountain. It was a good day. 

 Bushes with flowers growing out of the top are cooler than a polar bear on a windy day. 

 It's hard to see it in the picture, but the chalk board has an arrow pointing to Ree, and a label that says "Ree Lu." It's cool. 

 Fancy Hair. 

 Joseph in the ceiling? 

 We're cute in our dance co shirts. 

 So what's new?

 I love this Maren!

 It's not that way it's over here! 

 Oh, small children. 

Yes, I got a picture with Rick Riordan. Yes, I am the only one who got a picture with Rick Riordan. Yes, sometimes it is beneficial to be on tech. 

Three Things

I am very thirsty for chocolate. (That doesn't mean I want to drink it, because drinking straight liquid chocolate sounds like terrible damage, it just means that I would love anyone who felt it in their hearts to bake me a chocolate cake or something.) Speaking of Chocolate, the chocolate that Kristen gave me was very amazing. Thank you, you wonderful person. I've come up with a bartering system for favors: you give me chocolate, I'll do anything you'd like me to (granted that the chocolate was of high enough quality and you gave me enough.) Except if you don't give me chocolate and ask me to do you a favor, I'd probably do it anyway because I love you. But the chocolate would still be appreciated.

Sometimes when you take a walk with no destination in mind, you end up halfway up a mountain with the sun almost gone down. It's beautiful, and glorious. Chillin' with the deers and watching a beautiful sunset with the wonderful smells of spring blossoms drifting through the air, while standing on top of the very world and seeing just how small your life down below really is, and realizing just how many lives are happening down there, and how much you didn't even know existed before--does anything really get any better than that? I love adventuring. Probably more than I love chocolate. Chocolate is gross after you eat a pound or two, but adventuring just keeps getting more sweet. Only thing that would be better is if people would come with me!

Despite my many flaws, for some reason Kat still agrees to go on dates with me, so last night we had a wonderful time going to see my little brother Robert be Pinocchio at the Scera. Obviously because Robert was the star of the show, I was able to secure 4 cost-free tickets for myself, Riley, Kat, and Kenzie, which led to a wonderful and inexpensive date. Robert is quite the talented little kid, and I very much enjoyed the show. It was very well done, with quite the extravagant array of props and things. It was actually really sad in parts, and exciting in others, and scary in some (pleasure island) and epic in the curtain call. (Why are not all curtain calls dance parties with dubstep disney music and flashy neon lights? I don't know. Let's not try to know.) Anyway, after that we ate ice cream at Macey's and then went over to BYU campus to talk, and hang out, and look at starts, and abberantly run past the statue of Brigham Young to make him look like he's dancing. (Don't ask.) It was a pretty wonderful date. Thanks Kat!

Symphonic Tour Number the Last

The itinerary:


Monday, April 2 

7:30am  Everyone please help load the trailer (chairs, stands, percussion, heavy metal)

8:05am  GO TO CLASS!!!
Yeah, right........

12:20pm  Load buses

12:40pm  Meeting in bandroom (have your  itinerary on you and be ready to name everyone in SB)

12:50pm  Leave Timpview, sack lunch from home

2:30pm  Arrive Wellington; rest stop at park (snacks?)

3:00pm  Leave Wellington

5:00pm  Arrive Moab; dinner ($)

5:45pm  Arrive Grand CountyHigh School; section rehearsals

7:00pm  Full rehearsal

8:30pm  Meeting (snacks?)

9:30pm  Leave Moab

10:30pm  Arrive in Monticello; Check in at Inn at the Canyons 435.487.2458

11:30pm  Lights Out    

Tuesday, March 29 

7:00am  UP!

7:45am  Leave the motel; walk to the temple
It was soooo windy and freezing cold, so a very nice man let us into the church next to the temple and we ate in there.

8:00am  Arrive Monticello Temple; Breakfast (P)

8:30am  Leave the Temple, walk to MHS

8:45am  Meet the equipment truck at Monticello HS

9:00am  Clinic with Mr. Erickson

10:30am  Combined rehearsal with Monticello HS

11:15am  Leave Monticello; sack lunch (P)

11:45noon Arrive Blanding; Tour Edge of the Cedars State Park
Fun stuff

1:00pm  Leave Blanding

2:00pm  Arrive Goosenecks State Park
Wonderful place.

2:15pm  Leave Goosenecks

3:00pm  Arrive Montezuma Creek; rehearsal at Whitehorse HS

4:00pm  Combined rehearsal with Whitehorse Band
They were so very cool. I miss them.

5:30pm  Dinner (P) with Whitehorse students 

7:00pm  Leave Montezuma Creek

8:30pm  Arrive Monticello; attend "Wassermusik" recital
We went swimming.

10:30pm  In rooms

11:30pm  Lights Out

Wednesday, March 30

6:30am  Augen aufmachen!

7:15am  Leave Monticello

7:45am  Breakfast at Wilson Arch (P)
We didn't eat there, but it was a wonderful arch.

8:30am  Arrive Hole in the Rock House

9:00am  Leave Hole in the Rock

10:15pm  Arrive Green River; rest stop

10:45pm  Leave Green River

11:45noon Arrive Price; Lunch ($)

12:30pm  Leave Price

1:45pm  Arrive Maple Mountain HS; change into black

2:30pm  Symphonic Band warm up

3:00pm  Symphonic Band performance; Concert Band listens
I think we did well. :)

3:30pm  Both bands listen to Provo

4:00pm  Concert Band warm up; Symphonic Band listens to Orem

4:30pm  Concert Band performance; Symphonic Band listens

5:00pm  both bands load buses; both bands leave Maple Mountain HS

6:00pm  both bands arrive Timpview HS














I am going to miss band a ridiculous amount. This tour was so fun! And basically it just made me amazingly happy to be with my awesome and wonderful band friends. Especially Asher, Nate, Kate, Cami, Wendy, Mary, Allison, Macy, Ree, Nick, Christian, Kent, Bao, Etc... 


And playing frisbee with Joseph and Josh and people was awesome. And me and Ree chilling whilst the band rehearsed Elsa's, exactly like last year (we even talked about the same exact things.) And I enjoyed the bus rides, where we listened to Mr. Tippetts tell us stories for hours, and I told riddles to Cami and Nate and laughed to myself as they figured them out. And the good weather (well, mostly good weather) and just the wonderful happiness that band brings. 


And of course game night was glorious. Playing Indian Attack was absolutely classic. Oh band, how I shall miss thee. What a wonderful thing. 


There's really nothing like band tour at all. Nothing out in the whole wide world. 


I love adventuring, and I love people.