Apples to Apples

Have you ever played Apples to Apples? It's one of my favorite games. I played last night at my best friend's birthday party. I feel like you can learn a lot about people when you play this game.

• I learned that my best friend knows my sense of humor well.
• I learned that someone (who I haven't seen in several years) is very analytical.
• I learned that someone has a very off sense of humor. Very off.
• I learned that someone pays close attention to his surroundings and takes advantage of it.
• I learned that a friend is a liberal.
• I learned that someone can surprise you unexpectedly... and it's really, really funny when he does.
• I learned that I tend to act how others find funny.

SO- if you want to get to know your friends just a bit better, this is a fantastic way to do it.

....and he's back

So I'm back from the dead. A summation of this past

semester:

• A new girlfriend:

• New Brazilian Friends:

• good grades in all of my classes...

... a Rockin Roommate :D

• A Car to Call my own...

• a great Bromance named Parker....

• the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing with the world-renowned

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

a birthday :

• a second visit to Seattle since my full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• . . . not to mention my favorite companion from said mission getting married, resulting in my first trip to California.

• and falling in love with JetBlue along the way....

• Also worth mentioning is more time spent with my sister and her friends...

• as well as a change in style

So yeah.... things in the life of Dennis are a bit different these days. But I'll take it, and I'll like it.

Quote of the week

"I just love babies. I want some."



-My sister, today, as we were talking about a mutual friend's nephews.

Way too tired...

I got in way too late last night... but it was fun. We were up doing homework, laundry, etc. at my friends' apartment. It was pretty much what college life is all about :)

Now, to get through the day and stay awake...

picture found here

Weekly Quote on Communication

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”

Anthony Robbins

"Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three lefts do."
- Deteriorata, National Lampoon

Quote of the Week

"Sometimes I can't remember really important things.... yet, somehow, I can remember all the times I've gone pee in the past six months."

-my 18-year-old brother

Lobsters

So yesterday, my brother and I were headed to Institute, and we looked to our left as we were passing through an intersection. You know what we saw? A dude in a Lobster costume, promoting something....

...no joke.

(This pic isn't the guy, but it gets my point across. I found it here.)

Weekly Quote on Communication

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

George Bernard Shaw source: http://thinkexist.com/quotations/communication/

Conversation With My Brother

MATTHEW: "Hey, Dennis. I'm a Super-hero. Ask me what my super-power is."

ME: "What's your super power?"

MATTHEW: "Booty Spakking."

ME: "???"

EFY

(This post also appeared on my other blog, If You Were Looking For the Opportune Moment. Check it out!)

So it's been four years since I have been able to attend the Especially for Youth (EFY) program, which is run by BYU and the Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a participant in the program. (In those four years, I spent two of them serving a mission for said Church, a year working, and this past year in school, studying business.)

When I was offered the opportunity to be involved with EFY as a counselor, I jumped on it, because I saw the benefits it gave me as I participated, and I felt like I owed a debt to the Lord and to the program. It was a nice break and a bit of a relief to get out of the norm and serve the youth (teenagers 14-18) of the Church and help them along in the quest to find themselves and their faith. It really caused me to reflect on the things I believe and why I believe them.

I feel like sometimes, we just skate along and feel like we're doing alright. But this past month or so while I was away, being so closely involved with these kids who really wanted to know if all this is true, I made a point of doing exactly what they were doing: focusing on the basics. And you know what? My testimony grew a little stronger.

The theme this year was "Courage to Stand Strong." My personal resolve is to now make a stronger effort to stand for the things I know to be correct in action- even if that means standing up to members of my own faith, as we were counseled by the living prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

I have a feeling this won't be the easiest thing, but I promised those kids I would take home with me what I learned...

Weekly Quote on Communication

Henry Ford: "If there is any great secret of success in life, it lies in the ability to put yourself in the other person's place and to see things from his point of view- as well as your own."

source: ask.com

A Healthy College Student

...This is so true. I'm glad I'm only going to have one roommate this semester.

Understanding

I make an honest and hard effort to understand others. I am very interested in communication and human relations, and the ability to understand the way people think and operate. Recent conversation has gotten me thinking- we all see things differently. What makes this world operate as well as it does is people making an effort to accept others' shortcomings and misunderstandings, and then working to communicate ideas more effectively.

This is my random thought for today.

A true map of Florida

This was in my inbox this morning. Because it's so true, i had to share it. Disclaimer: there is a bad word; I didn't write it. Finally, a true map of Florida that explains this weird, but wonderful state. Those of us who live in Florida will recognize it and those who don't have been warned! You know you're a Floridian if.... Socks are only for bowling. You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes. A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade. Your winter coat is made of denim. You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites. You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65. Anything under 70 degrees is chilly. You've driven through Yeehaw Junction. You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix. Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005. You know that anything under a Category 3 isn't worth waking up for. You DREAD 'love-bug' season. You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley,| Frances , Ivan, Jeanne and Wilma, Irene, Cheryl, Rita and Mary-Alison. You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave. You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average. 'Down South' means Key West. Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church| before. You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt. You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls. A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level. You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer. You've hosted a hurricane party. You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee , Thonotosassa and Micanopy. You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself. You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim. You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years. You recognize Miami-Dade as 'Northern Cuba'. You not only forward this but you understand it!

50 Random Things about Me

This has been going around Facebook, in various forms, and this is the one that i like the most. But because blogs are infinitely cooler, I will choose to do it here. This is my first post of my "fun" blog, and I have a goal to make it for more interesting and get a whole lot more hits and followers than my political one.

1. My maternal Grandmother named me, after my dad.

2. I served a mission at age 19 to 21 for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Seattle, Washington.

3. I am getting an accounting degree. But I don't like accounting. I am also studying Business Management, which i thoroughly enjoy.

4. I LOVE to dance. (that's me with the "fy" projected on my pants, toward the right on the front row)

5. I love working with teenagers. I spent this past summer working with the youth from my Church at a program called Especially for Youth (EFY for short).

6. I LOVE EFY as a program. It's the best thing I can ever do with my summer.

7. I try to eat natural and organic food.

8. I hate riding bikes.

9. I love riding motorcycles.

10. I have curly hair.

11. I'm a 5th generation Mormon and a Comanche Indian.

12. I have a really small computer with a big hard drive.

13. I work in the Salt Lake City Temple as an ordinance worker. I am one of 5 people younger than age 25 with that position.

14. I like to eat grapes and oranges and peaches and bananas. I would rather eat those than a sugary treat any day.

15. I carry a gun, and have a concealed weapons permit in both Utah and Florida. It's not because I'm paranoid; rather, I've been jumped, shot at, and have been the witness of a street robbery, and I want to be prepared next time.

(a Sig 2009: this is what I carry.)

16. I come from a family of four kids, spread over 10 years. I am the oldest.

17. I have a bad back, from three different car accidents. I do not let this hinder my enjoyment of life. For example, I just spent the day on the beach, exerting myself swimming, playing football, etc.

18. I love the way grape soda tastes.

19. I had braces for 5 years. I still wear my retainer at night.

(me at age 16, about two months before the braces came off)

20. I love cologne. I enjoy smelling good for the ladies and for myself. (I've been looking for a bottle of Wings cologne and can't find it anywhere. Let me know if you find one.)

21. You will rarely see me in public with just a t-shirt and jeans.

22. Shopping at the mall is something I enjoy.

23. I worked at a supermarket called Publix for two years before my mission.

24. I love to work out, especially with weights. It makes me feel manly.

25. I have a very unusual cell phone. It's called an LG Glance

26. I drink a LOT of water, probably close to an gallon a day.

27. I can write a paper in two hours, and it will most likely get an A. (my tutoring kids hate me for that)

28. I am a professionally trained pianist and organist, and an amateur choir director and guitarist.

29. I have lived in 6 different houses or apartments in the past year and a half.

30. I love to travel. I prefer to drive, (yay roadtrips!) but if I'm pressed for time I'll fly. My next adventure is up to Jacksonville.

31. I enjoy cooking. When I cook, however, I go crazy and make a full course meal.

32. I shave my arms.

33. I've been pulled over six times by the police, highway patrol, deputy sheriffs, etc for speeding. I have no speeding tickets.

34. I really enjoy public speaking. That's me teaching me a group of kids at EFY.

35. I tutor for work. It's the best job in the world.

36. I hang my laundry out to dry.

37. History, law and politics are my intellectual passions.

38. I enjoy family history and genealogy.

39. I think global warming is a load of crap.

40. I am a romantic. I love low lights, long walks on the beach, candle-lit dinners, and talking for hours. I will do anything within my morals for a woman I love. (Mom is most certainly included in that.)

41. I don't like cold rain. It's a miserable experience being soaked by it.

42. I drove a purple mini-van to my senior prom.

43. I prefer Google chrome.

44. I think fishing is great.

45. I like dating tall girls. (this does not rule out short girls, though.)

46. I usually wear a watch.

47. Surfing is something I enjoy but am not too skilled at.

48. I was the first person I knew of to get one of the latest iPod shuffles.

49. I take public transportation when I go places in Utah.

50. I have a goal to have visited all the Mormon Temples in Utah by the end of 2010.