We love you, Da-a-vid, oh yes we do

This is what makes David Archuleta incredible:

So, at his concert at the "E" Center Friday night, David performed a medley of his favorite songs from the 90s and later. One of those songs was the totally awesome, "I'm Yours," by Jason Mraz. Well, the chorus goes:

"Well open up your mind and see like me

Open up your plans and (@#*&) you're free" ...

When David came to the swear word part, the audience hushed momentarily, wondering if he would actually say it. I felt the tension. Would this Mormon hero say the word because that's how the song is written? Really, it wouldn't be that big of a deal -- it's not like it's the mother of all swear words he would be singing. But, David! What would he do? What kind of a person would he show himself to be in front of those thousands of (mostly women, lets face it) young, middle and even old-aged people staring, waiting for thier hopes to be either withheld or somewhat dented? It probably wouldn't cause a huge gaping hole, just a small chip.

But David saved the day!!!! He very cleverly and almost unnoticably changed the lyric to:

"Well open up your mind and see like me

Open up your plans and then you're free" ...

I commend you for that, David! Thank you! Such a small act made a great impression on me. I'm sure, with his success, it can be so easy to give in to worldly standards. Nobody would apprehend him. More people would probably accept him.

I remember hearing a member of the Mormon singing group, Jericho Road, speaking at a fireside once. One of the group members said in his talk -- with the exact deep voice of the lion Mufassa from Disney's The Lion King -- "Remember who you are." I feel like that's what David has done: he's remembered who he is; what he believes to be true and perhaps some standards he has set for himself. And he is holding true to them.

What a great example David showed to the group of little pig-tailed girls I saw dancing and singing at his concert. Be true to yourself. It's a hard lesson to learn.

David's voice was beautiful and his smile genuine. Keep it up, Archuleta! "Remember," and I will try to do the same. I'm rooting for you!

And thanks, Natalie! I had a BLAST at the concert with you!

Edward Sighting

This is not a joke, and it’s not made up. Last week, Ben was in Portland and Seattle on a mandatory field trip with the LAEP department. That’s when he spotted it, cruising down a street in the heart of downtown Seattle: the silver Volvo. See below.



The EXACT same silver S60R that EDWARD CULLEN drives! So Ben sneakily shot some photos – not letting his buddies in his class know what he was doing, of course – but the person driving is mysteriously unable to be seen. I guess we will just have to use our imaginations. But seriously! Can you believe this? The picture below shows the front bumper.



Well, anyways, in all reality, this last picture shows the “sighting” that I most like to see. Ben. Here he is in a Japanese garden in Portland.

3 BEBs in 30 minutes

The good news is that I got a real desk at work! For six months, I’ve been sitting cramped in a small desk tightly surrounded by five others, with no room to stretch your legs out, and room enough to put maybe one sheet of paper on the desk’s empty space. But, now, I have a BIG person desk, and it’s by a WINDOW overlooking the Cache Valley and Wellsville Mountains!! No one has sat there since I’ve worked here (don’t ask me why), and it was really dusty and grimy, so it took a long time to clean, but now it’s spotless! I really appreciate it, but there is one MAJOR MAJOR problem: The boxelder bugs breed somewhere near this desk. Somewhere up above, actually. Every once in a while it rains boxelder bugs. They fall from the ceiling, and I don’t get it. Why do they have to fall from the ceiling? IT’S MAKING ME CRAZY. In 30 minutes, I have battled with three of them. And only one stayed dead. The other two came back to life. One’s on the floor somewhere, probably climbing up my pant leg, and one is in the window sill. The window sill one only has use of its front legs, though, so we’ll see how long it lasts. I hate boxelder bugs, I hate boxelder bugs, I hate boxelder bugs, I hate boxelder bugs, I hate boxelder bugs. It’s very creepy watching this boxelder climb up the window using only its front legs.

So, Utah State University is taking a mandatory furlough next week. That means no work! But also, no pay. Not that I usually get any pay when I don’t work. No one gets pay for this temporary leave of absence.

Natalie and I are going to hang out with David Archuleta. Yeah, he loves us. He’s going to sing to us.

OH! ANOTHER BOXELDER SIGHTING! Up the wall, moving at lightning speed, this new boxelder is determined! How are those little stringy legs able to fly up the wall like that! I know what it’s thinking. It’s going to climb to the ceiling and fall on my head or down my shirt! Can somebody please help me?? Tell me how to beat these boxelders! Please! They’re trying to ruin my life! Here it comes, it’s on the ceiling now … almost above my head now … I’m waiting … It’s above me … I’d better close my mouth … My armpits are damp …