Sorry about the long wait....

So mostly I'd like to say I have a decent excuse for why I haven't posted for the last few eternities. I think I do. It's called 32 hours of work each week + 15 credit hours (12 of which are chemistry) + a night pass at the local ski resort + trying to start dating someone + a calling that takes a lot of my Sunday time = one busy Macsen!
I have since repented, withdrawn from my toughest chemistry class (best decision ever!), come to realize that this girl and I are not going to start dating and the ski season is fast coming to a close with all this warm weather we're having. Not to mention that I'm finally getting the hang of this whole "Ward Clerk" thing. Turns out it really isn't that time consuming when you actually know what you're doing. Hahahaha!
But seriously though, just to do a quick catch up on my life.....
This semester has been one of my busiest semesters yet! I thought it would be a good idea to cram in the last of my chemistry credits all at once. You know, to have one last semester of h*** followed by a nice and easy final year of college. Well that turned out to be the worst idea I've ever had. Ooops! I should've seen that one coming. Oh well. To make a long story longer, with two days to spare before the withdraw deadline I came home to an unusually happy roommate who proceeded to tell me that he withdrew from one of his classes. It was like a lightbulb went on in my head. I followed suit and now both of us are much less stressed than we used to be. I was already planning on re-taking the class anyway. For the life of me, I don't know why I didn't think to withdraw earlier! AND I'm still at full time status as a student. So, now I'll be able to do well in all of my classes instead of miserably failing one and doing mediocre in the others.
Probably my favorite class this semester is my Intro to Drawing class. I love it!
PS - I decided to add a visual arts minor to my college career. I've always wanted to take art classes, but never felt like it was worth the time. Well, the more I thought about it the more I realized that I probably would never have an opportunity like I do now. I mean really, what are the odds that I would actually make the time to do it later? So I started adding all these fun classes to my college plan, and then I got to wondering if there was an art minor. Turns out there is! It's an open minor so all you have to do is declare it, and I only needed three more classes than I had already added - two of which can double as honors credits. SUPER! I love it when that happens! Yeah, it added another semester to my college career, but I figure its worth it. Hopefully it'll make me stand out a little more when applying to med schools. And even if it doesn't its going to be super fun and I'm set to finish in December of '11 so I'll have a whole 8 months or so to work..... and by "work" mostly I mean play and work.....or not ;-)..... before I start school again in the Fall of '12. Now here's to hoping I can actually get in somewhere.
Well, since I've already done one crazy thing this semester (like add another 8 months onto my college career) I decided to go a little nuts. The Visual Arts department is doing a study abroad this spring and guess who is going!? Yours truly. Only mostly it's not abroad. Its to Canada, and by "to Canada" mostly I mean that only the last week or so of it will be in Canada. Hahahaha! I feel silly telling people I'm going on a study abroad only to turn around and say it's mostly not abroad. We'll be taking a couple 15 passenger vans and driving all up and down the west coast from the Redwoods to Vancouver Island including a little side trip out to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. All along the way we'll be doing photography and watercolor and visiting a ton of art museums and stuff like that. I get 6 credits that will apply to my minor and I'm pretty excited about it!
Its going to be interesting getting to know the "artsy" crowd I'll be traveling with. We have this prep course once a week during the second block of this semester and I have to come straight from work so on the first day of the class I walked in wearing my scrubs to see a whole bunch of very well/artistically dressed people with all the latest hair styles and everything. Everyone just kind of looked at me like, "Who is this guy? You're totally in the wrong building." I had to chuckle to myself. Clearly I am not the kind of guy you'd expect to find on a Visual Arts study abroad. Still, I'm excited to get to know everyone.
Remember like a million years ago when I was talking about my drawing class? Sheesh, that was a long PS up there. Anyway, here are a few of my pieces. Keep in mind that before this class I have never really drawn anything - especially this big! These pieces are on 16x20 inch paper! That's a LOT of space - especially when you're first starting and its all blank!

Here's an 8x10 inch photo that I had to blow up to 16x20.
And here's the finished drawing.
I think it turned out well considering I've never drawn a face before...

And here's a cubist piece I did.
Here's the picture that inspired it.
I really like they way it turned out! It's kinda fun!

We currently have 3 projects going. An abstract piece - my least favorite. It has no meaning to me! And then another cubist one that started out as a proportions assignment and will end up as a collage. For our final we are to do another self portrait only this time we can do whatever we want. I think I'm going to draw my face and then surround it with a collage of photographs of things that I love and my hobbies and stuff. Hopefully it turns out super awesome. That's all due on April 8th so I have my work cut out for me! This class has taught me / made me realize a lot about myself - the biggest thing being that I HATE to start something if I know I'm not going to finish it in one sitting. Seriously. I HATE IT! Seriously! I think I've always sort of known that in the back of my mind, but this class has really shed some light onto it. I have no idea why I have that mentality, but now that I know I do I look back and can see it is a recurring theme in my life. I don't like studying because I'm never done. Almost every paper or project I have ever done I have started on the day before its due only to stay up all night frantically trying to finish it. I cram for all my finals and mid-terms for hours straight and then sleep on it, wake up and head in to take it. Anyway, I've always felt like I procrastinate way to much. Well, I never thought I procrastinated because I was lazy, but I also never had a good reason as to why I did either. I think its because secretly I don't want to start whatever it is and not finish it in the same sitting. Isn't that silly!?!?!?! So, in a way this class has been really good for me because it has forced me to do things a little at a time, day by day. And I hear this study abroad I'm going on is going to be the same way. Apparently there's NO WAY you can finish a watercolor painting in one sitting. Nuts. I guess I just have to get over myself. :-) This is a good thing. Now I need to apply it to my school work and other areas of my life.

Wow, I feel like this is a super long post............ but there's still a bunch I want to talk about. :-(

So this girl I tried to date... I've known her since the beginning of Fall semester and the whole time I've known her I've wanted to date her because she's totally awesome. She, however, has commitment issues and, when I first met her, was still getting over a previous relationship. So mostly we've just become great friends but I've always gotten a weird sort of "we're great friends but maybe I want be more than friends???" vibe from her - emphasis in the "???". Finally I couldn't take it any longer so I asked her what was up. She was very complimentary and said some super nice things about me, but she also said that I am one of a few boys she really wishes she wanted to date but for some strange reason doesn't. Not sure I understand that one. Anyway, a few days later she gave me the whole "here's why it would never work between us" talk. I was a little shocked especially because I thought the last talk we had went well and meant there was potential there. I guess that's what I get for assuming things. I don't know what its going to take to get me to finally learn that I shouldn't assume anything EVER. Anyway, I was slightly upset/bummed about wasting so much time wondering if anything would ever happen between us. However, I'm glad she had the courage to be honest with me. And, the best part is it all happened in a way that didn't totally obliterate our friendship. I'm glad, because she really is a great friend, and an awesome bike ride partner. Hahaha! At least now I know that's all she'll ever be and that I can move on with my life instead of keep wondering.

Last item, I promise. If you're still reading you deserve a prize. My dad was in town for the weekend this weekend. He came down to watch my sister Kristin's last home games for BYU Women's Lacrosse. Well, over the last few months I've heard little rumors about him writing a book. The first time I heard about it was over the summer, when my Uncle that I was living with told me that he had just finished editing a chapter in my dad's book. I was floored! "Dad's writing a book?!?!!?" Hahaha! Then just a few weeks ago Jessica mentioned in her email home about how cool it is that it's almost ready to be published. So this weekend I as we were eating dinner all together I asked him about it. It's called Mom, interrupted. and its a compilation of all his email updates and thoughts and experiences of the last month and a half of mom's life - from the day she was diagnosed to the day she passed away. He said that he was so secretive about it because he never knew if it would actually materialize and be published - and then once the ball got rolling he wanted it to be a Christmas surprise but it wasn't done in time. He credited my super awesome step-mom Debra for encouraging and pushing him to get it done. I'm so glad she did! I can't wait to read it!!! I think its going to be something that not only I, but a lot of my extended family will cherish. I'm sure it will be difficult to read, but it'll be a good kind of difficult. Its in the final stages of editing and should be published within the next few months. I can't even wait!

Whew! That was a lot and it's now 1:20 AM. Mercy me! At least I dropped that O-chem class so now I don't have to be on campus 'til 10. SUPER! I'm never going to wait so long between posts again! Goodnight!