August 28, 2017

22 August 2017

Last week I wrote about Jessica very minimally, giving a greater depth into my life. I could write many pages about her. She has improved a little bit yesterday. She prepared herself two meals. 
Monday was a little slow at work. My plan for the day was to see the progress done on Sunday before 8 am. At that time I was going to have start my excel spread sheet for our productivity rates and called the project manager, since he will be gone for the next two weeks. The project manager did not answer my calls or call me back. The build plan sheets were getting messy, so I printed out clean copies of the plans to start fresh on them. After lunch I planned to finish recording our progress in another part of the building. I saw that another stone contractor was in there, so I had to ask Audriana what is going on with that. It turned out that we are not finishing that part of the project. The time before lunch was a time to think of how I will prepare my spreadsheet. I realized that I need to get into the specifics of the crews that we have out on the project. I was able to get the number of crews and match them with the stone that they placed by the end of the day. I still need to double check if my crew numbers are right for the weekend. When I arrived at home, I started preparing for family home evening. Jessica would shoot down my ideas, making the evening unproductive. I want to start practicing musical instruments on Mondays and during the week. There are many reasons that I want to practice music as a family, but a main reason is because singing as a family is awkward.

23 August 2017

Yesterday Jessica had her first normal day. She cook for herself and was productive.
The first thing that I did yesterday is work on the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. I wrote a summary of my day, cooked lunch, prepared myself breakfast, and read the scriptures before work. At work, I confirmed the work that the crews did the previous day. I figured that assigning productivity rates to crews without specifying things about it like clarifying who is in the crew and what stone that they placed is not useful; therefore, I did that. I got my first question as a project engineer from a crew member. Walking back to the trailer, I met the CEO of the company Michael Twiss. He asked how I am doing. I said that I am doing well, getting to know the crew members. I think that I am creating friendships with the crew members. I talk with one named Larry the most. I spoke to Joe, a member of a crew. I spoke to him to see, if the question for me was resolved. Our safety guy said that we were working in part of the building that I thought that we weren't, so I have to go record our progress in the section of the building again.

24 August 2017

This week has been busy at home, since we had company the past two evenings.
Tuesday night the Bishopric of the Campbell Ward met us, and last night we met the missionaries. Every day at work I learn so much. I went to the jobsite to check on our progress, and my associates like Dan, the Safety Manager, and Pete, the foreman, were in my path. They showed me somethings. Meeting with the crew for a few hours, I did not arrive back at the office until about 10 am. During lunch, I went on a walk and called Jessica. After lunch I went to record the progress of a section of a building, which was thought to be given to another contractor. I already recorded the progress, but I threw out my work. I learned that we are sharing the work with the other contractor. At home we hosted the missionaries. At first our meeting with them was a little awkward, but they loosened up. They are a funny companionship. I laughed a lot.
When I finished recording our progress in the section, I checked my phone, seeing that I got a message from BYU Idaho. This is the second of which, saying that I can register for classes. I called back to ask why they are telling me to enroll in classes. I have not received my diploma when I have heard other people have, so I wanted to follow up with that too. They said that I needed to complete a few random classes, including a math class. When I started at BYU Idaho, an approved grad plan was the official path to get a bachelor's degree. I have been at the school, seeing the transition between three university presidents, since I got my grad plan approved. I hope that there is an error with the administration transitions. They are claiming that they are not going to give me my diploma; unless, I finish those classes. I was not informed of these new classes that I have to take until yesterday. During my last semester, I spoke to the school about the process of my graduation application. They said that they were going to review it, and tell me if I did something wrong. I was not told of any additional requirements that I need to do in order to get my bachelor's degree. I feel like I am not what I am. I have told you about my issue that my name was not on the program at graduation day, but the day before my in-laws were able to retrieve a document for me saying that I was graduating. The school also put a hold on my account during the semester, so I can't enroll in classes because I was graduating. Now they are saying that I am scheduled to graduate in the Fall. My BYU Idaho graduation experience has not been good. I have worked my entire life of twenty-eight years to graduate with my bachelor's degree, and they pull a fast one, denying me the life's achievement. I have already moved on, and they want me to go back.

25 August 2017

Last night was the first night in about 10 days that I got to sleep on time. We were able to prepare the evening well because the counselors of the Campbell Ward relief society presidency visited us after dinner. Friday came quick. Yesterday I explored the building more. A coworker told me that a foreman had an office in the basement, so I looked for him. He was not there. When I was at Apollo Mechanical, a salaried worker would go to appointments during work. I had an appointment with the DMV that I went to in order to renew my registration. I started working with BYU Idaho about my graduation. I got an email saying that I need to fulfill one class for the construction management cluster. It turned out that the construction management cluster is only for non-major students. I am a construction management major student, so I believe that nothing should be holding me back from them, delivering my diploma.
Meeting with the relief society last night, I kept my comments to a minimum because the relief society is very sister oriented. Jessica should be their focus. We were more open with the bishopric.
When we were speaking with the bishopric, our conversation was funny at first because they were trying to relate to Jessica's upbringing in Oregon. The bishop said that he has a house in Oregon. One of the counselors said that he has a sister that lives near Beaverton. The second counselor was most humble, thinking that he would not be able to relate with Oregon, but he said that his brother is an in-law to the Bleaks. He is a good friend of Tiffany Bleak. We were able to relate most to this because we lived the first month of our marriage with Morgan and Jane Bleak. We were more open about our aspirations. Jessica said that we were thinking about fostering children. It turned out that the bishop has fostered as many as 6 children, being able to adopt one.
Work is going smoothly, and I got an email from my project manager, expanding my work. I expanded some of what I reported yesterday. Instead of just reporting stones set, I reported stones fabricated and pulled off the wall.

26 August 2017

Today is Saturday, but I will still go to work. I will not be staying at work for 8 hours. I am mainly going this morning because a crew does not have good memory, and I want them to tell me what they did yesterday. Many crews were moved around yesterday, so it was tricky. It was mostly a normal day, so I don't have much to say other than there was a barbecue. In the afternoon, I was planning to talk to the crew that doesn't have good memory to have them tell me what they did yesterday, but everyone left early. Jessica and I relaxed that evening.

I explained why I go to work on Saturday to Jessica yesterday. I record the progress and the productivity of Columbia Stone inc.'s Crews. They work seven days a week. If I work 5 days a week, I would be missing 2 days out of the week, and I don't want to make up numbers over the weekend or record inaccurate productivity.

I like my role at Columbia Stone because I talk to the crew members a lot. We had a barbecue for them yesterday to show appreciation of their hard work. I mingled with them, talking with the people that I know, which is about half. I really liked a potato salad that the Samoan Catering company served because it had imitation crab on it. People may wonder. Did Alex eat meat at the barbecue? I did. I don't cook meat for myself, but when there is an occasion, I eat meat to not impose myself on others. It is the same thing with dessert. I rarely eat dessert, but occasionally I don't want to impose myself and refuse people's charity.

28 August 2017

On Saturday I rode my bicycle to work. It felt like the gravity was different in California compared to Idaho. I finally watched "Cool Runnings." We visited my parents on Saturday because Trevor bought a new board game. My mother cooked us a great Thai dinner. On Sunday after church we went straight to visit Jessica's cousins. Daniel introduced us to Jessica's grand-aunt.

I have realized that it would take about the same time to ride my bicycle to work as driving. I felt very weak on the bike. When I started riding my bike home from work, I thought that it might be because the change it altitude. One of my tires was a little flat; the other not so much. On Sunday I theorized that there is more air resistance in California because we are close to sea level, when we met with a counsel in the bishopric.

My dad wanted to watch Cool Runnings and play the game with us, but he drove Victor, a Chinese foreign student, staying with our family, to a party during the movie. As we started to play the board game, he received the call to pick him up from the party. The board game is a Japan themed game, where you are a tourist, trying to get the most points. I won the new board game soundly. It seemed neck to neck most of the game until we realized that Jessica was counting her points wrong.

Since I served my mission in Jamaica, I have endured the shame of not watching Cool Runnings for seven years. I finally rid myself of it Saturday. It is definitely a classic movie. The word choices are questionable especially for a PG movie, but it was great.

I finally was able to meet Lindsay, Daniel's wife. When we arrived, Lauren took me on a tour of the house. She showed me all the rooms and her time capsule for school, which had her favorite things in it. She let me look at her beloved coin from Spain. She seems to embrace her Spanish heritage. Chloe was off doing her own things for a little bit. I noticed that all of the rooms seemed to be for girls, so I asked Lauren if she has any brothers; then, she introduced me to Sam. He was also off doing his own things. After the tour, I was able to talk to Chloe. I expressed sympathy to her, saying that it took me ten years to get a bachelor's degree as she is being held back in the fourth grade. She plays the Ukulele, and I was able to help her tune the strings. There was too much going on for her to play. At dinner Lauren wanted to sit next to me, but Chloe, sitting next to me, wouldn't let her. The dinner conversation was good. I don't recall it much. When we were driving over to visit Jessica’s grand aunt, I asked Olivia how her cross country experience is so far. She only has one week’s experience. She seemed to talk about the human interaction the most. She thought that it was too hard for the first day, almost giving up. I forgot the grand aunt's name just as she has forgotten mine. Her memory is bad. We spoke to her for a while. When we returned to the house, Sam asked us if we wanted to play games, but the funny thing is that he didn't play the games with us. We played Uno and Ticket to Ride. I did not win any of the games. There is a lot going on in the house. I don't think that I could write everything.

Priscilla Pringle's Predicament - Reader's Theater at Lethbridge Whoop-U...

This week was quite fun for me because I got to portray the main antagonist in a Reader's Theater called 'Priscilla Pringle's Predicament/All's Swell That Ends Swell' that Playgoers of Lethbridge put on at Lethbridge Whoop-Up Days 2017. The story was written by Ed Bayly, a truly wonderful individual. Doing the performances all week reminded me of how much I love participating in theater. Please enjoy this recording!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIh88Y5H3cI&t=1135s

A single mother/convert

Hello everyone ",my name is Viva.
Thank you to, all for the continued work, that is being done.

I would like to share, my story. A single mother and being converted into, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.

H'm? Where to begin...
Well, I was born, in the Island of Tonga Tapu. My father and mother came, to the United States back, in 1970-76. I have a total of 11,siblings.  Step brothers and sisters. I am the middle child out,of a group of 5,raised together. We moved to, Seattle, WA, with my two brothers at, the time. My other siblings, we're in Tonga, with their mothers.
I remember the hotel we stayed in, Seattle,It was a studio, no fridge, kitchen, just less then 800 square feet, of an area. It was small😌. But it was the beginning of, my parents trying to make a new life.( Where all the Saints will be gathered. The United States Of America. )
So, my parents got jobs, they worked day and night, to collect for a house, to buy. My mom worked two jobs, my dad worked at MC. Donald's, Landscape, construction.
My parents got into fights over, bills and stress. Then my mother left my father, because, he would beat her. My father ended up hitting my moms boyfriend and lead, to having my dad, imprisoned. Then again, my dad, did it again. So finally, the final judgment from, the court. My dad had, a choice, either he goes back, to Tonga for, years or his family?
My parents made the choice. The mother and children would go, to Tonga. My father stayed with my little brother, to work and support, the family by sending money,while we were in,Tonga.
This was a life in, Tonga. Here we go!
Once we

Round 2

Hello everyone. My name is VIva.Siale. I am a single mother,of 6 beautiful children .(I have met my future husband.First we have to get,to know one another before anything.) I am 41,years of age. Yes! I said 41". I am from Tonga Tapu Island,raised here in,Seattle,Washington. I have been a convert,since 2013,also baptized with,my 8,9,year old son and daughter at,the time.
I speak and write,in Tongan as,well. I am thankful for the Gospel,also for returning home,into The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.
My story of my life and being converted into,The church Of Jesus Christ Of latter Day Saints.
I was born March 21-1976,in the Island of Tonga Tapu.My father is William Siale,mother Kilisitina M tuifua. I was born,in the village called,Hihifo.I have a total of 11,step brothers and sisters. I come from a group,of 5 raised together. My other siblings lived with their mothers,in Tonga Tapu Island.My parents brought me and the group,of three of,us at the time,here to Seattle,in the year 1976,a few months after I was born.So it was me and my two,older brothers at the time. I can remember,we moved into this tiny studio apartment.(less the 800 square feet) My parents quickly began,new jobs. Shortly,we moved into a big apartment.(YAY!) We moved,in Seattle,right on Rainier. We went to school,made new friends,my parents always took us,to church.I was raised in,a Catholic family.
Shortly,i noticed that we were separated and,we had to go live with my uncle,to my auntie.I found out,that my parents were constantly fighting(Physical fights).I was sad,but happy,we were with family members.Then my little brother was born. I went to live with,my uncle first,with my two older brothers,then moved in,with my auntie and her two daughters.
I missed my parents but,it didn't really take an affect on me.
Soon my parents had to decide,for the family to go,to Tonga for a few years. My father was in jail and they gave,him a choice.Either he goes to,Tonga or,the wife and kids go. So my parents made the choice,of my dad staying here,in Seattle,Washington with,my little baby brother,who was one at the time.
So,off we go,to Tonga! My mom,me and my two older brothers.😲 So we get to,Tonga,i was about three years of age,or four? We lived at my grandmothers home.I don't remember any details,when I was 3-4,years of age. The house we lived on belonged to,my moms,mother. We had lots of grown fruits,vegetables,it was HOT! We had clean clothes lots of food,my mom is a wonderful cook and baker. So we were never starving and,she made sure,we were always clean and our,clothes and,the home as well. We had many dogs. I loved our pet dogs. But my favorite was Peanut. He made sure NO ONE stepped over the gate,and came into our yard,they would have to yell from the street,if they needed to come over.He would attack them,if they didn't. He was a golden red haired retriever.I miss him so..
We would visit my grand parents(My dads parents,in Hihifo) I loved going there because,they had a huge movie theatre and store. I enjoyed being around my cousins as,well.(I was always tall for my age,so I was teased by my cousins.They called me an old lady. Grrrr!😤I'll show you old lady! I fixed that teasing later,by beating my cousin up.)I was always fighting,with my cousins.So my grandfather,was the one who,would punish us. But,it didn't hurt me and,i didn't care.I am a child,who will fight you,if you do me wrong.Boy or girl.Big and small.I will fight you!
My mom told me,my dads parents didn't like me because,of my brown skin.(WHAT???) My people are stupid sometimes".I love my brown skin.
Anyways,i remember as,a child having dreams,of warning and not,understanding it,until 30,years later. Then other dreams,that I now remember having,as a child.(It's like that moment,when the light bulb turns on,in your head moment) My mom didn't allow us,to go spend the night at anyones home,because,she didn't trust anyone,unless,it was her sister and brother and my grand parents.
Oh",when we attended school,the teachers are allowed to beat the kids(😲🤨) My dad,didn't allow that. I remember my teacher had a boy slap me,during quiet time. Because,threw up in my mouth and was,trying to hold it in. She thought I was playing around. (I ended up swallowing my vomit)I went home and told my dad.He came to,the school the next day and straightened,that teacher. She became the nice witch after. I enjoyed school,we were bare feet and,so we ended up getting parasites.(OH.. NO!)We had shoes but most of the time,we didn't wear them,even in the mud. We got sick as well..
My friends were always trying to always get me,to fight.I told them,no way! I was scared of my mom.I didn't fight anyone. Bunch of evil monkeys! To be continued,friends..

August 20, 2017

August 15, 2017

I forgot my keys and a couple other things at my parents' house, so we went there for dinner on Sunday.  Sunday night was exciting because the Mormon YSA Blog Spot got its first blogger in about two years. I am calling her the first of the second generation of writers. Since I was asked to get to work at 11 for my first day, it was easy going in the morning. It was easy for me, but not for Jessica. I prepared the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. My first day of work was chill. I met a lot of people, and saw two of the buildings that we are building. I arrived late to work, and I was let go early because I did not have a parking permit. I bought some boots and some socks that should last me for a long time. When I got home, Jessica was not doing well. I usually don't write too much about Jessica because she should have her own journal. The evening was slow. We were unable to have family home evening. I volunteered to serve at the Lehi Park on Saturday, but Jessica doesn't want to go camping. Life is very disorganized and new. I am kind of hoping that writing will get my mind un-frazzle.

Dinner at my parents' house on Sunday was the usual grill cheese sandwiches, kimchi, and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate and Kimchi was unusual thought. Mom made a new batch of Napa cabbage kimchi, which is not often, and dad put habanero (I believe) in the hot chocolate to add some spice. My parents received their Chinese student, Victor, yesterday for another school year of high school. I think that this is his second year with my family. He was into basketball, but he thoughts of the NBA now are of sorrow because a guy unnecessarily broke another guy's leg.

The new blogger for the Mormon YSA Blog Spot is named Viva Siale. Jessica doesn't have much interest in the Mormon YSA Blog Spot, so telling people in person about Viva has not been receptive; however, I have built a community around the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. Other people see the excitement. Viva wants to share her testimony with the world. She is a Tongan single mother of six children.

One of my first experiences at the job site was almost getting kicked off again, but the Apple's security was flexible because I did not have a parking pass. I should get a guest pass today.

My first experience in the office is being introduced to the other project engineer. I am learning a lot, but it is not overwhelming. I take a lot of notes. The other project engineer seemed to have sat in the office all day. Her name is Audrianna. She has been with the company for about a year and a half, and she studied at San Jose State University. Jessica is kind of thinking that we may have to move after this project. We will see. Since she studied at San Jose State and I hear that we worked with other people for years in California, we will most likely stay for a while.

I could talk about some other people, but I did not do much with them. When I got home, I met two of my direct neighbors. My next door neighbor is named Tom, and our neighbor below us is named Annadean. They are both not married but living with significant others.

At our apartment, Jessica was unmotivated. She was so unmotivated that she did not prepare herself any food to eat for breakfast or lunch. The apartment did not look any different when I arrived as she had goals to put things away. I counseled with her, and she had some alarming negative thoughts. I have learned not to overreact or over-think them. It is her nature. It took a while to convince her to do something. I want her to get up and do things for herself, so she will feel better. Her lack of motivation and productivity is even more depressing for her. It took a while, but she made herself dinner.

I am planning to live the life of an old fogey, going to sleep at 8 pm and waking up at 4 am. I want to do stuff in the morning like write in my journal as I am now. I woke up today at 4:30, and I want to work out in the evening when I get home early. I can choose my own schedule at work.  7 am to 4 pm sounds good.

August 16, 2017

Yesterday at work, I was put straight to work after my project manager showed me the campus and the theater. I got pictures, but I can't post them. The first role that I was given is to track the progress of the work. I did not finish the work for the day. When I got home, Jessica was doing better, but she still did not make herself meals. Her motivation is off.

The project manager gave me the plans, telling me to mark what is done, since the last time he did it a few weeks ago. It is mostly finished. It is a little hard to wrap my brain around the plans, but I am getting it without much instruction. I worked on it for the rest of the day. Today I have orientation, so my project manager let me go early.

At home Jessica seemed better. She actually started putting the house together; however, she did not muster up the motivation to make herself meals again. I had to rag on her for three hours to teach her that if she does not get the motivation to make herself meals that she will land herself in the hospital. She cannot survive on one meal a day. This experience is not new. She did the same thing last winter semester.

When I did get her to make a meal for herself, the way that she was cooking would take her hours to complete the meal, so I took over. Sunday supposed to be a day of least labor. This is why my family makes grill cheese sandwiches, but Jessica has been using the least labor foods. We used them up yesterday. I hope that she gets over herself soon. I also hope that the reader does not overreact or act on this information. Don't say anything to her, me, or each other. We need to solve our own problems without external intervention. Life is not all hunky dory. I am just being real with you. Jessica needs to figure out her new life now.

I wrote a few paragraphs about the project that I am working on with Columbia Stone, but I had to delete them because I can't share any information about the buildings.

August 17, 2017

Jessica did better yesterday food wise. She made herself breakfast, but she didn't make lunch. Orientation was very relaxed and easy, but the wait for the drug test and documentation completion process took a few hours. When I arrived at the job site trailer, it was lunch time. After lunch, I tried to go up to the building and record the progress. The shop drawings were so confusing. I would be multiplying inefficiencies of reading it, trying to understand the plans for each floor; therefore, I decided to go back to the job-site trailer and make a map.

My project manager thought that a map was a good idea to have and share among the company, so I feel that I am contributing well to the company to eliminate inefficiencies. I completed marking up the map yesterday, and I will complete it today.

I cooked rice in the old moldy rice cooker, which I told you about in a previous entry. Although I cleaned it, it still smelt like mold. Jessica wanted to throw it away still. I still used it because out small rice cooker would not cook enough rice. I knew that it would be fine. The rice was fine, and Jessica actually like my stir fry.

I arrived late from work yesterday because I needed to work until 5 pm, since I worked 7 hours the previous day. Jessica wanted me to get a spider catcher, but Walmart refused to answer my phone calls. I was unable to find the spider catcher locally.

August 18, 2017

I am not going to report on Jessica today because she was about the same as yesterday. My new work routine is working out well, starting at 7 am and leaving at 4 pm. I finished my map to help me easily navigate the plans before lunch. After lunch my project manager wanted me to go pick up some grout; then, I updated our progress sheets. I arrived at the apartment about 4:20 pm. The evening was a little slow. We didn't do much. The Mormon YSA Blog Spot is finally going to brake the 1295 likes barrier on Facebook. The rate of likes and unlikes of the page is about the same, so the growth is slow.

I wake up three hours before work, and one hour needs to be dedicated to getting to work. Finding a parking spot takes longer than driving to work. I write in my journal, read scriptures, cook breakfast and lunch, do some dishes with spare time.

People say that it take a half hour to walk to the parking structure, but at the end of work yesterday I saw that I needed to get back to the job site trailer with ten minutes until the end of my day. I walked to the trailer, made some final markings on the building plans, and walked to the parking structure in less than thirty minutes.

I wonder if I am doing well at work. I think that I am because my ideas are good, and I exceed expectations of productivity. I did not drive well, when I went to retrieve the grout. Google Maps was confusing. It said to turn right, but I would turn early. My project manager seemed to have the expectation to get the grout or finish the progress sheet for yesterday, but I completed both. 

August 19, 2017

Yesterday I realized a depth of my role in Columbia Stone for this current project. I thought that I needed to leave an hour before to get to work at 7, but I got to work a half hour early. My project manager wants me to start tracking the progress of a new section of the project. It is a lot less confusing. On Friday evening Jessica was still stuck in the rut, but I spoke to her, resolving her bad attitude.

August 20, 2017

Saturday was very busy, and I was unable to complete my journal entry for Friday and Saturday, going into detail of the previous days. The day was busy because I had to drive to Lehi Park for a volunteer assignment by 8 am. After my volunteer assignment, I arrived home, and Jessica was not home for the first time. She was out doing laundry, which was refreshing. We did laundry. Later we went to eat ice cream and lunch to celebrate our monthly anniversary. After I went to work, tracking the progress that we made today. Jessica wanted to watch Spirit, the horse movie that I mentioned previously. The twentieth of August is a Sunday.

Today I published a Storify Post. I cooked myself French Toast. The Campbell Ward is nice. My aunt-in-law has a friend, who is in our ward, and the friend recognized Jessica after church. One guy said that he works near me, so we exchanged phone numbers that we might have lunch. One thing about communication is that if you procrastinate it, it will be forgotten most likely. I try not to procrastinate communication, but Jessica doesn't understand the importance. Sister Bradshaw, the family friend, wants us to visit them.

I now have to go into details of the past three days. Work was a little overwhelming. I started tracking two sections' progress, and the shop drawings for one section was confusing. I felt like I was losing my mind, double checking my mistakes.

I like my Columbia Stone because the company has good people at it, and I am trusted. My project manager is going to be gone for two weeks, and he trusts that I don't need anyone to tell me what to do. I can keep myself busy. I was given a role in the job to fulfill. I am surprised and grateful that I have been able to jump into the work so easily. If a general contractor hired me, I don't think that I would be able to be confident enough to work full-time without immediate supervision after one week of experience.

Jessica was out of it for the entire week, and I wanted to go celebrate that we finished the first week of our life in California. It took me a few hours to help her. I explained to her that I treat her as an equal. I thought of treating her like I have imagined that I would take care of a foster child. I would take the child on a walk, and have the individual explain to me their world; then, I would ask the child to tell me what the individual would like in life. Jessica has created a miserable world for herself this past week, and she finally realized her illogical behaviors. She was more productive yesterday, and she is fasting today for guidance on what she should do with her life.

We went out two days in a row Friday and Saturday. During a previous restaurant meal, Jessica got a dish way better than mine, but mine was way better than hers on Friday. We have decided to not cook ourselves meat; unless, the consumption of meat is our only option to survive. I believe that the word of wisdom states this lifestyle. This weekend Jessica and I started ordering vegetarian dishes for ourselves. Don't ask me about the different types of vegetarian lifestyles. I don't care. I won't convince anyone to not eat meat, and I won't cook you meat if you visit me because I don't cook meat. 

On Saturday I volunteered to serve at Lehi Park. When I arrive, after driving the craziest roads of my life, I realized that the location played a bigger part in my life than I previously recognized. I love that location because I have camped their multiple times. A pioneer trek, which I participated in, finished there. I enjoyed that I knew people when I was looking for guidance on where I should be. Jon Day hailed me as a good friend, saying that he lived in the Campbell ward for years, and I will be taking his spot in the ward. Other people that I am more familiar with gave me less time. I saw Murray Fontes and Phil Wentworth. I don't need to go into details, but I thought that it was interesting. It seemed that they were focused on their task of teaching children orienteering or pipe soldering that they did not embrace the people of the moment. I mean me.

My nature is soft spoken. I have counted four situations in Campbell, where people think that I said that my name is Alan. I have never noticed this my entire life. I joked with Jessica that I should have a name tag, saying that my name is "Alex not Alan."

I helped with two projects in my Lehi Park experience, which were related. On the drive up, I was confused because I saw that a project of the service opportunity was to relocate gravel that fell into a lake. A facility manager thinks that an ill-willed neighbor stole the water in Frog Lake. The first project that we did was fortify against the entry of the intruders. I felt like I was participating very minimally at first because I am scrawny, but I became a leader as things got rolling. The first thing that we did is pound some rods into the ground to block their entry. The rods were also placed to support the logs and wood placed before it. I participated very minimally until a man named Reed, who is a member of my ward, started to get things rolling. I started looking for wood to fortify our boundary. I figured that we needed to raise the standard of effort because a fence that is put together with little effort can be taken apart with little effort. The big guy who pounded the rods in, who is named Joe, pulled a bigger log from the woods. I saw an old log. It was big, and it did not weigh much because it has decayed. I thought that it was funny that the big guy said that he was intimidated by it, but I, the scrawny boy, was attempting to carry it to the boundary. I participated well because I raised the standard of fortification of the borders of Lehi Park.

The extraction of gravel from the lake coincidentally was made convenient because the ill-willed neighbors pumped the water out of the lake. The gravel was washed into the lake because the previous winter got a lot of rain. We had too many workers, and I was happy to say that I stepped back and made the extraction of the gravel run much more efficient. We had two wheel burrows initially, which were being located in awkward locations, where eight people would shovel the gravel into one of the two wheel burrows. There were too many workers and there were too much wasted effort. I led the operation to be leaner. I suggested more logical locations for the wheel burrows and two loading spots. We were able to load a wheel burrow before the second one was returned. I am grateful that I had been able to apply the skills of construction management yesterday. We finished an hour earlier than expected as we were planning to work from 8 - 12.

I went to work on Saturday to quickly record what our crews did because I need to create productivity rates of our crews. The rates are based on stones placed per day. It didn't take long. We did place some stone. I think that we had two crews working. One on the stairs, and the other was working on a vestibule. The vestibule crew placed 6 pieces and the stair crew placed two pieces. I don't think that two is bad because the real issue with the stairs is its complex angles. A crew member said that they would need two days to orientate themselves before permanently placing the stone of the stairs. Another set of stairs took two weeks to figure out.

Sister Bradshaw stopped us after church to introduce herself as Claribel's best friend. Claribel is Jessica's aunt. Somehow she recognized Jessica; although, she was two years old when Camille Bradshaw saw her last. We caught up, learning her relationship to the family. She invited us to meet her family. Claribel introduced Sister Bradshaw to the gospel, and Jessica's family played a large role in her conversion despite language and cultural barriers. I think that Camille said that she was Iranian.

This evening we went to visit my parents because they shopped for us. They have been so supportive. I revealed to them that I was worried that I was going to be unable to save up enough money in two weeks to pay rent, but I think that I will be able to.

One thing that was funny is that I stopped a member of the bishopric on Sunday, asking for a time to meet them personally. We made arrangements for them to come on Tuesday. After church Jessica said that the relief society presidency asked to visit us at our apartment, and Jessica said that Thursday would be good for them to visit. Last week we arranged for the missionaries to come for dinner on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we will have company. We made sure to grab foldable chairs at my parent’s house for them. I hope that we are jumping into our new ward well.

This past week I tried our old moldy rice cooker, giving it a second chance; however, we have decided that it should be thrown out because mold is growing back in the rice cooker much more quickly. I should go out and buy a new big rice cooker.

August 13, 2017

August 6, 2017

I am going to start writing in my journal daily. I think that writing in my journal weekly is an oversimplification of my life. On the 6th of August. Jessica and I flew back to Rexburg, Idaho to retrieve our stuff for our move back to California. We flew to Portland and Salt Lake City; then, we took a bus to Rexburg. I napped a lot, so I wanted to visit Krystal and Dallen Cluff, when we arrived.

Our flight was at 9 am yesterday, and mom wanted us to be at airport two hours because they missed a flight arriving one hour before. Dad drove us to the airport at 6 am. We arrived at the gate about 7:10 am. On the first flight, I tried to nap the entire time on Jessica's shoulder, but it was difficult.

Mom likes to travel on Sunday, and she did not want to risk our health by not eating since yesterday was fast Sunday. We took her commitment to eat out for breakfast and lunch. Last time, I got shingles, coming back to Idaho to move. I prefer not to travel on the Sabbath day.

On the second flight, I wrote in my journal.

During the first half of our bus ride, I napped, and on the second half I finished catching up on my journal.

Our visit with Krystal and Dallen felt more friendly especially with Dallen's brother Chris. They are wanting to get a second dog, and Jessica mentioned that we may get a dog because I was playing with their dog, Lavender, well. We talked a lot about dogs.

We also talked about us moving to Campbell hopefully to never return. I would only return to serve the students of the school as an alumni, or if our children attended and graduated from BYU-Idaho.

We made plans to hang out later this week. 

I realized that using a trailer would be best. They seem tricky though.

August 7, 2017

The main things that I focused on today is deciding if we should go with a trailer and a hitch or a moving truck and a tow dolly for our car. My parents have been helping us a lot for our move to Campbell, paying for the application fees and deposit at our new apartment, and they are going to pay for the Uhaul and hotel. I did laundry today too. I also published the daily Storify and two journal entries editing them. I will now explain the logic behind our Uhaul decision.

Last night I had a confusing conversation with my parents. My father recommended that I use a trailer and rent a hitch. My mother was saying a similar thing, and my father thought that she was recommending the same things as him. She was recommending that we rent a moving truck and a tow dolly for the car. I told my father that installing the hitch will cost 300 dollars, and it turned out that he was hoping that I could rent a hitch as he intended in the conversation last night. I didn't really understand his intention. About 33 years ago my parents rented a hitch and a trailer to move to California; however as I called around, a hitch rental is impossible. Dad realized that the risks of installing a hitch and using a trailer is not worth saving 200 dollars, so we are going to rent a 10' moving truck and a tow dolly. It turned out that my father's 1957 Nomad died as they moved with a trailer all those years ago.

August 8, 2017

Our moving preparations are going smoothly. I packed the kitchen, and Jessica is packing our clothing. There is a bunch of old newspapers in our laundry room, and I grabbed them to pack our delicate kitchenware. I will explain an evidence that I am a slob. We are going to hang out with Krystal and Dallen Cluff tonight, but I wanted to write about the day before because we will return home late most likely, since we are meeting them at 7 tonight.

If Jessica was the main character of the Pixar film "Inside Out," Joy and Disgust would be running the show as partners, and Joy would not be the main leader. Jessica is easily disgusted. The old lettuce on our sandwiches today were disgusting. Today I got to show her the standard in which she can claim what is disgusting. In the beginning of the semester, I cooked rice and oatmeal in a large rice cooker. I quit using it because Jessica didn't want to eat rice anymore. The rice leftover in the rice cooker got very moldy. I don't need to go into detail, but Jessica would puke, if she had to clean it. She wanted to throw the rice cooker away. Jessica has a tendency to want to throw a lot of things away. I think that some people think that waste is an indication of productivity. It is good to throw away unnecessary things, but a large rice cooker will be useful in the future. I did clean it, and it was not as bad as Jessica made it out to be.

The house is mostly clean because Jessica's mother cleaned it when she visited, but she required me to clean the refrigerator. We have not needed to throw away a lot food. It was simple to clean the refrigerator.

I arranged for the Uhaul today because dad forgot to last night, but they did remember to make the hotel reservations. My parents think that a credit card is necessary to rent cars and reserve hotels, but I have only come across it once, renting a car. Uhaul did not require a credit card.

Jessica was overwhelmed with packing, but she saw how simple that it is, when I started packing. Everything is basically packed. A couple months ago, I started to say in interviews and companies that I would give myself a week to move to their location, and Jessica would think that it is too short of time.

August 9, 2017

After the conclusion of a quick nap about an hour ago at 6 pm, I felt so exhausted and sore from carrying our stuff into the moving truck. Residence on the third floor of apartment buildings are common for me. We arranged for a 10 foot Uhaul truck and a tow dolly, and we needed the truck today. Mom wants us to arrive on Friday, so we are staying the night at a hotel tomorrow night at Winnemucca to drive the rest of the way on Friday.

I called to see if they were about to get the truck and tow dolly for me at a local Uhaul, and Uhaul was not able to. They told me that a local service station will call me, but none did. I called to make things happen, and they were not going to get the 10 foot truck and tow dolly in time. We arranged for me to pick up a 20 foot truck at Idaho Falls, and we had to go to another local service center in Idaho Falls to get the tow dolly. Since I was originally going to get both the truck and the trailer at one place. I was expecting to get the 20 foot truck and an auto transport, but that was unexpectedly going to cost us 100 dollars extra; although on the phone, the arrangement was going to upgrade our equipment without additional charges. This is the reason why we needed to go to another location to get the tow dolly.

I was really worried this morning driving a moving truck twice as long as originally planned, but a worker at Uhaul explained that the truck is only about 6 feet longer than most normal cars. I was worried about driving around our apartment's parking lot mainly, but it is not bad. The driving will be mostly smooth. The task to fill the tank is most intimidating now because we have to find a way to drive around the gas stations without backing up.

Our plan to pack the truck was to have Jessica to organize the back of the truck, and I would retrieve everything from the apartment. It was exhausting work, and we were blest for a sister to come help us.

Jessica is vacuuming now, and we are planning to go to sleep as soon as possible. 

Last night we watched "Spirited Away" with Krystal and Dallen; although, we have been planning to watch "Spirit", the horse movie for more than a month now. I originally watched the movie probably 15 years ago. It makes a lot more sense now. It taught me that "charity never faileth;" furthermore, gluttonous people are consumed by their natures. The main character was practically bullet-proof because her nature was so virtuous.

August 10, 2017

Today has been intense. We woke up this morning at 4 am to finish all our last minute moving out tasks. We were not ready to leave Rexburg until 6:15 am. The drive was easy, and Jessica agreed with me that moving in one week is not crazy. The one thing that made me nervous, driving, was the wind at the end of the trip, arriving in Winnemucca. When we arrived at the hotel about 3:30 pm, I scheduled blog posts for the Mormon YSA Blog Spot, publishing two Storify posts. One for today and one for tomorrow because I am going to be busy driving tomorrow. A sister named Camille Nelson followed me on Twitter.

Sleeping last night was hard because we packed our mattress, and my quick nap did not help. I love going to sleep early though because I always feel like I am sleeping in; although, I wake up early.

I convinced Jessica that we needed to get up, saying that we still have a lot to do. She would have slept in other wise.

I continued to pack the car with the final things, and Jessica cleaned our morning dishes and the sink. She did not like cleaning things, when most everything is packed; however, we still had working resources. I did not tell her, but I cleaned the toilet and bath tub with a dirty shower towel. I made uses of my motto "make things happen" this week. I ran circles around Jessica running several loads to pack in our cars and trash can while she washed a few dishes. My dad used to say to me. You would be surprised how much you can do, if you get to work.

The wind was scary because I feared that I would lose control of the moving truck. It is so tall and big. I had to slow down. I can't drive with the steering wheel straight to maintain its assumed direction.

A couple single adult musicians have introduced themselves to me the past couple days. One shared her Youtube video about her engagement all over Google+, including my Google+ page. One thing that I thought was ironic is that none of my audience really cared for it; although, I featured it in the ideal time slots. This artist's name is Monica Smith. She has some popular cover songs. Her videos are produced well; however, her original music are not as popular as her cover songs because she is not known much.

Camille Nelson followed me on Twitter. Most people follow individuals to get a follow back, but I investigate them before promoting and following them. Camille's official website has no mention of the church, so I stocked her Facebook page to see if they falls into the criteria that I require to share bloggers' content. She does; therefore, I began following her, and I will promote her content. I have not listened to her music, but her work looks unique. I quit listening to music a couple months ago because I don't want to deal with quality control of the world's music. The world is filthy. I prefer to listen to the Mormon Channel: Talk Radio.

August 11, 2017

We got up this morning at 4:30 am to leave for Campbell, California from Winnemucca, Nevada at 6 am. We were on schedule until Jessica could not figure out how to get the GPS working on my phone. She could not use her phone because it died last night. The drive was intense as usual. The wind was not too hard to deal with. We saw signs all over California that said if one drives with a trailer, the individual must drive 55 mph, which made the drive miserable. We finally arrived! At our apartment we could not move in; although, we arrived at 2:30 pm. Since our contract starts tomorrow, we are moving in then. We finished final documentation with the apartment complex. Since we just wanted to get the drive over with, we ate a late lunch at Campbell. We walked around and to the park across the street. Mom picked us up at the park because if we took buses home, we would arrive about 8 pm. At home we had a nice Thai dinner. Trevor prepared his old phone for Jessica to use. We watched the Yu-Gi-Oh movie. Mom had us put out a rug that she fabricated from extra carpet under the dining table.

I got the GPS started on my phone with WiFi, since Jessica could not find reception anywhere in Winnemucca with T-mobile. I think that the difficulty with the reception made me act irrationally by trying to fiddle with her sim card as I did before. It used to work, but I broke my old phone, which she used.

I prepared a path for the 20 foot moving truck and a tow dolly with our car, but my plan was impossible. I almost got stuck. Uhaul told me not to drive in reverse, and I needed to. An angel in the form of a truck driver told me of the path out of the parking lot, and he directed me backward.

The trip to Campbell was chill until we arrived in California. The signs saying that we must drive a maximum speed of 55 mph justified Jessica's anxiety; therefore, we drove 55 miles an hour. This annoyed me because Jessica felt like she needed to remind me every time that she saw the sign and when she did not see the sign. After driving at 55 mph for so long, it was very miserable, but I saw some of the reasons. Some areas of California are very windy, and it felt ridiculous at times. It also makes driving through merging lanes easy. We feel odd that we were the only ones that followed the sign.

The stress was relieved as we arrived, but it was very miserable. I like the ideas of traveling at least one mile a minute, since 60 mph is usually a given. 55 mph made it drag on and on. We hugged and gave each other high fives as we concluded the trip. I did not want to drive the Uhaul ever again. I said to Jessica that the steering wheel felt loose as I had to compensate for the wind. I have to return it tomorrow though. I wish that my dad will return the truck to Uhaul, but I will probably drive it.

Jessica expressed fear that she saw and worries as we walked around. I taught her what I sought for in our new life, a walkable residence. Walkable communities have all the necessities within a 20 minute walk.

We had a late lunch at a BBQ sports bar / Vietnamese restaurant. I wanted to get noodle soup because we expected to eat dinner in only a few hours. Jessica got a vermicelli bowl, and it was a pleasant surprise, when she saw that it was a salad.

Guess who we saw first at our new apartments. We saw the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They live in the same complex as us. I plan to have a close and productive relationship with our missionaries in our new life in Campbell.

At home Trevor took a while to get up Jessica with one old phone of his because he forgot his password. She has a phone again. Trevor has entrusted Jessica with his beloved collection item of the Nextbit Robin phone.

The Yu-gi-oh film was good, but I don't feel like writing about it.

Mom has been working on fabricating rugs from the extra carpet that my parents had put in. It looks like water.  She has been creating the rugs to put around the house. Mom made a large rug to place under the table. It looks nice.

I am very tired. I should go to sleep as it is 1 am.

August 12, 2017

This day was chill. I got to sleep in. I scheduled blog posts and composed another Storify post for the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. Dad made white sauce for breakfast. We moved into our new apartment in Campbell. I emailed my project manager, reporting for the week. My mom and dad helped us move in. After a successful trip traveling from Rexburg, Idaho to Campbell, our drive, returning the moving truck to Uhaul, endured an incident. We shopped for groceries. My mother always drinks filtered water, so I think that I overreacted, when I realized that we don't have a water filter. I started writing this entry after preparing our new water filter.

White Sauce is put over toast, and it is my mother's favorite breakfast. We had it this morning because Jessica has never tried it before. It is kind of like a gravy, but it is not as thick, having slices of hard boiled eggs in it. I really like it.

My project manager told me to come in at 11 am on Monday to start. This is my first salaried job. It will be a new experience. It is nice to not have to worry about hours that I worked.

 My parents thought that it was funny that we got such a big truck, when we don't have much. I had Jessica lead the move by giving boxes and item fit for the physical abilities of my father, mother, and I. It went pretty smoothly.

I planned the exit of our apartment's parking lot somewhat well with the 11 foot tall moving truck, but the car ports of have thick beams for its structure. When I drove under the corner of the carport, it sounded like something was grinding against something. Jessica looked if the car fell off the tow dolly because she was worried about that, but it didn't. Trying to accelerate the car again, I was informed by Jessica that the structure holding up the carport was digging into the roof of the moving truck. I reversed, leaving without further incidents. At the Uhaul, the first thing that the worker did is open the back door to the moving truck. We were all horrified to see the gash that he measured to be 4 feet long and 18 inches wide. I thought that he did not overreact. He was pretty chill about it. He said that it may cost more than 4000 dollars. We had my parents come deliver the Jessica's purse because she forgot the insurance policy in it. I got insurance on it, so I thought. I purchased the SafeMove policy, which included damage waiver; however, this type of damage was not a type that they would waive. Only the SafeMove plus is liability insurance. There are three other policies that are not liability insurance. They seem useless to me. The SafeMove plus policy may be useless too, but this is the policy that they said that I should have. Another worker said he overreacted, when he got the quote. It only cost slightly over 200 dollars. The first worker that we met seemed to over react 20 times more than the actual cost of the repair.

Today I have been able to speak to a blogger and a musician that I promote. I got a screenshot of my conversation with Camille Nelson, whom I mentioned previously. Another young single adult blogger that contacted me is Fampah Coyish from Accra, Ghana. He started blogging again recently as I have started writing. I asked him if he is excited about the new missionary training center in his hometown, and he went to the open house of it. Our conversation is mainly about our mission, since he got off his recently. 

August 13, 2017

Last night I got caught up in my hobby of the Mormon YSA Blog Spot, going to sleep late. This morning I schedule the blog posts of the day, and started writing my journal. Our ward met at 11 am in Saratoga. I just got back. After I finish this publication, editing and all. I will go to my parents for dinner because I forgot some things there.

My ward is great. The people are very friendly. Last semester we had a friendly ward too, but we did not follow up on the invitations to meet others. A family patriarch named Rafael invited us for dinner next week. We spoke personally during Priesthood because we separated in to groups to discuss sections of the literature. We spoke about Priesthood blessings because it was the topic of the section, and we related because both of our wives like to record priesthood blessings. It is a little taboo to record blessings in the church, and it is odd because what is the use of the blessing, if you can't remember what is said. We got rebuked once by Jessica's father for wanting to record a blessing that he was going to give to me. Rafael and I also related because we both went to a BYU school. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Painting. I told him that I wanted to do that at first, but I thought that it was too risky. He related his experience after his graduation, bring it full circle to priesthood blessings.

He applied for a lot of jobs for months like me with no job offers; however, he needed to endure a job in his field of study a lot longer than me. He was stressed because he needed to provide for his wife and two children. When he broke down, he went to his father for a priesthood blessing. He was comforted, obtaining an assurance that he will be able to provide for his family. Soon after the priesthood blessing, he obtain a job as a graphic designer. He said that it was horribly disorganized, but he was able to step up and make something great out of it.

I also was able to meet a man that I recognized in the ward. He recognized me too, and we were both puzzled until we talked. I asked if he served in the temple, and he said that he recalled that we served in the Oakland temple on Thursday Evenings together.

Although I write every day in my journal, I will publish them once a week. The message that I would share from this week is a thought provoked by the first people that we met, walking into our new apartment complex when we arrived. They are Elders and missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wonder if there are people that admire me, who I don't speak with personally. I wonder who read this. I wonder what fruits are of my blogging effort because I put a lot of work into writing and supporting young single adult bloggers. I would like the reader to consider meeting with the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often. Work closely with them. They are the people designated by God to teach the gospel to recent converts and investigators. The gospel is the way, the truth, and the light of Jesus Christ.