I'm Not That Interesting

I made a discovery about myself the other day: I'm just not really all that interesting. I have lots of opinions, and things to say, and all that different stuff. But I realized that nobody really probably wants to know what I have to say. I have been meaning to be here on my blog, updating things, and letting people know more about what's going on in my life, and all that. But, every time I sit down to do it, I just realized that I don't really have anything all that interesting to write about.

I have an amazing wife, and I feel so lucky for that. But life is good for us. We have our struggles, with moving 800 miles and costing a fortune being a big part of it, there hasn't been a lot going on that I really feel needs to be shared. Most of the people who read this know most of what's going on anyway ... although I suppose to owe it to the others (Aubrey, I'm talking about you! :) ).

Overall, this is my daily life: Leave for work, work 9 - 10 hours, get home, relax, go to sleep about 9:30 or 10:00, and then do it all again the next day.

It's crazy, I know

Anyway, I promise that I will write more out of pure desire to write about my life.

I do like my job. I LOVE MY WIFE. She's the reason I do everything.

My ward is good. My life is good. I look forward to moving forward.

All my love people.

BYU

Who hasn't heard about BYU's football program this year? Ranked #9 in  the AP Poll, and higher in other polls, they are one of the best teams in college football. They are led by their excellent junior quarterback Max Hall, who has a passer rating of better than 170 on the year so far. He has been dominating in his appearances, and has been the heart of the offense. Harvey Unga, their sophomore running back, has been excellent this year. He has been pounding it on the ground when given the opportunity and making plenty of different receptions to help out the offense. It's amazing. They have been dominating their opponents, with the only exception coming at Washington. Yes, that was an interesting game, and the ending was quite interesting. However, the rules were followed as they are outlined in the book, and the call was made. Do I agree that it should be the call, not necessarily. However, it is how the rule is written. We've all gotten past it at this point, as BYU shut out it's next 2 opponents, and smashed through the two following ( Utah State, and New Mexico).

I think the most interesting thing about what happened at the Utah State game was when their fans starting cheering "overrated" while their team was down by 20. That, in any other location, is a blowout. And they were just happy that they scored on us. I find that utterly entertaining. I hope that Utah State can pick it up after that game, however, and that they might be a little more effective in the future against foes that are a little more on their level.

I think the part of BYU that has most impressed me this year has been their defense. Anchored by their line, they have been shutting out opponents and otherwise dominating everyone. The most given up all year was to Washington, at 27, and the least came from two shutouts to UCLA and Wyoming. If you don't think that defense is for real, just remember how hard it is to actually shut out an opponent when your starters are taken out at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.

Anyway: don't sleep on BYU. TCU on Thursday, and then Utah in November.

We're coming for you BCS.

Checking In

So, It's been  little while since I had a chance to write up here on the blog. I've had so much going on. Here's the quick updates:

• Moved to Santa Clara and started work at Ernst and Young.
• Assigned to the IMAS team in Palo Alto, and worked on some big and small accounts doing data analytics and journal entries tie outs.
• Experienced three full weeks of training, including the last week of RAS (Risk Advisory Services) or now known as AS (Advisory Services) training.
• Taught about business and community at a local elementary school (2nd graders).
• Spent time learning about myself and what I am truly capable of.

Overall, it's been a wonderful few weeks. I've been having a lot of fun and learning more and more about myself. That's the best part. EY has turned out to be a great fit for me so far, and I've actually enjoyed all the people and work that I've been doing. That's the most exciting part, considering that I've committed to them full time after graduation.

I've also been looking at apartments here in Santa Clara, including some called Orchard Glen (Orchard Glen Website). I really liked them. They are great apartments, and include washer/dryer, laminate hardwood, granite, and new appliances. They run about $1600/month, which is my reality here in San Jose. But it's beautiful. However, if anyone has any knowledge of something else available for January here, let me know!

I have a friend coming in this weekend, and I'm heading to see The Dark Night on Saturday night. I saw Wanted, which was a great movie, and have also seen Get Smart and Hancock. I really need to get my reviews of those up.

Anyway, thanks to all that read. I'm going to get more ritualistic about this again. So expect more soon.

Tag Goes to the Runner

So, my roommate JR tagged me on his blog to do something inventive like this, and write down three things within three separate categories of my life. So here goes:

1. 3 Joys: Searching endlessly for cars online. Calling my mom after a long day of work and having random conversations which generally don't have anything to do with anything. The fact that I am moving back to California for a couple months in a couple weeks! w00t!
2. 3 Fears: Failure. Hating my job and missing my potential. Being unable to find that one special lady.
3. 3 Goals: Buy a new car in January. Successfully navigate my last few classes and graduate with my master's degree in December. Pay down all my credit card debt by the time I move out (or at least a VERY healthy portion of it).
4. 3 Obsessions/Projects: ONLINE CAR SHOPPING. ONLINE CAR SHOPPING. Did I mention online car shopping?
5. 3 Random Facts: I'm an undercover nerd (as I've stated on this blog previously). I LOVE 24. I'm pretty much a random person, providing stranger and stranger things to talk about every single day.

That's the end of my tagging. I don't really have any blogging friends, and I have no idea who will read this, but I'll tag three:

Amanda Parker, Dianne G, and Doug G.

That's right. All family.

I'm still here world, and I'm going to take it over soon enough.

You know where the comments go.

The Benefits of Doing Nothing

I have a job where I work at a computer lab on BYU campus. It's a challenge, really. I don't mean that in the I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-what-a-hard-job type of way but more in the I-have-nothing-to-do-and-I'm-here-for-10-hours kind of way. Yea, that's right, this is my long, 10-hour day working at the computer lab. I'll tell you, spring/summer is not my favorite time of year here in the lab. You may think that it is nice to do very little, surf the web, and look outside. Well, I'm in a basement. No windows. The computer gives you a headache after you look around for too long. And I have very little cell phone service. I'm telling you -- 10 hours can seem like forever when you are stuck in the basement of the JKB on BYU campus.

Luckily,I'm a clever computer nerd, and I have an assortment of websites that I frequent during these times. Examples include:

• IGN PS3
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Lifehacker
• Digg
• Slashdot
• Gamespot
• Google

And plenty of others. However, just refreshing these sites all day long can get repetitive. So, I do my best to entertain myself by reading. I've been working 40 hours a week for the last two weeks, with 4 10-hour shifts so far; I've read 5 books. And not some 100 page nothing novels, but 600-800 page novels covering many different topics. So, I am averaging about 1400 pages a week. I don't have the money to support that habit. So, what can I really do? Not much. but that's why my blog will be getting more attention!

Any ideas or websites you'd have me scan? Let me know in the comments!

The Course of My Blogging

So, I've always managed to have a problem managing to consistently post things to a blog. I seem to get distracted, forget about it, or just basically forget to post things that I find interesting and/or fascinating. I'm hoping that I can finally shake that problem and get down to posting.

To start with, let me tell you who I am: I'm a 24 year old Master's student at BYU. I'm studying for my Information Systems Management degree and am signed to work with Ernst and Young doing IT Audit both this summer and after I graduate in December. I love technology; I seriously spend 12 hours a day researching it, reading about it, and finding out all I can about what may be coming next. However, I'm an unusual nerd: I love sports, exercising, lifting weights, basketball, baseball, football and plenty of other outdoor activities. I'm learning ASP.NET 3.5 for a website I'm designing for my mom (http://www.diannegamblin.com) and every once in awhile I really enjoy a good coding session.

It's odd that I am such a technology geek and have such a hard time keeping up with my blog postings. I know that it's hard, but I plan to keep this one up and running as long as I physically can.

Check back here often and I'll share some valuable insights from my life and teach you what I can about who I am and what I think.

See you soon!