About Dang Time

Ok, so, I guess it's about dang time I finally get around to updating this bad boy. There's a lot to update on, but I really don't feel like going into much detail due to laziness, but I'll give it a try.

On July 1st, I jumped into my truck with my dad and drove from Mesa for 20 some odd hours straight to Little Rock, Arkansas. Everyone knows me for being a pretty avid road tripper, however, that day was so long and I NEVER want to go through something like that again! Wow, it was long! The next day my dad and I drove to Roanoke, Virginia. We pretty much could have made it all the way to school in less than 2 days since Buena Vista is only 50 minutes up the interstate from Roanoke. Unfortunately, there aren't very many great hotels in the BV (Buena Vista)/Lexington area, so we decided Roanoke would be best. We got the keys to the place I'd be staying until the efy kids left my dorm then headed up to Washington DC to pick my mom up from the airport. We stayed in DC for the 4th of July to see fireworks and everything, it really was pretty impressive.

Upon returning to BV after dropping my parents off at the Baltimore airport, I got settled in and began pre-season football workouts. It was really tough. The first few days were terrible, I was so sore and just out of shape and felt like I was going to day, and these things were voluntary and easy! Much easier than camp was going to be in the coming month. But I hung in there and when training camp started on the 7th of August I worked really hard and made it through 'Hell Week' full of three a day practices in the hot, humid conditions that are so normal here in the mountains of Virginia.

Saturday was the first time in over 10 years that I watched a football game not only from the sidelines, but in football pads with my name listed among those of the players. Here is the current roster to show:

55 Matt Mellor LB 6'2" 235 Jr. Colfax, Wash. Colfax
56 Jake Herndon DT 5'10" 275 Sr. Mechanicsville, Va. Hanover
58 Clint Kelley DT 6'1" 310 Jr. Mesa, Ariz. Mountain View
60 Lee Nordyke OL 6'4" 290 Fr. Springfield, Ill. Riverton
61 Wil Clason OL 6'0" 280 Fr. Fresno, Calif. Sierra

For more info on SVU Football: http://athletics.svu.edu/athletics//index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=78&Itemid=29

There I am, right in the middle, defensive tackle number 58. I was so excited when I came through the doors of the locker room and there were a bunch of fans just screaming as the team came out just before game time. It was definitely a cool rush to have lots of people jsut screaming and trying to get us even more pumped up for the game.

Unfortunately the game didn't go quite as planned, we ended up getting blown out 63 to 10. It was a pretty humbling experience, especially today as the whole team sat down and watched the horrific film of all our missed tackles and what not. It really was embarrasing.

Anyway, today was also the first day of the Fall semester. My Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are pretty packed, with the other two days just as packed. I did realize though that as soon as football is over I'm going to have a pretty sweet schedule since I'm done every day by 12:15. MWF are my early days with my Calculus class starting at 7:40. That is followed by Book of Mormon I, Music History and Becoming a Leader-Servant - essentially a seminar class where the university invites distinguished guests to come and speak to us about leadership qualities and success. It's not too bad. Tuesdays and Thursdays include a Health and Wellness class, Old Testament I taught by a former director of BYU's Jerusalem Center (I'm pretty excited abotu that class) and a Marketing class with my academic advisor. Thankfully I start an hour later on those days as well, lucky me!

So far I'm really liking things here in BV. The school really has a great spirit about it. But by far one of the best things so far has been my ward. It is absolutely amazing. My bishop is only a few years older than the oldest people in the ward and he's such a great guy. One of his counselors served in my mission a few years before me and the other counselor married a girl 45 minutes from one of my areas, so I really have fun talking about Brazil and speaking some Portuguese from time to time. It's fantastic. Church on Sunday is always a wonderful part of my week because the spirit really testifies that the bishop and his counselors really are called of God and are inspired men. It's just fantastic. I want to move out of the shoe box sized dorm room I have but I wont because I don't want to switch wards at all.

Well, that's a pretty good run down of what's going on right now. I'm really going to make an honest effort at updating this thing more often, I really should since I haven't been too great at keeping journals since I've been home. Anyway, if anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Pay It Forward
I have seen this on a few blogs and am super excited to start my own! (and super excited to get handmade stuff!)

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that count!

4. When you receive your gift, blog about it! If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along.Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward.

SVU Visit!

So, I spent Spring Break visiting the place I will call my home away from home, Buena Vista, Virginia! That is a little town of about 6,000 people and the site of Southern Virginia University. I went to visit the campus, sit in on a few classes I might be taking and finally to meet the football coaches and team and workout with them!

The SVU Main Hall

I arrived on a rainy and foggy Monday afternoon and met the guys I was bunking with. One prospective missionary (who just got his call to Honolulu - yay for Tyler!) and one RM that went to Mexico. Both really fun guys. Monday night we went to a makeshift family home evening with some girls. We met up in the main hall and when one of the girls saw my face she immediately said: "I haven't seen you on campus ever. Are you visiting? What is your name?" I was pretty amazed that she was that blunt and forward, but it was refreshing. She recognized that I was not a student there and wanted to know what I was doing. The FHE was fun. We played Mafia and had banana bread muffins. It was great.

Tuesday was cool because it was my first day sitting in on some classes. I also had my first workout with the football team. Dang it was tough. The ab workout at the end was intense, man I was in pain for a while afterwords. After the workout I pretty much just hung out with the guys I had been meeting.

Wednesday consisted of a tour and more classes. It was then during a class that I realized something: this would be the most bittersweet Spring Break ever. I got out of my own classes only to travel across the country to sit in on some one else's classes. I was enjoying myself but I was still in class! DOH! Anyway, I had a football team meeting followed by a service project the coach volunteered the players for; moving books for the library from one storage area to another.

Thursday I woke up at 6AM to go lift with the team and avoid the majority of the players that would rather sleep in and workout at 2. After lifting I put on my sweats and went for a stroll in town, it was pretty cool. I saw some really cool houses. I LOVE the wrap-around porches of the South. I saw a cute house on a street corner that had a porch that stretched from one side to the other. It was way cool. After walking around I pretty much just hung out in my dorm room and read an economics book. Around noon, my mom arrived from Baltimore and the football coach gave the two of us a tour of campus, it was fun. He grew up a few hours from the school and has this awesome Southern drawl accent. I loved it, it's pretty funny. Later, I had another full team meeting followed by a defensive squad meeting. It was pretty cool. After the meeting my mom and I drove across the highway to Lexington which is like 5 minutes away and a town of about 30,000 I think. It is the home to Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University, the school that was started by George Washington himself. It was pretty awe inspiring. The main hall at Washington and Lee looked like a brick white house on steroids. It was HUGE! Note to reader(s), definitely check out their website to see pictures and read about the school.

Cute corner house in Buena Vista

Washington and Lee Main Hall

Frat House - Even the frat houses look tight!

Friday my mom and I took off for DC and stayed there until Sunday. On our way we stopped at Monticello, the residence of Thomas Jefferson. Wow it was amazing! His house was INCREDIBLY high tech for the era. It was pretty cool. Friday night I finally ate BRAZILIAN FOOD! Yay! After 7 LONG months I finally made it to a Brazilian steakhouse. Oh it was great. And I felt so stuffed afterwards. Mmmmmmmmm. Saturday we started our day by going to the Library of Congress and then the Supreme Court building. We made our way around the Presidential Mall to the Jefferson Memorial, something I hadn't seen before. Sunday was fun, we slept in a little and then just drove around and went to the Arlington Cemetery and then to Georgetown University, that was another sweet sight.

Monticello

The Library of Congress

Inside the library

Another shot from inside the library

The Supreme Court Building

The Jefferson Memorial

Inside the Jefferson Memorial

Arlington National Cemetary

The flight home the the worst I've ever had. Because of the wind in California (my aunt said that the beach was terrible in Cali, something like 100 mph winds!) there was SO MUCH turbulence! Landing was quite the ordeal, but it was pretty dang smooth; kudos Senhor Piloto.

I'm glad to be back though. I need to keep working hard in school so that everything will begin to fall into place.

Wow I'm lazy!

Ok, I am getting pissed off! This is the third time I've tried to post on this blog and each time it's quit on me! UGH!
Ok, well, I really should use this thing more often to give updates on my life. Anyway, many things have changed in since my last post and so to give the lowdown, here is my current life in 60 seconds. Ready....go!

- Briana and I broke up. There's really no good way to explain it.

- Before Christmas I applied to ASU's Global Business program. But due to the current state of the economy and the budget cuts in Arizona the program was closed (dang house buyers with NO credit buying houses they could NEVER afford!).

- Due to sudden changes in my plans, I began looking for alternative schooling options. I settled on attending Southern Virginia University this Fall! I am super excited!

- I will be leaving in the middle of July to begin training with the football team, which I am also excited about!

- I am job hunting again, which is always a wondrous time. Riiiight.

- I joined the MCC Model United Nations team and will be the Representative on the General Assembly for the Russian Federation. So comrades, I hope it all goes well!

- I got a guitar for Christmas and began taking classes at MCC, it's pretty sweet.

- Cameron introduced me to the coolest pizza joint in the valley. Cassanova Brother's Pizza on Val Vista and Guadalupe.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. If anyone has a specific question feel free to let me know!