The Ultimate GIft...

Many of you may be familiar with the movie "the Ultimate Gift" about a young man named Jason Stevens who's a real selfish jerky rich kid who is given the oppurtunitie to achieve an ultimate gift by earning a series of gifts. In the end he gets a HUGE sum of money (and he gets the girl haha). Among his "lesser" gifts are the gifts of work, friendship, giving, value of money, family, dreams, the gift of the next day, and the gift of love.
In my experience and in my honest oppinion, Love was really the ultimate gift. I dont mean the gooey affection between a man and a woman love, I mean the love that originates in charity and giving. In my somewhat recent past I have known my share of sorrows, problems and hardships. Times where I thought there was nothing left for me to give, or that I wasn't receiving what I thought was coming to me. But the one thing that has always pulled me through, was the simple truth "IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT ME." I have been taught since I was a kid to be nice to everyone, even the people who aren't so good to me, and I admit I havn't been perfect at it but I do try to make everyone feel like they are noticed and that who they are and/or what they do matters and that is cool that they do it. But my problem with this way of life was "Why doesn't anyone do that for me? Why doesn't anyone care that I won this or I did that, Or that I am nice to them?" I can't tell you how many times that has gotten to me. I sit alone at lunch everyday, sometimes it bugs me, sometimes it doesn't. But again the thing that pulls me through is the single thought "IT IS NOT ABOUT ME". It is ALWAYS, and it SHOULD always be, about other people. That to me is the source of happiness. The ability to make someone smile or to make a difference in their life. There is no greater reward than someone's smile, and the satisfaction that you made their day better. And THAT is the ulitmate gift.

You are NEVER alone.

This Easter, I learned alot about the savior. So few people realize that he had to suffer the worst pain of all time...alone. Thats right, alone. No one to help him not even his father in heaven. Why? Well I came to find that it was because he had to feel what we feel when we sin. He was so perfect, and when ever I do something wrong I can't help but think I'm hurting a perfect person, like a newborn child, or a handicapped person. Hurting someone so pure and undeserving makes me want to be a person ten times better than I am, and then some. I am so greatful that I have never, will NEVER be truly alone. No one can possibly imagine the amount of pain the savior suffered, but on top of that to have to bare it all by himself....is so unfathamobly terrible to me. I have the luxery of turning to my friends or my family when I hurt. I can tell Jackie or Emilee, or Tanner or Hayden, my sister in law Dany or my mom and dad when I hurt, and they will always come to my aid when I need them most. Without fail. I love that about them. This easter is absolutely without question one of true gratitude for Deity.

PROM!!!!

Prom was freaking amazing this year! I kid you not! Heather was a fantastic date and I had the time of my life! Incredible night.

We started by kidnapping the girls (Myself, Tyler, Brayden Williams and Jared Lowry) at 7 am. Tyler took Ali Warnick, Brayden took Sara Smoot, Jared took Katie Stuart and I took the beautiful Heather Parrish. We took them to breakfast at Brayden's house. From there we commenced a picture scavenger hunt, which was pretty much amazingly fun! haha. At about noon we dropped our girls off and then got ourselves ready (after taking a quick catnap of course hahaha) I picked Heather up at about 4:45 and we took some pics (you know how mom's are) at her house and my house. Then we made the journey to saltlake, Where we had a proffessional take our pictures in the capital court yard. That lasted about an hour and I have to say our dates looked GORGEOUS!!! So beautiful in fact I dont think it was fair to all the other girls! We took pictures for about an hour and then we went to go eat dinner at "The Garden" There we just happened to run into the young women's president Sister Tanner who in fact was chatting with Elder Neilson of the quarom of the twelve! He said hi to us and our girls took a picture with Sister Tanner. She thanked our girls for dressing so modestly and told us guys to treat 'em like queens. Dude they were NOT queens.....THEY WERE GODDESSES! haha After dinner (which was delicious by the way) we went to the dance. We got there at about 8:30 pm and Danced the night away!

The Dance ended at 11 so after the dance we headed to Jared and kinda snacked on a chocolate fountain which was really good...except for the fact that I ate a chocolate covered orange. Heather is deathly allergic to anything with orange in it. Even gum! So....you can imagine why this became a quick problem. Yeah i was mad. So i dropped her off and the awkward doorstep scene didnt even happen because her mom (her timing was incredible) opened the door the second we hit the doorstep! Im not kidding. And that...is how my prom night went...amazing, fun, and a little interesting.

There Is Never Time For a Bad Attitude.

During seminary I watched a video about a guy named Tyler. He was an athletic prodigy, a gifted and handsome boy. He was on top of the world. Had a beautiful girlfriend, poplularity, good grades good family and good friends. It seemed that nothing could touch him. Then he got into a terrible car accident and became paralized. During his long period in the hospital, his friends tried to cheer him up with jokes and such. When they left he said to his Dad "there will be plenty of time for jokes". His Dad with tears in his eyes said "yes son, there is a time for everything." Tyler looked at his Dad and said "NO dad. There is never a time for a bad attitude."

Tyler was on top of the world. But through fates turn had to percieve life all over again in a totally different way. Like he said there was no time for a bad attitude, and he excelled in his physical therapy getting better every day and exceeding every expectation with the goal of going to his graduation pushing himself in a wheel chair. He did it, though all odds told him that he couldnt. He did. Every waking moment was spent making himself better because he knew where he was going and what he wanted to do. Just like in sports...nothing could stop him. He got married to his highschool sweetheart and began a new journey with a totally knew perspective. He was on top of a totally different world.

I Connect with this story. So often when i think everything is going perfect for me, more often then not I'm brought down, and I've had to climb to the top again. Each time with a new perspective and new knowledge. I climb to the top of a totally different world. Lately, I've been very bitter about it though. Slow to remember the good things and the oppurtunities that now awaited me. That is something I want to fix. Though I probably will never be who Tyler was, his statement rings forever true..."there is never a time for a bad attitude!"

Take It I Dont Want It.

Some hearts are perferated so they're easier to tear,

I dont want a heart any more, take it do what

you want with it just dont leave me the peices to pick up.

Live Life...

A man or woman is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate. Things do not change, we change. Keep your thoughts. Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.
Man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. So it is with us as human being to be a part of something. How deep the ruts of tradition and conformity. Rather than love, than, fame than money, give me truth; for truth, will bring you true happiness.
Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Real happiness is when a person resigns himself to himself. However mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. Men are born to succeed, not fail. What more failure that to fail in achieving the ultimate gift of happiness. One cannot buy happiness. The cost of happiness is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. Or rather plainer, be not simply good, be good for something.
If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see. I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I can not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Do not short live your life. Man is that he might have joy, but joy comes not because man simply is. Real happiness is peace with ones self and the self assurance that he has lived all that was life, not world. I do not wish to live which is not life; I want to leave deep and suck all the marrow of life.

Nice Guys Finish Last

No one can not fight against lonliness,

My station defines me as solitude.

I am satisfied with adequate, and lowliness,

though people may be drawn to my attitude.

I'm ground down with heel and toe,

But I endure Because I need it.

I strive kindness because the seed I sow,

Will hopefully burst in the heart who freed it.

It's always been true what they say,

About good people future and past.

The good people will always pay,

The nice guy finishes last.

Sweet Heart's Dance.

My first impression of a Layton High dance was something along the lines of "Wow they go all out!". You see when I got asked to sweet heart's by Jewel Knight, I knew that we'd be dancing in the gym and people would be jumping everywhere. I was surprised on both fronts. The gym was decorated very well with a canopy, chinese lanterns, pillars surrounding the perimeter of the canopy and cute pink windows hanging in between each pillar. It was cool. My date was fun, my group was comfortable and I was dog tired...I had the misfortune of swimming at state the same day. I still managed to wake up long enough to have a blast but I didn't last for more than half an hour after I got home...I threw my clothes on my desk got into some shorts and crashed. hehe. But I still had alot of fun.

State Swimming 2009

State swimming was four times more successful than last year by far! Davis (seeing as how there only six of us that actually swam) got 12th which is amazing! My relays did fantastic, trounced condie and his team by three seconds in the 400 free relay. shaved off three seconds from our best time as well. We (Colten and Parker Simonson, Zack Santella and myself) now sit at a 3.25.00 range. 8th place over all but hey dude we totally kicked the crap out of previous Davis records. Like in the 200 freestyle relay. We (Me, Mitch Brown, Colton Simonson and Zach Santella) knocked the old Davis record out by four seconds!!! We're now at a 1.32.00, which put us in fifth place at state. Personally, I bested my fifty free time by .2. Which is significant drop in the fifty free cuz all you're doing is down and back really really really REALLY fast!!! I got a 00.22.75. Which is really good, fastest on the team...but not the fastest in Davis history. i'm a tenth way though. I'll get it next year hopefully :) Even though I desperately wanted it this year :( Ah well, life is full of disappointments. I'm proud of myself for doing so well though, especially at my age. Anywho I loved seeing Joe and Condie again (Joe's in the middle and Condie's on the right in the pic---->) I'm actually going to, probably, hang out with Joe this coming weekend. Great boys, both of them. I look up to them (literally in Joe's case haha that boy is monstrously tall) alot. They are good upright people. Joe made a really nice compliment to me right before the fifty free. I was talking to him and he was talking about how nervous and scared he was because last year he choked and blew it. I was talking to him about that, and when I was done he said "Alex you always make me feel good." At first I thought he was being sarcastic, but he was serious. And that gave me a bunch of warm fuzzies. The kid's a senior and he's one of the coolest people I know. A great role model. Overall a very successful weekend I think.

NOVELTY....

Sorry about the delay on this update, but I didnt want to do this post until I had pictures.Definately one of the funnest dances ever though. Cassidi looked absolutley stunning (always does) and we had a blast. Though she probably thinks I'm a total retard cuz I jump around like an idiot cuz I can't dance to save my life. However, she eventually got into it, and my group did too and we had quite the evening. Wasn't REALLY awkward, which I was grateful for. She's a fantastic friend, hope to see her more often. Anyway our day activity was really interesting. We decided to go bowling, however I forgot that the poor girl had a shoulder injury and couldn't bowl with her dominate arm...sooooooooooooooooooooo I tried bowling with my non dominant arm...that kind of hurt. So I had to switch hands after the first game. I had a blast, and I think she did to (at least I hope she did). Altogether fun date, fun girl, fun time, fun dance.

16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

When you get a year older, your not just sixteen or whatever age. You're 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Some days, you're four, when someone hurts you deeply and you want to cry. Other days you're 8, when theres absolutely nothing wrong in the world cuz you are playing and having a good time. On occasion you may be 12, and you're tired of everyone treating you like a child. Some days, you're 14, and you want to slap someone around cuz of all the drama that surrounds you. And some days you act you age. But its important to realize that we're not just one year; we are several. Because no one is the same age all the time, and no one can predict exactly how they'll react to certain situations. At times we feel like the world is crashing down on us, and we feel like Atlas, bearing the world on our shoulders. Other times, we'll feel like nothing else exists accept for us and what we're doing. Bad things will happen, good times will end, nothing will ever stay exactly the same, and good and bad situations will arise. How you react really depends on what age you are when the situation happens.

Everything Happens For a Reason....

"Trust thy self: Every Heart vibrates to that iron string, accept the place the divine providence has found for you; the Society of your contemparary, the connection of events. Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their beings and we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendant destiny; and not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and reformers and benefactors, obeying the almighty effort, and the advancing chaos and the dark..."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Nothing happens for no reason. Be yourself, every heart vibrates to that iron string [of life]. Or should. Where are YOU from, what do YOU like to do, what do YOU dislike? What are YOUR favorite things, YOUR fears, YOUR DREAMS! Who are you?

Ok I really want to write something, but I know what so I chose a random picture from my phun photos folder and i'm not going to attempt to expound on it :D

Just laugh! :P

Region Swim Meet

Wow! What else can I say other than wow! Region swim meet was one of the best days of my young highschool life! I dropped time continually, and i was awarded 3rd place in both the fifty freestyle and the one hundred freestyle. My relays took third (the 200 free relay) and second (400 free relay). My best fifty free time now is a 22.91. And my new hundred time is 50.4. AMAZING!!! But my favorite part about the meet, was the two boys i swam against in all my events. Tyler Condie, and Joseph Nelson are two of the most inspirational people I know. Joe has been a really great competitor, and i was so thankful to race against him. He said a prayer with me before our fifty free, and that to me is absolutely amazing! Tyler Condie is an amazing sport. He's a junior like me, so i'll see him again next year, but he works so hard and he is SO FAST! I learned from these boys the benefits of hard work and sportsman ship. They make me want to be a better person as well as a better swimmer. Tell you what Condie, you beat my be a .01! Keep a wary eye over your shoulder buddy I'll see you at state!

Life altering...

Have you ever had to make a choice? A choice so profound that it had the ability to change your entire life? It seems so important that it can't wait and you desperately try to push it to the back or your mind because you dont want to feel the pressure of decision? I have been presented with a decision. Starting with a very very good swimming oppurtunity. The reason i was introduced to swimming, was when a colleague of my Dad's saw me swim and said "Get him into swim." I doubt she knew that within a few short years i'd be swimming on a state level. Her name is Cazz and she has recently offered to private coach me. A former BYU swimmer she knows the ins and outs of swimming. BYU is renound for its fantastic sports programs, and I know that i'm going to be worked over. While discussing the work i was going to go through over the summer, i began to wonder about my future, if swimming was something i actually wanted to persue in a colligate level. I was talking about it with my parents, Swimming and winning on the levels i have achieved implies that I could be scholarship material for BYU. The Y as most know has gotten progressively more and more expensive, and my goal for attending the Y seems to be getting slowly harder to achieve. But to reach this level, i would have to endure a period of training unparalleled by any highschool coach. But the decision gets hairier. If i were to persue, and succeed swimming on a colligate level, i would (as my competative nature promotes) rise to the top as quickly as possible. This meaning that i would probably have a shot at the olympics. On the other hand, i could stop swimming after highschool and focus soully on school. Get on my feet. But for some reason i cant seem myself in an everyday job. If i found one that never betrayed my interests then i would be fine, but it has yet to manifest itself. I love swimming with all my heart, but I dont know if i could endure the hours of time and effort it would take to make it to a competative colligate, much less an olympic, level. Granted it would fulfill all my dreams and i would have accomplished something absolutely amazing, but would this decision keep me from more important things? Like my mission, or future spouse? Where do my priorities lie in this possibly life altering decision?

Insight

Our lives are built on perspective. Our lives revolve around how WE see things. Naturally we see things differently than others, but in the end we as human beings want to believe in the world as we see it hence the birth of Opinion. It's actually an argued idea that if you were to look through someone else's eyes, still having the knowledge you already have, your vision would literally be different. For intstance, if i were to get into your head and look through your eyes with my own the color you see as green (though you've been taught to say its green) could very well be brown or red to me. We've all been taught to say its green, but in reality there is absolutely no way of knowing if what i see is the same as what you see. So what does that say about reality? We all see it differently, see it the way we want to see it. So in other words we basically create our own realities, and I think we have opinion because someone else is trying to force their reality on our own, and no body likes to be pushed around! As a part of our manufactored realities, we have succumbed to certain truths because we've been taught that some things are just the way things are. But flashing back to the "looking through someone elses" eyes theory, simple truths are still simple truths but we decide on how we see them. This is one of the beauties of mankind, the gift of discernment, opinion....and insight.

Due To Nagging.

So, due to numerous naggings of a certain Jackie Eborn. I am being forced to write (against my will) So I will extend my sentances about nothing for as long as I can, with lots of commas and probably a series of run on sentances which are grammatically incorrect and for which my english teacher would put her fifty dollar pedicure square in my rump for doing! (try and say that whole last bit in one breath ha ha!)

OK ok, on a more serious note, You ever feel that romantic nostalgia? Dude its been freaking plagueing me lately. Personally (well usually at least) I like being single and I love playing the game. But lately, I've been craving that womanly infatuation that I guess has recently become part of my fiber as a human being. However when ever I try to go for a girl, they always have problems, or they are huge drama queens, or they play me for a sap. So despite how much I miss Girls, I've recently come to be very wary on them. Because I've found that there has only been one, ever that was normal! A girl that didn't play me, that didn't have numerous problems/issues and didn't thrive off of drama! Why can't girls be more like her really is that too much to ask?

Everytime you're with someone you love, you chop off a little bit of your soul and give it to them. So just make sure it's someone you trust.

-Ashley Sparks

Quote:

Love Isn't reserved for the old.
-Jackie Eborn

Embarressed...

I decided to swim in the most advanced lane for the rest of the year, so I would be better prepared for the Region and State competitions. Near the end of practice coach B had us doing starts/ fifties in the pool. When we were doing the fifty free, Matt Krambule (my main competition) Made a bet with coach that if he beat me at the fifty free practice, for him, would be over. Coach said only if he gave me two seconds head start...Matt beat me all the same, and the entire team saw. I've not felt so ashamed of myself for a long time. Never again Matt, never again!