Add this to the list of things to do...

It may take some work, but I'm thinking about talking some of the kids in my 1st period class into doing this during their lunch hour.

And this would be fun, too. Definitely not my original idea, but it would be very entertaining.

I do not live in Thailand or the Maldives :(

Just the other weekend I was chatting it up with friends far away on Skype (amazing... amazing... I love Skype), when an old friend (Abe*)from the MTC sent me an instant message. Next thing I knew, we were talking via webcam and catching up the many years that have passed since we've last spoken. Amazingly and miraculously, another old friend (Shaun*) was on Skype and we had a mini-MTC coolest district ever reunion. Here's my summary** of the dialogue, which may or may not be entirely fabricated:
(imagine the newsreporter voices, please).

Me: Wow. It's great to talk to you guys. What are you both doing in life now?
Shaun: I'm in exotic Thailand working with an ultra exclusive, very cool HIV program. In my spare time, I'm working on the valedictorian speech I'll deliver when I graduate from my very prestigious medical school. My wife, daughter, and I travel the world and my daughter is famous throughout the land. We actually just got back from Vietnam. Check it out in my blog. I'm cool enough to post all the time.
Abe: I'm in the Maldives right now, but just recently I was CEO of a company in Uzbekistan that sold for gazillions and bajillions of dollars. I take a boat to work, go windsurfing on the weekends, and pretty much just cruise around visiting new places. I'm still planning to run for President of the United States and hope I can count on your support.
Me: Oh. Wow.
Shaun: Where do you live?
Me: Uh... Las Vegas.
Shaun and Abe (together): Wow. That sounds really lame and OCHEN SKYCHNO.
Abe: Well, I'm not making any plans to visit Las Vegas anytime soon because it's so boring and hot in the summer, but Shaun, I'd love to visit you in Thailand. Maybe I'll drop by next weekend?
Shaun: Please come by. It'd be great to see you, Abe. Jeanne, maybe we could meet up in Logan sometime, since your exciting summer vacation often consists of visiting your parents in Nibley, which is just a little town outside of a a really little city.

Abe and Shaun continued to make plans about traveling around the world while I sat and wondered how I've ended up in one place for so, so, so very long. I felt like a big loser. Of course, this may have been partially because another long lost friend recently told me that visiting 33 countries wasn't anything to be excited about, since he's been to about 80. He suggested I count QUALITY, rather than QUANTITY, since some of his visits, like his trip to Moldova, were only quick one-day trips. Umm... Really? I was in Moldova for about 2 hours and I put it on my list. Maybe this means I need to edit...?

End of conversation:

Abe: I really need to go to work now. The very cool boat should pick me up in just a couple of minutes. I live on an island, you know.
Shaun: No problem, Abe. Go to work. My loving family needs my undivided attention, anyway. We need to scrapbook our photos from our trip to Vietnam and prepare for this cool Thai festival.
Me: Uh, yeah... I'm busy, too. I need to, um... Well, I'm sure I have something important to do, too. I could grade hundreds and hundreds of poorly written essays, a task that causes me to envy sweatshop employees in the remote places of the world that you two visit on weekend vacations.
Abe: Sounds so boring.
Shaun: Yeah, Jeanne. You used to be so adventurous!
Me: Uh, yeah. I'm just grown up now. Well, it was great chatting with you guys.
Abe: You, too. So, Shaun, I'll head over to Thailand next week?

* Names have definitely not been changed a bit.
** Dialogue relayed here does not reflect actual events.

The conversation may not have quite gone the way I've recalled here (and these guys are both awesome, so I know they weren't even trying to brag about the cool things they are doing in life), but at least you get a sense of how I felt. Abe and Shaun are both humble men who happen to lead extraordinary lives, but they've worked hard to get where they are today. The most amazing part of the whole experience is just realizing that, although ten years have passed, those guys are still some of my favorite people in the entire world. I loved and learned a lot from each of the missionaries I served with, but these two were among the best. TEN YEARS AGO. I feel so old... :(

Somewhere, deep down inside, I realize that I don't need to live in an exotic location to have an interesting life. I just think that would make things a little easier. The point of the story is that I'm completely and entirely JEALOUS. Very jealous. That's bad though, right? I don't usually feel that jealous of other people. I just need to do something exciting to make life interesting again. This last year has been so BORING. (Maybe it's because nobody's getting shot? No crazy fights to watch during lunch at school? I had to stop two girls in the hall from fighting once, but neither was even taking out her jewlery so it wasn't even that serious. My school is so boring...) I guess I'm just ready for summer. SUMMER!

Hotter than Some Ham

Some kids from Canyon created this music video in their broadcasting class last year. It's a catchy tune. Listen for the SAT vocab words... ;)

Test Blog.

I realize that I may not write in this blog enough to say I actually HAVE a blog, but this is a test...
Andriana? Amanda?