Oregon! It's Way Better Than Utah!

That was our mantra for the weekend: "Oregon! It's way better than Utah." Allow me to explain why.

When I say that, I'm not talking about the Utah known for its snow and ski resorts. I'm not talking about the Utah where all of my family lives. I'm not talking about Moab, Park City, Sundance or anything even slightly interesting or exciting. Utah, for me, is school. Utah is the two square miles I live in all year. I work, study, and play within that square mile for most if not all of the year. That's why all weekend long we said, "Oregon! It's way better than Utah."

Now that's out of the way, I'll explain what I did in Oregon.

Last semester, Audrey, a girl from my ward, invited a bunch of people (more like 3 or 4 people) up to Oregon to go rafting. I ended up being the only one that stuck with it, and thus had to travel up to Oregon all alone. MapQuest said the trip would be around 11 hours, so I told myself I could do it in 10. When I finally made it to Audrey's house, I'd been driving for 12.5 hours...and I was tired.

I was trying to take a self-portrait as I got onto the freeway in Boise. Traffic started moving while I was posing, thus explaining my worried face.

I drove up on Thursday and got to Oregon around 8 pm. On Friday, Audrey took me on a tour of the local waterfalls. They were beautiful. The best part may be that they were within about 20 minutes of Audrey's house in the Portland area.

This is Multnomah Falls, the second longest waterfall in the States or something like that.

As if it couldn't get any better, after the waterfalls we went to Burgerville. I ordered a burger, which was good, but I also ordered a raspberry shake, which was divine. We ate there on Friday and Saturday, wished we could have on Sunday, and Monday as I was driving home a sign on the side of the interstate that said, "Last Burgerville for 84,000 miles," or something like that, prompted me to get off the road and buy another shake. I miss Burgerville.

Friday night we went to a YSA sponsored boat dance that went down then up then down and up the Willamette (will-LAH-mut) River. The river passes right through downtown Portland, and gave us a great vantage point to the city.

I stayed at Audrey's house all weekend, where I met her mom, sister, brother, brother-in-law, aunt, niece, 2 uncles, 2 dogs, cat, and friends. Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out of that. I enjoyed meeting all of them, but I especially enjoyed meeting Louis, the chihuahua. He may have been yappy and cursed with bad breath, but I loved him anyway, and by the end of the weekend was ready to bring him home with me. The sad part is that I think Audrey's family was ready to let Louis come to Provo as well.

Saturday morning was the big day. We woke up not too early to drive out to the Deschutes River. There were six people in our group, three of whom I already knew (Audrey, her friend Colin, and Rachel Aina who lives in Oregon but was in our ward last year). Jennifer and Erin were the other two. PS, the thumbs up was very much included in as many pictures as possible.

Rachel and me posing on the river after she had just fallen out. Fortunately, I didn't fall out on any of the rapids. I even rode the raft "bronco" hoping for some excitement, but didn't get kicked.

Audrey had told stories about a certain rapid named Boxcar (pictured above somewhere in the background). Last year she fell out of the boat at that rapid and was recycled under water in the current for some amount of time. I think she hit that rock right behind her head in the picture. She still has a game hip from the accident. She made sure we all remembered that and respected the river. I think we all gained an appreciation for the power of the river when we turned around after a rapid and realized our guide had fallen out! He was okay and managed to keep his hat and glasses on through it all.

I took this picture after we crossed the class 4 rapid. Unfortunately, I can't remember its name. It was an exciting ride and kept us on our toes for a good minute. That's Colin (the guide) with the hat and glasses.


This is a picture of Charlotte, as in Charlotte's Web. She's a stupid toy that Marianne got from Burger King or something. She's been to Hawaii and Lake Powell and almost made it to Nashville and Honduras (I accidentally left her in my car). I decided I needed some company on my trip, so I brought her with me to Oregon. She didn't actually go rafting, mainly because my only pocket was over my butt and I didn't want to be sitting on Charlotte all day long. I left her in the car.

On Sunday we went to Church, sat around for a while, and then went to Washington (the state) so that I could say I had been there. One more state off the list (or on the list, I guess).

Monday morning Audrey and I went to Krispy Kreme, thus fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine to eat donuts in Portland. I left Portland at about 11 am, and made it back to Provo by 10:30 pm. Taking account for the time change, it only took me 11.5 hours to get home! I would've died if it had taken another hour.

And now you know why we said, "Oregon! It's way better than Utah."

July 5th, then 4th, then 3rd...it's how the pictures uploaded.

The winning team...if you want to know of what, read further.
All of us!
Group hug.

The Friday night Sonic crew. We usually work 'til 10 or 11, and then we all go out...it works out nicely. Last week we started playing street hockey in the Macey's/Sonic parking lot. We round up all of our car and play between them all...don't worry dad, it's a lightweight plastic ball, so no dented cars.
Chelsey.
Meghan and Bethany.
Hard core! I guess bare feet are better than sandals.
Good thing somebody had the medical tape.

Sorry, the pictures are a little out of order. This is the day of the 4th. I got back to the parade route at 8 AM. I was feeling generous, so I bought bagels for everyone. This is Meghan, the organizer of the camp out.

The night before there were a lot more of us...this is the small group that stuck it out for the whole shebang...is that how you spell shebang? Notice I'm wearing my one patriotic-like shirt...thanks to dad and Harley Davidson.

Apparently, Meghan knows Rob Moncur, my companion from the MTC. I was surprised to see him there. He was smart and brought a tent...so he stuck it out all night.

My tire has a nail in it. Hopefully I can get it fixed today, but until then I'll be frequenting the free air pumps of Provo. I was forced to buy a tire gauge...at least it was only $3.50.

I had to work the night of the 4th...thus no pictures. However, work was pretty cool. I was up in the President's Loge (that's right, loge...) for Stadium of Fire. I served the likes of Glen Beck, Orrin Hatch, Gov. Huntsman, Elder Bateman, and Pres. Samuelson. Unfortunately, we had to leave before Brooks and Dunn performed. We finished up right before fireworks, so we all went up to the Skyroom to watch...it was good bonding. The fireworks were good, but it's not the same when you can't hear the noise of the fireworks shooting up and exploding.

The night before the 4th was spent on the streets of Provo. A bunch of people from catering got together and camped out on the street. I was going to stay the night, but at 3 AM I decided that my real bed that was three blocks aways was much better than the streets. Devon, I think we should start a Ron Paul Revolution... To solve our boredom problems, I made up games like see who has the sparkler that burns the longest. My leg was slightly burned in the process...but only slightly. The funny things we do when we're really tired.

A Week In The Life...

So I went around this afternoon to take some pictures to put up here on my blog. Hopefully this will fill you in on what I've done this week and what my life in Provo is really like!


Brooks and Dunn are coming on Monday (tomorrow) for the Freedom Festival's Stadium of Fire. I'm not a huge Brooks and Dunn fan, but at least BYU is letting famous, non-lds artists come perform on their campus. I'm excited serve them on the 4th.

On Saturday night I was in the ballroom serving 680 Freedom Festivalers. It was pretty hectic, especially since I had to serve the three tables right in front of the podium. I didn't realize it when I started, but Elder Featherstone was at my table.


On Friday night I was at the conference center serving a ward party/luau. That wasn't that exciting. The exciting part was the entertainment in the other banquet. As I was getting the back ready to clear the banquet floor I heard Carmen Rasmusen singing in the other room. I guess it's not that great, anyway, since she did live in Helaman Halls my freshman year. Then again, Marie Osmond was taking psych classes my freshman year as well...we didn't wait outside of her classroom to see her, I swear!

They've already torn down W and V Halls, and as soon as EFY is over, Q is coming down as well. I decided I better get a picture before it's too late. If you look closely, you'll see I've got the thumbs up, but I'm not smiling.

My friend Lindsay was taking carillon (bell) lessons during Spring Term. One night before one of her lessons she needed to practice, so we went with her to the tower. We were then taken up to where we never thought we'd go...the top of the bell tower. It was great, and while Lindsay was practicing at the bottom of the tower, we watched episodes of Arrested Development at the top...until BYU security guards heard us, climbed the stairs, and out of breath told us that it was too much of a liability for us to be up there. We climbed down, but we still know where the key is if we ever want to climb back up!

A week ago on Saturday was the big dedication day for the Hinckley Building. All sorts of VIPs showed up for the event, but I don't think they realized that all night before the dedication there were painters, tilers, etc. literally putting the building together. I got there at 5:30-ish to set things up for Pres. Hinckley's birthday bash, but unfortunately I didn't get to stick around...I had to work on another event elsewhere.

Over the last few weeks, it seems like Utah County has been on fire. On Friday, Squaw Peak went up in flames. Marianne and I went to check things out. Below, we are reenacting our spectatorship.

And of course, the thumbs up.

Marianne's sister-in-law is volunteering for the Stadium of Fire, and on Thursday (I think) we got to drive golf carts from the Riverside Country Club to Lavell Edwards Stadium. There were six drivers, and we lined up like ducklings from the CC to the stadium! It was AMAZING.

I took this after I went golfing with Cody. I was a little burnt. I took golf lessons six years ago and had not been back on a golf course (to play golf) since then. I used Cody's old clubs, and it was fun. I wore the visor so I could play the part. I was also wearing argyle socks, but didn't get a picture of them.

My renouned self portraits.

This is where I go running every day. I'm getting bored with this blog, so I hope I don't bore everyone that reads this. If I do, sorry...it's pretty boring.

Being Michael!

Be born on March 14, 1985. Think of yourself as a pleasant surprise to your family. Grow up with two sisters, and remember with disdain playing with Barbies at Allison Savage's house with Robyn, and wishing that I had an elevator in my house like Barbie had in hers. Have fond memories of birthday parties and Christmases in Utah all before moving to California just after starting kindergarten. Enjoy kindergarten in California, where at that young age you knew (name removed) wasn't a normal child. (Robyn suggested I take his name out to protect myself from incriminating bloggage).

In the first grade, be recognized by your teacher as a burgeoning "nice guy" and be assigned a best friend. Your best friend will get made fun of for the majority of your time in elementary school, which will make it hard for you to make other friends, but you will share a lot of fond memories with him. One perk: his dad works for Disneyland, and you will go very frequently at no charge. You will remember the phone number of where he grew up for the rest of your life. You'll also gain an instinct to protect fat people from others' cruelty and be nice to them...

You're five years younger than your next oldest sibling, and your mom will be working, but don't worry: prayers will be answered, and the nicest lady in the world will watch you after school through the seventh and part of the eighth grade. Every day you're there, you will play with a girl who is five years younger than you, and you will enjoy it immensely, and your imagination will be very active because of it. In the eighth grade, you'll decide it's time for you to not have a "babysitter" anymore and you'll start going directly home. You will then make a habit of calling your mom after school to tell her you're home that will go with you for the rest of your life (except while on your mission). During that time you will watch some cartoons until you stumble upon the home building and renovating shows on TLC, Discovery, and HGTV. You will then be the only fourth grader in the world watching Bob Vila and Hometime.

In the first grade you will also break your arm twice in a row. The first time you will break it while pretending to be a dog and jumping off a couch. You'll get your cast off on a Friday, and the next Monday at school you will break it again when you fall from the monkey bars. For the rest of your life, you will tell people that your friend pushed you from the bars, but in your mind you will wonder if that's how it really happened.

In the second grade you'll learn to be a good writer. In the third grade you'll learn to hate math when Mrs. Pike rips up your paper, not because the math was incorrect, but because you numbered the paper incorrectly. You'll tell your mom, and she'll release her wrath. She'll go to the school, walk into your classroom and find your torn up paper in the trash can. She'll then confront the teacher, who will deny anything of the sort until the ripped up paper your mom is holding in her hand shuts her up. You'll feel vindicated!

In the fourth grade you'll stay after class for months to build a model mission out of clay. You will be the only student who does so. You'll also do a report on the California Gold Rush. As part of your research, you'll send out letters to the chambers of commerce in gold country. In response to your letters, they'll notify you of homes for sale in the their cities for the next ten years. In the fifth grade you'll have another confrontation with math and you'll be the school vice-president. In the sixth, you'll excel as a creative writer. You would run for school president, but you realize that you have no chance against the political power-house of Lindsey, Lana, Lauren, and Kady (Kershaw, Haag, Goodman, and Gallagher, respectively).

In the seventh grade you'll enter middle school and get an entirely new set of friends. You'll be put in the G.A.T.E. program, because somebody thought you needed a gifted and talented education. As a result, you'll have class with the same group of people until you graduate from High School. You will be friends with them for the rest of your life. In the seventh grade you'll play the trumpet in the band but wish you were in the choir. In the eighth grade you'll quit the band and join the choir. Your voice will change somewhere in the first half of the school year, and in the second half you'll make it into the Vocal Ensemble. You will also be the Tin Man in the school's production of The Wizard of Oz, a big step for the shy person you are. You won't be able to make all the performances though, because your grandma will pass away during production week. You won't mind and prefer to be with your family.

In the ninth grade you'll join the choir. That year you will also meet your new best friend, Amanda. In the tenth grade, you'll be in the Boyz Chorus and you'll have to play the boy playing the girl in Officer Krupke, not because you want to, but because your choir director makes you. You'll also join the newspaper as a writer and you'll be in Academic Decathlon. You won't get your license 'cause you don't have you Eagle yet. You will resent your parents for a while, but then they'll let you get your license before you've actually completed the project anyway. Your dad will be on hiatus from Nissan, so your first car will be a Honda with a stick shift, and you will learn to drive the California freeways like you were Mario Andretti. Your dad will wonder why your tires and brakes are shot, and you'll tell him it's because your driving a Honda, which is clearly not comparable with the quality of a Nissan. He will admit that you are right, but will still be upset that you've managed to do in seven months what it takes others years to do.

The eleventh grade will be your busiest. You'll be finishing up your Eagle project, working as the news editor for the school paper, slacking off on the decathlon team, and you'll make it into the school's Vocal Ensemble. You will be at school (and seminary) from 6 AM to 5 PM every day. You'll love it.

The twelfth grade will be your most involved. You'll keep on at the newspaper as the news editor (and as one of the unofficial editors-in-chief since the actual editors-in-chief are friends with you but hate each other). You'll still do decathlon and Vocal Ensemble, but you'll add student government to your resume as the Commissioner of Publications and Promotions (whatever that means).

Each year you're in high school, you'll be in the school musical. First, you'll be a knight in Once Upon a Mattress. Next, Lazar Wolfe in Fiddler on the Roof, Agwe, God of Water in Once on this Island, and Percy Browne in The Boy Friend. Your director will brag to your parents that she's seen you change from beginning to end, and you'll give her some of the credit. You will lose your voice during The Boy Friend's production week, but your dad will give you a priesthood blessing that you'll be able to hit every note, and you will.

After high school, one of your best friends will run away from his past and his friends while your other best friend comes with you to BYU. You will spend every minute together over the next two semesters, which will prove to be too much, and you'll avoid her before you go on your mission. You'll come home from BYU, work with your mom in a dental office cleaning bloody instruments (and love every minute of it), and in June you'll turn in your mission papers. The next month your sister will get married, and by divine providence you will attend the ceremony in the temple. A week later you'll receive your mission call in the mail in California, and you'll open it on the freeway in Las Vegas on your way to Utah for your sister's (and brother-in-law's) open house (you won't be able to wait any longer). You'll set up a conference call with your sisters to see where you're going, and you'll get called to the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission. You won't be able to pronounce Tegucigalpa off the bat, but your trilingual sister will do it for you. Immediately you'll be at peace, knowing that's where you were supposed to go.

Enter the MTC on August 25, become best friends with your district (who are all going everywhere but Honduras). Leave for Honduras, feel like you're in the most ghetto-fabulous country in the world, love it there for six months until you realize how dirty everything is, and gain a great appreciation for the States and the blessing it was to be born there. Never forget that. Get dengue, feel like you're gonna die, live through it and be grateful for the good story it'll make in the future.

After two years, show your parents the country you've come to love and then fly home with them. Be greeted at the airport by your sisters, brothers-in-law, nephews (it was nephew before you left), and niece, who are all wearing "I Love Michael" t-shirts. When you get to the parking lot, be astonished by how new all of the cars are and that every other one is a luxury car. It will feel great to be home.

But don't get too used to it, 'cause school starts at BYU in two weeks and your parents will be moving to Nashville at the same time. You'll get back to BYU, wander around like a lost puppy for a while, make new friends, and then feel like you'd never even left. You'll get your second real job ever with BYU catering. You'll kind of date a girl, but you'll be distracted by all the other girls. You'll swear off dating for a while, and then you'll find the one you want to pursue...so much so that you don't feel interested in anyone else. Problem: she doesn't live in Provo anymore... ¡Así es la vida!

As far as majors go, you'll vacillate between biology, dietetics, and nutritional science and then you'll stick with Latin American Studies. You'll love all of your classes, and you'll feel excited to work with Latinos for the rest of your life.

Dad's Father's Day Shout Out

I found some pictures of my dad on my computer that I want to use to show the many faces of my dad!

Dad loves kids, no matter what language they speak. In Honduras every kid wanted their picture taken with dad.
Dad is generous. He often tells people that I have a scholarship...the Bob Johnson Scholarship. In the above picture, dad risked his and all of our lives when he took out his wallet to give money to a poor (possibly crazy) woman. We didn't end up getting mugged, and the lady was very grateful.
Good thing dad rented an SUV, 'cause I think we gave a ride home to all of these people. It really was like a clown car!
Dad is a traveller. He's been all over he US, plus to Mexico, Canada, Honduras, England, Finland, Estonia, and Japan.
Here's a picture of dad pulling the legendary sword in the stone.

Dad is now grandpa to four grandkids, and he lets them know he loves them.
Dad loves eating out, and has definitely passed the habit on to me. Good thing I've got that scholarship.
Dad likes to have fun! I never knew he could play the fiddle, but I guess he must've learned since he's been in Nashville.
Dad and Taylor both like Disneyland. Maybe we should go there this summer, eh Robyn?
Everywhere Dad goes, the people love him! He has hundreds of good friends in Utah and California, and is sure to make hundreds more in Nashville.

You're the greatest, dad! Have a very happy Father's Day (or is it Fathers' Day?).