Taxes and Surfing - a way of life?

Surf's up dudes!

Well, the title of the post doesn't really have much to do with what I wrote. I'll make that a point to write about though! It's been a year and a half or so since my last post. Life has changed a lot during that time period in some ways, and in other ways, not so much. I'm making a list of things I want to touch on in the near future. Being home in California has helped me think over a few things that I've been meaning to understand better. Funnily enough, most of the points I wanted to talk about I realized that The Script (a band) talks about in their songs.

-- Why The Script isn't just a fling anymore but my new favorite artist (not band but artist)
-- Why does being in California feel so much different than being in Utah
-- How I've successfully created "roles" for myself that help me feel comfortable in situations (especially social ones) and how these self-defined "roles" help me but also detract from life
-- What being comfortable in my own skin means to me and the relation that has to the Savior's 2nd great commandment of loving thy neighbor as thyself.
-- Connecting emotions and analysis, belief and knowledge, science & faith
-- Developing relationships, both relationships that are defined as friendship and romantic interests


I honestly don't know how I'm going to talk about all these. I might just randomly talk about 1 point or just ramble and talk about all of them. Really I just wanted to write those down so I wouldn't forget about them and kind of force myself to write it out and think about it as words in front of me. Sometimes the thoughts in our heads don't always seem so nicely laid out when they are written in words, and sometimes the jumble in our heads come out like poetry. You never know.

Just to catch everyone up on where I'm at in life. I'm back home in California living with my parents for a few months while I'm doing an internship with King, King, Alleman & Jensen, CPA. It is actually my second internship with them as I did a month-long one over the summer. Having a break from school is so nice--Senioritis is real and dangerous. Just saying. I have one more semester to finish my bachelor's degree in Accounting at Brigham Young University. I'm attending a Young Single Adult ward out in Santa Clarita since that's where my work is and where I'll spend most of my time. Not to mention that the YSA ward in my home stake is actually twice the distance. *[In non-LDS lingo see bottom of post]. Thankfully, I was introduced to some members of the ward through a college friend and they've done a wonderful job of helping me feel included in their group of friends and inviting me to activities and what-not. Seeing as I didn't know anyone of the ward previously, this was certainly a huge blessing. Being introverted usually doesn't help you make new friends. Haha.

Mike and I pitched in together to buy a car this past summer. It's a '98 Chevy Malibu (and yes, it's white, we bought it in Utah. Whadda ya expect?) and it's in pretty good condition! We've put a couple thousand miles on it already (A couple trips from Utah to California) and we love having it. I kept it here in Utah, so I'll pay Mike for his share while I have it since he can't use it up there.

Theoretical plans for the future: Finish my internship sometime in late April, early May, head back to BYU for summer term to take one last class with Mike, take classes for my final semester this Fall (I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER 2015! WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE! WOW!), hopefully get a job offer with KKAJ for full-time work, and yeah. That's about it for now. No girlfriend. Nothing in that department for the future. We'll see as time goes by and I get to know young women in my ward and they get to know me. It's a two-way street and I won't force any relationships to happen. That's just not cool on my part and not fair for her if I tried that.

Anyways. That's about it for now. I'll update my blog appearance and get that more up to speed. Until next time!


TL:DR? I'm going to write more often about life and what I feel about it. I'm at home, doing taxes on an internship, enjoying California, and I'm excited about what the future has in store for me. (Short enough, right?)


** [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormons, etc.) has special congregations that let the young single adults (YSA, ages 18-30) meet together so that they can spend time together and learn from one another. The only married members of the ward are the Bishop (think pastor) & his counselors (assistant pastors?) with their wives as they perform the main leadership functions. The 18-30 year old  men and women fulfill all of the other leadership and church responsibilities that normal family congregations have. This places these young adults in opportunities to learn responsibility, ethics, and grow their own testimony as they try to help others come unto Christ as well as lead more Christ-like lives themselves. And then there's the marriage part. The LDS church heavily emphasizes families and their importance, so getting these young adults to do activities together and spend time together increases the likelihood of them getting married. The word "stake" refers to a grouping of congregations placed under the leadership of a Stake President (Think bishop in the Catholic Church) to help maintain church communications, teachings, and doctrine to each congregation.]