Finals!

I could possibly be making a new blog-- I guess it will depend if I get kicked out of school this semester or not.

Until Friday, I wait. (And by that I mean not sleep and study)

Much like there is a great Circle of Life there is a great relationship Circle of Growth. The basics of it are:
We like to stay in a comfortable/safe spot. When one person gets bored the relationship is pushed from the safe spot into the Circle of Growth. There isn't anything the other partner can do about it; the relationship has already moved to a new place. Once out of the comfort circle there are 3 options:
1, pretend it never happened and go back to same comfort level as before;
2, end the relationship because it is just to great a change;
3, grow together, increase commitment and trust, after which the larger circle then becomes the new circle of comfort and safety.



And to answer your unanswered question. Yes, I am using this post as a mode of studying.

Thanksgiving!

On this day of Thanksgiving I would like to take time to express thanks for a few things I don't normally do enough.

Firstly-- I am thankful for God.
Several weeks my ward had ward conference. It was, in fact, one of the best conferences I have ever attended. In it, our Bishop and Stake President both spoke about getting to know God. The gist of it is; To know Him, is to spend time with Him. This principle is true in getting to know God, but is also true in developing relationships with people--and also one that I have been applying in my effort to be a more sociable person this year.

Out bishop listed 5 keys to getting to know God:

1. Daily prayer
2. Daily scripture study
3. Daily act of service
4. Daily acknowledge God's divinity
5. Increase your obedience Daily.

I have always been a fan of lists. I like to know where I stand and what I need to improve on. I have this list hanging on my bathroom mirror.

I am thankful for Christ.

I am thankful for my parents.

I am thankful for my friends.

Angst, Angst Go Away.

So for two weeks I have been incredibly feisty. I thought it was worry over class or being sick.

I'm not worrying about class, nor am I sick anymore--yet I was still feisty.

The only thing I new to do was continue forward on the last course that felt right. But in this course I could not help but feel something to be amiss.

And in just a few moments--paradoxically both brief and gut-wrenchingly long-- I found myself moving from familiar territory to stepping off the edge, hoping the waves caused by my splash would carry me to shore.

They did.




What caused these waves-- an attempt at a dramatic exit along with stating,

"I do not play second fiddle."





But, oh how I love being first chair ;)



P.S. Angst is gone. Nice Quintin is back.

One Ring to Rule Them All.

The title and topic of most of this post refers to my Forming Marital Relationships' class discussions this week.

But before I get into that, I have several comments:

1. I was called a slut this week. First time in my life. It was an interesting experience. But apparent proof that my experiment at being more social this semester is working; perhaps too well.

2. I find it is, indeed, addicting playing with a yearly budget and making my finances work into it; or rather wanting to pull my hair out because I don't know how they will. Either way--it's nice when the debt monster is no longer giving me an ulcer.


Anyway-- I absolutely love my classes this semester AND I'm doing all my homework/reading/attending classes. The latter being a huge deal for me; and also part of my little experiment. Though one of my favorites is the Forming Marital Relationship class; solely because of the discussion that we have in the class. Which reminds me of my third comment:

3. I was called a conservative for my beliefs on marriage. Especially funny for anyone that has had a discussion with me in my adult life. And even more funny because I don't see how views on the prerequisites for marriage or either conservative or liberal.

Back to my class. This week we've been talking about committing to a relationship. My professor consistently states, "There is something to be said about the commitment and dedication needed and shown by people who stay married; despite their difficulties." I don't disagree. All relationship require dedication and commitment--if they are going to last.

Where I do start to disagree with my professor is when he says it is a lot of work to stay married to someone you don't get along with. That doing good to those that hate you and spitefully use you isn't referring to your enemies, but to your spouse.

Are there are times where this is the case; of course. Should this be the norm? I sure as hell hope not. If it is; then an eternity with someone I don't get along with sure sounds a lot like hell and very little like heaven.

It is interesting to me and worth noting, that along with ever major technological and religious revolution the world changes--and with it, either because it is a factor of this change or a result. so do our relationships. The changes in the last 50 years have been the spread of secularism in our country, and obviously computers. Communications would be a third huge change, though at this point communication and computers are practically the same. Basically the spread of computers (tv, cell phones, internet) drastically reduce our family time. In fact, the amount of time spent together, and solely together, as a couple has gone down 2 standard deviations since 1980.

What did people do before T.V.? They talked and told stories. Why do I love being stuck in Riggins Idaho for 3+ months every year. There is no T.V. We read, we tell storied. We really get to know each other. That why I have met some of my best friends there. Especially on over night trips. You are trapped on a small boat or beach for 2-5 days. You tell lots of stories. Communication may be awkward and sparse at first; but those walls always break.

What is the One Ring that rules us all?

The cell phone.

Summer's over :( and back to school :/

(Was supposed to be posted the last week of August--but I forgot)

The summer is practically over; in fact, I had planned for it to be over for me today. We all know things don't always go as planned, but here I am-- still in Idaho making sure things run smoothly. And I'm so sad to have to be in Riggins for a few more days. (Insert sarcasm) Though I am a little nervous about not knowing where I will be living once the semester starts, I am glad to have an excuse to stay in Riggins longer.

On a fan-freaking-tastic note I learned that I *will* be getting Pell grants.
I am going to testify to you for here. 1-- Karma. It will always come back to you. So tip and treat people well. 2-- Pay your tithing. A week and a half ago I was thinking about paying my tithing. Looking at it from a strict numbers perspective, I had enough to pay for tuition for the whole year. But after paying tithing I barely had enough for this semester. And then- 10 days later, I got Pell grants :P


On a sad note-- My beard is gone :(

And I miss it.

Prom!

Tonight was the SRE Prom. (Salmon River Experience, our main competition)

So we all dressed in whatever stuff we had around.

Chris and I made it really classy in suits and ties.

Plus I thought I'd just include a nice picture of me looking guidey.

The Family Trip

So I've been putting off posting about my family trip because...well... erm... I'm lazy.

But as I'm doing my best to shrug off a bit of insomnia this seems to be a very appropriate time.

But let's see if I can in someway get these pictures into a storytelling format.


To start us off you have the butterflies having a drink break at what we shall, from now on at least, butterfly beach.


Mom and dad taking a break while hiking up to the hot spring.

Josh forging the way to the hot spring.
The entrance to the hotspring.
Our friendly little bats. Can you find them?
There they are. The next week when Josh (Callahan aka Idaho Josh) went to the hot spring there were literally hundreds of them.
My Mom chillin in the hot tub.

Dinner. Josh and I bought a 34 inch salmon from the Indians the day before the trip. Then we cleaned it at the beach and cooked in the fire. Without a doubt--it was the best salmon I have every had.
A pleasant surprise we had on arriving at the campsite. Baby Jonah! NAKED!

A day to go down in history

I won an argument with not just Chris--but also his brother Zach. I think this date should go down in history--for it is quite a feat.

Butting heads with the brothers Lewis is the only concern I had about coming back to raft for the summer--and it is the exact concern I expressed to Steve and Connie. (Steve and Connie are our owners)




As a follow up of my I hate the world posting.

As a boss I really want to be able to rely on people to work when they agree to. And not ditch out on trips they have already agreed to take just because they want to hook up with a girl (ala Vance Munson from Hitch) and didn't drive their own car and expect 4 people to sit around and wait until 6am for them to hook up.

1. You're 24 f*&^ing years old. Drive your own damn car if you want to go on a date.
2. You have a girlfriend. Need I say more?

Ugg.

Sometimes it seems people are going to just let me down forever. It sucks.

I'm eating fish tonight!

Ahh Idaho.

So after work today (we had a walk-in--so it was a really good day) we went upstream to check out town. Basically everything is closed after 5--but we did pull over to watch some people fish.

We were there for a minute and saw a guy snag a 30+ inch salmon.
But he didn't keep it--it was too small.

Basically--I'm really upset my fishsticks arn't salmon right now :(

BYU...

It is officially summer now. I am in Idaho for rafting.

I am really a BYU student again. I finally got all the holds off my record and am registering for classes.

What am I thinking?

Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it!

I finally saw The Hannah Montana movie. Rose (the mom of one of my cheerleader's and a good friend) and I had made a date to see the movie opening weekend-ish. Though, when it came out I was rafting.

So when I was in Utah on my way back Raylene tried to convince me to see the movie with her. Well, I was being loyal to Rose and didn't. But I really kinda regret it now because--guess who showed up at the theater.-- none other than Miley Cyrus.

Oi! There went my chance to get an in with Taylor. Sad ;(

That's alright. I'm still holding out Taylor will return my myspace message...

Update, part deux

So, I went to Paris for my spring break this year--yes, I know I'm not in school, but I still deserve a spring break. Donchathink? Iknowido.

Despite being quite apprehensive about going with my mom, it was actually a very pleasant trip. Though I never want to go anywhere with a person that doesn't know how to use a digital camera. It stressed me out to no end to not be able to get the few pictures of me that I wanted. While I am more than happy to take them all myself, my mom would get offended when I would not let her take my picture. (It never was my dream to goto Paris with my mom, but she'd never been out of the country, and the opportunity kinda just fell in my lap-- and WHO in the their right mind would turn down a free trip to Paris)

This little street was my mom's find. She liked to take a walk to a payphone and call home to talk to dad (and pay with her credit card, despite my advisement of buying a phone card... it was *quite* expensive) and she did a little exploring too. At least, once I made her memorize our metro stop, hostel name, and carry a flier--and her cell phone. Which was really hard to get her to do.


My emo-classic myspace/paris pic.


We did it! Climbed the stairs :)


This is Marc and Sara-- Sara was the reason we went to Paris to being with. Her little brother is doing an internship and she wanted to visit him.

Notre Dame-- I actually took about a hundred pictures inside Notre Dame (and outside) but not a single picture from inside comes close to accurately depicting it.



The "back side" of Notre Dame--and possible the side I prefer. Notice the park? How awesome would it be to take your kids to play in the park under Notre Dame on sundays.


The great thing about walking around Paris at night is the strobe around the top. You always have a point of reference. (well when you can see the tower at least)





A few pictures from the Louvre-- just some favorites.

My love. Venus.






Perhaps my favorite picture--though my mom could never not make it blurry. Nevermind the fact I did it on my first shot of her.

Update.

Amazingly, I am updating this silly thing.

While I find I actually do a good job of it when I am lonely and missing my friends. Well missing Kim mostly-- I do want to keep it updated in some sort. So I'm making this a fairly eclectic post bringing stuff up to speed.


First--in yet another copy of my sister, my life as mosaic:


1. Quintin Castle, 2. Mexican Hat, Utah, 3. The BYU cheerleaders, 4. The red one, 5. Taylor Swift's Tour Bus, 6. Japanese Dr. Pepper Manga Can, 7. GLI UCCELLI, 8. Gelato, World's Best Ice cream: The Real Reason that So Many People go to Italy. PS What is You Favorite Flavor?, 9. [ S u p e r m a n ], 10. learning to ride a bike , 11. "THE KISS" (on Election Night, Times Square, NYC), 12. Quindi...Multa

To make your own:
step 1: go to flickr.com
setp 2: in another window open http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
step 3: choose 4 columns, 3 rows
step 4: answer the following questions in the search bar of flicker. pick your favorite one on the first page and paste it into your mosaic
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your nickname.

Now the mosaic i think is cool--but some of the pictures that came up you would never guess from the word I used. And I was tired of looking for better words.


I also went to Paris-- I'll make another post with pics and whatnot later.