Quick update on life

No specific topic to write about this week. I've kinda been doing the same thing for the last few weeks, just working at Subway most every day. I did get things going for EFY, at least on my end. I'm still not sure where I'll be each week, but I do know that I'll have at least six to nine weeks of work. At least one week will be in Provo, one close to Provo, one traveling, and one stay-at-home session. I'm hoping I'll know more in the coming weeks, since my training week is fast approaching at the end of May.
Yesterday I had a Lord of the Rings marathon as well with a good friend of mine. We started at about noon and got done a little before 10:00. And no, they weren't the extended editions. Those movies are long enough already! They're good, but I really don't know what else should have been put in there to make them any better. (Except maybe this.)

This look is kinda how I felt by the end of the third one. But it was totally worth it.

Speaking of movies, my second blog, Bargain Bin Reviews, should be up and running by the end of this week. The first post on it will just be an introductory post explaining what will be happening on it, and the week after that I'll actually be reviewing movies. For those who actually read this blog on a regular basis, I hope you'll also read this new one and share it with your friends! I'll still be posting on here regularly, but the Bargain Bins blog will definitely be a regular post every week. Unless I'm sick or otherwise occupied.

New DVDs: At Savers, where I also managed to find a working N64 and copy of Pokémon Stadium for pretty cheap, I found Doom, which I felt like I needed to get because it's 1) based on a video game and that usually results in some awfully (emphasis on awful) funny end products, and 2) a movie where it still lists Dwayne Johnson as "The Rock" in the credits. Can't really pass that up. Also, Community. I was a little skeptical about it when I first saw it, because it has pictures of actors from the TV show, and as far as I know there hasn't been a movie of it. However, the disc inside lists the first three episodes of it, so I can only assume that it was a promotional DVD distributed when the show was first coming out.
Deseret Industries, the other thrift shop around here, got me Hitch, Ghost Rider, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and The Benchwarmers.
Amazon, which I only really get stuff on every once in a while with tip money (Coinstar machines are great!): V for Vendetta, The Prestige, Mars Attacks!, ¡Three Amigos!, Pulp Fiction, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Tommy Boy.

This will bring my total up to 300 movies.
Wow.

Kind of an inside joke… This is a parody of the "Achievement unlocked" window that comes up in certain video games after you accomplish something noteworthy.

Now seems as good a time as ever, then, to get that new blog going.

Because of Him

If you're LDS and have been on any kind of social media in the last week or so, there's a very good chance that you've seen #BecauseofHim. That all was spurred by a video put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a little over a week ago, and if you'd like to watch it (which I highly recommend that you do) then here it is:

Many of my friends on Facebook over the course of the last week have been posting statuses and various things relating to this video. I'm not going to go into detail as to who said what, but here is a great selection of what I've been seeing:

Because of Him, I can feel peace every single day of my life.
Because of Him, we can change if we need to, we can be helped if we truly want it, we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past.
Because of Him, I know that however much I screw up, nothing is so bad that I can’t be helped.
Because of Him, I always have a friend who I can count on to listen to me.
Because of Him, my pains are lessened, my burdens are made lighter.
Because of Him, I get to see my Dad again.
Because of Him, I get to be with my friends again.
Because of Him, I know that blessings will come. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but they will come.
Because of Him, I know my prayers are answered!
Because of Him, there are always second chances.
Because of Him, my family has been blessed with a father and a mother who have taught us that, no matter how broken things may seem, there will always be hope for happiness.
Because of Him, I can start again and again‪.
Because of Him, I can get answers to prayers.
Because of Him, I have a deeper appreciation for my life and my friends! There is no better teacher for unconditional gratitude and love than our brother Jesus Christ.

Because of Him, death is conquered and all humankind will also one day resurrect! And, because of his Atonement, we can be completely forgiven of our sins and imperfections and return to live with Him!
It is only because of Him that I am who I am and where I am today. Without Him I wouldn't be anything worthwhile.
Because of Him, no goodbye has to last forever.
Because of Him, I can always smile, no matter what.
Because of Him, I have peace in my life.
Because of Him, I can live with them forever! I'm so grateful for my savior who is there for me always and always lifts me up!
Because of Him, I do not have to live with my grief forever.
Because of Him, I am inspired!
Because of Him, we can start again.
Because of Him, I can have new beginnings. Because of Him I will always have someone to turn to.
Because of Him, I live in this beautiful world.
Because of Him, when we fall we can begin again and again! Because of him we have our family, nice bodies, good friends and the most important thing, we have the gospel!
Because of Him, I can be better, I find happiness each day. I have my family and friends. I have peace in the future and know that I will live again after death with my family. Because of Him I am who I am today and know I can be better everyday.
Because of Him, I am whole again. Because of him I have seen redemption. Because of him I have seen healing. Because of him I can look in the mirror and know without a shadow of a doubt that I am loved. Even in the darkest of times. Because of him I have been forgiven. Because of him you can too.
Because of Him, I have hope that my life will be one filled with happiness and true joy.

Because of Him, I am happy.

Resolutions update

Considering my birthday was just last week, I thought it an appropriate time to give an update on my resolutions. Full disclaimer: I know I'm not doing perfectly with many of them, but I still keep them in mind, and since I had them posted on here they're not hard to look back at.

1. Exercise a little every day, even if it means taking a walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill. I had started a program with my family called FitBit earlier in the year that keeps track of how well you do in physical activity throughout the day/week, but the model of the little tracker I use was recalled some time ago, so I'm not entirely sure what the update is with that… Having a job at Subway, though, I'm on my feet pretty much the whole time and moving around a lot, so that's definitely helping.

(Disclaimer: not actually me on a treadmill)

2. Unless I'm specifically out with friends, stop eating so much late at night. Getting better at this. Again, the job at Subway kinda helps… everything there is pretty filling, so I feel like I don't need to eat so much later in the day.

I'm sure everyone gets cravings… right?

3. Read at least one new book a month. Not doing as well as I hoped. I have new books and made it about halfway through one, but still need to finish it and the others.

4. Start up a media production of some kind. I have the beginning started of Bargain Bin Reviews! I've been busy with work and Divine Comedy up until now, and since the semester is pretty much over I should be able to use free time to devote it to the beginning of the new blog. So I'll at least manage that and this one, with the Bargain Bin blog eventually being made into video reviews.

5. Do my best to enter into a relationship that is leading towards marriage. Dating around at the moment. Nothing serious going on for now. Though I will be starting a job as an EFY counselor at the end of next month, and the theme for this year is "Anxiously Engaged"… so that might be a sign for something.

6. Write at least one blog post per week. …yeah, definitely need to pick that up. My "excuse" that I tell myself is that I don't have anything interesting to write about. I deserve to be slapped for that kind of thought; it doesn't matter if it's completely interesting or not, the point is that I write something.

7. Watch the movies in my library that I haven't seen yet. Getting through some more of them. However, as my collection grows, the number of movies I have but haven't seen also grows… At the time of writing, I have yet to see 60 of my 287 movies. So if I watch 2 new movies a week every week for the rest of the year… I should be pretty close to caught up. Obviously I can do more than just 2 a week, but at the same time I'll have work and a variety of other movies to watch this summer…

8. Go to a convention of some sort. My original hope was to go to RTX, a convention hosted by Rooster Teeth that will happen a little after the 4th of July. However, for financial reasons, I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to go. That, and the fact that I'll be an EFY counselor (which I haven't talked in depth about yet on this blog and will likely do so in the near future) will mean that most of my summer plans are already made for me.

9. Be more outgoing. Definitely improving, but slowly. I now have a calling in the ward I'm in as the executive secretary, which means that I'm, as my bishop puts it, "the most popular guy in the ward." (Mostly because I'm the guy that people go through in order to set up appointments and such.)

10. Be happy with myself. Getting better with this as well. It's not something that's easily achieved, I feel, so the fact that I'm not 100% there yet doesn't completely bother me. I know that I need to keep working toward it, though, because if I ever stop trying to be happy with who I am and what I'm doing with my life then I'll end up hating myself more and more.

I would just like to point out that that is a lawnmower.

New movies: got a lot this time around. I decided to try a different pawn shop than I usually go to and found Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (funny story about that one), Clash of the Titans, The Matrix, Good Night, and Good Luck, A Beautiful Mind, The Wedding Singer, The Shawshank Redemption, The Longest Yard, Balls of Fury, Braveheart, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I got Three Amigos as well, but the copy was pretty scratched up and didn't even start playing when I put it in my player.

From FYE: Tron: Legacy, Space Jam, War of the Worlds (which I didn't realize that I had a copy of already), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Dark Knight Rises. I went back the next day and traded War of the Worlds for Weekend at Bernie's.

Wal-Mart: Pineapple Express, Green Lantern, Home Alone, The Terminal, Inglorious Basterds, and Wild Wild West.