WSM Mission Reunion

Washington Seattle Mission Reunion!

Man, those are so much fun. It is so much fun to see a bunch of the friends that we served to faithfully around for those two years. It is just an amazing experience, and to be able to see those people that bring you back to those times, and those moment when you were having so much fun doing nothing but missionary work, it just so awesome.

I pretty much hung out with Busch, Duarte, Dickison, and a new addition, Barber this time. They are all people that I enjoyed being around the most in the mission. They were the ones that I leared the most from, and had the best experiences from being around. There weren't many other people I knew besides those guys too, the mission has turned around so much that most of the people that I knew are not coming to reunions anymore. I'm surprised I'm still going, I'm older than most of them.

After we hung out and talked for a while at the reunion, we went over to Cafe Rio where we got some food, and from about 9:30pm until almost 1:00am, we just talked about memories, and the experiences that made our mission worthwhile. What an awesome experience. I will never forget those times when we just stand around and talk about good times, and the fun we used-to have. Yay more missions.

Happy Birthday Marilyn!

My roommate Jacob and I got our hair but by Marilyn, one of our mutual friends. So, in return, we decided to bake her a cake for her birthday that was a couple days later. I like making interesting cakes, and this time we made a cake in the shape of an "M", for Marilyn. We couldn't give it to her until like 1:30 am on her birthday, because she was kidnapped and spent the entire day down in Provo. So, Jacob and I faithfully stayed up until she got back home, so we could give her the cake. She will probably kill me if she knew I posted this picture, because it's what she looks like at 1:30 in the morning.

I also made a cake for another friend that had a birthday today as well with the leftovers. His name is Israel, which is good, because that's all the cake I had to make that letter.

Valentines Day

Valentines Day was good this year, lots of fun stuff happened. First-of-All, our apartment got Heart-Attacked by tons of hearts and valentines cards for all 7 roommates. Some loving female friends of ours, Bethanie Johnson and Laura Cutler decided to surprise us, and i'm shocked they did it without even one of our roommates catching them in the act. They were very good at their covert-ops mission. --I did catch Bethanie in a lie, trying to cover-up that she did it though. I called her and said that the tape on the door took the paint off the door, and said: "I didn't do it Nick..." I said, "did what? I never said that you did anything yet." I knew I had caught her in a lie, and she confessed. Ha! Psychologically kicked her butt.

The second part of the day was fun. I spent it with Lorie Franklin. She flew into town around Noon on Valentines Day, because she was aplying for her master's degree at the University of Utah. I spent the entire day with her, cooking lunch, visiting my school, going to temple square, and then eating dinner at the Lion House Pantry. (The food wasn't that good, especialy for the price.)

We then drove around for a little bit, then watched a movie. It was fun to visit with one of my friends I haven't seen in a while. It would be fun if she moved up to Utah, I think she would like it.

Mouthing Off

Wendy and I hung out last night, and we got a little goofy.

Friday Night Jambalaya

Good-ole' southern food! Yeayah! There ain't nothin' better than a meal stocked full of meat. We made Jambalaya tonite for some of our friends, and this might be one of my favorite dishes I have mad so far. This was my first time attempting to make Jambalaya. It was also my first time eating it. It had bacon, ham, chicken, sausage, rice, and a few vegetables in it. we also had some cornbread. It was a perfect meal.

I love cooking for my friends. These dinner parties are always a lot of fun. We had about 20 or so people over this time. Vince and I cooked the Jambalaya, Josh made some amazing peach cobbler using a dutch oven, and various other people we invited brought some dessert items.

The way these dinner parties work is I normally pick a food item or meal type that I want to cook with, and then find a recipe online. Then I go to the store and buy all the food that is required for the dinner, then come home and cook it. Then everyone that we invite comes with $4.00 to pay me back for the food that I purchased, and we always come out about even. It works out really well.

I really believe in developing strong relationships with the people that I care the most about, and that's what these dinners represent to me. They aren't just an opportunity to socialize. They are the most important people in my life, either because I have had some type of impact on them, or they have influenced me in some way. Life is all about building relationships, and keeping them strong. That's what makes people happy.