Focus.

So the past couple weeks have been crazy. I decided to get serious about being a nurse. It's about time. In order to apply to UVU in January I have to finish a prerequisite class there, so I made the dreadful move. Leaving Logan was such a hard thing for me. Leaving these girls (shown below) was even harder.

I am now living in my aunt and uncles basement in Orem. They are some of the greatest people I know. Everyday I think about how grateful I am to live here. The other day I was talking to Janelle about what I had done that day and she said, "jeez, it's like you're living at a resort", and it's true. Pool and Tennis court in the backyard, air-conditioning, a house keeper, having a shower to myself and a grand piano to myself are only a couple of the benefits. The company is even better. Anyways, nothing holds a light to Logan but this is the next best thing. School is great so far. I never thought I would enjoy coming back to UVU but it's treating me pretty good. Strangers are getting used to me saying hi to them. I guess being friendly is just an Aggie thing. I'm gonna make it spread down here.

Other highlights of August:

Jessies bachelorette party on the fun bus was such a good time. Her showing up in a wedding dress was such a treat. Wendover could not get enough of her.

Favorite quotes of the night:

"You guys wanna see some crack?"

"Set those boobies free!"

(The first quote was from a drunk lady who could not wait to show us her crack, and by crack she meant cleavage. What a weirdo. The second was from a guy who won at the speedway earlier that day. )

Here is a pic from my first Demolition Derby. I just had to document it. It was so great, I'll never forget it.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.

When I was a little kid my Dad would set buckets out in our yard and for family night we would practice casting. Fly fishing was all he ever really wanted to do. (Quote from Norman Maclean, "One great thing about fly fishing is that after a while nothing exists of the world but thoughts about fly fishing.") Every General Conference he sets up his fly tying stuff on the kitchen table and ties flies for two days. He has feathers and materials from all over the place and takes great pride in creating flies that may look strange to the naked eye but when you hold them under water they will look exactly like the fly they are supposed to be. It's crazy how his giant fingers can be so perfect at tying tiny flies and tiny knots. I don't get it.

When I invited my friend Pat to our family's cabin with us he asked if he should bring his fishing license. When I asked my Dad he got so excited. My little brother is not a fisherman in any sense of the word and he was so stoked to have someone who wanted to go. I don't get to watch my Dad fish very often so I quite enjoyed it.

Pat ended up being a natural (like with everything else).

I was at Deseret Industries last week and I found a copy of A River Runs Through It. I love the movie so much and the book is just as wonderful. I feel like I could be a great fly fisherwoman after reading it. It is about more than just fly fishing though. In fact the person who owned it before me marked it up as if it was a Psychology textbook. It made it so interesting to read and now I appreciate the story so much more.

The imagery in the book is so great. I have to write some of it down so I won't forget.

-"When her hair glistened, though, she was worth it. She was one of the most beautiful dancers I have ever seen. She made her partner feel as if he were about to be left behind, or already had been. It is a strange and wonderful and somewhat embarrassing feeling to hold someone in your arms who is trying to detach you from the earth and you aren't good enough to follow her."

-"Yet even in the loneliness of the canyon I knew there were others like me who had brothers they did not understand but wanted to help. We are probably those referred to as "our brothers' keepers," possessed of one of the oldest and possibly one of the most futile and certainly one of the most haunting of instincts. It will not let us go."

-"Many of us probably would be better fisherman if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect."

-"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful, even if it is only a floating ash."

-"You can love completely without complete understanding."

-"Help," he said, "is giving part of yourself to someone who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly."

-"Poets talk about "spots of time," but it is really fisherman who experience eternity compressed into a moment."

Thanks Norman Maclean.

Ya'll should read it.