The passing of a prophet

Sunday night around 8:00 was just a normal night. Roommates and friends filled the apartment. Ashley and I making some hot coco. I went across the hall to borrow a mug when I heard the news. The prophet of my youth had passed away. Shock, sadness, and a little doubt were my first reactions. However it didn't take long for an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love to fill my heart. What a great reunions must have occurred. Not just with President Hinckley and his wife, but with the lord. Don't forget the thousands of souls he had touched over the years. Those who he preached to in England. Those to whom he loved and comforted in Asia. And the millions on the other side, who never did meet him in flesh. So grateful for the temple work that was done for them in one of the many temples of his era. I'm sure tears where shed and hugs were shared.
In later hours of reflection I realized why exactly it was that I loved him so much. He was a man of integrity. He was who he was. A man of faith, of diligence. The world loved him, the church followed him. But why did I love him? Why did I feel so close to him? He was special to me because he formed who I am. Countless spiritual experiences that are so dear to me are somehow related to Gordon B. Hinckley. The dedication of the Spokane temple. Regional conference in Spokane. Listening to "Way to Be" on tape coming home from Utah. Feeling the need to "raise the bar." Innumerable general conference addresses when he spoke directly to me. Stand a little taller. Forget yourself and go to work. Forgive. Shun pornography. No gambling. Go forward with faith.
With the passing of the prophet will not pass my testimony or my faith. They say the best way to remember someone is to live as they once did....and so I will.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

http://photo.byu.edu/video.php?cat1=Slide%20Shows&cat2=General&cat3=2008&cat4=Hinckley%20Tribute

Night 'O Fun

Last Saturday Heather hosted her first official Night 'O Fun of 2008. We had quite the group there. Brad, Rendy and Dylan were the featured guests. There also were, Chase and Squiley, Gordy and Jenn, Jonny, and Ashley and I. We started it off with an amazing homemade authentic Mexican dish (tostadas w/ tinga) prepared by Heather. Just as we were going to sit down to eat, Heather put a little twist on the night. Little did we know that all of us had a phrase written on the bottom of our plates. This phrase was to be said before the night was over. Just to give you an idea of why this was so funny, here are some of the phrases that we had to, most uncomfortably, say.
Rendy "I used to want to teach high school English until i realized that it was just because I thought 17 year old guys were hot"
Brad " It's a proven fact that guacamole increases a man's sperm count"
Jenn " Did you all know that Merilyn Monroe was shot by JFK?"
Jonny "I think that the church should promote gay rights because there are too many members feeling left out."
Ashley " I had my first kiss when I was 17 years old while I was hanging upside down on the monkey bars."
Katie "This horchata is making me a little tipsy. I want to get on the table and dance"
These are just a few. As you can imagine it made for some pretty good laughs. It also provided some pretty stressed out guests wondering how they were going to say their phrases without everyone thinking they were just nuts. (keep in mind about half the group didn't know anyone there so first impressions were on the line)
Needless to say it was a super fun night! Thanks Heath! Jonny the chauffeur
Ash and I got demoted to the back of the buss. Brought back some memories of my childhood:)
The FOOD!!!
From left to right: Jenn, Ashley, Rendy, Me, Gordy Brad
Everyone just relaxed as the food settled and the conversation jumped from phrase to phrase

Flash Game

For those of you who haven't been in Provo for while there's a new show in town. The Utah Flash! They are a NBA-D league team. Basically it's the equivalent of a farm system in baseball. Players who were drafted by NBA teams out of college but aren't quite good enough to be on the teams, or players that are going through some sort of rehab for an injury. They play at the UVSC arena and tickets are like 5 bucks. In laymen's terms: Sweet basketball + 5 dollar courtside tickets= sweetness.



We went to one of the games with our FHE group.
The boys and I sporting our free Flash garb
Eating the pizza we won at the game for being the coolest fans ever.
Chase's little sister, Brooke, is a "Flash Dancer".

Scone Night

Here are some pictures of our famous scone nights. Once every couple of months we throw a scone party. Lots of peeps, Lots of fun, and most importantly.... Lots of Scones!

Meet The Gang

For any of you outside of Provo I thought I would begin from the ground up in this inside look of "the good life." These three kids are pretty much my life. It's not too often that you see any of us alone. From left to right.

Gordy Wilson- He's from Salt Lake City. Although he's small in stature he's by far the biggest handful. Some of his nicknames are Gordo, Smurf, or his newly acquired transformers name "Polaris Darnimus" (It's a long story...) Gordy loves to ski, make fun of people, and date. He chose to major in economics just because he likes having classes in the on-campus trailer park, which makes up the econ department.

Jonny Katseanes- He's from the Avenues in Salt Lake. His dad is the symphony conductor at BYU. In that regard Jonny fell a long way from the tree:) Jonny is a stud golfer. He played all through high school and could have played in college as well. My personal favorite thing about Jonny is that he is the only one that will sit down and watch infinity hours of college sports with me on ESPN. Jonny is known for being the "nice guy" of the apartment. He digs us out of all the sticky situations Gordy and I are known for getting us in. He is also famous for being able to eat cereal out of a hole he has in his chest!

Chase Larsen- Chase is from Salt Lake also. He's a big outdoors guy. Loves to hunt, fish, camp, and wakeboard. He's an avid Lake Powell goer. Chase is known for running marathons and half marathons without training a lick. He's famous for a certain preparation day in the mission when him and two friends decided to run a marathon on there own. They woke up at 5:00 a.m and ran around a high school track 105 times, making themselves legit marathoners. Chase is the most wanted out of all of us by the girls. He is also deeply loved by his roommates because he loves to hit snooze at least for 45 minutes every morning.

Allen Tucker- Yours truly. I'm kind of the loser of the apartment. I just follow my roommates around and try and make friends with their friends whenever i can:) I'm majoring in biology with the hope to get into dental school some day. I like sports, and play/watch as often as i can. I Like to be outside even though I'm not as hard core as Chase and Brad. Pretty much i like anything that's not in the Widtsoe, MARB , or Benson buildings:)
Well, that's us! We'll be keeping you up to date on all the fun that is being a student at BYU. GO COUGS!

Welcome Welcome!

Hey everyone!
I decided that since I'm not the best at keeping you all up-to-date on my life that i would try a new approach. So I'm proud to present the grand opening of.... The Good Life. Woohoo! Hopefully this makes it easier for everyone to kind of know whats going on in good old Provo. Hope you all enjoy!