Well This is Awkward...

Ok, so for some reason I was unable to publish this post when I actually wrote it (which was during Thanksgiving break) and I figured out that if I use Internet Explorer, things actually work! Chrome has betrayed me :( So yeah...this post is late, but whatever. DEAL WITH IT!!! :)

Also, I was just at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I weighed myself:
I am currently 133.3 lbs. Gettin' on up there...
So yeah, here's my old post:

Here I am in the beautifully green and rainy Sammamish, Washington. And the kids are looking over my shoulder as I blog...imagine that. So yeah. Seeing as this is a blog about my weight gain, I feel that a Thanksgiving post is absolutely necessary. I'm totally planning on gaining at LEAST 5-10 lbs. TODAY. Time to make a big dent in the whole "freshman fifteen." I'm very grateful that I can be here with my wonderful sister, Lauren, and her amazing family. Yeah, the kids are still looking over my shoulder. I could make this a "I'm grateful for..." post, but if I was going to do that, I would be here for a couple of days. Seriously, I could write a book filled with all the things that I'm grateful for. And unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time. FINALS ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! OH NOES!!! Well, I don't think I'm going to worry about those right now. I'm on vacation :) 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day! Eats lots of food, spend time with your families, and watch lots of football! Love you all!

Quick Update

Main I am a slacker. I'm sorry to have kept my loyal followers waiting. I promise I'll start posting more often. Actually, I probably won't. I think it would be better if you just followed my channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JimmerHall?feature=mhee because I'm gonna be posting a lot more there. I'm currently uploading a video which pretty much explains everything.

Today, I (and 20,000 other students) had the opportunity to hear the Prophet speak, and it was incredible. I talk about a lot more stuff in the video I'm uploading...should be up shortly.

God be with you 'till we meet again.

First weigh-in

Well, seeing as this blog is entitled "Ethan's Freshman Fifteen" and is supposed to be me documenting my weight gain throughout the year, I guess I'll go ahead and give y'all a quick update.
It's actually been a few days since I've weighed myself, so I don't know how accurate this is. But, as of 10/17/11, I weigh: 130 lbs. That's like a 4 lb gain. Wow...that sure is a lot (sarcasm). Seriously, I eat like a pig every meal, how am I not gaining weight? Doesn't make any sense...


Anyway, I've got like 3 exams to study for a paper to finish so I'm gonna head out.
God be with you 'till we meet again.

Mormons: Who We REALLY Are

Okay, so I'm sure most of y'all (seriously, who reads my blog?) have heard the story: a Rick Perry-endorsing pastor (Robert Jeffress) bashed Mitt Romney and claimed he was not qualified to be our president because he is part of a "cult" and "non-Christian." 

In case you missed it, here it is:

Now, this blog is in no way political. To be honest, I really don't care about politics.  That's not what this is about. I'm just here to clear the smoke. Instead of learning about Mormons from a Baptist preacher, I think it would be better if you learned it from an actual Mormon.


1. Are Mormons Christians? 


Jeffress: "A lot of people say they're Christians but they're not... [Mormons] do not embrace historical Christianity...[teaching faith and good works] is contrary to teachings of the New Testament."


Real name of the church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, our King and Master, our Leader and our Comforter. "Each of these titles points to the truth that Jesus Christ is the only way we can return to our Heavenly Father (mormon.org)". 


Revelation 20: 13: "...and they were judged every man according to their works."
Matthew 16: 27: "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and he shall reward every man according to his works."
 ...Last time I checked, the books of Revelation and Matthew were in the New Testament. 


2. Is Mormonism a cult?


This claim is almost as outlandish as calling Mormons "non-Christian." The definition of cult, as defined by dictionary.com is:

noun

1. a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies. (you mean...ceremonies like baptism? rites like sacrament? Weren't those done in Christ's church?)

2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers. (veneration?...like...towards Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? Is that supposed to be a bad thing?)

3. the object of such devotion. (devotion to our Father in Heaven and our Savior? Again, is that wrong?)

4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the samething, person, ideal, etc. (the Church as a whole, being bound together by our love of Christ? Oh no! We're horrible people!)

5. Sociology . a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols. (sacred ideology? That does sound bad...)

Man...this "cult" stuff sure sounds bad! Wait a second...didn't that definition just describe most all religions? It basically said that a cult is: "a group of people bound together by a common set of beliefs." Isn't that what all religion is, basically? Don't Christians as a whole share a common set of beliefs? Pretty sure we do. Unfortunately, the world "cult" has taken on a very negative connotation. When we accuse other religions of being a "cult" we normally imply things like poisonous Kool-Aid or sacrificing people. Well, I've been a member of this Church for almost 18 years, and I haven't seen any of that around.

In short: Mormons are not a "cult" by the world's definition. We are a "cult" if you mean "group of people that share a set of beliefs." But is that really a bad thing?

Jeffress: "Joseph Smith is the founder of Mormonism"

The Gospel that is taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the exact same Gospel Christ himself taught when he was here on the earth. After Christ left the earth and his disciples were killed, the fullness of His gospel was lost. Joseph Smith simply restored the true gospel of Jesus Christ here on the earth. Some people believe that we worship Joseph Smith. That is false. We only worship Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. Some people believe that our Prophet is the "head of our church." That is also false. "Jesus Christ stands at the head of the Church...The Lord guides His covenant people today through the President of the Church, whom we sustain as prophet, seer, and revelator (lds.org)"
In short: Jesus Christ is the head of our church, the prophet just tells us His will.


I hope y'all found this enlightening. If you have any more questions, just ask me, and I'll be happy to answer you. God be with you 'till we meet again.

BYU: A love/hate relationship

Well, I'm sitting here in psych, and I would be paying attention, but I can't focus. Let me tell you why I can't focus. This reason is #1 on my pet peeves list.


1. PEOPLE WHO TYPE OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD.
-I cannot put into words how much this ticks me off. I mean, what are you writing that makes you type so angrily?!


2. People who talk at inappropriate times.
-This includes, but is not limited to: the library, church, class, or any other time that involves me trying to focus.


3. Babies. In. The library.
-Only at BYU. I understand that you love your little angel, but please, for the sake of my grades, DO NOT LET YOUR BABY CRY IN THE LIBRARY. IT IS A LIBRARY, NOT A NURSERY!!


4. PDA
-Pretty much goes without saying. Dear couples, stop making out and making googly eyes at each other, ESPECIALLY IN THE LIBRARY. I AM TRYING TO STUDY.


5. PEOPLE WHO SMACK THEIR LIPS WHEN THEY EAT.
-Unfortunately, one of my close friends is one of these kind of people (won't name any names, of course...). Dude, I love you, but please stop smacking your lips. O_o


To conclude this post, I'm going to end on a positive note with a little something I like to call:
"Things That Make My Life Easier!"


1. My white-noise machine.
-Seriously, that thing is amazing. I sleep like a baby every night.


2. My sunglasses
-Utah is really sunny, and I walk everywhere, so sunglasses are definitely a must-have.


That's all for now, I'll add more if I can think of anything. I'm gonna try to pay attention to class now. God be with you 'till we meet again.

BYU/Utah

Well, despite being totally blown out by Utah, the game was actually kinda fun...at the beginning. Here's a nice little pic of me and Nathan:

Quick Update

So today is Sunday (9/18) and to get over the devastating, demoralizing loss to Utah, I spent the day making this video to get my mind on things far more important than football...

The Holy War

It is nigh. I can feel it in the air. The statues are all wrapped in saran wrap. It's RIVALRY WEEK!!
Oh man, oh man oh man...I'm psyched. I just got done with class and now all I have to do is wait (well, I'm also going to play dodgeball today and we have our first intramural game is tomorrow, but you get the idea.). In the last two days, I've had two dreams about the game. First, me and Nathan were in the stadium watching. We were driving the ball really well when all of a sudden I decided that I needed to run back and get my camera (that's how I knew it was a dream: I would never do that in real life.).  On the way back to the dorm, the stadium erupted in applause and I got all depressed knowing I had missed us score.
Second dream. This one wasn't as good, in fact, it got me kinda worried. For some reason, the game was in Salt Lake (which makes me think that it was just a flashback). Ya know how dreams seem normal when we're in them but when we wake up we realize they were actually strange? (Leonardo Di Caprio). Well, me and Nathan were walking around looking for a place to watch. Then later, we actually got beat on pretty bad so we walked around campus all depressed. After feeling depressed for a while, I actually woke up. Figuring out that it was all just a dream (or nightmare, really), I got really happy and hopeful again. Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you. I'm gonna be taking a ton of pictures in the next few days so look forward to those. Until next time, I'm gonna go get something out of one of the ten vending machines!

Thoughts So Far

Well, here I am. It's quarter to 10 on a Monday morning, and I'm waiting to go into my music class. I thought it would be a good idea to take this time to blog.

Things I love about college:
-Girls: There are soooo many gorgeous girls here, I'm finding it hard to focus.
-Guys: There are sooo many awesome guys here and everyone's really friendly.
-Food: The food is actually really good, and I can eat as much as I want which is definitely a plus.
-Campus: The campus is absolutely beautiful. Flowers, statues, trees, grass (that I can actually lie down in because there aren't fireants here), buildings, and of course, the mountains in the background, make BYU the most beautiful campus I have ever seen.
-Professors: almost all of my professors are really great and interest, but...not all of them. Sam (my writing prof.) is definitely my favorite so far.

Things that I find not so cool about college (I don't hate anything, really):
-Class: while my classes aren't overly difficult, sometimes they get in the way of my partying. Which is no good.
-Being on my own: Now I know what you're thinking: "What?! How could you not like being on your own?" Don't get me wrong, I love being able to do what I want, when I want. It's just so hard to be disciplined and make myself do homework and stuff when there's no one telling me what to do.
-Walking: I walk. Everywhere. It kinda sucks, especially when I have a class on the outskirts of campus.

All in all, BYU is pretty much the greatest thing ever and I can't see myself going to any other university.

One last thing, I GOT A CALLING YESTERDAY. That's right...in addition to being a full-time student and Zoobie, I also have to be a Sunday School teacher. I'm not too worried though...I think I'll be all right. Hopefully.

Well, class is about to start so I'm gonna go ahead and sign out for now. Until next time, I bid thee farewell.

Huzzah!!

Not that I want to jinx anything, but my blog has started working again!! YES! That's good because I have a TON of stuff to talk about. ALREADY. It's been like 2 weeks!! Anyway, I am really enjoying my classes so far. They're not easy, but I have really awesome professors and I definitely won't be falling asleep in class anytime soon. In case anyone is wondering, I'm taking Music 101, Freshman Writing, Geography, Intro to Psychology, and Book of Mormon. It's a lot of work, but at least it's enjoyable. Last Saturday (9/3/11), BYU played its first football game. 100+ students crammed themselves into the Jimmer Hall lobby, and it was SOOOOO much fun. Just wait until the home games!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkyU53JVoQs
Watch it...it's awesome.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be studying right now. Now that my blog is working again I'll definitely be posting frequently.

I Love College.

It all feels like a dream

Well, here I am. I'm laying in bed blogging on a Wednesday night (almost Thursday :P). I leave in five days, and move-in day is in exactly a week. I'm not quite sure how I got to this point. I feel as though my life has been going by in fast-forward. It feels like just yesterday I was on my way to Dreher for the first day of my freshman year. I remember seeing my friend Colin waiting at the bus stop (he was still at Hand at the time) and I shouted out the window "I'm going to Dreher, baby!!" Oh how naive I was, thinking that high school would be a great experience. Don't get me wrong, I met some really awesome people and had a lot of fun those short few years, but I was definitely ready to get outta there. Now I'm not quite so sure. School just started up again and it feels so weird not waking up every morning for seminary, and then going to the same place I've been going for years, and seeing the same faces that I've known all my life. I don't feel ready, to be perfectly honest. I know I act all confident and grown-up, but to be honest, I'm kinda scared. Not so much of college itself, but I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna react to NOT waking up in Columbia, South Carolina every morning, or driving down the roads I've been driving down for years, or being around the same friends (and of course, my family) that I've spent my whole life with. Well, there's no turning back now. My dorm room is waiting, my schedule is complete, and the plane tickets are booked. Time to pack away 17 years worth of memories and move on.

Starting weight...please don't laugh at me

Well, I went and got a physical today. If I tell you my height and weight, will you promise not to laugh at me? Yeah I didn't think so.
As of 8/11/11, I am:
-5', 9 3/4" tall
-126 lbs. (all muscle, of course)
I kid you not, this is what I weigh. Even after all the burgers and fries at Five Guys, I only weigh 126 lbs. Crazy, I know? Guess it's just my metabolism... both a curse and a gift at the same time. It's no biggie, I plan on growing like 2 inches and gaining 30 pounds my first semester anyway. I have 11 more days until departure, and I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself until then. Just gotta keep on bloggin' I guess...Until next time, I'm out, dudes.
Just kidding, no I'm not. I have one more thing to say. I'm thinking about changing the way I'm gonna do this thing. I was thinking (well, Lauren was thinking) that instead of doing 15 sentences, I should just do 15 bullets instead. I kinda like that idea and it would probably be easier. Still not exactly sure what I'm gonna do but it'll be enjoyable all the same. Now, for real this time, I'm out. :)

Woo! Good idea!

All right, so here's a little update: in addition to posting stories and pictures and stuff, I'm also going to document my weight gain throughout the year. That way, I'll have more stuff to post about and the title "Ethan's Freshman Fifteen" will be a little bit more relevant. I probably won't be posting much until I actually start getting ready to leave. Until next time, I'm out gonna play some more COD!

Guess who started a blog?

Yeah, I did it. I started a blog. Since I'm not disciplined enough to pull out my journal and write in that everyday, I figured, why not start a blog (because that's soooo just easier than writing in a journal! AmIRight??!)? So that's what I did, I started a blog. Hurray for me. While I will be posting random stuff, this is mostly gonna be about my experiences that I have my freshman year at the Y...I'm gonna have all sorts of stories, jokes, pictures, and all that jazz. So here's how this is gonna work, it's called the "freshman fifteen" because I'm only gonna put 15 sentences in each post (starting after this one, and I'm probably gonna break this rule a lot, but whatever). Anywhom, as of now, there are 2 more weeks left before I leave for Cougar Town (meaning Provo, not the lame show on ABC...seriously, what were they thinking?), and I'm pretty much ready (mentally and emotionally, physically, I'm not prepared at all). Until next time, I'm gone.