Okay, this was an interesting week. Tuesday I went to the West Jordan High School Choir Performance. Kat and Sam Boldrin and Justin Cook and Tanner DeHaan are all in those choirs, and let me say those choirs are amazing. It helps that they have a choir director who really knows what he's doing- Mr. DeHaan, who lives in our ward. Quin and Jason will both be in Choir at West Jordan next year. I'm going to do choir at Hillcrest. I'm currently signed up for Mixed Choir, but Aerin says that Sophmore guys can sign up for Concert Choir, cause they need more guys.

Thursday was out Combined Choir Rock Concert. Midvale Middle's two choirs and Mount Jordan's two choirs combined to make one big combined choir, and along with a live band called "The I.B." We created the most epicly awesome Middle School Concert of the YEAR! We were rocking out all night to Beatles and Queen, along with other rock songs like "Kiss from a Rose" and "Heartbreaker". I got to do a Solo for "Here, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles, as well as do my own part during the finale, "Hey Jude".

Away from Concerts, Friday after school was the Ninth Grade Dance. It was kind of lame, cause it was only an hour long and they only played two slow songs, and only like 30 people showed up, so the gym was empty, but that made it kind of cool too, cause we had like half the gym to ourselves. And Gregory showed us just how good of a dancer he is, which was a little surprising, though not much.

After that, Evan invited me and Daniel to go to the Blaze game. So we went, and we got the stadium, and they told us that we had to stand in the Box Office line to get our vouchers turned into tickets, so we were all like "Where's the line?" And then we saw it... And it wrapped around the parking lot... It was HUGE. So Evan's dad was like... "Let's go to a movie." So we went and saw Iron Man 2. Interesting movie, not one of my favorites, but I liked it.

Saturday was boring...

Sunday evening we had Raechel and Calvin over and we played games. It was pretty fun. I love those guys.

Today we went up to Brigham City, went to visit my Grandpa at the Cemetary, and then went to Aunt Joelle's house. Megan had her baby today, so I have a new baby cousin.

Last Saturday was a Region Dance. Kimber just turned 14, and so this was her first dance. I got her a nice necklace for her birthday and gave it to her at the dance, and she really liked it. (She also liked how it tinkled when she jumped and moved. She's so funny.) Maya was also there with Jeremiah, and Rachel O. was there with Allie because they had spent the day together reviewing APHG stuff. (If you're uninformed, APHG = Advanced Placement Human Geography. Or AP Human Geography. Or APHG. Whatever floats your boat.)

Monday was my mom's birthday. I got her a canvas thing that said "When I count my blessings, I count you Twice." After school we went to see "How to Train your Dragon." I really liked it. It was cool. I'm thinking I can do some research on how much of the movie was based on research, and how much was just popular and fabricated ideas. But there's actually not much known about the vikings and stuff, as most of their mythological records were destroyed, so who knows.

Tuesday we had a field trip to the Zoo. It was pretty fun. For an assignment, we were observing the Gorilla, and this zookeeper comes out and says "I'm about to feed the animals. Anyone want to help me?" Naturally, our group jumps on that. She gave Cory a big burlap sack and says "Just chuck that in there over by the gorilla, sorta up the hill." So he does, the gorilla hears it plunk and grabs it. Then he drags it up to the top of the hill and dumps out a ton of vegetables, like lettuce and broccoli heads. She gave the same thing to Riley to throw to the Orangutan. She also gave them a bottle full of frozen water with carrots suspended in there. (I think they were carrots... They were orange, at least.) She told us that the gorilla would wait until it melted, drink the water and eat the carrots. The orangutan, on the other hand, would rip the bottle open and then break the ice, picking out the carrots and sucking on ice chunks. So I had fun going to the Zoo with all of my friends. :D

Tuesday night was the Honor Choir Concert. On the way over there, I get a call from Jason (Who had left in the middle of the school day) And he frantically says "Jarom! I totally forgot about the Concert! Can you give me a ride??"

How do you forget about a concert you're in?

So we went and got him, and of course ended up in traffic on the way there, arriving 15 minutes late. (West Jordan Construction Traffic... Geez.) But everything went really well.

Wednesday night we had mutual, but I had planned to leave early to get some stuff done. After all, we were just playing basketball. But I convinced myself to stay for one game, and promptly slammed into Carl as he was turning around and landed badly on my elbow, hip, and knee. So I limped home, and I still have a little bit of a limp (Not too much) and it hurts to put my elbow on the counter.

Good Going, Jarom.
Hey, you be quiet. I thought I'd get some exercise, you know. It wasn't like I was playing basketball when I should have been doing homework becasue I wanted to, I decided I should stay with my quorum for some exercise because I've been skipping out on them lately because of how much homework I have.

So yeah. That's my happenings of late.

I'm in the computer lab at school right now, because Evan needs to retake part of the Computer Tech Test-Out (That I already passed. I was the first one! Yays!) And I wanted to come work on my Final Cut that I never got to work in Bradfield's Lab, but for some reason they are now taking the test in the computer lab. (We have five labs- the Tech Lab (Bradfield's) The Shop Lab (Cuavas') The Computer Lab, The Writing Lab, and the Library Lab.) So I'm in here doing this. Maybe I'll read my APHG book. After this.

So what's happened lately? Well, Friday was Career Day. It started with a thing in the auditorium, where we had Roger Malaga come and talk to us about his career. He is a dancer and actor, and he was the coreographer for High School Musical. He had a dance off, with some of the best dancers in the 9th grade- McKayla Whitehead, Maya Arzola, Marissa McQuinn, Diego... something, and Jacob Virgin. He did it to show us sorta what Auditions were like. And the winner was... JACOB! Yeah! You can see him dancing in this low quality video from last year's Talent Show.



After that we spereated and went to different classes. My first one was Computers, and that wasn't really that interesting. Then was Engineering, which was cool because he showed us a bunch of things that he worked with, like special metals and plastics and such. Then was Military, and a woman from the Air Force came and talked to us. She was a recruiter, so obviously she showed us all the advantages of joining the Air Force. It was pretty interesting.

You know how we're supposed to be writing in a journal? Hasn't the prophet told us to do that or something? Well, I was thinking, I suppose this is mine... I mean, I write in my paper one every once in a while, but it's almost easier for me to say things here. I hope, nay, plan for this thing to be around in 50 years. We'll see how that works out.

So, anyways... Saturday was a good day. I spent the first half of the day finishing up an essay so I could have fun the second half. But I got it done. So afternoon comes, and we all dress up all nice and we go pick up Raechel and Evan to go to the temple. But, turns out, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple was closed for cleaning.

Blessing Number One- We all laugh and say "Oh well. Let's go to the Jordan River Temple!" Where else can you do that? I love living in this valley. If only it snowed less...

Blessing Number Two- The Lord definitely knows what he's doing. The timing, the Oquirrh being closed, everything had to happen exactly the way it did for what happened next to happen.

So we get to the Jordan River, and we go and get changed, and we sit down in the chapel. I'm talking with Raechel, and I look up as a girl comes out of the locker room. I sorta did a double take and then looked away, and thought "That girl looks awfully like Sam..." And so I kept quickly glancing at her, because I didn't want to stare in case it wasn't her, but it sure looked like her, and she seemed to be giving me the same glances. (I didn't realize until later that she normally where's glasses, and she wasn't...) But one of the ushers comes and moves our group along, and she was just sitting there by herself cause she didn't have a group, so he puts her in our group, and I end up sitting right next to her. Turns out, it was my friend Sam, who I barely ever get to see!

So I got to talk with Sam. She's usually a really hyper person, but she was actually really calm. She talked about how the temple helped her to calm down and focus, and how she loved the temple because that's where she could organize her thoughts. She helped me to feel the spirit while I was there. She also showed me her scriptures, which have markings all over them. She showed me her favorite scriptures and we talked about what they meant to us. I showed her a cool thing that Brother Michaelis showed me- If you look in 2 Nephi 12:2, which some people call the Utah Scripture because it says that the Lord's house will be established in the "Top of the Mountains" an Utah is a Ute Indian word for "Top of the Mountains". Anyways, if you look in that, you can look at the second line, at the U in the word mountain... directly beneath that is the T in established, and below that the A in mountains, and below that the H in hills. UTAH.


Pretty cool huh? Well, I showed her that, and topped it off by saying "The church is true!" She laughed, and marked it in her scriptures, then wrote at the top "Jarom: The Church is True!" So I was like "Now I can say that my name is in your scriptures." She laughed again, and then I thought, and was like "Wait... my name was already in your scriptures" "Yeah, you have your own book." The Book of Jarom. Ha. =D

So that was my awesome temple experiance. Later that night, I went to a Region Dance with Daniel, Evan, Jeremiah, Ryan, and Garrett. I got to meet Jeremiah's friends Cailey and Lia. Lia was really nice, and I hope I can hang out with her and Jeremiah sometime. We could have a party. =D

I've never had so much fun dancing YMCA... oh, wait, that was totally random. I danced that with Daniel and Evan, and it was pretty fun. Don't really know why.

Well, that's basically my Saturday.

I hope I don't get back into the habit of not posting. That would be bad. No bueno. Me gusta que yo puedo hablar espanol poco bien. Y yo nesicito hablar en espanol con mi padre antes manana...

Yeah. So. Anywho.

I can't believe I haven't been posting, especially this week when there were things to post!

So... Winter Break, IN REVIEW!

Monday, we went sledding with Tami and Scott and Connor. (My relatives from California, if you haven't been following this since July.) And then we went to Grandma's house.

Tuesday, after a day of homework, I went to Kat's house for a party with her, Quin, Sam, Justin, Nick, Max, and Sadee. It was fun. I need to hank out with some of them more often. :P

Wednesday, again with the homework. I was going to go to mutual, but instead we went to Grandparent's one more time.

Thursday, homework, and then NEW YEAR'S EVE DANCE! Woo! It was Jeremiah's first dance, and he had a lot of fun. He he... he didn't expect to dance with anyone. But 6 girls asked him! It was pretty awesome.

Friday... I think I only did homework on Friday... but I got a lot done.

Saturday, after finishing Dracula and my paper on it, I went Ice Skating with Elizabeth, Jeremiah, and Calvin. It was fun... even though I failed... And it didn't help that they were all really good. But then we went home and played Mario and Sonic... and had a 1 1/2 hour game of curling because Calvin decided we needed 4 end matches. :P

Sunday, first Sunday of the year. 9:00 church, the fast offerings, then going home, then band practice for wednesday, then going home, then Dead Prophet's Society, then going to bed.

This week, I had a Young Men's Recognition dinner on wednesday, where I had to play my guitar and... I kinda failed... Brother McEntyre is supposed to upload the video of it to YouTube, then I'll post it maybe.

So, yeah. That's my life. How's yours? Joyous, I hope.

Tribute time! (I feel kinda weird sometimes when I say that because sometimes it makes me think of the tribute as in sacrifice...)

Here's to Daniel!

You're a great friend! It's funny how when it comes to little things I feel like I can't trust anyone, but when it comes to bigger, more important things I can trust people like Daniel to not tease me or anything. Thanks for coming with us to the dance last night!

Needed to post today (Kat missed a day! And she'll miss two if she doesn't post soon...) But couldn't think of anything deep to say especially because I'm getting off pretty quickly, so I'd thought I'd just say

I'm thankful for Dances!

Funny how and the beginning of August I honestly had no desire to go to a dance. Then came education week. All of a sudden I want to dance. Why? I honestly haven't the slightest clue. But all of a sudden I want to go to one.

So I did. And I loved it!

Last night I went with Kat to her region dance. Her region is a lot smaller than ours... there was actually a lot of space to walk around and to do the wild "Swing Dance" that Sam taught me. *Laugh* I met Kat's friend Sam Boldrin (Kat says she doesn't know her real last name... apparently it's different at School and on Facebook, so I'm going to use her school last name...) She really knows how to dance. Every time I looked to find her she was teaching someone new some new dance! She taught me how to swing and how to dip. I danced with 7 girls, which brings my average up to 5 girls per dance. (Yes, I keep track... that's how my mind works, okay?)

A HUGE Thank-You to Kat for inviting me to the dance. I had a TON of fun.

Total Awesomeness. That's all I have to say.

Hey, all! Been doing a TON of homework lately. English Essays. Science Essays. Geography Essays. You know what I've learned about essays? I stink at them. I can write a decent song in five minutes, but I cannot write an essay for the life of me. Introductions are one of the biggest parts. I just don't know how to start the essay.

Anyways... Last Saturday, I went to the Region Dance again. I took Kat with me. I invited Aerin too, but she couldn't come because she was with her grandma. Anyways, I also met her friend Natalie, who is in her Region but came to our dance. It was at my stake center this time, so I knew a lot of the chaperones. I have a few funny stories from that night.

Let's see... So me, Evan, Kat, and Natalie were talking, and the dance right then was a swing dance, and we were talking about how me and Evan sorta knew the West Coast Swing, but nobody else knew. Then President Hansen comes up to Evan and says "Do you know how to swing dance?" And Evan said "Sorta."
"Then you can dance with this fine young lady right here."
"Wha- I don't really know the dance they're doing."
"That's okay, she can teach you."
So he learned to swing dance while the three of us watched him and kept talking.
Later on, we're in the same four, and the DJ stops the music and says "Okay, we've had a girl's choice dance, we've had a guys' choice dance, now it's time for a Chaperone Choice Dance! Get ready to be paired up!"
Evan instantly exclaimed "Refreshment's Table!" and bolted.
So I laughed at him, but then I looked up, and there is Brother Astil looking right at me.
Uh-oh.
I figure, there's no point to run, I'm going to get paired, might as well be next to someone I know.
So he comes over and pairs me with Natalie.
Halfway through the dance we're talking, and President Hansen shuffles by us, dragging Kat by the arm.
We laughed.
Turns out, though, that she got paired with a friend of mine from school that she didn't know, Jacob Virgin.

After the dance, I walk through the crowd and run into Brother Astil.
"So, how was the dance?"
"Good."
"You met someone new?"
"No, I actually already knew her. I probably would have asked her to dance eventually anyways."
"What! So all I did was speed up the process?"
He he... got ya there.

I had an AWESOME weekend!!!! It's Monday now, and I am still happy and elated from it!!!

Friday night was my big Birthday Party. A bunch of friends came (I wanted to invite more, but I decided 20 was chaotic enough. And lo and behold, I was right. Except "chaotic" was an understatement.) It was lots of fun. We played big group games like Murderer and stuff, and we had lots of fun! It was kinda funny to see the clash between my Nerd Friends and my church friends (Or as they call them, "The Girls" because the two guys that came from my ward fit right in with the others, meanwhile the girls sorta made their own group at one end of the circle.)

He he... One of the games we played was where you had to close your eyes and find someone and guess who it was based on their head. I thought this picture was pretty funny. That's Roscoe trying to guess Rachel.

This picture made me laugh. John is standing there looking like an idiot (he's not, but he looks like one) and Brielle's look just screams "Who the heck is this loser?"

This is Brielle trying to get Jaden to smile. We played "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile!" Which was basically where you tried to get another person to smile for you. Of course, all the guys took the title literally and ended up actually acting as if they did love the person, which made everybody laugh! Brielle, of course, didn't actually want to try to do that with one of the nerds, so she settled for her sister.

So then Saturday night I went with Evan to Region Dance at the Oquirrh Stake Center. This is the first dance I've gone to willingly. "Big Steps." As my friend would say. *Laugh* Anyway, I had TONS of fun. It was way awesome. I can't believe I haven't wanted to go to one of these until now! We danced and ran and laughed with all our friends for 3 hours!! I got to dance with Tori, Rylee, Brielle, and Lexi C. I also saw Kyrstin, who I haven't seen in at least 2 years!

Something I thought was kinda cool, was that I got to dance with Tori to one of my new favorite songs! It's called "Fireflies", and it's by the band Owl City. I hadn't heard of either of them until last week, when my friend Cailey told me I should listen to it on YouTube. I did, and I loved it.

All right. Well, that's my awesome weekend. I hope you guys had some fun, too!