The Life of Ryan...

Not Guilty!!! Whoooo! Well... kind of. So here's the scoop. I went into court yesterday to settle my "legal" matters and boy was it not what I expected. So here I am thinking that I would be meeting with a judge that dealt with small citations and maybe all this would take place in a small room or office just me and the judge, mono-E-mono. Wrong!!! I find myself walking into a huge court room that looks like it came out of a suped-up Judge Judy show. I sit in the back of the court with about twenty other people who are getting sentenced and I'm thinking, "I'm going to die." Some of these people were scary. I mean look at them funny and they will kill you scary. So I kept my eyes forward and controlled my breathing. Also, I was the nicest dressed. I'm in my khakis, Blue dress shirt and yellow tie, you know... looking suave and everyone else was just in there normal casual clothes. So already I stick out. Great. So the judge walks in with an officer and a bailiff and this judge is a women. I think she may have been Grizzly Adam's wife at a time... before she killed him, dragged his body to the deepest part of the earth and buried him. She too... scared me.

So she calls people up case by case and either postpones their trial or sentences them right there. Some people had cases like DUI's, minor's in possession of alcohol, robbery... the usual. Then the bailiff calls me up. The judge scans me up and down and tells me I'm charged with failure to show proof of insurance and asks " How do you plead?" Whoa whoa whoa... how do I plead?! No one told me I had to think of that! C'mon! Really?! So I said, " ummmm... guilty?" She nodded as if that was the "correct" answer. She then says by pleading guilty I will be sentenced right then and there and determine the actions needed to close the case. She asked if I had proof of insurance and I did BUT... apparently it wasn't good enough for the courts. It was what my agent had sent me to give them so I didn't know. So they tell me I need to get a written statement from him with a few minor details to prove I was insured and all would be dismissed and I could get my bail money back. Great! Only thing is I have to come back in on the 8th of February to go through all that again.... oh well. After calling my insurance agent and getting things squared away.. looks like things will be great. On a side note: I also had to go to the Smithfield courthouse ( which was an office) to take care of the other warrant and that was an in and out process. Got my money back and everything. Too bad all courts can't be like that. So I'm officially not a criminal anymore. I wasn't before but I know those of you who were murmuring behind my back... I'm watching you bud.

So I shaved my legs. Yeah you read right. I shaved em good. Why? do you ask? Well ... hehe...I'll tell you. See this picture? Yeah thats my leg with my initials waxed clean into the hair. No I wasn't bored one night and just happened to stumble across a jar full of wax. I was conned!!! Swindled! Manipulated! And it was fun... :) You see my wonderful friend Erin decided to bring me into her house of wax for a consultation. She showed me some brochures and was very good at selling me her pitch. After that she decided it would be a "good idea" to wax my initials into my left leg. And there is a picture of the turnout. Awesome right?! No! I didn't know that it could be a long time before my hair grows back! She forgot to mention that part!!! I couldn't go around the gym with that on my leg... what would the other bodybuilders think?! So I shaved my legs... I chose the lesser of two evils. The End.


As to answer the question of how "I'm doing." Well I should be studying right now for the two exams I have coming up. I'm not... my bad. School is going great. My work ethic is better than it's ever been... so that nice right? I'm considering taking summer classes and working part-time this summer. I'll let you know more on that when I come to a more conclusive decision. It's been a month into the new year and I'm amazed at how much my life has changed. I am really starting to like the new me and it's great to see that my actions really are louder than words. There has been a bump or two in the past month, but I'm keeping my head forward. For those of you who know me, once I have my mind on something It's hard to turn back. Looks like some things will never change. Maybe thats a good thing. Time will tell....

Okay not really. I really want to though! I mean c'mon!!! It's freezing here in northern Utah! Actually its been about fifty degrees below some nights. It sucks. Winter sucks. Except when you go snowboarding or do some kind of exciting recreational event. Seriously though... this week has been cold in more ways than one. Let me explain how my mind works on this one. Ready? Here we go. In my opinion. The cold drains your body of energy. Actually this is a proven scientific fact. On normal days our body uses 40% of our energy just to regulate itself. Thats a lot!!! So on days I feel I'm running on 100% energy, its only 60%. That makes me depressed enough as it is. I just love being an extrovert. So when a scientist tells me I can never run on 100% my life has no meaning. Thanks you stupid scientist. Thanks for ruining my life!!! Although... there might be a fix to this problem. ENERGY DRINKS! Especially Jamba juice's energy shots. Mmmm delicious! So maybe I'll ask the girls at the counter how many energy shots it would take me to get that extra 40%! Problem solved! Whoo! As far as the other ways the cold affects me, lets just say my mind and heart hates how bleak winter makes me feel. I cant wait for spring. I love spring. Spring is my favorite season because its the start of something new. (isn't that a song?) Everything seems to come out and say" hello world! How are you?! Me? I'm good. Just been chillin in my den for five months pondering life." So I've decided... I'm running away (in my mind that is) to the enchanting pacific coast...


In other news... Heath Ledger passed away. This really makes me sad. I thought he was brilliant as an actor and It pains me to see a guy only a few years older than me lose his life to substance abuse. I'll miss you Heath.













On a lighter note: This ones for you me madre. I just want to say lately I have been thinking of my dear ol mom and I want to say how proud I am of her. She has been through so much the past ten years or longer and It's great to see the path she has laid out for herself now. I wish you the best of luck mom and I want you to know ILYSMTIHM. Also mom... don't judge me, but this is one of the only pictures I have of us. What the deal?! Graduation? that was almost five years ago!!! Ha... we both pretty much look the same so it's cool yo.

isn't it funny how one day can be so great and then the next day, blind-side tackles you to the ground without warning?! I love those days! No I really do... because you find yourself being more active then usual just to take your mind off things. If everyday was a bad day I think the world would be a better place because people would get things done quicker! Really though... there is something in the air in Logan, Utah. It seems that I can count more people, than fingers on my hand, who all of a sudden have relationship issues (Not me of course... psshh) And the funny thing is no one can figure out why. Oh the mysteries of the universe... Now I am not trying to cover up anything in my life by using my friends for this example. There are seriously at least seven or eight couples who are having "issues" right now... and yes I only have six fingers total to count with. Don't judge me. Lawn mowing accident. It's too hard to talk about right now. So maybe I'll round up the boys to go see PS. I Love You tonight... I think it's what we all need.






I've learned in my lifetime so far that you can't help who you fall for and no matter how hard you try and how much it hurts you everyday that you just wanna be with them or just talk to them you never stop trying to make them happy by the little things you say or do because thats what makes your life worth going on for
- Unknown

People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
- Joseph F. Newton Men

It's true people. The gossip columns have told the truth for once. The tabloids are correct. Ryan James Shumate has been officially arrested. Yep. Not lying. You may be asking yourself, "What?! My little Ryan? Good ol' RJ?! URGE?!" Yes ... it is true family and friends. But lets not be so quick to judge mmmk?! Here is how my little story went down...

So I leave my friend, Erina's house at around 1:30 in the morning. I'm driving on campus towards my warm cubical house, when I notice a group of stranded girls next to their abandoned car in the middle of the road. I pull over to help them out being the good samaritan that I am. Turns out the cars front axle is completely broken and needs a tow truck. So I say, "Hey! no worries. I'll just call 911 for you and get an officer and tow truck here pronto!" I decided to stay with the girls just to make sure they wouldnt get bored or anything. So a few minutes later two cop cars pull up and evaluate the situation. Officer Harris and his compadre who's name I have forgotten, just ask some simple questions and joke around with the girls to lift their spirits. All of a sudden, Harris asks if he could talk to me quickly. He pulls me to the side and says, "you called in for these girls, right?" " Yeah, you know, just fulfilling my civil duties officer!" , I replied with a half hearted laugh. He kind of laughed and then his face became worry some and serious.

"Well we pulled up your records and turns out you have two warrants out for your arrest ..."

This is where my heart jumped up and latched onto my gag reflex. "What?! TWO?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! WHY?!

"Well I'll show you." he said. So we walk to his car and he pulls up my records on the computer. Turns out... last year I was pulled over because of a broken tail light. At the time though, I didnt have proof of insurance. Whoops! So I was let go with a fix-it ticket and had to show proof of Insurance by a certain date. I faxed in my insurance cards and called it good. I never heard back from the courthouse saying it wasn't good enough, so it was soon forgotten. the OTHER warrant was because of the same thing on another warning ticket a few months later. After the second warning I made sure I had my proof of insurance on me for everything. I wasn't taking any chances!!! Again, I faxed in the cards. Called it good. Well here is where I will criticize myself and say I could have done a better job making sure I was good with the law. Lesson learned.

So the officer says... "Unfortunately, we have to take you to jail. Your bail is $765 and you need to pay that or you have to stay in jail for the night. But... because I feel fondly of you. I'll cut you a deal. I'll follow you to the jail, you pay the fine, go through booking, set your court date and all will be fine." So of course I agree and get in the car to drive myself to jail. Meanwhile, my good friend Justin has come to the scene of the crime to help me out because I thought he would have to take my car. But he agreed to ride with me to jail and help out with a couple hundred dollars for the bailing fee. So we are laughing so much over all of this on our way to the penitentiary and Im somewhat excited to see what jail is like because I've never been...obviously. Psshhh.

We pull up and I get out and meet the officers who are behind us and they cuff me and stick me in the back of the car for the 150 foot drive to the garage. So here I am... cuffed and walking through the doors into the booking area. I feel so cool right now! Yeah! Go me! No not really... but I kept my spirits up. They uncuff me, frisk me, and ask me a few questions. I had the privilege of getting my fingers printed and posing for my beautiful mugshot! It was exhilarating to say the least. After about an hour of questions, one of the deputies told me all of them had to go to the nightly 3 a.m meeting and I couldn't stay in the booking area. So where was a warmly invited to stay you ask?! Oh only a ten by ten cell all for myself! Whoo hoo!!! No bed, no bench. Just a cement cell with a stinky metal toilet. I was, however, warmly greeted by a friendly cell neighbor who only nodded at me with a smile and a peace sign. I felt at home.

After about an hour, I was released. It took only five minutes to finish everything up and Justin was waiting patiently for me in the lobby. I was set a court date for January 29th and as long as I go with my tail in between my legs and a sincere apology for something I had no control over.. I should get my bail money back. Pray for this to happen! So there it is! Pretty much summed up in a nut-shell but exciting to say the least. I don't really consider myself a criminal but I do want to say I never want to experience what Jail is like ever again. I have learned a hard lesson and will make sure I am a more responsible person from here on out. Thank you all for your support and all the kind words through this intense time, but really... feel free to make fun of me for a while for this one. I know I will. Stay tuned to see how the meeting with judge dread goes! Happy Martin Luther King day...

So it's come to this. Blogging. Just what is blogging?! Here is a definition my good friend Wikipedia describes...

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Yes... I plagiarized that definition. Ya know, just copy and paste. Makes things easier. Anyway. As of late, my life has begun to unfold in so many interesting ways that I thought the world would love to hear my stories. By the "world" I mean my family and friends. I get criticized way too much for not picking up the phone every once in a while. (Just trying to save up on my minutes Fam, I learned that golden rule from you!) So since Im on my computer most of the time I figured I could "journal" entry it, if you will, and maybe get back in the good graces of my loved ones.

So right now... I actually have to bounce! Sorry! I'm just getting this thing rolling...so give it a few days. I'm about to send out a mass email to let everyone know of my famous blog site and hopefully people will start to read! I have to give a shout-out to my good friend Erin Taylor for inspiring me to try this en devour out. Apparently my life in the past week is "blog" worthy. Tune in later for details ;) So thank you cucumber. Until then... dream big? Yeah ... I dunno.