The Life of Ryan...

Take me out to the Ball Game...

2009-08-11T22:18:00.002-06:00

The sun in your eyes. The smell of freshly cut grass. A cold drink in one hand and a hot-dog in the other. All the while your sitting right behind the third base plate yelling absurd profanity. Ahhh baseball... my favorite sport. I love everything there is about it and I'm so glad to be back to watch it all I want!

A South Pacific Nomad...

2009-08-03T15:08:00.013-06:00

Bula! Bonjour! G'day! How are ya?

I'm back! What an AMAZING summer its been. There is just way too much to write about and I'm really trying to avoid Carpel Tunnel.

Let me put it this way, I just went to Tahiti, Fiji & New Zealand... and got paid for it! Not only did I get a decent pay check, but I embarked on a trip where I became a member of a village and got to delve into their culture, I swam with sharks and kissed a beautiful sea turtle and I surfed with Palo, the Tahitian champion for the past three years.

Thats really just the tip of the iceberg. I sailed around New Zealand and Fiji, high-fived a dolphin, ate fruit, met Tane Mahuta ( a 2000 year old Kauri tree in New Zealand ), scuba dived, hiked Moorea Island, swam with sting rays, ate fruit, got Giardia, partook of a Kava ceremony, fought off sharks, missed Michael Jacksons funeral, chilled with Wilson on Cast Away island, ate more fruit, opened a coconut with my bare hands and a rock, lost my phone, lost my sunglasses, gained weight, lost weight, gained it back, got buried in sand by twelve fijian kids, saw a nude beach, said hi to people on nude beach, played rugby and got sunburned. Did I mention I got paid for all this?

All of this while dragging along ten kids! Not too bad. Thanks WV!

Into the Wild

2009-06-07T13:05:00.005-06:00

For those of you who haven't heard yet. I quit my job at the Olive Garden and am now hired by a company based out of Jackson Hole called Wilderness Ventures. www.wildernessventures.com. It is probably going to go down as one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The company takes high school kids on domestic and international trips and takes them to some of the coolest places on earth. Luckily enough, me and another co-leader will be taking sixteen kids to the South Pacific for over a month! Tahiti, Fiji and New Zealand to be exact. We will be surfing, sailing, scuba diving, attempting to teach Fijian kids English and retaining some life-long memories. My adventure begins next Sunday but in the meantime I've been learning to survive in the wild. I may even get my own discovery channel show and teach that British guy a thing or two. I must go now, into the wild. Into the wild blue yonder. Now if I could only grow a beard...

Midnight Drive and Techno...

2009-05-23T16:49:00.012-06:00

I drove back to Logan from Idaho Falls last night. I decided to leave at midnight for some reason. Who knows why? You gotta love late-night drives though. When its dark, you don't have much to look at so you just... think. Then you think some more. Then your mind goes from here to there and you start to sort out your life and the next thing you know your evaluating yourself. Maybe it's never happened to you but that's usually how my thought process works.

The best thing about this is from Pocatello to Logan there was absolutely no radio stations coming in... except for one. A station in Salt Lake was playing nothing but Techno. Repetitive measures that never stop all the while some high-pitched voice is singing nonsense in the background. At first I was pissed. Then after about twenty minutes I started to feel somewhat in a trance. It wasn't until then that I realized Techno music opens up channels in your brain that only Techno could do!

It was like the loose wires in my brain had found each-other after all these years and I could think clearly. It probably had nothing to do with the music playing but I'd like to think otherwise. I'm sorry Techno. Im sorry I doubted you. I still wont listen to you but in case I need you at one in the morning, I'll know where to find you.

Moved on...

2009-05-17T02:47:00.003-06:00

So I moved out of my house of two years over to a house a block away! I really wanted a change of scenery, you know? The weather and scenery is so much nicer where I'm at now. I reside in a house named, "The Apple Pie House." Its been great! The roommates are great, the view is seriously superb. It's just a nice place to start over and move on. What more could I ask for? I sure am glad I didn't wait until the last minute to get a place though and end up still there. I recently walked over to The Cube to check to see if I had mail or anything and to my surprise, the house smelled of cigarette smoke and nauseating spices. My mouth watered... Good thing I left.

Done with school... for now.

2009-04-29T00:21:00.002-06:00

So I realized that I need to be one of those bloggers that can write little tid-bits here and there about things going on in my life rather than just waiting for something BIG to happen and write a novel about it. SO! First order of business... I just had my last final test today and my summer has officially begun! Thank you, thank you... no need to cheer. So now I will try to find an alternate mode of public transportation to my place of work since my car is MIA, or POW or KIA. Yes, I believe thats first order of business. More short stories to come soon. Stay tuned, tell your friends and take luck. GOODBYE!

I went to Mexico... No big deal.

2009-03-22T15:34:00.016-06:00

To get away from this years craziness, I went on a Mexican Riviera cruise with 200 of my fellow Utah State Students. It all started when there was an invite back in November to go on a Cruise for spring break for a week for only $350. Hmmm... I thought to myself, OKAY! So for the past four months I have waited patiently. For I had never been on a cruise or to Mexico! Yayyy two for the price of one! Look at me spending my money wisely during these dark financial times. So we drove to L.A and boarded our ship Saturday morning and we were off! The ship was huge and there was plenty to do. We were at sea for about two days and It took some getting used to being on the water that long. I mean, I'm a pretty tough man, but I felt like I was drunk the first 24 hours. I was offered Dramamine and other vicarious drugs to ease my pain but NO! I refuse! Pirates and Columbus didnt have the luxury of ear-drum, balancing drugs! Why should I?! I am a pirate and an explorer for a week! Argggg!!!

We pulled into our first port, Cabo San Lucas, on monday. We only had about 8 hours to be on land so we found a water taxi, and grabbed some snorkel gear, all for $10. The day was spent on lovers beach, snorkeling, and cliff jumping. The fish there were beautiful, but i've seen better in my travels. I got bored of looking at sea critters so I decided to go on the north side of the beach to tackle some waves. They were practically yelling at me and mocking me so I had to man up and fight them. Now when I say "fight" a wave, I mean wait for the swell to form then dive right into at and punch anything that gets in my way. So I go a few rounds with some waves when the ocean decides to send in its top fighter, " El diablo" as I like to call him. So the wave swells up, big and mightier then the rest. I hesitate for only a millisecond. I must defend my country, I must fight back. The scene all of a sudden slows down like a an epic battle scene. Two Titans run at each other, each with their muscles glistening in the sun. I see the evil in the face of my oppenent but I keep my composure. The wave has reached its peak, 12 massive feet it rises into the air. I leap from the sand soaring toward the wave. My arms pulled back and my face roaring like a lion! Wham!!! We collide with thunderous sound! I'm immediately surrounded by water and I thrash to make the wave feel everything I got. Without warning I'm slammed into the ocean bed. Ouch, I think to myself. That one hurt. I arise from the water yelling profanity, for "El diablo" cheated and brought his homies to take me down! No fair "El diablo" NO FAIR! Long story short, I found out by the cruise doctor I dislocated my rib. I'm fine though.

So that was our day in Cabo, next day MAZATLAN! The city was very cool and we spent half the day in the flea markets. Then the other half relaxing on the beach. I was still sore from the previous day. Nothing too exciting happened there but we did eat some delicious tacos and my spanglish improved.

The day after we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. This was my favorite place by far. The city was lush and in the heart of a beautiful mexican forrest. We also had all day to spend there so we made the best of it. We spent the first half doing an excursion where we went 20 miles south of the city and went zip-lining over the canopy and repelled off waterfalls. It was stunning, the other half was spent in more flea markets and walking on the pier. A great day! The rest of the ship time was on sea back to the states. It was such a cool experience and one I'll never forget. By now my family is jealous that I've travelled more then most of them combined. All I can say is... get used to it! Love ya!

We're in the Clear...

2009-03-05T00:22:00.003-07:00

So me madre had, what is hopefully, her FINAL surgery last thursday and I have to say it was the most nerve racking seven hours of my life! She was moved to the University of Utah's hospital earlier last week to be operated on by only the best surgeons. There was a look in all of my family members eyes the day of the surgery that expressed our worry. There wasn't much talking between us and the mood was pretty solemn. Sometimes my mother would just look at one of us with half a smirk and she would do her best to hold back from crying. Nobody really wanted to talk like we were going to lose her and I think it's because we had faith in Heavenly Father to keep her around us for a little longer. When she went in for operation, I couldn't stand being in the hospital, so I left to Temple Square and Gateway mall. What's wrong with a little spiritual boost and window shopping right? I then went back to the hotel and slept off the afternoon. About five hours after she went in I went back to the hospital to join my family only to find out she was already done! My family was just waiting to hear from the doctor. So in comes Dr. Glasgow and he tells us that the surgery couldn't have gone any more perfect! He had to admit, he was a little worried about this operation but my mother passed with flying colors. Crazy part of her surgery was the removal of both her spleen and stomach. Yep. No spleen. No stomach. They attached her small intestine to her esophagus and... thats pretty much the way the cookie was going to crumble. The small intestine adapts and takes over the digestion that the stomach would normally do. Other then three to four small meals a day... mom is going to live a normal life. No more feeding tubes coming out of her abdomen, no more bed rest, no more worry. She'll have a tough recovery of course, but I believe in my mother just like all of you did. Which brings about my thanks to all of you who supported us and prayed for us. The world of medicine truly has its miracles and I'm so glad my mom is going to be around to show off her GINORMOUS scar...

My poor excuse for a blog...

2009-01-30T19:46:00.002-07:00

Hi everyone. How's the new year coming along? Good? Sorry im slacking in the blog department but I DID fill out this fact sheet for Facebook that I thought I could post for everyone to see. There isn't a whole lot of news that I feel the need to write about right now, but soon enough my fans... soon enough. So here are some facts. Family, correct me if I'm wrong on anything.

FACTS:

1- My tongue has this weird crack in the middle and I every time someone sees it they just cant help but point it out. However, some girls have told me that it feels nice during kissing.

2- As a wee child I absolutely loved dinosaurs. For all you bandwagon jumpers out there, it was before Jurassic Park came out fool!

3- I was arrested exactly a year ago on the 30th of January for not showing proof of insurance. It's not my fault my fax didn't go through! I had a warrant out for my arrest and one night after calling in a tow truck for a group of girls who's car was stranded, the cops came and took me in! The roommates came and busted me out though and I got my bail money back after I proved to the court I really did have insurance. Justice was served.

4- I would rather like to live in a tent in the middle of nowhere and be able to lay down and see our galaxy then to live in a glitzy, suburban home.

5- I love to paint and draw. I used to do it all the time but it's slowed a little since high school. I’m still good at it though. :)

6- I had highlights in Jr. High and High school. Not proud of them. Not one bit.

7- I love everything there is about baseball. I love to play, watch, read and attend. I understand some people cant stand to watch it, but if you can watch golf, you sure as heck can watch baseball.

8- Along with the dinosaur thing, I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was a kid. I still have a small desire.

9- I have three teeth instead of four, in between my two bottom canines. The fourth was knocked out and swallowed due to a trampoline accident when I was in 5th grade. The whereabouts of that missing tooth is still unknown.

10- I love writing and singing music. I have about nine original songs right now that are currently on CD. Only a select few have heard this CD.

11- I once had an out-of-body experience when I was in third grade. I had a really bad fever and stomach flew and I became unconscious for 20 hours. I remember looking down at myself and my family from above my bed. It was awesome.

12- I love to read. College books not so much. Usually if the cover intrigues me I have to read it. I have a small collection. My favorite is The Alchemist.

13- I hate it when someone classifies me in a certain category of people based off how little they've gotten to know me.

14- Me and two of my friends were the top story of all three Idaho Falls news channels. We had gone tubbing down the snake river one fine summer day when we thought it would be fun to go over a mini dam. The current sucked me and one other friend in after we went over, while the other was pushed out. He went to go get help and the two of us clung to our tubes to avoid the under current. The sheriffs came out in boats and saved us from certain DEATH! We then thought it would be cool to get interviewed by all the stations and local news paper. We were smart.

15- I have a passion for cooking. I'm pretty great at it too. I only bust out a great dish for special occasions but my wife will experience food she could only dream about.

16- I converted into the LDS church about four years ago. It was a choice I made for myself and one of the greatest choices I have ever made.

17- I NEVER judge. I have lived both sides of the spectrum and would be the last person to tell you your wrong in what you do. I have my own choices and beliefs and I feel everyone should make choices for themselves.

18- I am not married, yet I have a blogspot. I like to write okay? People ask me all the time, " RJ, I want to be in the know of your life!" I'm simply giving the people what they want.

19- I have a pilots license. Yep. That's right. I can fly. You can't.

20- I HATE math.

21- Sometimes I think I have some crazy scientific theory or analogy figured out but when I try to express it into words, I sound dumb. One day though, I will point at you and laugh and say "HA! Told you so!!!"

22- When I have kids, I want girls. I don't know why. I want one son and the rest, girls. Random.

23- I don't know how to play the piano but so desperately want to learn.

24- I'm a confident guy, but girls scare me.

25- I have a super power to foresee the future in my dreams. No lie. It's happened three times that I can remember. You think De'ja Vu is trippy? Ha! You think you know... but you have no idea.

Mom and the Christmas party...

2008-12-09T21:49:00.009-07:00

so the two don't really go hand in hand but this is to update everyone on two things... Okay... Go!

So Mom is ALIVE! Yeah! good news right? The good Lord didn't want her just yet so she's stuck with us. She had a rough three weeks in the hospital though and she is safe and sound in her home. She has a long, tough recovery ahead though. She has nurses come out twice a day and she is still hooked up to a few gadgets and gizmos so she's not out of the Matrix yet. Her second surgery is in a few weeks so keep praying for her. Thank you to all those who reached out to our family in our time of need. Words cant express how thankful we are for all of you.

Christmas Party!!! This year we hosted our second annual Christmas sweater party and it was a huge hit. Word got around about last years party and everyone and their dog showed up. We tuned into our inner Martha Stewarts and decorated the place up and we were able to hand out over $140 in gift cards as prizes to the best sweaters! (Thanks to Marty) Around midnight we got busted by the cops and being the responsible one that I am I talked to them and convinced them not to ticket us... or throw anyone in the house in jail... because that would just be awful to experience that ... again. It's not a party unless you get busted right?! Here are some pics.

The boys in front of our house.

some "friends."

More Friends.

I couldn't move.

Things got a little crazy.

Judging the sweaters.

Our picture room.

The boys once again.

For Mom...

2008-11-09T20:50:00.007-07:00

So I had the hardest time deciding if I wanted to do this or not but it just doesn't feel right not to. I know anyone who reads this is family and friends and I thought I would use this as a way to reach out to all of you. Some of you may know, my mother was hospitalized last week on Thursday, Nov 6th. Long story short, she had stomach problems that led her to the hospital that evening. After doctors took a Cat Scan they found that gas had built up and blew a hole in her stomach. The procedure was to go in with a scope and a stapler that would require an hour and half long surgery. After doctors went in they found that the upper part of her stomach and lower part of her esophagus was completely eroded and dead. They then had to open her up to see the extent of the damage. Due to complications during the surgery and the complexity of her condition she became very unstable and lost a lot of blood. After the doctors were through seven hours later they were honest to my family and told us she was a "disaster" and would need to be in ICU for many days and hospitalized for at least three weeks. The doctors then told us the worst news and said she could pass at any time and her chances for survival are 50/50. As of now, three days later, things are still the same but with a few signs of improvement. She has been sedated since her surgery and none of us have talked to her yet but hope to do so soon. I would just like to ask those who stumble upon this blog to please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. My family and I would greatly appreciate it. My mother is and always be the most amazing girl in my life and she is too young to leave me and the rest of my family behind. It's very hard for me to write this but every prayer counts right now. Thank you to those who have reached out to us already and keep spreading the word so we can get her better. She is in the Lord's hands now and it would mean so much to us if he could hear your support. :)

Nightmare at The Cube...

2008-11-01T12:58:00.006-06:00

Happy Halloween! Oh how I love this wonderful fall festivity where I can really show my true colors. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, right next to Christmas of course, and I love to put on a good costume and be someone/ something else for the night. Every year at Utah State we have The Howl. Its a huge event that brings young drunk people from all around to good ol' Logan. The event usually has bands, dancing, movies, hypnotists and about 10,000 half naked people lookin to get lucky. Well I have been to The Howl twice and me and my friends decided we were going to pass on it this year. Soon people started asking me if our house ( The Cube ) would be hosting any Halloween extravaganzas this year. Well we hadn't really planned on one so I told people no. Earlier this week I got asked that question several times a day and it made me think if we should really throw a last minute party for people who aren't going to The Howl. From what I understood, no one else was holding any parties so... maybe it was time for me to step up to the plate. So I did. Wednesday night I sent out invites via Facebook and sent a few text messages here and there. We had a USU basketball game last night, so the party was planned shortly after that. I thought we'd get a few of our good friends over and just have some good ol' dancing and fun. I forgot how popular I am at school I guess, because that was not the case. My house was packed. People came dressed up and those who weren't had their fun pants on. It turned out to be pretty huge, and I couldn't have been happier. By the way, I was merely joking about the popular thing. ;) So another successful shin dig at The Cube. Hopefully us boys gave everyone a good Hallows Eve.

Yours truly as David Beckham!

Dancin the Night away.

I know... I'm a show off.

Costume Winners.

Party Committee

I have a broken finger.... great.

2008-10-28T13:45:00.004-06:00

Yeah... its true. So here's the scoop. Last night I went to open the balcony window in my room to get a nice breeze in. Well ever since we hosted our foam party and used my window to transport foam, it has not been able to stay up. The springs either won't stay in place or I'm not Mr. Handy man like I'd like to believe. So as I'm fiddling with the window last night it slips out of my left hand and crashed down on my right hands index finger. I didn't swear! Can you believe that?! I just let out a very long grunt and bit my lip. When I looked at my finger the only thing I noticed was the skin pulled back a little off my finger....no biggie. The pain started to make it's way into my finger but it was nothing traumatic. I ended up playing games with my roommate Kenny for a few hours after that and thought nothing of it. Well Come 4 oclock this morning I was in pain. I was awoken to the feeling that my heart had somehow made its way down to the end of my finger and was pulsating like a raged chihuahua. So I took some ibuprofen and went back to sleep. Well at 7 oclock this morning, the same problem woke me up. So I made my way to the student wellness center, and was escorted by a rather attractive looking assistant. I Told a CNA my story. Had an x-ray and was read my final results. Broken. Hairline. In the tip. Or in proper terms, in my Distal Phalange. Good news though. No cast or wrap can cure this monstrosity. I just have to take pills that take away the pain and make my face numb and wait about 6 weeks for it to be fully healed. So really its not that big of a deal. I just thought it was blog worthy.

The Family FINALLY Came...

2008-10-15T12:16:00.009-06:00

Well after a seriously long drought, my family decided it would be nice to visit their ONLY son at school! My dearest mother and grandmother came down from Idaho this week and we spent some real quality time together! This was my mothers FIRST, again I say FIRST time to Logan (welcome momma) so I had to give her the grand tour. The first day we went out to eat and I was their wildlife guide through the wild and dangerous Logan canyon. We faced many a danger as we came across testosterone-filled cattle drivers and the looming fear that a deer could pop out at any moment had our adrenaline running!!! Heart pumping, let me tell you. Of course I filled their noggins with the city of Logans history and gave them a pop quiz at the end. The next day we headed down to Salt lake and ate at the Cheesecake Factory... Mmmm... and then shot our way to Park City. I had the pleasure of seeing the look on my moms face as I dragged her up and down main street. She was reminded of a three year old version of me pulling her along at the toy store during Christmas. All in all, it was great to see them and I was so glad they came down so I could show them the fruits of Utah. Maybe we could do it again before I go off on that Spiritual Journey or something? Have your people call my people and we'll work it out.

Showing mom my Fire-by-Friction skills.

My Fire-By-Friction skills sucked... so I took it out on mom.

Park City!

What the H is this?! We were appalled!

I got a Hog...

2008-09-07T19:27:00.004-06:00

So I just realized that my last two posts were about my friends getting married. If my FRIENDS lives are blog worthy, but I cant post anything about mine... then thats just pathetic! Have no fear! Something has come my way!!! What? you Ask?!?! Drum roll please... a SCOOTER!!! Yay for two wheeled transportation! Yay for my family freaking out right about now! YAY!!! Yep it's true. I got a scooter... kind of. So my roomie Jordan decided we should go in on a scooter together because A: It's gas efficient. B: The ladies like it. C: They're fun! So we did. We bought a brand new 150 cc scooter for a whopping good price. Jordan forked out the money because... well... he's rich and I just paid him my half. We both got motorcycle endorsements so we're pretty much awesome now. In the past week I've had it I've driven my car... once! Saving gas while saving the environment! And yeah...some ladies have ridden on the back. Family Listen now! I bought a helmet... okay? I am SAFE! I follow the rules of the road. The scooter only goes 150 mph... kidding. 65 really. I dont plan on taking it off road and I'm too chicken to go super fast...yet. :) I love you all...but I'm sticking with the scooter until it gets cold. Which is in about two months... maybe less. Oh and the scooter's name is Jimminy. It sounded like a cricket was inside of it at first so we named it after Jimminy Cricket. There ya have it!

PS. Those of you who are wondering what the "whopping good price" is. Under $1000... that's all I'll say.

Here's a pic... only it doesn't have the trunk thing anymore. Ain't he cute!

My Best Friends Girl...

2008-09-07T18:40:00.003-06:00

So. There comes a time in every mans life, where his best friend goes and gets himself married and leaves his buddy with nothing to do. Well my best friend Matt ended up doing just that. He always thought I would be the first to go, but alas...fate decided other wise! Which is fine by me, because I got to party it up at all his fun filled events! Long story short... Matt and Caitlyn met two years ago and its been a roller coaster ride of events. Matt was twitterpated from the beginning, it just took Cait a few tries to feel the same way. Eventually she grew a pair and she fell mad for the kid. Now they look great together as a married couple and I'm so happy for them! Congrats Matty boy, I love you!

Love is in the air...

2008-07-27T15:15:00.007-06:00

So a few weekends ago one of my best friends FINALLY got married! Congrats Jared! I haven't seen him that happy since our days working at camp. It was hard to let him go... but his lovely wife Shannon is much prettier than I am, so I understand. The reception was at The Cellar in Idaho Falls and it was nothing short of a party. I was probably the only one not drinking but I was able to enjoy a nice bottle of San Palengrino sparkling water. Yum! At the reception I was able to visit with some old friends and reminisce about the good ol days. One of the highlights was when a few of us guys sang a ballad for Jared and Shannon. We did a guitar version of Outkasts Hey Ya, and it turned out so cool! It was fun singing it for him and luckily Casper took video of it. I'll post the link at the bottom, so be sure to click on it. Jared is just the first of many close friends who are getting married soon and I feel like I'm becoming that girl from 27 Dresses who ends up being a bridesmaid for all her friends. Only I'm a groomsman... not a bridesmaid. That would be just silly.

Jared, Lisa and I at camp over 5 YEARS ago!!!

Jared and the "Crew." Jared is bottom right.

Here is the youtube link for the video of us singing to Jared and Shannon. I think we could be BIG!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kuVvZ5Lvo5Q

Fireworks, Cops and Spandex... Oh My!!!

2008-07-18T13:47:00.011-06:00

Hello! Hello! Hello to you all! So again... it's been a while since I have given you all the "update" in the Life of Ryan. To be honest ya'll... not much has happened. Yep. Or... nope. Either or. I have been working A LOT and hanging out at the pool with my homies here in Logan. I've been making some pretty good money though... so if anyone needs a loan, or wants to me to be there sugar daddy, let me know. The APR is only 129%, so your good. A few highlights have been my two trips to my homeland of Idaho Falls. A few weeks ago I came up for the 4th of July. It was neat. Granted I could only come up for about 20 hours before I had to be back the next day for work, but I got to go to a baseball game with the family and enjoyed the fireworks with Matt, Caitlyn and his family. The fireworks never disappoint. So I came back to Logan for a few more days and let me tell you what happened then. Remember a few months back when Ryan James got... um... arrested? Yeah... so I got pulled over because my brake light was broken and the kind ol' officer gave me a nice little reminder to get it fixed. Which I have gotten fixed about three times, I think there is a fuse problem or grounded out wire. ANYWAY! He just wanted to check out everything and asked to see my license, and I gladly gave it to him because I KNEW my record was clear... right? WRONG!!! He comes back and says" Hey Ryan... looks like you were arrested on a warrant back in February, and that warrant is still active." My face went pale white, and my jaw dropped to the ground. Here is how I retaliated, "Um first off... no, no, no, no.... no." I explained I went through the whole court thing and had EVERYTHING taken care of. Long story short, he said because I was already arrested there would be no arresting me that night. Which I was kind of excited to go back to jail, because I knew I could get the awesome bail bonds T-shirt. Sorry Erin... I know how much you wanted me to get that. :) So I called the city office the next day, and cleared it all up. I guess someone forgot to hit the delete button on that little situation.

So a few days later I went back to the homeland and saw my good friend sing at a local concert. Then the next day I went to the YMCA camp I use to work at with my friends Paul and Samantha. It was so great to see those kids, and my how they grow up. I feel so bad though because they remember me and I "recognize" them. I remember a few of their names but for the most part... I'm completely lost. That day we played mud-volleyball, went swimming at the lake, ate spaghetti off the tables, had the Friday night dance ( my costume was a mixture of jack sparrow and peter pan... it was scary), and we finished with skits and songs. The kids demanded I do my famous Tarzan song and I was more than happy to do so. It became the best Tarzan ever and lucky for you I have footage. Mind you its a little dark but still cool.

The day after that I attended one of my best friends wedding which I will talk about in my next blog. Also look forward to a few more blogs after that because I feel I have a lot to write about... Yay for you all! Some excitement in your lives!

PS. Thank you Nani and Mom for your kind words in my last post. I love you both. :)

Here is the famous TARZAN!!! ( click on the highlighted link below )
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S0Ms9sYOFTI

6 Month Evaluation...

2008-06-13T11:18:00.003-06:00

Back in 2007, I made some mistakes in my life. Some minor and some big enough for me to want to make a change in my life. So, not really being a new years resolution guy, I decided to make a few. Now that it is June, I have thought about how far I've come in the past six months and wanted to give myself a little evaluation. I had three major goals to conquer and then some little ones that followed. The first of the three, and the most important was being HONEST to myself and others. For a while there it seemed like I was trying to be someone I'm not, and that guy was no fun anyway. The RJ that would say or do anything just so he could "fit in" never actually did, and therefore only pushed people away. It was a lie to myself, and it was a lie to others. People called me on it and it was a huge wakeup call. Looking back, if I had the chance I would have slapped myself in the face with a silly stick. Why in the world would someone want to fit in by being someone their not? Deep down I always wanted to be liked for who I REALLY am, but thought no one would see me for me. Boy was I wrong. This year has shown me that by being myself, I'm being someone that is unique and different. Someone not afraid to just be themselves and not worry about what others think. I'm not in high school anymore so it was time to stop acting like I was. Now I'm just me. Me in my own skin, in my own life and not trying to live vicariously through others. I still have my moments where I think I'm being an idiot or wish I would have done something better, but then I realize I'm forever changing and who I am a year from now, will be different in some way, to who I am today. As long as I'm happy with who I am and where I'm going, I really don't think I'll have room to complain. So I give myself an A minus as far as all thats concerned.

The second was to be more SPIRITUAL. Not only with God but within myself. I'm not talking about going to church or reading up on the scriptures to gain knowledge, but finding my own personal relationship with God. This one is hard to explain, but going along with finding out who I am, I see little hints of God's plan for me. Opening myself up to the spirit and be in tune with his promptings I can better hear the whispers in my ear that I need to hear. It has helped me so much to understand what I have to do. Does he tell me which way to go? No. Does he give me the option to choose? Yes. The best way to describe it, is like having my own life tutor not tell me the answer but letting me find the answer on my own. And when I find something, I go for it. I feel like I was just filled up with the highest grade of heavenly diesel, and I go full steam ahead! I'm still learning so many things. Within the church and within myself, but it feels great to know what I have come to find out over the past few years and especially the past six months. I give myself a B plus on my spiritual quest.

The last mojor goal was to just LOVE LIFE, no matter what happens. For this one I gave myself an A minus. Here is why. Holy cow have I had some of the happiest and saddest times these past few months. I have come to find out new levels of love and to experience great loss. I have come closer to my friends and family and closer to myself. I have found that happiness is not in any materialistic item but being close to a certain someone or best friend or family member. I've also learned you can't always get what you want... but if you wait long enough, patience will open your eyes to something better. I've learned I can't sit around and wait for things to come, but to go and get those things the best way I know how. And if things don't work out the way I plan, or want, I pick myself up off the ground and do it again. I can't give up on life, or on God, because God won't give up on me ( thanks cucumber for that quote) :). Life is too good to worry about the small stuff, and no matter how hard things may seem, if you want it bad enough, great things will come your way. You just have to know where to find them.

PS. Not to worry, the hilarious Ryan James will be back on tour shortly. :)

If I have to...

2008-05-20T13:34:00.021-06:00

Okay. Well I guess since Hayl's tagged me and I have nothing else to do, I will complete this little fun loving survey. Here are the rules...

List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys!

1. I know it's so unoriginal but of course my family. Mom always laughs at my jokes, even when they aren't funny so that makes me feel cool. Nani tries to act like my jokes aren't funny when deep down she is laughing. It's okay to laugh Nani, really. It lets people know your human. My family in Kentucky has been great too. I just have family all over!!! They have been so welcoming and caring since Oprah got us back together. Okay... Oprah didn't really get us back together ( mom is laughing right now, Nani... not so much). My dad has been cool and my step-mom just wants to make sure I'm happy. Im happy! I miss my little bro, so I guess that means I like him. So all in all, my family.

2. Traveling. What can I say? I like to go places. New places, old places all kinds of places. I feel like I've been to every state and seen all there is to see in the home of the brave. Now I just want to get the fetch out! Go somewhere where nobody understands a single word I'm saying! I decided that with my savings from work, I'm putting it towards a trip. Where? I don't know. Anyone is invited though!

3. Art/ Singing. Both take me away from the "real world" for a while. I haven't done much Art lately but I plan on doing some this summer. Like the other day I did this little project, and made this AWESOME card-stock thingy magigger, and I was so happy with the final outcome. I couldn't stop staring at it! When it comes to my singing/ music writing, I like to see what others think. I take the good with the bad and try to make my next masterpiece a... masterpiece? Anyway, If people like my music, I like them. No, but it makes me happy with what I'm doing.

3 FeArS!... dun dun duuuuuuun.

1. Divorce. I'm not even married but divorce haunts me. Granted, I know I'm a picky person so I'll feel as though my wife was the best choice for me, but with todays high divorce rates, it scurres me. I know I will be confident in my marriage though so maybe I shouldn't worry too much about it.

2. Cliffs. No not heights, but cliffs. I love flying, I love bungie junping (did it once), I want to skydive sooooo bad and I want to be like superman so I can just fly around all day and night. BUT!!! Cliffs and the fear of falling off of them scares the living crap out of me. I know this is a common fear but when I hike or drive on the side of a cliff, I get so nervous. Maybe its just the thought of death being inches away from me? I don't know.

3. The ocean. Not shallow water ocean but the deep ocean. I've always thought that if I was swimming out in the middle of the ocean for some unknown reason, I would flip out. This turned out to be true when I went to the Bahamas. We went only a few miles out to do some snorkeling and the water was so deep. When I got in the water, anxiety and panic immediately over came me. Plus there were Caribbean reef sharks which made things easier. I guess its the fear of not being able to see what could be stalking you in the water. Scary stuff, I'm telling you!

3 Goals!

1. To finally stick with my current major. I'm so tired of being indecisive with what I want to do with my life. I've finally decided to listen to my advisor's "advise" and go into communications. Utah State has a few different branches. PR, Broadcast Journalism, and speech communications. Right now it's between PR and Broadcast. I'll decide which road to take this summer... because it's crunch time!

2. Pay off Credit Cards! Nuff said.

3. Strive to be more and more Spiritual.

3 Obsessions/ Collections.

1. Feet is definitely an obsession. I don't know why, I just like feet. Not everyones feet only a select few. If I like your feet, I'll want to massage them, and I've only massaged a select few. You know who you are... ;)

2. Superman. All my friends know I'd go gay for him. (only because he is fictional of course). I have his comics, his movies, his lunch box, his toys, his blanket and every season of Smallville. I love him.

3. Lately I've been obsessed with budgeting my money. I cant help but think of what to do with my daily tips. I kind of like this though because it's about darn time I started doing this!

3 Random Surprising Facts about Me

1. I ponder life like crazy. I always seem to pause here or there just to think deeply about the mysteries of the universe. I think that people get caught up in their jobs, bills and stressful lives that they forget to look up and look at the bigger picture. That being that we are so small in our little corner of the universe and we don't think about the miracles that are out there!

2. I'm psychic. Yep, no lie. I can seriously think of something in my mind and soon after it just happens! But I cant really talk about it, or else I will lose my power... :)

3. Only my family and close friends know. I love Food Network and love to gourmet cook. I will only cook for you though if I really like you. It's like the feet deal. So everyone better not expect Ryans House of Pancakes opening anytime soon.

5 People

Marty, Aubrey, Kelda, Heather Inns, Lindsay

The End of Another School Year...

2008-04-30T14:27:00.010-06:00

Hello Fans! Sorry for my lack of post's over the past month. I've been, for a lack of better words, lazy. So now that today was my last day of school for the semester I thought I'd do the world a favor and update everyone on the crazy life of Ryan James!!! Well first off... I GOT A JOB!!! Sound the Alarm! An honest one too! I'll have everyone know that I am a proud employee at the Olive Garden. Yes, yes it is true. For those of you who read who aren't part of my close family, the Olive Garden used to be my favorite restaurant. So it's only ironic to my family members who remember the little Ryan James freaking out about going to Olive Garden when we got the chance. Now that I'm older and I have had time to mature my pallet, the Olive Garden has been bumped from the number one position and is replaced by none other than Beto's Mexican Restaurant. HA! Just kidding! That place is gross. I'd rather lick an STD infested toilet seat. I think my favorite is probably Johnny Carinos, but there are so many places I love it's hard to say. I just heart food. So I got done with my week and a half training at Olive Garden and just barely started serving. It's been really fun so far and I think I am going to enjoy it.

Last week we held another party at our humble abode, and the turn out was a success! The theme was a celebrity party and we had red carpet, paparazzi and loud music outside. Almost everyone who came was dressed in Hollywood fashion and it turned out to be really fun. We had people dress up as famous characters such as Indiana Jones to a bald Brittney Spears. Very creative I must say. I dressed up as Zach from Saved by the Bell , while Erin was of course Kelly. We looked ravishing to say the least. The party was such a hit we had the blue and white show up to crash the celebration. I knew this would probably happen and kind of wanted it to as well. You know a party is cool when it gets broken up by the cops!!! It even took five or six police cars to tell us to be quite. Since when does it take that much law enforcement to tell a college party in Logan to be quite?! Oh yes...it's Logan. Now I know why it's the safest city in the U.S.

Lastly, it is the end of another school year. I will be spending this summer here in good ol' Logan working and going to school. The year went by so fast and It was truly one to remember. I learned a thing or two outside of the classroom and also have been credited some life lessons. I can't wait to use the summer to figure out some more of life's mysteries and tackle on another year at USU. Some of my friends are moving on and getting married while others will be doing their own thing for the summer. I will miss some of my peeps, especially those who head down south for a fun filled adventure in babysitting. :) My family will miss me I'm sure, but I will be up there a lot, so no worries fam, I still love thee. Until next time... Chao!

So I had a Birthday...

2008-04-10T22:53:00.005-06:00

It's true everyone... I'm 23!!! Crazy huh?! April 1st was the day I celebrated my coming into the world, and it was truly magical! My friends threw me a wonderful midnight party the morning of and I got to beat the tar out of a pinata (how do you spell that?). We had cake and played with some squirt guns for a while and it was neat. The next day I didn't have school, which was so convenient!!! Erin then took me to the best place in the world... FUN PARK!!! They have this game/arcade of Deal or No Deal and I am so addicted. Long story short, I dumped a few dollars in it and won the maximum amount of tickets you could win which was a whopping 400!!! Victory!!! So we bought a bunch of random stuff and went on our way. Right after, I went to help my buddy Nate at a talent show held up on campus. I just backed him up on guitar and vocals but it was pretty fun.
After that all the gang got together and went to Chili's for dinner. I really enjoyed being with everyone and laughing our heads off about random things. Good times... gooood times. The finale was brought by an Oreo cake (my favorite) and a dream deciphering book given to me by the lovely Erin. She is just great. :) So a pretty swell day I would say. I was sung to far too many times but I guess I can handle a little attention if I have to... :) We all know I hate it.

California Dreaming...

2008-03-17T11:06:00.011-06:00

Hello all!!! It has been a while! My how the time flies by. I hope I haven't left many of you lucky readers dying for a new blog. No worries though because here I am!!! So... I just got back from spring break and boy was it a hoot. I'm talking about sunny weather, good tans, good friends and all the junk food you can eat! Whoo Baby! So I will start from the beginning and work my way to the end since that is usually how they do it these days. So on Friday March 7th, me and thirteen of my awesome friends drove down to St. George, Utah, for the weekend. There the weather was already thirty degrees warmer than Logan. During the duration of the weekend we mainly just hung out, checked out a few little hot spots and were merry. Sunday arrives and we pack up the three cars for California. The drive was pretty fun and I got to see a girl on the side of the road throwing up everything she had ever eaten in her life. It was cool. By the way, I took down my car so I did most of the driving. I'm not complaining however for Ryan James likes to drive and talk in the third person.

So Sunday evening we arrive in La Mirada, California and check into our hotel. There we have three rooms split between fourteen people, so everyone pretty much had a good place to sleep. We settled in and got our spirits up for Disneyland the next day. So Monday we wake up bright and early and take a shuttle bus from our hotel to Disneyland. Now we tried something new this year and bought our tickets off Ebay. The sellers basically buy a week long pass and rent them out for half the price of general admission. All of us thought this was a little sketchy but it turned out all right. The coolest part about it though was we had to meet our person in the Mcdonalds parking lot across the street from Disneyland. That was probably the closest feeling of buying illegal drugs I'll ever get. But like I said the tickets worked just fine!!! So There we spent a good thirteen hours in California Adventure and Disneyland!!! Whoo! I love Disneyland!!! Sorry mom, no souvenirs this year... I'm cheap.

So Tuesday arrives and we are all pretty exhausted from our magical adventure the day before. We planned on sleeping in a little and heading to Huntington Beach for some relaxation. There we played sand volleyball and jumped into a not so warm ocean. Still it was pretty fun. We spent the majority of the day there and walked around the shops at night. Just a typical California day.

Wednesday we traveled up a few miles north to the city of angels, where we stopped at a neat little outside mall called "The Grove." It's got a nice little feel to it and it wasn't crowded with people. There we ate at a Cheesecake Factory... Delicious! I'm telling you that they have the best strawberry lemonade in the world. After we stuffed ourselves we headed to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the Chinese theater and sidewalk of stars. After a while looking around we went across the street to wait in line for the Jimmy Kimmel show. For those of you who are out of the loop, Jimmy Kimmel is a late night talk show host. He's pretty funny and is growing increasingly popular. It was really cool to be an audience member and to see how a show like that is run. His guests were Adam Carolla and Sheryl Crow. Adam Carolla is going to be on this seasons Dancing With the Stars and everyone else should know who Sheryl Crow is. If not... she is a singer. Nough Said. Sheryl then had an outside mini concert after the show which was pretty cool to see. After Jimmy Kimmel we headed two hours south to San Diego and checked into a retro looking hotel. Everyone was pretty tired so we weren't up too late before it was lights out.

Thursday morning we checked out and headed to the San Diego temple. It was truly awesome and had an amazingly peaceful atmosphere. I felt really relaxed and really wanted to just take a nap on the grounds but I don't think they would have liked that. After we left everyone kind of did their own thing. A group of us went to old town San Diego and ate lunch at a cool little outside taco place. It was delish! Then we just walked around and checked out the town.
We met up with everybody that evening at mission beach. There we rode a roller coaster, played a few carnival games and hung out on the beach. We stayed and watched the sun set which was beautiful and most of us hung around to eat and tell funny stories. It was a good way to spend our last night in California.

Thursday night we drove back up to our hotel in La Mirada and crashed. Friday we left California and headed to Las Vegas to put our money down. In Vegas we met up with a few members of our group and just walked around and checked out some of the sites. Everyone decided to head back to St. George to call it a night but a few of us had other things in mind. After we ate, me and my friend Matt and his girlfriend went to a bodies exhibit. Basically they have preserved bodies dissected in different ways on display. It wasn't gross at all and was really cool to see. I would recommend anyone to see this. Meanwhile... while we are being educated, Erin and Jessica decide to take a walk on the wild side and go see a little attraction called Thunder from Down Under. Now this is pretty much a male strip show. They don't get naked but they show off their juiced up bodies for female entertainment. Now even though Erin and Jess went just because they thought it would be funny... I however found myself getting a little perturbed at the idea of Aussie men shaking what their momma's gave em in front of their innocent eyes. However... I bit my lip and dealt with it, but I keep hearing stories of what happened that I'd rather not hear.

The trip was really fun and everyone had a blast. Luckily there were no problems and for a group of fourteen people everything went smoothly. I got to see some exciting stuff and was able to grow closer to some of my amazing friends. I also learned something I wish I hadn't... girls fart. This is news to me. I thought this whole time girls didn't poop or fart, it just dissolved and was turned into fairy dust. However... at least three girls passed gas on this trip and my universe as we know it is crashing down. I feel I'm in for a rude awakening...

2008-02-17T19:45:00.002-07:00

Since everyone who still reads my blogs must been somewhat interested in what I do with my spare time here is a short blog about my past week. Excited?! Good! Because I'm excited to share!!! Here we go. First off, I have resorted back to selling my body. Yes donating plasma. Yes I know family, you absolutely hate it when I donate but it's thirty bucks each time you go!!! C'mon! Thats a deal. I'm in college still, so I do what I can kapeesh?! Besides, I'm saving lives. That accounts for something right? That's what I thought.

Also, It fell like I had a surprise birthday party this week. But wait... my birthday isn't until April. I'll explain for those of you out of the loop. My friends were in on a little "secret" this week that was kept from me until Wednesday night and it totally blew me out of the water. I'm sure most of my friends and family know what the secret was by now and if you don't know... well you'll just have to call me or something because I'll get carpletunnel trying to explain it on here. The whole situation was pretty gosh darn funny to say the least.

I saw two movies this past weekend. First was Jumper. BORING!!! I wouldn't recommend this
movie to my worst enemy because It was absolutely ridiculous. Enough said. Second was Definitely, Maybe. This was a pretty good heart felt movie. Although not amazing, I thought it was good. Ryan Reynolds, who is one of my favorite actors, was in this movie so I probably would have thought the movie sucked if he wasn't in it.

Do you think I'm weird? This is a question for everyone. I mean, I know I have my moments and I can be a little crazy at times, but I think I can be serious we I need to be. I wont care at all if everyone thinks I AM weird, because I am pretty content with who I am as a person. I just wanted to know if everyone has put me in the weird people category. Apparently people who I think is weird ( in a good way... cough) isn't as weird as me. I don't understand this... but oh well.

Well... It's Sunday and I'm bored and I just realized I don't have a lot to talk about but there ya go. Hopefully everyone else has had a good weekend. Also, I found out that certain members of my family have let other members of our clan know about my blog. For this I am sorry. You may say you love to read them, but just because your family don't feel obligated to read these. I don't want to put that pressure on your poor hearts. I will however say to my auntie Laurel who lives in Maui, if you need a house sitter, please think of your favorite nephew. That is all.

My trip to... Idaho Falls!

2008-02-14T22:14:00.004-07:00

It has come to my attention that Idaho falls no longer feels like my "home" anymore. I guess that's okay since Logan has been my place of residence for two years now. So now when I make a trip up to Idaho Falls, it's like I'm going on the coolest vacation/road trip EVER!!! My most recent trip to the great gem state was nothing short of awesome! First I wake up early Tuesday morning and grab my friend Jeff ( hey Jeff) to bring him along to keep me company. On the way out of town, I notice that I have stopped at at least four different places and have waisted over an hour doing so. So far so good. Finally we hit the road and make our way to Preston, ID (only about twenty five miles out) when we realize we need to stop once more at a gas station before our trip can fully begin. I guess we needed an odd number of places to stop at before the gods would allow us safe passage. So the sky was clear, the roads were good and we were off!!! About an hour into the trip I hit I-15 northbound and look to the side of the road. What do my eyes catch but a cow squatting herself silly pushing out a newborn calf!!! This is huge people!!! You only see stuff this good on Animal Planet. So I flipped a U-ey and broke many traffic laws to catch a glimpse of this amazing miracle. By the time we got back to the scene, the cow had just plopped the thing out and was licking the goo and yummy delicious placenta off. It was still the coolest thing I had seen. I almost cried and felt strangely like I had just become a daddy. But that would just be weird right?!

So we got into Idaho Falls and I grabbed some things from my room to take back to Logan. Mainly my snowboard and snow gear. Then my dearest grandmother Nani, or "Delyla" as the normal world would call her, came in to greet me with warm hugs and kisses. She is great. She then showed off her furniture and nit picked the extremely minor flaws in the sectional couch. I didn't notice anything but whatever. It looked good and was comfortable so thats all that matters to me. We decided to treat ourselves to Applebees where we ate and were merry and called it good. My friend Jeff then asked if we could drive further north to see the newly built temple in Rexburg. I accepted that the temple was sort of a big deal and agreed to take him up. So we bid farewell to my Nani and headed North where the white temple stood. We looked at it, said " yep... looks great," and headed back. Nothing too exciting happened on the way back but I do want to throw out that we listened to my favorite band Nickel Creek, who's style is a very chill bluegrass, and Jeff and I sang some sweet harmonies along with the tunes. It was cool.
Oh ... I almost forgot. We did get kind of bored and made a video on the way up. Here it is... enjoy.

I'm a Lover not a Fighter...

2008-02-08T11:03:00.001-07:00

The last time I remember being in a physical fight was in high school. I don't really know who won, but I remember both of us walking away with bruised ego's and bloody lips. I hate fighting. Whether it's with words or daggers or a simple argument. It just seems silly to me. Well I find that if I do start an argument or try to prove a point I simply just can't give up. I don't know why. Stubborn maybe? I just feel like I have something to prove. Rarely do I accept I'm wrong, but I need to understand that frankly... I'm not always right. Where is this going? I'll briefly tell you. The past while I've been fighting pretty hard to prove something. What that is is classified information, but I'm sure most of you already know. :) It's something I'd wake up to in the morning to think how was I going to tackle this great obstacle. Even when hope seemed lost there was still this voice in the back of my head saying, "Ryan James! Don't you give up." So I would hold on to whatever I could. I'd sit back and wait for the glory to come to me. Victory would be mine! I just knew this would happen because I have never wanted something so bad in my entire life. I have never put so much heart and soul into anything! And this people....was worth fighting for. I'd get encouragement from both sides of the lines, that would fill my hope bottle drop by drop. Sooner or later... all this was going to be worth it. All the sweat and tears and restless nights and prayers would soon manifest into this wonderful gift from God.

But not all stories have happy endings. I'm afraid mine isn't so lucky to be happy ever after just yet. I've come to realize that there is only so much one can do... and sometimes, that isn't enough. So...I'm throwing in the towel. Raising the white flag and walking away with my tail in between my legs. This fight was not meant for me to win. Which SUCKS! I'm pretty sure I've never taken anything like this so bad, but that's life sometimes. I know by doing this I'm giving up so much and it rips my heart into pieces I'm not sure can be fixed anytime soon. This isn't what I want at all... but It's what I have to do. I hope things can turn out in the end... but I feel like I'm losing one of the greatest things to have ever come into my life, and that... is the worse feeling in the world. I don't care who you are... it sucks. So I guess it's time to move on, but I sure will miss my cucumber...

There's something wrong with me...

2008-02-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's true. After thinking long and hard about my current condition I have come to the conclusion that my mind is literally messed up! What am I talking about? Ha! Well... I have learned recently that my cerebellum and my mendulla oblongata frankly cannot co-exist. Here is why. During the day my mind works just fine. I have total control over what I think about and it's great! At night however... I find myself in a mixed up world of pure insanity. To put it simply...I dream . I dream a lot! Too much to be honest. It really does affect my life to the point where I spend most of my day thinking about what I dreamed the night before! Not only do I dream but I have ridiculous crazy dreams. Dreams that make me wake up and literally say, "seriously?!" That happened this morning. Get this... I dreamed that a guy I see at the gym every now and then, (who I don't like very much because he thinks he's Gods gift to Mens Health Magazine) was singing a musical song in my Family Finance class. During this time my roommate Kenny was throwing cards at him and playing sherades with class. To top it off, perfume in a bottle shaped like an apple was spraying the class. The end. So what does that mean?! I DON'T KNOW!!! But I want it to stop! So... I have decided to donate my body to science. Yes it is true. I am going to partake in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) studies up at the university. Does my university have such a study going on? Who knows. But I aim to get someone crazy enough to study my brain because I think it would help that scientist win the Nobel Prize in the Study of Crazy Dreams nomination. Maybe I'll even get paid for it... how's that for an honest living Nani?! Ha!

Here are some random bits of info that have happened recently.

I am currently a B student in all my classes, except in Career Analysis because we have yet to receive a homework assignment or test.
I learned pretty much everything there is to know about the females monthly cycle... I'm so thankful to know all that there is to know now. Yep.
I wrote a new song. Thats currently five originals by Ryan James.
I learned that potato soup makes me get severe cramps below the navel. I seriously thought an alien was going to pop out. I was going to name it Barack if it was a boy and Hillary if it was a girl.
I was walking down a hill the other night with my guitar and totally slipped on my butt. My guitar is fine but you should see the bruise on my tail bone. It's a doosey.
Giants won the Super Bowl. Haha! What now mom?!

We the jury find Ryan James Shumate...

2008-01-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

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....

I'm running away!

2008-01-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Oh the up's and downs...

2008-01-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

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

Technically... your under arrest.

2008-01-20T16:37:00.001-07:00

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...

Let's give em something to talk about...

2008-01-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

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.