Driving In The Elements

As I drive from Cedar City to St. George very often, I have driven through a lot of different types of weather.

I've had fun driving through snow most of the way from St. George to Cedar City, then start to slide as I'm getting off the Cedar City exit. I have never gotten into an accident because of the snow, rain, sleet or wind though. *Knock* *knock* on wood.

Last night was one of the craziest rainstorms I've seen while driving. It's not the craziest (Thank you, Beaver), but it was one of them.

Picture from ziqitza.blogspot.com.

I got on the road from St. George and there was light rain. By the time I got near Leeds, it was coming down pretty good. From then on, it felt like my car kept drifting to the right, people were driving super slow. I realized it was just the wind though because my car tells me when there is a lack of contact with the ground.

I feel like I'm flying past people, but I'm only going around 60 miles an hour. The rain was so randomly hard sometimes, but very light in others. I only had low traction twice though throughout the whole drive.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm not a big fan of drivers in Utah. We get such an awful mixture of Utahns trying to go as fast as they can, Californians staying in the fast lane, so I have to pass them on the right, and then some Nevadans do a mixture of the two.

When weather is introduced, I feel like these drivers get 100 percent worse. They act like they've never driven in a little rain storm. They don't dare change lanes, so sometimes you get stuck behind two people going the same speed next to each other. They also won't go faster than 45-50 miles an hour. It just seems ridiculous to me.

Sure, I'm all for being safe (ask anyone that has been in the car while I drive). I just don't get super worried about driving until I feel like I'm sliding. I will slow down below the speed limit, but I'm not going to shy away from passing you if you're driving slower than you should be.

Favorite Song...For Now

Talking about John Mayer's newest music made me think about posting about my favorite song right now. You know how there is something about a song that just fully explains your life, well this is that type of song.

I have had many different favorite songs throughout my life. For a really long time it was "More Than A Feeling" by Boston. That song is phenomenal. The guitar, the lyrics and words are great. But the drums are my favorite part of that song. It gets me jamming out every time, even still to this day.

Another one of my favorite songs for awhile was "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. It is such a catchy tune, catchy wording and makes me happy I don't hang out in bars. 

An all-time top 3 to 5 for me is Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror." That song is so powerful with the words he says and the heartfelt way it is sung. I absolutely love that song. Michael Jackson has so many good songs, but this is the pinnacle for me.

This is in no way me saying my top 5 songs right now, but wouldn't be awful it was. I'm just saying my favorite song for now. 

My favorite song right now is by John Mayer. It's called "Stop This Train." If you haven't heard it, you need to. In fact, here is the live version which is my favorite version:

If you listen to the lyrics, you too will love it. Sometimes I think life is moving too fast, like he says in the beginning. It seems like I just graduated high school sometimes, then it also feels like I just got home from my mission now. I've been graduated for almost 8 years, and home from my mission for almost 4 1/2 years.

Then he says he gets advice from his dad, "Don't for a minute change the place you're in." I would never change the way my life has come to this point. I wouldn't change Kaylee for anyone else. I wouldn't change my opportunity as a member of the bishopric of the young singles adult ward for anything. I wouldn't change my opportunity to attend pharmacy school this next fall. 

Life is great! Sometimes it flies by, other times moments seem to never end. In the end, take it as it comes and enjoy the moment. To end, here is one of my mom's favorite quotes, "Find joy in the journey."

New Music -- In Waves

If you know much about me, you will know that I am a pretty laid back, chill person. I have gone through lots of different genres of music over my life. I loved classic rock (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Boston, etc.) for a long time, and still do. I had stints of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra among others that I listened to for a long time.

Since returning from my mission, I have moved most of my music preferences to more relaxed music over the past few years though. I have fallen in love with basically everything Billy Joel, Jack Johnson and John Mayer produced and still produce.

Well, the past two months John Mayer has released two "waves" of four songs. These eight new songs are from his new, 14-song album "The Search For Everything."

You may have heard one of his songs from Wave One on the radio. It's called "Love on the Weekend." Here it is:

As great as that song is, you need to listen to the other three songs from the first wave, They are titled "Moving On and Getting Over," "You're Gonna Live Forever In Me" and "Changing."

They're all so different, but all so amazing.

Wave Two came out about a week ago, and I love all four songs already. The one I wanted to share is "Still Feel Like Your Man." It's got such a smooth feel to it. Plus the second verse is kind of funny with the shampoo stuff.

Find the rest of his second wave on YouTube. The other songs are titled "Roll It On Home," Emoji of a Wave" and "Helpless." 

John Mayer has been doing music for a long time, and this could be one of his best albums. It's hard to top "Continuum," but this is incredible, heartfelt music.

Busy, Busy

The past couple of weeks have been crazy. I feel like I have less and less time to spend doing things I want to and enjoy. I had to add another class for Roseman.

I didn't realize I hadn't completed the speech component for my prerequisites, so I added Communications 1010. I thought it was completed by my Interpersonal Communications class, so I wasn't worried until I received an email one day saying I needed to finish my speech class.

Picture from custom-writing.org.

This was about a month ago now, though. I have already gotten into the class (nearly an entire month late). So I have been catching up on that. I just gave an informative speech on France Monday. It went pretty well, but I haven't seen a score back from it, so that's got me a little nervous. I think I'm all caught up in the makeup work with the class though, so I should have more free time.

As for Organic Chemistry, it's been a tough class. I did pretty well in the first semester, but this second semester started with something completely different. Then it jumped back into what we were used to. We have a test on Friday. There are tons of reactions and mechanisms in the two chapters we will be tested on too! I'm going to take all day tomorrow and study. I will pass this class! I have to for pharmacy school.

Silly picture from http://f.tqn.com/. 

Wish me luck!

The F-word

This is something that has been on my mind for a few days. Whether it's heck, shiz, gosh, frick or any other variation that people use, Utahns are known for making up different words in place of swears. It's normal for Utahns -- heck, I do it too.

Awesome picture from Pinterest.com.

So, since when is it normal for people to use the F-word in casual conversation? Sure, you hear it in high schools all the time, and you'll definitely hear it on college campuses also. But why is it so prevalent now? One thing that has caught my attention the past week is how often women are using this awful word.

I heard it used twice by women on two different occasions this past week! The first time I was just walking home after a class and these two girls were having a conversation. In the brief moment of passing by them, one of the girls threw down the word twice, about four words apart.

The second time was in my swimming class (yeah, I'm taking a swimming class. Yes, it's a beginning class). I was doing the workout on the board with the other five or six swimmers that didn't need swim lessons to start the class, and I'm about halfway through it when I decided to stop for a rest. A girl two lanes over is looking at the clock to time herself and she just says it twice in a row for no apparent reason except she is tired from swimming.

Photo from BusinessInsider.com. I don't think Trump said the F-word hear, but it's still a funny picture that always makes me think that's what he is saying.

I'd like to submit that a woman saying the F-word is one of the biggest turn-offs ever. If a cute girl says it, she immediately is no longer cute. It's a disgusting word and you sound a look disgusting when you say it, so just stop.

Yes, this is me focusing on the women who say it, but I think guys say it because they think it makes them look tougher. They think they're proving they're not afraid to say a bad word, thus translating that they're not afraid of anything. Well, it makes them look stupid. 

Honestly, all swearing is because of a lack of vocabulary. People use swear words to amp up their sentences, when there are already good words to do that, and those words don't make you sound awful.

Regarding the Last Two Weeks

The last two weeks have been crazy. Sorry we haven't posted anything here, but after this, hopefully you'll understand why.

While I was at work last Wednesday (Jan. 25), I received a phone call from an unknown number. I missed the call (I don't usually answer calls from numbers I don't recognize). Then it said missed call and voicemail, so that's always interesting. Usually when it's a number I don't know, it's a call I didn't want to receive anyway. Not this time. Here is what was said:

"Hey Jordan, this is Dr. Grant with Roseman University College of Pharmacy. I was calling to say just how much we appreciated you coming in to interview with us. We hope that you found it informative, and we hope that you learned just as much about us as we did about you and that you enjoyed your time here, because I would like to offer you a seat here in South Jordan with our class of 2020. So, Congratulations. We were very happy to have you to come in. So, you can say that you are accepted into pharmacy school. I remember how awesome that feeling was for me. I say tonight you enjoy it and definitely celebrate just how awesome of an accomplishment that is..."

Six days. That's all it had taken for them to review everything since the interview and offer me a seat. That was a lot faster than I thought it was going to be. Next, I got an email stating all the things I needed to do to accept the seat at Roseman.

Today (Feb. 3), I sent the paperwork to Roseman to accept that offer. I will be attending pharmacy school next year! It was such a huge relief to be accepted and be able to focus on the semester at hand.

In other news, Kaylee has gotten me running on a treadmill, which is a huge step for her. She is excited about it. I ran a mile the last two times. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but I hate running for fun.

We also went ice skating the other day, which was another big deal for Kaylee. She keeps begging me to try rollerblading, and I have never done it, so I always decline. Then, every winter, she begs me to go ice skating, but I decline that also. This time, we went with the YSA ward for Family Home Evening. I went around the rink three times. It was a struggle!

You can read a little of her thoughts on Instagram. Her profile is abel_kay02.

Pharmacy School Interview at Roseman University

I know it has been awhile since I've posted anything. With school starting back up, I'm still trying to get adjusted to the schedule. Thursday I had the opportunity to interview at Roseman University in South Jordan, Utah, though.

Picture from startclass.com.

It was my first interview for graduate school ever, so that was kind of a big deal. I arrived around 1:15 p.m. at the school and there were already quite a few other potential students there. I dressed in my suit, as did most of the guys at the interviews. The women were in business professional, which included pant suits or skirts. There ended up being around 40 students that attended the interviews.

I hung out for a little bit with them, just chatting until we were told to join a few people in the Student Commons room. We started out by watching a quick video about life on campus, which was cut short because we were a little behind schedule.

They handed us a folder that had our interviewer and time on it. I was given 3 p.m. with Dr. Unni. After that, we went into a classroom to be taught a little bit about Roseman's history and other information that was related. The classroom was built with a command center-type booth in the center with screens set in a circle facing towards the students, who were also seated in a circle with the professor in the middle. It was an interesting set up, but seemed like I was part of the class.

Picture from lvgea.org.

Next was a writing assessment, which I was told may have been to make sure we spoke and wrote in English fluently. The prompt was "If you could invite anyone, past or present, to dinner, who would it be and why?" I didn't have too much of a problem with that...I mean, you are reading what I am writing right now, so I think I know how to write well enough.

Finally, it was time for my interview. I walked in and was greeted by an Indian woman, Dr. Unni and a first year pharmacy student, Grace Fields. Both of them were really nice. The interview was good. A lot of the questions were based on teamwork and getting along with people, which I don't feel I have any issues with.

After that, I just took a tour with Jordan Gray, who was super helpful throughout the entire process. He is currently in his third and final year at Roseman, so he helped me out with everything.

Overall, I think the whole interview/process went well. Now, I wait for a few weeks to see what happens.