happy 4th of july

Some pics from our 4th of July celebration

don't show this to the kids...

so sat i was working in grandmother's yard....the typical....just cleaning the pool, mowing the lawn. but there was something i found out about grandmother that i never knew before. now i knew grandmother did a lot of cooking from scratch, BUT i had no idea how 'from scratch' she started!!!!

This may look like an innocent looking gazeebo, that we've had many fun family gatherings around. however lets investigate and take a closer look...



...could it be true?! Take a closer look.




I hope this ghastly site hasn't brought you to tears or ruined your future appetite....however, who knew grandmother was so resourceful, and what's more shocking, we now know the TRUE ingredients to her mince-meat pie and meatloaf!!!

weekend fun...

So i've been studying and taking an MCAT prep class this summer...it's pretty intense and is a ton of work just to keep up! Needless to say I've spent many hours doing fun things like reading my many text books, doing homework and keeping up on current events.

So this weekend I decided I'd get out and go do something fun....i knew i shoulda stayed home in my secluded little study niche
what's even worse is it was a ward singles activity =0



The morning after


2 days after

musical trivia...

So i have a few musical trivia questions for ya pertaining to some of my favorite songs...the winner gets, well....recognition on my blog.
ps if you just google the lyrics THAT'S CHEATING!

1. **We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again, so open up i'm climbing in.**

2. **Well it seems like things are only getting better Well it seems like we can never catch a break. Just keep a hold on me, don't let go...**

3. **feel my heart with song, let me sing forever more. you are all i long for, worship and adore...**

4. **waiting for attention, i'm not. cut it to the left and i rock. need an invitation, i don't. slide it to the right and i roll.**

5. **and the battle has begun, this many lost but tell me who has won. the trenches built within our hearts, and mothers' children, brothers sisters torn apart.**

-let the games begin

a little delayed.....but some surgery fun!

This is actually my gangster pose, you might think those hats are kinda weak, but in the surgi center they are bomb! Not every patient gets to wear one actually...

...now you might think i'm drugged in this picture, but i'm actually not...least i don't remember being so at that point

Just chilling like i own the place

This is my surgeon, he was pretty cool....he even colored on my stomach. cept i wish he hadn't with the permanent marker

Everything went great until the nurse took me off roading and accidentally dumped me outta the wheelchair as we collided with the cement median

New Years Eve Celebration @ The Hyatt's...

So i put together a few video clips of what new years eve (which we celebrated on Dec 30th). It's my first video editing really, so please bear with me, and enjoy :D

A short story...

So the dishwasher went out at the Hyatt home a few weeks ago (& no I don't mean Mom - the actual appliance) so with Mom's Christmas present from work a shiny, new dishwasher was purchased. Of course Mom was hesitant to allow her favorite son David to instal it...i believe her words were "i don't trust you to touch our new dishwasher, you'll likely break it before it sees one wash." Harsh!!!

Anyway when the plumber didn't show, she had no other choice than to have David take a look at it...maybe he wasn't so useless she thinks outloud...

Everything was going smoothly. The plumbing was old, unable to be removed so cutting the old tubing was necessary. David dotted his i's and crossed his t's...the valve to the sink was shut off, the power turned off...all was well...that is until the 'clean' water line was snipped and water gushed from the cut end!!! It appeared that the valve to the kitchen had only one setting....ON!!!

Thinking fast David raced to the laundry room gathered up all the clean clothes and towels nearby and threw them underneath the spraying hose! Maybe not the best of idea. Next he sprinted outside, desperately trying to remember where the main water valve to the house is. Fortunately it was in plain sight and quickly turned off. So David went diligently back to work enlisting the help of his good friend Tyler Pace who came over to see David's sister Nicole but found himself mopping up the floor and helping David in his noble cause.

Of course this story has a happy ending because 'the big bad dishwasher job' was a success....the dishwasher (not Mom) was installed and is working like a busy beaver.

Needless to say, here's a few pictures of the new dishwasher, about half of the towels i used to mop up the slight flooding of our kitchen, and I also got a netherdrake in this game I play and it looks really, really cool...

some random pics...

so i was thinking....what could i take a picture of to show you what i've been up to lately, but pictures of me studying aren't really all that exciting....so here goes

Mi casa that i decoratedo (spanish for decorated)




grandfather and grandmother's casa that i decoratedo...













and some random halloween pics...even my beekeeping brother!

nothing new....

okay, so my blogs lookin a little boring....but what do i have to tell ya.......so i'm back home, blah blah blah. anyway, i came across this story that i wanted to share with y'all! It's kinda sad, but has a good meaning!
i love ya & when i have something more exciting to post....i most certainly will!


A Mother passing by her son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up.

Then she saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to "Mom" With the worst premonition she opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter.


Dear Mom,:

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Dad and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Mom she's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children.

Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone.We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy. In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it. Don't worry Mom. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love,
Your Son Jon


P.S. Mom, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that's in my center desk drawer.

I love you.
Call me when it's safe to come home.

a taste of my hood...

what else can i say...this is a picture of my favorite abandoned house out in my ghetto hood. pay close attention to the 2 doors in the picture...tell me what you see.

White Sox Game

so last week our team met a goal we were striving for, so the company took us to a white sox game in a stretched limmo. Here's a picture of the stretched limmo....yea right, more like an old folks bus!

It was actually a pretty sweet set up inside though, it had a big screen tv with leather seats and all. turned out to be really cool.


Anyway, the game was a ton of fun, although the sox lost to the twins like 11-0.....which was a little disappointing, but still fun! Anyway, love and miss ya all!
-the guy on the right is my manager & friend blayne, the guy on the left is a team mate, Jimmy.

Hi everyone!! So yesterday i went to the taste of chicago! All i can say is wow!!! imagine like 3 streets blocked off and full of booths set up by different restaurants! Then imagine trying all of their food!!! I had a rib sandwich, meatball sandwich, chicken salad, pizza, bbq hamburger & chocolate covered banana! It was SO good! Here are some pictures from it.

This friday i'm going to a sox game too!!!

Random Thoughts....

It's been a while since i've updated my blog, and for that I apologize. mostly it's because nothing new or exciting has been happening....i'm still just working :-)

we actually moved areas though, we're selling in chicago itself right now, i'm about a 15 min train ride from downtown where i'm at right now. the people are really pretty nice, it's about 90% hispanic which is my interesting tidbit of info for the day. 2 of the guys on my team had their appendix repture last week, the bizarre circumstances is that both of them were in the same appartment, and had surgery within about 3 days of each other. contagious? maybe.

anyway, i hope you enjoy the random pictures i took....the 'car umbrella' was a picture taken in my old hood (lake station, illinois). the name is pretty self explanatory, but just in case you're confused, the car had a large hole it's roof, so why not save some $ in repairs, it's much more cost effective is it to merely place an umbrella where that gaping hole was....problem fixed.

the next is from the chicago blues festival i attended 2 weeks ago (which was fabulous by the way) - it just doesn't get any better than good music, good food, and lots'a pretty ladies in the outdoor air!

Next is Buckingham fountain, which i'm sure many of you remember from the theme of 'Married with Children'.....oh come on, we all know you watched it religiously!

The next is of the Chicago Theater. the day we were there, they were shooting a movie inside the theater, so the road was blocked off and camera crews were waiting for the several stars to arrive. i watched in anticipation, and then got bored as i realized i didn't know who any of the actors were.

Lastly, the decoration i recently did to my appartment room, thanks to Jacob & Sunny's package they sent me. it actaully looks like someone lives in here now!

i love & miss you all~

a vote...

so yesterday was an extremely windy day out here in chicago, and i have to admit my hair is getting pretty long.....long enough that after it being blown around in my face all day long i decided i needed to get a haircut the following morning.

So this morning i woke up early and tried to find a barber, but ran into the problem that there weren't any barbers that open before noon! So what could I do, wait till the weekend.....no.....

so i borrowed a pair of clippers and figured how hard could it be, right?

Anyway, here's a picture of my first haircut down by myself. Not to bad right? And to think that I've been paying $15 for someone to do what i can obviously do just as good :)

some interesting tidbits....

I thought I had already posted my interesting facts about the new city that I'm selling in, but somehow forgot to mention them.....

The city I'm currently selling in is Gary, Indiana:

Last year, Gary had the highest per capita murder rate in the United States.
9 out of 10 crimes in Gary are violent crimes
Gary's local murders are 8.75 times the national average

Please feel free to research this further at:
http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Gary&state=IN

Wow I love going to work each day :)

Downtown...

Hi guys, so this afternoon (after church of course...) i went into downtown chicago with some friends. It's a lot of fun, there's a lot to see and do, but today we just kinda bummed around the town. We went to the apple store, mostly because I can't resist checking out all the new gadgets, and then after we ate at a pizza place called Giordano's. It was the best pizza I've ever had!!! It started raining pretty hard, so we kinda called it a day earlier than usual. Here are some pictures of me and some of the guys in my team at Giordanos, me at Chicago River and some randome pictures of the town. much love~

interesting tidbit....

So I was reflecting on my first week of time out here in Chicago......and I realized an interesting truth.....

The hoods that we're selling in are populated by about ~90% blacks, the other 10% is a variety of ethnicities. The interesting thing is, my assumption would be that the blacks would be sort of racist towards me, since I'm the minority there. This however was not the case at all...all of the black individuals I've met (for the most part) have been super nice!!! It's the white guys doors that I've knocked on that are just EXTREMELY rude! Kinda blew my mind how rude they were actually.

Another funny thing...(cough).....was one night we were getting in a little bit later than usual, and one of the guys I sell with was at the gas station waiting to be picked up. A cop came up to him, asked him what he was doing and wanted to make sure that he had a ride out of there, before it got too dark. Safe neighborhoods i guess :-)

Well, I love you all, I'm hoping to go into chicago next weekend, and if i do will post some pics. Love you all.
~dave

The Windy City...

Hi everyone! I've spent the last 3 days driving across the country...The first day (Monday) I drove through Arizona and New Mexico (which is not that pretty of a state - it's rather like an ugly version of Arizona). On Tuesday I continued on driving through Colorado and Nebraska, both of which were green and beautiful. Monday night though I was watching the news and noticing the weather forcast for Colorado, which I was going to be driving through the following day...and as I'm listening I realize they're talking about how there is a Tornado watch out in Southern Colorado, and that the tornado sirens had been going off.....and i'm thinking.....oh great, what a wonderful start to a road trip!! Anyway, the tornado moved east into kansas, much to their dismay i'm sure, but my advantage! Day 3 I drove through Iowa and Illinois to where I am now. I'm staying in Westmont Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago! The apartments are nice, pretty big. There are 3 of us that stay in the 3-bedroom apartment....although I haven't met my roomates yet, so i'll let you all know how that goes. The one thing, is that it's pretty chilly here and very windy. I think it's about 54 degrees right now with the wind factor cooling it off even more. needless to say i went to wal-mart to buy some groceries and dishes and what not, and I picked up an extra blanket as well. Anyway, tomorrow will be my first day selling, so I'll let you all know how that goes.
much love~dave