Today was outstanding. I woke up first at 7:45 to the alarm on my phone and realized that if I turned it off I wouldn’t get up till 10:00 which inevitably did happen. After a quick shower, I turned on my Xbox, only after cleaning my room and my man cave. A few games later’ I heard a knock on my door, and I soon was off with my uncle to a Vietnamese restaurant. But first his truck decided it wanted to give us some trouble. A few try’s, more like 20, my uncle managed to start the engine and we were ready. The game-plan for the day was to catch a movie and eat till our stomachs bulged, which tends to take A LOT of fine dining.

About ten minutes into our enjoyable adventure my Uncle, Michael, realized that he had no clue where he was going; a quick couple clicks on his phone later, and we received directions to the nearest Vietnamese restaurant. This turned out to be around 30 minutes a way–it was worth it.

Once inside the restaurant we were guided to our table in a matter of seconds with same result in service of food. Today my Uncle showed my the greatest tasting, satisfying, appetizing, mouth-watering, soul-healing soup ever, pho; some pronounce it fu. For less than six bucks I indulged and engulfed a bowl of chicken noodle with basil, lemon, rich broth, soup as large as the volume of my head–I couldn’t finish it all along with Michael (that was a shocker to both of us). Michael paid the bill and with broth filled bellies, we walked out of the restaurant.

Before we new it, the time was 2:30, or time for a movie. The choice today was dream house (if this makes you want to see it, don’t watch the trailer it spoils 90% of the movie in two minutes). Our showing was at 3:45, which meant that we had some time to kill. Because of this, at 2:47 we showed up at theaters and bought our tickets and then headed over to the Best Buy across the street.

“To the game section” : that was all that I was thinking in my head at the time. Once in, of course we did–head over to the game section. Michael was blown away with the sound quality in his course of playing Madden NFL 12 while wearing turtle beaches (basically a headset with outstanding surround sound quality). I also encountered some first hand, first-seen entertainment. I played Forza 4 (a racing game) with a real hands on steering wheel controller. I have to say, for the amount of time I invest into video games, it was a shocker of how much a challenge this combination of game and controller really was.

Video game + Challenge = Loose Track Of Time. 3:25 was when I turned over to my Uncle and said we had to split soon. We weren’t to worried though, given a cushion of 15 minutes leeway of commercials before the actual movie began. First inside we each grabbed a soda, for me a root bear (I didn’t come to reason till  then with how large a large actually was). Movie time indeed (Dream House). The beginning was good. It kept you focused hopping you would catch a subtle detail, but soon those details weren’t so “subtle”.Without giving anything away except structure, the movie made me jump once or twice and kept me anticipating, but then the movie became a little bland at the end when you realized an important concept not before noticed. Overall this movie wasn’t its money’s worth although I didn’t pay for it…so in that case I loved it.

At 5:30 we exited the theaters and headed home. On the ride home my uncle introduced my to an artist that I now LOVE (you see I just became interested in rap, I really don’t know why because I hated it just a little over a month ago, then something just clicked and it sounded good to me from then on out). The band is Zion I; this has been pretty much all I’ve listened to within the last give or take 4 hours–and I am still loving it. Anyways, after a great half of the day we were home.

First thing in the door my mom smiles and says “OK, I am making dinner and decided to leave something for you to make, so that you can make stuff for yourself in the future”. This kinda made me laugh saying that my idea of foods for the future consisted of top ramen and chef boyardee. But my mom was right even though I didn’t want her to be and I ended up making corn bread (delicious by the way, I even ended up surprising myself). Let me tell you though, the state of the cornbread before it was cooked’ looked like yellow vomit with little green chunks mixed in it throughout (the green chilies btw). Yup, yuck.

Soon after I put the cornbread…um…mixture into the oven, I headed down the hall to play some Xbox with my friend Garrett as Michael came along just to watch in confusion. After about 20 minutes of watching he became bored and decided to head out to the living room and have a conversation with my sister Jessica. (She decided to come visit us for today just for fun, and it indeed was).

At about 8:10 we served dinner, but first I set the table. Dinner consisted of my mom’s creation of bean soup and mine, cornbread. The combination of creations created a great tasting and stuffing meal. After we were done eating, my mom told us a few stories of her fall break and how much she is and was enjoying it (this was and is encouraging because she is always feeling sick and stressed, she has major migraines and its nice seeing her feel at least a little better). During these stories my mom became too much for us to bear and we all began and continued to die of laughter; the stories I can’t really explain, because of situation/circumstance matters and they just wouldn’t be as funny unless you were apart of our family. The even funnier part about this was, my dad had just hurt his ribs, so every time he laughed he was in pain, which made him laugh harder and caused us to laugh just as much (I do feel bad for him though).

With dinner at its conclusion, Uncle Michael left and I had some down time with my sister. We talked a little bit about college and I gained relief in knowing, that its OK as a junior in high school, that I don’t have a major career choice in which I want to pursue yet.

As the night came to a close I didn’t know what else to do, so I headed over to my computer and realized I could find a little more entertainment in writing a blog. Sorry its been so long if anyone out there has been looking forward to another one, hope you liked it good night–good morning.

July 4, 2011 – I don’t quite remember the time of day I woke up but I do recall that it was late and for some reason I was content. Down the hall I went, into the kitchen with a smirk on my face (the happy kind). A moment later I’m told that my friend Aaron called and he asked my mom to tell me to call him back. Why not I thought picking up the phone and dialing his number. A few calls passed (5!!!)and  I realized that it wasn’t as easy to get a hold of people as I imagined. “I’ll call him later”. Next task, food.

Sitting down at the table I started to laugh. My dad for his brunch was eating a massive bag of those over-sized peanut M&M’s and a cliff bar. Not my choice. I had decided to eat a pop-tart. Shoving it into my face, I was expecting a magical sensation. No, that was not the result. Instead I discovered that my delicious treat was STALE!!! Anyway after finding something better to eat, I managed to dial my friend back and actually get a-hold of him this time.

The question he had for me follows: “Can you spend the night?”. Maybe I thought–Jumping over to mom, she responded with a simple “no”. Oh well I told Aaron. (This is the point in the day where I remembered why I woke up so content). “WAIT, are you going to the teen/campus party tonight?”, I asked. Once figuring out our ride situation, the answer turned into a yes. A few minutes passed and I received another phone call from my friend Garrett, our conversation resulted in the last.

Around 4 I noticed my sister in the living room packing. Sad, I went back to my cave and played piano. Soon both my buddy’s arrived at outside my door. An hour or two passed and we were all ready to go including my youngest sister (who was soon leaving for San-Fran).

Church-Party-Explosion-time (4th of July) was soon to follow, but for now drive time. I went into the car and sat in the middle row this time. Along with her clothes, Katie decided to bring her guitar, and as I expected Aaron decided to play while we were driving. The song of choice was called and I quote “the racist song”. On the spot he picked a person or thing and pointed out all of its flaws  while playing a happy tune. It was amusing I’d have to say, and everyone in the car sang a verse.

With the sun setting we were almost there–I thought at least. Before, going to the party we stopped and picked up David, one of Jessica’s best friends. On a quick note, I need to say–I want his mad piano playing skills. Next, we dropped Katie’s junk off and rushed to the event. First, however we showed up at the wrong house. After a little embarrassment we found our way over to the right one.

Inside, I found myself all the food I could eat and of course my favorite drink rootbeer. For the first hour I hung out with friends on the balcony hanging over the pool until I discovered how stupid I was for not knowing there was a first floor.

Downstairs I found double the population that was upstairs all because of one reason… A… POOL TABLE!!!!! Basking in its glory I was to distracted to realize someone was trying to give me a hug. Hugs given it was time to woop some butts in a good game of pool. Because of the number of people in the room we played doubles. (2 on 2) I was teamed up with Derek. Throughout the game we both found that he, how do I say it?… sucked (your still awesome Derek). I managed to sink all 7 of the solids in. Time for the 8th, and of course I missed. Once our opponent was done with their turn it was time for Derek to make up for his missed shots. He didn’t realize that he needed redemption so instead of making the shot easy, Derek decided to shoot behind his back. Unfortunate for him he missed the eight ball and scratched. Game over. A few hard laughs, some hugs and it was relaxation time.

I headed over to the couch and had a good talk with our campus interns for the summer.

Done with pool I headed back upstairs and over to the balcony where I found my sister along with a few other campus people playing speed scrabble. I joined in and soon it was time to go home.

On the way home Aaron started up his song again but this time he sang a few nice words about a tag along we got to drive home, Sydney. A few smiles prepared me for my devastation that was to come at the next drop off–my sister . Not wanting her to leave I delayed the inevitable by running back to the car without saying goodbye. In an heart-breaking voice my sister asks, “What Jason?, you’re not going to say goodbye to me?”. Without hesitation I jumped out of the van and picked my sister up with a big hug. Time to leave :’( . The ride home wasn’t filled with sadness or anything, but I already miss my sister.

By the time I got home it was 11:40. As usual I checked my fb and got ready for bed. An hour passed and I came upon a dilemma… I couldn’t sleep.

July 5, 2011 – Around 12:50 I decided to go out into our living room and see what my sister Jess was watching. Rainman. On the couch, I tried to find a comfortable spot and after my many failures I decided to grin and bear it on the floor. Even though I didn’t see the entire movie (I watched maybe an hour or so) I liked it. It is about a brother who discovers after his dad dies that he has a brother he was never informed of. (this brother was left with $3 million I think in the will. He is autistic but very smart) The first mentioned drives out to meet his brother and in a turn of events he ends up practically kidnapping him.

Anyway, I still wasn’t able to sleep, until I thought of a brilliant idea. “Why don’t I just sleep in my bedroom like a normal human being?”. Let me tell ya, it worked. Before I knew it I was out.

The morning I woke up freaking out! I had made plans to hang out with friends and cook. (it’s not as lame as it sounds) In my head I thought that I woke up to late but after rushing over to a clock I realized I had 2 more hours to prepare. A few chores later it was video-game-fun-hangout-cooking-time.

The first to arrive was my brilliant friend Tyler (the only other word I thought to describe him as was sophisticated). Next was Cassandra. Two people later it was party time (No I know for a fact you don’t party… Let’s party). A few terrible crashes passed (in trials hd of course, a motorcycle-obstacle-course-game) and I was hungry. Just before I stepped into the kitchen and the doorbell rings, ALLIE!!!

In the kitchen we brought out a bunch of stuff to make sandwiches, mac n’ cheese, toast, and my favorite BACON! (until I figured out how much grease you make from frying it–yuck) In the middle of my meal a few knocks interrupted me and I got up to go check it out. Whitley?… WHITLEY!!!

Food break over, it was now time to play apples to apples. By the time it was 3 o’clock, we were all laughing our stomachs off. Time to leave With everyone gone except for Whitley, I didn’t know what to do. Then an idea came from the other side of the couch, “how about we go to Coldstone?” Answer: “YUS”. A short ride passed and we received our luscious prize, for me an Oreo milkshake and for Whitley, a cup of strawberry and cheesecake ice cream(great combination? I agree). A few words later and we decided to drive to Tyler Morgans’ house and leave him the rest of Whitley’s 1/3 finished treat, with a note outside his front-door: Just thinking of you, Love Whitley and Jason. (I’m sure he was grateful for the completely melted ice cream) Once done, we drove to Whitley’s because I was dying to play a semi-real piano (something other than my keyboard). Soon satisfied I was dropped off at my house and Whitley drove back home.

What next? I’m sure you can guess? Back to facebook, which is the reason for the title. The first thing I noticed on my wall was a dubstep remake of forever young–I lOVE IT!!! Thank you Weston. 5 p.m… 6 p.m… 7 p.m… 8 p.m. (if you were wondering no I was not on facebook that entire time. I was either playing piano, video games or talking to friends). Dinner time. The choice tonight was a combination of the things I cooked up at our hang out time earlier in the day. I decided to eat a bacon mac n’ cheese BBQ sauce sandwich. It was perfection as far as Jason made sandwiches go. Besides dinner not much else happened except for a conversation about cellphones with Jess, my mom and my dad. (terrible ending? Ok I will leave you with something better). Fuggedaboutit – Stephen King.

Ready? This is what I thought. But somehow my older sister didn’t realize that we were already 10 minutes late. Once we piled into our 8 seat-er van and me in the back to make room for my sister’s BFF Aubrey we were off. Once a few half awake witty comments were said and putting a dent into untangling my ‘sister’s’ hair we had arrived for the service. Once out of the Honda we stepped into our ‘massive family’.

In the auditorium we each found a seat to plant our bums in. ‘Expecting an average service Jason. Even better.’ Today, was special. We learned what the kids at our churches vacation bible school learned this week. Quite fun and organized—I’d have to say. I was able to be a KiD again! The whole church sang the songs the kids were able to sing with hand motions and everything! Everyone got into it except Derek. “BOOM ROASTED” as Jessica might say. But no he still had a smile on his face the entire time when no-one was looking (contradiction I don’t like to think of it that way). Anyway, we learned about ‘In the beginning…’, Elijah and his alter and Jonna being swallowed by a massive goldfish. Fun stories. A long with the fun I was able to share the experience with two best friends who were grateful as I am to have stress relieved from the lives thanks to those childish songs.

At the conclusion of church we headed over to grandparents. It was my genius (really he is like a bank of memory except when it comes to naming the states’ capitals) grandfather’s birthday. Eating  was fun and all but I was waiting to see the great new gizmo my g-dad had been working on that day. An hour passed and he decided to show me, into the back room and over to the computer. On his desk was an LCD screen 128 pixels x 128. You could program it to show whatever you could fit on it. After a little tweaking (maybe an hour) I marveled at my accomplishment, a purple box was soon displayed. (not as exciting for you). Back to eating I thought. Once I scuffed down half a bean enchilada it was present time. This year my mom found a pazookie maker (cookie ice cream things) quite a treat to my granddad. Time to leave.

Back at home I entertained myself for a few hours with facebook and a few lame-not-worth-mentioning-shows until my next adventure. 6:30. Almost time… 7:30. YUS! (Deep manly excited voice). Movie hangout time. The ride over was fun. Colton showed me this epic feature there car had, speak recognition. I could not get over it! Must say that in the future that feature will decide my car choice.

Movie Food party time. The choice of the night for ‘Peyt’ and Colton (my church experience sharers) was Super 8. Snacking place choice for Katie = REEEEEED ROBINSSSS. (Nope I will leave that to you). We decided to order bottomless fries an Oreo shake and some waters. Perfect. Spinning in the parking lot and to the theaters we went with 15 minutes to spare. Super 8 time? ‘E.T. with guns’ I was told. No, far better than that. Being the scaredy-cat I am I held my sister’s and Peyt’s hand throughout. I won’t tell you more than this: Awesome alien monster hiding in a town. Movie over Root Beer half gone, potty break time. Done with my leak, it was time to go home.

Peering out the window of the car hoping to see a black monster, still a fantasy. Home. My mom just turned on her movie even though she knew she would only make it through the opening scene. Beddie-bye time for mommy. After checking facebook it was off to practice writing. Good night.