Another fun-filled Post

Yeah right. Nothing really to talk about. Except for the tournament of volleyball Saturday. And Chris's party. So, in the wee hours of the morning, like 7 a.m., I got ready for my big day of tournamentness. And at 8, I was on the bus with the team, and at 9, we were playing our first match. The first game of the match went pretty well. We only lost 25-22. And, later on, they would go on to the semi-finals, and lose to a very strong team there, just barely. And the next game was a little worse, like a 25-15 game.

So the next match didn't look too well. We ended up somewhere 25-11 in both games. Then the third game was a disaster. It was Central Square, who in my opinion is all that great. They just got a big tall guy. But anyways, we just got hammered by them. We were falling into a slump, and we were having a tough time trying to get out of it. But, and by the way-I set most of the day, I was up setting, front row, and the ball was tight, so I pushed it over unexpectedly. And their big tall middle player wasn't ready, and I popped him right in his face. But, in some bizarre freak accident, it bounced back to our side and nobody went for it. Their point. I got back at that middle though. A couple of plays later, there was another tight ball, and so instead of pushing it onto him, and he was ready this time, I pushed it off to his side, and nobody was there to grab it. Haha. I win. That point atleast.

Then, one of the most horrid matches. We were probably tired. Exhausted and wanting to go home 'cause we weren't winning anything, and there was nothing to look foward to. But, we played, and we lost. Majorly. 25-2 was the first game. And those two points were when the other team screwed up on the serve. And, about two people touched it on their team. The two guys who served. 'Cause we never got the ball back over the net. The next game of the match was a little better. We had like 10 points.

But, that was supposed to be it for us. We were gonna work one last game for two other teams, and leave. But, Liverpool, who was the worst in the other pool, wanted to play us, to prove that they weren't the worst at the tournament. They weren't that great. We played a good game, but came up short 25-22. Then, a brilliant plan came into play. The coach decides to give his coaching responsibilities to a guy on our team who wasn't eligible to play in the tournament. So, he's coaching, putting the players into their spots. He didn't make me setter-gave it to Jeff. Played second stringers-the one that we have. And, we got dominated. I was worrying about the other kid's position, and not worrying about what I had to do. But, I had to tell him, or he would have been all over the place, in the wrong spots, in others' way. We had a chance to win, but lost.

But, over the course of the day, I set some good balls, and there were some amazing hits by our team. And I myself got my hands on the ball for some kills. And we had a lot of blocking. It looks like our triple block is something fierce, a force to be reckoned with. And when we get better at it, it's gonna be hard for a hitter to get a ball past it. And then maybe we can start looking like a good team.

Chris's party. I went to it after the tournament. There weren't many there, a couple of friends. Then Cody had to leave, and Chris picked up some others. Then, the people started showing up. So, we did some LANage on Halo 2, and it was not the updated one, so I was sword flying all over the place. Pretty fun stuff. After that, we watched a movie-Black Sheep. Great movie. I love Chris Farley and David Spade. Funny, but not as good as Tommy Boy.

And that's that for this post. So, have a great week, since I'm gonna be gone most of it at Darien Lake and the Coldplay concert, and my Eagle project which is on Saturday. And, I hope this will actually happen, and I will most definately be on my way to obtaining my Eagle. Right now, there is about 39 more days that I have before I'm 18. I have 3 merit badges and my project. The project will hopefully be done by the end of the week. One merit badge is very close to being done. The other two, partially done, and I'll have about a month to do them. And if I fall up short of my Eagle because of one merit badge, that's gonna really stink for me. I will be very disappointed in myself. But, I'm out. Goodbye until next time.

Photoshop Pics

Well, This is my fine piece of work that I did on photoshop. I like how it looks. My 3rd one I have done. And, I'd like to give credit to NaZGuL-WraITh for the tutorial. It really helped me out. Wow, I love the power of photoshop. It's so much fun to use. And you could try it out-Adobe offers a 30-day trial. It's a lot of fun.

And, here's another one, with fire effects. I think it's pretty cool.












So, that's all I have for now. Maybe when I get more time, I'll come up with some more cool stuff. But for now, I'm out of here. Goodbye until next time.

Mad Awesome Review Friday #6

Finally! The wait is over, and my Mad Awesome Review Friday is finally back. And, I'm thinking, as I write, to somewhat give it a new look, to liven up my reviewing, and to give you, the readers something for waiting for my reviewing as well as reading my blog. And that was a very long sentence. So, I just saw Red Eye, written and directed by Wes Craven. I enjoy Wes Craven's movies. The last one I saw was Cursed, which was decent-totally did not expect it to be about werewolves.

So, I thought that the theater website said the movie started at 1:30, and since Chris enjoys leaving his house at around 1:20, to try to make it to the theater by the time the movie starts, we were amazingly late, because the movie started at 1:10. But, that's alright. We just missed what can be seen in the previews. A lady meets this guy at an airport, delayed flight, they get a drink. And on the plane, they end up sitting next to each other. So, you'd be thinking a love story. But, then the music starts to get suspensful, and the lady starts to looked scared, and the goodness begins. So, we came in just as soon as the goodness began, and go to miss all the mumbly-jumbly.

So, I enjoyed it. The suspense did not pick up until the end of the movie. Yep, I was really into the movie the whole time, and jumped a couple of times. Rachel McAdams did a good job showing emotion, frightened, scared, stuff like that. And Cillian Murphy did an excellent job playing the villian. I just wanted to hate him, and wanted him to suffer. But he did seem a little soft, and that's probably to get Rachel to cooperate.

And the great stuff is the damage she inflicts upon Cillian. First, a pen jabbed right into his throat, like where his neck is. And that was pretty gross. Still, he comes after her, so he gets stuff thrown at him, a stilletto (butchered that word) heel in his thigh, damage to his head, gunshot, and a lot more. And man, did she kick the crap out of him.

So, Wes Craven does a good job with his movie again, and I really liked this movie, and I think you will too. And, it's not like his other movies with a lot of blood and gore and violence, except for the occasional beat down by a girl, which nobody can miss out on. So, I give this a Mad Awesome. Go out and see it on the big screen. It's a great movie, you'll like it.

And that is all I have for this review Friday. And, I couldn't think of anything new to add in. Maybe for the next movie I go to see. But, goodbye until next time.

The Gallon Challenge!!!

So, I totally forgot one of the best parts to the High Adventure Trip. So great and so hilarious. I wish that I could have been a part, but being in the crowd was well worth it. 6 guys, one gallon, greatness.

Here are the rules. Each person had one hour, exactly one hour, to drink a gallon of milk. If you throw up, you're out, if you pee, you're out. And, once a person drank the full gallon, they had to keep it in for 5 minutes after that. Well, you'll shortly be reading on how this wonderful event went. But, I must make a quick little side note.

Allyn's Strategy: Take it slowly. There's one hour. That's a quarter of a gallon every 15 minutes. Not too bad. Little by little. Slow and steady wins the race. Hope that everybody tries chugging and barfing, and slowly come out of nowhere and beat everybody.
Allyn's Strategy #2: The milk's a little cold. So, wait about half an hour for it to get a little warmer. Then chug that beast down like no tomorrow. Waiting will stop the brain freeze, giving the milk time to settle in your belly-not good. But, just down a gallon within five minutes, and try your darndest to keep it in for an extra five.

Back to reality. Nobody, I say nobody did either of these. Some started fast, not chugging away, but pouring the milk into a cup, and drinking like 3 or 4 cups a minute. Some took it a little slower, maybe 1 or 2 cups a minute. But, by about 15 minutes, everybody had finished half of the milk. So, some of us put bets on who would do it, and do it first. Mine was on the first guy out. I thought he would be smart, come up with a good strategy, but nope. He drank too fast, and then took too long a break, and left the table to barf. So, we swarm around him, and he's looking pretty sick. Then, a little bit comes out. He made this little tiny pile.

The next two decide to leave at the same time. The one barfs out quite a bit more, and he had some chunks come out-pretty gross-pieces of dinner. The other guy did not want to barf. He did everything in his power not to barf. But everybody told him that he would feel so much better if he did. So he's like, "I gotta to go to the bathroom". He comes back, and he barfed in the bathroom. No fun at all.

But, I must back up a bit. While this guy was still out trying not to barf, I turn to the other 3 at the table, asking them if they were still drinking. So we turn back to the guys barfing. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere, a guy at the table turns around and barfs. And wow, was there a lot of puke coming out. Then he did it again, having everybody's attention this time, and it comes out with more volume, faster, and longer, and wow, was it hilarious. Something else.

So, the last two guys couldn't do it. They gave up, barfed out. But, the one who lasted the longest was the smallest and skinniest one out of the 6 guys. And he almost did it. Well, he drank as much as anybody else, but he lasted. So, that was it for the High Adventure Gallon Challenge. And if any one of you want to try this what seems like a most impossible challenge, I'll join with you to try it. And it will be so much fun.

And before I close this post down, I want to add one more little thing. I want to make fun of Cameron and his weakness. Haha. He was complaining through the entire gallon challenge about seeing others throw up, and feeling like he would. And he wanted a piece of gum from me to help him from not throwing up. Haha, what a weak stomach. But, Cameron, you're great. I just had to write this down, 'cause it gave me a pretty good laugh. So, now, it's your turn to exact revenge upon me.

Haha...I'm back and I'm blogging again!!

So, finally, I really want to get off of my breaks of not-blogging and stuff. I don't want to be lazy any more. 'Cause right now, because of my laziness, I'm freakin' out about all the stuff I have to do within the next 3 weeks. So very much to do. Essays to begin writing, a third essay for a book, my Eagle Project, applications for colleges and such, finding scholarships, and work and volleyball practice. But, this time next year, my stress level will be so low, I won't know what to do. Well, actually, this time next year, my papers for my mission will probably be put in, and I'll be waiting the day that I get shipped off-probably to some little island I've never heard of speaking a language I didn't know exist. But, it will be amazing and fun stuff.

So, my dad talked to me about getting a car, and I had no idea what he had in mind for me. A lady he works with has an old Camaro, and when I saw it, I loved it. It looks amazing, a blue color, it sounds amazing, the deep-roaring engine sounds so great, and I most definately want it. And, by the looks of things now, I'm probably gonna get it. And it's gonna be so sweet to actually go to school and not be embarrassed by the hunk of junk I used to have. This time, I'll be heard comin' in, and heads will turn, and I'll have one of the best rides in the parking lot. SWEET!!!

Volleyball started yesterday. I didn't practice because I didn't turn in my physical papers soon enough. But today, I should be cleared. I really want to practice. I hate sitting around for 2 hours just watching the rest of the team. It sucks. But today's gonna be awesome to finally get on the court and hit the volleyball around. Totally greatness.

Work. That's what the rest of my week is. Working in the morning, volleyball at night. I have 32 hours of work this week. That's like twice as much as I have ever had in a week. But it's great to finally get a lot of hours and expect a much larger paycheck. I just don't have a lot of time to do anything else. But, I find time-atleast I try to. I'll either have a couple of hours in the morning, like this morning, and that's why I'm writing this, 'cause I won't have any other time to. Or, I'll have a few hours in between work and practice, which yesterday, I spent working on one my essays. Haha, working. I actually mean starting. And, it's gotta be 1500 words. Outline due first day of class. And that's not the worst of it. My extended essay about biblical allusions has to be around 5000 words, and Sisson, my counselor dude, wants me to have a rough draft by school. Yeah, ok. Maybe you'll get a partial outline, and then I'll be screwed until December when I'm doing my hardest to finish this most enormous essay. And I don't know where I'll find the time, 'cause just about every single class this year is IB, meaning lots of tough work, and lots and lots of homework, and studying for tests. And since my schedule is so packed, I don't think I'll even have a lunch period. And I have to take physics online if I even want to think about applying to any college for engineering.

Well, I hope everything fits together like a 2-piece puzzle, and my life will actually be somewhat decent for the next few months. So, that's it for now. I have to go get ready for work. I'll be writing soon again to fill in what's going on in my life and my current stress level. So, goodbye until next time.

#4: High Adventure Trip

Well, I'm gonna combine the rest of the days into this one, 'cause there won't be much to write since it's been a while since I went, and I'm starting to forget a lot of the detail.

So, Tuesday was the day of touring D.C. and wow was it boring. We walked and walked in the 90 degree blistering sun, and it was not fun at all. But, we did get to ride around on the Metro, and that was pretty fun. While on it once, there was a group of pretty good looking girls. So, when we get to our stop, instead of most of us closer to one door, we walk all the way to the end of the car to pass the girls. And one of the guys blurts out, "Hey, there's hot girls there", and one of the girls responds with, "Like you have a chance". Ouch! Very burned. I should have stepped in and been like, "Do I have a chance?" I bet I could have gotten a number. Or just denied by them.

So, we went to a bunch of memorials-pretty boring. I didn't enjoy it very much. But the one thing I did like was going on a tour of the Arlington National Cemetery. And the service thingy for the unkown soldier was so frickin' cool. There's a guard, a marine, who walks back and forth, guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier. And like every 30 minutes, they switch guards. Well, an officer comes out, along with the new guard, and the guard gives him his gun. The officer then checks the gun, and he goes over every single centimeter of that gun. He would stand inches away from the other guy, looking the gun over, and flipping it around-it was so amazing. Then, the officer checked over the guard, and he was so close to the guards face. I have burst out laughing if I was there, but I guess they're trained so vigorously that they know not to, or get a lashing like no other. So they switched out, and it was great.

Wednesday, we made our way to Delaware and got to a new campsite. And the tents were late, so we walked around for a bit. We were supposed to go swimming, but they closed down any swimming in the little lake, and it was pretty nasty anyways. Instead, we played some volleyball, set up camp, and then played a game of football. And it was a great game. Tackle all the way, and there were some built guys playing. But, I was the last on my team to handle the ball, but did get a rushing touchdown out of it. And later on in the game, I scored again with a pass. And then almost scored a third time, but was feet away from the endzone. The game ended up in a tie, after we caught up 2-2, took a big lead 5-2, and then the other team came back. But it was great fun.

Thursday, the beach. The ocean beach. We went, and this time I made sure I put on sunblock, 'cause I didn't want any more pain. So, me and a couple of others went down the beach to get to some of the larger waves, and they were so much fun. And they were huge too. We came back, and started a game of football. I came in, made a touchdown, and then everybody decided that the sand was too hot to continue, so we went back in to the ocean. So, there was a leader, who got caught in an undertow, and Cameron did too, so the lifeguard comes flying out to Cameron, who was not struggling at all, and probably could have made it back himself. On the other hand, the leader was falling under the water, and no help was coming to him. I was close to him, but something told me that I couldn't do much to help him, since I'm not a strong swimmer, and am pretty lightweight. But, luckily, there were a few others who went out to help him, and finally the lifeguard came over to help.

Friday, we went to the beach again. This time, I didn't do much swimming and riding the waves 'cause the night before I had the most horrible headache I have ever had, which kept me up for atleast an hour. So, I just sat under the umbrellas and slept. And then, I went home with the early group, and sat around camp not doing much-just a little volleyball.

So, later that night, we had a testimony meeting, and a lot of the boys really didn't want to come, but decided that it was one of the best trips they've been on. So, I was telling Cameron that it looked like this was the first week-long campout that I've been on without any rain. Haha, cursed myself. That night, I was in one of the largest thunder storms of my life. Thunder struck, and woke me up. So, I'm sitting in the tent, listening for a bit, and hear no rain, so start to go back to sleep. But then thunder comes again, and I start to hear it, the patter of rain on the ground. So, I quickly unzip the tent, don't throw on shoes, and hurry outside, running around like a maniac in the rain trying to get my backpack which I left outside. So, I bring it back in, and notice that there's another backpack out there, so I go and grab that one too. I scramble into the tent, and it starts pouring down. And the lightning strikes were so bright, I could see all the way to the end of the camp, which was like 500 feet away. And the thunder was so loud, you could scream and still not be heard by the person a foot away from you. But, it was fun to be out in that huge thunderstorm, and luckily nobody was hurt.

The next day, we packed up, ate a quick breakfast, and were on our way home. But, while in Penn., we made a pit stop, and do you know where that was? A fireworks store. A huge one. So, were all excited, and I thought I'd be coming home without any money at all, I was going to spend 20 bucks there buying fireworks. But we get to the door, and the people working there tell us we have to be atelast 18 if we have an out of state license. Total crap. And it just so happened that it was the 6th, exactly two months away from my 18th birthday. So, I give 5 bucks to a guy who went in, and he got me some roman candles and a huge pack of bottle rockets-144 to be exact. But, I have no idea where I'm gonna shoot them off, since I live right on Main Street. But, hey, I have fireworks-how much better can that get.

And that is that for the Palmyra Stake Youth High Adventure Trip 2005. And the next one they'll have, I'll be on my mission, so I'm gonna miss out. But it was fun, I enjoyed it. Almost as good as the white water trip we went on two years ago. I made some great friends, and hope that I'll still be able to see them every once in a while at stake events and such. But, thanks for a super mad awesome trip!! I loved it. And goodbye until next time!!

#3: High Adventure Trip

Monday 'twas the third day of this most excellent trip. And now that it's been about two weeks since I went, I'm starting to forget a lot of stuff. Kind of hard. But Monday morning, we got to sleep in pretty late, since we got back from the National Jamboree at like 2 in the morning.

We ate some breakfast, mozied around for a bit, and then, we headed off to some little waterpark. The place had a swimming pool and a volleyball court, as well as a couple of slides. Well, we got to enjoy the day, I did some jumps off of the board, went down the slide a whole lot, and also played a few games of volleyball. In one game, it was 4v4, the young guys vs. the old leaders. Well, the young team, which I was obviously on, had like 3 varsity v-ball players. And we lost. It was not a pretty site for us. But it was still fun.

And, afterwards, I got a burn. I didn't put on any suntan lotion. Don't know why. I probably wanted to get a tan, 'cause I was super white. But, later I would deeply regret ever making that decision. So, later that night, I do not remember what we did. We may have gone to see the Washington D.C. temple and go to the visitor's center, and watched a great movie called "the Testaments". I really enjoy it, and if any of you haven't seen it, tell me, and I'll see that you may possibly get to go see it. The temple was so huge. It's like looking at a painting-it almost didn't look real, but it was very real. And the best thing was when we got back on the thruway, if you looked back, you could see the temple towering over the trees, and it's great to know that everybody that drives on that road will be able to see such a huge temple.

And then, I think we may have gone to see some of the monuments in D.C. We stopped at the Jefferson memorial, and that was pretty cool, and then we also stopped at the Lincoln memorial. And I think that was the best memorial we saw on the trip (we saw more the next day). Now it's great to say that I was in the Lincoln memorial.

And so, that was day 3 on the High Adventure trip. And still many days to come. Tune in next time for the next installment. Have a great day.

#2: High Adventure Trip

Sunday. The second day, and really the beginning of the trip. We all got up early, and got dressed into nice clothes, and we went to church. And, I'm thinking, there's gotta be tons of girls, since this place is near Washingtion D.C.. Wow, was I wrong. There were like 4. Sort of disappointing.
But, we went out and changed in the parking lot, wearing nice matching red shirts, and made our way to Fort A.P. Hill.

This was where the National Jamboree was held, and we got to walk around and see a bunch of cool stuff, like this big NASA exhibit. Then everything started to close down, so we went to lunch, which was very mondo expensive. But it was decent. I just hope I never have to spend $2.50 for a bottle of Mountain Dew again. Anyways, a band started playing outside, so we went and checked what was going on, and the boy scouts were on the move. And wow, there were a lot of them. They filled the entire road for like a mile. Thousands, and we followed. We entered into a big field with a huge stage set up, and had to pass through security to get in. Hmmm...and when we looked closer at the security dudes, they were wearing Secret Service badges. Sweet. So the rumors were true, and Bush was coming.

A little later, a helicopter started flying overhead, a big one, with the Presidential seal on it. And a while later, there were Secret Service guys all over the place, and a couple on top of a truck and looked a heck of a lot like snipers. So, Bush finally came out, and yes, I did see him in person, and it was amazing. And he gave a speech, which I don't remember 'cause I just cared about actually seeing the President, one of the world's most known figures. But, as I looked across the crowd of 50,000 Boy Scouts, I realized that I was looking at one of the largest crowds of the next generations leaders, and I was glad to be a part of it.

So, later on, fireworks. They were good. I thought they could have been better, since they were supposed to be one of the top 10 firework shows in the nation. But, I did enjoy them. We also had a moment of silence for the leaders who died at the beginning of the Jamboree.

After it was all over, we made our way home-the two hours it took to get there. And when I say hoem, I mean our campground. Our caravan was one of the first back, and we went right to sleep. And that was day number 2 on the great high adventure. More will be written down a little later, so stay tuned.

#1: High Adventure Trip

This here is the first installment of the High Adventure trip that I went on this past week, the first week of August. And right now, I want to tell you that it was AMAZING!! I really loved it, and I thought that I wasn't. But it was very well put together, and I praise the leaders who really organized and put this trip together, and also for taking time out of their lives to make this trip happen.

So, it's Saturday and we all meet together, and get all packed up and ready to hit the road. I find out that my good friend Cameron Jacobson is not gonna be with me, but I thought that'd be all right, I would just have to meet new people. So, in the van I was in, we had Craig, who was our leader, and such a great guy. About 21, and joked and laughed along with the rest of us, and didn't really care about any rules and such. Then, there was Aaron, who I don't know if I liked him much-but he turned out to be a really cool guy. And then there was Mike-I roomed with him during the Youth Conference a while back, so I kind of knew him, and he too was a cool guy. And then, a guy I did not know at all, Cameron Nelson, and wow can he talk. I think he made up for my lack of conversing at the beginning of the trip, and then some. But he was an alright person as well.

We stopped about halfway through the trip at an Ice Cream place, and I got a huge cup of Ice Cream, and it took me a while to eat, but it was actually very pretty good. And, a little side note, even though I just got back from this trip like 3 days ago, the beginning of the trip seems like it happened so long ago-so very long ago-that's pretty weird how that is. But anyways, we got back on the road, and made our way for our campsite. And I have no idea what state it was in. I have been in so many states over the past week, I just never knew what state we were in. We crossed the Pennsylvania, we were in Virginia, Maryland, Deleware, D.C., and maybe a couple of others. I really don't know.

But, we made it to camp, and unpacked our stuff, set up tents, and then had dinner and played some card games. For the night, Cameron Nelson camped in his own tent with our gear in it, and Mike, Aaron, and I were in another tent. And that was that for the first day of the trip. Tune in hopefully soon to read more about this great trip.

I'm Back!!

Today, I got back from a really great high adventure trip. I really enjoyed it. And I'll be trying to write just about everything that happened during the week, but right now, I'm kind of tired and don't know if I can last long enough to write all of it out. But I promise you, I will write about it, 'cause it was totally amazing and I must share it with you all.

And I bet all of the none of you reading this did not know I was gone for a week. You probably thought I was taking one of those long breaks again. But soon, a huge post, or posts, will be here.
Goodbye until then.