A Year in Review

Time seems to fly by so quickly. It feels like just yesterday when I was loading all my belongings into my little Hyundai Elantra and making the trek from Rexburg, ID to La Grande, OR. I left Rexburg a year ago to do an internship for Lanny and Ava Hildebrandt as a tax intern.

I arrived home for Christmas exhausted. I was unofficially diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue, so when I got home, I began to follow a fairly strict lifestyle change as described from a book called, "Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome." The book was written by James L. Wilson, ND, DC, PhD. I don't want this to sound like a late night ad on crap TV, but it really worked! After a month I began to feel like I had more energy. It was the first time in a year that I actually felt healthy.

As mentioned above, I worked as a tax intern for Hildebrandt & Company, PC. I enjoyed the break from taking a full load of classes and learned quite a bit while I was working. One thing I learned for sure was I didn't want to be a tax accountant. I enjoyed the consistency and routine, but it lacked human interaction. Even though I can be shy, I like to work with others.

Right before I was supposed to go back to Rexburg, I got this crazy idea from one of my friends to apply to the University of Utah. Never in my life have I made a decision on a whim. I usually over-analyze my decisions over a long period of time until I am sure what I should do. But this time I just followed my heart instead of my head and decided if I was accepted to the University of Utah, I would go.

Shortly after I applied I found out I was accepted, so I made the necessary preparations for the change. I visited the school and declared my major as Consumer and Community Studies, with an emphasis in Financial Planning.

I continued to work that summer in La Grande for the Union County Vector Control and the Peppermint job. Working in the peppermint fields gave me a lot of time to reflect on my life and the direction I wanted to go. I knew I wasn't completely satisfied or happy, so I thought a lot about what I could do to find that happiness. I realized the move to Salt Lake City would help me find that change I needed.

In August I loaded up my little Hyundai Elantra with all my belongings again and moved into a ghetto house a couple blocks from the university. I didn't actually take a tour of the home before I moved Salt Lake, since I was several hours away in Oregon. I just found it on Craigslist and saw that it was close to campus and cheap. When I walked in the place, I saw the grime on a kitchen counters and the mold on the bathroom ceiling. My room wasn't too bad. That night I discovered this place had no A/C. Some nights I would have the fan directly on me going full blast and still wouldn't be able to fall asleep until 3:30 AM because of the heat. Luckily it was only miserable for a month then the temperatures cooled down. Now it is cold because our landlord has locked the thermostat to 56 degrees. The only other things I have to deal with here is my landlord's father, who is here at random times during the day and night. He usually harasses us, but I am learning to have a back bone and dish it right back. I think he was a little surprise when I told him to shut up and get out. Since then he hasn't harassed me. And lastly, one of my roommates who spent more time in jail than in our house, was evicted. On his way out he threw rotting fruit into our bathroom window. Luckily, I will be moving out in a few months.

The first month I was in Salt Lake City, I didn't know very many people and had a lot of time to myself. But I decided to volunteer with various political organizations and made some friends. Now I feel I have a great group of friends. I feel blessed because these are the first friends I feel completely comfortable around. They like me for me, and not for who I pretended to be for years. My friends make me smile randomly during the day when I think about them. They are a riot!

School started in September. I honestly loved all my classes and did well in them. I had online and night classes and worked during the day at the library. In October I got an internship at the Personal Money Management Center at the University of Utah. I will explain more about the internship in a later blog.

October was a fun month. In the beginning of the month I took a trip to Moab, UT with some friends. There was a parade and festival there to celebrate diversity and human rights. It was fun to take part in that event and feel the energy there. A couple weeks later, Audra and I ran in the South Jordan Half Marathon. Both of us placed in our divisions, so we get to go back next October for free. At the end of October a group of friends went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a theatre off 9th & 9th. It was an interactive show, so we participated in the story by dancing, singing, throwing rice, toast, cards, and getting soaking wet.

By the end of the semester, I was working 35 hours a week at the library and for my internship. I was finishing up my classes and continued to volunteer for a couple political organizations. I was exhausted and ready for the break to visit family and friends. I attended and even hosted some small parties to celebrate with friends during the holidays.

2010 was a difficult year for me, which prompted a lot of soul searching in 2011. I have made so many changes for the better and found a sense of peace I hadn't felt in previous years. I am grateful for life's experiences---good and bad---which have shaped my character and taught me much about myself and my relationships with others. 2011 was such a great year and I can only imagine 2012 will be even greater :)

Christmas Pig

Hello Family!

I haven't updated my blog lately, so a lot has changed. I promise I will update you about my classes, job, and internship eventually. But before I do that I would like to ask a favor of you. Could you comment on this post or on my Facebook wall and tell me what you do to save money during the holidays?

I am writing a newsletter for my internship (which I will blog about soon) and my topic for the December newsletter is about saving money/staying frugal during the holidays. It would be great if you decide to share your ideas, you use "I" statements, so I could quote you in the article. For example, "I hand make all my Christmas cards instead of buying them from the store, so I can save money."

If you would like, I would even forward the newsletter when I am done, which will probably be the first week of December. Thanks!

Do you need help, Uncle Jonah?

Yes, Afton, yes I do.

Since I am the youngest in my family, I never had to take care of younger siblings. I don't know how to take care of children under 19-years old. Children are a foreign concept to me, so the few times I have been asked to babysit, I have no clue what I am doing.

That was the case Tuesday night when both Tony and Heather had church responsibilities and asked me to watch Afton and Ainsley. When I arrived at their house, Heather gave me a brief run down of what to do.

First, we used cookies cutters to cut jello into cool shapes to eat. By the time I got the jello pieces to the plates, they looked nothing like the design of the cookie cutter.

Second, was bath time for the girls. Afterward we sat in the hallway, Ainsley on my lap looking at a book while I was blow drying Afton dry (she didn't want to use the towel I gave her).

Third, was pajama time. I got Ainsley's diaper on, but it kind of looked funny to me. I realized it was on backwards. Then I had trouble getting her PJs on. We somehow figured it out (good thing she is flexible).

Fourth, was bedtime. Ainsley did not want to sleep. After 10 minutes of crying and my guilt increasing exponentially by the minute, I went and checked on her. Once I opened the door, I was almost knocked off my feet! It was the worst smell an inexperienced uncle could smell.....a DIRTY diaper!

I recently made a bucket list of things I would like to accomplish and/or experience before I die. Changing dirty diapers, for some reason, did not make it on that list. I thought to myself, "I should have brought nose plugs and rubber gloves!"

Very clumsily I took off the old diaper trying not to gag, and with several wipes, began to clean. When Ainsley was clean, I then reached for another diaper when Afton said, "No Uncle Jonah, those are the daytime diapers!" She gave me a look like, "Duh, Uncle Jonah."

What!? Daytime diapers!? I had no clue there was such a thing as a daytime and nighttime diaper. I thought diapers where just diapers. I don't have daytime and nighttime underwear. It's all the same!

Puzzled, I began to look at the piles of diapers wondering how I was supposed to know which ones were daytime and which ones were nighttime diapers. That's when Afton said, "Do you need help, Uncle Jonah?"

Yes, Afton, yes I do. I need a lot of help, especially with foreign concepts like children.

I definitely didn't follow the schedule perfectly, but I still count it as a success, because no one died---not the girls or me.

The one peaceful part of the night was when Ainsley fell asleep in my arms, because she wouldn't fall asleep in her crib. For a small moment I thought I could have kids....just a SMALL moment!

My decision to move to Salt Lake City has been the best decision that I have made. Everything in my life---school, work, my internship, and social life---are going so well, and I am grateful for that. I have had a blast and I have learned so much---including how to change a dirty diaper.

You all probably thought that I died. Well, I am still alive for now. I guess I just wasn't motivated to blog since I didn't really have anything interesting going on in my life. I pretty much just went to my internship everyday, exercised at the club afterward, and then came home to watch TV and my parents play a couple rounds of yahtzee.

My internship went well. I enjoyed working with the Hildebrandts and learned quite a bit from the experience. I mostly learned that I could never do taxes for a living. I sometimes wanted to shoot myself after plugging numbers into the computer hour after hour. But I am grateful for the experience.

Right before I had to go back to BYU-Idaho I made a quick decision to instead apply to transfer to the University of Utah. The process only took a month and I got in! I am soo excited not to ever have to go back to Rexburg (the frozen hell). I know Salt Lake City will have its quirks, but I am pretty excited for the change and to live in a "big" city.

My dad has disowned me because I left the Lord's University and went to the heathen rival school. Oh well. I think I will get him one of these for Christmas:

That's my life in a nut shell....

New Email Address

I decided to use my gmail account instead of my hotmail account. Email me your email address, phone number, and mailing address (and any other information you want). I realized my contact information I have for many people is outdated.

Here it is: jordan.m.waite@gmail.com

Thanks

Mid-Academic Identity Crisis

I have started my junior year in college which is about half-way through my academic life. That is probably somewhat comparable to someone in their 40s, which is the perfect time for an identity crisis. I woke up about two weeks ago with the second moment of academic identity crisis in my academic life. When my alarm sounded, I turned it off and stayed in bed not wanting to get out and go to accounting classes. My only thought which repeated in my mind was, "Why am I an accounting major?"

It was a moment like someone has when they wonder which religious path to take (except much less spiritual, and probably eternally much less important). I then got out of bed and took a shower where many of my best ideas originate, and by the time I was finished showering decided to talk to the academic advising office and change my major.



I walked into the office and declared that I was no longer an accounting major, but instead I was switching to Humanities! Okay that part was a lie. I actually asked if I could switch to Business Management with an emphasis in Finance. I originally was an Accounting major with a cluster in Business Management, but I swapped those two around and now I am a Business Management major and a cluster in Accounting.

I had to jump through six hoops to get my first signature, jump through ten more hoops to get the second signature, just to get the final approval. After a week of waiting and wondering, I found out they let me make the switch. I feel so much better and wondered why it took me this long to make the change. I have really enjoyed my business classes, but dreaded my accounting classes. I realized I didn't want to sit in a cubicle my entire life making sure the debits and credits balanced, or spend tax season after tax season working on others taxes. Instead I would much rather understand finance and investments, to help others make important financial decisions.



Just as a side note, I did get the internship with Lanny Hildebrandt and will get to be in La Grande from January to April. I am excited not to have homework for the next few months and to get out of Rexburg!

Gray Hair and Balding

Despite the fact that I am both going gray and bald, people still think I am younger than I really am. If this continues the rest of my life, then it might work to my advantage. When I am 50-years old people might think that I am actually 40. But the only time I don't like when people can't guess my age is when I need something that you must be 18-years old or older to buy. Now don't jump to conclusions, I wasn't buying cigarettes or alcohol, I was just buying NyQuil because I had a cold for a couple days and wanted help sleeping.

The Wal*Mart worker scanned the NyQuil, paused, looked up and said, "Are you 18 or older?" With a frustrated tone I said, "I am six years over 18!" He then looked back down, paused for another moment then said, "Can I see some ID?"

I couldn't believe it. I know I might not look 24-years old, but I should at least look like I am out of high school! I passed over my ID and waited for him to do the math in his head. He seemed to have some trouble adding up the years but finally he gave the okay and took my cash. I came to Wal*Mart already not in a good mood since I was sick and left in an even worse mood.

But I drank my sorrows away with NyQuil and quickly fell asleep. I do love NyQuil. It is the only thing that can put me to sleep when I am sick.