Singles Ward

So today was the first day I was able to go to church. Up until now I've had no way of getting there since I do not have a car yet. But my friend went out of town for the week and let me borrow his car, so I thought I'd go check out church.

I had an overall good experience, even though it was a little awkward since everyone seemed to already know each other. A couple interesting things happened though.

One guy came and sat by me and introduced himself. He asked where I was from, and I told him Idaho Falls. I was expecting some stupid potato joke or something of that sort. Instead, he asked what part of Idaho Falls. I told him the east side of Idaho Falls. He said, "Oh the Ammon area?" I was sort of baffled by this. He then told me he served his mission there, and most of the time he spent serving around the hospital and further out by the golf course. It's true when they say, it's a small world after all.

I met another kid, who goes to the same school as me and is also majoring in Film. He is going into his 8th month, so he is 4 months ahead of me. He came here from Salt Lake, so he's also far from home. He's a returned missionary who served his mission in Chile. Both of his roommates are big into tennis, and he's going to give them my number so I can have some more people to play with. He's also going to start giving me rides to church on Sundays, because he doesn't live too far up the road.

There are 3 other guys who was there for the first time also. They are here selling security systems for the summer. One of them is from Boise, and the other 2 from Utah. Up until now, I've only met one kid from Idaho, and only a handful even from the west side of the country. Everyone seemed to be pretty cool, but the ward is kind of lacking cute girls. There were a few, but needs to be more. It was crazy to see how tiny the church was (it is the stake center too!) Also, there isn't tons of members like in Idaho Falls. Probably between 60-70 people were in attendance, and that is the ONLY singles ward in Orlando. Pretty crazy how much more different it is than home.

My "new" life

So I'm pretty new at this whole blogging deal, so bear with me here.

As most of you know, I moved down here to Orlando, FL a few months ago. Let's just say this place is definitely a whole new world- not necessarily in a bad way either. I no longer have my parents and close friends here to help influence me in the decisions I make, and the choices I make in my life. But my parents raised me to be able to make my own decisions, and not be pressured into things I don't want to do, and I thank them for that. If it wasn't for that, I would have already taken up smoking, drinking, and many other things many of the kids here at Full Sail do. I was talking to one of my friends who went to this school about a year ago, and he jokingly said "DO NOT TAKE UP SMOKING- that is Full Sail's sport of choice." hahaha he couldn't be any more right.

I'm going to Full Sail University and I'm majoring in Film. I'll graduate October 09 with my Bachelors of Science degree, so that's pretty exciting. I hope by getting this degree and knowledge in film I can one day open my own production company. I would also like to make some documentaries in struggling countries like Africa, so that I can educate people of the horrific things happening around the world and influence them into helping change that. They say 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' so I figure I might as well take that first step. And I'm actually trying to become involved with some charities right now, so I can do as much as I can to make a difference even while I'm in school.

I've had quite some fun while being down here. I've been to the beach numerous amounts of times now. Probably more than I can count on my hands and feet. I've been to Universal and Hard Rock a couple times now too. I've been downtown Disney, I went to an Atlanta Braves spring training game, I stayed in a $600/night 2 bedroom hotel with 2 other friends for free, stayed in a hotel in Daytona right next to the Daytona Speedway and minutes from the beach, and have jet skied in the harbor of Del Rey beach which was paid for by my friends super rich mom, who also payed for the $600/night hotel. I was the first person to get pulled over by a cop on the jet ski, because he said we were going "too fast" and too close to the shore. Is there such a word as TOO FAST? It's not in my vocabulary, especially when I'm on a ski. The cop told me to warn my other 4 friends that were with me to slow down also. They figured that we need to get our moneys worth on the jet ski's so they weren't going to slow down. Well, let's just say the cop pulled us over once again- made us hold on to his boat and lectured us. My friend Matt got salt water in his eyes, so he kept rubbing them and he was coughing because he had been sick the week prior. The cop was convinced that rubbing eyes and coughing meant one thing- being drunk. Now I don't know what world he comes from, but I never knew a characteristic of being drunk was rubbing your eyes and coughing. The cop threatened to give him a sobriety test, but he didn't and let us go again. We still didn't slow down, but weren't caught a third time thankfully. We told the guy who rented us out the jet skis, and told us there really isn't a speed limit and the cop was lying. So now I don't feel bad.

My friend Austin, came down for a week and a half over spring break. It was really nice to have one of my closest friends down here with me. It was kind of a relief, and made me feel not as homesick. It was sad to see him leave, but he had to get back to school just like I did. He really enjoyed it here, and made some new friends.

I play tennis about 4-5 times a week usually with my friend Stephen Aiken. He's a really good player, and makes me work for every single point. It usually sucks, and I'm usually quite exhausted after playing him. But it's good, because it has stepped my tennis game up quite a bit. It has made me feel more confident, and makes me go for the tough shots so I can get a winner. Tennis is definitely an addiction of mine. I also play basketball about once a week, and work out as much as possible. I'm trying to stay as active as possible so I don't ever turn out to look like some of the kids at my school- fat, un-showered, and could care less how their overall appearance looks like.

I've finished 3 classes so far- and finish 2 more at the end of next week. So far my grades have been 2 B's and an A. In a traditional college I'd have straight A's though. In my school our grading scale really sucks. Below 70=F, 70-74=D, 75-84= C, 85-94=B, and 95 and above is an A. It sucks, but all my classes I've gotten a 91% or better so far. So I'm pretty happy about that. I also have tot maintain a 90% attendance or else I fail that class. They expect a lot out of us, but it's a good thing (it doesn't allow me to slack).

The weather here has been beautiful. On an average day it is in the low-mid 80's. The highest it has reached since I've been here is 93, and the lowest is 58. If the temperature is anything under 70 everyone considers it "freezing." All I have to say is MOVE TO IDAHO then you will know freezing. It is starting to get really humid, and that becomes very obvious when playing tennis. I don't even want to imagine how this summer is going to be.

My roommates name is Victor Gonzalez, he's a 20 year old Columbian kid. He's a nice kid, and we get along pretty well. He's big into boxing, so we have the whole fighting thing in common. His dad is living in his bedroom over the next couple months, while he finishes up training at the airport. His dad isn't very good with his English, so we don't communicate very often. Usually just a 'Hey how are ya?' kind of thing. PS... I have come to the assumption that Spanish people can not say the name Tyler. All of them pronounce it Taylor. Even after I tell them multiple times it's TYLER not TAYLOR- I've given up now, and have learned to accept my new name of Taylor.

I have made quite a few friends down here, and usually always have something to do. It's nice because it keeps me from being homesick constantly. It's funny to see how immature some people are though. I'm the youngest kid in my class by over a year, but seem to have my head on pretty straight compared to some of the people I know. Many of them can't handle their money, and blow it all on stupid unnecessary things. They don't have the right work or study ethics either. They are in their 20's and still have no clue what they want in their life. They have to call home to ask stupid things, and are always super stressed. It can get quite annoying. But I just try to keep a positive attitude and keep on going. Most of the kids in my class are really cool, and we all get along pretty well.

Well that's really all my life has consisted of so far. Nothing too spectacular, just the regular college life. Hopefully I can keep adding to this, and let you know of anything else that happens in my life. Thanks for taking the time to read!