La Vida es Aventura.

Woah!

Life here lately has been an unbelievable adventure lately. A crazed, wild adventure. But it will pale in comparison to the Mission, which will be the greatest Adventure yet, methinks.

Anyway, what is going on in my life? Oh, just everything.

I leave for Utah a week from TODAY! Yes, Monday December 10, I will leave my home for two years. Everything I will need must fit into two suitcases. Because I'm leaving, I'm kind of scrambling to get everything together. Or rather, Mom is scrambling to get everything together while I complain about it. Thank God for my wonderful mother.

But there is still so much to do. From calling all of my out-of-town friends for one last time to going to the optometrist, I've got a full plate this week.

All I do is live/breathe/sleep/think MISSION. Speaking of which, my two childhood best friends, Caleb and Jon Trujillo got their mission calls. Well wait, I'm jumping too far ahead in this story. So there are three missions based in Buenos Aires, Argentina: Argentina Buenos Aires North, Argentina Buenos Aires South, and Argentina Buenos Aires West. So anyway Caleb and Jon are these twins I used to pal around with from about age 7 to 12. Then they moved to Colorado. I've seen them a couple times since and talked to them a few times. Anyway, so they called me on Tuesday and Jon is going South and Caleb West. Weirdness, right?

More mission-related weirdness: one of the guys in The Scene Aesthetic is Mormon. As if that's not weird enough, he's serving a mission in the Argentina Rosario Mission. This isn't just a rumor. Check the site, man, it's there.

Anyway, my last day of work was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. You have no idea how sweet thinking about not going to work is. That night I spent the night at my cousin Reed's house (for clarification I have a brother Reed AND a cousin Reed) and stayed up way too late and got up way too early. But it was very worth it.

The next morning, I went with my sister Marlena and her fam to our sister LeAndrea's house in order to Give Thanks. I really love Thanksgiving. We hung around there for a while and my cousin Ami came up. Then I drove down with my cousin Matt to Disney World.

Man, Disney world was beyond radical. I could start a whole different blog (kirksultradisneyworldtripexplosivehiiyavacation2007.blogspot.com, maybe?) but that would just be unnecessary. Suffice it to say, Disney World rules so hard. Except for Epcot. If you're planning a Disney trip, remove Epcot from your itinerary. It blows. Animal Kingdom is my favorite park down there. The animals really rule so hard. And that Expedition Everest ride they got sporting down there is fun. Disney is just so expensive. You save up and watch it all quickly disappear.

The only drawback to being down there is the warmth...It was November. And there were all these Christmas decorations, but it definitely did not feel like Christmas. In fact it didn't feel like Christmas until I got home and the house was decorated. I'm glad I didn't have to participate in the decorating like last year.

So one of my (if not my absolute most) favorite bands, Anberlin came out with a B-Sides/unreleased album called Lost Songs. This is not really relevant nor is it pertinent but I'm all about the musick.

Okay, I think I'm FINALLY done.

Merry Christmas.

Plans.

I feel like there is nothing left for me to do before I leave. This summer was kind of rad, so I'm satisfied.

However, I've still got some things to do.

The Starting Line is playing here next weekend, the 28th. Also, hopefully Across the Universe will actually be released here sometime. Since it is apparently not being shown here on the 21st.

The first weekend of October, my sister LeAndrea and her family are coming up to visit. Sometime after that, all of my family is supposed to go to Chattanooga for a mountain retreat of sorts, so we can all be together once more before I leave. Also in October, The Academy Is... is playing here. Should be pretty boss.

In November, my brothers Wade and Reed, their families and I are going to DISNEY WORLD the week after Thanksgiving. We're spending Thanksgiving at Le's house. Then we're off to the happiest place on earth. Our cousin Matt will be joining us, which will be rad. And Cartel is playing here! I just saw them last month in Nashville and I saw them another time here in town. They are probably the best band I've seen live.

In December, I go to be a missionary.

Also between now and then, I have to buy a whole lot of crap for my mission: 2 suits, dress pants, dress shoes, WINTER BOOTS, 15-20 (!) pairs of socks, a winter coat, and a slew of other necessities. One thing about being a missionary is that this will be the easiest packing list of my life. I'll basically wear the same thing every day, so it's no biggie.

And then after the mission, I'll spend Christmas here with my family. My best pal, Matt is in the MTC right now, headed for Toronto, Canada. He's also speaking Spanish, so will be communicating nonstop in la lengua de nuestras misiones. Which should be pretty buck.

Then I'm off to BYU in Provo.

Holy cow. Life is finally happening to me. And it's really, really terrific.

"My Soul Has Never Had this Feeling and it Feels Like Gold."

Wow.

It's been forever since I posted. I can't believe that I used to update daily. That's absurd; I never have any time any more.

Last week I went to Virginia and saw CHELSEA DODD. It was the best trip I have ever taken in my life. It was so fun. Looking back, we did nothing truly extraordinary, just a lot of hanging out, but it was so real and so pure and so fun. And life is all about fun.

It was my first time on an aeroplane. I lovelovelove riding on a plane. It's mega fun. I got to fly FIRST CLASS into and out of Atlanta. First Class is niiiiiiiiice.

We spent a couple days in Richmond, near Virginia Commonwealth University. I love that town. So old and so city-like. Everyone there rides bikes. It was three in the morning, and there people were, riding down the road on their bikes. Three seems too late to me. Not in Richmond though.

In Richmond we stayed with Stephen, Chelsea's sister Katie's boyfriend. I'll give you a second to make sense of that previous sentence. Katie and Stephen are so radical. Stephen and I got along super well, and there were so many times that he had me weak with laughter. He reminds me a lot of my brother Reed, it's sort of nuts.

Chels and I went to the beach. I love the ocean. I love the little crabs that will pop out of the sand and look at you funny and if you make any sudden movements, they scoot real quick. I like seagulls because they are so awkward looking. I like seeing dolphins because dolphins are seriously radical. I like little kids in the ocean because they are overwhelmed by fun and surf. The sounds are soft and the air is nice.

The ocean at night is vastly different than the daytime version, and a brand of beauty and magic all its own. It is dark, but I have never felt so bright and happy. I like having my big feet in the cool water and feeling the foam and the sand. Being at the beach was very probably the best day of my life.

We went to Busch Gardens and I rode SO MANY ROLLERCOASTERS. Roller coasters feel like flying. And they are huge and terrifying. I love riding them so much. I always, always say a secret prayer on the bigger ones that we will not die. My prayers were answered that day.

There is a place in Williamsburg called Sno to GO and it is just like Jerry's. I felt like home.

Chelsea's family is so great. Her dad was so cool. He was not frightening like so many dads are. He was easy to talk to and easy to like. Her mom is, I'm pretty sure, my mom in some random body. Obviously, I liked her. It all made sense being there.

I like Chelsea so much. She gets me and I, her. We laugh a lot and joke on each other a lot. It was so great being with her. It feels like being home is the vacation and my real life is in Virginia.

I love that place. I am unsatisfied with this place.

* * * * *

In other news entirely, I am done with my mission papers and will see the Stake President Wednesday. They will then go to Salt Lake and I'll get a call. Absolute Craziness.

Reed Michael Garrett, mi primo favorito, leaves for school on Wednesday.

Everything is ending. It feels right, though, for the first time. Weird.

I'm going Skydiving on Saturday(!) and I might see Cartel on Saturday. Woohoo.

A Few Thoughts.

I feel somewhat sickly. Hopefully I will get over this.

I am going to Virginia on Monday. Seriously.

I LOVELOVELOVE musick. I saw The Format (!!!!), The Honorary Title (!!!!!!!), and two bands which I've never heard before, Limbeck and Steel Train (!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Clearly, Steel Train was awesome. The Format was one of the best bands I've seen live.

I finished Harry Potter and it was everything I could have ever hoped for it to be and more.

Matthew is here and will soon be gone.

I randomly thought of this video that came on Cartoon Network in the days of my youth and found it on YouTube. I love it.


Enjoy. Good night.

Yeee Hawww!

MY FRIEND ALLIE NOE IS COMING TO CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR! I am excited.

Plans for today: wrapping gifts. Mmmmm. I love wrapping.

Recapitulation. Finally Finished.

This is how my trip went.

FRIDAY 11/17: We (meaning my brother Reed, his wife Amber, his daughters Carly and Jenna and I) left Reed's house around 4:00. I fell asleep almost immediately and woke up in Oklahoma. I completely slept through Arkansas. We stopped for the night in El Reno, Oklahoma, a little town on the west side of Oklahoma City.

Saturday 11/18: We drove. A lot. I slept. A lot. I called a lot of people just to tell them where I was. We drove through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. We did NOT stop at the National Dinosaur Museum in Tucuamcari, New Mexico. We did, however, stop at the McDonald's in Tucuamcari. And believe me, that was a hoot. We had to make two stops because I had to use the bathroom. I found out that I love Oklahoma, hate Texas, love New Mexico, and hate Arizona. We got into Vegas about 10:30 Vegas time. I like driving over Hoover Dam at night. I love being on I-215 and seeing all of the lights of Las Vegas.

Sunday 11/19: We did not go to church, but we decided that after I ironed my Sunday clothes. So I wore my Sunday pants all day anyway. We drove to our old house. The house on Connie Drive that was the first place I've ever lived. It looked different from the last time I saw it. That house is kind of in the ghetto. But just kind of. We ate at a place called Hash House A Go Go. It was a fun experience. Just don't get the scrambled eggs with basil, sun dried tomatoes, and goat cheese. It sucks. We then went to my Aunt Tootsie's to visit and then to my cousin Terri's to dinner. It was a delight.

Monday 11/20 I wrote a paper for government all day. That was stupid. That night we went to Terri's for dinner with a lot of my family. I saw a lot of folks that I haven't seen in a while. I got made fun of, because I am the youngest cousin. But I am capable of dishing it right back out.

Tuesday 11/21 We went to Best Buy so Reed and Amber could buy a camera. The Sufjan Stevens Christmas Album was nowhere to be seen. We then went to get my second cousin Bryant, who is my age, and we went to eat at In-N-Out Burger. I love that place. We got tee shirts then went to the Forum in Caesar's Palace, which is more or less a super fancy mall. Bryant and I went into Louis Vuitton and saw a pair of toddler sneakers that cost $248. I thought that was somewhat overpriced. We then went into Dolce & Gabbana and I tried on a leather jacket that cost $1,095. If I had the money I think I would have bought it. Then we went to Long John Silver's to eat a #5 in remembrance of my dead Grandpa. Apparently that was one of his favorite things. Then we went to the Bellagio to look at the Atrium and the fountains out front. The Bellagio is my favorite casino. Then we went to my Aunt Betty's house for hot chocolate. And the day was over then.

Wednesday 11/22 We went to Tootsie's for lunch, but Reed and Wade (another brother of mine) had to do some stuff for work with their accountant (who happens to be my cousin David) so my sister and sisters-in-law went to the outlet mall. So my brother-in-law J.Paul and I dropped them off and went tot he Venetian because we heard that the mall there was good. Well, friends, it was not. In fact, it was probably the worst mall I've ever been in in my entire life, and I live in Memphis, the Bad Mall Capital of the World. So we went back to Tootsie's for dinner. My cousin Brendan (whom I call Bubby) had gotten in town the night before, so we hung out. We went to Aunt Betty's for soup, and then my cousin David's for desert (it was a progressive sort of thing). At David's there was a ton of family there. I even met some that I've never seen before. That night, Bubby and I picked up a friend of his, got Slurpees and then went up on the side of the mountain behind his house. You can see the whole of everything in Las Vegas up there and it was an AWESOME experience. That night we slept in my Uncle Don and Aunt Kerma's motor coach.

Thursday 11/23: That morning Bubby, Reed, and my brother-in-law J. Paul went to this ratty little hotel on the strip called Tropicana to see the Bodies Exhibition. That was more or less completely rad. We went to my cousin David's for Thanksgiving dinner. We sat around, played with the computer, watched some old episodes of The Office YouTube, and just hung out. It was great fun. That night Bubby, my cousins Eric and Bryant, and I went down town. We watched the fountains at the Bellagio and the Volcano at the Mirage. Then we got a Slurpee and went to Fatburger. It was cool to hang out with cousins who are my age. We didn't get back to Bubby's house until almost 1:30. But we stayed up and talked until 4:00. Looking back, I sort of don't even know what we talked about. But it was fun.

Friday 11/24: I saw Happy Feet with Bubby and his family. Then We went back to his house and chilled for a bit. Then my aunt Kerma took us out to dinner. I met up with Reed and J. Paul and their families (because Bubby, his mom, and Kerma went to see Phantom). We hung out at the MGM and looked at the lion habitat. I eventually met up with Bubby and we went to get his girlfriend. I can appreciate wanting to spend time with your boo when you haven't seen her in a while, so I backed off and was quiet most of the time. We got Slurpees and went up on the mountain again. I sang a song. It was frickin' freezing so we went back to Bubby's and I fell asleep on his couch watching Elf. I woke up around 2:00 delirious and confused. I went upstairs and Bubby was awake and we lingered for a while but eventually fell back asleep.

Saturday 11/25: I left the city of my birth behind once more. It was sad. I hugged Bubby goodbye and said "See you...never?" and it was sad. Hopefully we'll run into each other before we go on our missions. It took forever to cross the Dam on the way out of town. America never looked so sad as when we ventured across her to my real home.

Sunday 11/26: We rolled into town around 9:30. When we got back I realized that there is little here for me. And I longed for something new.

All in all, it was an amazing trip.

I love Las Vegas.
I will spend a lot of time there when I go to BYU.


I love my family.

I look forward to the future.

For Your Information.

I am working on a huge blog about my vacation.
I'll probably be done with it tomorrow.

Okay, bye.