Wuv... Twue wuv...

I had one of the greatest experiences this last weekend attending Tanner's wedding. I am sure most of you reading this blog have heard me talk about him before but for those who haven't, he is a companion I served with on my mission and we have lived together at college since then. He is a true friend in every sense of the word. He married Jennifer Trembley, a girl he has grown up with in Hollister, CA. They look so good together! The reception was completely amazing and they had a beautiful sealing.

Economic Insights

I meet people occasionally and when we get to talking and they find out that I am an economics major they invariably want to talk about the economy. Unfortunatley I am only a junior in an undergraduate program so I don't have too many profound insights to share with them. If they are members I tell them to follow the Prophet (I guess I should carry pass along cards with me and share it with people that aren't members too) you know, stay out of debt, have a food storage, and so on.

I learned this morning that the root word that economy comes from is 16th century word that means "stewardship of a home" then people began using the term "political economy" and from there it has transformed to mean how we use the resources of the nation.

So what I decided was to share quotes and other things I learn about economics with people on my blog. Adam Smith was a great economist that wrote about capitalism in his book "Wealth of Nations", but before that he write a book titled "Theory of Moral Sentiments". The idea is that there must be a moral foundation for capitalism and free markets to work. Today I have a quote from President Benson (you might see a lot from him) that illustrates this point well.

"In our day, there is much emphasis upon building social and material security. Some believe these can be achieved by legislation; others propose materialistic schemes which invariably weaken or destroy initiative, self-reliance, independence, and moral fiber. Relatively few, it seems, turn their attention to those standards and principles which strengthen moral fiber and which develop spiritual and personal security from within. Yet the history of mankind testifies abundantly that lasting security comes only to people who are spiritually and morally strong. Social and economic security can arise only from such a foundation." Ezra Taft Benson So Shall Ye Reap.

I chose this for two reasons: 1) we are seeing the governement trying to give us material security in exchange for our moral fiber. Hugh Nibley said the economy used to be an important thing, now it is the only thing. I think there are people that feel it is more important to save their wealth than keep their principles. They are inviting people to fail by supporting bad choices. 2) Economic success in your home depends on your own moral foundation and the principles you live by. Self control, hard work, faith, tithing, self-reliance and organization are some that come to mind. You don't have to make much money to achieve economic success. (If you want a good place to help you manage your finances go to mint.com, I love it)

These are my roommates, from left to right it is Kevin, James, Jared, me, Dan and Michael- also known as "the brotherhood" (coined by Kevin the first week of the semester). I wish you could meet them all: Kevin just returned from a mission in Hungary and loves to be outside hiking, snowboarding, rock climbing etc., James is from Portland OR. and is a lovable guy, he brought a lot of youthfulness and excitement into our apartment. Jared never sleeps, speaks French, and is involved with everything on campus and will be the student body president next semester. And he is single. Dan is a great friend to everyone, always serving other people and listen when they need to talk. He also hides cups. Michael is a wonderful singer and always sings around our apartment, he also served in the same mission as Stacie Johnson. He is a great cook and is good at making fresh apple cider with his juicer. (think of the quality of life!)

This is just a picture of a typical sunset in Rexburg, I took it at our complex. Beautiful huh?

So during finals sometimes you just need something, anything, to get your mind off of school work. I ended up doing this when I would sit down to eat lunch. I felt like it was very therapeutic.

Carryin' the Banner!

Happy Halloween! Here is a picture of me and three of my roommates, from left to right it is Dan, Kevin, me, and Michael. A bunch of people in our complex trick-or-treated to each other and just went around and visited. We all had a good time. I was a Newsie, no specific one really but when people asked I had to tell them "Davey" of course. Instead of asking for candy I would cough into a paper and say "buy me last pape?" I also went to a party where they had this white chocolate covered popcorn... Great idea for anyone who is thinking of ideas for Christmas treats.



Here is a picture of one of my friends, Tomas. (not Thomas) I loved his costume so I thought i'd share it with you all.


Trick or Treat? I chose the trick more often than not. This as well as holding on to one foot while I jumped through it with my other made the Newsie costume a little better.

Yes on Proposition 8

In California right now there is a proposition to amend California's constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. This will be a very important step for the citizens in California. I will be forever grateful for my mother and my father and the roles they each played in raising me. I look up to them and love them with all me heart. I believe that God has created men and women as compliments to each other and our purpose here on earth can only be achieved through the sacred relationship that is found in marriage between a man and a woman.
If you don't know about the proposition I have added links to sites that have great resources and information. Please take a few minutes to be informed and decide to vote if you are a resident of California.

Summer Break begins

I have 7 weeks till school starts again in the fall so I am moving down to Arizona to live with Pam and work for Rob. This last week I was up in Midway Utah with Pam and Rob and their friends. I know between this and the last post you probably wonder if all I do is vacation, but trust me, there were two weeks of school and finals in there two, I just dont have any pictures of my finals. (they made me throw them away). The first picture is the view from the porch of Rob's Family cabin, where Kim and I spent lots of time enjoying the scene and looking through her pictures from her "Big Trip"


This next picture is at the parade in Salt Lake on the 24th, there were a lot of good floats, and the policemen on the motorcycles were doing routines and stuff, Grant really liked that.

This is me and one of my favorite nieces, Lucy!

When we were up in Midway we went to this little nature walk thing, it was nice.

I liked this float of spacemen missionaries because I think most people feel like their mission is out of this world.

Looks like they found a nice family of little green men to teach.

Bear Lake- 4th of July

Over the 4th of July weekend I went with a few friends to a condo on Bear Lake (on the border of Utah and Idaho). It was a blast! We watched fireworks, went tubing on the lake, played mini golf, croquette, and played vollyball. It was a great break to get ready for the last two weeks of school. Here are some of the pictures from the trip...



This is Terry Bitton and me out on the lake

This is one of the best pics I took all weekend. It's Dave Jenkins (Big Dave) playing vollyball. He plays basketball the same way. Thats why he is the Sultan of Swat.

This is a picture of Stacey's brother on the tube. The water was really choppy, and when I went I hit a wave and got 5 feet of air! It was the highlight of the weekend for me.

Other pictures...

This is a good picture of my friend Oliver, jumping off a rope swing head first into a river. Remember when we used to go to the beach in California? That water can't even compare to how cold this water was. The water was runoff from the mountains, and I swear I saw a couple chunks of ice floating along...



Here is just a picture of some of my friends... From left to right it's Austin, Me, Katherine, Tracy, Emily, and Brian. Brian served in my mission.



Sorry this one is sideways... It was my roommates breakfast a few days ago, we are rethinking the Happy meal.



Chris and Lorna let me babysit every once in a while... and Lorna wonders why the house is always so clean when they get back ;)

Recent Highlights

I went down to Utah last weekend to participate in Johnny Oliver Barnette's blessing (Brian's son). What a great experience!



Today a few of my friends ran the Teton Dam Marathon. This is Tanner and Jennifer right after they finished. You can't see in this picture but Tanner is redder than a lobster, so if anyone reading this is planning on running a marathon soon, make sure to wear sunscreen! This is the marathon I was going to run but when I was training I ran into problems (no pun intended :) So I hope to be able to do it next year.



This is my "Major Award"! I won over 1500 jelly belly's by guessing the closest to the actual number of jelly beans. Everyone in my apartment is enjoying them, except for the coffee ones. GROSS.

A thought on life

Goethe said "Life, divided by reason, leaves a remainder."

This is a cool picture I took on top of the Conference Center. Actually it is a bunch of pictures I stitched together. It isn't perfect, but you get the picture. (no pun intended : )
Click on it and you can see it larger, it is better that way.

Last day with Rexburg Housing

These are a couple pictures from my last day with Rexburg Housing. They are a company here that I have worked for the last year and four months. I have done everything from apartment and landscape maintenance to accounting for them. They bought me a cake with a tool-belt on it, if you can see the picture that is sideways. The other picture is all the maintenance crew, from left to right it is Herman (an old painter that I love to death) Bart (my boss) John, Dale, Joe, and Cody. It was a great job and I will miss them, but I am really excited to start my job in the Economics department this coming Monday.

Home Sweet Home...

This week has been a blast! First I went to Salt Lake to see two friends from college get married in the Salt Lake temple, then I went home to visit my parents and take a break before another semester. It was one of the best trips home I think I have ever had, we went to In-n-Out, the temple, a Sea Chanters concert (they are the official US Navy's band) and I got to see an old friend that just got off her mission. We went to Old Sacramento and walked around.

General Conference

So this weekend I went to Salt Lake to attend General Conference. This is a picture of Kim, Andy and I after the Sunday am session. After that we went and had a picnic that Kim prepared for us, probably one of the best I have ever had. The picture below is us eating lunch. Andy was sad there wasn't any juice, but the water with the floaties made up for it :)




Thats about it! It was a quick trip. I am done with my finals now and start school again on April 21st.