Almost Graduated!

Hey everyone! Figured I'd update my blog; it's been a while.

So, work is actually getting really really fun! Training had been slow. I prayed to Father and He inspired me to really take charge of my training. I spread myself far and wide, asking for work, and now I'm getting my own jobs, start to finish. This feels like the beginning of the rest of my internship. Starting now, I'm experienced enough to take on me own jobs; I look forward to work more and more every day.

This semester had proved to be a different sort of challenge. I'm not in any programming classes, so I figured this semester would be cake. Well, instead of programming assignments, I have readings due in all of my classes each period. So I'm actually a lot busier than I was. At first it was hard, but I have adjusted to it.

The biggest shocker, though, is my ethics class. I was "so" excited about it. It's a philosophy class, though, so we started reading a book from Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. Turns out the whole premise of the book is that the more good actions you make, the better of a person you are, the happier you'll be. Cool, right? This book just screamed Gospel to me.

I haven't been disappointed, not in the least. It's been the coolest book, And it's my favorite class. Here's some of the things I learned:
-Being good and being happy are the same thing, as being good allows us to experience joys that transcend physical pleasure
-we become good by consistently choosing to do good things; the things we choose to do become a part of who we are
-There are certain actions that are always wrong, and will never lead to happiness
-the characteristic of humans that make us special is our ability to reason, to make rational choices.

Like I said, cool book, huh? I've marveled and how close to the Gospel Aristotle hit, and I've eaten it up, it's been so edifying

I'll end with something I've noticed about my marriage. First, I have a great wife. Every days a good day because I get one more day with her. I've learned though that my attitude has had a profound difference on both of us, and vice versa. As I am happy, it is so much easier for Rachel to be happy, etc. The Lord loves us, and continues to be good to us. Well, I'll talk to you later!!!

Christmas and Work

Blog

So, I'm really bad at blogging, but here goes anyways! I wanted to give you guys a brief low down of what's been going on In my lately.

First thing that's pretty new is I now work as a programmer at RRDonnelley. I've worked there for about a month now. I was super stoked to get the job :) I'm really excited for the experience, and the income is proving to be a BIG blessing.

When I first got there, I wasn't sure what to expect, but now the job, I'm discovering, is right up my alley. I've been prepared well, and my boss assures me I'm doing well so far.

When I first started working, I was really, really nervous about working while going to school. How on earth was I supposed to have the time to do that? Well, funny thing, we've started to go to bed early an wake up early. We still don't have as much time for God as we'd like, but we do have enough time. I didn't think I could do it, but It happened :)

I'm also starting to enjoy work. The time flies pretty quickly now. Not much checking the clock, waiting very impatiently to go home.

The other thing that has been happening is the Christmas season. It's been busy to say the least. Been working hard on a couple of particular gifts; ill write about them later! I've been so focused on getting the people I care about the right gifts so much, and getting everything ready, that I haven't really had much time to think about much else. I'm super excited, though, to have a few days to just spend time with my family.

It been an interesting experience, to reflect for a few minutes and realize I've been completely lost in doing what The Lord would have me do; namely, spending time with those I love. You know what I mean? Makes me think I need to spend a few minutes really thinking about what the Christmas season is really all about. Well, talk to you later!!!

Michael

Change in Life's Course

So yesterday has thrown my life's plans through a loop. My plan in life was to get my master's in CS, then go and get an MBA and a doctorate in Business from BYU, then start my career. Now I'm really not sure. Yesterday morning was a startling reminder of how much I need to focus on school. I didn't do so well on a test. To make the day better, I also found out that I'm not going to be an institute teacher. On top of that, the Business College was advertising their one year MBA program. All of a sudden I was questioning what I wanted to do with me life. 

Today I'm going to meet with the advisor for the one year MBA program, and see what happens. Rachel has one year of school left, and it seems like a really good opportunity to walk out of USU with a Master's Degree, as my wife will be here anyways. 

Truthfully, I really don't know where my career is going to take me. I've felt the last couple of days that The Lord is putting forth His hand and is guiding me to those things that He would have me do; that he's letting me know what He wants me to be, one step at a time.

I would love less debt (I'll have to take loans out to go to graduate school, I'm pretty sure), but I also need to obtain as much education as possible. But yeah, as it stands right now, I'm going to go straight for my MBA and see where The Lord takes me. I'm going to keep an open mind and heart so I can be guided by The Lord in what I should do.

I tell you what, getting married is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. I surely do love my wife. Every single day, I marvel at how beautiful she is, how radiant she is, how pure she is, and how grateful I am for her love. Someone is our ward said that marriage agrees with us. I concur. Marriage is one of the greatest things ever. Spending every possible moment with my best friend every day hasn't proved to be a hassle; it has proved to be one of the greatest joys of my life.

Anyways, that's what's new. I am currently working as a computer science tutor. I have spent a lot of time learning and growing, and every day I am seeing improvement. Its really exciting to see. I am so grateful The Lord saw fit to bless me with some needed finanical assistance while at the same time giving me the chance to really strengthen my core knowledge of Computer Science.

I love you guys; thanks for the chance to keep in touch with you. Technology truly is amazing, as is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Love you!!!

Hey there everyone!!!! I am so bad at keeping a blog, but I decided that I'm going to make time to do it, especially since its a great way to let everyone I care about informed about my life.

I've had an interesting experience I wanted to share with everyone today. Since the summer, I've been mulling over whether or not I wanted to work while I was at school. We seem to have just enough to take care of our needs as of right now, so I haven't been sure. However, once I finally decided to get a job, The Lord confirmed to me that I am on the right path ... I think. 

Right after I decided I wanted a job, a tutor position opened up in the computer science tutor lab. Guess who got hired? this guy did!!! I don't even need to work any evenings!!!!

After I got the job, I learned why I got the job. When I first started going through the CS program, I didn't really understand what's going on or apply myself as I should have. As such, the information mostly didn't stick. Well, as a tutor, I am going to be teaching other people those basics. I feel like one reason I am a tutor is because The Lord is providing me the opportunity to actually master the fundamentals that google has compensated for up until this point. Am I excited? Oh you bet!

I decided on something. I've gone to all of the teachers  that teach CS one and two, and a going to be doing the assignments the students are doing. This is how I'm going to master those fundamentals, plus it will make much more able to tutor the students. When I'm at work, I'm only at work, and I'm really excited about it :)

What else is going on in my life? Not a whole lot. I'm going through e seminary teaching program to keep my options open. It's been a great class. Mostly I'm just supporting Rachel. She's busy, so The Lord is keeping my schedule more open so I have time to cook and clean and support my wife when she needs it; she's really busy after all.

I most definitely love my wife most dearly. I am so happy to be with her. Life is pretty peaceful and just plain good, and that's pretty much it. Until next week!!!

Hey there everyone!!!! Last blog post before I'm married! Real quick, Kristin, I haven't forgotten about you. Life has just gotten in the way. Getting married with a full time job gets in the way of doing much else. So ... I guess I just wanted to write about some of the wonderful experiences Rachel and I have had together. Yesterday we went up to the apartment we're going to live in during the summer (I live there now, as it's five minutes away from where I work), and we started getting some of our things unpacked and moved in. Believe it or not, it has been quite a treat. I guess the only way I can think of to describe how it felt was that it just felt natural to be so close to living together. When we got engaged it felt the same way; it didn't feel weird at all; it just felt normal. Us getting married feels like another natural step in our progression. I'm really grateful for it. I'm sincerely glad that we have decided to wait as long as we have to get married; We're so much closer as a couple than we ever were in December. It has been the right thing for us to do. I don't how many people are actually going to read this, but I just wanted to commend Rachel and I's families publicly. They have worked so hard to make this come together. How hard they have worked hasn't escaped my sight; I'm very grateful for it. However, it's only been recently since i've actually come to undertsand a little bit about how hard they've worked to make things come together for us. I love Rachel, and I'm really excited to be marrying her. We had a concert at my place yesterday night, and I had so much fun. I love Jeremy, and I'm really grateful for all that he did. Rachel and I had such an amazing night! SPending that much time together with nothing but each other to think about was the most incredible thing. I love that girl. Anyways, next time I write I'll be sure to give you guys a run down of what we did on our honey moon!!!! Michael White

First Week of Work!!!

Hey everyone!!! I hope everyone's had a great few weeks! So, this week has been my first week working as an intern for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I must say, it has been a pretty good week. I really like the job! First thing, this is a very faced-paced job. It's the real deal. Just like any other job in industry. I don't know that for sure, because I haven't worked anywhere else, but the professionalism in the workplace is pretty amazing. Second, the atmosphere is fantastic. It feels good when you walk into work. I've been really impressed with the team I work with and the people I've met; so far, I've been the only one to get frustrated :). They're quite amazing! On top of that, my manager, Ted, made it clear that not knowing what's going on is just fine; he told me that he didn't expect me to know everything, but he did expect me to ask questions and to figure out what I don't know; how relieving is that! Since then, I've loved working here. The other thing that's pretty incredible is how nice the people here are; they understand completely when I have to leave for a few minutes to take care of things at home. I'm a service missionary, right? Well, I need internet to serve. Well, on Friday I had to leave at two to get my router from the UPS guys, and they were just fine with it! In short, the job is simply perfect; it is really challenging, and I am really going to stretch and grow academically this summer; on the other hand, I am able to support myself, and they allow me to get other important things done in my life. The other tangent I wanted to head down is how wonderful of a family I have. I had my bachelor's party today; we went and played laser tag, ate pizza, played frisbee. It was SO much fun, but the thing that really stuck out was how much my family and I bonded today; particularly between my brothers and my friends. The love that was felt today, oh how it was worth it! Today has been a pretty incredible day because of that love that has been felt, I think. Anyways, I'm just rambling as of right now. I have learned an interesting lesson on priorities this week. I felt like I juggled a lot last semester. Well, with a full-time job, I really haven't had much opportunity to do much besides work. It has left me to think that maybe from now on instead of trying to do all kinds of things, maybe I should try instead to choose which things are most important, and do those things very well. Anyways, I'll see you guys next week! Then it will only be a week until I am married! SO HAPPY!!!!! Michael White

Things are actually happening

Im doing this from my phone, so of there are typos I'm really sorry :) Auto-correct for ye lose, right? Regardless, this week has been a good week and I've learned a bunch of lessons. The first thing that's hitting me stronger and stronger every day is how things are actually happening. It's dead week right now, the week before finals. Well, the n of ye semester still seems a little surreal to me. I know it in my head, but I haven't comprehended yet that in a week and a half, I start my internship, this semester will be over, and I'll be married faster than I can sneeze. Mike did a fantastic job on the wedding announcements :). Just ... Wow ... I'm getting married! Well, I have exciting news! I'm going to the temple to receive my endowment tomorrow! It's a crazy story, and I've leaned a lot, so here goes: I have been planning this entre engagement to just get endowed a week before the wedding. Not a big deal, right? Well, ye other day it dawned on me that because I'll be moving into our apartment alone for three weeks, that would be a great time to go through the temple; having God on my mind at work, and t home, would be a great way to deal with the loneliness and intense pressure I'm expecting as our wedding draws near. Well, after talking to Rachel about this, it felt good, so ... Strate looking into getting endowed on finals week. Well, Bishop was okay with that on Sunday! So ... I called my grandpa to get things worked out. He couldnt do it on finals week. What do I do? This is where the lesson comes in. I figured I'd try to get endowed this week, but I felt strongly like I was throwing my time table on the Lord's, so I didn't expect anything to happen. Well, Tuesdy rolled around, and at 2.30 I stopped by my bishops office at my bishops office on campus. By six thirty I had my recommend. I had been told that they were hesitant to let someone pull out their endowments too soon before the wedding an ere I am, going through with t family ... Tomorrow!!!! So what's the lesson? I don't know as much about the Lord's will as I thought. I thought I knew what he wanted of me, but I was do convinced I shouldn't get endowed this week. Huh. Goes to show I need to work in seeking the Lord's will, and I think I'll start with step three. Being the corny, hopeless romantic I am, I am grateful I have the chance to start welding a spiritual bond with Rachel. I am SO excited to see where it takes us! I can't wait to get even closer to her!!! I just wanted to give her a shout out and tell her how special she is. Hon, you're incredible, and I love you very much. I'm completely flattered that you chose me to be your husband Michael White