Biggest Events in My Life from 2013 #5

My sisters got home from their missions. They went to Toronto, Canada (Spanish-speaking) and Columbia, South Carolina.

Biggest Events in My Life from 2013 #4

We got a new niece on my side of the family! Her name is Aurora :)

Biggest Events in My Life from 2013 #3

I got the idea do this series of posts due to Facebook. They have the 20 biggest events of 2013 for you.

Today I'll mention about that this last year, we moved back to Rexburg into our own place. We loved living with my parents down in Blackfoot, but it's also nice to have our own place and to be living closer than an hour to campus. I love you, Mom and Dad. Thank you for letting us live with y'all.

Daily Messages #3

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

— , "2 Nephi 19:6"

Biggest Events in My Life from 2013 #2

My son, Jared, turned 1 year old this last year!

Biggest Events in My Life from 2013 #1

My son started walking. He is now all over the apartment and getting into things he shouldn't. I love my son :)

Daily Insights from my Life #12

I have been thinking today of how grateful I am for the help Heavenly Father has given me this semester. There were times where I wasn't sure how I could go on by myself, but as I turned to the Lord and focused on things that matter most in life, I found his loving embrace surround me. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving me and guiding me. Thank you for blessing me with an amazing wife and son.

Day 28 - Thanksgiving 2013 (Happy Thanksgiving Day!)

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!!!!!!

Today, to end my daily posting of what I'm grateful for this month and this past year, I am grateful for responsibilities. Without responsibilities, I would be a lazy man. I am glad I have responsibilities at home, at school, and in my religion. At home, I have responsibilities as a father and a husband. At school, I have responsibilities dealing with homework and tests. In my religion, I have responsibilities dealing with home teaching and serving the Lord. Without these responsibilities, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Day 27 - Thanksgiving 2013

Today I am thankful for food, water, and drinks...nurturing items that keep us alive. I'm thankful that we have financial means in order to not starve. Thank you, Heavenly Father.

Day 26 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for friends. Friends are ones that ask you how you are doing. Friends are ones that actually listen when you tell them how you're doing. Friends are ones you can trust. I'm thankful for friends, because my friends are ones I can trust. I try to help them as much as I can in order to give back to them what they continually give to me.

Day 25 - Thanksgiving 2013

Today I am grateful for books. Books are a way to escape the worries of your life, and slip into another world. Books are healthy for you.

Day 24 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am thankful for my glasses. This morning when I woke up, they weren't where I had left them when I went to sleep last night. As we were searching for them, I realized how grateful I am to have them...to be able to see is a blessing. Without them, my vision is really blurry.

Day 23 - Thanksgiving 2013

Today I am thankful for my grandparents (those who have passed away and those who are still living on this earth). I love them all. They raised my parents to be spiritually-strong individuals, and they are examples of someone I want to become. I strive to gain qualities I admire in them.

Day 22 - Thanksgiving 2013

For the twenty-second day of this Thanksgiving Day season, I am grateful for mostly-open computer labs in the Austin (where I have my mechanical engineering classes every day). On Friday I was working on this big project, and I was in there from a little before my class (which started at 10:15 that morning) until I left about a little after 6 that evening (with a few breaks). I'm thankful there wasn't any more classes that day so that I could work nonstop on my project.

Day 21 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for teachers...especially my mechanical engineering teachers. They do their best to help us understand the material in each class. Thank you!

Day 20 - Thanksgiving 2013

I'm grateful for rain and snow. With living in a dry climate, I am always grateful for moisture. 

Day 19 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am thankful for my mom. She's a strong individual who is a great example to me. She is a wonderful caregiver of my childhood home. I remember those late-night talks with her about struggles and accomplishments in my life. She would give me wise counsel, and she would listen to whatever I had to say. Thank you, Mom, for being there when I needed you :)

Day 18 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for movies/television shows that my wife and I can relax to after a long day or week...ones we can enjoy over and over again.

Daily Insights from my Life #11

This is a great quote from a man who always lifts me up and encourages me to be better. I love the counsel he gives.

Day 17 - Thanksgiving 2013

I'm grateful for my dad. He is a great example to me. I strive to be like him. He was a great father and scout leader. He helped me get to where I am today in scouting and spiritually, mentally, and physically. I love having talks with him about school, things going on at home, etc. Thank you, Dad, for being my dad.

Day 16 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for BYU sports (especially football and basketball). They are a great way to spend some of the weekend. Go Cougs!!!

Day 15 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for a bed. It is a place for us to sleep during the night and rest from our labors every day.

Daily Messages #2

"It is time for us to understand that we—the neighbors, friends, and family of less-active members and nonmembers—are ideally situated to offer an invitation with the proper love and consideration that the one we invite deserves. We hope the invitation will be accepted, but if it is not, we should continue to demonstrate friendship and Christlike love so that the one we invited knows that the relationship we had nurtured and cultivated was not simply a means to an end but a lasting and true friendship."

—L. Tom Perry, "Missionary Work in the Digital Age"

Day 14 -Thanksgiving 2013

Today will be a short one, because it's late.

I am grateful for dominoes. They make my son happy. All in all I'm thankful for anything that makes my son, my wife, and everyone else I care about happy.

Hope Y'all Enjoy My Posts & Share Them With Others If You Want

I just wanted to say that I hope everyone is enjoying the posts I put on my blog. It is a way for me to share things I love or insights I gain. I hope y'all enjoy my continuing posts. You can share the links of my posts with others if you want. I trust you to not abuse that trust.

Day 13 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for my brothers, Luke and Jacob.

Luke is a great brother to me. We are Star Wars geeks, and we are fellow mechanical engineers (he's graduated while I'm still at school). He is a great example to me.

Jacob is also a great brother to me too. We are both big sports fans.

I love my brothers. They and their wives are great friends with my wife and I. That is who my brothers are...friends. I can share things with them I wouldn't share with many other people, and I trust their advice.

I love y'all!

Daily Insights from My Life #10

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.

Robert Louis Stevenson

If we are make the decision to be happy, you'll be amazed at the changes in your life. It can also change the lives of those around you. A smile, a hug, or a "How are you?"  from you can brighten someone else's day. They'll know that someone cares how they feel.

Day 12 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a strength and an anchor in my life. With my family centered around it, we are stronger that we would be without it.

Day 11 - Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Veteran's Day!

This is to all of you veterans and members of the military. Thank you. I'm thankful for all that you have done, endured through, and all that you do now. Thank you for serving our/your country, and maintaining our freedom. Toby Keith sang in his song, "American Soldier", "...When liberty's in jeopardy I will always do what's right, I'm out here on the front lines. Sleep in peace tonight." Because of what y'all did and do, I know that I can sleep in peace. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. May God bless you for the service you've given and/or are giving. Thank you.

Day 10 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for the temple. Through temple ordinances, we make sacred promises with our Heavenly Father. Through the temple those who are dead can receive those ordinances and make those sacred promises through us. It is a great feeling when you are doing that work for those who have passed on....especially for those who are related to you.

I'll add one more thing...I'm also grateful for indexing :)

Day 9 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am thankful for a place where my family and I can live.

Day 8 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for a laptop. With a laptop, we are able to get things done online we couldn't otherwise do. I can have access to programs in order to finish my school work. We can stay in touch with friends and family at the click of a button :)

Day 7 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for Julie's family. They support one another. They are willing to help each other whenever needed. I love that every month they all fast for those in the family who are struggling in some way or another.

Day 6 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for my two sisters, twins Rachel and Rebekah. They are amazing individuals who served successful missions for the LDS church. I have always had a special connection with them ever since we were younger. Thank you for being there when I needed someone. Thank you for inspiring me to be a better person. Thank you, Rachel and Rebekah, for being great examples for me and many others.

Day 5 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for a car that works. It has it's problems, but at least it gets us where we need or want to go. Keep going, baby...keep going! :)

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #9 [It's A Wonderful Life]

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/553450241678687510/

One of the greatest classics ever...

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #8 [Imagination and Reading]

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/553450241678687523/

...need I say more :)

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #7 [Fablehaven]

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/553450241678687525/




One of the best series ever written...Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Day 4 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for my son, Jared. He is growing to be a big, strong kid. Bear with me as I now I boast of his most recent accomplishments. Just last week, he stood up without any help from us, a table, a couch or a chair (his usual aides). He stood up in the middle of the living room, and I was so proud of him. Another thing he has recently accomplished is the walking itself. Every day, he is getting better, more steady, and more sure of himself.

He is a light in my life, and I love him. Coming home to him and my beautiful wife, Julie, make my days better. They are there to help me when I'm stressed. I hope I can give back to them as much as they give to me. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for two wonderful people in my life, and thank you, Julie and Jared, for being there for me. I love y'all a lot. <3

Day 3 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for a lovely wife, Julie. She is the love of my life. She is a wonderful mother to our son, Jared. She had tons of patience as I was stuck at school for most of the day every day this last week. She has had that same patience other weeks on certain days when I have to stay on campus until 5 or 6 in the evening. I love you, sweetheart. You are a righteous daughter of God. You are an amazing example to me. Thank you.

Daily Insights from My Life #9

I felt like I needed to share this experience I had this Sunday morning.

Today as I was indexing names for baptisms in the United Kingdom from 1719, I went through two daughters of the same parents, and then right after them, the widowed mother was baptized. I thought that was cool, and wanted to share it. The two girls in their 20s were baptized along with their mother.

I just thought that was neat that they were all baptized together.

Day 2 - Thanksgiving 2013

I am grateful for college football. College football is one out of many things that helps me relax when I have a stressful week at school.

Day 1 - Thanksgiving 2013

This is to make up for yesterday.

I am grateful for past and present mechanical engineering major friends who help me when I'm stuck on a problem. I try to give back whenever I can in helping them with their problems too. Thank you. Y'all help me understand what I'm learning.

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #6 [He Was Always With You]

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/553450241678488553/

I love this quote. It's from the General Relief Society broadcast from last weekend.

Daily Messages #1

The messages I will be posting are sent to me through email from the LDS Church. I hope you enjoy them as I post them. I'm posting them in order to give that spiritual counsel for everyone...maybe to be uplifted in some way.

Christlike Attributes—the Wind beneath Our Wings

"Developing Christlike attributes in our lives is not an easy task, especially when we move away from generalities and abstractions and begin to deal with real life. The test comes in practicing what we proclaim. The reality check comes when Christlike attributes need to become visible in our lives—as husband or wife, as father or mother, as son or daughter, in our friendships, in our employment, in our business, and in our recreation."

—Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Christlike Attributes—the Wind beneath Our Wings"
Topics: Christlike Attributes

Another Book Blog

Due to some inspiration from a dream last night, I've started a new book project. It's going to be a science fiction book. If any of you are interested in reading the posts of my blog as I write, let me know, and I'll add you to the readers list.

BYU vs. Texas from 9/7/2013

Below is the link to a great game between BYU and Texas!

http://www.byutv.org/watch/e1a631c0-d8c6-4062-9389-c8ca048a6fe4/football-texas-byu-9713

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #5 [Marvel's The Avengers]

http://pinterest.com/pin/384354149418845984/

This film is one of my all-time favorite films! :)

Daily Insights from My Life #8

This insight is found in Brandon Mull's Beyonders book, "Chasing the Prophecy".

"That is where faith becomes necessary...Faith isn't knowledge...Faith is a tool. Faith keeps us going until we get the knowledge. Faith keeps us striving until we reach the consequences of our most important decisions." (page 275-276)

Those are words of wisdom from a wise man. It shows what faith truly is, and why it is necessary.

Daily Insights from My Life #7 (An Insight From My Personal Scripture Study #7)

I will actually start renaming the posts in this series to "Daily Insights from My Life". The reason why is because I've been finding insights not only from my scripture study but also from other sources. For example, the insight for this post is from a book I am reading.

As you can see on the right side of my blog, I am reading Stephen R. Covey's book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" In the first section of his book, he talks about paradigm shifts. He says, "Perhaps the most important o be gained from the perception demonstration is in the area of paradigm shifting, what we might call the "Aha!" experience when someone finally "sees" [something] in the way. The more bound a personal is by the initial perception, the more powerful "Aha!"experience is. It's as though a light were suddenly turned on inside...whether they shift us in positive or negative directions, whether they are instantaneous or developmental, paradigm shifts move us from one way of seeing the world to another. And those shifts create powerful change. Our paradigms, correct or incorrect, are the sources of our attitudes and behaviors, and ultimately our relationships with others." (pages 29-30).

I really love that concept. I think in my own life of one major paradigm shift in my life. When I gained a testimony of my own that I am a child of a loving Heavenly Father. Ever since I made that shift, my life has changed dramatically for the positive good.

I think all of us has experienced some type of paradigm shift in our lives. Thank you for reading this post. I felt strongly about this insight I gained, and I felt like sharing it with all of my friends and family.

If you would like to leave a comment on this post or send me an email about how you feel about this insight, feel free to do so. If you want my email, just comment on this post and ask for it.

Have a great day y'all!

The Hobbit

#2 in my series is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15329.The_Hobbit

It is an amazing book. It's simple, yet it's a great piece of art that tells a great fantasy tale.

I recommend it.


By the way, if there is anything you want to see on the posts in this series that I don't include, please comment on this post or on the #1 post in this series, and I will do it. Thank you!

I hope y'all enjoy the series' I'm doing on my blog. I'm trying to be creative on this blog, and I hope y'all are enjoying it.

The Beyonders Trilogy

This will be another series of posts I will do periodically.

For the first post of this series, I will recommend Brandon Mull's Beyonders series.

As I mentioned in a post earlier called "Brandon Mull" (http://jessejamesthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/08/brandon-mull.html), he wrote three books.

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8306745-a-world-without-heroes?ac=1

Beyonders 2: Seeds of Rebellion
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11254850-seeds-of-rebellion?ac=1

Beyonders 3: Chasing the Prophecy
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15801381-chasing-the-prophecy?from_search=true

This is a review I wrote on goodreads.com under the third Beyonders book, Chasing the Prophecy.
Really loved it! Brandon Mull is a great, inspiring author who never ceases to amaze me with his writing, characters and storylines!

I highly recommend this trilogy of books by Brandon Mull. It is a fantasy trilogy that is well-written, and I hope that all who endeavor to read it, are reading it, or have read it enjoy it as much as I did.

  

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #4 [Pleasure of Reading]

http://pinterest.com/pin/553450241677939160/

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #3 [Staying up Late for Reading]

http://pinterest.com/pin/553450241678119518/

I love finding a book so good that do this very thing. :) I recently read two of those. They were "The Serpent's Shadow" by Rick Riordan and "Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy" by Brandon Mull.

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #2 [The Lord of the Rings]

http://pinterest.com/pin/347269821237736427/

To sum it all up...  J.R.R. Tolkien :)

Favorite BYU Football Players for 2013

My three favorite BYU Football players this year are Cody Hoffman #2, Kyle Van Noy #3, and Taysom Hill #4! (the numbers are their jersey numbers)

  

http://byucougars.com/home/m-football

What are your favorites for this year? You can comment your answers if you want to.

Brandon Mull

I just wanted to share a suggestion of an author everyone should try. Brandon Mull is a fantasy-adventure author who writes great novels. I have read all of his recent books (except the most recent...I'm finishing it this week), and have thoroughly enjoyed them all :)

Here are his full novels:

Fablehaven [the first book of the series]
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague
Fablehaven: Secret of the Dragon Sanctuary
Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison

The Candy Shop War [the first book of the series]
The Candy Shop War: Arcade Catastrophe

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes
Beyonders 2: Seeds of Rebellion
Beyonders 3: Chasing the Prophecy

He also has one or two kids book about Pingo.

This is his website: http://brandonmull.com/site/

I hope you all enjoy his books as much as I do. My wife and I both agree that his Fablehaven books are some of the best books we've ever read.

If y'all want to leave comments of why you like Brandon Mull or anything else pertaining to this post, go ahead! :)

One of My All-Time Favorite Pins from Pinterest! #1 [Escape Into a Book]

http://pinterest.com/pin/553450241678119525/

Just like with my personal study insights posts, this will be another type of post I'll do every once in a while :)

Writing Letters to Missionaries

I just felt today that I needed to write a letter to a friend who is on a mission, and I wanted to share this invitation with all of you. Make a commitment and write to a friend or family member who is serving a mission :)

Also, if you don't know anyone who is serving a mission, just write a letter/email to a friend or family member who you think might need some words of encouragement. I bet it will brighten up their day/week.

It doesn't matter if it's short or long :)

My Book Blog

So I'm writing a book (slow process) that I want to be a fantasy-adventure book. I have one and a half chapters posted on a blog. I'm not continually adding to it, but when I have time and new ideas come, I write. I have to invite people to be blog readers if they want to read them. If any of you are interested, comment on this blog, and I'll get in contact with you.