Bryce Barrand recommended that I start my own blog instead of sending out mass e-mails. He's probably right. Plus, it'll be good for archiving.
Well, I realize that we completely disappeared for about three months since the wedding, but now we're back on track. Hold on. It gets pretty exciting from here on out.
Melinda is at Dixon Middle School here in Provo teaching Foods, TLC (Technology, Learning, and Careers) and that you shouldn't "go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to." She loves it and hates it. Loves it because she was born to be on stage and where else but teaching do you get to be on stage all day? Hates it because she really works to help these kids prepare for success in life, but most of them come from very poor families and graduating from high school is a long shot. She loves them with everything she's got and sometimes their life situations just break her heart.
Her new exciting discovery is a scripture reading tactic. Each person learns differently, and Melinda has never really taken to book reading because that doesn't seem to be how she learns best. Well, we recently downloaded the Book of Mormon on mp3 from the audio section of LDS.org's Gospel Library . It has all the scriptures an a bunch of other stuff there for free. I highly recommend visiting it. Melinda, in a moment of inspiration, decided to play the mp3 while following along in the Book of Mormon itself. Something clicked. Now she is getting deeper, more meaningful and more enjoyable scripture study than ever before. She's really excited about this technique. I might be able to get her to read Ender's Game like this, too!
I'm still in school. This is my last semester and I am almost exclusively taking business classes, with a special emphasis in entrepreneurship. With my plans in producing, this has turned out to be one of the most useful semesters I've had here at BYU. I am currently juggling school, work at KBYU-TV, starting up a custom-made biography business for my entrepreneurship class, working as line producer on two documentaries for BYU departments, and looking for a house with Melinda. Suffice it to say, things are busy ... and real fun. Crazy isn't always good, but it is nice to be busy and learning so much.
After this semester I plan on finishing off the two documentary series I'm working on, and then going full force into development of my first feature film. I am currently developing a couple of films right now. We'll see if either of them are what I'm looking for. Also, on the side, I'll continue freelance producing with Virl Osmond (the oldest of the Osmond Bros.) for some secondary income. Just during these past few months graduating has gone from a scary thing to a very exciting thing. It is amazing how learning and arming yourself with knowledge can empower you. The Lord really is blessing Melinda and me, and we are trying to not let ourselves take these blessings for granted.
That's it for now. This has been long enough. Stay tuned for the next update when we'll let you know whether we decided to move into the mobile home ;-)
But seriously, we're considering it. More on that later.