My Long Summer Part 4/4: It Finally Begins + A summary of the First Week

I will start out by writing that I have enjoyed living up in Salt Lake City so far. There is so much to explore and discover. I guess it feels kind of refreshing that I came from a city where I know every direction and building to somewhere where nearly everyday, I am seeing something that I did not know was there before. One of my favorite sites so far is the Barnes and Noble Bookstore up here. It has so much more than the B&N in St. George and it has a great coffee shop built in to relax and read. I knew in the last while that I have found a new liking to reading but this going to this store makes me want to read so much more. It is nearly impossible for me to spend less than 30 minutes there. Another thing I have enjoyed is being closer to my father. I am able to see my Dad more now than I have before. I won't get to see Mom as much, but I still try to call her every weekend.

My home up here is not too shabby either. I live in the bottom part of a top-bottom duplex. It has a gorgeous backyard, and I love how it is in a relatively quiet part of town. It is fairly close to the University and Indian Hills Elementary where I work, but it is just far enough to escape all the fad that goes on around those parts. If the University has a big event going on, I won't even know unless they light up fireworks.

My roommate Karl has been a joy to live with. I feel like I struck gold with him as far as roommates are concerned. He is friendly and very flexible. Him and I have gone on a couple walks and outings together. His family is also very friendly, in fact they invited me to have dinner with them for one of his sisters birthday parties. They welcomed me like I was one of them. Back to Karl; not only is he very nice but he is very helpful. He is always offering to help me out with groceries whenever he goes and he has no problems sharing his dishes with me as long as I pay back the favor by keeping them clean. He has introduced me to some good foods, my favorite being smoked gouda cheese. He has said I will be very educated on all different kinds of cheeses while I am his roommate.

Another thing that I have enjoyed about living up here was I got to reunite with a few of my high school pals in Provo. It only takes about 40 minutes to get there thanks to the TRAX Frontrunner system. I got to see Presto at first and the first thing we did was go to a free in town concert that he says they do every first Friday of each month. The band that was playing seemed like a Beatles Tribute Band. Later on we met up with Nick Gubler and Kayden Barber. We did all kinds of stuff until I went back home 2 nights later.

After that, it was mostly just relax and wait for school to begin. Now that school has begun, let me just say that it is exciting but it has also been a lot of work. The University of Utah has been fairly easy so far but working at Indian Hills has been a bit draggy. First off, let me explain what I do. I am a part time PE instructor. I meet with all the classes in the school once a week, 30 minutes a day. One teacher will bring her/his class in, than 30 minutes later I will swap another one. It is an awarding job because the teachers and the principle have been so nice to me on this first week, plus I love seeing the kids grin when I walk by them and they say something like "hi Coach". One that was so sweet was when I was headed home a boy jumped and excitedly said "Daddy, that's my coach"! So you are probably wondering where the draggy part comes in, right? The draggy part is mentally, it is quite tiring. I have to come up with the plans for that week, I am running the gym solo and the hardest part is getting the kids under control with out me blowing my own top off. I had to learn what worked and what did not work fast. The first day, I could not get the kids under control much at all so the very next day, I had to try out a new approach that worked much better. Plus being a PE teacher at an Elementary school, I am expected to play the games I plan with many of them so by the end of the day, I feel physically exerted. I am sure that part will pass because I will be in better shape soon but the first few days my thighs were sore and one day my ankle felt like it was ready to snap off. I now applaud all teachers sincerely because now I have a more realistic idea of how hard being a teacher can be. That is not to mean I no longer want to be a teacher. That is still my goal because even though it is a tough job, the intrinsic awards are endless. I feel important to society, I like making a difference in peoples lives and I love the respect and unity that being a teacher brings. Plus I kind of like challenges. I see them as a chance to prove to myself and others what I am capable of and when I continue to push the limits and still have a bit of motivation by the end of the day, it is very self reassuring and I feel proud by the time I am laying in bed.

Thanks all of you for supporting me. I promise to keep you all updated on this experience. You all are the best. Its because of your support that this man keeps chugging along!!

My Long Summer Part 3/4: "RUSH"ing off to Salt Lake City, Utah

My last week living in St. George, Utah ended up having more events than I expected. When I announced through social media that I was moving out within a week, suddenly everyone wanted to hang out with me. It was kind of overwhelming but at the same time flattering.

One highlight of that week was going on an afternoon trip to Las Vegas with one of my best friends ever, Sarah Oldland. We had planned this a few weeks prior and I was never quite sure it was going to follow through but on her birthday, we ended up going. We had a blast down there in Sin City, Nevada. Sarah recently got a new convertible mustang and we rode through Vegas with the top down. She and I went down there with no direct plans of what to do. We just walked through the strip and did whatever we felt like doing. We planned as we went and we saw a couple fun shows such as the Volcanic eruption by the Mirage. We spent most of the time in Caesar's Palace and it always looks much larger inside than outside. There were so many shops, it was like a city within a building. For dinner, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. The food was pretty large for the price we paid, at least for Las Vegas standards. It was definitely the most fun time I had celebrating a friends birthday. I have to give compliments to her because I was very flattered that she trusted me enough to take me down to Vegas with her. It was just the two of us that went and neither of us have had much interest in getting in a committed romance sort of relationship. We were both OK with being just your old typical best friend but she still could have looked at this as kind of risky. You get it, a girl and a guy going one on one down to Vegas can look suspicious to some but we were able to just enjoy hanging out down there, gender differences aside.

 Their were plenty of other outings that happened that, but they were relatively small and easy compared to the Vegas trip with Sarah. I got to enjoy dinner with my friend and mentor, Mr. Rod Linford and his wife at Peppers and I had another dinner the next day with my friend and Danville coworker, Samantha at Chili's. I also got too watch Minion's in theaters with my Mom and brother Parker. That was a bit out of my norm because I do not normally prefer movie theaters, but because I was moving, I decided I had better enjoy every moment I could with my family. I did enjoy Minions. I see it as a movie that I will eventually end up buying on Blu-Ray. Probably in a Despicable Me box package.

On Friday, July 17th, I packed and moved to Salt Lake City. My Dad helped me carry my stuff up which I loved because I never get too see my Dad as often as I like. Just sitting with him in the car going to Salt Lake had a lot of meaning to me and I could tell it was meaningful for him as well because he ended up inviting me to hang out with him for the weekend. I could not say no to that. After dropping off my stuff in my new home, we drove off to Tooele. Dad showed me the new Nerd Store that just opened up there and it was really enjoyable to explore. I got my self a few Pokémon cards, which I never thought I would get into again but when my stepmother Jen told me that they do Pokémon tournaments up here, I began having interest in them again. On Sunday, Dad and I watched the WWE Battleground Pay-Per-View. If it wasn't for my Dad being a fan, I doubt I would be much of a fan of either. It is a show I got raised into and as a result it has been apart of my weekly routine. One of the funnest matches was Kevin Owens vs John Cena because my Dad was routing for Cena and I wanted Owens to beat him. It was fun trash talking each other during the match. If Owens hurt Cena, I would make a comment toward my Dad and if John Cena did a big move on Owens, my Dad would talk back just as hard. John Cena ended up defeating Owens forcing him to tap out with the STF submission maneuver so Dad ended up getting the final gloat. Later in the Pay-Per-View, Dad and I were super stoked to see the Undertaker make an appearance. He interfered in the middle of Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar's WWE World Heavyweight Title Match which I wanted Lesnar to win, but for once, I did not care. The fact that it was the Undertaker and not just some jobber easily made up for the disqualification.

When Dad took me back to my new home, I was very excited to get comfortable with it. It wasn't too hard to do that because my bedroom has a very soft bed and my roommate was very nice about showing me the ropes of the place. I have enjoyed getting to know him because he seems really nice and happy to help me with anything I may need help with and he is just easy to talk with. We also have mutual agreements with our living styles so it does not seem like there is going to be many arguments between us.

Overall living up here has been very quiet. Having no job until August 24th means I have to try that much harder to create plans for my day. Some examples of my plans have been walking to my new job to test how long it will take to get there, walking through the city, exploring the University of Utah Campus and of course shopping for groceries when I need to.

One last event that I have to write about on here is I did go back down to St. George to go see Rush in Las Vegas on July 25th with my stepfather Robert, and my stepbrother Cameron. Maybe I am just biased being an enthusiastic fan of the band, but the concert was a mind blowing experience. It was my 3rd time seeing the band but I think this was the most enjoyable one. My first concert I saw, I still was getting to know the band, and on my 2nd time seeing Rush, I was going through medical conditions so that only leaves so much room for fun. This R40 concert had no roadblocks. I was feeling very good and I am a much bigger fan now than I was when I first went which was still pretty huge at the time. I am such a fan of the band that Rush is almost like a drug to me. Whenever I need some emotional healing, I go to them. When I need motivation, I listen to a couple tunes or if I am just simply feeling good, Rush is often playing somewhere even if it is just in my head. To see them live in concert was like dying and going to heaven for 3 hours. I was so into it, that I kept track of every song they played.

Well that is pretty much the gist of it for now. I have a feeling it is going to be a slow few weeks but I will definitely keep finding ways to make my first few weeks enjoyable up here until I start working again. I am stoked to begin working at Indian Hills Elementary and studying at the University of Utah but that is still 3 weeks away. On the bright side, I have 3 weeks to keep catching up on my reading, in fact just very recently I finished the "Battle of the Labyrinth" so now it is on to "The Last Olympian". I will also find some fun bike trails to ride and keep getting in shape which reminds me. I was 258 lbs. in March and now I am at 223 lbs. I am very proud of that!

Thanks so much for following!! Its great to have support from so many amazing friends and family! 

My Long Summer Part 2/4: Preparation for Salt Lake City

On my last entry, I told about getting hired at Danville. I have been enjoying the job. The coworkers are some of the nicest people in my age group. It feels like a family group over there. A few have even become good friends of mine. Besides the people I work with, the clients are a lot of fun. I obviously can not say anything about them due to privacy rights but I can say I have enjoyed them.

As many of my friends know, I am planning to move up to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah and work at Indian Hills Elementary as a PE Instructor. Many things have been falling into place quite smoothly, a bit smoother than I first imagined. I have already got a home locked down, as well as a job!

I went up to Salt Lake City in Early July to get things finalized. The first thing I did was get my key from my roommates brother's wife. She was very nice when she showed me the house. After that I went to Tooele for the weekend to spend time with my Dad for July 4th. I have got to say it was a blast. Dad and I pretty much did anything we felt like doing. With him, I got to see Grandma and Grandpa Walters. It is always a thrill to see them. It was too bad Grandma had to work most of the time. In Grantsville we watched this parade. My favorite float was the Bonneville Brewery. The guy on it was acting kind of drunk and yelling "Come get your whiskey" and he would pour some on the road. It made me laugh and I had to get a picture. Later, Dad, Jen and I had burgers grilled with some yummy potato salad and pickle spears but the next day was even better. Dad introduced me to this place called Penny's which had pretty darn good burgers. I tried the inferno which was there "hotter than hot" burger. It tasted delicious but it tasted fairly mild to me but I have eaten some pretty hot stuff so that is no surprise.

After wards, I went to my U of U orientation. I will be honest. Not much to say about it except for I was excited. The orientation was actually quite draggy because they mostly talked about the same stuff that Dixie State told me every semester. What are the rules and expectations? What is considered Plagiarism? You get the point. I did explore the campus however and I was quite wowed by it. It was a huge upgrade from Dixie State University's campus. The student center has it's own bowling alley!!!

Later after my U of U meeting, I got to meet with the principle of Indian Hills Elementary. The people there call him "Doctor Arnoldsen" because he got his doctorate degree from William and Mary University. He seems like an easy going principle who likes to work with kids. He has definitely given me reason to look forward to working there. One thing that definitely made me excited was meeting with one of the students. Doctor Arnoldsen was giving me a tour of the school and one of the teachers was setting up her class room. Her daughter happened to be with her. Doctor Arnoldsen told her I was going to be the new PE Teacher and then the Mom/Teacher told her daughter about me and she began pulling off the biggest grin at me. It shook me up a little because it was a much different reaction than you would expect high school students to give. Do not get me wrong, I have absolutely loved working at the high school, but I am excited to work at an elementary school. My biggest objective right now is to keep getting experience towards my career goal before I get done with college and I feel since I have shown I could work well in a high school setting, its time to now prove to myself and others how well I can handle working with younger kids.

The nice thing was Doctor Arnoldsen ended up offering me schedule flexibility. That is very nice because that makes attending college much easier. I will just meet with him as soon as I get my new schedules and we will decide how to work around it.

So yeah, I am pretty much upgrading everything. I will be getting bigger paydays, live in a bigger home and attending a much bigger school! Do not forget the entertainment. I will definitely have to go to some Ute football games and of course go see the Utah Jazz when the San Antonio Spurs come into town! I think it's going to be a lot of fun being up in Salt Lake. It will be a lot of work but there will be some super fun moments too. You all know me. I will find ways to make it fun. That is just how I role!

My Long Summer Part 1/4: The Beginning

As many close to me have known, summer has never been my favorite time of the year. It is the time when the NBA season is ending, the time is kind of dull and many days seem draggy, and it is the time of year when my personal progress seems to halt for a bit. I don't mind breaks but I prefer week long or no more than two. I like growing and learning maybe almost obsessively so when ever that slows down, I feel kind of bored. Plus many of my favorite things are on vacation as well. Thank goodness WWE has no off season!

So far, this summer is not starting out as dull as some years have. I look at the calendar and I find it hard to believe it has only been about 3 weeks since school has ended. It feels longer than that. This one is mainly feeling long because of the excitement and anticipation of moving up to Salt Lake and attending the University of Utah. I also just recently had another thing added to make the move up exciting and that is I have basically been hired by Indian Hills Elementary to be a part time P.E. Instructor. They will be working me 29 hours a week at a base salary of 10.50 an hour but the secretary there just recently told me if I bring up my transcript showing I have an Associates degree, they may be able to pay me even more. I will be meeting with the principal in early July. Lets hope he's as nice as he sounds on the phone.

One big factor that has prevented this summer from becoming as dull as I originally predicted is being hired to work for Danville for the summer. If you do not know what Danville is, it is a service corporation that provides assistance for people with severe disabilities. My job is basically being at one of the houses owned by the business and take care of the clients living there and being like there big brother in a sense. I keep there house cleaned, take care of them hygienically, behaviorally and help make sure they are staying healthy. My co workers and I will also take them out on activities like to the park, the movies, grabbing beverages, etc. so I basically am like a big brother to them even though some may be older than me. It is a lot of fun, but can admittedly be tiresome at times. The coworkers are really great people and we look at each other more as friends than co workers it seems. Two of them have shared there steam accounts with me so we can play games online during our free times. That is quite nice because it makes working with each other that much more enjoyable.

Admittedly I have been having periods of emotion where I already miss working for Snow Canyon High. Resigning from there was not an easy decision but what is coming will all be worth it, I am sure. I sometimes dream in my sleep of still working there, or announcing that I am staying one more year, but after a bit, reality hits. I am not depressed about it, but it sure has personally testified how much being apart of that school has meant to me. I am glad to have many supporters from there who have helped me along the way to get where I am now.

I have had a few fun times this summer. Just this last week, my step grandparents, Burt and Mary came for a visit. Burt was as funny as ever, and Mary is the same smart woman I have heard about many times. We had a great time while they were down here exploring the new park by Dixie Rock and then afterwards getting some Italian Ice at Zeppe's which was rather tasty. I recommend stopping there for dessert sometime if you can.

My mother has been a major help in getting me ready for my move up. She seems to be having a fun time searching apartments for me which is good because she is doing an amazing job. Much better than I would if it was me looking. I would probably just pick the first I noticed that looks good but she is looking at a bunch of them and noticing many great options. Out of all my supporters, she is my number one and I appreciate her tons even when I argue with her on occasion like pretty much any son does. It is awesome knowing she is there for me when ever I need her to be.

One nice thing about residing at her house for the summer is I get to spend time with my brothers, Parker, Brennan, Cameron, and Jackson more often than I ever got to living on the Dixie State University campus. I am definitely enjoying that while I can because I will only get to see them holidays when I attend the U.




For the first time, I have tried the Brandin' Iron with my good friend Jon Graf who has been a major help along the way during my time here at Dixie. We had great conversation and the steak was delicious. Good luck trying that place because they are only open on weekends and they aren't open at all during the winter. It is worth a try though if you ever get the chance.

Well, so far that just about sums up my summer for now. I will be writing another entry at about the 2nd week of July. Thanks to all of you who read my blog entry's. It is nice having you all as amazing supporters. Feel free to comment anything. Advice, ideas...anything. I love hearing from all of you. Thanks for all you have done!

Goodbye Snow Canyon High School...Again :'(

I am officially resigned from my employment at the Home of the Warriors, Snow Canyon High. Working here has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. There are obvious things that came out of this job such as experience towards my major as a Severe Special Education Teacher, developing great relationships with other teachers and coaches, and lots of learned lessons that made be a better person.

One thing that made this experience amazing was I feel I got to see a glimpse of my career goal from working with the severe students as well as coaching basketball. I feel very lucky that I got to do this during college.

I already knew going in that I was going to have a great work relationship with Principle Brooks and Mr. Linford, but they turned out to be fully supportive of my goals and were willing to allow me to do anything I needed to do to get there. If I needed work hours cut, they had no problem with that. If I wanted to help out with the sports, they didn't have a problem with that either. Besides that, we were able to view each other as more than fellow co-workers. We became friends through the experience.

I was also able to develop good friendships with some of the coaches and teachers. Mike Esplin, Justin Redfearn, LeFan Tufuga, Ryan Rarick, and quite a few more were people I sure was glad to work with. I have to admit how ever that when you openly admit you are a San Antonio Spurs, you become quite a good target to tease and make fun of which those coaches did plenty of times to me. Eventually, they began teasing me about more than just the spurs, but later, my habit of drinking Rock Stars, "betraying" them by moving to Salt Lake, Etc. I will miss that about these guys. They always gave me a hard time in a way that made me feel respected. I do hope to stay in contact with these guys down the road towards my career.

Besides the fellow workers, I was able to bond well with many students. The severe students were so great to work with and I tried hard to help them feel loved and cared for and eventually they gave back that respect toward me.

I asked one to let me see there yearbook and as soon as I viewed the page about the Girls Basketball Team, I could not help but get tears in my eyes. Every one of them, I hope to see them sometime down the road. Coach Roden better not feel surprised if I decide to text or call him sometime just to say hello to the team during next years season.

All in all, I am really going to miss these experiences. They have made me better and smarter, and I am forever grateful to be apart of it. Many have asked me if I would be interested in returning once I have completed my degree requirements at the University of Utah and I have responded to many of them that I am not saying yes but I am not saying no either. It may turn out I love Salt Lake City and may just want to teach up there, but maybe I will miss the red rocks and people of St. George that I will just have to come back. As I have learned many times in the past few years, Never say Never!!!! What ever my choice ends up being, I am eternally grateful for all the people I worked with and I hope to stay in contact with many if not all of you. Thanks for everything!! No matter what, I am always a Warrior!!!

My College Summary: Spring 2015

Spring of 2015 was easily the most difficult semester I have experienced. I knew it would be hard coming into it due to a couple factors such as being my last semester at Dixie State so the urge to just wanting to get it over with made it more difficult than it should have been. I also was taking classes that were a little difficult for me such as Math 1050(College Algebra and Pre-Calculus), Music 1010(Introduction to Music), and Hist 1700(American Civilization).

I had to make some difficult choices in the semester. Doing this along with my job at Snow Canyon High School ended up being even harder than I thought. I was able to get through coaching the Lady Warriors Basketball team but when track and field came up, I had to tell Coach Esplin I could not do it this year because my Midterm Grades were already questionable. My Math 1050 was marked with an "X" which is a professors warning, and my Music 1010 class was a D-. I went and talked to my math professor, Costel Ionita, and he was very blunt about it that I was just not leaving enough room in my day to study math at the rate he recommended. I then talked to one of my counselors in Student Support Services and they offered to let me work with a one on one tutor. In order to do that though, I also needed to cut my work hours a bit shorter. I was able to do that and thank goodness I did.

Working with my tutor, Paige, she was able to assist me even better than I first imagined. With my Math class being an online course, she was in a sense also my teacher. We would push to get 100 percent on each homework assignment. I won't go into too many details, but at the end working with her, I was able to finish my math class with a C!! I was very happy because that means I wouldn't have to take another math class at the University of Utah where I will be transferred to next semester.

My Music 1010 class ended up being a D+. I ended up studying with my mother who helped me out a whole lot. Professor Dean was very passionate about teaching Music but his tests were the kind that if I did not basically memorize my whole entire notes, I would feel lucky to get higher than 70. Luckily I was not the only one. A majority of the class admitted they struggled in it. It was the one class I wished there was more homework to at least help me absorb more of the information. Just writing notes and then taking an occasional test in the testing center did not really help me learn too much. Overall though, I am still glad I passed the class. That D+ was not due to wasted effort so I am not too disappointed.

Overall, I felt very accomplished to have finished this semester. I now will be receiving my Associates of Science degree and will began next semester at the U in good terms. The biggest challenge coming up will be pushing to get all A's and B's for the next year so I could push my GPA from a 2.79 to a 3.0 or higher which is required to get admitted into the Education school at the U. I will also need to take a Praxxis exam which I plan to take in Spring of next year. I plan to take practice portions and whatever else I need to do to get comfortable with that exam.

I would like to finish this summary on my social interactions. I was living in the Shiloh Dorms with my friend Chris Cleveland living on the other side of me. Having him there ended up being one of the greatest social times of my life. We would help each other out, go eat together and have movie marathons. I think we rarely had a day where we didn't talk at least a few minutes to each other. He is going to be who I miss most moving up to Salt Lake City. I only wish he could have joined me but we will still interact through skyping or messaging on Facebook. I thank him big time for helping make Dixie State a good experience in more ways than just going to class and learning information.

Happy Birthday Mom! I am one lucky son!

So today, my Mother, Jenifer Andrus (Summerhays) turns one year older. I thought of just posting on her wall on facebook, but I felt she deserved more of an honor than just a sentence. I would like to give a little overview on how she truly makes me one of the luckiest men in St. George, Utah, if not the planet!

Many of you know my mother as a teacher at Lava Ridge Intermediate and already know she is one of the sweetest people you have met. She has made a reputation of being a caring personality who puts others first well before herself. She finds joy in making others happy and successful which I am sure is part of the reason she chose to be a teacher as her career. However, what you probably see in the classroom doesn't truly do her justice on how much she truly cares about one another 'cough, cough' especially me..'cough'. She sacrifices so much and if it makes people around her happy, she is happy. When she is happy, she has one of the sweetest grins that makes me want to give her a big hug, even though I try not to overdo it.

For me personally, I feel like she went through a lot more than, no offense, most mothers would have needed to go through to raise me up to what I have become today. In one of my previous entrys, I told about how I had to be taken to the crisis center for running away from home. About after that time, she had to make a decision, which she confessed to me recently, was one of the most difficult choices of her life and that was to transition from being under her primary custody, and making my Dad my primary caregiver. At that time, I always responded better to my Dad than my mother.

Before, I get to carried away and make this about myself, that is just one example of sacrifice she had to go through to allow me to develop into what I became. I know I sometimes say that I wish she wasn't as protective as she is, but all in all, that leaves little doubt that she truly loves and cares about me and wants nothing more for me than to be successful.

I use to be a very selfish son toward her and didn't look up to her very highly, but now adays, I love her to death and am super pleased to be her son. I am still a selfish son in a lot of ways. Much of our conversations now adays are about me going to the University of Utah next semester and looking back at what I used to be and how amazing it is to be where I am at now. I often make bragful questions like "would you have guessed I would be going to the U of U by age 22"? She would often respond, "I was just hoping you would get through high school"! I don't brag to her to say I am better or more amazing than my brothers. I just get so happy to make her proud, and to hear her say she is proud of my success fills me with tons of joy.

One of the hardest things of going to the U of U is I will not be having her live just 10 miles away from me, and I know it is hard for her to imagine that as well, but her support for me will make it OK. I am sure we will call or skype often to update each other how things are going with each other as well as updating her on my progress as a Ute.

Happy Birthday Mom!