Administrative Nonsense and some Bells (sans Whistles..)

So, upon fully realizing how bad I am at posting on this blog, and thinking about why that is, I've realized that the real problem is that I feel like I have to give full updates about all that is going on in the last little bit of my life history. This has two effects: 1- it causes me to feel like I have to wait long periods of time to tell about what is going on because I feel from day to day that my life is boring or that I have to wait for something large or important to happen and 2- it means I put off posting important things because I have too much to say.
Because of this, I'ma start something new and hope that I can stick to it- I want to be able to put more smaller posts rather than fewer longer posts.

The Bells of Jerusalem

So, when Analyn came out to see me over Christmas I had a surprise planned for her. I told her I had something awesome for us to do, but didn't give her any clues and even let everyone here know so they wouldn't spoil the surprise. I even deliberately failed to post on this blog about my first experience with this a few weeks prior so she wouldn't have any clue.

The surprise was this: playing the bells out of the YMCA tower over all Jerusalem. (Yes, I know, pretty awesome, huh?) The background to this is that my good friend Walter Whipple, who is the organist at the BYU Jerusalem center, goes every Sunday and plays the bells. It's pretty neat, cause he can play whatever he wishes. (Imagine walking around the old city and hearing something like "Come, Come Ye Saints" or "I am a Child of God," cause it happens...). As it turns out, he lets members, students and random others come up with him and gives them the chance to play as well. So, I successfully kept Analyn from knowing what we were doing until we got off the elevator and walked out to see all the bells...then I think she guessed it. Either way, it was plenty o' fun (despite my own personal ineptitude with musical notation...)