It’s the end of January, which means that I am at the point where my mind starts thinking of traveling. (I think it has to with the fact that it is FREEZING.) Where am I going to go this summer?

I honestly think I’m at the point now where it’s no longer a question of IF I’m going somewhere. It’s WHERE.

Let’s take a look at the criteria for Logan’s Summer Trip:

1. It needs to be somewhere exotic...maybe foreign is a better word. While I love New York City…let’s be honest, I can go there when I’m married and have a family. I need to be taking advantage of the fact that I am single and have some flexibility.
2. I need to go to some place that I’ve never been. What’s the fun in going some place that I’ve already been to? There are a couple exceptions to that…if I’m traveling with friends who have never been to a certain place, I’d be willing to go back…but part of the trip has to be some place I have never been. New adventures.
3. There is nothing worth seeing in the world that would not be better with your best friend. The choice of a travel companion is essential. Last year I was successful in dragging Connor around Europe, and I got some friends to Mexico City. Who will it be this year? Where will he/she/they want to go? This may have the largest effect on my summer trip.
4. One thing that I noticed while compiling with this list is that I want to be able to go on a trip where I will be able to see a number of different things. India would be amazing…but all I would end up seeing is India. While I’m young and spry and can move around a lot quicker, I want to take advantage of that and see many things.

Now that the criteria has been put into place, I am going to name and judge some places which fit the crtieria (some of which have already been suggested, some of which I am throwing into the ring.) Looking back, my first thought is – wow. I still have a lot of places to visit. Let’s take a look.

Spain

Spain would be way cool! Madrid, Barcelona, maybe Portugal too cause its right there…there would be friends to visit in Spain (Michelle and Nautasha), I could try to run into my cousin Cathy on her mission, I have possible vacation buddies who speak Spanish, and Italian is pretty close….there is so much to see…this is a definite possibility. Ooooh I get excited just thinking about it. I could go Spain..Portugal maybe..then up through andorra to southern france and over to Italy. Doesn’t that sound fun????

Germany

Castles are SO cool. Germany has tons of them. I would write the ones that I want to see here but they are too difficult to spell. This is the land of some of my ancestors, I’ve always wanted to go to Germany…and it could be a part of a more central european trip – Germany, Austria, Prague, maybe Switzerland and…of course…Italy?

Switzerland

Um…I absolutely loved Switzerland last summer. I may have to go back to Gimmelwald, wherever I end up. I don’t really know what else to say. It was incredible in every meaning of the word. Every single step we were saying "wow...this is so cool....wow...this is so cool...." I really can't describe how much I loved Switzerland.

Austria

Sound of Music…Mozart…and my grandpa won’t stop talking about Salzburg, and I think that would be cool to see. I also hear that Vienna is absolutely gorgeous. The Alps would be pretty as well, like Switzerland.

Czech Republic

I’ve been hearing about Prague from when I was a missionary in Italy. “Anziano Schultz….devi andare a Praga. È bellissima.” (Elder Schultz, you must go to Prague. It is gorgeous.) Friends that have gone have loved it….yeah. So maybe I need to see what all the hype is about.

Scotland/Wales/Ireland

I’m putting these all together, even though I know they are fairly different places. A lot of my ancestry comes from here, so that’s cool. Pemberly? Hogsmeade Station? Crazy Celtic Castles in the middle of nowhere? The moor? Secret Garden? I cannot explain HOW COOL this would be.

South Africa

If I’m going to go to South Africa, I’m going to wait for the World Cup in 2010. Sorry, Carla.

Peru

So while talking to my mom last night, she asks me, “Logan, when you were in Mexico, did you go Macchu Picchu?” hahaha. No mom…that’s Peru…a little ways away…but I do really really want to go there. And I will someday. Old Native American ruins are sweet.

Hawaii

For me to go to Hawaii….I’m going to wait until I’m married.

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and/or Guatemala

See Hawaii. (Cancun...beaches...maybe its not the same.) Though seeing all the Mayan stuff will be amazing…if somebody really wants to go....

Japan

Someone mentioned to me Japan. I don’t really want to go to Japan. I figure that I'll eventually make it there on business sometime.

India

I don’t think

I’m ready for India yet. One day though,

I want to see the Taj Mahal.

Greece

Greece would be SO cool. The Parthenon? The Acropolis? Greece is a d

efinite possibility, especially cause it is just a boat ride/Ryan Air flight from Italy.

Egypt

The Pyramids…the Sphinx…I HAVE to see these sometime in my life. I get the feeling that right now I won’t be going here, just because I will want to focus my attention on a trip where I can see a lot of things quickly. But I guess it’s not that far away….

Any comments would be appreciated. I’m not going to make any final decisions until I know a little bit more about my personal situation (for example…will I have a job?)

Breakfast Club

"What comes first??"
"Breakfast."
"No, family, George Michael. Family comes first."
"Oh...I thought you were talking about the food."
I find it somewhat ironic that my favorite sitcom, Arrested Development, starts with a joke involving my favorite meal. Breakfast.

One day I was talking with some of my closest friends and the topic of breakfast came up. I have a confession:

I LOVE Breakfast.

Without a doubt, breakfast is the most influential meal of the day. Nutritionists can tell you its the most important, and while that may be true, I can say without a doubt that breakfast has the biggest power. Let me explain:

1. Breakfast is SO good. Think of the times recently when you've had a good breakfast. I'm not just saying milk and cereal here. (Though I do love cereal, not gonna lie.) But think of when you had an omlette, or a breakfast burrito, or pancakes, or something on that regard. How did your day go? I submit that you had an AMAZING day. And that AMAZING day started with an AMAZING breakfast. Think about that.

2. Last semester I lived with a good friend, Jaren. Every night Jaren would come to me and say "man, I am so excited for breakfast tomorrow." His love for breakfast was one of his defining characteristics. He was always happy while going to bed because no matter what happened that day, he could look forward to breakfast the next morning. Think about that for awhile. While falling asleep, there should be no worrying about the day's events, because those are things you can no longer control. What can you control? Breakfast the next morning.

3. I'll admit, it is a big sacrifice to eat breakfast in the morning. Sleep is precious and many choose to neglect the breakfast, or just kinda set it aside and not give it the true attention that it deserves. This is a mistake, and must be crossed out of your life. You're just depriving yourself of joy for no good reason. If someone gave you 20 american dollars, would you just say no, i'd rather not have 20 dollars? Of course not, you would take the money, and you should take the breakfast as well. It's worth it.

4. This semester I am part of a breakfast club. Some breakfast afficionados such as myself get together every friday morning before class to enjoy some breakfast. I'll admit, even I was a little bit anxious about the idea when it was first proposed. Looking back, however, that was dumb. Friday morning is great.

Without a doubt, the breakfast club is an amazing success. Not only have I gotten to know some cool people a lot better, I get to eat amazing breakfast every friday morning. This semester we have had pancakes, waffles, breakfast burritos, german pancakes, bacon, orange juice, french toast...the list goes on and on. (Well, actually, the list stops, since we only started doing it a month and a half ago.) Even though we are losing a couple of really good members (moment of silence...), I'm looking forward to another four months of great breakfasts. :)

5. During high school some good friends and I would eat friday morning breakfast at the Senate. Every friday morning. I would get there late from seminary, they would have already ordered hash browns for me. We would eat, and it was so good. Like the current Breakfast Club of which I am a part, it gave me another reason to celebrate Fridays. However, there's more. How cool is that we had the same waitress every friday? That she knew what we were going to order? That we had our own corner table, that one time people took and we got mad? How none of us would ever carpool anywhere, except for will who didn't have a car, and so a caravan of like 6 of us would go to school in a line right afterwards? (I'm too lazy to try to remember who actually went.) Every time I mention Friday morning high school breakfasts at the Senate people get jealous and talk about how great of an idea it was. Who's idea was it, by the way? Probably Ryan. Props to Ryan.

6. Think of all the great restaurants where you can eat breakfast. Around BYU, the two best places would, without a doubt, be Kneaders (unlimited cinnamon french toast? can it get any better??), and Magelby's, but IHOP is pretty good too.

7. I'm trying to think of the best breakfasts I've ever had. When I was little I went with my parents to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle for breakfast at the revolving restaurant at the top...that was pretty sweet. Breakfast in New York City with Dave at that little place was pretty fun. Italians aren't big on breakfast, but I learned how to make a pretty mean frittata with tomatoes, peppers, and onion one August morning in Florence. mmmmmm. Even just the memories that come with various breakfasts: eating oatmeal while camping, warming it up on a fire that is warming you from the bitter cold michigan morning frost...doughnuts at seminary every friday morning...eating bread and cheese that you carried into an ancient Swiss mountain village from the slightly larger village up the valley...fighting your siblings for the cool cereal so you can read the back of the box...giving Chris English two boxes of Apple Jacks and winning the "best birthday gift EVER" title...Christmas morning breakfasts with the family...Cube breakfasts!!!!...taking Torrie and Deanna out to breakfast for their help with halloween costumes and the ensuing turkey dinner...this list really does go on and on and on.

Let me salute then. To Breakfast!

If anyone has great breakfast memories, or thoughts on breakfast, or you want to somehow try to prove me wrong...go ahead and leave a comment.

Change is in the wind....

I think it is crazy how pretty much EVERYTHING about my life is going to have changed by this time next year.



Where am I going to live?

Will I be married? If yes, with whom? If not, then who will I be living with?

What will my job be?

How much money will I be making?

What will I be doing with said money?

What fun adventures will I have done?

What will I do for fun in my spare time?

When I have alone time, what will be the first thought that comes to my mind?



If anyone has any suggestions, please comment and say them. I know nobody reads this, so I fully expect to get zero comments.