One Good Example

My life has been full of people that are such great examples to me. I must say, I am quite blessed. One of those examples happens to be my one and only older sister. Jeri Lin Brown is her name, and she sure means a lot to me. More than she may actually realize.

What can I say, she is the only sibling that has been with me my whole entire life. She has taught me a lot over the past 17 1/2 years of my life. When I started kindergarten, she would walk me over to my classroom and stay there with me until school had to start. And as we got older we she would allow me to come and hang out with her friends, and we would do many things together. We had some great times, let me tell ya.

Then the next thing I know, she is growing up. BAM. She is out of high school. BANG. Moving out and goin to ASU. CRASH. Getting married. And I honestly admit, I came home afterward and cried into the late hours of the night crying. Not because I was necessarily sad. I was very happy for her, I was just gonna miss her a lot more I thought. SNAP. She gives birth to my first nephew.

All of this seemed to happen in one little blink if an eye. But now I realize how good all of it is and what a great example she is setting for me, along with for all my other 5 siblings younger than me. Whether it be in school, future decisions we should make (like getting married for time and all eternity in the temple), and setting an example of a good parent.

I do not see her everyday any more like I used to, but she is still one of the greatest examples to me. And what can I say, I love her. Now...I'm not exactly sure what made me want to even write on my blog about this...but I did it anyways (obviously). Probably because I always talk about me...and my Mormon Boy Swag, and it may get old. So I just wanted to provide One Good Example of Mormon Girl Swag.

Enchanted

June 26, 2011

Dear Breanna,

         Wow. Today is that day. The day that you decided to walk up and ask me to dance. Who knew that this crazy-awesome-amazing-wonderful-fantastic friendship just after one little dance. I want to say thank you for that night if I have not done so already. ( I believe I have, but just in case ). Thank you for having the courage to ask a scary Beast like me to dance, and then pretty much puttin' up with me for the rest of the night. I must say, I have some dang good memories from that night, and I can remember it quite clearly. Like...I dunno if you know this, but after I danced with you, I danced with Elise. I remember I told her, at least twice, "You're friend Breanna is pretty cool". Ha...I feel bad for that now....but what can I say....I had been ENCHANTED (click on it ) by the Beauty.

        That night I couldn't wait to text ya....and I remembered that you said you would be driving and that it would probably take you a while because you lived basically in a land far far away, once upon a time. Anyways, I did text you and...eventually one thing led to another and I decided that I wanted to call to hear that wonderful voice of yours. But my goodness, I was sure nervous. And after about....20 dropped calls, we had our first phone conversation...and I must say I liked it. I liked it a lot.

       The next thing I knew, We were driving out to your house in a land far far away, once upon a time just so we could hang out. That day consisted of making origami hearts, playin with some dominoes, eatin some pizza, checkin out your backyard and all the animals...but these were just the very first of our many adventures...some of which we have caught with the help from a camera:

 Like our adventure to the top of Flat Iron. Where we popper out some sparkling apple cider = UNFORGETTABLE

That's Right. We Did it.



                                                     Look at how well we match. Perfect.

 Best friends make each other look good. So thank you for the straightening out of my tie.

And Best Friends make each other laugh, smile, etc.

 You taught me to Kiss ;) even though the very thought scared me to death.

And our most recent adventure. Fixing up and moving into your new-old house. That isn't really in a land far far away anymore.

           Now those are just a few of the many...but all I can say is that they have been some pretty dang good times. We have had our ups and downs here and there, but we have endured. Over the past year you have really taught me lots n' lots about what I can do to be a better person. Honestly...I dunno what my life would be like right now if I hadn't met you, and had the courage to ask you for your digits. It would be like....New York City with no street lines or traffic lights. TOTAL Chaos.  So this is me saying thank you for everything. Especially for being my best friend. I hope we will be having even more adventures in the near future.



       Love,

Bryton Shinkle

(Beast, Gorilla, whatever else you like to call me :)

P.S. Just another little song. <3 <3 ( click on this one too )

A Happy-Sad Occasion...Maybe More Happy.

Wow...It is Summer time. Officially. All I can say is thank goodness. Somehow I managed to survive my Junior year. I am now a SENIOR! WHOA! This past year has been pretty eventful...all kinds of things have happened. Like me becoming an uncle to the most awesome little nephew EVER. I also managed to get a job in the rough economy, which helped a lot. Today was the last day at school, and at work at the elementary school. It was happy, but also a sad occasion. First of all I am happy that I do not have to wake up in the wee-hours of the morning, get to school, do school work, drive, vacuum for 3 hours, drive some more, walk in my house, do homework, get to sleep, repeat. THANK GOODNESS. However, I am sad that I won't be seeing lots of my friends everyday anymore. I am happy that I won't have to strap on my vacuum and suck up, sand, paper, etc. However I am sad that I won't get to see all the little kids works of art, mis-spelled words, etc. They gave me a good laugh. I did get another job though so that is good. Over the summer you will be able catch me washing windows at least a couple times a week. Woohoo!

All in all though, this was a good year. I think the 26th is a good day. School ended on the 26th this month. Which also happens to be 11 months after I met a person I am really close to now. Crazy. Anyways, I would just like to say that I hope everyone has a fabulous summer. Whatever you may be doing. Me...well...you know. You will catch me on my Mormon Boy Swag. Life is good!

I'm in love.

Many may know that I, in fact, do have a love for art. I'm in love with the visual art as well as the musical art. However, since I am not so musically inclined, I  have a little more of the visual art talents. Now, I definately am not a Picasso by any means. I do believe that I have been blessed with a little talent though. It is just up to me to work with that talent, and become better. There is just some sort of enjoyment that I get from creating something out of nothing. It helps me relax and get away from a lot of the stress of everyday life. That is probably one of the big reasons I want to become an architect when I grow up. ( I still have a while ago until that happens). Without any further ado, here are some of the things that I have created over the last couple of years. Some good...others not so good. Just take a look.

This is probably my most recent stuff...t-shirt designs. These are just a few that have not been accepted.

This was my first design that I ever tried entering into a t-shirt design contest. It didn't get accepted obviously.

This shirt design is actually a sketch I did. I just scanned it into my computer, and did some editing with photoshop.

Quite possibly one of my favorites. Also a drawing that I did, but then edited a little in photoshop. Sad...it wasn't accepted.

Just another one that did not get accepted. I call it, A Loved Heart.

I currently do have a design that is up for voting. It is called Out Of Place. However, it does need a lot more votes if I want it to actually be printed into a shirt though. You can take a look at it HERE.  All you have to do is create an account on this website. Its free and easy. Then vote. It really would be appreciated.

I'm sorry to say that because of technical difficulties I can't get pictures of some of my paintings and drawings on here...I will in the future if i can. Hopefully once I finish the acrylic painting that me and my friend Breanna are workin on I can put that one up on here. It's gonna be sweet.  Once again I apologize for not being able to upload them...I hope you do like what I was able to put up though. :)

Adam Young

As some of you may know...I am an addict. An addict to the wonderful musical artistic abilities of Adam Young. He is more commonly known as Owl City. I know I may be just another obsessive fan...but this guy really does impress me. Not just with his musicly inclined talents. Although I have never actually met him personally...I have a very high respect for him. Call me crazy. I find him to be very humble...unlike a lot of other celebrities. In fact on the inside of his album covers (most of you probably don't have these, because you bought the album off itunes or somethin) but it says "All Praise & Glory to Jesus Christ, to whom I owe everything." This really impresses me. He is not afraid to share what he believes, and he knows that the abilities he has are from Christ. Now I know that Adam is not a Latter Day Saint (Mormon) like myself. He is however a Christian, and I respect him for that. There is a common misconception that Mormons are not Christian, but just for your awareness, we are. We believe in Jesus Christ, which by definition is a Christian. Sorry...I'm gettin a little off track...all I'm trying to say is that I want to be like Adam Young, and not be afraid to share my beliefs with others. So that is exactly what I am going to do. Here are the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as outlined by Joseph Smith:

"1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."
"2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."
"3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
"4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."
"5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof."
"6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."
"7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth."
"8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."
"9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."
"10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."
(bet you know how the next one starts)
"11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."
(got cha there :)
"12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."
"13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

Well that is that. If you have any questions about what I believe, please don't be afraid to ask. I will be happy to answer as best I can. Remember, life is good :)

I Run Into Walls.

Yes, along with sucking floors I manage to do this too. Literally and figuratively. This probably needs a little bit of an explanation, right? Well...here it goes. (Don't laugh too hard).

It happened at work today, May 9, 2011. I was driving to work. Drove down the US60, got off on Gilbert Road, everything is normal. I make my way down Gilbert and turn left at Warner. Everything is fine-n-dandy. My excitement for work is absolutely through the roof at this point, let me tell ya. I pull into the school parking lot and make my way around searching for an open spot. I find one. I make my way towards it and proceed to park my party van. It is a rather large van, so it results in difficulty to park especially for a fairly new driver such as myself. Well as I was parking my beastly van decided it wanted to go up over the curb and then....SMASH into the wall/ fence in front of me. The fence was a little dented and my van got a nice dent in the hood. The bumper kinda broke and the guard for the headlight cracked. On top of that, something (undetermined) underneath the van is preventing me from backing up off the curb. So as of tonight I do not have a vehicle. In the morning (I am going to miss my a-hour and maybe more school) I get to wake up and meet a tow truck down there with my mom in order to get the van off the stupid curb at 6:30 in the morning. YAY!

Needless to say, I feel like the stupidest person in the world. I understand that accidents happen. I can tell you that this feeling feels worse than locking your keys in your car. I've also done that. The good thing is that I am learning...even if it is the hard way. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes though. This mistake is teaching me how to take responsibility for my mistakes. I can honestly tempted not to tell any of the school administration and just act like nothing happened. But sometimes, you just need to man up and take a hit. It may knock you down, but you just get stronger when you pick yourself back up.

Sometimes, we run into figurative walls in life. They can be a lot of different things, they are our trials. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. It isn't because they are doing something wrong. It is just because our Heavenly Father or God. Whatever you know him as, he gives us trials to make us stronger and better people.

My favorite scripture is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"9) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

What this is saying is that we become strong through our weaknesses. We just to learn from our mistakes, and do better the next time. When we hit that wall, realize what you have done, and correct it. Even get a little laugh out of it if you can. It will get better.

p.s. The offer for a book of Mormon is still there. Don't be afraid to ask, I will be happy to give you one. Then you can have some Mormon boy/girl swag :)

Who Am I To Judge?

One Hundred years from now

it will not matter what kind of car I drove,

what kind of house I lived in,

how much was in my bank account,

nor what my clothes looked like

BUT it may be a little better

because

I was important in the life

of a child

While working, I found this little saying/ poem thing. It kind of stuck out to me. I think we all should try to be important in at least one person's life. It doesn't even have to be in a child's life. It could even just be some random guy on the street. On Thursday on my way to work, I was pulling off the US 60 onto Gilbert Road. On the off ramp, there was a man sitting on the corner with a cardboard sign...I wasn't able to catch exactly what it said. I was sitting at the stop light and he was sitting on the ground next to my van (aka. the party van). I grabbed my wallet and pulled out a little money. I then proceeded to roll down my window. That man popped up off the ground so fast. As I handed him that little bit of cash, he thanked me. I could tell that he was really grateful. As I looked back, people in cars behind me started doing the same thing.

Now, I may never see that man ever again, but I feel that I had some importance in his life. Even if it was just a little. I know people usually say that people like that brought their situation upon themselves. Maybe that is the case...but who am I to judge? With the economy the way it is right now, anything is possible. So, when I see those kind of people, I try my best to help them out...because even if they are lying, or do not do good things with what is given to them, those choices are their own. I know that I will be blessed either way, because I was willing and able to help. That is all that matters. So whenever you see people like that, if you are able to, help them out. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you may have just helped someone in need. I know if I was ever in a situation like that, I would love all the help I could get, and I am sure you wouldn't mind the help either. That is all for now, Life is good and you are important in at least one person's life. Remember that.