It's been a long time since I've been on here, almost five years if we're counting. I figured it was about time to get back on and really start documenting some of the great things that have been happening in my life. I recently received an email from President Phillip Howes, one of my mission presidents while I was serving as an LDS mission in the Australia Sydney Mission. In the email that I received President Howes talked about how he has been keeping a journal for years and years now. He recently started a project that involved designing and building a light box and then using a digital camera to take pictures of every single page of his physical journal. He's currently working on transferring all of his journal pages over to a digital hard drive so that he can keep them forever. The thing that really stuck out to me while reading through President Howes experience is that he's most excited to be going over past events in his life. I want to be able to remember all the experiences that I've had throughout my life. I want to remember the good times, the bad times, the easy times, the difficult times, the social times, the lonely times, I guess all in all I just want to remember everything. The sooner I start, the more I can remember, and I might as well start now and make it public so that I can have the universe hold me accountable. Plus, it's all digital here so I can keep it forever.

I've recently moved from Logan, UT and the great Utah State University and ended up back at home with mum and dad. I transferred to Weber State for school and transferred to the Woods Cross branch of Mountain America for work. Why did I do this you may ask? I did this for a girl. The girl actually. I'm engaged to my best friend and could not be happier about it. Her name is Michelle and I can't wait to marry her. I'll make sure and put down our "How We Met" story a different time. I've got stories and stories and I know that I'm gonna fill many a blog post with adventures of Hayden and Michelle so I'll leave that aspect of my life alone for now.

I'm studying Political Science with an emphasis in Law and Constitution. I'm hoping to travel on to Law School and then work as an attorney. I'm still trying to figure out what type of law I want to practice for sure though. I'm having an amazing opportunity right now as an intern at the Utah State Capitol. I'm interning for Representative Snow from St. George, he represents District 74. I'm definitely enjoying my time working for him right now and I'm learning so much. I'm basically his right hand man through the whole session and I help him with whatever he needs. I work on writing bill summaries, bill prepping, scheduling, calendaring, and upkeep. I attend every meeting that Rep. Snow attends and I make sure that he's prepped and ready to go when he presents his bill whether that's on the House Floor, in a committee meeting, or to a group of constituents or lobbyists. I'll try and make sure to really add in some more information about the processes that I'm witnessing over the next 4 weeks. I'm already 2 weeks in and having a great time!

That's gonna sum up everything that I really want to talk about right now because I gotta make sure that these posts are interesting but not too long because I want people to read them. I'll keep working hard on keeping tabs on my life and I'll make sure that I include all the really awesome, fun, interesting things that happen to me. Here's to a great new habit of keeping a digital journal!

Signing off,
Hayden

Breadcrumbs To Get Me Home...

Should I be blogging this right now? Probably not. But I feel it would be rude and ungrateful if I didn't express some of my feelings tonight on here. I have the GREATEST friends in the whole world. Hands down. You might think yours are better, but I can guarantee they aren't. My friends are the greatest examples to me and I love them so much. I hope they know that. They are one of the reasons that I'm serving my LDS mission to Sydney, Australia because I want everyone to be able to feel what I feel. So, once again. I love you guys, see ya in two.

Signing off,
Elder Hayden Christopher Loftus

True Love

So, as I was sitting at my house today contemplating the problems of the world my mind began to drift to life after the mission. Dating. Engagement. Marriage. Children. All of these words have something in common: they terrify me to no end. Anyway, while I was thinking about all of this I began to wonder to myself about dating. Let's be honest, have I dated a lot of women? No. Have I had much practice with women? No. I came to the conclusion that after the mission I'd be lost in a world of women. Some people may disagree with me but I don't think that sounds fun at all. I like to know where I'm going or what I'm doing. How am I gonna know the girl I'm supposed to marry? I have no idea. I'm hoping that it turns out something like this...

I know it isn't really going to be like this but I definitely hope that there's some kind of hint as to who that special gal in my life will be. But for now, I can only dream about how that will go. 

Signing off,

Hayden

I Wanna Be a Super Hero

Why is it that nerds, dorks, and geeks all look up to these fictional heroes? And yes, I'm totally included into that nerd category. I'm not so sure on the other ones but I'm sure someone well correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway. We look up to these guys because they're who we want to be. The muscles, the powers, the humor, and of course the girls. A super hero is every boys dream.

What's the difference between Peter Parker and Spiderman? Spiderman gets the girl. Isn't that what it always comes down to? Being the one that's strong enough, fast enough, or big enough to beat out the competition and win over our woman. Sure it'd be nice to be able to fly, or shoot lasers, or turn into a giant green muscle mass, but the only way those things are worth it is if they win us a girl.

I'd love to be able to have that damsel in distress that I could always be saving, always be sweeping her off her feet in the best of ways but you know what my super power is? Emotions. When I get upset, I cry. Oh man, powerful!! No. Wussy. Oh, wait wait, how about the ability to "give great hugs?" Nah...I can't hug someone into jail.

Okay, so I don't have any of those special powers. Who cares? I'm my own super hero. Where's my Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy? When will I get to save my Lois Lane from pure destruction? Or how about my own super heroine? Like Jean Gray or Rouge? How about Catwoman? I don't know. She's out there somewhere and I know that someday I'm going to find her. I might not be a masked vigilante but I'll be her hero. And for that day I can't wait. Because it'll be super.

Signing off,
Hayden

Change, Not The Kind In My Pocket

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction."
-Winston Churchill
"Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed then it must be accepted."
-Unknown

Change is inevitable. It's constantly happening to us, around us, by us, next to us. Everything. Whether we're changing our classes for a new semester, changing from living alone to living with the family again, or changing from living in good ol Utah to living in Sydney Australia, change is always happening. And just like my good friend Winston Churchill said, I don't really mind change if I'm going in the right direction. Which I feel like I am, but really who knows. I guess I'll know in about a month right?

Change doesn't always affect everything, it's like the English language because it doesn't always make sense. I know that I'll always be friends with the great people I met at USU and I'll always be friends with the amazing bros that I roomed with. That will always stay the same no matter what happens. Even if I don't see someone for two years, and that will be a lot of you, I know that when I get back it'll be like I was never gone because we'll just jump right into it again. And I can't wait.

I'm so excited to see all the things that will change while I'm gone. I'll have friends get married, friends will be getting engaged, and when I get home I'll be freaked out. But, whatever's meant to happen will. It'll be interesting to see how many of my friends marry each other, or marry someone I know. It'll just be like one big web of friendship. And then I'll have my high school reunion and I'll see how much some of my fellow classmates have changed and that'll be interesting. Some will age well and I guarantee that some of them won't. But it'll still be fun to see. Technology will be advancing like crazy and then I'll have to retrain myself in the ways so that I don't seem like an old person. Zoe will help.

Speaking of Zoe, she'll be 17 when I get home. Well into the world of dating and dances. Just a disclaimer to all the boys that will date her: I already don't like you, so be ready for some serious harassment. I can't believe she'll be so old. I can't believe how old I'll be. It's crazy. Sawyer will be 9, I'll miss his baptism and a lot of sports games for that kid but he'll have plenty more! Who knows how old my parents will be, I'm hoping they don't change much.

And, when I get home I'm gonna try and go by Topher. That'll be weird. It'll be a whole new name for me. And I'll have a new cell phone number. Woah. Now things are just getting crazy.

But, all in all, I'm excited to see what this crazy world has in store for me. So, bring on the change!

Signing off,
Hayden

Dating Rules?

When did dating become so hard? There are rules to follow, special occasions we've gotta make, and if we don't follow those rules we lose. I've never understood why we can't just play the game with our own rules. We're all different people so we should all have different rules. None of us are the same and none of us play through life the same anyway. I've got some rules that I think are ridiculous but oddly accepted in our day to day lives.

Rule #1- Wait 3 days before calling
Listen, if I go out of my way and out of my comfort zone to get a girls number I'm not gonna wait to text or call her. I'm gonna do it as fast as I want to and when I feel comfortable. Three days? What's that supposed to do anyway? Keep the girl interested? I don't think so. If I don't hear from someone in three days I usually think they aren't interested. I move on. Why wait around when I could be talking to them as much as I wanted to.

Rule #2- Screen the calls
So...after I wait three days society wants me to not answer if she calls me? This must be to keep up my mysterious nature, oh wait, I don't have that nature. Okay, so she calls. I get really excited but don't answer because I'm not supposed to. Then, a couple days later I call her back. Seems dumb. What if that's what she's doing too and then it ends up that we never talk because we're both "screening" the calls. Nah, I'm gonna answer if the girl I like calls me. I'm not missing that opportunity. Sorry society, I disagree.

Rule #3- Don't flatter too much
This one I actually do agree with. Girls, and occasionally guys, tend to get freaked out when they are showered with compliments and gifts and all that jazz. Just relax, save some of the "love" for later when you've gotta keep the relationship fresh. Don't go all out in the beginning. They went out with you for a reason, so they obviously like you just a little bit already. They didn't say no when you asked them out right? So just play it cool and relax. Keep the money in your pocket, save some of your sappy lines for later, and just have fun.

Rule #4- Don't meet their friends, don't let them meet your friends...yet.
Friends are embarrassing. We know that. One of my group of friends favorite things to do is to harass the date and always, always, always make sure to yell out, "don't forget to wear protection!" That's like, the most important thing. Occasionally we like to keep the person we're trying to date secret, keep them to ourselves and not share them. Eventually we bring them around but in the beginning we keep them all to ourselves. I don't get this one. At all. I love my friends so the person I date should love them too. If they don't, chances are that I'm not going to date them. Sorry ladies, you've gotta like my slightly perverted yet oh so fun friends.

Rule #5- Only the guy can text first
I don't know if this actually really qualifies as a rule but I've heard SO many different girls say that they won't text a guy first. They'll wait and wait until he texts them. Sometimes the guys wants to know that the girl wants to hear from him too. Just so you know. I love when a girl texts me because I then realize that the spark I felt between me and her might be felt in her as well. She's not just texting me back when I text her to be nice, she legitimately wants to talk to me.

I know that there are so many more rules to this "game" that we call dating. Some of them make sense, most of them don't. But I guess that's what makes things more interesting. If we didn't have any rules we wouldn't sit up late at night wondering if what we did is right, if what we did will impress the person of our dreams, and if what we did wasn't completely stupid. So, looking back on it. I guess these rules are keeping us on our toes so that we don't get too comfortable around the opposite gender. Just remember, keep it fun and don't worry too much about the rules.

Signing off,
Hayden

Utah State Aggies- Snow 201

It's sad really, but in all honesty I've been home for literally five minutes. And I'm already sitting down to blog about Logan, Utah home to the Utah State Aggies and my hometown for the past nine months. As I was driving to my home in Centerville I was thinking about all the good times that took place in Snow 201 home to the best kids ever: Mike Huff, Jacob McKenna, Taylor King, Devin Franke, Preston Hill, Tony Brown, and of course me. It's amazing that the last nine months went by so fast, it feels like yesterday that we were all moving in and getting to know our neighbors, who later went on to become some of my best friends in this whole world. I'm going to type down my favorite memories but really the list just goes on and on.

 Blue darts. Enough said? I think not. I can't remember how many nights were spent passing a lighter between us just lighting up our room with flame from a fart. I loved it all. Sure it was gross, and made everything smell bad, it even leaked out into the hall but did we care? Nope. We were all just laughing, and we kept making them. Poor Tony, we made him throw up because of the smell. But I wear that with a badge of honor knowing that I can make someone throw up with what God gave me.

Scary movies. I've never been a fan of them until I moved into college. Now I can't get enough of them. I love the feeling of apprehension, something scary coming and knowing that it's coming. I've watched countless numbers of them. I've watched scary movies with so many people in Snow Hall that I feel a very special type of bond with all of them. We've watched a scary movie with upwards of thirty people in our room.

Speaking of upwards of thirty or more people, what about Jersday Thursday?? Yeah, that's right world. I, Hayden Christopher Loftus, am a Jersey Shore fan. I love it and apparently so does everyone in Snow Hall. When I would blow my grenade horn (yes I have one) people would come running and we would all gather around the TV and watch some Jersey Shore every Thursday night. Did I mention GTL too? Because that may or may not have happened. I dunno. Haha, yeah...

Hey Jake, remember that one time our room got glittered? Yeah it sucked. Follow up question: Hey roommates, remember that one time we annihilated Sunny and Sydney's room? I sure do. I don't really think much needs to be said on this part because let's be honest, a picture's worth a thousand words and I've got quite a few pictures. You know what? I'm gonna tell the story anyway, but only about how we got all the paper. So, three bags came from Tay's mom, three and a half bags came from Snow 302, and 9 bags came from the Industrial Science building on Utah State Campus. Thanks USU!!! You made this prank happen. Oh, and not only did we throw paper everywhere but we also sprayed silly string, threw packing peanuts everywhere, sprayed really nasty old lady perfume, and ripped open a microbead pillow. In case you're wondering, those things go EVERYWHERE. And I mean everywhere. 

What about the night where some complete strangers came into our room and decided to throw a sip hop? Six random boys came into our room and saw our soda wall so they decided they wanted to help us add onto it. They quickly ran out and bought a twelve pack of Red Bull which we all quickly downed and added onto the wall. The BCB's, or Big City Boys as we decided to call them, decided that we were going to finish up the second layer of the wall that night. They went around to all of Snow Hall, collected about 60 bucks from the kind residents of Snow, and invited people to our apartment. And so, at about 10:30 at night we had somewhere around 80 people in our room. What a great night. I think that all in all, we pounded in the range of 210 sodas collectively. Needless to say, our soda wall was basically completed. Thanks again BCB's!!!

Wow, this is an extremely long post so I'll just throw out some quick little comments. Tweeting constantly, late night runs to McDonald's, staying up all night, playing volleyball and basketball in a church until 1 in the morning multiple times, skinny dipping, Cleaning the Sink, sand volleyball, and so, so, so many more memories. So listen, if you've got a memory that you wanna add to this post, put it in as a comment so that we can all remember the good times at Snow Hall because let's be honest. They rocked!!!

Signing off,

Hayden