The Vespa: Scooter Riding 101

Every boy reaches a time in his life where he finds that special someone. When he sees her, his hear flutters, a smile comes, and he knows she is the one. On the flip side though, she can also cause much trouble, like all girls can.

This story is about my love Bell. Bell is a brand new 2007 Vespa 150 LX. She is named after and Ice Cream from down south (Blue Bell), and she has won my heart. I try to take her everywhere and we are very close when we go riding. Anyway, this post is being Co-Authored by Bell and I so we can share our stories with you.

First off Bell is very tight with money. She will only buy a gallon and and a half of gas for herself at a time, but she will make that stretch to 120 miles. I am learning that even though Bell seems to cost a lot per month she helps me to save even more.

Bell prefers her boys to be humble. I like to show off what a great girl I ride around with my waving and honking to friends as I drive off. As I did this leaving Justin and Emily's house, Bell almost shoved me into the ground as she made me lose my balance. What a nerd I am :) Bell forgave though

Bell has also taught me a lot about appearance. We were riding home the other night from Justin's house, I had some kids hanging out of their parents SUV. First off kids buckle up and keep your hand, arms, legs, and upper body inside the vehicle at all times. Anyway...They are talking to us, well actually me, and not Bell, and say Hey! Scooter! and repeat. Why are they calling me Scooter. It just helped me to see that one is judged not for who they are, but for what they look like and who they Roll with.

Always listen to the girl on directions. That same night I didn't plan ahead on where to go. Bell was very nervous. We went though the Ghetto West side of the freeway in Salt Lake. I was thinking if I was in a car this would be no problem, roll up the windows lock the doors and all would be ok. Not this time. Instead all I could do was zip up my backpack, tighten my helmet, and pray.

Heaven's Lessons in Life's Darkest Corners

Have you ever had one of those trials...Like those really big trials like dang it, my car is dying and I don't have money to keep it on life support, or I got fired from my dream job because of something that wasn't my fault. The word on the street is those things come in sets of 3. Well in 6 days I got 2 full sets of 3 of those things.



Here are I am in the deepest pit of my despair (so I think) at trial #1 and I ask for a blessing from my Bishop. I am promised through the priesthood that trial #1 is to prepare me for much harder trials in my life. The next 24 hours brought trials #2-5. I have never felt more hopelessness in my life than at this point.



Through this time of depression, my friends came out in force to love me and protect me.



Lesson #1 I have friends who care about me



If you really know me, or even kinda know me, you are aware of how negative I can be. I sometimes convince myself I am all alone. It was super neat to see how many great friends are there for me in a moments notice.

Lesson # 2 Joy Comes from work (not a job)

There was a time where I was very proud of my work ethic. Heck I worked at wireless city for 60 hours a week hours which left no chance of having a life. Even greater than that, I work as a field consultant starting my days at 7 am and often times going till 1 am 7 days a week. Both of these jobs lacked joy. The Field Consultant Job lacked joy because I didn't have to work spiritually. I was virtually free from temptation, and the happiness that comes from overcoming it. Wireless City was lacking because I did nothing which brought much temptation and no rewards of any work.

Although my trials were great, I was so happy as I survived them. I worked hard, endured, and made it through.

This on top of having a 8-4 type job (working less hours than I have since high school), that I run all day after great kids, and see the joy in peoples lives that have far less than I, helped me to get through a week that I alone was not capable of.

Lesson # 3: The atonement work different on me than I thought.

When I read the poem footsteps, I think, wow, I will be lifted up during the hard times and it will be easy, because He will just do everything for me. Wrong!

The Savior uses the atonement by allowing me experiences he has had to teach me. He knew that if I had not had six major trials, I might not have grown stronger on one smaller, much more long term meaningful trial.

This really has been a great week, and I am thankful for it...But I am ok with a break from things major for a while :)

Okay, a little late to start blogging, but here I am.

So what does one write on a blog. I have my friend Brian that writes really fun and random stories that make one laugh. I have a friend Beth, who shares insights and life news.

Wiki says "A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog."

I think I will use this to share my highs and lows, joys and pains, lessons learned and lost. I guess I can just go from there.