Maeser 71

Braden Casperson, Josh Roxas, Tyler Okelberry, Andrew Cutler, Michael Funk, Colby Bates.

Well apartment 71 was a fun apartment, but they were also a well behaved apartment. I appreciated that not much trouble came from this apartment.... no wait on second thought....

           One of my first "disasters" was due to some late night hi-jinks. I was fast asleep one night, very early in the year and i got a phone call.

"Andrew is hurt, he cut his leg open come quick!"  - - - -- What???? Then Jordan Carlson and someone else busted into my apartment. I jumped out of bed, got dressed quick and we ran out. Turned out that Andrew had busted his leg on a cement bench outside the Central Building playing tag. It was a pretty good gash as we see in this photo. What ensued was a good 3 hours in the ER from 2AM till 5AM and a very tired RA. I was able to be with andrew in the room while they washed it and stitched it...it was kinda gross but it was fun. Something I'm sure he will never forget.

      Braden and Josh Roxas were known for many things. One of those things was that they were both established musicians. Braden was great at the guitar. I believe Josh even played too, but with this duo Josh was the vocals and Braden was the strummer... They even played in an acoustic concert at BYU shown here at the left. They did great and represented us well. Josh Roxas left at the semester break for the phillippines. He played alot of frisbee, and was all around popular because he had been there since summer. We were sad to see him go. Braden and me had a love hate relationship. We loved each other by hating each other. Sarcasm was our second language and we loved to practice it.

Colby wasnt around for long. He was a great addition to our hall. He took tons of classes and was very busy, so we didnt see him much. But not he is in Washington DC and rockin it out in the mission.

Tyler Okelberry was our beloved Elders Quorum President. From the moment i met him and helped him bring his bags in, I knew he was a good kid and was mature beyond his years. Then we went to interview with the stake presidency at the beginning of the year, I was sure he was getting that call. He served very honorably and was a big help for me in being a leader for the guys. One of the best things he did this year was his dance routine with the two Relief Society Presidents, Christine Hanamura and Lisa Greenwood. They did an interpretive dance routine for the ward talent show, and it showed a different side of our dear president. Please ask him about it and make him relive it... haha

Last but not least, Funk-Master! With his last name, he quickly took the name of Funk... at least with me. I love nick names and this was one that came easy. Early on in the year, we played alot of run-around. (game around the pool table) and we would play "horse" or whatever. Being the master that he is, the game was renamed appropriatly, -Funky- Me and Funk had many good talks and times this year. He is a man among boys and will be a great missionary I'm sure, as with all the Maeser men. Funk was lucky enough to find a gem daughter in Gates hall names Emily King. They became quick companions and we a great couple.

Missionaries from this apartment -
Tyler Okelberry - Mexico, Tampico
Josh Roxas - Philippines - San Pabl
Cobly Bates - Washington D.C. South
Braden Casperson - Brazil, Joao Pessoa
Michael Funk - Brazil, Brasilia
Andrew Cutler - TBD

Maeser 70

Coulsen Phillips, Jordan Carlson, Samwise Peregrin Dearden, and Brayden Lander….That about sums it up. Next entry. Haha, if only.

       What could I say that would sum up apartment 70? Well it was a good thing they lived in the basement. If I ever wanted to know if Jordan or Coulsen was home, I would just open my door and listen for some loud music or feel the vibration of the floor from Coulsen’s system. Speaking of Coulsen’s system, that brings me back to my first experience with these guys… It was early in the year and my first night of “Roving.” Im in the basement and the next thing I know Coulsen walks out the door with his lap top, followed by Jordan with his big sub, followed by another guy and his drum machine, and then another guy with a strobe light….I then thought to myself, “This is gonna be a fun year!” 15 minutes later, we had a sweet dance party going on! Now, apparently this was not allowed. I got scolded my a few other RA’s for letting this go on…But I wasn’t gonna stop this!!! This was too good! Until another returning RA came and told me I needed to stop it, but I made her do it because I wanted it to keep going. So that was a great kick off to the year thanks to apt. 70.

     

      Sam and Brayden rounded out the apartment very nicely. Brayden was more of the smooth cool cat who went by his own beat. At the beginning of the year he was out and about with all the guys, but as time went on we seemed to have lost him to a companionship with a lovely lady from Fugal… Now not to pass judgement… I myself found I ended up spending lots of time in Fugal hall myself (haha). So it was a worthy sacrifice on his part. Sam was always someone you could count on for some new knowledge about things that most people wouldn’t inquire about. Evidence enough by his 17 page paper on a musical group “Rasputin.” I don’t want to make fun of Sam, rather I would like to exonerate his passion and love for very unique things. That is what made Sam Sam. He was an avid climber, and a Lord of the Rings fanatic… he even got to be in a Tolkein class…now this was heaven for Sam. That would be like me getting into a History class on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

     

       Of all the people in the hall, it didn’t seem there was anyone who shared the affinity for such medial things as me and Jordan.  Be it, Betos, Dr. Pepper, or late night high jinks, it seemed that me and Jordan had a kinship for ridiculous things. Jordan also was very upset with me after his murder the first round of "Gadianton Robbers." I was accused of using my RA powers to my advantage... WHICH I DENY!!! I simply told them to quite down, and when i noticed the opportunity i had i took it! He ended up getting me back though. A full fledged mutiny was staged to kill me the next game... It took 12 guys to kill me, i guess thats just how good i am. But the cause of my downfall was a masterful plan from Jordan, some luck on his part from Kenny, and pride by me... haha. good times. 

Final note, apt 70 was good at making moldy things. Also.... a great contribution of the hall ping pong table was made by Jordan and Coulsen. The best 20 Bucks ever spent!!!! Honduras, Comayaguela


Mission calls from this hall - Brayden Lander - Honduras, Comayaguela.
                                          Sam Dearden - Chile, Santiago North
                                          Jordan Carlson - In the mail
                                          Coulsen Phillips - in the mail

Maeser 7B

       What can I say about guys like Clark and Logan....

Clark is a bee loving nincompoop. haha, just kidding. but he is bee lover. I am a bee hater. Therefore, even though we had much respect for each other, this was the subject of much ire between us two. I often find myself in a situation where there is a bee and i have to decided whether I should let it live or if i should stomp it to oblivion.... Then... I think of Clark, and then I smash it to DEATH!! Much to his chagrin, people are the dominate species, and therefore much better than bees. SO TAKE THAT CLARK. But to be serious, my favorite memory of Clark is when i was having a really tough week, one of the toughest of the year... We currently had the windows painted for a contest and they were fully covered with it. I had to have them cleaned by a certain day and that day was getting closer, and i had no time. I didnt know what to do. As i was trying to figure out what to do, Clark knocked on the door and told me that he and his FHE family wanted to do service and they decided to clean the windows for me! A few hours later i went out to clean windows and a calmed heart. That was a great example of Clark following the spirit and helping a friend out.

Logan Logan Logan Beal....

At first, I didnt know what to think about Logan. He was a quiet guy, he was always around but i didnt know much about him. He was the silent rogue of Maeser hall as far as i was concerned. During the year i heard stories about him showing up at sleepovers and different events around the hall.... But yet i didnt see it. From the depths of 7B Logan ruled from the underworld. One thing I always did notice was Logan's affinity for the Bow tie. He was the Bow tie master and he rocked it well.

This brings me to my favorite memory of Logan of all time.... Towards the end of the year I finally got the courage up to wear one. Logan found one that would fit my huge neck. Mine and his are quite different sizes. Well as he was fixing it up for me, he looks me in the eye and says in a very serious tone

"Kevin, bow ties are like women....They are beautiful but they are high maintenance."

You may not be able to appreciate the humor or sheer amazingness of this statement...but all those who know Logan knows that this is not only classic Logan, but is just the epitome of his coolness.

I loved having Clark and Logan around, and they were a great part to our group.

The Wrap-Up

Well here is the deal....

    My intentions were to update this throughout the year so that we could all follow the fun we were having, and then the Maeser residents could have something to look back on and reference to tell their friends and family how sick this place was and how much fun we had..... Well I got a little busy this year, and i kinda just forgot about it. So what im gonna do is do a wrap of each apartment and tell stories and use pictures if I have them to show a little about each apt. If any maeser guys have any ideas for me to add, or want to write something about their apts... please type it out on facebook and send it to me, or type in in word and email it to me at kevin.schwieger@gmail.com. Then ill add it. Even pictures would be great!!!! Let the madness begin.

Tailgating BYU Style

              Well this week was had Utah State for football match-ups. Our awesome activities committee (see last post) came up with the idea to have a tailgating party. I have to say that compared to any one of MY freshman wards activities.... this was better. It was well planned, well executed and had a great turn out. Before we even started, Don Smith and some of his buddies came up with the idea to have a kissing booth. This was not in the original plans for the party but it is that little stamp that Maeser Hall brings to any activity. I dont know that anyone actually got a kiss though, It really just turned into a place where everyone tried to guess the score of the game that night.

               For food we had Costco hot dogs (amazing!), special J-Dawgs sauce, ketchup mustard and sour kraut, chips, and homemade rootbeer. We also had about 12 watermelons. The food was great. Im not a hot dog guy by any stretch, and I finished two myself, and these things werent small, they were foot-longs.
             We had some music provided by some of the guys, much to the chagrin of others, James Nish got the controls and constantly put on the new Miley Cyrus song. To my surprise, almost all of my guys actually like that song. So that tells you a little about us haha. Never-the-less, Davis Esplin had a good time showing off his dance moves to all.

                   Now what would a tailgate party and football game be without some face painting? Unfortunately I dont have many pictures of the finished product, I did catch a shot of the masterful Sarah Bennion (RA for Fugal hall in our ward) who is an illustration major, working her magic on the many faces. Notice the determination! Sarah is such a good RA and we love to have her around. So the game wasnt the prettiest game ever, once again Max Hall is proving to be somewhat of an interception machine, but he did make some clutch plays to lead the Cougars to another victory. The final score was actually 35-17, my picture was a little premature as Utah State scored again in the last 17 seconds of the game. A chili night for sure, but a great game and party can remedy anything.

 

Callings callings, get your callings while they're hot...

Alright well as in all BYU wards the first couple of Sundays are the most fun. It seems the whole sacrament meeting is filled with callings, and hand raising. So here is a list of what we got for the guys...

Preston Arnold-Executive Secretary
John Ellis-Executive Secretary
Kevin Schwieger-Financial Clerk
Sean Russell-Membership clerk
Braydon Lander-Ward Records Clerk

Tyler Okelberry-Elders Quorum President
David Smith-1st councelor EQ
Michael Farnsworth-2nd counselor EQ
Allan Dayton-Secretary EQ

Jeff Hutchings-
Scott Oehler -EQ instructors
Jason Brown-


Andrew Cutler-EQ Service committee chair
Adam Decker- EQ Service committee
Blake Lord- EQ Service committee
Ian Collins- EQ Temple coordinator

Tyler Stoker-EQ Activity  Committee Chair
Christopher Rowley- EQ Activity Committee
Kenyon Christensen- EQ Activity Committee

Coulsen Phillips-EQ Fast Offering Committee Chair
Tom Blackham-EQ Fast Offering Committee
Cory Roberts-EQ Fast Offering Committee

Mitch Blanc-Sacrament Coordinator

Phillip Jones-SS President
Sam Dearden-1st counselor SS
Jordan Carlson-2nd counselor SS

Sunday School Instructors-
Isaac Sheffield
Davis Esplin
Noah Veloz
Braden Casperson
Dallin Jackman
Matt Palmer
Bryce Church

Brent Reynolds-Mission Prep Insrtuctor

John Rouse-Activity Committee Chair
Ryan Smith- Break the fast committee chair

Activities committee-
Ryan Lopiano
Logan Beal
Hayden Galloway
Don Smith
Shawn Women
Michael Funk

Walter Coe-Ward Mission Leader

Kenny Squire-FHE Director

FHE Groupleaders-
Colby Bates
Brady Evans
Josh Littlefield
James Nish
Matthew Poulsen
Spencer Sutton
Taylor Mearns
Stephen Olsen
Kameron Hansen
Clark Cannon

Benson Weeks-Stake & Ward Indexing Director

Indexing Specialists-
Garret Hartley
Josh Roxas
Tyler Dawson
Adam Burton
Aaron Davis

Well this is the most recent list we have. I think its most everyone if not all of the guys. Callings are a great way to serve the Lord and for us to grow in the Gospel. This should be a good year, I really feel good about the callings made.

A Range of Emotions...

               Well this Started off great for Maeser hall. We had been requested by another girls hall to participate in one of their "programs" (activity with a purpose). Side note, Maeser hall is the subject of alot of conversations, in a good way though. So this activity was called Sports-a-Palooza. We had ultimate frisbee, volleyball, sushi tag, and of course some otter pops and water for everyone. I was very happy with the guys, as most did show up even though most werent really awake for it. The event started at noon, however, Coulsen Phillips (a resident of maeser hall) had a big one year anniversary bash for his DJ group/company called "Electric Dance Party." Its really great, they provide free dances and great times for students. Well, that ended at 1:30 AM so some of the guys were a little tired. But like i said, i was happy, we outnumbered the girls, which is a rare thing to do here in most settings to be honest. I think most everyone had a good time. It was a good chance for us to get to know other halls besides our ward, so the program fulfilled its purpose.

                Now, Saturday night was not as good as the day had been. The game vs Florida State was such a big buzz on campus. Not only being the home opener but to a team who was ranked pre-season, and who was an essential win for us to try to crack the BCS this year. A sold out crowd, loudest i have ever witnessed, and lots of school spirit still werent enough to push the Cougars to victory. After our defense had shut down perennial powerhouse Oklahoma to only 13 pts, BYU gave up 13pts to Florida St. on the first two drives of the first quarter. While the defense just decided not to show up tonight, we did turn the ball over a few times on offense. Max Hall threw an interception for a touchdown, and we fumbled the ball twice or three times, each time giving the ball up to the Seminoles. It was a tough game to watch with the finishing score of 54-28. Most headlines bid farewell to our BCS hopes, but i must say that after all, its still a great day to be a COUGAR. I wouldnt rather be anywhere else. Here are some pics of the Sports-a-Palooza. some of the faces dont look soooo happy, but these were mostly on a water break and we were