Best Birthday Gift Ever

One of my best friends in the world, Melissa, made me this little diddy. She sent it to me a few hours ago but made me wait until now, at after midnight and actually on my date of birth, to watch it. It is priceless.



I laughed......I cried......and was reminded how amazing my friends are. (Both real and fictional)

It's Kinda Crazy

How it has now been almost 5 whole years since I came back from my mission to the Southside of Chicago, and I still have these kiddos on my mind.



I wanted to take each of them home with me. Especially four of them. Three of them were kids of a less active lady and we were teaching them, the other was Kenyon, their cousin, the cute kid on the right in a white shirt.

She wanted her kids to go to church sooooo bad. But her husband was a dealer and a gang banger, and did not want her going to church. His kids could go. But I know he was afraid that if she went, she would finally build up the courage to leave him. We met her at a thrift store in Chinatown on a p-day. She knew who we were, we discovered that she was a member, and then we discovered that she was in my area. From then on it was instant connection.

Man I miss that family. In the next 7 months we would go through so much together. It started with us stopping by once a week after the kids got home from school and going over the basics with them. I bonded with the boy, he had just turned nine. His name is Anthony. He is the one in the Bulls uniform (it was hard not to hold that against him.) He was the middle child. He could make you laugh by giving you this look, where he would cock his head to the side, squint one eye, give an upturn of one side of his mouth, and say something like, "Now Elder Cummins" (he would never get the 'g' into the name), "now are you tryin to tells me that both y'alls name is Elder?" Then he would point to my companion and say, "this guy, this guy looks like an Elder...You Elder Cummins are my brother."

He told me that after I stopped his dad from beating him. We had an appointment, their mom must have forgot, but Anthony was still there. I knocked, and yelled through the door "Who there" We responded, that it was us and he threw open the door and told us to get in. Turns out his dad....was.....for lack of a better term....about his business. He saw us walk and see what he was doing and snapped. I don't think he knew that we knew. He charged after Anothony who ran. I got in his face and told him that he needed to calm down. It was at that moment that I was expecting to get punched in the face for the first time. We looked at each other, face to face, eye to eye for what seemed like hours. It was really only a few seconds. He tried to move towards Anthony and I grabben his shoulders and told him to come sit on the couch, and we would talk. I told him that as far as i was concerned I saw nothing there that day. I then told him, that he was going to start respecting us when we came over, that he was going to sit down with the family during our gospel conversations, and he was going to be there for his family if they wanted to come to church. That he was going to pray with his family and be the support that they needed. He teared up a bit, shook his head, apologized for the things he had said about us, told me I was "aight for church people". The next sunday he drove his wife and kids to church. He even started sitting in on the discussions and asked questions.

I was asked some of the most heart wrenching questions that really made me cling to these kiddos. We were from different worlds. My biggest fear as a kid was getting grounded from teenage mutant ninja turtles again. There fears, were things that really should be scary. I was asked, "What happens to a mom, if someone breaks in and cuts her, cuts her so bad she bleeds and dies. Does she go to heaven?" The boy on the far left, a distant relative of my three kiddos, had that happen to his mom. "What happens to a boy who gets shot walkin to school? Can he go to heaven?" The girl holding the doll asked that, because her best friend and neighbor had that happen.
The girl in the pink to the left of me, is Anthony's sister Aneeka. She had more attitude than any girl I have ever met and the prettiest big brown eyes. Their sister, who was 11, was practicing for her school play when that pic was taken. She was chosen to play Coretta Scott King. She had real potential. She was brilliant. I used to tutor her in math and history after the lessons or after dinner. She had real potential of going to college. She wanted to be a doctor.

Saying goodbye to these kiddos was one of the hardest parts of my mission. I knew that I could reach the dad. We had bonded, he would pick me us up if he saw us out tracting or walking around. But he did not trust people very easy. He understandably did not like my companion. And if I left then it was going to be a major turning point. Its a hard thing to balance when you are teaching people as a missionary: to know if they are responding to the message or to you as a person. I worked with them for the better part of 7 months. I couldn't get them to church for one consecutive month. And I could only get the mom to come maybe once a month, and the ward wasn't willing to take responsibility for the kids, having to pick them up, take them to church, and I understood that. They needed to be tested, to see if they would do it without me being there. I had already been in the area for 5 transfers, which was unheard of in our mish, but I worked really well in that ward, so they let me stay longer than most. But to stay for a sixth transfer was not an option. My mission president told me he had other things that he needed me to do. So I was transferred.

Unfortunately, when I left, they transferred, with good reason, my companion too. The missionary who replaced me, was not a fan of mine. He really disliked me. I never knew why. So he stopped seeing everyone I taught.....as some way to stick it to me for being made something he thought he deserved more than me. And my kiddos never went back to church again.

I was lucky enough to get transfered back into that ward for my last 3 months. Sometimes knowing the president really well has an advantage or two. I was asked by a lot of people why I chose to go back there since I had already been in the area for almost 8 months. These kids were one of the big reasons. Members of the ward were another. But I needed one more chance with these kids. I knew that the gospel was going to be the one thing that would keep them safe. It was dangerous enough for them to have a gang banger dad. That placed a target on his back. His profession potentially placed targets on each of them. You can get by in the rough areas without being forced into a gang if you go to church. Church is well respected on the Southside. But it was too late, I was gone for 7 months, and the damage was done. The dad was back to doing what he was doing, I could come over, I could pray, I could give a lesson, he would take me to lunch, but it just wasn't going to happen. That was my last night ever seeing the kids. I don't know if you can tell but my eyes were so watery in that picture. I am too tough to ever really cry, but sometimes......my eyes get watery......don't judge me. So here I am, 5 years later, reminiscing about these kids. Hoping they are okay. Still mentioning them in my prayers. Missing the crap out of them. Wishing I could have taken them home, and give them a life like I had. Still trying to figure out how it has been five years and still feel like it was yesterday I was having a bbq in Washington Park, or seeing Keisha play Mrs. King in the school play, or celebrating my birthday with the funnest group of kids on the southside. It's kinda crazy.

Someone Like You

Hey guys, its time for another song recommendation from me. This week, the song I have been listening to a lot is "Someone Like You" by my favorite Brit- Adele. If you don't know who she is, that is a shame. I found her a long time ago, before her song Chasing Pavements and winning a few grammys by playing around on Itunes. I called that she would blow up in a post a long time ago. And, ya'll know how much I love being right, and I am glad I was, because she just released her latest record 21, and it is really good. If you get it, make sure you get the deluxe version on Itunes because if you don't you miss out on 2 really great songs. She did a remake of 311's "Love Song" and then there is a song called "I Found a Boy" that is really good- the kicker, you have to get the whole cd in order to get that last long, one of Itunes' album only kind of thing. Anyways, this is Adele singing "Someone Like You" at the BRIT Awards. You're welcome in advance.



I will include a few of her other songs, too because I am awesome like that.

Chasing Pavement



She did the best remake of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am turning 26 in two weeks and I think my body has decided to fall apart before that happens to convince me that I am getting old.

Exhibit (A):
I run 3-4 miles everyday of the week except wednesday (because I play tennis) and Sunday (because I am not sure if running is breaking the sabbath or not.....like I know getting a Jamba Juice or forgotten items to make dinner with aren't, but does real physical exertion count? :/ ) Well yesterday at the gym I started my daily run on the treadmill. And at a mile, I began to feel like I do when I hit 4 miles. My shins were killing me, my feet hurt, my lungs were hurting - which is weird because I don't really get out of breath even at mile 4, so I pushed on for another quarter mile and then had to stop and walk for a bit. Pissed I thought I would just push it out, and that this was going to be a mind over matter kind of thing. I started running again and at half a mile in I thought I was going to die. (a little over dramatic.) But I was going to push through, just make it a mile Brad, just make it a mile. So I did.....and then immediately had to walk again for another minute or two. Then I was going to do it, run another mile, and only made it a half, and said eff it. Matter wins this time.

Exhibit (B):
I don't sleep very much. I average around 4, at most 5, hours a night during the week and about 7 on the weekends. Saturday I woke up at noon thirty.........Sunday I woke up at 1:30(p.m)....Monday I did fine, I woke up at 8am, and then today I woke up at 1pm. I have class at 1:30 and it takes me 40 minutes to get to school park and walk over to the law school and sit down in class. And I needed to shower. So I tried, to make it, but was 20 minutes late, so I decided it would be best to not walk in that late.

Exhibit (C):
I am still exhausted. I feel like I can sleep for another 8 hours no problem. And weirdly enough, I really want to do that. I have never had a problem with not getting sleep, I figure it gives me an advantage on all those people who need their precious 8 hours of sleep because I have an extra 3 hours a day that they don't have. I don't want to lose this edge.

So I am probably getting old........or as my mom said- you sound congested and are coughing.....maybe you are getting a cold.

Missing the good old days

Did you guys see the grammy awards?!? Me neither. I was reading about illegal search and seizure. I have, however, seen pictures. Here are the said pictures:


My girl Nicki Minaj, who I respect as a rapper and is the best female rapper since L-Boogie, went all thundercat.

But not to be outdone by anyone, Gaga set the caliber to unbeatable heights:


and then emerged from the egg





This crazyness has me missing the good ole days where:



A simple kiss between two pop stars




or


A simple wardrobe malfunction


Were enough to cause the Superbowl to have only those over the age of 60 preform the halftime show for the next 7 years.

In times like these, I wish, celebrities would turn to my life mentor, Tracy Jordan, for advice. If they did, I think this is something he would have to say:

I am so naive

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was so wise. I thought that I knew everything about everything that one could be naive about. Turns out I am totally naive when it comes to drugs and or drug references. Here is what just happened to me. I am wearing this what I thought was a cool Lucky Brand t-shirt that promoted live green......as in lets make the earth better.



What I thought was a promotion of environmental friendliness in an organically made shirt from one of my favorite brands of clothes.........apparently is really a promotion of marijuana. My shirt is tan, not gray like the pic above, and the plant under the "LIVE GREEN" is blue. The plant....when I first bought the shirt looked like the fronds on a palm tree like this:



It is a wonderful 75 degrees in AZ right now so I thought I would celebrate the warm weather by wearing my pro-environment palm tree shirt to go to the school and study after I got home from church. So I put it on and headed to the school. Parked in the institute parking lot, was walking to the law library, having my weekly sunday phone call with my mom, when this guy I don't know said hey, let me look at your shirt. Taken off guard I did just that. Then he said, "Yeah man, bad ass shirt." To which I hear my mom say, "What is going on, Brad?!?" and I was like, "Thanks." and then walking away, "Some crazy guy really likes my shirt." I walk a little further and I get stopped again by a different person wanting to talk about my shirt. "Dude that shirt is awesome, let me read what it says." You can't tell from the picture above but on the bottom of the shirt there is writing. I never noticed it before, I have only worn this shirt once or twice, under a jacket, so I thought I would take a moment to read it with this polite stranger. He finished before I did, offered up a high five, and said, "yeah man, don't let the man walk on you grasssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!"

This is what the shirt says in smaller writing on the bottom of the shirt: "Give Earth a chance. Take a trip and support the high life. Don't let the man walk on your grass"

Now I remember reading this once before, probably when I bought it. And didn't really think anything of it. But at that moment it hit me. This shirt did not mean what I thought it meant. And the fronds of a palm tree was not on this shirt. It is really this.


Yes ladies and gentleman, that is marijuana. Ganja, the mary jane, the juan valdez, the sweet lucy texas tea. Yeah I knew all of these crazy terms for it.........but didn't really no what it looks like. And now apparently I promote it on the clothes I wear.

Some random thoughts

Nothing in particular just some stuff i have been thinking about lately.

- Norah Jones: it amazes me that i can never not like you. Your music, especially your first cd, is really, really amazing. Me and a person that I was really close to in high school, would drive around chilling to that cd. It allowed for some really good conversation. We decided that any one of those songs can just take you to a different place. Don't Know Why takes you to a beach on a cooler day where there is no one else out there but you and maybe the person you are in love with. Come Away with me, is the song that will be stuck in my head traveling to wherever it is i will go on a honeymoon......provided that it ever happens. And also provided that ever happens, i really don't care about any of the details of the wedding, and i don't really want there to be dancing, but if there is, i want to choose the song......and i want that to be Painter Song, by Norah Jones.

- I seriously cannot create a play list that doesn't eventually end up having a Killers/Brandon Flowers song on it somewhere. That is not a lie.

- I am really grateful for such good friends. I am 700 miles away from you guys, well, with the exception of WIll and Magz who are only like 300 miles away and i get to see a little more often because they are awesome enough to let me come over when I need to get away from law school and life here for a weekend. Those two are seriously the best and produced the cutest kid i have ever seen. I talk with four of you on basically a daily basis, you know who you are, and I just wanted to say thank you for your friendship it really means a lot to me, and i think you are all the best. Magz please accept this for Will, because I am pretty sure he doesn't know what blogs are.

- I have been listening to Stephen Colbert's audiobook as I try to fall asleep and have written down my favorite quotes for you:
"Sorry handball, you are just tennis for poor people"
"Every time I see a lady in the WNBA make a basket I can't help but think a guy could have done it better"
"The first sport you should ever watch is baseball. It is as American as apple pie. So American in fact, that I think it should be played with a real apple. And I have a lot of other good ideas too"
"In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. Sorry Darwin-huggers, it wasn't in the beginning a monkey evolutioned gay marriage."

- My mom is awesome. That should just be a given. But as it turns out I left a few things back in UT over break, and she is kind enough to mail them to me. Seriously three packages in the last two weeks. I procrastinate a lot, especially when it comes to packing and prefer to do it all in the 30 minutes prior to when i leave to go somewhere. And i always forget something somewhere.

- Instant streaming from Netflix is the best/worst thing to ever happen to me.

- Parks and Recreation is tying with 30 Rock as my favorite show on television. And I am so glad the Office has stepped up its game this season. Dear friends at my former place of employment: I miss our Friday chats about the television shows on the night before and the office office parties we had. Good times.

- Never trust the scantily clad female who sits down at the same black jack table as you to know what she is doing. She will hit on 15 with the dealer showing a 6 every . single . time. That said dealer, will then not get the jack she received by hitting when she is not supposed to, and will get a 5, giving him 21 and beating your 20. And you will then lose.

- I had my first experience at an Indian Casino last weekend with my roommate Jake. We both learned that lesson the hard way.

- I am craving Red Iguana.

- I am also craving Cauliflower soup from Zuppa's. Or the cauliflower soup that i make from scratch. Seriously just as good as Zuppa's. I just don't have time to make it down here.

- I enjoy it being 70 and sunny during the winter. Here is to hoping it lasts until May.