Happy New Year! I'm hoping this year brings some positive developments my direction in school, freedom, and/or personal life. I would like to finish my basics for college somehow, even if it means doing correspondence classes. I hope to be ready for my junior year of university by the time I get home. I want to be home at some point this year and there are three ways I see it being possible: appeal with dismissal or change of punishment, commutation, or making my first parole this next December. My family and I are working hard toward all three options. I also would like to develop into a better servant for my Heavenly Father. More than anything else, I want to deepen my relation ship with Him and see His good and perfect will in my life. It's been tough, but fruitful so far during my incarceration.

Last night we brought in the New Year very non traditionally. We watched two crazies attempt stunts on ESPN. The first guy was going for the first full flip of a truck.



He drove a modified truck that had the engine offset to the passenger side to counter his weight and shocks with different stiffness for the impact, which was said to put some kind of bone-shattering pressure on the crazy dude. The ramp he launched off of had a kicker at the apex that threw the truck into rotation. After several runs without a jump to line up his approach, the guy drove toward the ramp at 35 mph and flew into rotation. He landed barely off balance and his stiff shocks bounced him into a roll. Failure. He was close, though.

The second guy was absolutely insane. He wanted to jump his dirt bike onto the Arc de Triomphe replica in Las Vegas, a nearly 100 ft height, and then jump off onto a transition ramp to take him to the ground. Any miscalculations would lead to serious injury or worse. I really thought I would be ringing in the new year by watching this guy kill himself. His fianc'ee was plenty worried, too. His bike would top out at 55 mph in 3rd gear and fly off a forty foot ramp. Crazy!



After a couple warm-up runs, he decided it was time to go. He rode across the flat, hit a ramp, and glided to the top of the structure with no problems. After circling the top and peering over the edge several times, the guy plunged over the edge and barely overshot the other ramp. He dropped his back tire to try to catch the transition and managed to bring the bike down under control, riding away victoriously. The impact gave him a gash and a broken hand from the handlebars, but he was in one piece to be hugged and kissed by is fiancee.

Maybe this year I can accomplish some great stuff like those two guys. And maybe I can hold onto my marbles while I do. Here's to a happy New Year!