Changes

   
     When the year 2014 started I knew it was going to be a year of changes, I just did not realize how big the changes were going to be.  I am now fully enrolled at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.  It finally feels good to be going to a main campus instead of taking online classes.  I loved my online classes that I was taking through University of phoenix, and I would recommend University of Phoenix to anyone who asks, however after three years of taking online classes I am excited to be back inside a real classroom.
 
 I am beginning by taking two classes this summer, and then going full time in the fall with four classes.  I have also changed my major.  Right now I am undecided, however I am looking into Human Resources as my new major.  I have decided to take a different route than the path I was already on with elementary education.  I believe with all of the budget cuts going into education today, the overcrowding of classrooms, and making it hard to find a teaching job that this is not the best career path to take for myself and my family.

     I am proud of myself and of all of my accomplishments, including my Associate's Degree.  Now it is time to move onto bigger and better things with my life.  This all begins at University of Alaska-Anchorage.(http://www.uaa.alaska.edu)  I will become the first person in my immediate family to have a Bachelor's Degree.  This will become quite an accomplishment for myself and I look to the future and to achieving this dream.  With my family supporting me all of the way, who knows what the future holds for me?

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

     Another year has come and gone so here I sit early in the morning attempting to make another update to this blog.  I don't really know if anyone reads this or not, but I keep trying to update it at least once a month, so here is this month's  post. 
     The year 2013 was a year of major changes for my family and I.  The year began with my wife who was six months pregnant at the time being put on bed rest for reasons I will not get into.  The next change was a move, as we left our home and moved into another, this even meant changing wards.  We left a ward that we absolutely loved and had and still have great friends and went to another.  With my wife's bed rest even came a ten day stay in the hospital, which to be honest scared me a lot.  This is something I never want to experience again.  I am not very good at being alone.
     March saw my wife and I become parents, as our little girl was born in early March via C-section.  Becoming a parent has become one of the biggest blessings and challenges in my life, but my daughter is absolutely worth it.  Just seeing her smile and hearing her laugh makes my day.  In May my father and oldest nephew came to Alaska for my daughter's baby blessing and it was great to be able to spend five whole days with them and show them some of Alaska.  I hope to see them again soon.  In May my wife went back to work so this meant I got to be alone with my young daughter and to be perfectly honest with you, I did not do so well.  I was totally lost on how to take care of a newborn, it actually drove me to tears.  Yes, I cried because I did not know how to take care of my daughter.  I guess I am not good at taking care of newborns.  If it wasn't for my mother-in-law helping me and guiding me I would have gone crazy.  The good part is with a lot of practice I have gotten much better at tending my daughter.  Also in May I started a new job.  I now work for Fred Meyer(www.fredmeyer.com) I must say this is a wonderful company to work for and I am a proud employee and will be a loyal shopper of theirs for many years to come. 
     September brought new changes to our stake and the creation of a whole new ward.  Which my family is now in.  We are getting to meet some new wonderful people because of this, so this was now our third ward in 2013.  Hopefully the ward hopping is done for at least 2014.  Also, I received a new calling in October, as I was called to be the Elders Quorum Secretary and a Ward Missionary.
     November saw another big accomplishment in my life as I graduated from University of Phoenix with my Associates Degree in elementary education.  I am so proud of this, I never imagined this happening to me.  I cannot wait to start University of Alaska-Anchorage this coming May.
     With all of the changes in my life in 2013, I cannot wait to see what 2014 will bring.

Happy Thanksgiving

          I would lie to wish everybody out there a very Happy Thanksgiving and may we remember all of our blessings that we have be forever grateful for them. 
     I have plenty of reasons to be thankful for this holiday season and I would just like to take the time to name a couple of them.
     I am thankful for my family...this includes my wife, my daughter (without them I would not be who I am today), my parents, my nieces and nephews, my in-laws, and my brother and sister in-laws.
     I am thankful to have finally achieved my Associate's Degree.  It was a long hard three years of attending classes online but it was worth it.  Next summer I get to step back inside a real classroom and I cannot wait.
     I am thankful for anyone and everyone who has ever helped me along the way and who has been my friend.  Everyone of you will always have a special place in my heart and I will never forget anyone of you.
     I am thankful for Jesus Christ and the atoning sacrifice he made on the cross.  Through this I know I can return to live in his presence once again.
     I am thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (www.lds.org).  Through his restored church we can learn about him and learn how to return to live with him once again.  We can all learn about the Plan of Salvation.
     I am thankful for Fred Meyer. (www.fredmyer.com) Even though I have only been employed there for 6 months, I have made some wonderful friends and this is the best job I have had since moving to Alaska.
     There are plenty of more things that I have to be thankful for in my life, but this is just a few of them.

A Life Update and Associate's Degree

     It has been a while since I last updated this blog.  I did not forget about it, as I try to update it once a month.  Life just seems to get in the way with work, school, and my 8 month old precious daughter.  Here is a update on my life so far.  At the end of September our stake created new boundaries for our wards (I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.mormon.org) and a whole new ward was created which my family and I are now a part of.  It is very exciting to be a part of a new ward to see it literally being built from the ground up.  I even received a calling, as I am the Elders Quorum Secretary. 
    
     My family life is going great, as I love being a father.  Becoming a father is the greatest blessing that I could have ever received.  My daughter has a wonderful spirit about her and she is my pride and joy. 

     As for the other big news...In a few weeks I will be finished with University of Phoenix.  Finally after three long years I will have earned my associates degree.  I never thought that I would ever accomplish this in my life, however with the encouragement and love of my wife this will be accomplished, providing that I pass my final class.  Then it is off to University of Alaska-Anchorage to finish my degree.

Roots

     Right now, I guess you can say I have no roots.  I am torn between so many things.  I feel like I don't have time to really settle into things.  I have this feeling that I need to make a lot of decisions, big, important decisions.  However, I am not sure of what the decisions are.  Recently I have felt heavy.  This heaviness doesn't go away.  I have really been trying to remain positive.  If I have a bad day, I tell myself that I need to be optimistic and stop pitying myself.  I have a hard time dealing with those deep down unpleasant feelings.  Lately, these types of feelings are being uncovered and I can't seem to bury them. 
     People have asked me how I am doing.  I always smile and say that I am good.  I am having to learn that it is not ok to be good.  It's ok to have a bad month.  It's ok to tell people that I am not actually ok. 
     This sounds rather silly that I have yet to learn this, doesn't it? 
     Life is still full of good moments.  Those seconds that make you laugh from deep down inside.  Those moments of peace and comfort.  Those simple times of feeling like you can get through anything.  So while life is hard at the moment, it is also very sweet.
     I am glad that hard times are times for learning, crying, and good memories.

Regrets

     I have been thinking about what to update this blog with for the last few days now, as apparently I missed my update last month.  I want to go over some of the regrets I have been thinking about over the course my life.

1.  Not staying active in the church.  I believe my not staying active in the church did leave to me eventually leaving and not gaining a full testimony of the restored gospel, which also lead me to my next regret:
2.  Not serving a mission.  My wife served a mission and she absolutely loved her mission in Brazil.  I wish I had that type of experience in my life so that I could have helped spread the work of the kingdom on the earth.  Also, a mission is a growing experience which I think is something that I still need in my life right now.  I try to do all I can with my calling as a ward missionary and to support our local missionaries who are serving in our ward.  But still, I think back and wonder what might have been?
3.  Arizona.  I lived in Arizona for a while in 2004, and still consider it one of the best times of my life and  my favorite place to be.  I will not get into full detail about my experience there and how much I screwed up, but I will always look back with fond memories of a wonderful place with some great memories in my heart.
4.  Education.  I regret not starting my education sooner in life.  I have always wanted to be a teacher, hopefully I can make this happen.
5.  Paying attention in school.  I wish I would have paid more attention in school, if I did who knows where I might be today.
6.  Navy.  I regret not going into the Navy after I graduated.  I could have gained a world class experience and school could have been paid for.  I chickened out, and my recruiter never got me my waiver he promised me.  That is another story for another time.
7.  Not being a righteous priesthood holder.  I will not go into full details here, but I have done some things in my life that I am not proud of like everyone has, but I am trying to fix these mistakes.

     These are just some of the regrets I have in my life.  I am sure I can think of plenty more, but I do not want to make a really long blog post.

Planning

     Here I sit again at my computer updating my little blog in the big world wide web.  I have so many hopes, so many dreams that I want to accomplish with my life, sometimes I question how do I go about getting this accomplished?  Do I take Plan A, or do I take Plan B.  Perhaps I take a different path, one that is not quite so obvious. 
  
     I have flirted with doing other things with my life, taking other routes with different careers, besides what I am currently majoring in.  The fact is, it all comes down to my dream of becoming a school teacher since I was in the third grade.  Lets face it, there is nothing else that I really want to do with my life, except spend the rest of my life in school.  What that means is obtaining my education and then teaching. 

     However, there are other aspects with my life that I am currently unhappy with.  How do I go about changing them?  Hopefully, time will tell.