putting thoughts into words

It has been two months since my last post. TWO MONTHS. To all my followers, my apologies. There has been some shakeup in trying to manage time between getting home, having dinner and taking care of everyday duties. Most of those duties tend to fall in the “search for a full-time job” category. Unfortunately, that means I have overlooked my blog (two months anyone?) for things I should have put aside for another day. Plus, in all honesty, there were many times I was super lazy to even think about writing a new post again. But something happened. Something that gave me motivation and inspiration. And today was the day.

Those following me don’t know who this person is. In fact, I haven’t gotten a chance to get to know him well yet. This person’s name is George. George is a co-worker who every so often is scheduled to come in after my shift is completed. He definitely knows how to have fun while at work. In the hour we worked together, we blasted so many popular club jams (via George’s Ipod) it was the best day of work I have had. Plans are in the works on bringing my music to work one day. Updates soon hopefully.

In that hours time though, we got to talking about schools. Which lead to me saying I graduated with a four-year degree. After telling George what I majored in and career aspirations I had, he gave me a lot of great ideas to blog about, as well as reminding me to brush up on my radio skills. Such as: George’s new restaurant idea, writing about music, and work-related posts (including pictures) Moral of the story: Always keep up on the many skills you have acquired even when a few roadblocks get in your way. It might not be how I pictured my life to be at the present, but something tells me there is more in store for me to arrive where I want to be.

I think it’s something we don’t say enough. I think it’s something we don’t think about often enough. Granted there are many things in life where we begin to overlook the small things, but keeping a realistic perspective is what we should focus on. I, myself, fall into this category. For the past couple of weeks, my mind has been rattled with the many things I miss. I’ll do my best to remember everything I miss (but let’s be honest, it’s probably not going to happen)

1. My friends: The easiest on the list. It was nice to be around friends to either visit, hang out with or just catch up with. I enjoyed the camaraderie with each and every one of my friends. The times going out to see a movie, riding around from store to store, adventuring with Emily and Sarah, gymnastics meets with the Superfans, road trip to Milwaukee to see the Brew Crew play…the list could go on. It’s great to spend time with those you really care about and who share the same interests as you.
2. The hill: Not going to lie, I enjoyed getting that heart-pounding workout everyday. It took me a while to get used to it like most other people, but once I got accustomed to it there wasn’t a problem. But it was so much more than getting a workout. Seeing dozens of friends you knew to brighten your day wasn’t bad either. I will also add the back stairs up to McPhee. Those stairs were killer. I remember numerous times racing from Hibbard to McPhee in about ten minutes. Don’t ask me how I did it.
3. Late nights cramming either for a test or paper: This never happened very often, but when it did, it was something that was both stressful and sort of calming. Besides trying to frantically finish something, it was a chance for me to thrive on deadline. (Maybe this has something to do with my journalism background) You’re probably asking yourself, is he crazy? Probably. I don’t know what it was. I think it had a lot to do with how many good ideas seemed to come to me at such a late hour.  This one is hard to explain, really.
4. Late night runs: This one takes me back to the times my friend Brady and I would go running. There was always a planned route; Brady just never told me. So for me it was sort of a guessing game to where we were going next. That’s besides the point. Night running through downtown Eau Claire. Or anywhere for that matter. Try it.
5. Ultimate Frisbee: Not much to be said here except for I miss the competitiveness and ruggedness. Too many times I have imagined myself back out there playing. Gosh, I miss it.
6. Summers in Eau Claire: I’ve come to the realization I won’t ever get the chance to spend a summer in Eau Claire ever again (I know, never say never), but the times I did were some of the best moments of college. Tubing down the river, farmers market, drive-in movies and getting the opportunity to experience things many students don’t get a chance to experience. It’s something I preached to people who told me they were spending a summer in Eau Claire then and something I would still preach today is: If you ever get an opportunity to spend the summer, DO IT. Please. You won’t regret it.
7. Spending time with my bros: If I were to go into this one, it might take days. All I’m going to say there were some pretty fun times.
8. The feeling just being in Eau Claire: Every time I arrived in EC I felt good. It was a feeling you were somewhere safe. Like a security blanket. Even coming back from a weekend at home, there was a small inkling in me that felt good to be back. (even with homework still looming after a weekend at home. Haha) There is so much to do. You hear people say a place was like a home away from home. But in my case, it really was. The best and challenging four years of my life. Not to be forgotten.

I planned on writing a post at the end of this week, which marked my first full week of Lent. But today I have been having some struggles with staying true to my word for those things I have given up. Writing it all down seemed to be the best solution during this struggle. First of all, I have not been tempted to look at the Facebook homepage, although there have been times thoughts wandered in my head. Not to say this was the easiest of the bunch, but I knew there wouldn’t be as big as a temptation compared to others. Here is what I have been dealing with:

1) Some decisions the past two days I haven’t been very happy with. Since making better choices was the one thing I a)made as a resolution and b)aimed to strive for during Lent, it makes me very uncomfortable to admit it. DISCLAIMER: These decisions are not life-altering or life-changing in any way. I wouldn’t want those who read this to think otherwise. The decisions I have been making are small, but very personal ones. I’m not kicking myself over it because let’s face it, we all have obstacles (or in this case temptations) thrown our way. I’m just disappointed in the fact I wasn’t strong enough to stick to it. I take great pride in choosing to do something and sticking to it. If an undesired result occurs, I consider it a step back. A lot can be learned by oneself by the decisions they make. And for me, it’s pretty clear my decision-making has a few holes to patch. Luckily, there is still two months to go, leaving plenty of time to learn from my experience and improve on it come April.
2) A lot has changed since my last post. I recently got a part-time job working at a small marketing business. Although not my chosen career path, it’s a stepping stone. Not sure where it will end up taking me, but for the time being I am going to work hard, learn everything I can, network and enjoy the ride.
3)Despite my shortfalls, my life is blessed. I have noticed things I would have otherwise overlooked during my first week. I have people in my life who are there to support me. I have people in my life I can go to for help. I have people in my life who I can count on. I hope there are plenty of other little things come my way to experience and enjoy. Hopefully there is more in store.

More updates coming soon…

It has only been the first day of my journey and I already feel refreshed. Cannot put my finger on what exactly has made me feel this way. Honestly, I feel a lot of it has to do with breaking an old routine and starting up with a new one. A refreshing and positive routine at that. Of course I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch like they say because it’s only day one. But I can already see small changes in how I feel. It’s weird to think how the simplest things in life are the ones that get overlooked the most. The same can be said for me. I have overlooked the simplicities in my life, resulting in taking them for granted. Even though there hasn’t been too many personal changes I have decided to either change or give up, the few things I am CURRENTLY giving up are shaping those personal things that have needed fixing. Sort of like a domino effect.

The only thing that I still need to improve on is exercise. There still is plenty of time left to change that. Here’s to continuing on…

As the first day of Lent is upon me, I embark on a journey to self-cleanse and rid myself of the non-necessities in my life. Not only is my aim to become a better person, but also to continue to learn and grow in my faith. Day one has arrived. I’m not sure what will happen over the course of this 40 day period, but I am eager to let go of the things that don’t necessarily lead to a healthy life. So as I begin, I want to make you aware of the things I will be giving up. First, I will be cutting down the amount of television I watch to approximately 10 hours per week. This is asking a lot of myself because I have numerous favorite shows. Also, I am cutting down on the amount of computer usage. Again, this is also difficult for me because of the many websites like ESPN, Gmail and job sites I regularly visit. But I believe these are generous commitments. Secondly, I will stay away from any sort of unhealthy foods. For example, candy, pop and ice cream. This will also include not snacking later than 9 p.m. Lastly, I will go the entire 40 days without so much as looking at the home page of Facebook. As of right now my account is deactivated. Sorry for those of you who would like to reach me. Giving up Facebook has been on my mind for a long time. Over the years it has been used less and less, which has lead me to giving it up during Lent. Who knows what will happen after the 40 days; there might be a possibility I will stay away from it altogether. Only time will tell.

Some might say these things are in a way selfish (Facebook). That may be so, but I believe trying to overcome these challenges will be very rewarding. The same can be said for the millions of others who will be giving up their things. I’m looking forward to seeing life’s perspective in a different light, as well as learning more about myself. Let the journey begin…