My Dad's Stomping Grounds

Earlier this week I had a unique opportunity to make a legendery place come to life. I got to visit my dad's old playground and kingdom, Bartlett High School.

Growing up I'd always heard about the school, home of the Golden Bears, just outside of Anchorage. My dad was on the state-winning track team, starred in the play "Bye Bye Birdie", and had the time of his life winning friends, serving, and being elected as Senior Class President. I always knew Bartlett High existed, but with it being so far away I never knew if I'd ever actually see it.

When I got there I put my dad on the phone and for a good 45 minutes I got a personal tour via the phone of the old high school. He showed me the gym where he practiced pole vault, the stage he sang on, the "main place" area where he and his friends would hang out, the sports fields outside, and even a certain ramp where the hottest girl in the school had given him a nice big kiss. That was one of my favorites :)

It was so exciting to see it all! I felt like I was exploring part of my own past. I really feel that the person I am today is in large part due to who my dad was and is. It was like coming home and finding a piece of myself. My dad is my hero and it was cool to see the "early years" of how he came to be.

I'm really grateful I was able to go on that little fieldtrip to explore the land of my father: Bartlett High School.

One Year Ago

One year ago this moment I was flying over the Pacific Ocean from Taipei, Taiwan to Los Angeles, USA.

I'm no longer a fresh RM. I am back. I loved my mission and it meant so much to me. I love the people of Taiwan, my fellow missionaries, my mission President, and the experiences I had while I was there.

This day in many ways is more meaningful than New Years to me, because for the first time in my life I can distinctly remember exactly where I was, who I was, and what I had done one year previously from this point. New Years Days all kind of just fuzz together. The mission was such a distinct chapter of my life, and it so distinctly seperates my life before my mission and my life now. So it really gives me a day to sit back and analyze my life.

I've gone places that I hadn't planned on (New Hampshire, Minnesota, Canada, Alaska) and done things I didn't know I would (Murder Mystery, Into the Woods, EFY, major in film, buy two of my own cars, work as a technician). But could I have done more? My attitude towards a lot of things is, "How much can I fit into every single day/month/year so that I can look back one day and have nothing left undone". The anniversary of my return is exciting and rewarding realizing what I've done, but it's a kick on the butt as well. I could do more.

So now I pledge to myself that this next year is going to be even better. I'm not going to waste a second. There are things I told myself I would have done by now (learn the stock market, start a business, go to Europe) that mock me from the pages of my mission journal. I'll get them this time around. I will! I could have better spiritual progression as well. I could help more people. I need to better use my mission as a springboard to get higher and better and to be a better influence to those around me.

I'm grateful for this day, May 26th, and the implications it holds for my life. May we all do what we want/need/dream to do THIS day and THIS year and live with zero regrets.

Pandora's Catch

I once heard a story. There was a mortal named Pandora who had a box full of all of the negative emotions, feelings, things, and ideas. The gods had put them in a box, knowing that Pandora's curiosity might get the better of her. I don't really remember most of the story, but eventually Pandora opens the box, and all of the little demons get out and infest the world. All except for one. Pandora manages to grab one by the tail and put it back in the box. It just so happened that she grabbed the most dangerous and destructive demon of all. It was forboding.

Hope is huge. Without it, I dare say the world and the people in it would cease to be happy. Say tomorrow was going to be a bad day. It just was. And you somehow knew it, 100%. Foreboding told you. Would today even be worth living? It'd be so hard to push yourself through the day, knowing that tough times and a bad day on the morrow awaited you. But that's not the case. We have hope.

No matter the circumstance, we can hope for a better tomorrow. We can hope that our favorite lunch will be served in the cafeteria, that the girl we like will catch on, that tomorrow work will go smoothly, that soon we'll be with people we love, that the trip we've planned to California is just around the corner. Hope is what gets us through.

One of my favorite questions to ask people is, "what are you looking forward to?" I love this question, and I learned it from my mother. I've always got to have something to put my eyes on, and that's really the trick to being happy all the time. Right now I'm looking forward to the peanut butter and jelly sandwhich in my car, my date tonight with a girl, sleep, church on Sunday, my vacation in July with the family, and many more distant events and goals. Yeah, today might be tough and I'll be working from 9 AM til 11:30 PM, but I've got hope.

Hope is my favorite Christlike attribute to study. It's HUGE and so crucial to mankind. That's really what the whole gospel is, right? We have a hope in the future that we'll be saved and reunited with our loved ones. Hope isn't blind wishing, it's trust and knowledge of things to come.

Hope is simply amazing.

Car Tongues

So, you know how when you see something for the first time, every time you see it after that it is blatantly obvious and you can't figure out how you missed it before? Well it happened to me.

Maybe it's just an Alaska thing, but this one is killing me. Look at the front of a car. In probably 70% of the cars I've looked at lately, there's a little plug sticking out of the front. Just this little electrical plug dangling out of the grill of the car.

It's ridiculous! It looks like a little tongue hanging out- like a car is a dog waiting for a treat. I seriously can't take cars seriously now. I don't know if it's just me, or what, but go outside and look at a line of cars and look for that little tongue and I promise it'll make your day.

A Thing Called Home

Something is missing out here. It really is. Alaska is an awesome place, and it’s beautiful and fun and full of cool people. I’ve made lots of friends already and I’m sure it’ll get better and better. But something is missing and I realized what it was the other day.

It’s “home”. I don’t have a home here. More specifically, someone I can call home. In Ohio I have my family, in Utah I have my roommates, and on my mission I had my companion and district, but here there’s none of that yet. Yes, I have friends and co-workers, plus a really great friend that I’ve done lots with (she’s probably the closest thing to “home” for me right now), but no one to come home to. No one to share everything with. I’ll do things with friends and it’s great, but for most of the day I’m very much alone.

It’s funny, but I want someone to report to. Like at college I’d always tell my roommates where I’d be and they’d tell me where they’d be. You’d share everything with each other and be witnesses to each other’s lives. You always knew what they were doing and it added such significance. Here, I come home, perhaps text and call people, but don’t have anyone here to sit down with and say, “wow, that was a long day” or “you’ll never guess what I did today” or “how was your day?” or “I saw two moose on the highway!”.

This past week I went on perhaps the most gorgeous drive of my life and explored a brand new city. I went to the North Pole! I went to a pioneer museum! I saw the highest mountain in North America! It was cool….but it was empty. With no one to share it with, it’s like it never happened. It can’t be fully enjoyed. I really think that’s why people yearn to get married: so they can have someone to share everything with.

I’m not depressed and I really hate pity, but this is just an observation, as I mentioned my blog would be about: observation. I’ll stick it out and change something, or I'll leave—I believe in doing something about situations. I had planned on coming out here with my best friend, but that got changed at the last second and he wasn’t able to make it. But it’s been interesting realizing these past couple weeks what a “home” or “family” is and how important it is to survival and happiness.

So if you know someone who doesn’t have a “home” right now wherever they are, reach out to them and give them that little (actually, it's really big) piece that they need.

---appendum- Something has been done about it. I've made a plan, went to the temple, and am moving nice and forward. I love making plans. Life is just great, huh!

The Scent of a City

Cities are like people to me. In high school, on my mission, in college, and now in Alaska I have always loved road-tripping to a new place and getting acquainted with it like I would a new friend. Every city has such a distinct personality and feel to it. Be it Beavercreek, New York City, Mesa, Taichung, Provo, Los Alamitos, Cardston, Fengyuan, Anchroage, St. George, Zhubei, or Cincinnati, I love going in and figuring the place out.

I love trying to understand what it’s like to live in that city, to be FROM there. To understand what they do for fun, for work, for relaxation. Inevitably there are certain pieces of history, landmarks, or trademarks that each city’s citizens are proud of. After meeting so many people in so many places it’s easy to see that for the most part humans are all very similar. But each place gives a distinct seasoning to its people and makes them so much more appetizing and unique.

It’s been a fun week exploring the little town of Fairbanks, Alaska. The people are tough but kind and relieved for the summer to be here, the teenagers seem like they’ve got something to prove, and everyone seems content with the remote place in the world that they’ve chosen to live. I went to the neighboring town of North Pole to visit Santa, looked around Fairbanks’ bird observatory and their pioneer park, spent hours in their public library, and drove all around town working in various houses doing my job. The sun sets even later than Anchorage (last night at 1 am everything outside was still easily visible) and the people here are quietly enjoying their lives.

Tools

What is it they tell you in science class about why humans are different than animals? Well among other reasons, the teacher almost always mentions that humans use tools to accomplish their tasks. How true that is.

Upon arriving at my week-stay apartment in Fairbanks, I discovered that it came completely “unfurnished”, meaning that there is literally nothing in the apartment except walls, drawers, and a mattress. And not wanting to buy a bunch of stuff since it’s only a week-long stay, I learned to get creative. I decided to treat it like a camping adventure, complete with a “no-shave” policy in effect until Sunday.

I fashioned my clothes into a web/blanket thing for night-time, used my work drill and pliers as a can-opener, two rolls of toilet paper as hot pads for the oven, a plastic spoon for all of my utensils, and an empty can of peaches for a pot/bowl.

So from this experience, I learned two things: we as humans definitely take a lot of things (like can-openers) for granted, and it’s simply fascinating to see what the human mind can come up with to serve as its “tools” in accomplishing everyday tasks.

A Drive Through Alaska

Monday morning I received a text from my boss which said, "I need you in Fairbanks for a week. Pack your bags, k." And just like that, I had a week-long vacation/adventure in Fairbanks, Alaska!

The drive was beautiful. I drove through Denali National Park, home to Mount McKinley. I drove through beautiful trees, mountains, rivers, and hills to get here.

Seeing all of the beautiful sights made me think about how many square feet on this earth there are and how many I'll never get to see. Everywhere is beautiful in its own way, and it's so important to soak in the sights that we do get to see. If I hadn't have received that text from my boss on Monday, it's quite likely that I never would have seen the things I saw yesterday on that beautiful 6-hour drive.

The Dishwasher Repairman

This summer I'm working as a technician. I've never been particularly handy with tools, cars, or fixing things and it's been a great opportunity to learn some skills that will probably be pretty...handy...in the future.

Anyways, I got home from work the other day and inside my apartment was a handyman fixing our dishwasher. Now in my life I've of course seen many a handyman, working at my school, my house, on the road, or wherever. But for the first time ever, I could RELATE to this man fixing my dishwasher.

All day I had been going into strangers' houses and digging into their walls at odd hours of the day, having half-hearted conversation, feeling tired and sometimes frustrated, feeling accomplished and proud of the work I had done. And now seeing this other man working on my dishwasher I realized that my avenue of "relation" and understanding technicians and handymen had been opened.

So what can we learn from this? I know that I learned it's important to at least try new things. Go be a waitor for a summer. Be a tour guide. Be a babysitter. Be an office assistant. Try teaching a class. In trying these things, even if we don't necessary love them, it opens our mind in completely new ways. It makes it worth it when you see that handyman in your apartment and can finally say, "man, I know exactly how you feel right now."

The Beginning

In the words of Proverbs, "Everything must have a beginning". Well here it is!

Life is full of chapters. High school is a chapter. Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior year are all chapters. A summer job, an adventure, a mission, a Christmas vacation, a relationship, a weekend away. We're constantly experiencing beginnings and endings, some coming quicker or slower than others.

Having just experienced one of these chapter page turns, I've decided to begin writing in a blog. In my communications class we learned about blogs here and there that get millions of followers and make big money. While that would certainly be swell, that's not the goal here.

At first I wanted to write something "different" that would catch the eye and make it one of a kind. But I'm not going to do that. This blog will contain my observations about life. Every day events will be put to type, not as a journal, but as an observation.

I recently watched the new movie "Sherlock Holmes"....and decided that Holmes is my new favorite superhero. He's remarkably observant. That's all it is. He observes everything around him and because of it he becomes powerful and efficient. He seeks to understand people, places, and events as they really are and learns to pick up on the clues that they present.

So as my summer in Alaska begins, so does my quest to play detective to life. To be successful in life you really only need to understand two things: God (and the world he created), and yourself.

Here goes!