Happiness is a Choice

It's back to updating about my life.
I'm in school. I am signed up for 15 credits. I'll probably be dropping a class this week. I want to and wish I could do more, but the fact of the matter is...I take things too seriously or dwell on assignments too long to get everything done. I know some people's personalities allow for them to do more but that is just not me. I do better and I'm happier when I don't have a ton on my plate. And that is perfectly okay. If there is one thing that I have learned lately over and over again is that Being Me is okay. I'm being the best self that I can and that's all I can give. It's unrealistic to think I'd change all the bad things about me in a short amount of time. So I try to find the good in who I am and the things I can do. I am working on being happy with where I am and not wanting to be somewhere else. I have found out that this just causes mass headaches. Yeah...a headache for a week straight means I need to drop something out of my life. I would rather drop something than try to take pain pills to mask the pain. I think i just need to not look at a computer screen for too many hours in any one day. That could be where my headaches are coming from. That and I haven't been so disciplined about going to bed at a decent hour. I'm working on that one as well.

I started my training today for Alaska Coach Tours. Well in reality it started on Saturday. I had a good time in that class actually. We watched videos and it was all classroom work. Then today I actually got to get out on the bus. I've had a lot of driving experience in my days here on earth but this huge bus was nothing like what I would've expected it to be. I'm glad we have to get in 40 hrs of drive time. That's another reason I'm dropping one class. I was the first out on the bus of all the trainees. So many things were off today. Hopefully it will go a little smoother next time. I'm really looking forward to this coming summer in Alaska.

I have classwork I need to get done.....so that's all for my update today.

Back in Idaho...

School starts again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to good things this semester and this coming year. Lots going on for me. I'm trying to get over a cold and get settled in at a new apartment. I have a new assignment or two at church. Hopefully I can find the balance with that, my school work and with social activities. My goodness...I've got a lot to look forward to and a lot to be thankful for. Life is good. I just need to keep my priorities straight and take it one step at a time.

Temple square Christmas lights

I cropped these pictures in hopes that that would help them get posted. (I've been trying to post this for a solid week) Last Thursday evening I went to see the lights with Wendy :) we had fun and the weather was way too nice. My camera wasn't working so Wendy let me use her iPhone to take these.

I also got to visit with Ben & Holly again some too. Oh and Wednesday night I got to visit with Will. It was good to see friends and family since I didn't get out of rexburg for thanksgiving.

Ps....can't wait to go to Ohio for Christmas!

I'm not on Facebook anymore...and other things

I don't think its easy to notice for everyone so I just thought I would announce on my blog that I'm no longer using Facebook. I still use the internet plenty. I check my school email and two other emails regularly. I LOVE reading blogs, and I LOVE watching a few different families/couples/singers on Youtube. I have not given up the internet. I even will sometimes get on keek.com or instagram or even twitter. 

While reading one of my favorite blogs I found this little gem of a quote.

You can often tell if the media and technology in your life are having a positive or negative effect on your soul by the quality of the media conversations you are having. We should regularly ask ourselves three questions: First, am I having media conversations, or am I simply consuming media? Second, what conversations am I having about media with my family and those closest to me? Third, what am I doing to improve the conversations around me when I use media to communicate?   -Amy Peterson Jensen 

This wasn't necessarily the reason for my quitting FB. I mean, I didn't find this quote and then realize FB wasn't helping my soul, however, I feel like it fits the situation. 

None of these other places I go to online ever make me feel so defeated and wasted and unproductive and lazy. Facebook did. 

Every blog I go to read is uplifting to me. I have found places that I go to that help me think and are quality. I have conversations about them with people in my life. Just ask anyone who has heard me use the term, "my youtube friends". I still live my life and keep busy doing things I love but the internet is something I am trying to get better at purposefully using. Thank goodness for google when it comes to my cooking needs. I don't have my recipe box with me and searching the internet has helped lots. Oh, and I have even found some blogs that I like through watching people on Youtube. I'm not one of those people who only use Youtube to watch the viral videos that are most times out of control stupidity. I watch it like its TV. Soooo it's not a big deal that I don't watch TV and I'm not better than anyone else for not doing that. And its possible I waste just as much time as the next guy, but I'm choosy with my content intake. 

About one of those other blogs I read. This here has been a good read for me in the last few months. I liked his last post and talking about self perception. It got me thinking about who I am. It can be slightly uncomfortable being me sometimes. I am trying to be better at BEING me and not being who others want me to be. I've got a very different life that most people I know. I do things that don't always make sense. 

Oh I guess this is the perfect time for me to say/announce that I accepted a position with Alaska Coach Tours. I'll be training to get my CDL feb-april, then I'll be moving to Skagway, AK to work until Sept. I'm going to be a tour guide/driver for groups that come on cruise ships. I'm going to defer a semester at BYU-Idaho so that I can go make some money instead of spend for a semester. Then in January 2014 I will be coming back to finish up my medical assisting classes. Hopefully I'll be able to do some massage on the side up there. I will never regret having all that schooling out of the way. It has been nice to be able to work here and there doing massage while I've been in school this semester. 

Maybe this is an abrupt ending, but I have to go take a test, study for a final, pack to drive home, pack to move apartments and then sometime fit in lunch and get ready to go see a play tonight.....oooo and I hope my birthday package comes in the mail today :)

Flight to Reno.

I wish I had time to document all of my life and interesting meetings. As I stood in line at airport security sporting my Ohhh so Mormon byui gym tshirt I made a most unsuspecting friend. Apparently we were both headed to reno. This unnamed woman shared some good stories of her travels. She gave me some much needed company and advice. "Only in Utah" and "the odds are good but the goods are odd" were two phrases she used liberally. She told me of her traveling and adventurous lifestyle. Who knew I would run into a gal who had been born in fremont Ohio, lived in mesa Arizona and then spent a good portion of her adult life in Kodiak AK would have so much to talk to me about. Like her dads unexpected death after she got out of the military. Her inherited money that moved her to Alaska (all inspired by her teenage dream to find a good Alaska man that oprah talked about). She actually did marry only to have two kids and then find out her husband was cheating on her with a transvestite. I can't make these kind of stories up! I really wish I would've asked for her name. She went on to tell me about how she set out to finish her degree in cedar city Utah. Her road trip out to Utah from Alaska which took 6 days ended in a flat tire near Logan Utah. She told me how this nice gentleman changed her tire then kept in touch. A week later her drove down south to see her again. Two weeks later he proposed and 4 weeks after that they were married. I may have had a sore neck by the end of the flight but it was worth it. I love people. Thanks to unexpected meetings and great life adventures.