The Choices We Make

All through life we have choices to make. Some are easy, some aren't, but most affect what and whom we become. I have been out of college for 7 years now. There have been many things that I have done from living in the DC area to working for the Navy to being a professional job seeker.
Why have I made the choices that I have made? It has not been for career. If I made choices for career, I would have been all about work and now be pulling in 6 digits a year. There are some people like that whom I work with. All they do is work and that work gives them a lot of money which they use to buy their pleasure.

I on the other hand have gone the opposite way. Every job that I haven't gotten since college, my salary has decreased. Pretty impressive, eh. But I have been incredibly involved in life. Whether it is friends or church or many other things, I greatly enjoy life and all the things it provides.

Is this better than the work way of obtaining pleasure? I don't know. For me...I think that it is. For others, it may not be, but this I know for sure. My choices define who I am and who I will become.

Interesting Picture

Let's Talk about Faith

Why do we expect others to act in ways that we don't act? I want people to treat me with a certain kindness and I don't always treat them with that same kindness. A double standard incriminating ourselves.

Or how about when we expect people to take risks (quitting a job, moving to a new area, etc.) or make decisions that we would never make. We don't have the stuff to make those decisions, but others should. How can I judge them for something I don't even have figured out? How can I judge, period.

I think that I need to start concerning myself with myself rather than with others.

Oh, Canada

I spent the last week in Winnipeg, Canada. It was a wonderfully enjoyable time. The weather was beautiful with highs around 75 and sunny skies all week. The mosquitoes were horrible and I wasn't even near water. It was nice to be away from work and it was the farthest that I have been outside of the good ole USA.

I love starting new relationships. Meeting people that you are around all of the time for an entire week. I got to know some people very well. These are people that could have a large impact on my life over the next couple of years. It is really nice to connect with people. As always in a group of 15 or so, there are always a small number of people that you just fit very well with.

Even though I have only known them for a week, I miss them. I didn't want to leave them when our time was up. Be thankful for the relationships that you have. Enjoy putting everything into and pulling everything out of them that you can. I have found that they really bless me.

Screeching Weasel

I have not been as joyous as I usually am over the past couple of days. I was trying to figure out why and could not point to anything specific to identify it. It's all in my head. Whether it's old problems that resurface every once in a while or it's struggles that rear there ugly head, it just seems that at random times these things strike me.

I was wondering why our heads get in our way sometimes. Even though nothing happens, we just start thinking of things. It must be the slightest of occurrences that remind us of the things we wish not to remind ourselves of.

Who knows, just thinking...

Anyway, I am doing fine and have an exciting week ahead. I am heading to Canada to get orientated on Germany. It is all next week so I don't expect to have access to this blog. See ya soon.

What Have We Become?

Innocent
Unscarred, Unhurt, Uncorrupted
Completely trusting and reliant
Still soft - not beaten by the cold, wind or rain
Completely comfortable in her own skin
Not picky or judgmental
Not afraid to express her true self even if it may not be popular

Guilty
We break, hurt, scar, offend
We don't trust, ask for help
We are unforgiving, picky and judgmental
We are scared of showing each other who we really are

Is there any of her left in us?

A-Grinning All Day

I found out the most wonderful news this morning. I have another niece. Autumn Faith was born at 12.30 am to my brother and sister-in-law. She is 7 lbs and 19 inches long.

If only I had a picture. Since I found out this morning, I have been grinning all day. It makes me very happy. Now I will have two nieces to have some fun with.

There is just something about the birth of a child that is just so wonderful. Something to celebrate and enjoy. So congrats to my bro and sis-in-law for the successful birthing of another baby.

Reflections of a Graduation Weekend

1. Congrats to my sister who graduated high school!!
2. This is where she is going next year
3. I like crab
4. Good graduation speeches make a point quickly without a lot of flair and fluff
5. It is nice to have a relaxing weekend where you can calm yourself
6. Ever notice how some people are extremely intimidating in their actions even if they don't mean it?
7. Luggage is useful when planning a trip
8. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a beautiful park
9. Alpengeist may be my favorite roller coaster ever
10. Williamsburg can be a bit rainy
11. The only good campsites around Williamsburg are KOAs
12. Lots of fun tripping with the sis to VA
13. I like WAWA
14. Mmm, hoagies
15. It's a shame when you don't feel well on your big day
16. Lochness Monster coaster is a sweet ride
17. I like Irish music
18. German women ain't too bad either :-)
19. I tried to teach my niece how to stick her tongue out, but she's not quite old enough for that one
20. The US is horrible this World Cup
21. 3-nil to the Czechs would not be a respectable score
22. Let's hope they can at least get one point this World Cup
23. Cheers!

It Has Started!!

The World Cup is upon us. The biggest sporting event in the world started just a bit ago. I love soccer and will enjoy catching some games over the next month. It will be fun and I shall root with passion. I will be rooting hard for the USA even though certain people almost always root against the USA.

I will also be pulling for the home country Germany. Either I will greatly enjoy myself watching some good ballwork and goal scoring. So who will win you ask? Here are my thoughts. I have narrowed it down to three teams: the Dutch, Holland or the Netherlands. Those are my picks. I think that there are a few teams that could do it though. Brazil is the favorite, but England, Argentina, Portugal and France all have a good shot. I just think with Holland's youth and skill, they will be able to pull off the run.

I also hope that the US is able to make it out of group play, although with their current form, team and group, that may not happen. Oh well, watch some soccer and root for a team because there are a billion people watching with you.

Great Expectations

After 3 days of being locked out of Blogger, it looks like it will finally let me post. Yippee.

Expectations: Why do we have them? Is there a purpose to them?

I have been thinking about expectations for the last while and wonder if they have anything positive in them. It seems like you build an expectation and then are let down or disappointed. Is there a good reason to create expectations? If we didn't create expectations, there wouldn't be a chance for disappointment.

Wouldn't it be better to just not have expectations? Think about it. You would always have your expectations exceeded because there are none. You couldn't be disappointed because you aren't expecting anything. Thoughts?

Reflections of a Pedestrian Weekend

1. Dunkin' Donuts coffee
2. X-men: The Last Stand was a good movie
3. It had lots of action and was afraid to twist the plot
4. I am glad that I can enjoy almost any movie; it makes movie-watching much easier and less critical
5. Unpack here, there and everywhere
6. Do you like beans?
7. It's hard to move when you aren't packed
8. Lapping the field except for one guy, oh yeah
9. Gummy bears stick to most anything
10. It hurts when my friends hurt
11. It was a nice and cool weekend
12. A documentary I would like to see
13. Surprises come from unexpected places
14. Grease is fun to watch
15. Nosepicker of the Year
16. Not sure why I was given that award by my church's youth pastor
17. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are awesome
18. Rain threatens
19. I like going for walks in the rain...most people do not

Busy Bee

I tend to keep very busy. I always seem to be heading somewhere or doing something. Why? I am not sure of all the reasons, but one is that I genuinely like to be busy. I enjoy running everywhere and doing a bunch of things. It is very enjoyable to hang with many different types of people in many different places.

A less than visible reason for staying busy? It keeps me from being lonely. I have wanted to be in a relationship for a while, but it just hasn't happened. When life slows down, my mind gets some time to think. Then I start contemplating what I don't have and start to realize how much I miss female companionship. I don't have time to miss anything when I am busy. So what is the solution...

Well, the easy one now is to stay busy.

Why, Oh Why Do I?

Lately I have been noticing that I seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. This little bit is amazing to me. You would think that after I do something and it bites me, that I would learn and stop doing it. But no, the next time comes along and I make the same stupid mistake.

I am fairly certain that I am not the only one in this boat. Why do we do such things. Mistakes that are in no way beneficial to us and many times end up hurting us. I wish I could just learn after messing up once. That would be nice.

Man, I get on my nerves sometimes.