It's been awhile....

Wow! It's been awhile since I've sat down and actually written on this thing! Scary! I've been so busy the last year or so that I haven't had time to slow down and reflect on my life. Reflection is a good thing every now and again. It verifies that you're on the path that you want to be! So this is me coming up for air...

School. What can I say about it? It's consumed my life. Everything and anything I do currently has some tie (whether small or big) to school. I can't believe I've been in school this long. I'm going on 7 years now in college. And all I'll have to show for it will be two bachelor's degrees. I guess that's not bad. Would be nice if I could quickly add a job to the accomplishments attached with graduating. But, only time will tell if that's true or not! Don't get me wrong, I love learning! It's fun to challenge yourself and open your eyes to new possibilities. And trust me, I've learned A LOT over the past few years! It's been good. Currently, most of that information is a jumbled mess inside my head. I need to sort and file all of it and try and make it into some semblance of order. Do you think I could hire a secretary to do that for me???

Work is a thing that I know very little of currently. School literally runs my life. So, I'm not able to work consistently every week. I try and get at least two shifts a week. Sometimes I'm successful. Sometimes I'm less than perfect. My bank account reflects the fact that I haven't worked very much recently. I think I've got an average balance of $1.25 for the last few months. Luckily, I'm not homeless just yet. As school wraps up, hopefully I can pick up some overtime along the way and augment the last few months of debt. Sundance is still a gorgeous place. I still do enjoy working here each and every chance I get. I realize that it's probably not a career option for me to remain here. But, it will get me through until I find that opportunity.

Family life is chaotic. Much has happened. More than I'd like to include in this blog. Between losing an uncle to a heart attack, having a mom and brother suffer some medical issues, having a sister go off the deep end, and having my own health teetering, things have been, I guess you would say, hectic. I'm ever so grateful for the bond that I have with my family and being able to step back occasionally and see the bigger picture. Otherwise, there would be many justifiable reasons not to associate with them. But, I sure do love them, despite all of our faults! In reality, they're the glue that keeps me together. Without them, I would have fallen apart long ago. Thank God that I have a great family!

Hmm...I'm not sure what else to write. There's nothing really pressing that I feel the need to write at the moment. I'm sure there's something amazing or exciting that I could post on here. Maybe it's my lack of sleep that's hampering me from writing more. Until next time...

What a beautiful mess (better known as my life)!

I guess I ought to update this thing since I haven't been on here in several months...

My life is great! I'm having so much fun! I've been so busy with things that I don't get much downtime anymore. It's good to keep busy with productive things, but I do wish occasionally for some downtime where I could do nothing but relax. Maybe someday in the future (probably when I'm old and bald) it will happen. Until then, I've gotta make the most out of every moment!

The semester is now winding down. I've done pretty well overall. Not perfect, but pretty good. I only took two classes this term. Didn't want to overwhelm myself too much. Both classes were pretty difficult, too, which had me studying fairly hard to keep a good grade in them. The semester officially ends on December 10th, so I've got a couple more weeks (and a few more exams) to finish before I can officially focus on the holidays. I am enrolled for next semester, too. I'm planning on taking a bit bigger load this upcoming term, though. We'll see how that works out!

Work is work. I'm loving it, don't get me wrong. Being at Sundance is an opportunity and a blessing. It is a job, however, and not a career for me. I try and be as productive as possible while I am at work. However, that is difficult in the middle of the night when I've already done most of the things that are required or suggested I complete. I am learning a lot about resort operations and how to better manage a resort facility. Hopefully I'll get to use these skills in the near future if I can find a job in resort management somewhere in the U.S. We're getting ready for the winter season up there, so things are abuzz. From making snow to selling season passes to winterizing buildings and equipment, everyone is busy. Most of us can't wait for the season to open on the 11th of December. Not only will business pick up again, but we can finally play in the snow! Yay!

Church has taken a more prominent role in my life. With my calling, I'm always trying to coordinate efforts and work towards strengthening the ward members. It's hard trying to balance this with school and work. I'm not always the easiest person to reach since I stay so busy. As well, I don't feel like I'm completely myself on Sundays since I'm coming off of very little sleep. I try my hardest to be awake and alert at all the meetings and magnify my calling as best as I can. I just feel like I fall short on a regular basis. I've been told I'll get some counselors soon to help ease the burden and work that I've got. I've yet to see it happen, though. I sure hope it happens soon!

No updates in my social life. Still in the same position as I was several months ago. I haven't allowed much time for anything to develop in this area, though. I've been pretty focused on other things. I probably should start working on this, eh?

One more day...

So, here I go again! I have this great habit of overwhelming myself with so many things that I don't allow for things that I want, and sometimes should, do. I guess it's a habit I haven't learned how to break just yet. Whether it's a bad habit or not is yet to be determined...

Work is work, like always. I'm loving my job at Sundance, but it does make for a long weekend. And since I only work on weekends, it makes it feel longer. I'm realizing now how hard the graveyard shifts are and I am gaining a greater appreciation for those who do them. I find ways to entertain myself when no one is around. Of course, there are things that need to get done and I do those things when called upon to do them. But there's a lot of downtime. And by a lot, I mean A LOT of downtime. I'm finding it is usually a good time to read my chapters and catch up on homework I didn't do during the day. I've also used a good majority of the time to research jobs and careers, as well as rearrange my schedule a time or two (ok, so MANY times). I think I've settled in to the requirements that the job has and have created my own standard for what I need to do each night and how to get it done. Gotta make the job my own! Hopefully I can stay with this job for awhile. I'm tired of jumping from job to job!

School is going well. I've never been a fan of being in school during the summer. Luckily, I've never really had to go to summer school. Unless you count driver's ed. Now, talk about a hot classroom! Other than that, I've avoided any time of educational pursuit during the summer months until now. I only had one class which I had to attend in a classroom, which was nice. It was in the afternoon, which made for an uncomfortable classroom experience. Lucky for me and my classmates, we didn't have to sit too long. And, we had regular breaks where we could grab a drink to cool us off. And, it was an engaging class so it didn't lend too well to falling asleep. But that's a good thing! This week is the last week of class for the summer term. Glad I made it through it all! Now, I'm nervously anticipating the arrival of fall term. I've got another full school schedule planned. Should prove to be fun! I think I'll enjoy this semester quite a bit. It will be challenging, but it will be a fun challenge rather than a drudgery. Kinda shocked at the courses I've picked out for myself, but I sure will love the chance to excel at it!

Family life seems good. My immediate family is all over, causing chaos wherever we go. Don't actually hear too much from my sister Teri and brother BJ. They've kinda been keeping to themselves recently. Not that this is abnormal for my family. We're all kinda keep to ourselves and don't publicize things too often. My youngest two brothers seem to be doing well. One got in trouble with the law recently and now is paying for it. Luckily, he won't have to go to jail for any of it. It saddens me to see all of my younger siblings making stupid choices. Not that I haven't made my fair share of them, though. I see their mistakes and hope that I don't repeat them. They aren't as happy as they could be if they were to choose a better path. But it is their choice and I cannot force them down a path they do not want to go on. I just hope they change some things around soon! My extended family seems to be doing well. One of my cousin's husband just left for basic this past week. I know she's a bit anxious about it, having her husband so far away. I know she'll be able to handle it and their relationship will be stronger because of it! Not really much else to report on from the family otherwise...

Still as single as ever. I laugh about how often this is a topic of my blogs, but it is relevant to my current circumstances! Here's a list of potentials I'd consider dating: Christine, Nicki, Sarah, Amanda, Tiffany, along with a few others. I know, I know. People are going to ask me what I'm doing about any of them. Right now, I'm trying to get myself in order to be able to do something with at least one or two of them. However, it hasn't happened just yet. Time will tell if I'm successful at it! (Watch there be several people following this blog and try to figure out who each of the names listed above are...)

Overall, life is great! I can't complain about much at all! Some days I wish I could complain, but then I remember how great I've got it and how fortunate I really am! I really am blessed to be living the life I have! Sure, there could be things in my life that would make it better. But why focus on something I don't have while neglecting to appreciate what I do have! Gotta love life! It's great!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

So it has been a rather *wet* week so far for me. I think it has rained almost every day this week! Luckily, there have been periods of sun intermixed with the rain. I do like the rain, though. It does make things greener. But, it's so hard to work outside when it's always raining!

Work this week was fun! It was my first week at Sundance. I worked my last day at Provo Parks on Monday. Kinda took several people off-guard that it was my last day. I didn't tell anyone I was leaving, so it caught people by surprise. I started at Sundance on Tuesday. Tuesday was just orientation, giving me the general feel of how things work across the resort. Thursday was full as it was my first day working. I shadowed Scott from 6 am to 9 pm that night. Lots to learn! But, I think I got most of it down. I was suppose to be off at 6 that night, but the replacement didn't come in until 9. The whole scheduling thingy was messed up for that night. Oops! I guess I got more hours that night, so it wasn't all that bad. Friday night I shadowed Missi to learn what's required of me during the night shift. Nothing too difficult to figure out. Saturday Missi came in for a few hours and then left me alone the rest of the night to handle all of the resort's needs. Kinda weird to be on my own, but I was up for the challenge! The schedule for the next few weeks should be coming out tomorrow sometime. At least, that was what I was told. I sure hope it does so I can start making some summer plans!

Church has been keeping me busy lately as well. Supposedly the other quorum presidency is going to be changing and that shifts all their responsibilities to our quorum presidency. And we're still not completely organized ourselves yet! It's crunch time for us! I think we're going to get together this week or next week and sort through all our responsibilities. Home teaching seems like a daunting task! But, I like challenges!

School has added more stress to my life. I started my EMT course this week, so that was fun. I missed one class, though, which means I need to find time to make up the class sometime soon! I gotta remember to stay on top of the assignments and review the information regularly. I don't want to fail the test come August! Still staying on top of the firefighting class, so that's good. Need to interview a few more people for some reports. Not too much of a rush yet, though.

I really need help making up my mind about my social life! Too much drama for me! Anyone want to help me out and give me advice on the "situations"???