Thankful!

I am thankful for....

...An incredibly beautiful, incredibly incredible wife who definitely could have done better than me, but thankfully for some still unknown reason decided to marry me and make me the happiest, most blessed man for all eternity!
...A daughter who is as beautiful as her mom, but has a wonderful personality all her own. She constantly keeps me entertained and never fails to surprise and amaze me!
...A healthy son who will soon be born and for the great blessing he will be to our family, and the lifetime of exciting things to look forward to with him.
...Having the true and eternal gospel in our lives, and the opportunity to learn and grow through out our lives.
...Living in a country were we have so many freedoms many of which we take for granted every day. A country where even an idiot can be elected President but were we know the country will still be alive and well after his term. A country where men and woman are willing to fight and die if necessary to secure those freedoms, even when many of the people who enjoy those freedoms, speak out against those who daily make sure we keep them!
...And I am thankful for the opportunity that even a simple guy like me has to serve along side some of these great men and women, even if just as a reservist.

Break Down

This is in response to Amy's question as to why they belittle you so much in basic when it seems it would get the opposite result that one would want.

Before I went to BMT I wanted to figure out all I could about what I was getting into. Under the FAQs section there was a question that basically said " Will the Military Training Instructors (MTI or just TI as we called them) yell at me." The answer was "Yes" It went on to explain why, but I am not sure exactly what it said. Basically we all grow up in different environments with different levels and types of discipline. They are mean the way they are and belittle you the way they do, to break you down. Because without that they cannot build you back up to live with the discipline required in the military.

I was told everything to expect prior to going in, but knowing what will happen and experiencing what happens are 2 totally different things. And although I hated the daily "abuse" and the fear and constant worry that someone would mess up and we would pay for it, and although there were many days, probably almost everyday that at one point or another I wondered if I made the right choice in joining. I can now look back and say I did. I am truly grateful for that experience and that I made it through. Even after experiencing it, I don't think i know why it works, but that form of discipline does work, and I saw it change many people completely. So though I would never want to do it again (and I have had nightmares about that) I am glad I did it once, and would completely recommend it to anyone thinking about going into the military, even though it (BMT) may be the hardest or at least one of the hardest things you will ever do.

I hope that makes sense and answers your question. If now let me know and I will make sure I do. Let me know of any other questions you may have.

So I have been trying to figure out what I can right about my experience at Basic. Then I remembered that another Airman that was in my BMT flight and was my wingman wrote something on Facebook while we were in Tech school that I thought summed it up pretty good. His name is Samuel Howard. He is from Minn. The following is what he said:

"Aright, I have been unable to come up with a satisfactory answer to why basic is so hard and what it is like but I will try yet again

The first thing to understand about Basic Military Training (BMT or Basic) is that you never get to completely relax from the moment you step of the airplane until you walk on the bus leaving for tech school. Even when you are given time to work in your area doing stuff like folding clothes and polishing your shoes your Military Training Instructor (MTI/TI) may explode at any time. This is compounded by the fact that you are punished for everyone’s mistakes not just your own, so even when you know you are doing what you are supposed to the threat of trouble lingers. The constant state of tension is mentally draining as well as physically exhausting by the never ending stream of pushups, flutter kicks, and squat thrusts performed as punishment. Along with the work outs your body is punished through lack of sleep and little food. Combined with this is the emotional stress of not being able to see or even talk to any of the people you love and you find yourself constantly walking the edge of breaking down.

Now in this exhausted state you are expected to perform in an environment focused on “attention to detail” It is the little things everywhere that get you in trouble and keep you constantly worried. Flipping your cups in the dinning facility, rolling back the toilet paper in the latrine, put on a hat when outside, make sure you have a canteen and satchel, all your pockets must be buttoned, no strings on the uniform, put the toilet seat up, never forget a reporting statement, never say ok or alright. It is a never ending stream of little things that get you abused endlessly.

During a standard day in that environment you wake up at 4:45 to do physical training, where you either run about 3 miles or you do a couple hundred push ups sit ups and other assorted muscular workouts. After about an hour of this you go back to the dorm for breakfast where you have 45 minutes to shower, make beds, sweep down the floor, and clean the entire dorm. This seems like enough time until you realize it is with 44 men showering in 8 showers and that it takes almost 15 minutes to make a bed because it must be perfectly done with 45⁰ corners and tight enough to bounce a quarter off of. Now it is between 0800 and 0830 and you go to class which is incredibly boring and you struggle desperately to stay awake in an 90 some degree classroom on 5-6 hours of sleep. Then when you finish you go back out on the black top drill pad in 100 degree weather and practice marching for about an hour. Of course regardless of how well you personally do both you and your MTI will end up frustrated by the 2-3 people who are incapable of marching correctly so you wind up doing pushups on the burning black pad in a heavy long sleeve uniform. After repeating that 2 or 3 times you go back to the dorm for lunch. Then either another class or an appointment which could range from ID or clothing issue to haircuts or shots. Inevitably you will be yelled at for poor marching and multiple other infractions before you ever arrive where you are going. Of course when you get there you will stand for an hour doing nothing then given confusing instructions super fast and when you forget and ask a question you will be called retarded and ridiculed. Eventually you wind up back at the squad for dinner and mail call (best part of any day) Then you work in your areas for an hour or two before bed during which someone inevitably screws up and you push once or twice. Finally you head to bed for the short sleep you get which is interrupted every couple of days by a 2 hour Entry Controller shift standing there during nothing.

Now you may think that this sounds boring, routine, and dry. You are right. Nothing exciting or worthwhile ever happens in BMT. It is just repetitive grinding that gets to you. Also you can never do anything right at BMT. That is one of the primary tools, regardless of how well you perform they will find something wrong and no matter how many things you do right you will never get a “good job” that humans crave. It is this lack of validation combined with complete mental physical and emotional exhaustion that really gets to you. It is like taking your worst day at school, take away your friends, giving yourself less sleep and extending it six and a half weeks with the knowledge it will not get any better. Oh and thrown in physical workout and screaming teachers. Its hard because no matter how right you are even when everyone knows it you still get ridiculed and blamed. At BMT you don’t win, you lose less.
I don’t know if that really helps you understand but it’s the best I can do. I think honestly it is one thing you really can never get unless you experience or witness it for yourself."

I will probably write more later on, so if you have any questions about things that were mentioned here or anything you want to know specifically please let me know and I will base a post on that question.

New

I have been trying to find a really good Air Force background for this blog for a while but have been unsuccessful. I have found a couple but they were not good ones. I like this one for now though. But if anyone knows where I can find a good Air Force one or if you come across one in search of something for yourself feel free to let me know. I am still planning on writing about basic training, and now that I have a semi-appropriate background maybe I can find the time to do it.

Marni's 50 odd things

50 ODD Things about Me

1. Do you like blue cheese? heck yes! the stinkier, the better. :)

2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? nope. unless you count those one bubblegum cigars that they had back in the day.

3. Do you own a gun? don't leave home without it! kidding. i don't own any.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? mmm...sonic. that sounds good right now. what doesn't?! i love cherry limeade.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? no. i love going to the doctor and i love going with anyone who has to go to the doctor.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? hate them. love the smell.

7. Favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night. i start listening this month. one month of Christmas songs is not enough. and i hate that radios shut it off the day after.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? i don't drink a lot. but if i had a choice and someone to serve it to me, freshly squeezed orange juice or postum.

9. Can you do push ups? not at the moment (too much extra weight in the middle area). but normally, yes.

10. What is your favorite movie? far and away.

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? my engagement ring. or anything that andrew has given me. :)

12. Favorite hobby? blog-stalking, being crafty, sleeping, eating. k eating should probably first on the list.

13. Do you work with people who idolize you? probably. poor girl.

14. Do you have ADD? No

15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? hmm...i don't know that i really hate anything. maybe i wish i had arches in my feet. and that my boobs weren't so sad looking after having just one kid. she sucked the life out of them, but i still love her. :) sorry if that was a little too graphic for some.

16. Name 3 thoughts at this moment: I really need new contacts. maybe i'll actually get them someday. i wonder if there's anything good to eat. i hate the cold. why do i live in cache valley, the coldest place in north america?

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: milk, pears, condoms. can't be too careful...:)

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? milk, water, and juice if we have it. really, i'm not a big drinker.

20. Current worry right now? how much weight i'm going to gain over 2 weeks.

21. Current hate right now? dogs

22. Favorite place to be? home chillin' with my peeps.

23. How did you bring in the New Year? no idea. see andrew's answer.

24. Favorite vacation spot? hawaii!

25. Name three people who will complete this: i don't know

26. Who's answer do you want to read the most? yes, have some.

27. What color shirt are you wearing? vintage strawberry shirt my mom wore when she was pregnant. and andrew's brown hoodie.

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? i'd probably be ok with it, especially in the summer when cold sheets are awesome.

29. Can you whistle? yep

30. Favorite color? orange.

31. Would you be a pirate? if i was hot like keira knightly. ;)

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? none. i'm so afraid to wake up lilly in the mornings.

33. Favorite girl's name? lilly

34. Favorite boy's name? andrew and peter. ;) (peter's a joke)

35. What's in your pocket right now? nothing. i actually hate things in my pockets.

36. Last thing that made you laugh? lilly pointing to a naked little boy in a parenting book we have and saying, "look at that". what will i tell her when "peter's" born?

37. Best bed sheets as a child? that's a weird, random question. i liked the heman ones, but the boys always used those.

38. Worst injury you've ever had? concusion. i don't remember how old i was, that's how bad it was...:) but that's about it. i haven't had anything cool, no stiches or anything. i'm pretty boring.

39. Do you love where you live? yeah. i'd like to be more in logan and in a place where i can pick which neighbors i have to make sure they don't have annoying dogs. but i do hate that the winter lasts for 9 months.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 1. growing up we only ever had 1, too, come to think of it.

41. Who is your loudest friend? lilly

42. How many dogs do you have? zero.

43. Does someone have a crush on you? andrew thinks i'm pretty smokin' even though i probably outweigh him. ;)

44. What is your favorite book? uh. i don't read a lot. i do like twilight. don't judge me.

45. What is your favorite candy? skittles. airheads. peanut butter m&ms.

46. What is your favorite sports team? i don't really care about sports.

47. What song do you want played at your funeral... i don't want a funeral. just throw me in a box and into the ground. :)

48. What were you doing 12 AM last night? sleeping.

49. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? holy crap, the dogs only barked once and it wasn't even until 7:15 am! shocking.

50.What is one item you currently don't own but wish you did? a fancy camera

50. If you could travel anywhere outside of the US, where would you go? Italy, Ireland, Scotland, and lastly, since i'll die when i go there, brasil. :)

50 Odd things!

50 ODD Things about Me

1. Do you like blue cheese? Nope

2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Nope

3. Do you own a gun? Heck yes I do, don't mess with me!

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I like raspberry

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Nope. Figure I am fine or not, either way going to the doctor is the best way to take care of it.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Not bad, don't want them everyday though. I had a 1/4 pounder for lunch today.

7. Favorite Christmas Song? O Holy night. We were actually listening to Christmas songs today. Judge away!

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Usually just drink water.

9. Can you do push ups? Yep. Didn't do too well before BMT, but can do around 50 or 60 in a minute now.
10. What is your favorite movie? Don't really have a favorite right now, I like a lot!

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My nipple ring....oh and my wedding ring!

12. Favorite hobby? Sudoku

13. Do you work with people who idolize you? Probably not, but maybe they do secretly.

14. Do you have ADD? No

15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? Procrastination.

17. Name 3 thoughts at this moment: I'm a guy, I would be lucky if I had one thought at any moment.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: Wood for the cradle, work gloves, and chips.

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, milk and Water.

20. Current worry right now? Money.

21. Current hate right now? Lack of Money.

22. Favorite place to be? Home with my girls.

23. How did you bring in the New Year? Don't remember. I asked Marni and she doesn't remember either. It was tons of fun!

24. Favorite vacation spot? Brasil, but some day hope to be able to say Hawaii.

25. Name three people who will complete this: Alison, Susannah, and myself.

26. Who's answer do you want to read the most? Someones besides those listed above since I already know theirs.

27. What color shirt are you wearing? Blue and gray stripes.

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Wouldn't know, I think they would be slippy and cold, so maybe not so much.

29. Can you whistle? Yes, but I can't carry a tune, though I try a lot.

30. Favorite color? Blue.

31. Would you be a pirate? If I were sexy like Johnny Depp!

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? None, tried it once and got made fun of. Can't carry a tune there either.

33. Favorite girl's name? Marni, Lilly and Stormy

34. Favorite boy's name? Ian, Gavin, Ethan

35. What's in your pocket right now? Chap stick, cell phone, pen and my wallet.

36. Last thing that made you laugh? Lilly smashing her face against the screen and licking it with her long snake tongue.

7. Best bed sheets as a child? Did I have sheets on my bed as a kid?

38. Worst injury you've ever had? Broken arm, and dog bite.

39. Do you love where you live? Yes, but not so much the cold in the winter.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 1, I guess we are not normal.

41. Who is your loudest friend? Lilly

42. How many dogs do you have? None, but I wouldn't mind shooting a couple of my neighbors right now.

43. Does someone have a crush on you? Like everyone, but I only care about Marni.

45. What is your favorite book? Don't read too much, but I liked the Work and the Glory books and I recently started reading The Host which is pretty good so far.

46. What is your favorite candy? All! but I like chocolate a lot!

47. What is your favorite sports team? Any that plays soccer, USU basketball, and not USU football.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral...The song they play on the bag pipes like at military funerals and the such as.

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping on the couch where I fell asleep watching CSI Miami.

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? There is no way it is 5:30 already!

Name Game

We have been making a list of boy names trying to decide what we want to name our son in December. So far we have just added to the list and and haven't really narrowed it down. So now it is your turn. You can do one of two things or both. List your top three picks, and/or list them in order from your favorite to least favorite. Right now they are listed in no particular order.

Coenn
Quinn
Ian
Liam
James
Christopher
Ethan
Jake
Jack
Dylan
Philip
Eric
Gavin
Grant
Graham

So good luck and have fun. We are interested to see what you all think. Also as mentioned in Marni's blog, feel free to add to this list with your own suggestions.

Sneak Peak

So everyone is posting pictures and I got jealous and decided I should too! Actually I wanted to start blogging again, and fill everyone in on my exciting summer. But rather than go into all the details right now, which some people may find boring, I figured I would post some pictures, which some people may find boring.
These were taken during tech school and will give a a sneak peak into some of what I was training to do for the Air Force.

The first one is our Air Transportation class in Blues, and the next one is not in blues posing with the hummer and the C-130 used for training.

Here we are getting cargo ready to ship, inspecting the cargo, and then after we have loaded on the pallet and tied it down with nets.

Were were sitting around waiting for our turn to load pallets on the C-130. We were trying to look serious, not mad I promise. Then the second one is me inspecting the pallet just before pushing in onto the plane.
I make a good supervisor don't you think. I was actually watching to make sure we stopped the hummer in the right place to tie it down. The blue thing is a pretend C-141 because they could not get an actual C-141 for training.
Spotting the hummer on to the "C-141"
Since Lackland is a training base, people come form all branches of service and from all over the world for training. Yeah the Air Force is that good. Here I am explaining to the Navy how we do things the right way, the Air Force way. At least that is my story.
Riding in the hummer as my instructor backs in onto the "C-141"

Ridding in the gunner seat. Too bad they didn't have any weapons installed on this hummer.

We were having a little race with another class to see who could chain down the hummer the fastest. I don't mean to brag, but we were lots faster.

More chaining. I am faster than I look!

As you can tell we are the cool guys of the class. The hummer and C-130 help a little.


Posing as a class. The rest of the class wanted to be cool too. :)

I have a couple pictures that were taken of us in Basic Training too. I may try to post some of them before doing all the word explanation posts.

Memory Lane

I am sorda back online. Not really though. I am still in Texas at Lackland AFB for training but wanted to take advantage of this memory thing, to see if people remeber things I don't. After I get home next month I will take some time to blog about time here, incase anyone was wondering about it. For now, memeories....

Here are the instructions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot; anything you can remember.2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Stuff

There is not really a lot going on right now to report. Most of the family stuff such as Lilly's birthday you can see in Marni's blog.
Personally I am just really stressed out as this is the last week of school and I have a ton to do. Nothing like procrastination. I have decided I really want to work on that though. I know it is better to get things done little by little than to put it off till the end and stress so much you think your head will explode. I just need to remind myself of that throughout the semester I guess. I am actually in the library right now doing just that, stressing that is. I just though taking a little break will help me do better in the long run. We shall see. I just look forward to the end of this week so I will be done for a few months.
I only have two weeks from today until I report to Basic Training. I wend down last week to meet with my recruter as I am required to do once a month until I leave. We also went to get our Military ID's, but were unable to because they are having a problem with the system. I got an e-mail from my recruter today saying it is still down, so it will probably be next week before we get those. That is actually probably a good thing though because I need all the time I have this week for school.
Anyway, I think that is it, and my stress as not reduced at all, I think because I keep thinking about all I have yet to do, so I better get back to it.

Tagged....sordof

Marni said she was tagging anyone so I guess I qualify in that.

10 YEARS AGO.....

I was a young wipper-snapper of 20. I was serving a mission in Fortaleza Brasil at the time, and although I didn't was about to be made a District Leader which I would remain for the rest of my mission. As my mission grew to a close I remember looking back and thinking how fast the time had gone. Now looking back at that time I think it must have been slow compared to the last 10 years which has just flown by.

5 PLACES I HAVE VISITED....

1. Brasil (twice since getting home from my Mission).
2. New York City (for our wonderful Honeymoon).
3. Mexico (only Nogalles so it probably doesn't count).
4. Disneyland with my Beautiful wife...and friends).
5. To most of the Continental United States (for family vacations as a kid).

PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT...

1. Hawaii (I would like to even live here).
2. Michigan/New Jersey.
3. Brasil again. (you can never get too much of a good thing and no one will kill you).
4.Disneyland...again and Disney World.
5. Europe...especially Itally, Scottland, Irland, England, France with Timothy and others places too.

5 Things on my TO DO list...

1. Homework, Homework, and more Homework.
2. Help Marni more at home.
3. Get ready (especially physically) for Basic Training.
4. Graduate College.
5. Get other things in order before May so Marni doesn't have too much to worry about while I am gone all summer.

3 BAD HABBITS...

1. PROCRASINATION!!!
2. "Do What?" Marni says I say that too much and it makes no sense.
3. Hard time pulling myself out of bed in the morning (I guess that will change this summer. :)

5 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME...

1. I enlisted in the Air Force Reserve less than a week ago. Of Course if you have read my blog at all you know that. But you may not know I have wanted to for years, to some extent for my whole life.
2. Although I always use lack of money as an exuse, I think part of the reason I have not graduated yet is fear. Don't get me wrong, fear or no fear without money it is impossible. However I think I am afraid that I will spend all that time and money getting through school and not be a good enough pilot. I think I am a good pilot but I am not the typical arrogant (cocky) pilot, so I guess I am afraid those types may get jobs ahead of me. Stupid I know.
3. My biggest fear in life is being alone. Probably being from a big family I am use to having plenty of family around. I guess I am just afraid that will change.
4. I like "chick flicks" almost as much as any other kind of movie.
5. I HATE cold Winters. I love Utah, just not the winters.

-Sorry could really think of things people don't know about me,...at least that I want people to know. :)

I now Tag....Alison, Amy, Mom, and Timothy.... The last three because I don't think Marni, Alison and I should be the only ones in the family with Blogs. We want to read about your lives too, and see pictures.

A St. Patty's day to Remember

So if any of you have read Marni's blog you know that yesterday March 17th will be a day you remember forever, especially for the next 6 years.
I enlisted and was sworn in to the Air Force Reserve yesterday. I don't feel any different yet, probably because nothing has really changed yet and won't until May 6th when I go to Basic. But technically I am now in the military.
We got up and started getting ready to go to Hill Air Force Base in Layton. We didn't have to be there until 11am but with getting Lilly ready to go and everything we actually had to get up earlier.
Marni's Mom rode down with us and of course her dad was and brother were already there since they both work there. Then My dad, brother's Jonathan and Samuel all came up and met us there. Jonathan said is was only because they were already in SLC but I know they like me. I feel bad though because I told them to get there at 11am as well and they had to sit there for about an hour while I went over and signed paperwork with the recruter and got fingerprinted and everthing.
Then finally we went to Marni's dad's (Jim) office across base where I was sworn in. If you were unaware while looking at Marni's blog that is her dad swearing me in. Then I just has one more paper to sign which made it all official.
I don't remember feeling nervous at all but aparently I was because Jonathan commented on how my had was shaking when I was getting sworn in, and I kept having to wipe my fingers off when I was getting fingerprinted because they felt like they were sweaty.
So now I guess the next picture of me in an Air Force environment will be when I am in uniform as well.

Rank

I don't think I have mentioned this before, and I am not trying to make myself sound good, just let people know all my years of school has not been for naught.
Normally when you enlist in the airforce you start out as an Airman basic (E-1). However then eventually you get promoted to Airman (E-2) etc. However bacause of the amount of College credits I have I will get an automatic promotion to Airman First Class (E-3) then as soon as I finish Tech shool I will be promoted to Senior Airman (E-4) again because of college credits. Then WHEN I graduate, I will have an opportunity to get into an Officer training thing. Anyway I'm sure this is boring, but just in case anyone was wondering. All this means really is a difference in pay.

If you didn't read the blog before this one you might find it more interesting. I just posted it too.

More Info

So I have a little more info for anyone who is interested.
I I mentioned in my last blog, I will be enlisting and getting sworn into the Air Force Reserve on Monday. Also for those who have not heard I found out when I will report to Basic Training and Tech school.
I will go to Basic Training at Lockland AFB on May 6th. I will finish that on June 20th then report for Tech School (also at Lockland which I may be spelling wrong, but it is in San Antonio if you are wondering) on June 30th. Now you may be thinking to yourself, that is nice that you get a 10 day break in between but unfortunatly that is not the case. Technically I will report directly to Tech School after basic, but I guess they have a 10 day grace period incase there are people who need an extra week to pass basic. To be honest I do not fully understand what this means, but the recruter is suppose to explain it to me on Monday. Then I have 5 1/2 weeks of tech school meaning I will finish on Aug. 8 2008. Which obviously means we will not make it to the reunion and Baby blessing, unless of course it were possible to change it which I talked to Amy about already. However it changing it would prevent anyone else from coming don't change it. Marni and I really want to go, but have talked and decided that we will just go to Michigan and visit who ever is there after I get home, unless of course the Michiganites are tired of visitors in which case we will come some other time.
I will let you know if I learn anything else.

Enlistment

We are almost there. I decided on a job. I will be doing the Air Transportation job. This is also good because with this job I get a sign on bonus an a Kicker which means I will get about twice as much from the Montgomery GI bill which will help a lot with school. I spent a good portion of the afternoon yesterday on the phone with my recruter so he could finish up my Securty clearance stuff. And I should hear back either today or tomorrow to know the exact dates of my Basic Training and Tech School.
Then unless something changes (Which I hope it Doesn't) I will be down on Hill AFB to officially enlist and get sworn in on Monday, March 17th at about 11am. Family and friends are welcome to come for that, but it will probably not be that big a deal to miss for those of you who can't make it.

So Air Force here I come!

Q & A

Well to in the interest of keeping you updated and to answer some of moms questions I figured I would post this.

There were quite a few jobs I was interested in and was having a little trouble picking one, then they were drastically narrowed down for me.

Some of you may know I am "Shade Blind". In case you are unaware, shade blindness is I guess a mild form of Color blindness. Rather than have colors you can't see, with shade blindness there are only some shades of some colors you can't see. In my case it is some shades of pinks and greens. But colors I can see.

In both Air Force and Flight physicals you have to take a color vision test because some jobs including being a pilot require that you be able to see colors. With my flight physical after failing the color vision test I was given a secondary test just to verify that I was in fact able to see colors and so there was not a problem. With the Air Force it is pretty black in white, they look at it as being color blind or not, no in between. So in my case they label me as color blind when I am not but don't let me prove otherwise (maybe this is something I can get changed some day).

Well because of this there are jobs in the Air Force that require color vision and even though I can see the colors, as far as they are concerned I am not eligible to do those jobs. So my ASVAB opened it to basically any job and the color vision limited it back down.

To make a long story short about 90% of the jobs are no longer available to me. Which sucks because there are some of them that I would like to do, but I guess it makes it that much easier to choose since I now have less to choose from. After 3 years on the job I will have the opportunity train in something else. Maybe by then the rules will be changed and I will have more jobs open to me.

I haven't settled for sure on a job but I am leaning heavily toward one in Air Transportation. Which is basically in charge of everything and everyone that goes onto or off of an Airplane. So will get to work with airplanes a lot, and have travel opportunities. I will let you know what I decide for sure.

Yes I am planning to continue pursuing my flight career, and the extra $ I get from the Air Force will help me with that.

No, there is not a deadline on getting everything in. I do want to do it soon, because I would like to report to Basic Training in May and it all has to get scheduled in advance. I will keep you posted on this as well.

Feel free to let me know if anyone has any other questions.

Decided

Well to make a long decision short we have decided what I am going to do, sortof. I have decided to go in the the Air Force Reserve. That being said I now have another choice to make and that is job choice within the Air Force.
As part of the process deciding what do do, I went down to Salt Lake last Thursday/Friday to go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) which was basically to take the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) and have a fisical. The ASVAB was to help determine what jobs I could qualify for, and the fisical was to make sure I qualified to join at all. I passes both.
Not to toot my own horn but I got a really good score on the ASVAB. I got an overall of 96 out of 99. I guess the average score is about 40. Basically what this means is I can choose any available job in the Air Force.
So Friday I stopped to talke to the recruter still unsure if I would even join but curious what some of my job choices would be. There were a lot in about every area you can think of. So now that I have decided to enlist, I just need to decide on a job.
I want one that will translate to the civilian world, one that will pay more than I currenly make so we will not have to live paycheck to paycheck while I finish school, and that could maybe help to pay for it, and ofcourse I want something that I actually like.
Once I decide on that and finish up my paperwork I can actually get sworn in, but I would not report to basic training until sometime in May after I finish up this semester.
I will keep you posted.

The Choices

My job pays enough to pretty much get to from one pay check to the next. Financial aid pays about enough to pay for tuition and books. Leaving no money to fly and right now no fly means not graduation.

So to continue what I was saying before, I figure I have one of 3 choices...

1st, I could borrow money from a 3rd party student loan place (other than from the financial aid office on campus) take it and finish all my flying and be done soon. The down part of this is when you borrow money you have to pay it back, and with a lot in loans already waiting to be paid back when I graduate we are trying to avoid piling up any more, and it would take a lot. The plus side would be I could get done and graduate already.

2nd, I could graduate in something other than my major. As I said we get enough financial aid to pay normal tuition. On the plus side I could actually graduate and be done with school,..sordof. I could get a better job possibly making more $, but then I would have to go back to school to finish up the flying and still might be faced with the dificulty in paying for it.

3rd, Join the millitary. By this I mean more specifically the Air Force Reserve. With this I would have all my tuition paid, plus get some money each month from the montgomery GI bill while I am in school, plus a possible sign on bonus depending on the career field I went into with them. Plus I would get a monthly check for my 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks per year. As with the others there are pros and cons of this as well. I will start with the cons. I would be away from my family for 6 weeks while I go to basic training. Then I would have to go to tech training which more than likely would take me away from them again (in some cases your family can come with you, but usually not). I would ofcourse have to take a millitary leave of absence from school to do all this, obviously prolonging my graduation that way as well. Those are pretty much the main cons, at least the ones I am having a hard time with. For the Pros, some of them are listed above as far as getting school paid for etc. All though this would not completely solve the problem of not having money to fly, it would help pay for some of it at least. (I still need to find out more on what I can get $ for and exactly how much) Plus while I am training they would pay me, or basically I would get paid to go to school. Then after training is complete I would be able to use that training to help me get a better job in the civilian world while I finish school so maybe I would not have to be living pay check to pay check.

Now I just need to decide what is going to be best for our family. All this is just a summary of what I have been thinking about while trying to make the choices, so feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Choices

This is something that I have been thinking about for a little while. But it works out because even if not directly, eventually it will answer the question Alison asked in your Comment on my last blog.

On a daily basis we are presented with choices. Most of the time they are simple easy choice that won't really effect much around us not matter what we choose. Like what to have for breakfast, or which route to drive to work. But sometimes we are presented with choices that are life changing choices. Meaning the choice we make can greatly affect our lives and our futures. Sometimes these choices are presented to us whether we like it or now and we are forced to make the choice. Other times they come because of previous choices we have made. And sometimes we choose to make choices to try to improve or change something that we are not currently satisfied with.

It is one of the latter that I am faced with now. It is a choice I have brought upon myself to try to improve life for myself and my family, specifically in the job/financial area. But none the less it is a choice that could deffinatly change how are future looks, depending on the choice I make. Therefore I sitll have not come to a definate decision and I continue to stress about it trying to decide which is going to be better, both in the short and the long run.

As we all know I am one of those eternal students. As a result I have been working a series of dead end jobs and just living paycheck to paycheck. I want this to change. I don't want to worry about whether we are going to run out of money before my next pay day. I don't want to stress about everthing I buy. I want to have money to put in savings, and I want to get out of debt sooner that later. But right now it jsut seems like we can't get ahead. The end of school is near, but with little financial aid it makes it hard to fly, and pushes that graduation date continually further out. So I have decided if I want a change I need to make a change. I can't continue to do the same things and expect different results.

So I have thought about it. Trying to come up with a change I can make that will disrupt our normal life as little as possible but give us a better result financially speeking. I have come up with three main things. But rather than have this a huge long blog, I will write a little more about what those are in my next blog.

TO BE CONTINUED......

Is it Me?

I have thought a lot lately about Alison's comment on my previous post about changing jobs. How it doesn't really matter where I work, or how many different jobs I work as, as long as I am working and providing for my family. I agree. Especially at this time in my life while I am STILL going to school. I know that one day I will have that job I love to go to work to and will work at for 30 years or whatever and retire from and all these "temporary" jobs will just be a vague memory of the past.
But I sitll can't help but wonder if it is me. You know I have been laid off of a lot of my jobs indicating that the job was lost through no fault of my own. Others I have left volentarily to get a better schedule or better pay or just try to get better management. But I have honestly never heard of anyone having this many jobs, especially in such a short time frame. So I wonder, is there something I am doing wrong, or is it just the way it is. I think other people also think it must be me. Even if they don't realize it, somewere in the back of there minds they are thinking, what is this guy doing? Why can't he just stay at one place? or is he really getting laid off, or is he getting fired and just passing it off as a lay off to feel better about himself. Most of this I figure other people are thinking because I wonder the same things, all but the getting fired part because I know it was a lay off.
No matter how you look at it I wonder, why? I have always been a person that has felt that everything happens for a reason even if we don't recognize the reason at the time. Good or bad it is all for a reason. I think that most of it is so we can learn something, grow, become stronger better people from our experiences and trials. But sometimes I realize that things just happen because of the choices we make (usually dumb choices). You know the whole cause and effect thing. But even then I guess they happen so we can learn to make better choices. So is my long series of jobs just a trial, a bump in my lifes road that is there to help me learn or grow? or is it the result of stupid choices I make?

Coming soon to a blog near you.

I will be posting a new post here soon I promise. I just wanted to let my loyal fans know that I haven't forgotten about you. :) I have a really good one to write about. In the mean time I just wanted to draw your attention to the links on the side of this one. One of them is for our new family blog. It is designed to comliment with words all of Marni's wonderful photo blogs. I guess kinda like a family journal. Enjoy!

The past is still here

I am taking a history class this semester that is really interesting. It is the history of Native Americans, but focuses more on the impact on Native Americans by European settlers.If you are not interested in any of this stuff don't feel like you have to keep reading, you can skip this blog. I have already told Marni everything I am putting in this blog and I know that some people are not as interested in History or its corrilation to the present as I am. For those who choose to read feel free to let me know how you feel. (if you disagree, agree etc.) Also this blog may end up being a bit long, just as a fair warning.

Now to get started I want to give you a quick history lesson, but I will then just focus mainly on one part of it.There were basically 3 groups of people who came to the America's from Europe. The first of course was the Spanish with Columbus even though he himself was not spanish. Then you has the French and as we know by the language this is being written in, you also had the English.These 3 groups were very different in there aproach and interactions with the native people. You have the Spanish who were Conquerers. ( I will get back to this) The French who were traders. They went to great lengths to build friendships with the native people and set up long term relationships and trades with them. Then you have the English that did not know what to do, so they went about setting up treaties with them, all of which the English broke, but that is a different story.

The group I want to focus on more now is the Spanish, which as you may know and like I mentioned, were Conquerors. When the Spanish came to the Americas they had a sense 0f entitlement. They honestly felt that it was their right to have the land and everything that came with it. Especially anything of value. They also felt they had the right to do what ever it took to get those things, even if it meant killing the people who already possessed them. Then they felt that the natives were not entitled to their own lands but also that they were there to serve the Spanish. To cater to them. They even refused to learn the Native language but insisted that the natives learn theirs so they could communicate. They also felt that if someone thought or believed different than they did they had the right to kill them if that is what it took to make them think and believe as they did.To illustrate, not only did they take the natives lands, treasures and cities, and even the natives themselves to serve them, but they felt they had the right to change others as well. A small group of Spanish explorers came upon a French colony in what is now North Carolina. This colony was living peacefully, and were Protestants. Since they would not change their beliefs to coincide with the Spanish, the Spanish sent a small army and Killed all the men, woman and children of the colony, just because they believed differently.Now today the ancestor of these Spanish conquers are largely what we call Mexicans, however they are also in other Latin American countries.What I wanted to point out is that in some degree, what happened then is still happening now, with the Spanish ancestors, the Mexicans. They come to a country that is not theirs, without permission. They refuse to learn the native language but instead insist that we learn theirs so they can communicate with us. They feel like they are entitled to everything we have, including our jobs, our communities, and our government assistance. And they refuse to do anything for it (such as pay taxes) except demand that we give it to them. Then when we threaten to send them home and deny them all these benefits, they protest and say we are not treating them fairly and that they are entitled to these things, even though they are here illegally. The majority of Gang members (at least in Utah) are Latin Americans. They are conquerors that feel they are entitled to other peoples property, and will do what it takes to get it, even if that involves violence against innocent people. Instead of learning our culture they feel we need to cater to theirs.

The sad part about all this, is we let it happen. We don't enforce the laws in place. We don't keep them out or kick them out, and we elect people to government offices that will continue to support these Spanish people and cater to them.

Imigration

I am not sure if I have written about this before or not, if so sorry.I am not against Immigration. After all, every single one of us are here because either we or our ancestors were immigrants at some time. What I am against is illegal Immigration. It bothers me when people don't take the proper Legal steps to get here. It bothers me when they come and don't learn the language, and expect us to cater to them by speaking their language. It also bothers me when they are here illegally and still EXPECT government handouts. Then it bothers me when they go around talking crap about America and Americans and talk about how great their home country is. If it is that great go home. Otherwise get here legally, learn the language, work for what you get like the rest of us and pay taxes instead of just benefitting from other people paying theirs.

Changes

Dang, nobody commented on the changes to the look of my blog. I guess it was not that impressive. Just kidding. I actually just wanted to point out that the tree picture at the top was not something random that I found online or anything. Marni actually took that picture and I really like it. If anyone else likes it and would like a print let us know, I'm sure we could work something out. But if you don't care for it, you don't have to pretend, or request a copy just because it is from family. :)

Anyway, happy weekend everyone!

Nicknames

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, probably because I have noticed how many I use in a day.

Growing up I never really had many nicknames. The obvious is of course Andy, which as a kid I did not like and would tell people to call me Andrew. I actually don't mind now though. In fact there were some people that never listened when I was a kid that have always called me Andy, and on the rare occation that they call me Andrew now it is really weird. I think Alison is about my only sibling who has consistantly called me Andy. A lot of people at work and stuff now call me Potter. For some reason ever since I got home from my mission I went from Elder Potter to just Potter. Even when I introduce myself as Andrew, when people find out my last name they like to stick with that. I am also fine with that. I have always been proud to be a Potter. But I guess the only nickname that I have been called was as a kid by my older sisters which was Andy Pandy, and they would sing the song (the georgy porgy - or how ever it is spelled - song).

To my knowledge the only nicknames Marni had was Marn which her entire family still calls her, and her dad called her Muffing - not to be confused with muffin. I think I have heard him call her that a couple times since we have been married, but mostly she is just Marn now. To me she is always Sweetheart. In fact a lot of the time she thinks I don't know her name because I rarily call her by it, I just call her sweetheart, or Mom/mommy when Lilly is around.

But the whole reason I have been thinking about this lately is because of the vast number of nicknames that Lilly has. There are so many I will probably forget some so sorry.Her main nickname is Lilly-Bear which I have been calling her since she has been in the womb, and still call her on a daily basis. It has caught on some and some other people call her that sometimes too. But she is also called: pooh-bear, punkin-bear, punkin-bum, punkin-head, punkin, punk, babe, lilly-pants, stinker-bug, stinker, tinker, bug. I know there are more but I can't think of them right now. So I may update this in the future. If I do I will put the new ones in a different color so they are easy to find, so feel free to check back from time to time.I am sure as time passes and she gets older some of these will stop being used, and others may be invented, but as far as I am conserned she will always be my Lilly-bear.

Vacation....Over!

I am officially in to all my classes now, so my vacation has ended. I new it would, I just hoped it would last longer. Oh, well. Now I just need to get through this semester and a couple more so I can be done with school. That will be nice, but maybe a little weird at first.
Christmas break was nice. I feel bad though. We were suppose to go to Duchesne on Christmas eve to visit my side of the family, then spend Christmas day in logan, first at our own house then got to Marni's parents house. It all happened that way except for the trip to Duchesne. There was a big storm coming in that day and with our car already experiencing some problems we didn't want to chance it too much. I guess the storm never made it to Duchesne, but it here here hard, about the time we would have been coming home, so I guess for that reason it is good we didn't go. I still feel bad though. Mostly because most of the time we see that side of the family is when they come up here. And that is just what happened. Well, Dad, Mom and Kayleigh came up. I guess we know who loves us. They came up the day after Christmas and took us out to dinner. It was good to see them. Hopefully next year we can see them more, and on the planned day. Of course we might have 2 kids to drive with then, so you never know. And no that is not an anouncement, we are not pregnant. But Christmas is almost a year away, and it only takes 9 months to have a baby, so you never know. Time will tell. I think that is all I have to say about that. At least all that I can think of right now. Sorry my blog does not contain cool pictures and everything like everyone elses. You will have to go to Marni's for that. :)

Vacation

Sorry, I got behind again. I guess when I got out of school for Christmas break I decided to take a break from other things too. On the bright side I am back in school now, and I am sure I will need a break from homework from time to time so I can blog a little more often. But to start off I will try to get off my lazy butt ( sorry this should be bum, we don't say butt at our house) , or I guess sit down on my lazy BUM and and get this back up to date. Probably tomorrow. I feel like procrastinating right now.