"California Dreamin"

Wow, what a week...

So I got off work Tuesday afternoon and we decided to pack up and go to California! Left AZ late Tuesday night to reach the Santa Monica coast just before sunrise Wednesday morning. Got a free early check-in and a loyalty member discount at the Ritz-Carlton, all while wearing flip flops, jeans, and a neon green tank top hahaha. Slept on a ridiculously comfortable bed. Explored Santa Monica, got a Jeep Wave while walking on the sidewalk (badass). Walked the Venice beach and boardwalk for hours. Checked out the Santa Monica Pier all lit up at night. Visited the California ScienCenter. Walked through the heart of Hollywood for an afternoon. Then we came back to AZ early Friday morning for a day and left for the Grand Canyon Saturday morning. Passed sports cars and ricers, in the Jeep (like a boss). Checked out most of the south rim of the grand canyon by sunset, drove around the canyon to Page, AZ. Woke up the next morning and drove out to Antelope Canyon. Awesome view, amazing photos, a once in a lifetime experience. From there we headed back south, stopped in Sedona for a bit, and finally ended up home. Oh, and I woke up to a beautiful woman every day, that was nice.

"5-1-5-0"

Life is good and back to normal, there is a small amount of self doubt finding its way back into my life though. But the positives far outweigh the negatives. I'm doing the best I have with what I've got, and I'm gonna keep it up!

-T

"Driving Me Crazy With That Kiss Me Smile"

I'm fucked. Hahaha :)
I guess I'm just gonna roll with this.. After I sleep for like 176 hours.

-T

"Returning to the Throne"

Well, I'm back in the throne for king asshole haha. At least no one's getting hurt this time. So I guess I'm the robin hood of assholes? Not gonna lie, it would be nice to be that prince in shining armor. Just once..

-T

"Picking up the Pace"

To the handful of people still reading this, and bringing it up to remind me, thank you. You are driving me to keep this going.
A bit of recent news, I went camping about a week ago, that was pretty awesome. We left Tempe Sunday night and got up to Payson a few hours later. My friend that drove his car up got a flat tire a few miles out of Payson. We went and got it patched up with a cheap wal-mart kit. After we refilled it we discovered a bubble in his sidewall which meant his tire was useless.. We had to stay in a hotel overnight and get a new tire in the morning. After that we drove up to the camp site and it was relaxing for a good while. I took the girls out on a small scout hike just to check out our surroundings. Taught them how to use a bow too, that was a lot of fun. On the way back though, I spot some unusually white rocks in a grassy patch.

I go check it out to see a fresh killed elk skull and some assorted bones. We set up camp 200 yards from a damn mountain lion hunting spot! hahaha. I showed the girls the skull and we went back to camp. We were all fine and relaxed until the sun went down. After most of them fell asleep I heard something bigger than us shuffling leaves and breaking branches no more than 50 yards from the camp; I had a damn panic attack. That was the first one since I was a little kid, I hate that feeling of having absolutely no control.. After that finally ended, I racked my pistol and kept it under my pillow the rest of the night. I think the reason I freaked out is that I was the only one there that has actually seen a mountain lion in action, I've seen what they're capable of. I guess ignorance really is bliss..
One of the girls was freaking out too; that girl I met at the wedding haha. I held her the rest of the night and that's when I was actually comfortable enough to sleep. But every time she heard something she shook and woke me up haha. It felt good knowing that I could calm her down. That lasted until just before sun rise.

Keep your eyes on the horizon.
-T

"Welcome Back"

First post in a while.. I can't think of much to fill you guys in on. Just been a lot of parties and general time wasting. Oh! I got my Jeep! That's pretty much been the best part of this summer. I took it out hiking the other day. I went out to weavers needle in the superstitions, really good hike. See, I took off on that hike looking for a sign of the Lost Dutchman's Gold. But I found this box instead. The box was hidden under the shade of a lone pine tree in the superstition mountains. I moved to open the box and found notebooks and journals. First hand accounts of the hike, life stories, just what I needed to read.

I do have more to write, but I'm going to get back to work. Take care.

-T

You can tell more about a man by what he says about others than what you can by what others say about him.

I want to live by that. From now on I will make a move towards this train of thought.

*2 hours later*

Fuck. The one thing I want right now is a woman to shatter me into a million pieces. I just had to do that myself. On the other end of that issue is a level of discomfort that I never want to feel again. I could never put her through that. I don't want anyone to have to feel that. It would be nice to just turn off feelings for someone. Liquor helps. Now I'm not a straight whiskey guy but I've taken down half a bottle thinking about her. It's not working...

"lol"

"I met an AMAZING girl! The timing was nearly perfect for the both of us and I'm not gonna screw this up so let's hope for the best!"  hahaha riiiight. I forgot, this is me we're dealing with..

"We Owned The Night"

Hey all! It's been a little while.. sorry bout that haha I just finished up my second to last year of my undergrad at ASU so I've been a little busy! So I just want to jump right to tonight. I met an AMAZING girl! The timing was nearly perfect for the both of us and I'm not gonna screw this up so lets hope for the best! And I was on the ball tonight!! We went to a wedding of two of my great friends.. Our group was the center of attention the whole night; shuffling to party rock, singing Journey to the bride and groom, swooning the women, yeah we went all out! It was an awesome night that ended with some close dancing to Sinatra and I gave her a rose. Totally made her night. And mine :)

Now I can go back... If you ever hear about me drinking alone, stop me, somehow. That last post about my first night drinking on my own.. Yeah that lasted a straight week and that was real bad... it ended when I was on one of my runs, pretty drunk, I ran till I puked. Proving that Captain Morgan is a terrible running partner.

No worries, that's over and done with now. Damn, this five hour energy isn't hitting me anymore, well I figure 3am is a good time to crash, gotta get up and work out at 6 lol.

Night all!
-T

"My Night"

First time drinking alone tonight. Sick of the games. Ready to leave this place.

-T

"My Desire"

To my "unknown" reader, thank you for reminding me about this blog, sorry but life is crazy. On to the good stuff..

Damn, it feels good to be desired. This is a relatively new thing for me and I can definitely get used to it. I haven't told this to anyone. And it's funny because only one person reads this nowadays.. but back when I was a pudgy, unpopular boy, I remember praying to be skinny and popular. Now that I've got it, the one thing I think I want is unattainable. Honestly though I'm not even sure about that. I just wish i could get her out of my head..
In other news; I moved out of the apartment and into a house with a friend. This place is awesome. We're having our housewarming party this weekend, I'll be sure to write more later.

-T

"...Those will be the best memories"

Damn.

You know that one song that reminds you of someone that you stopped listening to when you stopped hanging out? This just played tonight on a bike ride. With that situation I was doing just fine until a few days ago and now everything I see somehow ties back to those memories.

I completely forgot this song in the past months and when it pops up on my shuffled playlist, I instantly get this big grin on my face, nothing I could do to stop the memories from flowing in. I listened to that song and a few others for the past hour. It definitely helped pull me out of this abnormally long slump though! To be honest this is all just new for me and I'm not too good at it.
I'm ready to graduate and have a fresh start.


In other news, I don't think I put this up yet but rated positions came out and I received a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) slot about a month ago. It's a huge honor and that's where the Air Force is going nowadays. RPAs are the drones in the sky over hostile territory that serve in a recon and stealth capacity. I wanted to be a pilot and there is still a >1% shot at it. But even if that doesn't work out, RPA is still a rated, flying, bad ass job. We got our flight suits about three weeks back and just became allowed to wear them this week. I'm stoked haha.

Keep your eyes to the sky,
-T

 <-----   That's my friend Sam and I, she's alright :P

"Growing Up"

Hey y'all, sorry it's been a while. I'm just getting real busy lately. Here's a bit of knowledge for those of us who feel adrift in life with no choices in sight..

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So, take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. you just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back.

"The Power Red Donation"

Okay, first off I've got to give credit where credit is due. In my random internet adventures I stumbled upon "Walk off the earth" This band rocks! And this takes serious talent. It's a good thinking song, very calm but at the same time there is a strong passion..


On to the real stuff, today I went and donated blood. Now I'm doing power red (twice the regular amount) so I can only do it 3 times a year. I hate needles and blood but it's the good thing to do so for three days out of the year I'll ranger the fuck up. Well...imagine a crimper for plastics.. 1. I'm not really sure if that's spelled right, I'll wing it. 2. I'm not sure if it's the right tool to describe this, still winging it. Okay, so imagine a tool that heats plastic tubing together to close it up essentially. I was doing my donation and the nurses went to crimp and cut the first bag off and apparently the crimping tool didn't fully close the tubing. After the nurse cut off the first bag, my blood started spurting out of the semi-crimped tubing. Whenever I donate blood I'm a little light headed and I don't really look at the blood anyways.. But when little patches of my own blood gets on my pants and a packet I was reading.. I, with good reason, start to freak out a bit. I'm a bit loopy at this point, seeing as I already lost blood from donating, and more is dripping around me. I plug up the gap with my hand and ask the nurse, "Uh... ma'am, is all this me?" Not looking at my arm, she says, "Yes thank you for your extra donation, you'll live" (she was just talking about the power red, not my donation to the floor) It continues to spurt. Now I'm just wondering if I'm in some kind of nightmare.. The nurse looks down to my arm and flips, says "let's fix this" and gets to work. Just had to run through it again with the crimping tool. We all had a good laugh about it.. So that's my exciting story about donating blood!

-T

"Golden Rules"

We had a pathophysiologist come visit us in LLab this morning. It was a good friend's relative so we all took what she said seriously. Basically, she preached an organic approach to life. She made us all feel like we're going to die of a painful disease and go to hell within the next five years for eating burger king and drinking out of plastic water bottles. But jokes aside, she did make an impact on us.

I'd like to share with you, my favorites of Dr. Joni Olehausen's "Golden Rules for Good Health"

-Stop putting poisons/toxins in your body.
-Exercise regularly for the rest of your life.
-BALANCE... and simplify.
-Get Plenty of quality sleep (6-8 hours)     (HAHA!!!)
-Spend time in nature.
-Maintain a spritual connection.
-Worry less...and enjoy more.
-Have less anger...and more laughter.
-Want less...and give more.
-Meditate regularly.
-Get frequent massages (ha!)
-Be grateful every day.
-Listen to music.
-Do something you enjoy every day.
-Help someone every day.
Above all...Take responsibility for yourself!

Another point worth mentioning. I can honestly say I hate nearly all lazy people. Not disabled, not incapable, just plain lazy people. I have a kid in my history class that fully recognizes his laziness and has no problem with it because he's waiting for the day when magically, life figures itself out. In college, we wake up wondering if we'll have homework today. In third world countries, children wake up wondering if they will eat today. I just wish that people would realize that. I almost wish it was mandatory for people to serve two or so years in the military, but then the military would be just "another job". However, I love the fact that we're currently pushing people away at the door because we're only taking the top of the top and those that are dedicated to serving our country. /rantover

Do something awesome tomorrow!
-T

"Belief"

Getting back to the grind.. Feels good, but I'm definitely ready to get the hell out of here! I want to go out and explore the world, work in various locations on the globe, meet new people! I generally fit in better with an older crowd, hell, I've even befriended some people that are older than my parents. I've just always been more mature than my age group. But when I'm speaking to older friends and hearing their tales of adventure it just makes me want to leave even more. Hell yes, I have tons of stories, more than the average of my high school graduation class. But I want to get out and experience what else life has before it's too late.

Damn, I spent a good hour writing after that last paragraph and it didn't save.. I'll make a short version.

I haven't told many people why I really joined the Air Force. I remember watching a lot of Army commercials when I was a kid. And one of the phrases that stuck with me from my childhood is "be all you can be" So I went and joined the Air Force. And I'm damn proud of that decision!

I have found the secret to a successful life. Belief. You can believe in your religion. Believe in your cause. Mainly, I want you to believe in YOU. And keep in mind, you want someone to write about you one day. So go out and do something amazing!

-T

"Color Guard, Oh Yeah!"

School's kicking back into gear and I am ready for this semester! I'm loving all of my classes except one because I can't understand a thing that professor is saying.. And I just spent about 200 bucks on books, meh.. Other than that, life is good. I'm working out on a regular basis again and this time around PT is challenging me, I love it! Hmm what else? I bought a nice speaker system with a big sub-woofer, I'm stoked! I should have that in by the end of the day. Man, this PT is really getting me sore and tired all the time.. In other news, I made some awesome posters for CG for this semester, pretty sweet.. and we're gonna be working a CG detail for Supercross, I'm really excited for that. It's awesome doing huge events like that because for 5 minutes, my team is in the spotlight, everyone is watching us. Whether it's friends and family in the stands or complete strangers, we have their undivided attention for those few minutes. It's a good feeling. I'll try to get back into writing every day, see ya later!

-T

"2012"

Here we are. 2012. I can already tell this will be a good one. At 11:45 last night I sat here on the same bed. Watching Netflix. Ready for the new year to blow right past me. I got a few early calls from friends and family wishing a happy new year. Then I sat back and thought "who the hell spends new years eve alone?" Definitely not me. I threw on some pants and ran out to the car. I must have drove 60 miles an hour just to get there but I made it to one of my best friend's house just before midnight...and that kids, is the story of how I almost spent new years 2012 alone.



Man, so much has happened over this winter break.. I almost got kicked out of ROTC and school. Slipped in and out of a deep depression. Had and dropped a potential "girlfriend". Woke up with no idea what happened the previous night. Made some good friends. Regained the trust of a very good friend. Broken laptop. Got an old best friend back. Bought an iPhone. Went shooting, a lot. Went four wheeling. Got attacked by trees ad cacti. Took down a shed with best friends. Almost spent new years alone. Shot my bow again. Worked out a lot. Cooked steak almost every night for a week straight. Learned just how awesome I am. And so much more..

-T