Official blog posting for week 4 - Tribute

I had to think about this blog for a while.  I have quite a few loved ones I thought about writing a tribute for.  However in the end I had to choose my father.  He died when I was 11 years old, I miss him dearly every day and I really want to write about him.  I am not going to share my memories of when he died, I'd rather put in the good, happy things I remember about him.  The sorts of things I will always smile at while thinking about, and the things I will tell my kids about their grandfather some day, when I have them.

My father was an amazing man.  He never cheated on my mom and he and my mom loved each other dearly.  He was never cruel, never spanked me or anything like that.  He was 5'4" at his tallest, but he was the kind of man who could intimidate someone by simply looking at them in a certain way.   I have a picture of me at around 9 or 10 years old, with my hands in the air, looking scared because he was giving me his look and pointing at me, I just knew I had done something bad.  With me though, he tended to be a softy, maybe it was because I was his youngest child, my mom says, I was their, "unexpected suprise."

He smoked cigars and pipes so I can always picture him with a pipe in his hand and remember him smelling of tobacco.  His favorite color was blue and he usually wore blue jeans and a buttoned up, short sleeved shirt, no matter what the weather was like.  He had tattoos from when he was in the Navy, anchors and such, they had the kind of ink that is fading and is mainly all blue.  I remember our cats loved him, I don't think he cared much either way for them, but they always ended up curling up on his lap and falling asleep.

I can look back and laugh at how he would be sound asleep and snoring loudly on his favorite chair, and a sports game of some sort was on television.  I'd go to change the channel to watch something, and he would scare me half to death when he'd say from behind me, "Hey, I was watching that!"   My dad was my hero.  When the neighbor boy would pick on me, I would tell him I was going to send my father after him.  Of course the boy would try to act all macho and say, "Go ahead, I'm not scared of him."  So I would run into the trailer we had and tell my dad what was going on.  He'd walk out the front door and if the boy was still there, my dad would give him one of his looks and yell at him to go home.  The kid would run so fast around the side of the trailer, I bet he could have beaten most athletes if it had been a race.

Those are just some of the memories I have of my father, but those are the ones that always stand out when I think of him.  I just hope where ever he is right now, I have made him proud of his youngest child.

Official blog posting for week 3 - Inspirational Song

I want to start off first by saying, I absolutely love music.  I love to listen to it, sing to it, and if I had the talent for it, I would play and write music too.  I find that even when people don't understand me, I can always find at least one song that does.  Music is very inspiring to me, no matter if it is a sad song, an upbeat song, whatever. 

The song that inspired me to get off my lazy butt and finally start the process of going to college, and still helps me now that I am in college, is called "The Climb."  Now, I know what you may be thinking, I am 28 years old and I find inspiration from a song sung by a teenage girl.  Well, first off, the song is co-written by a man and woman who are older.  Besides, I think a good, inspirational song should be able to reach more than one age group.  Obviously this song is one of those. 

"The Climb," is a song that tells me there is always going to be tough times, but I have to keep going, work hard, and eventually I will get past those tough times.  Also, I may just find a stronger me on the other side of that mountain.  The song helps remind me that life isn't just about the good times, it is being able to hold your head up, even in the bad or hard times. 

The Climb lyrics
Sung By: Miley Cyrus
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

Official blog posting for week 2 - College

This is my second week in college, ever, and I am 28 years old.  I am a full time student, all online of course, since I live about 45 minutes away from the college and don't drive. You may wonder why I decided now, to enroll in college.  Well the truth is, I guess in this, and in other aspects of my life, I am what you would call an eventual procrastinator.  I have wanted to go to college for Web Design and Development for many years, though there always seemed to be something else going on, and I never got around to it.  One day, I finally got tired of saying, "I'll do it one of these days."  So I applied online, got all the paperwork finished, then just had to wait for school to start. 

College is quite a challenge so far and I love it!  My classes are very interesting, I can let my creativity run rampant, which I love.  I also have great friends and family who tell me they know I can do it, and that they have faith in me, which is definetly a confidence boost.  I just keep reminding myself several times a day that this is what I want to do, and that I have the ability to do this if I just stick to it.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the semester has in store for me, and the rest of my time in college.  I wish now that I had done this sooner, but I know that you can't change the past.  So I am looking to the future, and all the positive things that will come from college, that will lead me one step closer to fulfilling my dreams.