In the spirit of less is more, I significantly downgraded my stack of resolutions and goals this year.
Resolutions
Do something aviation-related each day
I really want to be a competent, reliable pilot and invest in my trade. I will (and have been) using some time each night to study. Instead of sitting down every few days and investing 2 hours in reading through manuals, I can read a little bit each night. I’ve been using iOS Reminders to help. I get a notification at 1900 each night, which is approximately 2 hours before I’m in bed reading.
Develop my hobbies
I’d like to invest more time in non-TV extracurriculars. Here are some things I’ve been wanting to put more time into:
Running
Woodworking
Video games
Drawing
Reading
Writing
Journaling
Music (including clarinet)
Goals
Make it to RL1 status as a pilot
A pilot’s readiness level (RL3 up to RL1) is tied to what tasks you have proven to an instructor you are competent on. As an RL3 pilot, I can only fly with instructor pilots. As an RL1 pilot, you never have to fly with an instructor pilot, and you can fly with any other pilot-in-command. Part of my job is being useful, so getting to the level where I don’t need to be flying with an instructor all the time gives me flexibility in my training schedule and gives the unit some reliability in having another “fully trained” pilot ready to take on missions.
Form a close, local friendship
We had great friends that we could call up on short notice while we were at flight school. We were all brought together by a shared experience, and everyone basically had the same schedule, too, which made things so simple. Now that we’re back to the Denver Metro Area, people are spread out more, and everyone’s getting pulled in different directions.
In 6 years of marriage, we’ve moved 6 times, and I haven’t had strong in-person relationships outside of flights school since college.
I heard of this distinction on a podcast, but I like the phrasing “weekday friends” versus “weekend friends.” I’m close with a lot of people at work (i.e. weekday friends), but none of those relationships have grown to the level where I’d call someone up on the weekend to hang out (i.e. weekend friends).
So, I’ll be spending some time investing in my relationships with people. I have someone I’ve been playing racquetball with and another friend that I just went to a concert with. We have plenty of “dinner friends” that we invite over, too.
Weekly Reflection
I also updated my Weekly Recap journaling template to reflect each week on my 5 Fs: Family, Faith, Finance, Fitness, and Flight. I’m also going to hyperlink to this post, so that every week, I can review what I subscribed to.
I’ve had lots of little steps of progress in this one. It’s still clunky, but our recycling system (storing in the garage and driving it ourselves to the facility) at home has improved to a sustainable point. It no longer causes a lot of tension between my wife and me.
We have started saving food scraps (potato peels, etc.) in a gallon-size Ziploc bag in the freezer, then we turn it into the veggie broth in the Instant Pot when it’s full. That not only reduces how much broth we buy (i.e. packaging and transportation), but it also gives the scraps a second life and starts the decomposition process, reducing volume and lifecycle in the trash process.
I’ve repurposed a lot of wood this year, too. I have bought some tools like a jigsaw and a crowbar to tear down pallets, I took apart someone’s mantle that they were throwing away (one could even say I “dismantled” it 😏), and we’ve upcycled some things people were throwing out. My wife and I have worked as a great team!
In our little military community, everyone is so transient that people throw away a lot of good stuff. We found some wood-and-metal barstools that we upcycled for our home, as well as some wooden chairs and a Step2 plastic kitchen set. In fact, we gifted them the upcycled kitchen set (wife’s idea!), and we wrapped the rest of the girls’ Christmas presents in brown paper, which we then recycled.
I would say we’ve also been more deliberate in what we purchase. We canceled our Amazon subscription last year, and we’ve been looking to support small/local businesses more. I admit, though, that we started using Amazon Prime again since we splurged on Christmas to get two expensive gifts using our credit card rewards points 🥸
Another point, and I won’t get too political, is that in the 2020 election, I paid particular attention to how candidates at all levels spoke about the environment and climate change. That may be the single most important issue to me as a voter. In fact, in an episode of the podcast Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions, Bill suggests that on an individual level, there is perhaps nothing as effective as voting in those who will be stewards of the environment, because it is at a government level that these changes need to happen.
Start Another Revenue Stream
I have loved the weekly emphasis on this goal. I’ve worked to make it happen, and I just had too much competing for my time this year. Plus I need a good idea, right?
I’ve riffed on a few possibilities with my brother-in-law, but none of them panned out. It was still a great exercise, though.
I did stumble into something that I think will work, and while it isn’t launched yet, I do have a logo and a domain name. I’m working on building a simple website and determining which products (I’m narrowing designs down) I will make. I’ve built some prototypes though, so it’s legitimately coming along!
In summary, I do not have another source of revenue, but I’ve laid the groundwork to make it happen in 2021! 🤨
Deliberate Caffeine Consumption
I didn’t make much progress on this goal. I teetered on and off of caffeine. My best streak without caffeine was while I attended a three-week military course where I didn’t have access to any caffeine. I still use my “drink packets” (e.g. Dragon Fruit) and drink yerba mate, although here in Alabama, it always feels too hot to drink mate.
I do, however, feel like caffeine consumption is directly tied to my periodic moodiness and irritability, so it will remain something I monitor in 2021.
Focus on My 5 Fs
Family
This was a steep learning curve and one that I still don’t feel “done” with. Naturally, you can’t “win” at marriage or parenting, so there isn’t a box to check saying things are up to par, but being intentional has made a difference.
My wife and I have tried to be more deliberate about a weekly marriage meeting. We’ve tried to go on dates, although COVID and kids at home have made that significantly more complicated.
With the girls, I’m trying to find things to do with them. We watched a rocket launch on TV, we’ve gone on walks or bike rides, we’ve played restaurant, etc. I’m trying to find things the girls can do with me that help us connect. I’ve watched some cartoons with them that I enjoy (e.g. Star Wars, Avatar, etc.), we’ve tried drawing together, I got some games through Steam that I grew up playing (Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, Putt-Putt, etc.), and I’ve had the older of the two help with building projects.
Faith
Incidentally, we haven’t been to church just about all year, so this one was a particularly difficult goal. We’ve been having church on our own at home nearly all year, and we only recently started participating via Zoom with our local congregation. Admittedly, I have liked the autonomy.
I’ve been writing faith-based essays to study topics more deeply. I also invited a friend to study the same topic together each week followed by a discussion on Sunday. We’ve only done it twice so far (we started the last week of 2020), but it is already going much better for me to be able to study with a purpose.
Finance
This is the most money we’ve ever had. I finished paying off my student loans, so we are finally completely debt-free. We also don’t worry about money right now, and I’m trying not to take it for granted and still be frugal.
We’ve got some potentially big purchases coming up, so we’re mapping things out. We need to revisit our budget, too. This year, we move back to Colorado (significantly higher cost of living), and Shalene starts her graduate degree.
Fitness
Wow has this one has slipped. I thought I would surely keep up on my fitness as I have for the past several years, but the constantly fluctuating schedule that accompanies flight school has wreaked havoc on my routines. Fitness has been extremely difficult to pin down on when exactly I will exercise.
I purchased a year-long subscription to BeachBody, knowing that I can commit to the Insanity workouts. That’s been good for cardio/HIIT. I haven’t been as good about running (pace-wise, not consistency), but I am starting to get back into the gym to lift.
Flight
I went from not flying to flying, so goal complete! In all seriousness, though, I need to figure out a rhythm for studying and staying on top of my responsibilities.
Draw + Share 12 Drawings I’m Proud Of
I intended on one drawing per month. That did not happen, and I’m left cramming many of the drawings at the end. That pressure, though, helped me overcome the immense mental barrier brought on by the difference in where I want to be artistically and where I currently am. I actually think the burden of drawing last-minute helped, and I look forward to drawing regularly now as opposed to procrastinating and building it up in my mind as overwhelming.
Wow, okay—hold the phone. I went through my two sketch-books, and best I can tell, I already have a bunch of drawings, and I need to give myself more credit 😱 I’ve been more productive than I thought! I can spend the last few days of the year sketching some new things and polishing up some older drawings, getting them posted rather than stressing!
The biggest “win” from this goal was rediscovering my love for drawing (and comics). I plan on doing this much more regularly 🙂
Here’s a list of my drawings with links to DeviantArt, where I posted them:
In addition to accountability to last year’s resolutions, I’ve also taken the time to think about some activities that I really enjoyed spending my time doing:
German
I have absolutely loved speaking more German this year. It started by showing up to PT early each morning and practicing Duolingo in my car. I got a German stickbuddy during Common Core, so I’ve been using German almost daily. During the holiday break, I facetimed with my host-family and a good friend in Germany, again being able to practice my German. It has become a huge part of my identity, and I plan on keeping that skill polished. I would be devastated to lose my ability to speak, so I need to find opportunities to practice. I’ve thought about watching Netflix in German (they spend significant energy perfecting dub-overs in other languages), and I’d like to speak German more with the girls to help them learn.
Reading
My Goodreads goal was 52 books in the year, which I accomplished! You can see my write-up on what I read last year for more details.
Journaling
Get into a routine of journaling will pay huge dividends. I think best through stream-of-consciousness mediums like talking out loud or by working through my thoughts on paper. Right now, I journal once per week, but it’s more of an accounting of events rather than introspective. I’d like to journal introspectively more often.
Website
I’ve finally gotten my personal website to a spot where I like it and can just incrementally build upon what I’ve got. I’ve had a lot of fun working on it, and maintaining it will continue to provide value to me for both fulfillment and organization, as well as others as I share what I love and have learned.
Woodworking
I’ve invested in tools, materials, and techniques all year. It’s been so nice having a garage and driveway here. I’ve loved applying my love of building to a more physical medium than CAD. It has also been awesome having projects that I’ve built be around for others to comment on and admire. Some of the bigger projects include: dining room table and bench (article pending), TV stand, a decorative mountain shelf, and a blanket ladder.
Video Games
I have actually taken a lot of time this year just to kick back and relax guilt-free. I’ve been able to fit some games into my schedule, and I’ve enjoyed it greatly! I often feel it a waste of time, but in 2020, who cares?! Here’s what I’ve been playing this year:
I’ve been thinking a lot about graduating seniors. Maybe it’s my love of economics or even my desire to mentor others, but I’ve been working with a lot of college students to find internships/jobs at my company. I’ve reviewed a bunch of résumés, and I’ve recommended plenty of candidates through my company’s referral portal.
I don’t remember where I read it, but years ago, I heard that there was an influx of master’s degrees as the 2008 financial crisis prompted people to stay at or return to school in lieu of finding jobs that weren’t available. This COVID-19 situation could be eerily similar.
One suggestion I had for those I’ve been talking to is for a summer project. If you’re going home for the summer to stay with your parents rent-free, then you’ve already got a leg up. The idea is to work backward from the job you want. I wanted to work for a company like SpaceX or Blue Origin on the cutting edge of rocketry. I went to a small state school that didn’t have an aerospace program, so working backward from my dream job, I decided to design a high-powered rocket for senior design to put me on the map. If my degree or internships wouldn’t catch their eye, my design project would have to be grand enough to do so.
So, those college students that can’t find an internship, I would suggest the following:
Identify your dream job
Backwards-plan how to get there, identifying the skills that would be necessary to get hired
Identify a project that interests you, builds the required skills for the job that you want, and that you can (and will) knock out over the summer
For example, if I wanted to build rockets in the aerospace industry, I might pinpoint the following skills and translate them into actions for a project:
Design for assembly/ design for manufacturing ➔ Build a CAD model and 3D-print it using your university’s lab. Share your CAD files on Thingiverse or GrabCAD
Attention to detail; technical writing ➔ Document everything. It will not only help you develop the ability to communicate more precisely (email chains are an unfortunate workplace reality), but you will also be able to extrapolate lessons learned from the data you track. Should you do this project within the framework of a senior design course or a university club, you now also have some documentation to pass onto those who come after you. My team’s legwork paved the way for a successful team the next year. As an added bonus, you now have a deliverable to share with potential employers at career fairs or during the interview process.
Coding in C# ➔ Code an Arduino to track the altitude, speed, and acceleration of your rocket and then post-process that information to provide location and trajectory data.
Material/structural testing ➔ 3D-print several designs and construct a test for your component/assembly and/or use SolidWorks simulations to prove your designs.
Planning ➔ Use Microsoft Project or Excel to develop a Gantt chart, updating regularly with projected vs. actual work. This not only demonstrates some of the business skills a company is looking for, but it also helps you determine how you work on tasks and better project the time it will take you to complete them.
Interpersonal relationships and accountability to your work ➔ Establish a mentor-mentee relationship with a professor, family friend, etc. and report weekly on your accomplishments. If the individual has a technical background, he/she may be able to provide you some feedback to steer your design. If your mentor lacks a technical background, this will further refine your ability to communicate technical information to a layperson.
Take your career into your own hands. These are uncertain times for sure, but there are still plenty of things you can be doing to ensure your success.
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.
I recently tore through Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You to Be Rich. In it, other than the nitty-gritty details about how to get your finances in order (easily the best $8 I’ve ever spent), the main takeaway is to find the 85% solution to your problems. Essentially, overcome analysis paralysis through settling for a slightly less-than-perfect answer, but one that saves you a significant amount of time, effort, and anxiety.
This is applicable in so many domains!
One example I’ve applied is through applying Naval Ravikant’s advice on quitting books. He advocates for a simple approach: You don’t get worked up about skimming and quitting a blog post once you get the relevant information, so treat books the same way. There isn’t time to read every book, so you need to concentrate on the best books. For more on this, check out Johnny Uzan’s “Everything I Knew About Reading Was Wrong.”
Another strategy is for promoting change on a macro level. In The 4-Hour Body, Tim Ferriss posits the question about sustainable change. Which is easier—one person living vegetarian the rest of their life or several friends all doing one vegetarian day per week? Sure, we’d significantly cut back on greenhouse gases from the industrial farm industry if we would all just go all-in on a vegetarian lifestyle, but is that really sustainable? I don’t think so.
Back to finance. We recently found ourselves in the exact situation Ramit discusses: most people won’t make a move toward financial security because they’re paralyzed with finding the best solution. I’m sure we could have found a much better fund for our kids’ 529s and my wife’s Roth IRA, but we went from not having anything in place to a very reasonable option, capitalizing early on that compound interest. It reminds me of Peter Thiel’s book, Zero to One. It’s much harder to go from nothing to something than it is to iterate on an 85% solution. By getting investment accounts started, I’ve taken the stress off of not saving for our futures. Now, when I find some time, I can log back in and play around with the funds our accounts invest in. Or not! Anything is better than nothing, and our money will continue to grow.
This is a hard lesson for perfectionists like my wife and I. That last 15%, though, is exponentially more difficult. I leave you with an expression a military instructor used frequently: “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
I was skeptical at first, not having really refined how I use Evernote yet, but the Evernote Web Clipper has proven to be a powerful tool. I take screenshots all the time, and this perfectly captures full webpages! I combined this with an Evernote folder titled “*Inbox📥” (the asterisk just puts it at the top of the list)from the popular Getting Things Doner® system, and now, it drops it all into a folder for processing at a later date 🙂
Person: David Perell
I’ve been following David Perell on Twitter (@david_perell) for some time now, and he shares a lot on writing and developing an audience. One audacious claim that’s got me thinking quite a bit was when he tweeted, “My Twitter account is more valuable than my college diploma.” I’ve been trying to write daily now, and it has made me much happier to be doing something for myself that is both creative and productive.
And now, to combine this with my first share, here’s an Evernote Web Clip of David’s 30 March 2020 newsletter.
Company: Precious Plastic
I stumbled onto Precious Plastic while looking for ways to do-it-yourself recycle at home with regular, household consumables like plastic bottles and tin cans.
They’re an open-source movement to get people shredding plastics, extruding, and selling (if they want). I’d love to get my hands on some of the machines. They’re fairly pricey for a hobbyist, but certainly affordable considering their capacity. There’s also such a strong community committed to making it happen, from business support to troubleshooting.
They also share the plans to let you build your own machines rather than purchasing their kits.
Music: “Embrace” by PNAU
I don’t know what it is about this song, but it just gets me going. Check it out on Spotify or Youtube.
Productivity Tip: Twitter Lists
I culled those I follow on Twitter down to just 6:
This was in an effort to (1) curate my newsfeed with higher-quality content and (2) spend less time on Twitter. And it works! I’ve largely read everything by those people after 5-10 mins of scrolling.
To keep track of other’s I’m more passively interested in following, I added them to topical lists. You can view some lists I’ve made here.
As a planner, I am always focused on what the next step is. In fact, it makes living in the present pretty difficult. I’m itching to create something—specifically a business. One of my 2020 resolutions is to create an additional revenue stream this year. It’s ambitious, but I hope it will temporarily satisfy the craving since I have so much going on right now.
I also feel “behind,” because I’m 27—3 years away from 30. Silly, I know, but that’s kind of the expectation, right? In the age of the internet, 20-year olds can “make it.” It’s so prevalent that Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, coined the term “hustle porn” and actively fights against it. In fact, with all the press billionaire presidential candidates have been receiving, I fell asleep last night thinking about how I will make my fortune. I can get hyperfocused on financial success sometimes and lose perspective.
I always have to remind myself to slow down and that I’m on a very deliberate and rewarding career path. My near-term plan is to complete Army flight school for Black Hawks (1-1.5 years to complete) and then work on a master’s degree (3 years to complete). I’m looking at one or both of the following:
My company will pay for the degree, and I’ll only owe them one year after completion (not that I’m specifically looking to leave). That means, I’m open to other opportunities in 5 years (age 32). It’s a great path, and, although it feels a bit slow, I feel like it will line me up for a better spot. In fact, I think about this all the time:
Age when they became billionaires:
Mark Zuckerberg: 23 Bill Gates: 31 Tiger Woods: 33 Jack Dorsey: 35 Jeff Bezos: 35 J.K. Rowling: 38 Mark Cuban: 40 Elon Musk: 41 Richard Branson: 41 Sheryl Sandberg: 44 Oprah Winfrey: 49 Michael Jordan: 51 George Lucas: 52 Warren Buffett: 56
I also think about all the time I have outside of work to develop myself. Granted, a lot of that time doesn’t belong to me—I have a family. I absolutely owe them time, and I have to remind myself that (1) my peers aren’t developing an additional career path in parallel (i.e. military), and (2) most of them don’t even use that free time to “get ahead”. They enjoy themselves.
I’m certainly not behind, but I do have to deliberately slow down and remind myself to live life. That, I think, is my spouse’s greatest superpower. She gives me perspective. Until then, I need to focus on being the best I can be in my current roles.
What follows is a compilation of all the books I read or listened to last year. I’ve only included subtitles where necessary for clarification. You can also find me on GoodReads at here:
5-Stars Loved it
Non-Fiction
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Engineering Jobology 101 by Eric Wardell
Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher
Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey
The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang
Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss
The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester
Skunk Works by Ben Rich
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Achtung Baby by Sara Zaske
Every Tool’s a Hammer by Adam Savage
Call Sign Chaos by Jim Mattis
Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
The Department of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore
Fiction
Daemon by Daniel Suarez
Delta-V by Daniel Suarez
The Road to Vengeance by Judson Roberts
Sea of Swords by R.A. Salvatore
4-Stars Liked it
Non-Fiction
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang
Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
Find Your Why by Simon Sinek
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
The Reinventors by Jason Jennings
Make Your Bed by William McRaven
The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen
Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
She Comes First by Ian Kerner
Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub
Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D by David Kushner
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Grit by Angela Duckworth
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
Loonshots by Safi Bahcall
Fiction
The Spine of the World by R.A. Salvatore
Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter by Kelly Thompson
Mockingbird, Vol. 1: I Can Explain by Chelsea Cain
Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons by Patrick Rothfuss
3-Stars It was okay
Non-Fiction
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
He Comes Next by Ian Kerner
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
Fiction
Use of Force by Brad Thor
Deadpool: Back in Black by Cullen Bunn
Mockingbird, Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda by Chelsea Cain
2-Stars Disliked it
Non-Fiction
Foundation by Isaac Asimov (quit early)
Leaders by Stanley McChrystal (quit early)
Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler (quit early)
Fiction
N/A
1-Star Hated It
N/A
Put on Pause
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto
Energy Civilization by Douglas Reynolds
The Campfire Chronicles by Michael Ayoub
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Note: I only included subtitles where necessary for clarification.
I’ve been thinking constantly about how to impact the consumer pain-point of in-home recycling. Like every other person who likes solving problems, I’ve got a note file (I use Evernote) on my phone keeping stock of random thoughts and ideas that either I’d like solved or could one day spin up into a business.
I reached out to a friend’s brother who works for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado asking about opportunities to impact municipal solid waste (residential trash and recycling). I was first clued in to some of the jargon and problems while working at the Idaho National Laboratory as a bioenergy technologies intern. He couldn’t meet with me, as he now works remotely from another state, but he offered to connect me to a friend—Andrew Maxey, the co-founder and CEO of Vartega.
Who They Are
Vartega’s overall purpose is to recycle carbon fiber. According to their website, “Vartega has developed a low-cost grade of carbon fiber through the use of its patented recycling process. This grade has mechanical properties similar to virgin material. Vartega’s recycled fibers are used in broad ranging applications including nonwoven fabrics, thermoplastic pellets, and 3D printing filaments.”
They share that carbon fiber waste can be as high as 30% throughout the manufacturing process. They take carbon fiber waste—a high-value, low-volume material often from the automotive industry—and turn it back into a usable material that they can sell back.
We connected over an email introduction and quickly set up a 30-minute call. My three main questions (with their respective answers) for that first call were:
How did you get from “zero to one” and start prototyping real hardware? First, they got funding. Vargeta utilized Colorado’s Advanced Industries program. They also partnered with a university. It’s best if you’ve got an anchor like a university.
Do you have a materials background? No; Andrew’s got a BS in Mechanical Engineering + his PE license. He started in technical sales, then moved to the oil and gas industry. Andrew’s a generalist and prefers to be that way.
Andrew believes that the future of recycling is in chemistry. Mechanical recycling has been well established. If he were to start over, he believes that lithium-ion batteries are the next big thing and are ripe for disruption.
How does your spouse come into the picture as a founder (i.e. mine is very risk-averse)? Andrews married with 4 kids, and he treats his wife as a co-founder. She shoulders risk and stress, too. If it’s not working for those you love, it won’t work for you either. He gave his wife veto power, which enables her as a cheerleader/advocate, wanting him to succeed.
A Visit to Vartega
We then set up a visit, and I got to tour their facility in Golden. It’s a relatively new location for them, but they’re up and running. It was exciting to see their equipment and meet some of their staff.
Outside the Vartega building.
After a brief tour, we sat in the conference room to chat. More questions:
How was your experience with the Techstars accelerator? Find a program and location that works for your business. Treat it as a tool in your toolbox. Manage your expectations, and don’t expect to be the next Airbnb just for participating.
Risk Management One early employee didn’t take a salary for the first 6-months, but his wife was working, so he was okay for the beginning.
Andrew runs a transparent company with open dialogue between him and his employees. If they’re looking for another job, he discusses what Vartega can do for them. In the case of that early employee, they made it work to start him on salary.
Accept that planning and sacrifice are necessary with startups.
Fundraising It sucks, and it’s hard. Pitch to relevant investors. Andrew’s naturally optimistic but appreciates team members with diverse perspectives. It’s definitely mentally taxing raising capital, though.
“People overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year.”
What follows are my “themes” for goals with some initial projections at what I want to improve on. I plan on taking intervals of time and setting a “sprint” goal to double-down on one specific thing for, say, 2 weeks or 30 days, while keeping the broader goals in mind.
Less Waste and Consumerism
This has been top of mind a lot lately. I can’t get quite as extreme as I could if I were a bachelor, especially with kids (sorry, but we won’t do cloth diapers), but I can take steps to reduce our impact.
I thought about this a lot while I worked a seasonal position at Target stocking food shelves. With all the brands of soup, even, I would think, “Why do we need over 30 flavors of canned soup?! What happened to, you know, cooking?” Asking that question also gave me time to reflect on my own habits, though. We can all do more. Heck, I’m even willing to pay more for recyclable packaging!
Inevitably, Christmas also had me thinking about waste. For one, gifts for the sake of gifts drive me nuts. I’ve prepared a list of gifts that would thrill me, so you know it’ll go over well. Otherwise, you could get a gift that would be convenient from my Amazon list. For the holidays, we want to start doing 4 gifts wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine:
Something they want
Something they need
Something to wear
Something to read
Heck, this could go for birthdays and other events, too.
Less waste is also one of the reasons I plan on donating to the Yang 2020 campaign for my birthday. See Reduce Packaging Waste on his site.
Start Another Revenue Stream
This one’s important for me for two reasons. First, I’m getting restless and I need an entrepreneurial endeavor. Second, I’m doubling down on building wealth so that we can get a house after flight school.
Right now, the top idea is a project with my brother-in-law that I’m excited about. It involves content creation, event planning, and learning how to code!
Deliberate Caffeine Consumption
This is my last true vice, and it also ties into less waste. I pound the caffeinated drink flavoring packets. Granted, I have kids that don’t sleep, and I dilute it heavily (mix into 40oz instead of 16oz), but the packages are single-use plastic, plus my Hydro Flask lid gets gross.
I promised myself I’d quit and start drinking—dare I say—plain water when the girls sleep. This is the year! I’ve knocked the energy drinks and soda, both during college. This is the last step. We’ll see how flight school goes…
In the meantime, I’ve transitioned to Mio, since the plastic containers are recyclable.
Draw and Share 12 Drawings I’m Proud Of
I plan to publish them to Deviant Art (I’m ~jonnymhenderson). This is a very reasonable goal to get me back into drawing and to finish drawings I start. I’m notorious for having a sketchbook full of half-sketches.
Focus on My 5 Fs: Family, Faith, Finance, Fitness, Flight
I came up with “My 5 Fs” while sitting in the NGAUS conference trying to think about what truly matters to me. These about sum it up! Taking a page from Tim Ferriss’s Past Year Review, this is a way for me to focus on what makes me happy and what will have a lasting impact.
Family—From Leaders Eat Last: “A study…found that a child’s sense of well-being is affected less by the long hours their parents put in at work and more by the mood their parents are in when they come home.” I’d like to double-down on spending meaningful time with my wife and kids. In His Needs, Her Needs, it discusses a wife’s need for the husband to be a good father. That requires 15 hours per week for her and an additional 15 hours per week for quality family time.
Faith—Deliberate and consistent scripture study and prayer
Finance—Apply the principles and action items from I Will Teach You to Be Rich to automate expenses, set goals, and start building wealth.
Fitness—Focus on APFT and ACFT test scores.
Flight—The first step in developing this priority is starting flight school. I report April 10th!
I’ve finally graduated and started in the “real world!” With that, though, comes a massive shift in schedule. I no longer have gaps between classes where, as long as my assignments are done, I work on what I want.
Now, it’s a 40-hour workweek tracked with bureaucratic meticulousness, so even if I’m applying the principles from The 4-Hour Workweek, I have to hit my 40 hours.
With a newborn, a stack of unread books, hobby projects brewing, flight school around the corner, etc., I’m finding it difficult to massively reprioritize now that school doesn’t determine my focus for me.
In discussing this with a mentor, he said that as long as he’s home by 6PM, his wife is happy, and he’ll go in as early as he needs to so that he can be home by that hard deadline.
I’ve also found that one of my biggest sources of frustration is unmet expectations. Now, here I’m specifically referring to not getting things done when I had plans to be productive. This is largely due to parenting commitments.
Instead of getting frustrated when things don’t work out, I’ve worked my schedule to work for me:
4:30AM Wake up—I established this habit long ago so that I could get work done while everyone slept and have more time at home with my family after school.
5:00AM Feed the baby—I wake my daughter up early, feed her, change her diaper, and put her back down to buy my wife more time to sleep in.
6:00AM Gym—I always feel better starting with fitness, and it’s important for me to be healthy.
7:00AM Start work—Most of my peers are there by 7:30AM.
11:30AM Lunch—I use my lunchtime to (1) recharge so that I work more effectively in the afternoon and (2) for personal development. During lunch, I read. I have articles printed out, a non-fiction book I’m working through at work, and I bring my fiction book from home. I read what I’m feeling, and I use it as a chance for “feeling productive” and fullfillment. I know I won’t get to read and take notes at home with the kids.
5:00PM Leave work—I’m home by 5:30PM at the latest, my wife has dinner ready, and I co-parent.
By tweaking my system to work for me and my family, I’ve felt much happier, productive, and fulfilled.
I liked my experience with Medium, and I’ll definitely be writing more. It’s a very clean and sleek writing process similar to Microsoft Word’s focus mode. The minimalism is perfect to crank out some solid writing.
“If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.”
[Project] Marvel Stories
I’ve long wanted to write and illustrate my own comic. I’m constantly coming up with ideas for characters, powers, and storylines. Before diving head-first into such a daunting task, I decided to play around with some characters and worlds I’m already familiar with. Here are two of my short stories that I wrote using Iron Man:
I’ve been pretty disinterested in Facebook for a while now. It’s mostly parents and businesses…This handy web app was recommended by a programmer friend. It lets you open up and edit Facebook getting rid of all the clutter. It’ll even hide posts with pre-selected keywords from your newsfeed.
Now, whenever I go to Facebook, my newsfeed doesn’t show up. It’s let me focus on the few notifications that build up and checking in on friends I actually care about rather than endlessly scrolling through photos of babies and dogs that I’m uninterested in. It’s been a great productivity booster!
[Music] Best of Star Wars Spotify Playlist
This playlist is fun and familiar, and I’ve been using it to study lately.
Another fun bonus is that the play bar morphs into a lightsaber. Spotify has been good about playing to the nerd culture like they did with the Stranger Things playlist.
[Reading] Kindle Comics
I’ve combined the powers of my local library, Overdrive, Kindle, and Amazon to bring free comic books to my iPhone! I was initially super opposed to the idea of reading digital comics, but it has proven fantastic for several reasons:
I can easily take high-quality screenshots for sketching later (I’ll share some sketches next time).
It zooms in and takes away the guessing game of which panel to read. You simply swipe and it zooms as is appropriate to read and view the art. It does a phenomenal job.
I now have access to a plethora of comics I would never have purchased but have loved to read!
It’s made reading comics much more casual again. I can whip out my phone wherever and jump back into a distant yet familiar world.
It’s been quite some time since I’ve sent out some recommendations. Well, the wait is over! Here you are…
[Book] Non-Fiction: The 4-Hour Workweek
This book has forever been on my reading list. Tim Ferriss is my favorite podcaster, and I already dove in and loved The 4-Hour Body (affiliate link) by him, as well. It was only a matter of time before I took on reading his entrepreneur’s toolkit to develop a business (dubbed “muse”) that develops cashflow and freedom to refocus on other opportunities (not slack off). I cannot recommend it enough!
You can get it on Amazon (affiliate link) or on Audible (affiliate link), but I don’t ever see myself listening to a non-fiction book—I like taking notes too much.
This sci-fi novel by Orson Scott Card was a masterful take on military strategy, game theory, and psychology. It was fascinating to read essentially from the perspective of Ender’s mind. I bought the movie and watched it a year or two ago, didn’t care for it, but then picked up the book this summer. Absolutely loving the book, I rewatched the movie, and the film was fun knowing what parts they pulled, but I don’t think it’s a good standalone film.
[Game] Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
Man. I’ve always loved this game. It’s hands-down my favorite video game of all-time. Now that I’ve been an avid reader of RA Salvatore and have started playing DnD, the game 1) makes so much more sense (mechanics, etc.), and 2) is so much more fun when it comes to lore and how things fit in. I’m not sure what got “enhanced”, but I would’ve purchased the original regardless.
[Project] Composting
I’ve started composting! I’ve always been interested in composting to (1) help keep things out of the landfill and (2) to recycle nutrients for free fertilizer. My in-laws have a big garden, so it seemed only natural to start composting. I built it out of 3 pallets. I should have made it a bit bigger, and I’ve struggled to maintain the proper ratio of browns-to-greens. Anyway, my summer internship is in biomass, so this is my own little homebrew project!
Full on the same day after cleaning up the yard.
A healthy start
[Quote] Drizzt Do’Urden
“Fortunate circumstances do not equate to high principles.”
~Drizzt Do’Urden, Legacy by RA Salvatore
[Article] StarCraft II Unit Development
I came across this article as Blizzard updated. It’s really interesting to hear all the game design. I could see myself getting really into competitive StarCraft gameplay.
I’ve always been kinda weary of Facebook. I recently read this article—”Get your loved ones off Facebook.“—, and now I’m even more paranoid.
I really don’t use Facebook all that much anymore.I haven’t had the app on my phone for years now. The only reason I still have it is to maintain connections with those who aren’t followers on other platforms (I’m all about Twitter)—mostly older folks and Germans.
In fact, the only two selling points on Facebook for me are: (1) Groups, and (2) Marketplace. I maintain contact with people through Groups, and Marketplace takes away the mystery of a sketchy meet-up on Craigslist.
Interview with Co-Founder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia
I don’t like having two references to Tim Ferriss in the same post (or two posts in a row, for that matter), but this is the most fun I’ve had with a podcast in a long time! Tim Ferriss’s Interview with Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb (YouTube, Apple Podcasts) is hilarious and his journey is fascinating and tenacious.
Hibernate Storage
My friend and I are starting a business! We’re launching in April after a year’s worth of work after winning $6,300 from the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge hosted by Boise State University’s College of Innovation + Design. Check out our website: hibernatestorage.com. We’d love any feedback you have for us! Share in the comments below!
Opportunity Cost: An Econ Degree
Ironically, I had a major opportunity cost analysis in my life pop up: do I pursue a B.S. Economics or stick with the minor. It all arose when I met with my advisor. I petitioned to have my Engineering Economics and Management course count for both my ME and econ tracks. She approved and mentioned that I was only a few classes away from a bachelor’s. Well, I love economics, and I double-majored for a majority of my academic career. Turns out, though, that I was seven classes away from graduation. That’s not close; that’s an entire semester (and a 21-credit semester at that…)!
In talking with Shalene, I decided against it. I’d love to, but I have a good internship for the summer where I’ll get to spend time with my family, and I know I’ll eventually get an MBA, so the material will be picked up down the road.
It was, nonetheless, an extremely difficult decision.
Quitting a Book
I’ve long struggled with quitting a book once I’ve started it. It sits on my shelf staring back at me, taking up headspace until I finish it. I had my first brush with this when Shalene bought me a book from the middle of a series one Christmas. It took a lot out of me to say I was done!
I’ve thought about this a lot ever since stumbling across a GoodReads tweet:
I’m about to ditch a book for a better one, but I feel really guilty about it, since I’ve made it so far…
Fiction, stop reading and move on to another book. Life is too short to spend time on a book you’re not enjoying. Non-fiction, stick with it. Usually, it’s a challenging subject and if I want to learn anything then I have to keep going.
It wasn’t until I came across Episode 97 (Apple Podcasts) of The Tim Ferriss Show where Naval Ravikant (CEO of AngelList; @Naval) that something really stuck: we have so little time that it’s much easier to treat a book like a blog post. If you skim the blog post and move on, you don’t feel guilty. Why do any differently with a book. If it has the information you want/need, great! If not, move on.
Musketeers
So I have this idea. How do I articulate to people that I’m an Elon Musk cultist?
We need a word to describe members of the Cult of @elonmusk 🙋♂️, similar to how @katyperry has her KatyCats. I propose “Musketeer”. Let’s make it happen 👊🚀 pic.twitter.com/4LKZIJ9aYs
I recently had a birthday, and although my love language is definitely gifts, I’ve started to lose interest in “things”. I’m not by any means minimalist, but I can’t think of any must-haves right now. Instead, I think it’d be sweet if I could continue to build my stock portfolio. I use the app, Robinhood, and while you can’t gift/transfer stocks yet, I’d just put that money towards an investment rather than belongings. And ultimately, if I were to lose that $5-10 stock, it would’ve been free money for me, and the value gained is a lesson learned.
Falcon Heavy
First off, if you don’t follow Elon Musk on social media, what are you even doing using those platforms? He took his futurist company, SpaceX, to the next level with the launch of his Falcon Heavy rocket—the most powerful non-government rocket ever. And he launched his Tesla Roadster playing David Bowie’s “Spaceman” to Mars. Yes, literally hoping to end up in the orbit of the Red Planet. The man is a marketing genius.
It’s disappointing knowing you’ll never be able to leverage one of your company’s rocket launches to put another one of your company’s products into orbit and generate massive free advertising.
Amazon has this cool thing where if you bookmark smile.amazon.com, they will personally donate to a charity of your choice! I set mine up to donate to The Planetary Society. Founded by Carl Sagan and currently run by Bill Nye, I’m excited to move the work forward in my own way!
If you’ve got Amazon Prime, then wait no longer—Humans is a fantastic show that has an I, Robot vibe with a Stranger Things-esque mystery to it. Shalene and I loved it! It pushes you to think of implications related to technology implementations in the future.
Boomerang for Gmail
A Gmail add-on I’ve been messing around with. Boomerang allows you to schedule emails to be sent at a later date/time or to “boomerang” them back to yourself at a later time as a reminder. For example, a friend sent me a Google Calendar invite for a meeting. I accepted the invite which put it on my calendar, then boomeranged the invite email to myself, which arrived 2 hours before our appointment. There’s also a slick feature that measures how “reply-able” your email is using metrics that evaluate your subject line, words in the body of the email, etc. and helps you rewrite your email to increase the chances of a response.
This is a friend from school. Knowing him, it’s hilarious, and he was the one who showed it to us. No shame!
Podcast: College Info Geek
One of my all-time favorite podcasts is The College Info Geek Podcast. They’re two socially-capable nerds that bring a geeky flavor of humor to real-life issues that students (and everyone in general, really) will benefit from. Two episodes that I recently listened to that really caught my attention were “How to Automate Your Life (Ep. 194)” (Apple Podcasts) and How to Not Get Hacked: 9 Tips for Securing Your Digital Life (Ep. 187)” (Apple Podcasts).
Automization—I’ve become obsessed with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets lately, opting to have a computer complete repetitive tasks for me. One such example is the Reading Calculator I built so I can keep track of how many pages per day I need to read in order to finish an assigned book before a presentation at the end of the semester. In fact, if I were to go back to school and weren’t allowed to study mechanical engineering, I’d get a computer science degree.
Security—The second episode was particularly interesting because I have done an internship in a secure facility where security (especially cybersecurity) was a priority. I remember having a conversation with my roommate about security and privacy once, and he said that our generation just doesn’t care, admitting that we were both in the same boat. Who cares if you see our Facebook profile or LinkedIn? Well, this episode addresses a good point, which is you’re not normally targeted individually but rather, your weak security puts you at risk as hackers comb through massive collections of profiles, etc.
I follow a Spotify playlist titled “Electronic: Study no words“, and I really liked a song that came on. Check out “Heart on Wave” by Slime Girls (Spotify | YouTube). It’s got a retro, side-scrolling video game sound to it.
App: Acorns
I came across the Acorns app back in 2015 but haven’t really done anything with it until now. Whenever you swipe your card to make a purchase, it rounds up to the nearest dollar and throws the change that it rounded up with into an Exchange-Traded Fund (definition). It’s an easy way to invest, and you just select the risk-portfolio you want. Sign up using my link, and we’ll both get $5! Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions. I’m not sharing it for the sole purpose of earning money. I actually think it’s a sweet app!
Tool: Google Sheets
I’ve been going crazy for Google Sheets and their templates! I found this great site, SmartSheet, with some free coded templates. You just go to File > Make a copy…, and bam! You’ve got the sheet! Don’t click Add to My Drive, or else you’ll have the restricted template that’s accessible to everyone but still owned by SmartSheet.
Additionally, I’ve come to love Slides Carnival for their free, crisp, and clean Google Slides templates. You just follow the same “Make a copy” step above, then edit the file for your presentation! A few of my favorites are Viola, Banquo, Cordelia, and Imogen.
Pondering: Tax Reform
I’ve been trying to think of a one-page tax system like Rand Paul proposed in the 2016 election. What if we had a 15% flat corporate tax with maximum deductions of up to, say, 2% only attainable through registered charities and international financial relief and aid? Then, the government can focus their efforts on reinvesting in America. I often think of the sticky situation we’re in. Do we have enough funds to help the suffering citizens of Syria and to overhaul all of our highways and interstates? No. But what if the government only had to focus on internal issues while capitalism and its incentives handled the international financial contributions? Just a thought. What do you think?
Quote: Alexander Graham Bell
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
Venture capitalist Chris Sacca’s article, “Hanging up my spurs.“, was a fun read, but it also got me thinking about (1) opportunity cost and (2) pivoting. I’ve been focused on the opportunity cost of decisions I make specifically related to time commitments. I’m learning to say “no” like never before!
Book: Artemis
I freakin’ loved this book. My mind was melting with how much research went into each page of it! It combines economics, space, and engineering. It’s the second book by the author of The Martian, Andy Weir. Cannot recommend it enough—and it’s on sale (Amazon)!
Song: “Wide Awake (Kaskade Mix Radio Edit)”
Kaskade did a fantastic job mixing a refreshing take “Wide Awake” by Katy Perry (Soundcloud).
Video: Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge
Toast Dance. Shameless self-promotion. Hope to win some money! Any feedback on our pitch would be greatly appreciated!
Education: Differential Equations Explained
Even after taking DifEq, I still don’t even know what a differential equation is. I know vaguely what they look like and that they’re important in engineering, but I took it in an 8-week summer class from hell. In doing some research on compressor dynamics through the mechanical engineering department, I knew I needed to understand what DEs were, so I googled it. I stumbled across a GitHub project titled Differential Equations Explained that make so much more sense!
When it comes to math, I need to be able to visualize what’s happening. I had such a hard time in Linear Algebra because I couldn’t understand things like eigenvalues and eigenvectors. It was all too abstract! The application of math is where it really connects for me.
Hope this helps!
Podcast: TechStuff
The technology of Stranger Things (Apple Podcasts). It’s a fascinating listen that opens the curtain on film and TV production.
Quote: Erin Hannon
“When you’re with someone, you put up with the stuff that makes you lose respect for them.”
~Erin Hannon, The Office (S9:E5 Here Comes Treble)
Although I am so ready to graduate, I will most definitely miss how semesters segment my year and give me a chance to reflect. I’ve really liked the opportunity to pause, think back, and hit reset for a new term of work. Part of my projects over break included revamping my personal website and blog. It’s still very much a work in progress, but I’d love feedback on it! Also, lemme know if you like the format of this post. I suspect I’ll do a lot more of them. Anyway, here are some cool things I’ve come across:
Article: Hobby Lobby Bible Museum
I came across a fascinating article about how the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby have quickly accumulated one of the largest and most expensive collections of biblical artifacts. They plan on opening a museum in Washington, DC!
Tech: YouMute(r) Google Chrome Extension
I’ve gotten in the habit of pulling up my YouTube Watch Later list while I cook or clean in the kitchen. This handy Chrome extension has been so nice! It mutes all ads on YouTube videos. I suppose it’s also great for the content curators, as I usually sit through the whole ad since it’s silent.
Podcast: Warren Buffet
I really enjoyed the episode of Listen Money Matters which lists their accumulation of tricks and habits from Warren Buffet. The episode is titled “22 Life Changing Lessons From Warren Buffett” (Apple Podcasts).
Music: Ellie Goulding
A cover of Elton John’s song, Ellie Goulding does a freakin’ fantastic job of performing “Your Song” (Spotify), and it’s still one of my favorites by her:
Elon: My Man!
He’s at it again, this time, sending his Tesla Roadster to Mars:
With it being the start of a new year, everyone is always focused on the “new me” that they’ll strive for. I used two methods to review 2017, and I’ve taken a different approach to 2018.
2017 #1: Review of Resolutions
I set out to have several SMART goals that I’d work in throughout the year. I accomplished some, others I worked on but let them die, and others I barely touched. I am, however, learning with every year what makes me the most effective at pursuing things I want to improve on or accomplish.
My 2017 resolutions were as follows:
Become a Confident Swimmer—I went swimming a few times out of obligation, and I came across the Total Immersion technique that I know will be the game changer, but I still haven’t put much towards this one.
Learn C#—I acquired the necessary software and worked my way through an online tutorial series, but without a project to apply my skills to, it died at the conclusion of the tutorial.
Read the Book of Mormon in German—Accomplished! I did, however, find that I got very little out of it spiritually other than establishing a habit of daily scripture study. This goal is a large part of why I now wake up at 0430. I do better accomplishing the difficult, tedious, boring stuff before starting my day while my girls are still asleep.
Code My Own Website—While I didn’t code it myself, I did get a website up and going. It’s still fairly rudimentary, but the hardest part is out of the way! With just a bit of touching up, it’ll be ready to list on my résumé! I’d love any feedback you can provide.
Max My Army Physical Training Test—While I didn’t hit a 300+, I got up to 284, which is very competitive and the highest I’ve ever gotten. I also used the Freedom Journal to stay accountable to this one. I wish I had started earlier, rather than honing in starting in the fall semester.
Become Confident Drawing from Memory—I didn’t do much drawing at all, but I found that the Inktober challenge pushed me to be better! I still need to upload those to my Deviant Art page…
Read 6 Books—I knocked this one out of the park! See my 2017 Reading List post.
Make Headway on My Book and Comic—I did lots of writing, but no drawing. I even shared one of my pieces on reddit!
To my credit, I had best intentions in setting SMART goals, and I held myself accountable after the first quarter of the year, but that was about it.
2017 #2: Past Year Review (PYR)
I discovered this method through Tim Ferriss’s 5-Bullet Friday. I’ve mentioned that newsletter before, and I encourage you to subscribe. It’s a lovely little dose of the new and intriguing every end-of-the-week. He shares:
Here’s my list after sorting through 52 weeks of Google Calendar:
My nature is to be interested in everything, but here are my top conclusions based on this exercise:
I am made to be an entrepreneur. I won’t be happy unless I’m pursuing something for myself.
I long to be creative, and reading, writing, and drawing are all activities I enjoy, would like to become better at, and I find each of them productive hobbies (developing a talent as opposed to watching Netflix).
I hate being trapped in meetings—especially when they’re unnecessary and/or poorly run.
I really enjoy learning in general, and am specifically interested in economics and German, to name two.
Time with friends and family mean a lot to me.
I love to write based on researching a topic I’m unfamiliar with.
I love to both give and receive gifts, and it happens to be my #1 love language.
I love weddings.
I love challenging myself physically (Ex. Advance Camp, rock climbing, improving APFT score, running a half-marathon, etc.).
I am appreciative of the military training available to me.
I love taking notes on a good self-help book.
I enjoy being a behind-the-scenes leader and helping things fall into place (Ex. S4).
I love to travel, and I find great joy in doing so with friends and family.
I need to take time to be creative as well as time to reset and clean out my system from all the multitasking and build-up that bogs me down.
2018: Top 5 Goals
Instead of setting super specific goals for 2018, I have picked up on a trend of what makes me generally happier and what I long to do more of. There are, certainly, things outside of this list, but here’s what I’m most interested in pursuing:
Read more
Write more
Draw more
Speak to Eva solely in German
Run a full marathon
Shalene and I also set goals as a couple:
Attend the temple every other month
Don’t talk negatively about each other to others and in general
So that’s it! We’ll do this again in March to stay accountable.
I put my star rating next to each book and, where possible, linked to my GoodReads review. I use the following system, adopted from Google Reviews:
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Disliked it
⭐️⭐️⭐️ It was okay
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Liked it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved it
Complete
I’ve been so much better at reading this year! In fact, I made it a goal to read 6 books in 2017, and I surpassed that! I’ve realized over the year that reading brings me joy as I jump into a fictional story, and that it is a much better decompression and release before bed than using my phone or playing games. Here’s what I’ve read:
School Reading
The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—This is a collection of essays written by grad students exploring various aspects of the Japanese culture. I found it fascinating to dissect a culture down to micro-level components of culture you wouldn’t be familiar with without living there
Schachnovelle (⭐️⭐️⭐️)—An intriguing story with an exciting hook on how a chess master became so good.
Der Besuch der alten Dame (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—The plot twist in this was fantastic, and caught me totally off guard. I had a fun time reading this, as I was able to understand the plot and a lot of the message hidden between the lines even in a foreign language.
Leaders Eat Last (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—The author does an exceptional job using case studies to teach critical leadership lessons. I think this should be required reading for anyone in a leadership/management position. Can’t recommend highly enough! We read this book as 4th-year ROTC cadets.
Non-Fiction
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—The author, Tim Ferriss, does an incredible job of breaking down the human body into data points and experiments. It tackled several key issues that I’m interested in exploring more, it’s exceptionally well-formatted, and its littered with case studies of individuals throughout the book.
Das Buch Mormon (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—Naturally, I’m a big fan of the Book of Mormon, as it’s the keystone to my religion. I believe all religious texts should be classified as non-fiction. I read it in German to keep up on daily scripture study as well as language practice. I finished it today (31DEC17) to complete a resolution for the year and so it would make this list!
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Managing Your Money (⭐️⭐️⭐️)—As given by the three-star rating, it was okay. I only liked it because it gave a few insights I didn’t know before, as well as a few actionable steps. I wish it had more examples of “save this much now, retire with this much later.” I finished this book so it’d make this list.
Exile (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—Book #2 in The Legend of Drizzt (my favorite series) by my favorite author, RA Salvatore.
Sojourn (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—Book #3 in The Legend of Drizzt series that finishes out the prequel trilogy.
Starship Troopers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—This was a fantastic read after attending Advance Camp, and it complimented my military training well! I wouldn’t have appreciated it, however, without my summer training as it can get pretty technical in military lingo.
Short Stories
The Education of PFC Shane (link or PDF) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—This is a fun read set in the StarCraft world.
The Egg (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—A fantastic read for the devout religious individual or for the atheist. A fascinating story
Deathstroke: The Professional (⭐️⭐️⭐️)—Fun because it’s Deathstroke along with some of the WildC.A.T.S, but overall, not that great.
Justice League: The Grid
Thunderbolts: No Quarter
Iron Man 2.0: Asymmetry (⭐️)— I was going through my collection, and I’m disappointed that I ever bought this. Not impressed at all. A storyline without much substance that could’ve been really good, in fact. Scattered and hard to follow, and not very interesting. The digital coloring was great for some of the volume but overall, it was poorly done.
Infinity Gauntlet (⭐️⭐️⭐️)—A fun read since the movie is coming out. It certainly had its “doom and gloom” moments where you thought there was no way for them to make it out followed by a twist in favor of good. I find the older comics, especially the art style, very difficult to read, however.
Civil War II (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—My favorite iron man armor yet. I love the faceplate!
Single issues—A couple of single-issues I picked up over the summer
Team 7 (2012 DC) #3 (Variant A) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)—I love Deathstroke, and this was my first exposure to Grifter
Spawn WildC.A.T.S (1996) #3: Devil Day (Part 3 of 4) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)—I love Spawn, and Grifter appeared again!
Moon Knight (1985 2nd Series) Fist of Khonshu #3 (⭐️⭐️)—The best part of this comic was getting to see the old ads from the 80s
Work in Progress
This has been quite the year of starting books. Unfortunately, there are several (especially non-fiction) that I’ve stopped reading but am still interested in finishing. Here’s the list:
Energy Civilization: The Zenith of Man
Ranger Handbook
The Hobbit
His Needs, Her Needs
In addition to that, I have a shelf of several books that I’m waiting to start, as well as an itch to continue RA Salvatore’s series.
Here’s to a new year of new adventures and stories!
I’ve really enjoyed both Tim Ferriss’s 5-Bullet Friday newsletter as well as Kevin Rose’s monthly newsletter, The Journal. Both give their followers a few items of fun discoveries throughout the week or month. I have so many things that I enjoy that I’d love to share with those I care about (and those who would listen). I’m fascinated by so many things, and I also love writing, so here’s my attempt at some form of fun structure to share my hottest finds of the week.
Politics: Net Neutrality
By texting “RESIST” to 50409, you start a “conversation” with resistbot, which helps you draft and send electronic letters to your legislators (House, Senate, Governor, and President) on your behalf to fight Net Neutrality. It takes away the excuse of apathy.
Music: Purity Ring
I’ve been finishing up my video for the Katy Perry concert, and Purity Ring opened for them. That launched me into exploring a new genre, and I’ve really enjoyed their style. I’ve already written about some of my favorite songs of theirs, but here’s a free download of “bodyache (LIONE Remix)” by Purity Ring I came across today.
Podcast: Launching a Satellite into Space
In 4th grade, I was such a good speller, that the teacher gave me and this girl, Amy Rodriguez, a bonus word: “satellite”. Glad I initially spelled it wrong as an adult. Anyway, I don’t know how I came across this podcast, but I loved this four-episode series on launching a satellite into space! In fact, it has inspired me to investigate using a CubeSat as a senior design project next fall semester!
The following are links to the Planet Money podcast episodes in the Apple Podcast app:
I really enjoyed this TED talk on a convicted murder and burglar who learned to read, write, and spell in prison, then applied his newfound skills to develop a curriculum for prisoners to become financially stable after prison. He’s an activist
Tech: iOS Screensaver for Mac
I came across some sweet minimalist space wallpapers (specifically this one), and I wanted to use a still wallpaper as my screensaver, rather than the traditional Mac slideshow. I did some googling and fell in love with Option #8 in an article on changing up your screensaver. Now, my screensaver looks like an iPhone, and it just spices things up in a new way!
Quote
“On your journey through life, make sure your biography has at least one extraordinary chapter.”
After Advanced Camp, I shipped off for an internship with the Army through the Cadet Troop Leading Training (CTLT) program. I worked (get ready for it) under the following hierarchy in descending order (as best I can piece together):
US Army
Army Materiel Command
Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM)
Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC)
Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD)
Modeling and Simulation Division (MSD)
Measurement and Modeling Services (MMS) Branch
Day 1, 10JUL2017 (Mon)
I sat on a plane in Louisville, KY for a while before they said that the weather in Detroit was going to delay the flight for quite a while. I would’ve missed my connection, so I exited the plane and boarded a flight to Atlanta. Upon landing in Atlanta, my flight was delayed for weather, so I finally arrived in DC at Reagan around 0130 instead of 2200. I was pretty bitter because CDT Fink’s school bought him a last-minute ticket that had him leaving Sunday before graduation, so that got changed at camp to a direct flight. My school planned ahead, and I got screwed. Oh well. Our supervisor, a Major, picked me up and took me back to Post.
Day 2, 11JUL2017 (Tues)
The next day started at 0900. I’m sure it was a lot of in-processing and touring. We only spent 3 hours doing stuff and were cut loose at noon. It ended up being perfect because I had a really bad infection on the tip of my finger. It started to flare up the night before, and it was the spot where they did the finger-prick to check for iron at the blood drive on Saturday. Swell. Literally. It was a sensitive balloon of pus. They drained it with a syringe, though, and gave me some drugs. That ended up being complicated, too, because they sent me to the pharmacy with a prescription for a different “Johnathan Miles Henderson”. The only reason I caught it was because the guy’s birthday was in the 80s.
After that mess was figured out, it was onto putting out the next fire. The lady-sergeant at BYU-I messed up my orders and didn’t include a rental car. It got resolved, but we somehow had to figure out how to get back to Ronald Reagan in DC. Without a car. Luckily, I was able to call up Patrick, who took us there. We picked up our rental and went to Bdubs. It just so happened to be Traditional Tuesday, so our order was like $10!
Day 3, 12JUL2017 (Wed)
Day 3 had us in a minivan driving around campus with a young lady that works at Ft. Belvoir as a civilian full-time who is also an officer in the US Army Reserves. After work, we went and saw Spider-Man: Homecoming with Katie at The Alamo movie theater. I actually wasn’t super impressed with the movie. I think they did a fantastic job, and Tom Holland plays a great Spidey, but even with my Tony Stark in it, Homecoming couldn’t knock The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield out of my Top 5! Looking back, though, and having rewatched it, it was very well done.
Day 4, 13JUL2017 (Thurs)
During my first few days on the job, a two-star General came to receive demonstrations on all the research at the facility. The General scooped us Cadets up and had us tag along to see everything. It was fantastic. So much future tech to see.
That night, I went home, grabbed my siblings, and we went to Reston Town Center for lack of things to do. Not as fun as I remember, and it was initially awkward, as they adjusted to being around me again after so long.
Day 5, 14JUL2017 (Fri)
A particularly beneficial opportunity for us was our lunch with a few Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs). They gave us advice on how to interact with the Enlisted side of the Army, as well as on how to succeed as a fresh 2nd Lieutenant with no real knowledge of the Army.
Later, I had a follow-up appointment at the hospital. They said my finger was healing fine! After the hospital, I darted back to Ashburn for a delicious dinner with Walt, Blair, and Katie at Carolina Brothers BBQ, followed by a game night. My two favorites were The Grizzled and Fuse.
Day 6, 15JUL2017 (Sat)
Saturday was a blast. What started as hoping to jump on an organized trip from DC to NYC through Ft. Belvoir ended up being Katie and I paving our own way. We bought tickets for like $40 each. We were on the shadiest of Asian tour buses, checking in at what could’ve been an underground money laundering operation in DC’s Chinatown. We took the 4-hour bus ride up, and I didn’t pull any punches. I wanted to see it all. I had a list that, for the most part, worked out. We had a good time and certainly got our 10,000 steps in! My list was as follows:
✔️9/11 Memorial—This was Stuart’s biggest recommendation. The outdoor memorial was fantastic. Unfortunately, time didn’t allow us to go into the museum. This would be the only reason I feel the need to return to NYC.
✔️Empire State Building—Underwhelming
✔️Statue of Liberty—Saw it from across the pond
✔️Broadway Street
❌Wall Street
✔️Times Square
✔️Brooklyn Bridge—Drove under in our Uber
❌Central Perk—The restaurant from Friends. It literally doesn’t exist, and I was heartbroken.
✔️Central Park
❌Grand Central Station
❌Shawarma—Food of the Avengers
✔️United Nations HQ—Just barely missed the window to go in. I’d like to see it sometime. It was cool from the outside, though.
✔️NBC store—JJ’s recommendation. They moved locations though, and I wasn’t about to waste more time on it.
✔️Midtown Comics—Pretty cool! I picked up Captain America: White, which is part of the colors series by my favorite artist, Tim Sale. It’s been on my list for a while. Ironically, it’s still sitting on my shelf, and I haven’t read it yet.
Other favorite memories included eating Shake Shack for the first time, stopping by the Disney store, trying to find food to eat (we really wanted Japanese ramen, but ended up grabbing pizza to eat on the bus ride home), and bonding with the ghetto bus riders. I also asked our Uber (who hauled us across town from the 9/11 Memorial to catch our bus) where Avengers Tower was. He didn’t get it. I did, however, steal a kiss from the security dog at Trump Tower!
Day 7, 16JUL2017 (Sun)
I was able to attend church in the congregation where I grew up (Brambleton Ward). It was fantastic! I didn’t tell anyone that I was coming, and I scooped up Connor and my sisters to attend with me. I got to say “hi” to President Holtom and Jonathan Linton, my youth leader growing up. Another tender mercy was sitting down where I did. A couple walked in and sat in front of us. They looked familiar, so I asked them their names. I had guessed correctly—it was the Dowdles. I grew up with their daughter, Stephanie. So good to see them again. After church, I stopped by to see the Cottones and was there for forever. They were excited to see me, and Bonnie kept forcing food on me (I wouldn’t have it any other way!).
Day 8, 17JUL2017 (Mon)
Our 8th day was fairly uneventful in comparison. We had an Officers lunch (just our immediate supervisor and his supervisor) at the golf course club. Later, we ate a delicious dinner at Pica Taco there in Alexandria.
Day 9, 18JUL2017 (Tues)
Tuesday, our Measurement and Modeling Services department went out for lunch at and MSS lunch at a Peruvian chicken place, followed by an evening out at Great Falls with Fink, Katie, and Sadie (her pup). This was on Fink’s list of things to do, which was fun, because I wouldn’t have picked it myself, but ended up loving it. How had I never (if memory serves) been there, when I grew up right around the corner?! That night, we had Mookie’s BBQ.
Day 10, 19JUL2017 (Wed)
Apparently uneventful.
Day 11, 20JUL2017 (Thurs)
We picked Shalene up! So good to see her. Long overdue. We had been away from each other for 41 days! A guy at work had recommended a local Japanese restaurant, which Fink took his girlfriend to, and they loved it. So that night, Fink, Shalene, and I went, but it was only mediocre. Turns out, we went to the one Fink tried, but not the one that was originally recommended.
Day 12, 21JUL2017 (Fri)
After a delicious lunch at Bozzelli Bros. Deli on Post, the rest of the night was a circus. We had gifted my family an Olive Garden gift card two years in a row with the stipulation that they all have to go out to dinner together. Well, we finally forced them to use it when we were all out there (and not just because it’s Shalene’s favorite). We stopped by to see the Cottones beforehand since they wanted to meet Shalene, thinking it would be a short visit. Bonnie doesn’t work that way! I also forgot to call in a reservation to the restaurant. I never go out to eat in a big party, Shalene and I just show up! We invited Walt and Tamara, who were kind enough to exercise a little patience with the family. They did invite two other friends (Patrick and Cynthia) as a back-up in case it didn’t work out. It was a fine time, though! Walt and Tamara got to meet Shalene, and we all had a good evening just chatting!
Day 13, 22JUL2017 (Sat)
We woke up Saturday morning, drove to Ashburn, and grabbed breakfast with Blair and Zee at IHOP. My favorite server, Tori (a black boxer), was still working there, and she is hilarious. It was fun to have a little double-date. It was also the first time I had met Zee, oddly enough (we’ve interacted through social media plenty). Afterwards, we packed up the fam (those who would go) and headed down to see Monticello and the University of Virginia. It was supposed to be everyone, but Jenna didn’t sleep well the night before, Patrick was his usual self, and Robert was working. Unfortunately, that meant we’d all fit in one car except for one. Dad opted to sit out, which was sad because he had never been.
It was hotter than sin that day. So sweaty and sunny. I came to have mad respect for how much of a renaissance man Thomas Jefferson was! We had a good time though, and after we got to see the sites at Monticello, we drove through UVA’s campus, as I was heavily considering grad school in aerospace engineering there. Shalene and I agreed that we’d ultimately end up in Virginia, as it’s both a perfect blend of all of the defense engineering jobs and historical sites.
Day 14, 23JUL2017 (Sun)
After a terribly long Saturday of driving, we woke up really early and drove down to Yorktown, where we got breakfast with Brandon and Janet at Food Craft (only like a mile away from JJ and Alyssa’s old house!). After breakfast, we headed to Busch Gardens with JJ and Alyssa. They have a season pass, and Shalene and I got in for free (military members get a free trip for themselves and 4 dependents per year)! It was so fun just being with JJ again. It was also the first time I had met Alyssa and the first time Shalene had met either of them. Shalene got super sick from the Viking ship ride, swinging back and forth, plus there was a storm warning that shut down the rides for a while. We ended up chilling in the German village “bierzelt” and played Ellen’s Heads Up for a while. Just spending time together was enough.
Day 15, 24JUL2017 (Mon)
Monday, Shalene was supposed to hang with my dad, but she had a much-needed rest day coming her way. She stayed home to recuperate from a summer babysitting alone, and after work, I grabbed Chinese, and we stayed in the room watching shows. There was also a big storm that day that dropped a tree limb inches away from the rental car!
Day 16, 25JUL2017 (Tues)
On Tuesday, Shalene and Katie went to Mt. Vernon and some other local sites, while Fink and I got to tour the experimental airfield and take a tour of DC in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter! Afterwards, we had a fantastic lunch at Mission BBQ, my new favorite Nova restaurant!
Day 17, 26JUL2017 (Wed)
Wednesday, we went down to Quantico to talk drones with another program, then we took Shalene to the airport. Goodbye wasn’t quite so hard, as I’d be home in a week-and-a-half.
Day 18, 27JUL2017 (Thurs)
On Thursday, one of the employees at NVESD took us on a group trip to Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of Unknown Soldier. He was an excellent guide and gives tours often. He even knocked on the Tomb Guards’ quarters and got us a tour! We got to speak with a few of the Soldiers who serve at the Tomb. Wow! Incredible standards and discipline.
Day 19, 28JUL2017 (Fri)
The next day, we loaded up into the van and drove up to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. We met up with a bunch of other Cadets, including one from my Platoon at Advance Camp, and toured the facility, including all of the Army’s new Cyber assets! A Major General met with us and presented each of us with a challenge coin—my first one came from a two-star General! After getting back, I went over to Jarrod’s for a game night. His roommate, Luke, was there, as well as an old high school friend, Brendan! We played Betrayal at House on the Hill.
Day 20, 29JUL2017 (Sat)
Saturday morning, I hit NovaCon with Jarrod and Luke. It was lots of fun! It was at The Ritz-Carlton in Tyson’s Corner, and Jarrod’s sister, Jenna, had a booth with her friend. I picked up a lot of cheap comic books and shook hands and chatted with Barb and the teacher from Stranger Things, as well as the dad from Flash and Lady Deathstrike from X2 (she loved my widow’s peak). Overall, it was a pretty good event for it being their first year. Afterwards, I went to Under Armor with Patrick, and he hooked me up with new running shoes, shorts, and a shirt since he worked there. Then, for my mom’s belated birthday, I treated her to Pei Wei, and we got to catch up one-on-one.
Day 21, 30JUL2017 (Sun)
Sunday morning, Fink and I woke up, picked up Katie at a nearby gas station outside of Post, and headed down to Quantico for The Freedom Fighters 5k/Half benefiting the Semper Fi Fund. It was our (Fink and I) first half marathon. We kept talking about how we regretted signing up for it, especially after a grueling camp experience, but it was a blast. My headphones quit on me at the starting line, so it was a full race with just my thoughts. We ran through Prince William Forest Park the whole time (map of route), which kept the entire course shaded and cool. It was fairly hilly for the last half, but I managed to maintain ~10 min/mile for all but the last mile! It’s the farthest I’ve ever run in one go, and I finished in 2:16:36. After the race, we really wanted chicken and waffles, so we went to Waffle House, which doesn’t even sell them. Instead, we went to IHOP, and I wanted to die after eating way too much.
Day 22, 31JUL2017 (Mon)
The next day, I was sure to try the chicken and waffles in the cafeteria at work—so delicious. That night, we met up in Manassas to get Cafe Rio with my mom and the siblings.
Day 23, 1AUG2017 (Tues)
As you can see, this trip revolved around food haha! We tried Thai Herbs for lunch, which was alright. I was glad to branch out and try some new things. There were a few dishes I loved (Kapow Chicken and Green Curry Chicken), and others I did not…
Day 24, 2AUG2017 (Wed)
There’s a machining and wood shop in the facility where we worked, so we asked for a tour. It was super interesting going through and seeing their capabilities. They even said that their resources are there to make the Army function and that when we get to our units, we can request things to be made through their facility, provided our unit has the funds! That night, we collected nighttime images for one of our projects. It had to be totally dark, as we were collecting thermal imaging, and the ground had to finish releasing its radiant heat. It was also Fink’s birthday, so he celebrated a day late.
Day 25, 3AUG2017 (Thurs)
On the 3rd, we had lunch at Mission BBQ, made last-minute preparations, and then presented on our projects that we worked on while in the facility. We processed so much data for so long, that afterwards, the project manager said he had been waiting years for the results we provided the facility! We’ll also have an opportunity to publish as the research comes to a conclusion! We got dinner at Chipotle, then I drove home. My dad, myself, and another sibling or two went and got froyo at Zinga, then Dad grabbed some Dominos next door. There was a 3-star General sitting in Dominos eating! How random. But I suppose that’s Nova for ya. Then we picked up Robert from work. It was great seeing him in action, in a position that’s pushed him.
Day 26, 4AUG2017 (Fri)
On our last day at work, the staff took us out to El Paso, we said goodbyes, then we hit the road! Fink and his girlfriend, Erin, drove separately from me since Erin wouldn’t be coming home with us. We headed out to Westover, Maryland, where his family had rented a beach house for a reunion. I was super nervous at first, but I ended up having a great time. I beat Fink and Erin there, though, and I was driving through corn fields late at night trying to find a house in the dark after Google Maps cut out. It was a good time haha!
Day 27, 5AUG2017 (Sat)
I actually had a lot more fun than I anticipated! I didn’t get in the water at all (it was windy and choppy), but I read a lot out on the beach and started a giant puzzle on historic Virginia. I also facetimed Shalene and Eva before we ate.
The crab was so good! We ate a ton of crabs that we caught ourselves as well as a bushel covered in Old Bay that someone picked up locally. What an experience. Those suckers sure make you work for their meat! We left much later than I had hoped, so I eventually had to trade out driving with Fink for the last 30-45 minutes. We did, however, finally get our Lucky Charms milkshakes from Burger King—an internship-long quest! They didn’t taste like what I had expected, and I don’t think I’d get another one, but we had been talking about it for our entire internship.
Day 28, 6AUG2017 (Sun)
Sunday morning, we hit the airport. We got all our bags checked and went to the USO. We had never been before, but apparently, most US airports have a military lounge with free wifi and tons of snacks—Monster, microwave meals, popcorn, trail mix, protein bars, etc. Not the lame stuff.
My flight to Minneapolis was fine. I slept most of the flight. I was super uncomfortable, but really tired. The flight from Minneapolis to SLC was also fine. I had to wait in SLC for an extra 1.5 hours, though, as they repaired my plane. Shalene wasn’t super stoked about that. She had shown up to the airport early because she was so excited and ended up hanging out for 2.5 hours with Eva…Luckily, Jim, Sue Ann, and Sara brought Stephen and Tara’s kids down, too. They at least had company for a while. It made for a perfect end to a tough and rewarding summer!
Internship Experience
As for what I did during my internship, I’m not allowed to talk about most of it, so this is what I have on my résumé:
Worked in the Measurement and Modeling Services (MMS) Branch of the Modeling and Simulation Division (MSD) of the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. My involvement covered two projects:
Thermal Imaging Field Data Collection
Collected day- and nighttime thermal and visible-spectrum images of various weapons systems at eight different positions
Non-Imaging Based Human ID at Far Ranges
Completed Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Group 2 Social & Behavioral Research Investigators training program
Analyzed visible spectrum-based videos for cardiac signal detection
Analyzed cardiac signal for heart rate variability analysis for the purpose of human ID
Analyzed videos collected at various ranges and resolutions, generated databases, and used those databases to understand the limitations of range and resolution on human ID
Provided feedback to developers for improving the Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Wrote §5.4.2 Process of Analyzing Data and §5.4.3 Score Heart Rate for ID sections of GUI user manual
Wrote title and abstract for work-in-progress research paper
Results, user manual, and GUI will be used as part of an NVESD program
Have you messed around on Robinhood at all? It’s an easy way to start to learn how to invest. I’ve loved it. I just drop in $5 per month to play around with and become familiar with stocks.
The app is nice, though, because they don’t charge you. They earn their money on the interest your money accumulates while sitting in limbo (when you sell an app and leave money in the app without investing it for a while). It’s very popular with millennials in experiencing investing for the first time. It’s also sleek and has an easy user interface.
I’m sitting on 5 shares of Tesla ($TSLA) and 1 share of Zynga ($ZNGA). I picked up Zynga through the promotion they have: use my affiliate link, and we both get a free stock! (Go to robinhood.com if you don’t want to use my link).
I need to play around on /r/RobinHood more, too. Just happened across it!
Army Personal Fitness Test (APFT)
I’ve been working towards my Freedom Journal goal—max my APFT with a score of 300+ by 28DEC17—and I’ve consistently improved my score each time I’ve taken it! My latest score was a 283 on 13NOV17!
Push-ups: 75 reps (score: 100 [max])
Sit-ups: 79 reps (score: 99; personal record)
2-mile Run: 14:19 (score: 84; personal record)
Total: 283
Gotham Seasons 3 & 4
Just before Stranger Things 2 dropped on Netflix, we tore through Gotham Season 3 on Netflix! It gets darker and weirder this season, but we can’t help but love it! We’ve been catching up on Season 4 on Hulu since we finished Stranger Things, and we can’t help but feel that it might be getting too gory. I love how they work in so many minor characters like Professor Pyg and Tigress. Also, they did a fantastic job incorporating Solomon Grundy. I love watching the show for how they’ll spin each new character.
Inktober
I’ve been much more active on Deviant Art as of late, and there’s been an October challenge—”Inktober”—floating around, that I started using to push me to draw more. It’s helped! I need to be better about it though. I’ve been so swamped lately. I’m still not done with the challenge and we’re about done with November! But nonetheless, it’s pushed me to draw things outside of my norm, and I’ve actually loved how it’s stretched my boundaries! You can find me on DA at ~jonnymhenderson.
StarCraft II
Well, Blizzard finally dropped SCII to free-to-play, so I deleted Heroes of the Storm (HotS), RuneScape, and Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) to make room for SCII! Oh man, I’ve freakin’ loved it. So fun. I love the universe it’s set in, the storytelling, and the familiarity with a modern twist. It’s lovely, and I’m only a few missions into the Terran campaign!
Katy Perry
Holy Hannah! Shalene surprised me with tickets! I didn’t think it would happen, since her concert in SLC was on Black Friday, and this is the year where all the extended family was in Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving (as in all our babysitters). She did it all behind-the-scenes, and we went! It’s one of the few concerts where our musical tastes overlap enough to enjoy it together. She finally told me beforehand because I wouldn’t let it go and kept trying to make plans so that it would happen. She was worried I’d be stubborn enough to work it out on my own!
The concert was fantastic, and I’ll be sure to clue you in on it more when I’ve got my video all stitched together. Be watching for it!
Purity Ring
They opened for KP, so naturally, I’ll “rave” (see what I did there) about these Canuks! I’ve been loving their songs. At the concert, it was really hard to hear what she was singing, because of the sound, but I thought it’d make for amazing background study music. Now that I’m home and can throw in headphones, they’re actually great! PS They also co-wrote 3 songs with Katy: “Mind Maze”, “Miss You More”, and “Bigger Than Me” (Wikipedia). Here are a few of my top picks by them:
It’s got a pirate-Irish vibe to it, but then it drops into a dope EDM track with an almost Donkey Kong Country sound to it. And was that a panflute I heard…? I fell in love with the artist for his website where he says:
“As a content creator it can be frustrating and hard to find music that both fits your content and is free to use. I have created this site to make it as simple as possible to soundtrack your videos without any legal mumbo jumbo.”
The second season was so cool! I was talking with a friend about the show. I think that Season 1’s biggest perk was novelty—a nerdy, 80s psychological thriller? They totally pulled it off like we’ve never seen before. Season 2 was just extremely well written and every episode (except for 7…) left you on the edge of your seat. Also check out this episode of the podcast, Song Exploder: Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein – Stranger Things (Main Title Theme).
Dungeons & Dragons
My favorite video game, Neverwinter Nights, is set in the D&D world of Forgotten Realms, and my favorite book series, The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore, also takes place there. It only makes sense that I give D&D a shot. I’m working on putting together a group and will probably play DM myself for a while. Super excited to take nerddom to the next level.
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Brain.fm + Focus Keeper
I’ve been using this insane study combo of Brain.fm and Focus Keeper (free MacOS & iOS apps). The former being ambient study music and the latter being a timer that works off the Pomodoro Technique (focus for 25 mins, then take a 5 min break). I’ve been using my breaks to be creative, either writing or drawing. It’s been a lot of fun, and it keeps me motivated throughout a long study sesh. I’ve also found time for me!
First off, let me just say that Advanced Camp was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Up until that point, it had been taking 19 credits last summer while Shalene was pregnant. I feel lame for saying camp was hard. Granted, it was meant to be, but nothing individually was actually too difficult. The conditions under which we performed them, however, are what made the entire course overwhelming. But I’m reminded what our Brigade Commander said, and that is they only have 30 days to evaluate us, so they get their evaluations in such a short amount of time by breaking us down and seeing how we do under difficult conditions.
I suffered through disgusting levels of heat and humidity, poison ivy, and sleep deprivation, but the hardest task I was asked to perform was to lead my peers. It’s a much different ballgame when you are given MSIs and MSIIs to lead, as you’re their senior. But for a leader to be yanked out of a group of MSIII strangers, well, that’s when things get especially difficult.
While my “life experience” is still limited, I came from a much different position than most cadets—exchange student, missionary, married, a daughter who spent lots of time in the NICU, and just the fact that I’m 24 when most were turning 21. I had confidence and capability where others were still building their skillset. I was lucky with the platoon and squad I was given, though. I couldn’t have done it without great peers to lead.
The rest of this entry is a compilation of notes from my notebook as well as a timeline of what we did while we were at camp. All of my highlights are in orange text. At the end is a list of documents we were given. Let me know if you have any questions or if you find anything that could be improved upon.
4th Regiment, B Company, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad
Initial counseling: “There is no limit to what we can accomplish if we do not care who gets the credit”
Commanding General MG Christopher Hughes
Potential topics for discussion within briefing
The hard right and easy wrong
The first two years of 2LT
we recognize/honor those who take risk, willing to embarrass themselves
introverts don’t know how to communicate with extroverts
how do we cooperate, collaborate, and graduate
a successful leader uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to know where to start
care more about subordinates’ needs than your reputation
rehears responses to compliments/critiques
“Always do what is right realizing that doing what is right is the most difficult way to solve the problem acknowledging that it will be unpopular with those you lead”
“do your dishes” ➔ the unpopular decision is to maintain standards
physical checks on all equipment
“not fair” is never okay for an officer
sunburn can field an Article 15
“A good leader will go out of their way to give their subordinates ‘the why’”
builds trust and challenges you as a leader
“The cat’s ass” is a phrase that can be interpreted as positive or negative ➔ be clear in how you communicate
Read and understand the Constitution
Last year, about 95% of the 3,300 cadets got top 1-2 choice
Two things from science
successful in Army if you love fitness
Good at landnav/can read music means better at utilizing brain (critical thinking)
3rd is to take s.o. successful and intuitively say “he’s got it” ➔ PMS review
Read what GEN Mark Milley says. We’ll be at war with either Iran, Russia, North Korea, or China in 10 years
Camp increased intensity due to intense warfare ahead
Train to be miserable. An invasion is such
How does the leader stay motivated?
“Moral and sacred responsibility” to protect troops
find yourself in a reflective state
about 1/5 will be as impressive as you think they ought to be ➔ help the other 4!
“jealous regard for the honor of one’s unit” ➔ reg. def. of spirit de corps
Books by Daniel Golman on emotional intelligence (in the following order):
find s.o. who doesn’t look like me and understand diversity
share your bear traps and goldmines
List of things I needed from Shalene: Mio energy, Crystal Light energy, electric tape, Twizzlers, Sharpie, pens, socks, gallon ziplock bags, body glide
Arm immersion therapy—dunking bare arms into ice water for 15 seconds to cool core temperature
FLRC AAR—I was SL for Bridge Lane
Sustains
Communicated well
Stood aside to assess
Resilient and calm
Improves
Delegate to specific individuals
Don’t delegate to a team
didn’t understand any of the minute-of-angle stuff
memorize oaths ➔ “book ends”
Oath of Enlistment
Flag Funeral Presentation
LTC [Name]: “The best thing we get to do is lead soldiers”
Spot request for tampons aka “bullets”. CPT [Name] said, “Cadet, let me make this easy for you. Count how many full magazines you have…Oh, we’re not talking about bullets?”
MTC AAR—Me as PL for 3rd iteration
Sustains
My RTO suggested figuring out radios
LDA
One of our SLs didn’t have a radio ➔ SL to SL for LACE
Improves
Didn’t talk to previous leadership
used straight-line pace
SLLS halt
SCAT
Time on OBJ
Mid-Cycle Counseling
Ranked middle of PLT
improve: delegation and improving results
Top third of squad
trouble formulating plan under stress
good critical thinker
My goals
tunnel vision
fix lack of delegation
peer leadership
execution
follow-through
critical thinking is there, but I need to execute!
good plan now vs. great plan later
MSG [Name] said I’m a perfect blend of listening, respect, etc. needed for an officer
Company FTX AAR
The CG wanted dirty, wet, and funky
Mission
Evaluate leadership
crucible for mental fortitude
tactics
complex missions allowed for mental agility testing
repeated stimuli answered with SOPs reducing cognitive load. Mental agility for first encounters
domain knowledge was only a single subset of evaluation ➔ competencies
trust but verify (use belt and suspenders)
mission variables (water, maps, etc) add training value in plans in low-risk environment
inflated fire (Ex: MG on file)
no talking with family ➔ econ prospect theory ➔ negative utility from less ↑ than positive utility from gain
basic needs allow you to relate better to your soldiers
20 mins ➔ individual vs. group ➔ think total man hours
Documents
Most of the Cadets I went to camp with did not have these for whatever reason. My Cadre emailed them all to me. They’re stored in my university Google Drive account, and the links take you to the view-only file. You’ll still be able to download them, though.
Back from training this summer! I had amazing experiences and really pushed myself to the limit (not that I had much of a choice). I also gained valuable friendships and connections. More on those to follow in other posts. Some goodies since I’ve been back…
Focus
I try to read an article I have saved to Pocket every day, otherwise, my list of articles get’s to be infinite and overwhelming. In an Evernote blog post titled How to Avoid Focus-Stealing Traps, this quote on types of focus resonated well with me:
Goleman casts the types of attention…into three general categories. He argues that we can have “inner,” “outer,” or “other” focus, or focus on the self, other people, and the world around us. The most successful of us develop and balance out this “triad of awareness,” because “a failure to focus inward leaves you rudderless, a failure to focus on others renders you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided.”
Morning Routine
One of my favorite parts of returning home—aside from loving the heck out of my wife and daughter—is to be in a set morning routine again. I didn’t let jet lag get to me. My first day back, I set the alarm for 0530 (which felt like 0730 coming from the East Coast) and got to it. It’s been really therapeutic to know I have some structure—especially coming from military training. It’s looked a little something like this:
0530 Wakeup
0535 Play around on social media while my water heats up for yerba mate 0540 Bathroom break
0550 Play a round of Heroes of the Storm
0610 Read 4 pages of Das Buch Mormon
0645 Journal or blog
0715 Misc housekeeping on my laptop
0800 Eva wakes up
Silicone Icecube Tray
Tim Ferriss likes to ask what recent purchase of less than $100 has brought joy or impacted your life in a positive way. I don’t know why I ever bothered with plastic icecube trays that are terrible to use. A silicone tray is blowing my mind. You can pop a single cube out at a time, and it’s actually easy! I love it and will be getting another one. They’re about $4 at Walmart.
A Résumé for Elon Musk
I am constantly pouring over my résumé to tweak and improve it. I also love Elon Musk. This Business Insider post was a match made in heaven. A company built a résumé (PNG version) for Elon and, although it’s not perfect, it paints a very good picture of how to stick to a single page. It’s also creative and fun and has given me ideas on how I can alter mine. Funny enough, my current résumé is based on a guy who got hired at SpaceX right out of his undergrad.
I’d buy the Washington Capitals. Being from Virginia, we didn’t have any professional teams. DC was the closest bet, and all their teams (Redskins & Nationals) aside from the Caps suck. I don’t know anything about DC United, though.
I actually loved penguins so much growing up that my favorite team was the Pittsburgh Penguins. Back in middle school, my dad bought me an old jersey off of eBay and took me to a Penguins vs. Caps game on my birthday! He loved me enough to take me to a home game while I wore the bitter rival’s colors. I walked away with a Capitals hat, though, so I’ve come around since then.
Game I Loved as a Kid
A lot of my favorite video games, actually, come from watching my dad play when I was a kid. Serious Sam is one of the games I enjoyed watching him play. Apparently, there’s even a new VR version on Steam! Pretty cool. Nothing like shooting harpies with cannonballs in Egypt.
Half Marathon
I signed up for my first half-marathon! One step closer to running a full. It’ll be in the heat and humidity of the Virginia summer. I’m running the Freedom Fighters Half in Quantico which benefits the Semper Fi Fund. Pretty excited. I’ve been slowly upping my game, recently, and hit 9.8 miles as my new “Farthest I’ve Ever Run” run (you can follow me on Strava). Just fighting off runner’s knee and jamming to new podcasts.
Podcast Episode I’ve Loved
One of my recent discoveries is NPR’s new How I Built This podcast. I specifically loved the TOMS: Blake Mycoskie episode. Serial entrepreneurs fascinate me, especially when they have novel ideas. This one gave me some creative thoughts to bolster SpareSpace.
Haribo Pico-Balla
We’re slowly starting to dip into our supply of candy and chocolate we brought back from Germany. I never had these while I lived there (there are so many Haribo flavors), but I absolutely loved them! In fact, I ate them all before I could take a picture! They’re fairly similar to Hi-Chews in taste and texture, but the shape and flavors are different. Find them on Amazon.
I recently submitted an application for the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) scholarship. I had previously applied as a freshman at Boise State but didn’t get the award. There’s only one winner per state of a $1,000 scholarship, a membership, and a tour of a local military base and its engineering assets.
This go-around, I’m a much more developed writer and researcher. I wanted to share a few things I learned throughout the process.
Cross-Pollination
I have always been a huge advocate of grouping. Similar to the idea of temptation bundling (see Freakonomics podcast episode “When Willpower Isn’t Enough“), I try to group tasks to minimize time spent on tasks. Some examples I’ve utilized are:
Practicing my language skills with the Duolingo app while I feed my baby
Reading while on the exercise bike at the gym
Listening to a podcast while I walk to school
Catch up on my YouTube “Watch Later” list while cleaning the house
Pairing Netflix documentaries and folding laundry
You can see how each task on its own would take a significant amount of time, but by effectively pairing two tasks, I can get twice as much done.
This semester, I established a relationship with Dr. Doug Reynolds—a petroleum and energy economist and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks—and used his expertise as a reference in three different sectors: my health economics course, my professional and technical writing course, and the SAME scholarship. I was allowed to choose my topic for a term paper in my econ course (health implications of nuclear energy) and the subject of a final group project for the writing class (survey of energy usage in the US), which was the perfect setup to tie in my engineering background. My health econ professor gave me one of Dr. Reynolds’s books, which led to me reaching out. When the scholarship came along and discussed the implementation of the Smart Grid and microgrid systems in the US, I knew I’d be able to pick his brain.
I kept my questions concise and to the point so as to respect his time. It was a great success! I earned an A in both courses and am awaiting the results of the scholarship.
Writing
Taking the professional and technical writing class was literally just for fun. As a freshman at Boise State, I decided I wanted to pursue a certificate in technical communication. When I transferred to ISU, that option wasn’t available. I jumped at the chance to take the class solely because I was interested, even though it bumped me to 21 credits for the semester (I originally tried to take 26, but the school decided that was too much. Oh well…).
While I wrote out the entire essay, it is absolutely critical to have a fresh pair of eyes read it over. I had three different proofreaders take a look!
Another bonus to the essay was the term “literature review”, which Wikipedia defines as:
“a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and do not report new or original experimental work”
I’ve always wanted to get my feet wet in research, but have never been an expert. This might open a door to publish an article as a collection and review of other sources out there! I’m excited to pursue this.
Research
This was a wildly fun essay. As mentioned before, I legitimately love to write. What I learned most from this scholarship application, however, is that I also love to research. I previously worked for Canvas Strategy as a content marketing manager, ghostwriting articles for companies. It was a really fun job and introduced me to learning how to research. This essay, however, sealed the deal!
I printed and read between 10-20 articles for what was only a three-page essay! I highlighted, took notes, cross-referenced, then organized my structure on scrap pieces of paper. I’m very visual. Momentum built as it all pieced together, and I was very pleased with my final work.
Résumé
As part of this process, I had to account for my involvement in extracurriculars. I polished my résumé and included a copy on top of the requested document.
When I was applying to the Virginia Military Institute, their application had certain fields you had to fill in, but I also called and asked if I could send them a résumé in the mail to be considered with my application. They said yes, and ultimately, I was accepted. I’ve found that maintaining a current copy of my résumé has opened doors where speed was key. It’s not that difficult either. I check it a few times throughout the semester, but especially after finals.
References
The last part of the application was a letter of recommendation. Luckily, I know my department chair really well, and she provided the necessary recommendation. It did, however, fall during finals week, so I was really worried she’d be too busy. This prompted me to make a mental note for next time: ask for the letter of recommendation as soon as I open an application. I had saved the scholarship to my desktop for later and didn’t open it until I was ready to start applying. I could have saved myself a lot of worrying had I opened it, skimmed through it, and sent a request for that letter ASAP!
Summary
The takeaways from this application in addition to the fun brought on by the assignment itself definitely made the process worthwhile, regardless of the result. I learned about using my sources to their maximum potential, saving me lots of time; reiterated my love of writing in taking on this challenging paper; discovered literature reviews, allowing me to, in fact, get involved in research now, rather than waiting until I’m an expert; updated my résumé to reflect my most current undertakings; and lastly, I realized the importance of honoring others time and staying on top of task management.
The whole thing started in the summer of 2016. I was interested in being more involved as an entrepreneur and was looking for another venture to undertake. My brother-in-law, Stuart, mentioned at one point wanting to go into his own business, so we met up in Old Town at The Red Poppy Cafe for a “brainstorm brunch”. He pointed me towards Dr. Jeff Street at Idaho State and his new project, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED). It’s a wing of the business building that incorporates different organizations like the Small Business Development Center.
Dr. Street had just the project for me! He was pushing to get ISU involved in the annual Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge. Our school has never competed before, so I became the spokesperson of the initiative, forming ISU’s first team.
Development
I have a mental “mastermind list” of friends I bounce ideas off of or who are very good in their respective field. It’s perfect for starting a business, so I messaged my buddy and fellow ROTC cadet, Tim. We started working on a project, hoping to incorporate both of our fields of study to add to our résumé. He’s a nursing major, I’m in engineering, and we’re both in ROTC. We landed on a field medicine device for military use. That quickly transformed into an idea for a field workstation that collapses into a rucksack. Our problem, however, was that we were trying to take a solution to a problem, not the other way around.
Eventually, after weeks of going nowhere, Tim mentioned a friend, Jeff, who also uses him as a sounding board. Jeff’s a computer science major minoring in entrepreneurship at Gonzaga University. Without really ever making the connection until then (and having never met Jeff myself), all three of us have wanted to own our own storage units. For a class project, Jeff’s team had developed the idea for SpareSpace, a college student storage solution. His partners had no intentions of taking it further than the scope of the class project, so Jeff brought it to us. The three of us now had a problem.
SpareSpace addresses three issues:
Square Footage—College students commonly want to leave their belongings locally for the summer (especially out-of-staters or international students). Most students, however, can’t fill up an entire storage unit on their own. SpareSpace is itemized storage, where you pay per item per month, only getting charged for the space you’re using. On our side of things, we can now play Tetris with everyone’s belongings in our warehouse, tagging each item so we know where it’s at.
Truck—Everyone has that one friend who has a truck, and everyone asks that same friend to move their couch. SpareSpace does pick-up and delivery, helping the customer maintain their friendships!
Finals—Moving always overlaps with Finals Week. No one wants to stress about where they’re going to leave their things when they should be studying. On top of that, your friend with a truck? He has finals, too. SpareSpace offers streamlined coordination of moving at designated pick-up sites on campus through our mobile app.
The Competition
Thursday, we pitched our idea briefly to a panel of ISU admins, then headed to Boise. When we got there, we attended a workshop on crafting a company’s positioning statement, then had a meet-and-greet dinner on the top floor of the Zion’s Bank building. The IEC had a few gifts for us, including a sweet hiking day bag. After the dinner, we split to finish our presentation items.
Friday, we pitched to three panels of judges. It was a pretty cool experience. For the first group, our presentation had formatting issues. We downloaded our Google Slides presentation as a PowerPoint and forgot to check it.
In some cases, the judges gave great feedback. Most of them were investors, CEOs, or other business executives. One in particular—Scott Crouch, CEO of Mark43—said he operated a similar business for police evidence and gave us some things to implement. Another judge said his daughter (and everyone at her school) uses our urban competitor at her university in LA and that this idea would happen with our without us.
After the pitches, we had a few workshops on angel investing and intellectual property. The latter of the two was put on by Bradlee Frazer of Hawley Troxell, the lawyer for Boise State! Then, we got a tour of Boise Trailhead and Trailhead North—Boise’s hottest entrepreneur hangouts.
Results
Next up, everyone had a booth in the BSU Alumni & Friends Building for the public to come see our ideas. Those were also judged, but we were pretty unimpressed with our competition. We had a couple of boxes with labels, bubble wrap and bubble gum, and peanut M&Ms and packing peanuts. We went for modern and minimalist. We thought we were pretty slick.
It turns out that ISU had a great year. We made up 11% of the applicants, 25% of the finalists, and took home 31% of the winnings. SpareSpace won runner-up in the most congested category (Tech, Consumer Product, or Service), and we brought home $6,000, plus the bonus $300 given to every finalist team.
The Future of SpareSpace
Our team is in a bit of a tight situation. Tim and I are both ROTC cadets with summer training and internship commitments. Jeff is also gone for the summer for an internship. So basically, no one is here nor available to run our little operation. Furthermore, Tim and Jeff graduate and move on next spring, so it’d just be me for that summer if it got going. We’re not really in a position to launch, which is unfortunate, because our idea is solid, and the market needs us. We ultimately opted for a soft launch that didn’t work out, due to the timing of the competition, so we plan on just splitting our winnings.
At a minimum, we each have gained valuable transferable skills and learned the ins and outs of business development. Personally, I’ve taken some of my winnings and am learning how to invest in the stock market. To new opportunities!
First things first, I need a catchy name. Please help! I enjoy the rapid-read of Tim Ferriss’s 5-Bullet Friday, which I’ve adopted, but I need a way to name these posts to capture what I’m doing without being boring. Go!
New Jam
It’s clearly been awhile since I’ve posted one of these. I found “Trampoline” by Kero Kero Bonito back in March, and loved it! Enjoy. It’s an electronic vibe mixed with a hint of Japanese, similar to Porter Robinson’s style.
Cause
Okay, so I’m really excited about this. I look around and realize how much 1) people need money for projects, and 2) how much people hate fundraising. In fact, yesterday, I did a workout circuit at the soccer and track field at my university, and the concrete stands were rubble. You couldn’t even sit there!
I stumbled back onto DonorsChoose.org, which is a website designed for helping public schools fund projects they need. I searched for my ZIP code, and Learn The German Language was one of the first projects that popped up! I want to help them so bad. It’s local, and it’s German! They’re only $250 away from reaching their goal, and this would increase enrollment in my second major at ISU. Please donate if you have the means!
This is just the beginning for me. I really want to take on a fundraising project.
Semester: Accomplished
Boy howdy. This has definitely been my easiest semester yet. Because I’m double-majoring, and I need to work around Eva’s schedule this year, I took mostly business classes. I pulled straight As, except for an A-. It’s infuriating. It was a 92.76%, which didn’t get rounded to the 93% I needed for an A.
In other news, I’ve had an insane spike of productivity and self-development. I’ve taken on new projects, crossed many things off of year-old to-do lists, and have been having lots of fun. I’m home all month as Mr. Mom until Shalene’s done with school and I leave for my internship.
I finished writing about Germany (see Heimfahrt), posted my photos on Facebook to share, built a planter box out of pallets I took apart a year ago (summer classes got in the way), and have been enjoying being able to read.
Wikipedia
I have forever wanted to become a contributor to Wikipedia. I finally jumped on it (in the middle of doing something else), and was giddy the entire time. And what better place to start than Tim Ferriss’s page?!
I have an old Wacom Bamboo tablet I bought off a guy on DeviantArt back in high school. The stylus collected a ton of dust, so I used a Lysol wipe to clean it off since the grip was sticky. Well, now it’s worse. The wipe must’ve stripped the grip of its finish, so it’s just sticky rubber now. I got creative, though, and coated it with a nail polish clear top coat. It’s bearable now. The only downside is that it’s not entirely compatible with Mac, so I miss out on the button features.
StarCraft
Holy Hannah. I’ve been playing the crap out of StarCraft now that school’s out and Blizzard released the original for free!
Slow Carb Diet
Now that school’s out, I’ve had much more time for meal prep. I also don’t need to take my lunch anywhere (no more worrying about refrigeration or smells). I’ve been reading Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Body and implementing changes. I feel great, and have been eating significantly less food on this diet without feeling hungry or tired! I haven’t even been craving sweets! I wanted to give it a test run for a month before going to camp in June (MREs are definitely not slow carb). It’s been more expensive, but it’s forced me to eat healthier and get creative!
It finally happened! Not only did I fulfill literally years of daydreaming about returning to Germany, but Shalene’s lifelong dream of visiting the historical Fatherland came true. It was one exhausting trip, but we couldn’t help loving every minute of it.
Day 1 & 2—Travel
We dropped Eva off on Thursday, but our journey began on Friday, March 17th. We drove down to Grandma and Grandpa Wiser’s. We left our car with them, and they took us to the airport. Time together was minimal because Delta advised us to be there 3 hours early. Well, it only took us 20 mins to get through TSA and down to our gate (this would never happen at Dulles!), so we got Café Rio. Unfortunately, on this flight, we weren’t slated to sit next to each other. The employees at the gate tried, but we both had middle seats so anyone who could trade for us to be next to each other would be giving up an aisle or a window. The guy said that we’d just have to meet up in the bathroom…not sure if there was added connotation there.
I sat next to a guy and made small-talk, intent on stealing his seat. He ended up being a cool guy! He got his undergrad and masters at the School of Mines in economics and mineral economics respectively. He’s now working on his PhD at the University of Southern California specializing in the economics of happiness. He was headed to Holland to attend a conference in that field. Well, I planted a seed and let it be, not wanting to pester. He eventually turned to me and said I can have his aisle seat to trade away, since he was going to knock back two beers (St. Patrick’s Day), then sleep. So Shalene and I ended up next to each other after all! Little did I know, it was to the benefit of her former neighbor. The guy’s TV stopped working! Shalene and I were pumped because Delta had the whole 3rd season of Gotham, but we ended up just trading seats back and forth throughout the flight to share her working TV. Shalene watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and I watched Dr. Strange.
I was totally impressed with the entire travel experience. Delta now offers a crazy array of films and TV shows for free, a hot towel, and free drinks (even alcohol) on all international flights! It was a great airline, and KLM lived up to the same standards on the other 3 legs of our round-trip flight. KLM had these delicious wraps, too!
It was a 10-hour flight to Amsterdam, then we had a 6-hour layover. We wandered the airport, which was lots of fun, but that lasted 2 hours tops. The next 4 hours was miserable as we tried to find somewhere to catch a nap. There were lounge chairs throughout the whole airport, but it was now Saturday afternoon (changing time zones), so the place was packed! To make matters worse, the floors were tile so Shalene couldn’t lie down. We tried sleeping on a long bench sort of thing, but it didn’t last. Eventually, a chair opened up, which Shalene took, and I curled up on a padded cushion.
The airport really was cool, though. The bathrooms were so sleek and modern. The one thing that threw me off, though, was that there was a woman in the bathroom cleaning it while it was in use. I walked up to a urinal and she told me it wasn’t clean yet. She then proceeded down the line of urinals, scrubbing and waving us over one at a time as they opened up. So I was literally peeing in a newly-cleaned urinal while she was cleaning the one right next to me. In reality, it isn’t that weird, but culturally, it threw me for a loop.
Another cool thing about the airport was a giant digital clock that displayed analog. It also had a moving shadow of a man behind the clock face who would erase the minute hand and paint a new one as the time changed. Pretty cool. Another huge thing in the airport was all the tulip shops. They even had these really expensive hand backs that looked like tulips and closed with a drawstring.
We eventually made it onto our plane, and couldn’t have been more excited—or tired. We landed in Munich, got our bags, then walk out and sat in a café waiting for the Gerblingers. I had my back to the main section of the airport, so it was Shalene who spotted them. Gabi, Hubert, and Hannah were walking towards us, and it was so surreal.
The whole way home, Hannah was singing. We recognized a few songs from Moana, plus she’d sing in English every so often. When we got home, Magdalena was watching Fixer Upper! How bizarre. We had a delicious Brotzeit where Shalene tried tons of meats and cheeses, loving every second. I, of course, had a long overdue reunion with Spezi.
I was originally embarrassed by my German. It’s not like I had any choice but to speak it, however, I was still slow to ease back into it. Shalene actually followed along decently well! Magdalena’s English was amazing, and she was eager to practice. Hannah and Barbara had just started to learn, so they tested the waters when we pressed them. Hubert knew English but would say everything in German first (even when addressing Shalene) before speaking English. Gabi didn’t speak it, but she understood English well enough. Gabi and Shalene were opposites with the language ability, but they understood each other decently, especially as they used their hands.
I stayed up to wait for Tanja and Lukas, while Shalene went to bed, but I didn’t last long. We slept hard that night.
Day 3—Augsburg
We woke up Sunday (first at 4AM because of our zeitgeber [I owe my use of that word to Mrs. Cornett from middle school]) around 9 or 10 and kicked off the day with a Weißwurstfrühstück—my favorite German food. Shalene doesn’t care for mustard, so she wasn’t impressed, but you know she dove into the breadbasket for those rolls!
As we were getting ready, Barbara hung out with us. She told Shalene to wear her owl earrings (like Tanja, she’s obsessed with owls). We also gave Hannah and Barbara each a one-dollar bill, which they thought was pretty cool.
Shalene, Tanja, and I picked up Mirjam Wiedemann (Mima), and we headed to Augsburg. We went to the Fuggerei, which was project-housing for the poor—the oldest of its kind in the world. It was extremely nice, however, and we could see ourselves living there haha. There was also an air raid bunker with a few displays. One thing that stood out was when Shalene mentioned how cold it was during the day in that bunker, yet the people had to sleep in the bunkers in February’s winter during WWII because of the bombing. Lots of Augsburg was damaged.
We met up with Steffi Bröll and got lunch at Henry’s Coffee World at the Rathausplatz, or town hall square. A funny misunderstanding was when we ordered Mohnkuchen. Mima raised concerns about us as Mormons. She said if we couldn’t drink tea or coffee, we probably couldn’t have Mohnkuchen, using the English word “opiate” to describe its ingredients. I looked it up…poppyseed cake haha! We had Spezi and hot chocolate then ordered some poppyseed cake, then ordered fries, but with each order placed individually and seemingly in reverse of normal order. We didn’t plan on being that hungry, but it grew on us.
Inside the Rathaus was the Goldener Saal—golden hall—which we didn’t pay to go into, but it was amazing when we peeked in. Downstairs was also a whole display on the history of Augsburg. One thing I didn’t know was that Augsburg was formerly known as Augusta, named after Augustus Caesar since it was part of the Roman Empire.
We stopped by the famous Augsburger Puppenkiste, which is a famous marionette theater, before heading home. The journey back (a short 30 mins) had Shalene squirming, and we had to find a gas station for her to *ahem* use the bathroom at. That turned out to be more problematic than anticipated since everything in Germany is closed on Sundays.
That night, Gabi made Käspätzle, and it was a total hit. Shalene loved it. It’s one of those dishes that require a lot of work, so I didn’t get it much when I was there, but (and I hate describing it this way), it’s a regional “mac and cheese” baked into a casserole by layering Spätzle noodles and all different types of cheeses. To complete the dish, you throw fried onions on top.
Andrea showed up that night to say hi, and the rest of us (Tanja, Lukas, Magdalena, Shalene, and I) played SingStar. Anyone facing off against Tanja will lose.
Day 4—Nürnberg
Well, I got up at 4:30AM (12:30PM Idaho time), and just decided to stay up. I was on my way to eat something when I bumped into my host-dad, who was barely clothed as he got ready for work. Business as usual.
I ate, chatted with him while he read the newspaper, and then my host-mom and sisters when they came out, reading in between conversations.
Mima picked Shalene, Tanja, and I up, and we headed to Nürnberg, or Nuremberg in English. I didn’t know much about the city. In fact, I had been there once, but only for a 3-day rock festival, and we weren’t there to see the city. We just hiked a few miles from the train station to Zepplinfeld for Rock im Park.
We parked, dropped Tanja off at an audition for the orchestra there, and hit the Tracht (traditional clothing) shop to buy Shalene a dirndl! It was actually one of the easiest shopping experiences I’ve ever had. We wandered around looking at dresses when Mima says, “How about this one,” holding up the dirndl Shalene ended up buying. She tried it on, then we found a blouse, and were done! I walked over to the men’s section and picked up a shirt, that I then tried on and bought. So easy. Eva’s dirndl was trickier. We bought her a pink-and-green dress for when she’s 3 or 4. Until then, she’ll have to settle for a lederhosen onesie! Gabi also had a friend make handmade matching jewelry.
Next stop: Documentation Center Nazi Party Rallying Grounds. It was an amazing memorial to WWII. The building is an edgy, modern design that overlaps with part of the “conference center” that Hitler never finished. I learned a lot at the museum. One of the points that stood out to me was that Hitler became rich off of selling Mein Kampf. There were lots of French students that were running around being noisy and disrespectful, so Shalene was pretty bothered.
After the museum, we met up with Tanja, who was down after her audition. We got döner, naturally (Turkish kebab), then did some shopping. We bought a cuckoo clock, a few gifts for friends and family, some Kraftklub CDs as well as a kids song CD, and chocolate. Plus, we picked up some Disney movies—there’s no such thing as the Disney Vault in Germany—since they’re each only like 10€!
Mima had to bounce, so Tanja, Shalene, and I hiked up to the castle, then caught the train home, where we took a nap. So exhausted!
Day 5—Dachau & München
We spent two days in Munich. The first day, we were meeting up with my friend Jonas. We quickly found out that although Shalene and I would have fun reflecting on the experience, we would not make good partners on The Amazing Race. We were dropped off with plenty of time to buy a ticket, but the machine to buy tickets wouldn’t take our 50€ bill, which is all we had. Our bank had locked our credit card the day before (unbeknownst to us) since we hadn’t filled out the paperwork to say we were traveling, even though we had gone in to ask questions and no one said anything about it to us. The train station office couldn’t make change, and neither could the store nearby. So I said, “Forget it. Wir fahren schwarz.”
Essentially, my plan was to hop on the train and just tell the ticket checker that we have cash, but the machine wouldn’t allow us to purchase a ticket. We missed our train because of all the troubles, so we went over to the track and waited. I didn’t know what to do. Every day we were in Germany, Verizon texted us asking if we wanted to activate international calling. It’s only $10 per day to have the same access and features as we did in the US. No sweat. I replied saying to activate it. It didn’t work. I called Verizon. They were doing maintenance and couldn’t help me for an hour. To top it all off, we were to purchase a group ticket, picking our friend up along the way, so if we didn’t tell him in time, he’d get on the first train without a ticket (potentially getting fined), and we wouldn’t catch up to him for 30 minutes.
Shalene asked if we could just ask someone to borrow their phone. I initially shot it down. First off, the Germans keep to themselves and aren’t outwardly friendly to strangers. The phrase “Man macht das nicht” or “One doesn’t do that” comes to mind. Secondly, I didn’t consider myself a tourist when I was there. I spoke German, and I knew my way around. I didn’t need help. But I panicked, and eventually said she was correct. I asked someone to shoot a text to Jonas for us, and he asked if I just wanted to call. It worked out great since Jonas was also running late. We met up with him on the train and were on our way to Dachau, the first concentration camp.
It was definitely interesting and humbling to be where the atrocities of the Holocaust once happened. I was a little surprised with how bare it was, though. When I lived there, they sent me on a field trip with the 10th grade to Austria to see Mauthausen, a work camp. There, you got to walk down the same steps into the deep quarry the prisoners were forced to work in. At Dachau, they had reconstructed a housing facility, but the rest were bare lots with placards and numbers. There was a museum, where we watched a movie (I fell asleep and felt horrible—jetlag was killer), we took an audio tour around the grounds, and took lots of pictures. The coolest part to me were the placards with inscriptions of the US military groups that came to liberate the camp. Another oddity were the three churches on the backside of the camp, with the crematory in the woods off to the side. In fact, it was so odd, because it felt like a fairy tale, walking through a beautiful grove of trees to what appeared to be a picturesque cottage. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
After Dachau, we headed into the big city. We met up with my host-brother, Stephan or Hubbi (an affectionate nickname as the little version of Hubert). First on the list was food. We were starving! We went to Tegernseer Tal Bräuhaus, a really traditional restaurant and brewery.
He showed us around, but the weather totally detracted from the beauty of the city. We saw Residenz (an old palace), Marienplatz (the central square), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (the university where my host-bro studies), and the opera house where my host-bro plays in the orchestra. We also got ice cream, then walked through the English Gardens, which were dead and grey since spring hadn’t fully hit yet.
After we had hit the entire city by foot, we talked to the train station and Jonas’s girlfriend, Anna, picked us up in Augsburg. We ate dinner at their apartment and had a blast. Her family owns a farm and a little store, and they get to live in an upstairs apartment as part of an office building. It’s a sweet set-up, and they get it for cheap since her parents’ asking price is too much for people in the city and goes unrented.
Day 6—München
We started by gathering up our friends in Tanja’s car and headed to the train station. We had Shalene, Tanja, Bartschi, Jana, and I. A friend of Tanja’s (Kathi) met up with us in the city.
First stop: Das Deutsche Museum—the largest science and technology museum in the world. It was insane. Shalene was super uninterested going into it but immediately had a great time finding that so much of the Industrial Revolution she teaches would come to life. The first exhibit we hit was Bergbau (mining). The entire exhibit was literally like walking through a mine. They had constructed tunnels with displays built into the walls. It ended up being our favorite exhibit!
Continuing on, we saw exhibits on machines, electricity, energy, the environment, boats, the history of aviation, and so much more. It was overwhelmingly enormous. We wished that we lived nearby and that we could spend an entire day on each exhibit.
We wanted to buy a mobile for Eva in the gift shop, and we really liked two: hot air balloons and the plants. We anticipated that the prices would be steep, but they were actually insane. But we did pick up some cool things there. I got a mechanical engineering book in German for when I’m a business magnate and have my own office.
For lunch, we went to this restaurant, Hans im Glück, which was straight out of a fairytale. The whole restaurant looked like it was a treehouse indoors! There were trees from floor to ceiling and all the lamps on the walls were birdhouses. The food was delicious!
Afterward, we hit the Viktualienmarkt briefly, then headed over to Munich’s favorite tourist attraction, the Hofbräuhaus. It’s actually not very cool, but you’ve got to go to check off the box.
We took the train back to Wertingen, had Gabi’s homemade Apfelstrudel (words cannot describe its deliciousness), and played SingStar. Benni got off of work and came to join us, too.
Day 7—Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Originally (as in version 459 of our travel plans), we were slated to go to Salzburg on Day 7. We decided, however, that a 6-hour roundtrip train ride wasn’t worth it for only 6 hours in the city. Instead, Bartschi picked us up and we drove to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber. It was a beautiful city, and ended up being our favorite destination of the entire trip!
It’s an old medieval city still surrounded by a wall. We absolutely loved just walking through the streets. Every house was a different color, and the weather—chilly and foggy—kept a lot of the tourists away. We felt like we had the city to ourselves!
The big two sites that we saw were the Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum (Middle Ages Criminal Museum) and the Käthe Wohlfahrt Weihnachtsdorf (Christmas Village).
The Criminal Museum mostly revolved around torture. In fact, my German teacher in high school had flashcards on different torture methods, and I’ve always wanted to visit the museum. And here we are, stumbling on it by chance! It was so cool. The whole place was filled with models, ancient texts, and replicas of methods for torture, criminal justice, and law. It was such a cultural thing back then, too. They even had a visiting exhibit on Martin Luther and witches.
The Christmas Village—a seriously impressive store of Christmas ornaments and decorations—is world famous. Unfortunately, they don’t allow picture taking inside. It’s Santa’s secret village. But let me just tell you. I didn’t think it were possible to have a store that revolves around Christmas stay in business year-round. But their prices explained it all.
Because it was such an old city, the way the roads were laid out led to some crazy intersections. One, in particular, had a super-slanted house that all the other tourists wanted to take pictures with. It was pretty cool, but hard to tell from a picture how crooked it really was.
After we were finished looking at things, we spent an absurd amount of time looking for a place to eat. We even stopped into a bank or something and asked an employee where they liked to eat. She said there’s a food cart outside the city wall that makes literally everything out of potatoes. It was a hard pass from me. Turns out, we fell into the brief window during the off-season where restaurants shut down between lunch and dinner due to a lack of demand. So we went hungry and drove home.
We were so tired and slept most of the way home while Bartschi was our chauffeur. I promise we felt bad. He first took us to the bank where we were able to withdraw cash to pay people back from when our card was down. Then, he took us to his parents’ clothing store and hooked us up with a traditional-style hat for my father-in-law, Jim. We had been on the hunt, but he’s got a big noggin. My head is also huge, so as we were shopping, I’d try on hats and they wouldn’t fit. But it turns out, Bartschi’s dad was selling hats, then stopped and still had two in storage he wasn’t looking to sell anymore. He just gave it to us!
After an early adventure ended for the day, we went out to the trampoline with Hannah and Barbara for a bit, then watched Finding Dori in German. Gabi also made us a supposedly traditional Bavarian toast, eggs, and ham dinner.
While Shalene took a bath (they have a giant tub), Gabi showed me pictures from last Christmas. She makes nativity sets as a hobby, and there’s a big showcase every winter with some of the other local displays!
Day 8—Schlösser
On Friday, Hubert took the day off and drove the two of us plus Gabi down to the little town of Schwanngau, home to the world’s most famous castle. Before hitting our tours, we sat at a restaurant to eat by the lake, but they were closed until later for lunch. So I had a Spezi, Shalene and Gabi drank hot chocolate, and Hubert had a beer. It ended up being really chilly that day, but we sat there until our tour, making fun of tourists taking pictures by the lake.
We toured both Schloss Hohenschwangau then Schloss Neuschwannstein. There’s an interesting distinction when it comes to castles. There are two types: a Burg and a Schloss. A Burg refers to a military fortification and is often part of city names such as Salzburg, Austria. A Schloss is more of a palace or manor meant for royalty to live in.
Hohenschwangau belonged to Maximillian II, the king of Bavaria. This castle was beautiful. The detail invested into each room was amazing. We paid for the audio tours, so you select your language and walk through with a little speaker next to your ear. A tour guide walks through with you and activates the sound file for each room you’re in.
We took an extremely crowded bus up the windy trail to Neuschwannstein. Ludwig II, the son of Maximilian II, inherited the throne to Bavaria and built himself this castle. It wasn’t ever finished, however, because he 1) ran out of money, and 2) was dethroned before he could finish. In fact, he had several sites all around that he was building and only ever finished one. So, while iconic from the outside, the inside wasn’t as spectacular as his father’s castle.
On the way home, we had to make a pit stop at the “mountain cheese” store. My host parents spent $75 on cheese and fish there to take home! The Germans love their cheese, and I can’t blame them. We finished the evening with an air pellet shooting competition between villages and a solid game or two of foosball.
Day 9—Ulm
Gabi drove us to Tanja’s apartment on Saturday morning. I asked her about a few people I remembered, including the creepy music teacher I had at school there. She told me that he ended up marrying and impregnating one of his students as soon as she graduated. He’s at least 50. Anyway, Tanja lives with her boyfriend, Lukas, above his parents. They’ve actually got a pretty sweet setup.
Kathi was already there, so the five of us packed into Tanja’s car and drove to Ulm. When we got there, we wandered through the streets to our predetermined brunch location. It was a little café called Choclet, and it was packed! We had to stand around for quite a while until people got up to leave. Luckily, we ran into Lukas’s best friend from school. He was there with his girlfriend and their new baby. They were cool to talk to, and it gave us something to do until we ate, but it also triggered mad homesickness for Shalene. Being gone from Eva so long was really hard on her, and Saturday was the worst.
I ordered the Choclet Exclusiv, while Shalene stuck to the “American Breakfast”. After we ate, a family friend of Lukas’s named Gabby showed up. She’s a funny lady who gives professional tours of Ulm. Additionally, she’s also a professional speaker, and people pay her to speak at their weddings, funerals, etc even though they don’t know her. She’s just good at telling stories. We thought that was so odd!
She burned through that city. We saw so much and were given so many details in such a little time. We saw the Rathaus (city hall) and the Stadthaus (no real translation, but it’s a city building meant for gathering), then hit the Ulmer Münster (Ulm Minster [similar to a cathedral]). Those Germans cranked out the 4th tallest building to come before the 20th century, and it’s still the tallest church in the world! There was a little competition, and the Cologne finished their cathedral to be a bit taller, breaking the record a the time.
It came about because Ulm’s church sat outside the city wall, so they decided to build one inside. It was originally a Catholic church, but now it’s Evangelical interestingly enough. The whole town converted back in the 1500s. During WWII, most of Ulm’s center was destroyed, but the minster was left alone, surprisingly!
In fact, we spent a lot of time there, and the history was fascinating. It took something like 500 years to build because they halted construction for so long.
We also visited the famous Fishing District, saw the Guinness world record-holder for most slanted building (even more than Pisa…a key is hanging from the roof so you can see the gap), and divide between Ulm and Neu Ulm split by a river.
We got ice cream, then headed home. We went home, Shalene took a nap, and I started working on my résumé in German to hopefully land an internship there next summer! While Shalene was napping, Mima had some extra time and was in town, so we went to get even more ice cream. We just hung out and chatted, eventually making our way home to wake up Shalene for a goodbye.That night, we got dinner at Stark, a local restaurant owned by my host-dad’s cousin, with Hubbi and Tanja. My host-mom works there and makes all their Spätzle! We played Ellen’s Heads Up game and SingStar with Tanja, Jana, and Benny. I was only ever able to beat Tanja at SingStar once—”Burn” by Ellie Goulding. If only there was a KP song. She wouldn’t stand a chance.
On an alarming side note, the youngest two had lice. And they had been stealing my snapback to wear all week. Luckily, we escaped unscathed. It was still terrifying, though.
Day 10—Wertingen
Unfortunately, there was no sleeping in for us. To top it off, Germany honors daylight saving time a few weeks after us. So we got hit with it again in Europe on top of jetlag! We woke up and packed, then hosted a family brunch with all of Gabi’s siblings, plus the grandparents so that I could see everyone. It was a blast, and there was an overwhelming amount of food. We also made sure to get a family photo on the tractor…
We stole a nap (food coma), then said our goodbyes to Benny and Jana. We went on a walk throughout Wertingen. We got ice cream, then popped into what we thought was a restaurant. It was just a bar, and it was filled with people that all turned their heads to glare at us as soon as we walked in. They didn’t even have food, so we kept going on our walk.
When we got home, Bartschi stopped by to say adios, but he stayed much longer than anticipated because we started making pancakes for everyone. Next stop was Oma. We went downstairs to say goodbye, then turned in for the night.
Day 11—Travel
We woke up way too early, showered, finished last-minute packing (toiletries, etc.), and said our goodbyes to the host fam. It was a Monday morning, so Hannah and Barbara had school, and Magdalena had work.
Hubert drove us to the airport, and we went and stood in line for a flight to Egypt for a while until we made our way over to our actual terminal. The flight to Amsterdam was decent, then we had another 6-hour layover. We paid 2€ for a 5-minute, automated massage chair, but it was totally worth it. I was getting lots done since I had a fat stack of papers and magazines that I’ve been saving to read. So I was just decluttering my home office by reading abroad. Shalene was going stir crazy though.
Eventually, we got on the plane and flew home. I watched Moana (“Viana” outside the US), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and an episode of Pure Genius. I read some more and didn’t sleep a wink. We finally got home around 7PM, then had a 2.5-hour drive back home. I was dead tired. I drove maybe an hour before switching Shalene out. She didn’t last long by herself either, so we both ended up playing music loud and singing just to survive.
I’m making this list as more of a personal resource, but one that I feel others would be really interested in. I haven’t been into reading non-fiction or engineering fiction (a term of my own crafting), but I’m really looking to stretch my brain in new ways. This will be a living document. All the book links are to Amazon, and I am not paid by them in any way. I’m also looking to get more into long-form blogging.
I took to subreddit, /r/AskEngineers to ask a broader audience books they’ve found that emulate The Martian. Post: Other Engineering Fiction Like The Martian. They said the genre I’m looking for is “hard sci-fi“, which is based on real science. Here’s my post, followed by a compiled list of the recommendations:
Become a Confident Swimmer
This one has been deferred to the second half of 2017 so I can max my PT test in April.
Learn C#
I’ve almost finished the Brackeys tutorials! I only have the interfaces and generics videos left. Additionally, I just ordered Arduinos for ASME, and we’re working on them Monday. So this goal is definitely making headway.
Read Book of Mormon in German
I’m 7% done and just made it through 1 Nephi. To keep up, I have to read just barely over 2 pages per day or 8.3% per month.
Code My Own Website
While I haven’t done any coding, I’ve certainly made headway using the College Info Geek tutorial. It’s insanely thorough, and I’m building it now. Once I make it through a little more progress on C# and get my site live just using the included builder, I’ll shift towards more HTML coding to modify what I’ve got. I won’t share the URL yet because it’s still extremely rudimentary, but know that it’s happening.
Max PT Test
With it being March 1st, my final APFT is 49 days away. I’ve got to step it up. I was sick all of last week, and I’ll be gone to Germany for a week. I need to make sure that I kill this test. I’m close. I just have to boost sit-ups and run. I know I can. I just have to do it. It’s crunch time. No more lollygagging at the gym.
Read 6 Books
I’m 47% done with The Japanese Mind (a book I’m reading for school) and 29% done with The 4-Hour Body. Follow me on Goodreads to see my updates. I started reading The Man in the High Castle, but it reads very awkwardly, and I didn’t get into it. What I’m really excited about is my solicitation for The Martian-esque books from /r/AskEngineers.
Become Confident at Drawing from Memory
This one has fallen on the backburner because I find the motivation to draw very difficult. I was going steady for a few weeks while I was really into Heroes of the Storm, but I need to find more characters I’m stoked to draw. Plus, my premium DeviantArt membership timed out, so I’ve been less involved. I need to finish an art trade I started with my sister…
Make Headway on My Book and Comic
This has made some progress but is always halted because I can’t see to draft up my character bios enough to incorporate into a story. I need to put more time into this.
Sick and Dying
A buddy of mine turned me on to Alka-Seltzer Plus Day & Night Severe Cold + Flu, and I’ve never looked back. It doesn’t taste great, but it’s bearable when mixed with Super Orange Emergen-C (another one of my go-to remedies).
KP
If you haven’t watched Katy Perry’s new music video, then what are you even doing with your life?! Check out Chained To The Rhythm (feat. Skip Marley) right meow!
Article I Read Why Learning to Code is So Damn Hard is a great read on the difficulties and trends of learning code. I definitely feel that way, and I’m still in the beginning stage (I’ve been teaching myself C# through online tutorials). I know I’m going to crest the hand-holding ridge, and that terrifies me. How do you even bridge the gap between basic knowledge and an actual solo project?!
Bad Advice: “You Gotta” In an interview with comedian, Jerrod Carmichael, he says that the worst advice being spread around nowadays always starts with “you gotta”, in that you don’t have to do anything to be successful. You do you.
Exercise Snacking
Dr. Martin Gibala, an expert in high-interval training (HIT), shares in an interview about the concept of “exercise snacking” where 3 10-minute intervals throughout the day might be better than a single structured 30-minute routine. I dig it! I definitely feel like exercise advice is always contradictory (only do cardio vs. only do weights, etc.), but this is one that seems to be backed pretty well.
Let’s set the stage. It’s 5AM. I’m fast asleep, with my alarm set to go off in an hour. Shalene has been awake for two hours at this point. She’s anxiously awaiting my awakening. I stir. She get’s excited and thinks I’m awake. She then says my name and proceeds to drop a major issue on me before my day has even started.
She’s been awake thinking about our Germany trip. This past Friday started our 1-month countdown for our belated honeymoon. I’ve checked and double-checked, and our passports are current. Well before the sun even crests the horizon, she wakes me up to tell me that her passport is still under her maiden name, but our tickets are under Henderson.
All the tickets are under my email, so even though she had been awake and thought about digging through the filing cabinet and figuring all this out herself, she didn’t have any of the ticket information. She had to just lie there and wait for me.
I told her there was nothing I could do about it and went back to sleep. I, of course, dreamed about these stupid passports for my last hour of weekend sleep. After a restless 1.5 hours (I hit snooze, naturally), I got up, showered, and went to meetings for church. I came home to get the family for the actual church service, and no one was ready. Shalene was still panicked over the tickets.
I called, they changed her name on the ticket to her maiden name, no questions asked. Good as gold. Right as rain. Situation averted. Jonny saves the day again.
Tool
Ya know how every presentation you’ve ever given has technical errors because of different versions of PowerPoint or trying to go between Mac and PC? VLC media player is a great, free, downloadable program. I can always play videos on my Mac. My dad actually got his work to adopt the program for all of their laptops, too. Super convenient.
Craving
Walmart has a delicious, affordable, fresh-tasting salsa by Fresh Cravings that I can’t get enough of. Get Medium Restaurant Style Crave Salsa (16oz).
Nerd Out
The Last Ring-bearer is a fan-written sequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy written by a Russian scientist. I haven’t read it yet—in fact, I haven’t read any of the LotR books aside from The Hobbit, but they’re on my list to read. It’s nearly as long as a full LotR novel, and the gist of it rides on the proverb of “history is written by the victor”. It’s from the perspective of Mordor as a technologically-advanced, industrious nation. Free PDF download on the translator’s website.
Awakening
New workout routine and epiphany about cardio weights. I was at the gym and a friend said to move my rest between reps to 30 seconds and it should help my cardio. I use the app Full Fitness (love it!) to track my workouts, and it had a pre-programmed runner’s workout routine included. I tried it out, and it was all weights, no cardio, but I was sweating during my lift like never before! So I’ve altered my workout to be weights with minimal rest then cardio.
Science Rules
I absolutely loved The Martian by Andy Weir (see Books Read in 2016), and I was recently thinking about the plausibility on surviving of potatoes. Live Science has an article outlining exactly that! Luckily, I’m a sweet potato lover, so I could manage longer than most, right?
Living in the Now
Cal Newport is a guest speaker on The College Info Geek Podcast in What We Learned from Reading “Deep Work”. He speaks to the concept of deep work he is famous for. It totally opened my mind into how I need to work. I can’t have my phone nearby when I’m doing homework. I can’t just check Facebook when I get bored with a TV show. It’s a lot about being in the present, but also the added benefit of focusing on work. Even further, he talks about the addiction of distractions and how to build your discipline to really be free from all these externalities.
New Show
I went through Netflix one day and added a whole bunch of shows to my list. The only qualifications were that they 1) were TV-14 or below (I don’t do TV-MA or R), and 2) had decent ratings (or sounded appealing enough to outweigh mediocre ratings). My most recent find is Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories. It’s in Japanese (I love it! The culture fascinates me) so I watch with subtitles. It’s all about a diner that’s only open between midnight and 7AM. Each episode, you’re introduced to a new dish and a new person’s story. I always have an intense craving for ramen when I watch it.
Playing
Can’t get enough of Blizzard’s Hearthstone. Free download. I’ve got it on my Mac and iPhone. I’ve been missing going to the ole Game Parlor in Sterling with my pals. I was into Magic the Gathering for a while, and this is very similar (and less costly! haha). Check it out! My Battle.net username is starkexpo#1538.
Podcast The College Info Geek Podcast has quickly become one of my favorite podcasts. It’s two geeks with social skill dissecting user-submitted questions as it pertains to college, productivity, and careers. They’re funny and super insightful. Highly recommended!
Product
The Google Chrome extension, StayFocusd, has become my new saving grace. It allows you to set “banned” sites and how long you’re allowed to spend between them all in one day. Facebook, Twitter, and reddit—10 mins of wasted time per day allowed.
Food
Weißwurstfrühstück (“white sausage breakfast”) is hands-down my favorite German food. It’s tradition to only eat it before noon and is one of the few culturally acceptable times to have beer before 4PM (“Kein Bier vor vier”). My drink of choice, however, was Spezi—orange-flavored cola.
Music
“Indian Summer” by Jai Wolf. I came across it when looking for Madeon- and Porter Robinson-esque sounds.
Mantra
“If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.” Apparently, this originates with Getting Things Done by David Allen1, but I’m sure I came across it on a podcast. I’m almost certain it was an episode on The Tim Ferriss Show while discussing meditation.
I’ve liked the Tim Ferriss 5-Bullet Friday format due to its conciseness and spontaneity. I’ll run with it and keep it as a format for a while since I don’t have a ton of time between classes and want to be putting something out regularly. I’m sorry, but Tim get’s mentioned a lot in my posts.
Jammin’ To “Chinchilla” by Feed Me. I came across this song through the subreddit r/EDM. And it’s way good. I’ve been looking for something echoes the sounds of Porter Robinson and Madeon.
Looking Forward To
In March, Shalene and I are going to German for spring break (10 days total). It’s just around the corner, and we’re having fun finalizing plans. I’ve been using Trello, and bouncing ideas off of friends and family. We really wanted to see all of Germany—especially Berlin—but we’re staying local to Bayern and Austria to minimize dead-time on the train. Tim Ferriss talked about half the reward of a pre-planned trip being the anticipation, and boy was he right! It’s getting real!
Nerding Out Over
Trump’s wall. Not that it’s happening, just that a structural engineer took the time to break it down for us on imgur. I came across it on the subreddit r/AskEngineers. Pretty funny!
Skill I’m Honing
Drawing! Follow me on DeviantArt. Looking for requests, art trades, friends, accountability, etc. Need ideas on new things to draw. I’ve been sketching out superheroes and characters from StarCraft, but I’m running out of things to keep my momentum.
Something That’s Blowing My Mind
I’m reading 4 books at once! I’m still working on The 4-Hour Body and The Japanese Mind. I’ve also picked up The Man in the High Castle as a fiction novel. It’s been on my list of what to read next, and I don’t like reading more than one book at once, but at night, I’ve gotta have something fiction. Additionally, I’m reading the Book of Mormon in German (one of my resolutions), so I’m spread pretty thin haha! You can follow me on GoodReads. My resolution for the year is to read 6 books so this would be two-thirds of my goal knocked out hopefully by the summer!
Hi there! I recently moved over to WordPress from the Blogger world! The change was prompted by my business page, Prism Social, where I felt Blogger had reached its limitation—WP has a whole lot more functionality as a website platform in addition to just the blog. I was also really frustrated when Google did away with their Blogger app for iOS. I’ve long been interested in WP, so here we go!
I figured that today, I’d take the format of Tim Ferriss’s 5-Bullet Friday. You’ll hear me talk a lot about him. He’s a favorite podcaster and author I follow. Every Friday, he put’s out a newsletter consisting of five bullets just tossing out some fun things he’s been pursuing or thinking on. It ain’t Friday, but I’m gonna go for it (minus the bullets)!
Side note: Let me preface this by saying that I don’t receive any affiliation money. All the links are for your convenience, not for my own profit.
What I’m Reading
For my BA German for Business degree (one of many pursuits), I have to take a comparative literatures class. I petitioned to allow for Cultures of East Asia. My class is online and is concentrated on the Japanese culture. Fun fact: I love Japan and even took Japanese 101 my first semester at BSU. My intent was to minor in Japanese but decided it would be too much for me to pursue such a difficult language and engineering at the same time.
The scope of this class consists entirely of reading The Japanese Mind and answering true-or-false 10-question quizzes each week. It’s fascinating and would make for an interesting read regardless of your familiarity with the culture. Each chapter is an essay on a specific aspect of the culture. Chapter 1 was aimai, or “ambiguity” and dives into the indirectness associated with the Japanese.
What I’m Listening To
My wife got me into podcasts while we were dating long distance (a four-hour drive one-way). She just started a new one called The Charged Life with Brendon Burchard. It’s not really my thing—10-minute weekly pep talk—but one line jumped out at me. In the “4 Ways to Become More Disciplined” episode, the host highlighted the necessity for social celebration of accomplishments. He stated that if you do something hard, but don’t celebrate it with your friends, then you don’t get excited about the next difficult thing you accomplish.
A Product I Can’t Live Without
It wasn’t until I got back from Germany that I did anything with my hair. And I mean anything. It was thick, bushy, and unruly. August 2011, I took my best friend and his then-girlfriend to my haircut. I had looked up a couple pictures I wanted to emulate, and I let the hairdresser (Jennifer) go to work. She finished with a gel on the top and a matte paste for my cowlick right up front. I’ve since switched to the paste for everything up top. I would not be the man I am today without Garnier Fructis Style Surfer Hair Power Putty.
What I’m Playing
During the regular semester, I have no time for video games. Whenever a break hits, though, I get back into it pretty hard. Winter Break was all about Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm. Out of all the characters, I’m only familiar with the StarCraft crew. I’ve never made time for StarCraft II, though, so it can still be hit or miss. My favorite’s Zagara. Gotta love the Zerg! Add me with my BattleNet tag: starkexpo#1538.
Something I’m Excited About
I’ve always known that I wanted to get an MBA, but with what emphasis? For a while, I thought entrepreneurship. Then economics. Then I changed my minor to econ, so that ruled out the MBA option. I’ve been working on a market research project for one of my social media clients, and I stumbled across my answer. The Technische Universität Berlin (Technical Univerity of Berlin) has an MBA in Energy Management, and it’s all in English! First off, Berlin is my favorite city in the world. Second, I’ve thought about running for public office at some point—only for a term or two as a public service—and energy would be a great platform! It’s also very relevant to my professional interests in engineering and project management.
Fin
Fun format? What’d you think? I had fun talking about all the random things that have my attention lately. Hopefully you did too!
Back in my Books Read in 2016 post, I talk about how I actually do have plenty of free time! Oftentimes, I choose to allocate that towards unproductive things like Netflix and video games. I realize I can’t just be a productivity machine, but I’ve identified things that have previously been whims and wishes on developing talents that make me happy and set SMART goals for each one, ensuring accountability in 2017. I’m also using Trello to keep myself organized.
Here’s the condensed version of my list of 2017 resolutions in case you didn’t want to read the entire post. I’ve outlined them each in a bulleted list here briefly and then expanded further.
Become a Confident Swimmer—Physical Goal
Learn C#—Professional Goal
Read the Book of Mormon in German—Spiritual and Developmental Goal
Code My Own Website—Professional Goal
Max My Army Physical Training Test—Physical and Professional Goal
Become Confident Drawing from Memory—Developmental Goal
Read 6 Books—Developmental Goal (this could be any of the goals, depending on which book)
Make Headway on My Book and Comic—Developmental Goal
Become a Confident Swimmer
I’ve tried to keep them diversified, spreading them across physical (2), developmental (4), spiritual (1), and professional (3) goals. Now for the extensive list—enjoy and provide feedback for me!
Storytime: At scout camp, you start out by qualifying as a swimmer in the lake. One year, I was basically drowning the whole time trying to hold my oversized swim trunks on. I touched the dock to reorient myself and my shorts, and they wanted to kick me out, but I explained, and they said to carry on and finish.
I’ve always been a terrible swimmer, even having taken lessons as a kid. It comes down to efficiency. I don’t use my legs at all—they just drag behind me.
A video of me drowning in Upper Palisades Lake from a recent hiking trip for your viewing pleasure:
Not only would this make me feel on top of the world, but it’s also a lifelong cardio workout.
SPECIFIC: Become a confident swimmer by 1) form habit of swimming Saturday mornings, and 2) following Tim Ferriss’s method on being a better swimmer
MEASURABLE: Become comfortable in swimming regularly and able to control breathing
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: End of summer 2017
Learn C#
I came to this goal through the failure of ISU’s engineering clubs. I’m the president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, with the Society of Automotive Engineers as a sister-club. Engineering students, however, don’t care about their résumés while in the midst of strenuous curriculum, so participation has been extremely low. I’m tired of my future being out of my hands. To internalize this problem, I decided to teach myself C#. It’s a coding language for Arduinos and has other robotics applications. This way I’m continuing to build my résumé without being at the mercy of my peers.
SPECIFIC: Become confident with C# by 1) finishing the YouTube tutorial series by Brackey, and 2) take on a coding project to prove skills
MEASURABLE: Complete coding project as a test of skills
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: Before the end of the spring semester
Read the Book of Mormon in German
Both a spiritual and a personal development (German) goal, this is a carry over from last year. I’ve already read more this year than last, though, so we’re off to a good start! haha
SPECIFIC: Read the BoM in German for the sake of reading it through, as well as to practice German
MEASURABLE: Complete
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: Before the end of the year
Code My Own Website
In high school, I started to teach myself HTML. This is an opportunity to add another coding language to my toolbelt, as well as to launch a site to host my blog and market myself.
SPECIFIC: Continue to learn HTML through W3Schools tutorials
MEASURABLE: Complete
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: End of the year
Max PT Test
Maxing my PT test would seal the deal for branching Army Aviation. I need to work on sit-ups and interval running for my two-mile. I already max my push-ups.
SPECIFIC: 1) Maintain regular workout schedule, 2) cater PT plans to APFT, and 3) establish personalized and APFT-oriented workout routine
MEASURABLE: score of 300+ on APFT
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: April 2016
Become Confident Drawing from Memory
Growing up, I either wanted to be an engineer or a comic book artist. This is helping me revive a flame of the past. I really do enjoy drawing, but wish I was better at it (especially drawing people).
SPECIFIC: 1) Complete one legit drawing per week, 2) practice drawing from memory, 3) popcorn drawing challenge, 4) take an illustration class, 5) accountability by posting to DeviantArt each week
MEASURABLE: Be able to draw Iron Man and Batman from memory in any position
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: End of year
Read 6 Books
This is the same as last year’s reading goal (I read 5/6, by the way!). I’ve decided I need to better allocate my relaxing time towards something like reading, rather than Netflix or video games.
SPECIFIC: 1) Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (I love the Freakonomics podcast), 2) The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss, 3) one of the marriage books gifted to me by Julianne, 4) Sojourn by RA Salvatore, 5) Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, 6) some other unnamed fiction novel. Average 1 book every 2 months
MEASURABLE: Complete. Track progress in GoodReads, and record page count each week
ATTAINABLE: Yes
REALISTIC: Yes
TIME-BOUND: End of year
Make Headway on My Book and Comic
I’m an idea guy. My iOS Notes app and my Google Docs are full of half thought out ideas. Well no longer! I really do want to start putting pen to paper in a way that will really stretch me!
SPECIFIC: Write 100 words per week; drawing from memory goal
MEASURABLE: screenplay and rough sketches of first volumes done
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read 6 books. Not bad, right? That’s only one every other month. My previous year’s goal was 12, but it soon became apparent that it was not plausible as a full-time student with so much on my plate—false.
The biggest issue was how I chose to allocate my free time. I love to multitask. If I can latch onto something that I enjoy that doubles as being productive, I’m all about it. For example, I often trade listening to music for listening to a podcast. Get it?
Anyway, there will be more on this when I share my 2017 resolutions. This is all about what books I finished. And considering the whirlwind of things we’ve had to endure this year, I’m very pleased with having finished five.
Homeland
by R.A. Salvatore
My wife, Shalene, and I decided to get each other a book last Christmas. She’s easy—historical fiction, preferably WWII. I can’t go wrong. I am super picky, though. It takes me a long time to get through a book, so I want to be sure I like it. It was a swing and a miss, and I returned what she got me.
I stumbled across the first trilogy of The Legend of Drizzt series (15 in total; featured in 31 books total, although not always as the main character) bound together as one. I read the whole series in high school and couldn’t put them down. It’s a series set in the world of D&D with a Lord of the Rings feel to it. It’s not as dense, though, so I imagine it’s a smoother read with a better flow than LotR.
The Martian
by Andy Weir
I had actually never heard of The Martian until the movie came out, and even then, I hadn’t seen any of the previews, so I didn’t think anything of it. Our university, however, has a free movie theater that shows movies a few months after their release, so I figured, “Why not?” Holy Hannah. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time—I absolutely loved it!
The book was an engineer’s dream. The main character is both a mechanical engineer and botanist, so it’s very sciency. I had so much fun, especially with a personal interest in aerospace.
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
by Ashlee Vance
Back in August, I wrote a more extensive post outlining this one. Needless to say, Elon Musk is an incredible visionary and is a role model for my future career in engineering and entrepreneurship.
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
by Chris Kyle
I had just finished my last book and was looking for a new story to get wrapped up in. I was at my in-laws’ and asked if they had anything. I rummaged around in the basement, finding this bad boy sitting on the shelf. It had been on my list to read for a while.
It had a similar flavor to another favorite military book on the operation that took out Osama bin Laden. I love reading about the military, especially those that are particularly intense (e.g. Navy SEALs). Plus, growing up, I’ve always wanted to be in the military. I’d love to think that I’m building the mental fortitutde to one day take on the Navy SEALs training, but I’m slated for the Army.
Exile
by R.A. Salvatore
It was time to read a fiction novel again, so I cranked out this one in place of watching so much Netflix in my free time. Another great read. This was also fun because I’ve always wanted to write a fantasy book. My imagination went wild while I read this sequel.
I’ve had a few days to explore a good chunk of the iOS 10 features. It can be glitchy, but remember that this is a massive overhaul update, not the tiny modifications like Apple normally does. Additionally, the only way things will get better is if we troubleshoot for them and provide feedback.
Here are a few thoughts:
Messaging This one is probably the craziest of them all. The messaging pane has been totally overhauled, allowing 3rd-party apps within chat (I’m a fan of Sea Battle, the Battleship equivalent by the GamePigeon app), plus other special effects like invisible ink texts or texts arriving in a flash of confetti as it gets opened.
You can now also “react” to messages received, like on Facebook. Your options are: “heart”, “thumbs up”, “thumbs down”, “haha”, “!!”, and “?”. You can access these options by using 3D Touch.
Emojis Apple re-stylized all the emojis to look more like the Android emojis. I’m not a fan. I’ve always appreciated how the Apple emojis didn’t look like the other platforms. They also added several new emojis. The most notable ones have been the squirt gun, the gay pride flag, skull and crossbones, and a male/female version of nearly all people emojis.
In the new messaging system, you can also type a word, switch to the emoji keyboard, and replacement prompts highlight words in orange that have a corresponding emoji!
Apps Apple has overhauled several of their own apps. Photos and Apple Music have a totally new look. I’m not a fan of the new Photos (it’s a knock-off of Google Photos, which I use heavily), and no one likes Apple Music. Yes, that’s a bold statement, but why would you, when options like Spotify make way more sense? But luckily, the iPhone now lets you delete native Apple apps, like Stocks. Careful, though. If you delete an app like Calculator, it won’t be available when you swipe up anymore.
Apple has developed the Home app for things like smart lightbulbs or garage doors. You can now collaborate in Notes, similar to a Google Doc. I’m not sure if there’s live editing or not, however.
The native clock also comes with a new Bedtime feature, where you say when you want to wake up and how long you want to sleep, and then you can set reminders on when to get to bed. It also tracks the quality of your sleep.
Apple has opened a lot of options for 3rd-party apps. Spotify, for example, now has more accessibility options. WhatsApp also responds to Siri now. Facebook has now taken the iOS update and allows you to upload a panoramic photo from your iPhone, and it turns into a 360° degree photo on the Facebook platform!
User Interface The thing that’s tripping a lot of people up is the new lock screen and home button. The default setting upon updating your phone is the “Raise to Wake” feature (To disable: Settings➔Display & Brightness➔Raise to Wake). It as a very anti-Apple feel to it. Personally, I hate it. I liked it to begin with, because all you had to do was lift your phone up into a vertical orientation to see notifications. But that also means you can turn on things like the flashlight from your pocket, since the screen can be activated by orientation.
The second half to the Raise to Wake feature is the new unlocking system. To get to your iPhone’s home screen, you put your thumb on the home button to activate the Touch ID function, but the phone won’t actually open to the home screen without clicking the home button. The point of it all is to be able to interact with apps from the lock screen rather than opening your phone to the app itself, but I haven’t met anyone who likes the new unlocking method.
Apps also open and close much faster, which is nice. There is a double-pane home menu when you swipe up. This is also great for Spotify users, since you can swipe left to access your Spotify music.
3D Touch—There are lots of new options there. Play around with it!
And lastly, possibly my favorite feature is that when someone leaves you a voicemail, your iPhone takes its best guess as to what the message says and writes up a transcript for you!
Now Get Out There, and Use It! I hope this helped! iOS 10 is seriously the biggest update Apple has launched in a long time. This ought to be a decent guide in helping you maximize some of the newer options available!
My wife got me into podcasts when we were dating, and thank goodness for that, because it was a 4-hour drive one-way to see her each weekend! It became an easy way to substitute listening to music while I was on-the-go, learning rather than vegging.
This blog post was initially inspired by my now outdated post on The List App, but I knew I wanted to say more than I could type on my phone. They’re each hyperlinked to iTunes so you can find them (boo Android).
This is the latest podcast I’ve stumbled across. It’s super helpful in answering college student related questions as it pertains to productivity and university life. It’s helpful in a very general sense, though, so don’t discredit the guy right away, just because you aren’t in school anymore.
This guy is the legitest of the legit. A self-proclaimed “human guniea pig”, Tim experiments on himself in building the best routines and habits for an efficient and creative life. Each episode revolves around a very well-conducted interview of some expert or master of anything from coding to business to the military. definitely worth listening to.
This is a fun podcast because NPR (the host program) goes through all the homework of researching TED talks, then picks 4 or 5 to be combined into a theme for a single podcast episode. They even bring the speakers onto the show, exploring a little bit more thoroughly whatever it was they were talking about on stage.
Song Exploder is not only totally fun, but it’s also rad. They take artists and break down how they create music. Each episode revolves around a single song from a specific artist, and they interview the musician, composer, etc. to see what was going through their mind or what inspired them.
I first bumped into this one by way of the Freakonomics podcast episode interviewing Tim Ferriss! While it does revolve around economics, it’s not as textbooky as a college class would be. Instead, it dives into how Uber is a huge data source for economists, the betting pools of soccer games, and even the presidential elections. Give it a go. It’s a fun one.
These episodes only last 10-15 minutes. It’s like sitting around a story with Dirty Jobs star, Mike Rowe, as he tells a story about someone relatively famous the way he heard it, leaving the big reveal until the end.
This one is tougher to listen to on a regular basis, but I love it. It’s all about love and sexual intimacy between you and your spouse in your marriage. This couple hosts a very open discussion on a lot of topics we all think about but might not know how to discuss. Several of their ideas have seriously opened doors for communication within my marriage. They’re rockstars.
Honorable Mentions
These are podcasts that I have loved or listen to still, but aren’t at the forefront of my priority list. Here it goes:
StarTalk Radio: hosted by famous astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, plus a comedian co-host, and often features Bill Nye the Science Guy
The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes: a podcast interviewing guests on what it means to be great. There’s a little more of a business emphasis here than Tim Ferriss’s podcast.
National Defense Magazine: this one’s great to stay up-to-date on the latest military tech and regulations
Serial: super well-known, I didn’t like season one, which followed a murder, but season two on Bowe Bergdahl was great!
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: this might be biting off more than you can chew, but each episode is about three hours long and tackles a piece of history like how WWI started and progressed.
Slow German: a great podcast to refresh on my German, only…I don’t listen to it slowly
foundr: a great publication that started putting out a podcast as well, highlighting entrepreneurs
BrainStuff: a short, 3-or-so-minute podcast that answers everyday questions
Startup Grind: interviews with prominent industry figures, designed to help entrepreneurs succeed in starting a business
TechStuff: hosted by How Stuff Works, these guys dive into a ton of technology-related topics throughout history as well as in modern-days
EOFire: short for “entrepreneurs on fire”, John Lee Dumas (affectionately JLD) literally puts out a new interview every day of the week. It because too much for me to keep up with, and it hogged all my memory, but he does an incredible job of finding entrepreneurs and asking what their biggest failure was and how they overcame it.
This app is actually pretty legit. I first came across it in Tim Ferriss’s interview of BJ Novak, the actor that plays Ryan Howard in The Office. The List App is the brainchild of BJ as a way to eliminate the millions of entries in your Notes app, and instead has created a social platform around living and shareable lists. The app even generates prompts to inspire you to create more lists.
Some of the lists I’ve created for 1) just organizing my thoughts, and 2) to have fun:
Another sweet feature is that you can make your list “public”, opening other users to the option of sending you suggestions to add to your list. For example, if I missed an amazing restaruant here in Poky, someone could hit me up and say, “You forgot X.”
It can get pretty fun. Like anything still experiencing growing pains, it’s hard to get people to adopt, but once you find a couple of friends, it works great (think tumblr before it was big).
Holy Hannah has it been a whirlwind for our family. In mid-August, we had a trip out to Virginia planned (where I’m from) to see family. My exchange program that sent me to Germany needed help in New Jersey processing the incoming Germans that are going to attend high school here. Shalene was still in the point of her pregnancy in which we wouldn’t need permission to fly. But we were cleared by the doc anyway.
The day that we were to fly out of Salt Lake, Shalene had her bi-weekly doctor’s appointment. Bad news—her blood pressure was high, and her flying privileges were revoked. We were, of course, super bummed, but due to my commitment and pre-purchased ticket (we got a voucher for Shalene’s), we drove down to SLC.
Hurdle #2 was getting to the airport a whole 24 hours too early. My flight was set for 11:59PM, to which I rounded to midnight in my head. So I showed up thinking I was leaving the “next day” (same night) at midnight, when I was actually an entire day early. So I stayed with my grandparents there in Salt Lake for a day (that always a hurdle in-and-of-itself, too—for both parties, mind you).
An Unexpected Turn
I had just gotten off the phone the next day with my mom, finalizing plans, and about to head to the airport when my mother-in-law calls me, and says that after running more tests, the baby is coming within 72 hours by an emergency C-section. That was obviously a gut-punch. Sue Ann said that Shalene’s platelet count was so low (the stuff in your blood that makes it clot), and her blood pressure was so high, that she could’ve gone into early labor on the plane or even could have experienced a stroke or seizure.
After being shaken for a bit, trying to figure out what to do, I went to work. I called my exchange program. The lady was super understanding, said that she’d handle everything, hoped that I’d volunteer with them in the future, and that I need to go be with my wife. I told family, and Shalene’s side arranged a ride for me up to the hospital.
At this point, I still think that Shalene and/or the baby might die. A bit of miscommunication in the panic of a hurried phone call. So I’m super shaken. But my brother-in-law drives up from Lehi, hands me a Mountain Dew (I had just given up soda two weeks prior), and says, “Here. You’re gonna have a long night,” then we drive up to Malad, ID, where Shalene’s sister, Sara, met us to take me the rest of the way.
Shalene and I spent many long days and nights in the hospital, listening to seemingly conflicting “expertise”. It felt like an emotional rollercoaster. Almost like Christmas. “You’ll get to meet your little one tomorrow.” “Just kidding, we’re sending you home.” “Psych, your vitals are through the roof!” It was pretty draining.
Shalene was put on magnesium, high blood pressure medication, and even got to go home for a little while. Ultimately, she wound up right back in the hospital to be on bed rest and monitored.
On a positive note, we got to know all the super-nice nurses really well, and I had all the Diet Coke a guy could want!
Surprise Surgery
My second week of school, I finished PT, then went to a couple of meetings I had set up. Then Shalene calls me and says that she had met with the perinatologist (Perinatology is also known as maternal-fetal medicine), and the baby hadn’t grown in two weeks. They made a decision together to consider the baby and Shalene as two separate patients, and scheduled a C-section for that night.
I raced up, emailed my professors about missing the next day, and we got ready for Shalene’s operation. An answer to prayers was when they ran blood work again and reported that her platelets had jumped by a count of 30,000, which was bizarre, considering the steroids to try to bring them up did nothing. So right before going in for her surgery, they said they’d give her a spinal tap, where she’d be conscious, rather than general anesthesia, knocking her out.
We were both really nervous, but I got to sit in and hold her hand. When the time came, they had me look over the blind, and tell Shalene what gender our baby turned out to be. A girl! After they cut the cord, they handed our baby girl over to the next room to stabilize, before wheeling her off to the NICU.
What followed was a lot of pain on Shalene’s end, trying to figure out pumping for breast milk, juggling classes and coursework for Jonny, and long nights on the phone updating family.
On the Up-and-Up
Our little daughter turned out to very much own the name Evelyn “Eva” Summer Henderson. Evelyn is a longtime fave of Shalene’s, Eva is my favorite German name, and Summer because Shalene’s maiden name was Summers. We totally didn’t anticipate the confusion over Eva, though. Guys, it’s like Eva Mendes, not Eva Longoria.
She was born 2 lb. 12.5 oz. and 16 inches long. She’s itty-bitty, but is doing super well! She is breathing on her own, her feedings have increased, and she’s off of the lamp to help prevent jaundice.
The NICU is super family-oriented, and is great for us as stressed out parents. They want us there every morning at 10AM for the doctor’s rounds, and every three hours, we can hold her, change her diaper, and check her temperature.
One Week Old!
Today, little Evelyn turned one week old. It is seriously crazy to imagine how long this past month has been, and how well she’s doing. For a comparison of size, we got her an alligator to take pictures with on all the milestones, to capture how much she grows:
For everyone’s convenience, we’ve shared one of our Google Photos albums with you, so we don’t overload everyone’s Facebook newsfeed:
Additionally, you should not feel obligated to get us anything, but we know some of you (especially family) will. To make things easier, we’ve put together an Amazon Baby Registry:
Thank you all for your support, love, and prayers. It’s been a trip, but we’ve arrived, and we’re off onto our next adventure!
My favorite games tend to be the sneaky stealth games. I usually end up playing some kind of shadow, rogue character. So Splinter Cell was an instant fit. With the military vibe, coupled with the suspense of getting caught, it made for a totally fun game.
A random side note: I had a Navy SEAL game on the PS2 that I was struggling with. I remembered playing Splinter Cell, and used a similar technique. I picked a sniper weapon for my primary, and walked around with my pistol most of the time. It worked much better for me.
Neverwinter Nights
I love the Dungeons & Dragons universe. This game was so fun for me. I loved the quests, the customization, and the storyline. My favorite book series is The Legend of Drizzt, and he’s even mentioned a couple of times throughout the game. Aaah! I just love this one.
StarCraft
I quickly fell in love with everything about this game. I would read the lore, watch the storyline videos, and even read a book (Queen of Blades). I remember going to work with my dad on the weekends when no one was at the office, and we’d all play StarCraft together. My buddy and I would also always play throughout high school. Team Zerg all the way!
I haven’t played the second one yet, though…
Pokémon: Gold Version
For Christmas one year, my brother and I each got a Gameboy Color with a Pokémon game. Obsessed with Pokémon as a child, I spent every waking minute on that thing, burning through countless AA batteries. Our generation will never know the pains of the wormlight.
Batman Arkham Series
Never has there been a better superhero game than this series. In fact, never has there been a superhero video game I have enjoyed playing (aside from City of Heroes). Why is it that they all suck?!
This series seriously busts out every obscure character from the Batman universe to come kick the caped crusader’s butt. But that, of course, never happens.
Skyrim
Exploring is usually my favorite part of a game, so Skyrim’s open-map concept kept me entertained for sooooo long! I rarely pursued quests. I just looked for caves. Unless there were bears in the caves. Those things killed dragons more often than not!
It’s no secret that I am a huge Elon Musk fanboy—what engineering student isn’t? But it didn’t always start out that way. In fact, I have only know about this guy for a year or two. I’ve always described my future career as wanting to be Tony Stark. One day, my roommate said to check out a video titled “Elon Musk: How I Became The Real ‘Iron Man’“, a 45-minute interview with Bloomberg.
I immediately fell in love. I was so intrigued by an engineering mind literally trying to change how humans interact with the planet. I also grabbed ahold of him as a real-life role model for just about exactly what I wanted to do, proving to myself (and hopefully others) that my chosen career path was plausible.
I followed him and everything he was up to across social media and by googling articles about him. It soon became an obsession akin to my love of Katy Perry. Only this time, it was a geek obsessing over another geek.
In May 2015, tech writer Ashlee Vance (@ValleyHack) published the first biography on Elon Musk with his direct input. I knew I had to have it. That wouldn’t come to fruition, however, until February 2016, when Shalene bought me the book for my birthday. It’s titled Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.
The author goes into extensive detail, outlining the addresses of the company as they jumped from building to building, growing even larger. The only complaints I have about his writing style are 1) he uses a lot of the same descriptions on the same spread (e.g. “watermelon-sized motor” or “Musk Co.”) and 2) that he can be pretty casual sometimes, using words like “stuff” or “guy”. But a majority of the time, I appreciated that casualness as the novel dove deeper into technological jargon.
The book is seriously inspiring, though. Like watching the Olympics, you think to yourself, Man, these guys are how old and doing these things, and the biggest challenge I’ve overcome today was getting out of bed before noon? It really made me question what I want to do with my life. There are so many companies out there taking advantage of a boom in a certain market. But do you really want that to be your life’s work? Not me. I want to go down as a visionary and futurist, actively trying to make the world a better place by looking at it from a different angle.
My biggest takeaway, however, is that Elon and I have very different leadership styles. He is to be admired for setting overly ambitious goals for his companies, which his employees then rise to, but at what cost? I am not willing to sacrifice my marriage for the sake of my career, no matter how noble the cause.
A couple of weeks ago I was “sicky Ricky”. Allergies knocked me on my butt this year, and my sinuses were insanely inflamed. In fact, I ended up with bronchitis out of the deal.
Because I was so sick, I missed both a Statics and a Physics exam one Friday morning. I had tried studying all evening, but eventually I hit a threshold where I knew I wasn’t going to school the next day.
I slept on the couch, since I knew it’d be a rough night. It hurt to breathe and swallow, there was a crazy amount of pressure in my face, and my eyes were watering. I tried watching Netflix until I fell asleep of shear exhaustion.
I woke up to a pounding on the door. I got up, looked through the peephole and recognized my landlord, Rod. He was in the middle of replacing our dishwasher, so I was expecting him. I yell, “Hold on,” and run to throw on clothes. There was another pounding, and I thought to myself, “He has a key. Why doesn’t he just come in?” I opened the door, and there were two Pocatello PD officers standing there. The one who was knocking visually recoiled when I answered the door, immediately asking if I was alright. I was a mess, answered, “No,” and that I was dying of allergies.
They said that my professor was worried because I didn’t show up for an exam that morning, and that it was super unlike me. What a pal! I was seriously blown away that that would happen! I had a missed call from the university, so I’m betting my professor notified Public Safety, and when they couldn’t get ahold of me, then sent the coppers a knockin’.
How many of you can say a professor called the cops on you? Not many, I imagine. And it’s usually not something to brag about. But this professor is a rockstar. He gave me his cell number and told me to call him throughout the semester if I ever had questions with homework, etc.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately. My wife and I had a conversation about how we’re spending our time a few weeks back. We were both very independant before we got married. I ignorantly assumed that we would both be able to keep our independent personalities with a bit of crossing of paths for dinner and nightly snuggles. False.
Turns out, as I got more and more involved in school, work, and extracurriculars, Shalene picked up some things at school that she wasn’t completely sold on. She didn’t want to be a distraction when I was doing homework, so she did what she could to extend her workday.
Man, that hit me hard. I had never thought of how selfish I was being, but because of who I am, it really took a sit-down intervention like that to shake me out of it.
Here’s the deal. At the time we were having this conversation, I was taking 18 credits, working a job, running a business, trying to maintain PT scores for ROTC, got a time-consuming assignment for church (executive secretary), running a club as president/founder, participating in another club as treasurer, involved in yet another club, and started playing rugby. I had also only been married 6 months at that point, so you can throw a newlywed onto that list.
I revel in the praise of “I could never do that”. And because I am doing “that”, I get a heavy dose of pride injected straight into the ego.
But, while we were discussing the fact that we never spent actual quality time together anymore, I remembered stumbling across this bad boy back in December:
A photo posted by A Wealth of Wisdom (@thinkgrowprosper) on Dec 21, 2015 at 3:14pm PST
I loved it so much that I took a screen shot. While I didn’t physically create a list, I “woke up” to the haunting fact that I didn’t get any fulfillment out of anything I was doing. I had a bunch of activities on my list that would be a bullet point to tack onto my résumé, but they were restricting me from pursuing things that really mattered.
I have found great wisdom in the words of Derek Sivers, a successful entrepreneur when he says “No more yes. It’s either HELL YEAH! or no.” In essence, if you’re not super excited about something, say no, and then you have time to do things that come up as you go along. You can read more on his blog about it here.
A great example was picking up rugby and taking an indoor rock climbing class. Shalene and I are both in pursuit of finding some physical activity (or any activity, for that matter) that we can be passionate about. We totally envy the people who can go to the basketball court and shoot hoops for hours, or the girl who keeps her hiking boots in the back of the ole Subaru hatchback for impromptu ascents.
Rugby was about trying something new and wanting to be a college athlete, but it was also for points on my Order of Merit List (OML) “commissioning application” for ROTC. You get points for participating in things, that all factors into your national ranking as a cadet, and then ultimately, your status (active duty, reserves, or National Guard) and job in the Army. I wanted that sports point.
In the end, though, rugby wasn’t a great match, and practicing in the snow left me dead and broken at the end of every night to where I couldn’t muster the motivation to work on homework.
Priorities!
We broke it down. My top priorities are my relationship, my grades, ROTC, and church. Everything else comes second to those. Grades were slipping in tough engineering classes, I wasn’t going to the gym to better my PT scores, and Shalene and I had no quality time together anymore. In fact, she stopped telling me what happened in her day, not wanting to pile on additional stress to my hectic schedule.
It was at that point, broken and uncertain, that I figured out that being busy doesn’t mean you’re successful.
What really makes me happy is being romantic, being an entrepreneur, and working towards a career in engineering. I committed to dropping rugby, decided I wouldn’t be involved in so much, and really make time to expand my business, Prism Social, and spend time with my wife.
By the time Christmas rolled around, we hadn’t even gotten 10 thank you cards for our wedding mailed, so an actual Christmas letter was implausible this year. But we felt like we should give you an update nonetheless.
Us
As you probably know (I mean, we were in the Blackfoot AM News), we met back in January, and dated through the Spring. We wrote a few blog posts about our experience meeting (included at the bottom of this post).
Per usual, the both of us are always way too busy. As the youngbloods in our ward, we headed the Ward Christmas Party, each accepted one or more callings, and were the speakers for the Ward Christmas Program.
It’s also been a good year of growing closer together. Shalene learned I don’t like cottage cheese in lasagna, just as I have learned not to jump out and scare her…often.
Shalene
Work has been good. Last year, she helped with the Future City competition (where we met), and also kickstarted a new government competition class, We the People, where they break down the branches of the government. The legislative branch is their competition, and for judicial, they have to act as the prosecuting and defense attorneys for controversial historical court cases that could have gone either way (i.e. the Nurnberg Trials where the Nazis were dubbed war criminals).
Back in May, Shalene went on a week-long Carnival cruise with some girlfriends from her singles ward. Belize, Honduras, and Mexico were all on the travel plans. She was able to pick up a lot of cool trinkets and cultural knick-knacks to show off in her classroom, as well as visiting Mayan ruins and returning home with a great tan.
A majority of her summer was spent planning a wedding, so not a whole lot to report there.
Church-wise, Shalene is a District Supervisor for visiting teaching, as well as the Relief Society Night Leader (monthly activities). She’s pretty stressed out with all that she’s got going on, especially as we approach competition time with both Future City and We the People. She’s got her work cut out for her.
She has also thoroughly enjoyed decorating our house. Luckily, her mom is just a short drive a way, so we’ve been able to borrow a few little things here and there as we’ve also started building our fair share of decorations. On that note, we reorganize the storage shed we share with the downstairs neighbors on a monthly basis, just to stay on top of everything!
Break has been good. She’s been able to catch up on sleep and read a lot. She starts back up with a new semester on Monday.
Jonny
I’ve worked a bunch of jobs this year. To name just three of my eight:
Following a dream I’ve had for a long time, I joined my roommates, Corden and Myles, along with a friend, Chad, at Sound Wave Music and Lighting Design as an assistant DJ. Basically, I got paid to play dope jams and eat expensive wedding food every weekend. It kept me traveling back to Boise every weekend, which made for a healthier transition to Pocatello, where I didn’t know anyone.
Ever the entrepreneur (I was selling my homework door-to-door throughout elementary school), I decided to follow my passion for business and social media and registered Prism Social with the state, starting as a social media consultant. Show us some love on social media. Our handle for everything is @TheSocialPrism.
I’ve also finally landed a job that’s actually relevant to my field of study. I’m an outreach assistant for the College of Science and Engineering. Basically, we travel to elementary and middle schools and play Bill Nye the Science Guy to get the lil munchkins high on science to consider going into a STEM major. I even got to present at Shalene’s school a few months ago.
School is kicking my butt. Because of who I am, I can’t settle for simple. I’m double-majoring in Mechanical Engineering and German for Business and Professions, with a double-minor in Marketing and Military Science (aka ROTC). I just recently flunked Calculus II, entering my final with a C+ and leaving with a D-. I’m not discouraged (although I worked super hard), and I’d say it would be an easy A next semester, except I’m taking 21 credits on top of my two jobs.
Speaking of ROTC, I contracted with ISU’s Army ROTC program. They own me, but they also pay for my school. It’s a good opportunity, because as soon as I graduate school, I’ll be an officer in the Army, so I won’t be looking for a job. I’m not sure what I want to do yet, but I’m thinking of going Aviation and flying Apache helicopters.
In my singles Ward, I taught Gospel Doctrine. In our new ward, I’m an Elders Quorum teacher, which, in my opinion, is more difficult because of the manual we use.
Overall, I’m doing well. Between being a newlywed, operating a business, and going to school full-time (21 credits will be a little more than full-time…), I’m treading water until graduation!
Here I am, publicly posting my 2016 goals for accountability. Before I highlight them, and explain why I chose them, here’s my post on my 2015 goals. I, uh…didn’t do so hot. In fact, I was surprised what my goals are, not even remembering them. So I’m posting this year’s goals in my office.
My goals came from figuring out what areas in my life need improvement. Talents, reflection, learning, relaxation, fitness, and spirituality were the goals I decided on, and so then I picked measurable resolutions to keep me on track.
Drawing project every month
This one’s important, because I have a talent for and enjoy drawing. If I had to pick an alternate dream career, it would be as a comic book illustrator. That being said, I’m a long ways from drawing professionally. So once a month, I’ll identify something to work on (shading, drawing from memory, etc.) and get cracking!
Blog once per week
One of my 2015 goals was to blog every day—which I did! It was a total pain, but I nailed it on The Hate List. I’m glad it’s over, so now I’m switching to this blog as a way to express myself on a weekly basis.
Read six books
Last year, I set a goal to read 12 books, or one per month. I read two, and almost finished another two or three. So that didn’t go so well. I decided that in my spare time, I’d rather fill it with reading than Netflix or mindless scrolling on social media. So that’s the idea. Read to relax.
Six-pack abs
This was a goal last year. It’s always been a dream, and I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in with a commitment to go to the gym 6 days per week. So here’s a measurable fitness goal.
300 on PT test
For ROTC, we take a Physical Training test every month, which consists of 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of sit-ups, and a 2 mile run. My goal is to get a perfect score of 300. I’ve scheduled out time to go to the gym outside of my MWF 6AM training, so here’s to a new year, new me.
Read the Book of Mormon in German
This is for German as much as it is spirituality. I want to be reading scripture every day. It’ll improve my mood and, hopefully, give me hope, and keep my head on straight for a super tough semester. I’ve only ever read the Book of Mormon straight through once (pathetic, I know), so I wanted to do it again, while working on German—Two birds, one stone.
I’m laying in bed, unable to fall asleep. Today started out rough. Debating politics had me fired up, followed by a Calc quiz that I was totally unprepared for.
Luckily, I had Institute afterwards, my mind being calmed a little. When I got home though, I still couldn’t focus. I put on some hymns, and went to work, getting everything I needed to get done today before lab.
Our ROTC lab was a cold one. Informative, but chaotic, with dropping temperatures and fading sunlight. After finishing up an hour after our official end time (per usual), we formed up, with me eager to contract. We were dismissed though, so I approached the captain asking if we’d just do it the next time.
He cursed for forgetting, called everyone back into a horseshoe, had me come up, and I took the oath. It was an oath to serve my country in the name of God and justice.
I couldn’t stop grinning ear to ear. Everyone shook my hand and congratulated me. I felt on top of the world. It has taken me so long to get here, my journey (hindsight 20/20) guided.
I’ve always wanted to serve in the military, “earning” my rights (not necessary, but a personal conviction). I always wanted to be a Marine—a Devil Dog—and held an unnatural bias against the Army (inherited from my dad because of his dad’s tendency to exaggerate). I never considered the Army, but now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I didn’t get to go to a military service academy, and the Virginia Military Institute wasn’t in the cards either. Although I’ve been on the path for as long as I can imagine, my immediate journey started with a phone call to Mr. Ryan Hansen, Boise State’s recruiting officer for the Army ROTC program while I was still on my mission. I had come to know his dad in my first area, so I had his phone number written down nearly the entire two years.
I explained that I wanted the military science minor but had zero intentions of ever joining the Army. He said to just give it a try, and if I don’t like it, I can walk away scotch-free within my first two years.
I fell in love during our Fall FTX. I had so much fun, and we were only playing Army! It was that weekend (General Conference weekend), that I knew the Army was the road I’d take.
And now I’m here. I worked my butt off to get here. I’ve taken the PT test nearly every week for a month-and-a-half trying to get a score of 250. I woke up early to run with Mohlke, I went to the gym every night on my own, and Parsons paced me in my run. I made it. Mentally and physically. It took everything I had, though. I seriously considered if I could take it morale-wise to fall short every Monday I tried again.
I thought of Dad in the police academy a lot. I thought of Shalene. It was hard to realize that my best still wasn’t good enough. But I didn’t let it get me down. I went back in and killed it, scoring a 267!
I did it. I needed that mental strengthening. I can already feel how much it’s boosted my confidence.
In talking with Shalene tonight, I remembered my days of wrestling. I think it returned for the glory more than an appreciation for the sport. Everyone always thought I must be tough as nails since I wrestled (no easy feat).
My approach to ROTC is the same I am lot of ways. I like standing out from my peers. I can’t tell you how many times people have given reasons why they can’t do ROTC—”It’s too early” or “It’s to tough”. That’s what keeps me going.
A well-executed, suspenseful film on finding faith. The Cokeville Miracle, although a story about a community of members belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), sticks to a generic Christian, only incorporating generally recognizable elements to Christianity.
The only three hints of LDS elements are 1) the church building, 2) the dressy attire when attending church, and 3) as the father is rediscovering his faith in church, the children are singing “A Child’s Prayer“, a song out of the LDS Children’s Songbook.
The premise is that a man and his wife hold an elementary school hostage with a bomb and several firearms. The bomb goes off, but none of the children or teachers are killed—a miracle! Only the female would-be bomber is killed, and the male bomber commits suicide.
I also saw this film with my fiancée, a middle school teacher. It made me thoroughly question what I would do if I were present in the situation. What would you do? As a teacher? As a parent?
TC Christensen also took the amazing opportunity to recognize the miracles around us every day. What miracles have you seen in your life?
Most prolific in the film, I would say, was the text in the ending credits. It states that not all situations like this turn out to be miracles like in Cokeville, Wyoming. We don’t know why. But it also highlights how not all lepers or blind individuals in Jesus’s time were healed.
I don’t feel the need to justify marrying the girl of my dreams, but I do feel I can offer some insight as to why it happened so quickly. Personally, I always had an inner hatred for those who met, dated, and got engaged all within a short period of time. I have some very close friends who maintain the same philosophy, and even jokingly threatened me should it happen that quickly. I set a barrier for myself so as to not fall into the cliché Mormon trap: my rule was that I wouldn’t even consider marrying anyone I had dated less than six months. Six months isn’t even that long of a period of time, but even then, I broke my rule. Here are some of the reasons why:
The List
Recently going through and cleaning up my iOS Notes app, I came across a list I had made of what I was looking for in a girl:
someone I find attractive
funny
witty and clever
surprises me
can keep up with me
adventurous and spontaneous
appreciates my passion for Germany
likes to travel
successful and has lofty goals
The three most important qualities to me—aside from the obvious attractive, same morals, etc.—were someone who can keep up with me (I like being out and doing things), someone who can appreciate my passion for Germany (such a major part of who I am), and, not on the list, is someone who pushes me to a new level of confidence. She met and exceeded all items on the checklist. Well, she at least thinks she’s funny. I’m willing to work with that.
The Contrast
In Mormon culture, marriage and family are very important to us. That has fostered a culture of casual or “exploratory” dating where it is acceptable to go on dates with several girls without showing any real commitment to one in particular. You learn what you like, and start to pair off. You aren’t a player for “getting around”, but rather, there is a mutual understanding of being able to have fun with member of the opposite sex, narrowing in on “your type”.
In my Young Single Adult Ward (my church congregation is comprised of 18-30 yr. olds) at BSU, I’ve been dating 18 yr. olds. It’s been an interesting experience. They’re young and naïve to the world with their first year of college usually being their first experience away from home. They’re still figuring themselves out, which is fine, but I’m much further along than that.
Shalene is 26 years old, graduated with two degrees and a minor, holding many jobs and responsibilities while at school, served a mission, and has been teaching for two years. Her being older has meant that she is very familiar with herself. She’s got it figured out, she’s mature, and collected. She knows herself—quite the contrast.
An interesting concept as part of my exchange to Germany was that 17+1≠18. Although we physically age one year, the maturity gained through our experience is much more than one year’s worth. I’ve always been very independent and goal-driven, so I needed someone of the same caliber (not to discredit those I’ve dated).
The Basics
Dating within the LDS/Mormon church has made it that much easier. While I don’t pretend that there are differences, my opinion is that most Mormons are either committed or not committed to following the doctrines of their beliefs. It is much more evident, as well. When someone says he or she is Catholic, you aren’t really sure what that means. They could be practicing, raised but are not practicing, or consider it a heritage/tradition rather than a religion, and so forth. You aren’t really sure what their beliefs are. It’s much less black-and-white than the LDS church, in my opinion. When you say Mormon, you’re usually pretty sure what you’re getting into.
The Familiarity
While being able to list off qualities of the other person doesn’t constitute a strong relationship, it certainly adds to it. Neither of us thought it would go anywhere actually, but we learned pretty quickly that the other was much different from anyone we’ve dated before, and that we couldn’t keep away from each other. We’ve been FaceTiming every night for months. I’m confident that I can tell you more about Shalene than perhaps any other person on this planet, besides maybe my father and my best friend, JJ. I’ve taken the time to get to know her on a not-so-superficial level, unlike most of the conversations we tend to have. We also learn habits, quirks, etc. through observing them over a long period of time. Shalene and I cut to the chase and just asked a lot of questions, actually trying to get to know one another.
The Distance
Certainly not the most ideal of circumstances, distance has only enhanced our relationship. We’ve been able to have space in our relationship—time on our own to figure things out when emotions aren’t in control. When I brought up that we were thinking of getting married to my grandma, she told me I’d know it’s time when I couldn’t stand being away from her.
The Communication
While I haven’t been at this long, the most important thing in my relationship with Shalene has been communicating openly with one another. I’m very calculating in how I present things, but Shalene cuts all corners and bluntly asks what’s on her mind. It’s taken some getting used to, for sure, but it’s changed the way I think about communicating with others. It’s so much simpler just saying what you’re thinking. It takes a lot of the confusion and misunderstanding out of questions that might already be awkward or difficult to understand. That openness and honesty has helped us avoid many misunderstandings with one another.
The Reason While I don’t believe in soulmates, I sure do believe that certain people are brought into our lives for a reason. I always maintained that if I went to BYU, for example, I’d have found another girl probably just as righteous and cute as Shalene. But the more I learn about our relationship, it’s less about who it could have been and more of how I want it to be Shalene. I’m not worried about a “missed opportunity” because Shalene compliments me so well and is such a good fit for what I was looking for that I know she’s “the one”. I really do believe that God has had a hand in bringing us together. Too many “coincidences” happened to make this whole thing work in the first place!
The Commitment As Mormons, we don’t practice cohabitation before marriage. It takes the commitment out of marriage by giving you a free trial. No matter how much you “experience” living with the other person, it will never be the same as when you’re married, because you still have a way out if it doesn’t work, so you’re less inclined to strive for a successful relationship. Shalene and I are excited and ready to be loyal to one another, each fulfilling their investment into a strong and healthy relationship.
Hopefully some light has been shed on the relationship I have with Shalene. I love her with all I’ve got. I don’t expect you to necessarily understand how our relationship has evolved so quickly and how we came to the conclusion in just a short few months that we’re ready to spend the rest of our lives together, but now you know, at least, that I’ve considered all my bases. I’m a intellectual, rather than an emotional thinker. I made this decision, and it’s the right one for me.
First of all, before we get into the Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, a brief synopsis of what has happened in the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU) up until this film could prove insightful for those of you who don’t always have your nose buried in a comic book:
Now that you’re all up to speed on what has happened, I have mixed feelings on this one. I expected so much, and a lot of my expectations were met. But the second installation in the Avengers Trilogy left more to be wanted. Given only a 75% by Rotten Tomatoes, the first Avengers received a well-deserved 92%, coming in at 17% higher than its sequel. a 92%. Here are some of my issues:
Story Line
I’m sure it will grow on me. Personally, I hated The Dark Knight Rises the first time I saw it. But I’ve come to love it since. Having rewatched Age of Ultron with friends last night, I can say my opinion is already getting better.
I think the overall storyline was alright. It felt kind of predictable at the end, but hey, the concept was good. In Forbes Magazine’s review of Age of Ultron, they outline five things that the film did poorly:
‘Age of Ultron’ is too sappy for no reason, and without a payoff.
‘Age of Ultron’ has a serious pacing problem.
Unfortunately, the action scenes don’t improve matters.
We’re introduced to too many new (and old) characters, but not all the best characters.
Unfortunately, the villain is lame.
I agree with them for the most part. Going through, there was plenty of unnecessary back- and side-story. The whole movie felt pretty jumpy as you watch it, switching from the story to the action pretty frantically. Personally, I love the culminating of all these supers. That’s part of the reason, I think, that X-Men did so well—they were a very diversified team, constantly adding new elements to the general aesthetic of the film as a whole. There’s certainly variety brought to the Avengers, but it wasn’t done as well as it could have been. And lastly, James Spade was a great Ultron, but I don’t think he was portrayed well from a writing standpoint.
As a sidenote, I understand the appeal of 3D, but having watched it in both 3D and “normal” versions, I’d much rather watch it in 3D, but only because the standard version hurts my eyes because of they way they filmed it. I’d rather go without, but hey. They did well.
The Vision
I’m not too familiar with this character, but from what I knew going into the movie, they didn’t quite do him justice. A synthezoid (human in every aspect except being made of synthetic organs) built by Ultron, he runs off of solar energy powered by the Solar Jewel in his forehead. A great artistic interpretation to make it instead an Infinity Stone (Marvel Wikia). He even marries the Scarlet Witch (a fellow Avenger) and together they have two children (which is beyond me, since he’s, ya know, a robot). I’m glad they changed his costume. He looked ridiculous in the comics, especially for an android. Being such a powerful character, and the story line seemingly revolving around his creating, he has minimal screen time clocking in at a mere eight minutes and forty-one seconds (Vulture). Again, more to be wanted.
I will say, though, that I’m glad Marvel found a way to update the Vision’s appearance while still giving a shout-out to his comic book self. The comic costume was pretty unrealistic for a crime-fighting robot…
The more powerful of the Maximoff twins, Iron Man states in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade that “the Scarlet Witch has the power to alter reality—which makes her the most powerful and dangerous entity in the know universe.” And in the House of M storyline, she did just that. She said, “No more mutants,” and BAM! Nearly all the mutants on Earth lost their powers (unknown as to why some kept their’s), while others just died. Her powers were portrayed much more like Jean Grey’s, who has telekinesis (able to move things with her mind) and mind powers, allowing her to control others. So we’re dealing with another Loki of sorts. I understand that she’s in her early stages of development, but coming from a comic fan, I was waiting the entire movie for her to just lay down the hammer—although I suppose they have Thor for that…
Scarlet With also didn’t have much screen time coming in at 20:59, with significantly less portion of that her using her powers and contributing to the storyline (Vulture).
Hawkeye
They took a weird turn with this character’s backstory that I felt was totally irrelevant to who the Avengers were. Marvel usually does a good job at balancing out the story-building with the action, but I felt like too much emphasis was placed on the story here, especially since it was pretty irrelevant.
Tony Stark
Still funny throughout the movie, but no amazing one-liners like he’s known for. And for being the brilliant mind he is, why didn’t he see this coming? I know he does his own thing, and, like the Hulk, that’s why Fury kept him close (better an unstable ally than an enemy). But still! His technology never ceases to amaze, though. I loved it he walked out of his armor and left it in Sentry Mode. And then, of course, there was Veronica (see below in Spoilers).
I just found our archvillain evil robot bent on destroying humanity to be too funny. He came across too human. He was passive-agressive and he tried to make him witty all the time. I get that he’s Tony Stark’s “baby”, but he’s still a robot. I also understand that the origin they adopted for the MCU made sense for what they were trying to achieve, but comically speaking, he was created by Henry Pym aka Ant-Man. If Marvel is rolling out an Ant-Man film only months after The Avengers 2, why not just keep it canon? It was clear they were playing off of the Ultron-6 model: “Ultron later returned and took over the Vision mind forcing him to rebuild his body at the Avengers Mansion using stolen Adamantium [Vibranium in the MCU]” (Marvel Wikia). While it didn’t quite go down like that, there were striking similarities. Forbes did a great job summarizing my overall feel for Ultron as a villain:
Ultron is a really terrible super-villain. He’s a “villain of the week” at best, and not even a very good one. He’s supposed to be this enormously powerful AI that can use the internet however he pleases, yet he barely does anything other than find ways to blow things up. That doesn’t sound like a hyper-intelligent and adaptable being, it sounds like a cartoon villain….Ultron was stymied in his attempts to gain access to nuclear codes. That does not mean a more clever villain couldn’t have used his technological capabilities to start a war. He didn’t bother to create any chaos, any distractions for the heroes outside of the twins. A better villain would have thrust the world into chaos prior to his big destroy the world segment. Ultron failed to do anything particularly interesting in this regard.
He also plays to the classic, evil stereotype of thinking his plan is “the one”, while not realizing that it is actually evil and ridiculous. Here’s an overview of who Ultron is to give you a background:
Spoilers New Avengers At the end of the movie, it says “New Avengers Headquarters”. Immediately, I think, “Does that mean the new headquarters for the Avengers or the headquarters for the New Avengers?”
Black Panther Ultron takes over Crocodile Dundee supply of vibranium to make the Vision’s body. Banner mentions him getting a brand on his neck that means thief in the Wakanda dialect. Wakanda is a country in Africa and is the only known source of vibranium. Black Panther is also the king of Wakanda where he later rules with his spouse, Storm of the X-Men. We’re all lined up for an excellent flick.
Thanos Yes! I can feel Infinity War already!
Captain America vs. Iron Man The contention between Rogers and Stark was tangible. We’re all lined up for Captain America 3: Civil War.
The Hulkbuster Armor I think the idea of constantly replenishing Tony’s armor while fighting the Hulk was brilliant. Done so well. Director Joss Whedon states: “You know, I just decided to call it Veronica because [Bruce Banner] used to be in love with a girl named Betty, and Veronica is the opposite of that” (Cinema Blend).
When you’re in the planning stages of a long road trip, a poppin’ playlist is key. Because conversation dies, and you can’t sleep if you’re the one driving. Unfortunately, this trip was a bunch of bachelors (my roommates and I). We’ve done a road trip down to Vegas together before, though, and we had a rad playlist thrown together. “Our song” that we played literally every time we got in the car was “Kanye” by The Chainsmokers. Going off of that, I stumbled across “Hold My Hand” and knew it would be this trip’s “Kanye”. After a long—and I mean LONG—weekend trip to and from San Fransisco, California, we knew still jam to it. Enjoy~
If one song could be my anthem for Mondays it would be, “Just another Manic Monday.” I swear EVERY Monday I frantically scrabble to get ready, to get out the door somewhat on time…and yet….I fail miserably. April 20th was not an exception. That morning I woke up, and attempted to pull myself together.
Once school started, things started to mellow out and get back into routine. In fact, I was ahead of the game and feeling rather productive that day. I even found time to research textbooks and curriculum for next year’s We the People class and sent an email to the principal, Mrs. Dortch and the vice principal, Steve Andrew. It was then at lunch that Mrs. Dortch and Mr. Andrew used that email against me. 😉
Mrs. Dortch casually suggested meeting with me during 6th hour’s We the People class to discuss this new curriculum…stating that Mr. Andrew could watch my class for a few minutes while we met. I didn’t think anything of this. It was out of the ordinary for me to meet with the administration. This suggestion made total sense in my mind.
At exactly 2:45pm, Mr. Andrew casually walked into my 6th period class. The students were busy working and I was at my desk grading. I filled him in on what the kids were working on and I went quickly down to the principal’s office. Surprisingly Mrs. Dortch and I had a very productive meeting. She held her cool quite well. After only six minutes, Mrs. Dortch received a text message from Mr. Andrew that she was needed back in my classroom. Made sense to cut the meeting short. We walked back down to my classroom together, continuing to talk about next year’s classes. It wasn’t until I opened my door that I realized all was not routine and normal.
Staring back at me were 15 students with phones and tablets. Mr. Andrew himself had a camera out and focused on me. I literally took a step back into the corner. It was then that Jonny stepped out and walked towards me. Everything felt like a dream and blur. I was so surprised and caught off guard. Never before had my personal life and my work life collided like this before! I even asked Jonny if this was really happening….BEFORE I said ‘yes,’ when he asked me to marry him. [so embarrassing]
After I said a hesitant yes….don’t ask me why I said yes so questionably. I KNEW I wanted to marry him and had already decided I would say ‘yes,’ I was just sooooo surprised by everything! I realized that the hall was filled with onlookers; students and teachers eagerly watching and waiting in anticipation, loving their involvement. I am so grateful that Jonny included “my kids” and friends in this. My kiddos will forever remember their involvement in our relationship and so will I. I love Jonny so much and I love picturing a future with him. So goodbye Miss Summers, hello Mrs. Henderson!
Shalene and I had previously talked about marriage. In fact, we were planning on it. We had a schedule lined up of who would visit when, we made checklists, she bought a dress, but I had yet to propose. Being the traditional girl she is, she said that I had to ask her father for permission before proposing. Of course, I would have done so out of courtesy regardless of whether or not she asked. But that made it particularly tricky for me. How was I supposed to arrive, talk to her dad, and propose, all while keeping it a surprise, when our trips were scheduled like they were?!
It’s obviously really important to the female populace when it comes to all things wedding-related. I knew I would have to figure something out. I started tossing ideas around with my roommates. I jokingly suggested having the kids propose for me, to bring it full circle back to when she had her students get her my number. And then it clicked! Her students! It totally would be awesome to include them, as they “made it happen”. On top of that, she would never expect me to show up to her school. So I checked my schedule, picked a Monday, when my schedule would be most open, admittedly skipped two classes, and drove out to propose.
Shalene is good friends with her vice principal (VP). They went to ISU together, and they currently carpool to work, as neither of them live in Blackfoot. During our nightly FaceTime sessions, I started extracting critical information: the three key students to the whole operation, what the vice principal’s name was, etc., all the while building my plan for a monumental proposal. I contacted the VP and set things in motion. Both he and the principal were in.
I showed up as planned, hid out in the VP’s office, and he went down to Shalene’s classroom. He said that the principal wanted to discuss next year’s curriculum with her (she had submitted material previously that morning). He was to cover her class while she met with the principal. Thinking nothing of it, being fairly routine, she headed down to her office. She’s really outgoing and friendly, so I heard her laughing and chatting with the office staff while walking through the office past my hiding place.
A knock on the door—”The principal’s door is open, so don’t say anything. Follow him and he’ll take you down to her classroom.” We make it to the end of the hall. I walk into a giddy classroom of 8th graders. The VP mentions that he told them that I was coming, but not why, turning the time over to me. I announce that my plan was to propose. Lemme tell you. I have never seen 8th graders so excited as when I told them to get their smartphones out! I assigned half of them to picture-duty and the other half to camera crew. The stage was set.
I hit off to the side in the corner adjacent to the door, the vice principal texted the principal with the go-ahead, and the principal told Shalene that she was needed in her classroom, but that she was to walk down with her and continue to fill her in on her plans for the curriculum. Shalene assumed it was an issue of discipline, and so off they went.
Shalene opened the door to her entire class giggling, pointing their phones at her, the VP sitting in her chair with his camera trained on her. Like a deer caught in headlights, she froze, totally confused as to what was going on, letting out a, “What the….?”
Out I came. She stammered, totally confused, “You’re not supposed to be here.” I got down on one knee, called her by her full name, and asked her to marry me. Her not having caught a hint of any of this going down, everything caught her totally off guard. She described it as a dream, and asked if this was really happening. I knew she would say yes, but doubt flickered through my mind when I wasn’t met with an immediate, ecstatic and resounding “yes”.
But don’t fret—she agreed, and I put the ring on her finger. The hallway was packed with spectators, and the crowds cheered. I wasn’t marrying just any teacher—she’s the favorite. I wrote my phone number and email up on the board, gave the students orders to send me any footage they had, we chucked the deuces up, and blew that popsicle stand. Her vice principal covered the last fifteen minutes of class, while we strode out of that school having never felt taller in our lives.
Needless to say, I’m a legend at the Idaho Science and Technology Charter School. I could practically be their mascot. I’ve brought them so much positive publicity. We were featured in the unknown world-reknowned Blackfoot Morning News. See: Article pg. 1 & Article pg. 2. A parent thought our story was so cute, that she called the paper. Now, there’s a lot going on in Blackfoot on any given morning, but they found time in their busy schedule to stop by the school the next morning, and we were on the front page by Wednesday. #ThisIsHowWeDo
I owe a lot to the students and faculty. The kids “made it happen”, as we say. The VP was also critical in pulling this off. He suggested sending her out of the class to the principal’s office. He even insisted on driving that week for their carpool, knowing that I would want to whisk her away after school.
This love was rekindled when I stumbled across Buzzfeed’s “32 Pictures That Will Give You Intense Elementary School Flashbacks“. The wooden castle park in my hometown of Sterling, Virginia had it goin’ on! That place became anything and everything I wanted it to be. The best and worst memories were made on that splintery death trap. Gone are the days of regulation-free fun. I can vividly remember it being replaced with a cheap, plastic-paneled park that was no fun to play on. Curse you regulatory committees!
The coolest and most convenient app for any student, you scan the barcode of a book and select which citation you need (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc), and it automatically types it out for you! Unbelievably convenient. It saves so much time and stress! There are online sources like Citation Machine, but you have to manually enter everything. This app gives you everything you need in a quick shot of the barcode (similar to a QR-code reader). It also allows you to edit the fields to insert page numbers, etc. Go get it on the App Store! It’s free!
This is my new favorite app. It’s so freakin’ convenient! Not only can you save it on your laptop/desktop browser as a plug-in, Pocket lets you snatch a webpage from online and save it locally to your phone, so that you can read it later offline. This is perfect for me. Whenever I hop on Facebook, I can get caught up in the infinite scroll of the newsfeed, clicking left and right on the whims of whatever catered ads present to me. This allows me to get on Facebook, scroll for a hot second, save anything I might find worth reading for later, then get on with my rigorous schedule. That way, I can read it between classes or when I’m stuck somewhere with nothing to do or not enough time to start anything big. It’s the perfect app for the on-the-go!
I started Just Jonny as more of a journal where I could post stories or thoughts to keep people at home updated. It’s been nice having an “audience”, though, and it keeps my writing honed, rather than just writing out of obligation. It started as a continuation of my weekly emails, where I’d post a synopsis of my week so people back home felt connected to what I was doing. This is what I want to make my “new project”.
My idea is this: post daily, but have a theme for each day (mimicking Instagram’s #mcm, #wcw, and #tbt sort of idea). I’ve thought long and hard about this one. I am an eclectic individual with a vast range of interests that have seemingly nothing to do with one another. A sample: Katy Perry, super heroes, technology, German, spirituality, etc. So because The Hate List has taken off so well, I think I just might be able to pull this off. I think I think I’ve converted my audience to my writing style and sense of humor, rather than my content. Assuming that’s correct, my little cult will read whatever I post (Ex. I saw Iron Man because I love superheroes, but I became a fan of RDJ, and will now watch a movie because he’s in it, even if there aren’t superheroes).
My tag for just about everything is some variation on “starkexpo”. I’m going to run off of that, rename this blog Henderson Expo, and have the daily themes, using “expo” as a way to display my personality though inter-connected posts. The idea has always been with me, but I tweaked the execution from how a friend runs her blog. This is my rough draft:
Music Monday: songs, bands, albums—the works
Tech Tuesday: Anything and everything tech, from apps to Elon Musk to Apple
Comic Wednesday: new comics come out on Wednesday, so the theme’s consistent. My favorite superheroes, new movies coming out, and sketches I do, since I draw a lot (or at least want the accountability of “having” to draw weekly)
Deutsch am Donnerstag: German language or culture related post every week
Free Friday: No theme. Free range to write about whatever!
Story Saturday: I’ve mostly sold people on my story telling. I write to entertain. They’re longer posts, but it saves me from having to retell the same story all the time.
Spiritual Sunday: a convenient way to display spiritual thoughts and maybe reach some people I wouldn’t otherwise have much contact with
It’ll be a crazy amount of work, but I think I can devote Sunday entirely to writing every week. So there’s no theme to the blog as a whole, per se, except that everything is related to me, if that makes sense. And what I mean by that is that I regularly get texted pictures related to Batman, Katy Perry, etc, because I tend to obsess over something, rather than just like it, so people instantly relate those things to me. I think that will help it “sell”.
This will also be an opportunity to collaborate with other bloggers I’m friends with, as well as giving me a prompt to crank out content where I otherwise would be at a loss.
When asked what I do for a living, the following is asked in this EXACT order:
#1. What do you teach?
#2. What grade/age level do you teach?
#3. MIDDLE SCHOOL?!?! Seriously….Wow, it takes a “special” person to teach that age group.
Yes, it does take a special person to teach 11-14 year olds. BUT, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Because, every day is an ADVENTURE.
My side of the story:
After months of preparation, my kiddos and I were off to Boise to participate in the State Level Future City Competition. We were all excited for our trip….but I was probably looking forward to it the most. A day off from school. My own hotel room. A T-Shirt. A DAY OFF FROM SCHOOL. Who wouldn’t be want to spend their weekend with a group of hormonal, pre-pubescent adolescents?
My students rocked the competition. Unfortunately, they didn’t do as well as they would’ve hoped. In the spirit of helping encourage and lift them out of their discouragement, I put myself in the forefront of distracting them….which was just embarrassing myself. After my students found out I thought the “Segway Guy” was cute. We, in a 100% purely JOKING manner developed a FAKE plan to have a couple of my students act as my wingmen and get his number. Needless to say, the joke was on me. My students thought this would be a “great” idea and should be acted on immediately.
It was at that moment, in mid-discussion of this joke that Jonny walked right into my students trap. Seventeen kids immediately gathered around him. I on the other hand ran to the opposite side of the conference room. I watched the train wreck from a distance. I knew the only way I could save my self-respect, pride and social graces was to talk to him. So embarrassingly Jonny and I spoke for the LONGEST three minutes of my life. (All while students took pictures, sat nearby and yelled encouraging comments.)
I regretted teaching middle schooler’s at that moment….
Yes, I ended up texting Jonny. I had too. I found out later on that one of my students got his number by telling him I would buy him dinner if he successfully got his number. (Which I did agree too…thanks KFC $3.00 meal.) But still….he told Jonny that!? Oh gosh…this seriously was horribly. I simply texted Jonny that I appreciate him humoring my kids and I apologize for the situation. That was it. I’ll admit Jonny was good at texting. He brought his A game and I agreed to go on a walk with him when I returned to Boise a couple weeks later.
The walk turned into more texting, talking, a trip to Poky, to Boise, Idaho Falls, Face timing every night…all leading up to this one crazy adventure. A culmination of a fast-paced, strong connection with someone who was stranger to me only a couple months ago.
Teaching middle school is always an adventure. This embarrassing adventure just happened to work out in my favor this time. Thanks kids!
P.S. I have to humble Jonny a little bit here. He thinks he is such a charmer and can woo any lady, but the reality is…I have a few tricks up my sleeves and I have helped him tons!
*****Disclaimer*****
I promise I am not an awkward, desperate, or unprofessional person…despite how much this embarrassing story makes you believe it.
I participate in the Boise State ROTC program. When I earn my degree, I’ll commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. To commission, I turn in a résumé of sorts. One thing they look for is “cadet points” earned through participation and volunteering. I decided to step it up and take a more active role in the community. Per usual, I got quite the story…
Boise State hosted the Future Citiy Competiton where middle schoolers build better cities. The concept this year was “Future in Agriculture”. For a whole four hours, I taught kids how to ride a Segway. The BSU College of Engineering literally only has Segways to show off technology at events we host haha. I ain’t e’en mad!
After the Segway closed down for lunch and judging of the competition, I looked around at the displays. About the third table in, I recognized a lot of the kids, since they came through the line for the Segway about five times each. I started asking them questions about their project. Being an engineering major, I was legitimately interested in what these little Einsteins were putting on. But I noticed a few kids standing off to the side, almost as if they were waiting for me to finish my conversation.
At a pause in conversation, I turned to the youngins waiting to my left, and they jumped at the opportunity, exclaiming that their teacher thought I was cute, wanted my number, and said she’d buy them dinner if they got it for her (I came to find out that I am worth Tucano’s).
Per usual, I aim to please, so with amusement, I write my name and number down on one of the tyke’s name tags, and they scurry off. I turn back to the table and continue asking questions, since I’m genuinely interested. Without much delay, the kids come running back and belt out, “She wants to meet you!” I chuckle and ask where she is. They point. Across the entire conference room, there she is, standing there, embarrassed laughing
We chatted for a second, but it was all superficial, she was embarrassed, and closed conversation with, “Well cool. See ya later,” or something to that effect.
I was at the gym a little while later that day when she texted. I was caught a little off guard, since it had only been a couple of hours, but I shrugged it off, figuring she was on a long bus ride home with nothing to do. Luckily for her, my texting game is on point. So if my in-person charm didn’t get her, I won her over with my texts.
I made mention that I’d be over in eastern Idaho Valentine’s Day weekend, and that we should meet up. She also brought up that she’d be in Boise a week or two later, and invited me over to her hotel. Sketch 😳
She came up, I met up with her, then we just went on a walk on the Greenbelt. It ended up being 5 or 6 miles! The coolest thing, though, was that she was never boring. She held a conversation the whole time. I was impressed.
I went with my roommates a week later on a pre-planned trip to Pocatello and Rexburg. She came and got me, then showed me around Idaho State University (ISU), where she was apparently a big deal. She apparently has a picture in the College of Education and everything. Yet to be actually be confirmed, but it was cool. She was really involved when she went there. She wrote the freakin’ tour booklet for the campus—so she was the right one to have show me around.
We got Indian food, stopped by her brother’s house (she hadn’t seen him in a month or two), then she drive up on a hill that overlooked the “city” and just wanted to “get to know each other”. Let me take any doubt out of your minds upfront: she had just gotten on antibiotics for strep throat. There was no way I was letting anything happen.
She came up a couple weeks into February for one last meeting—a training for one of the competitions her students participated in. We went to dinner at Boise Fry Company on Friday. To be honest, we had joked about kissing, but I was so nervous that I kept putting it off. This time, though. I set the situation via text to where thee was no getting out of it. I showed her around downtown after dinner, then we went back to her room, and I got over it and kissed her. She was a fan, to say the least…
The best, however, is yet to come. She takes me back home, and like no one is home. We’ve all got this dope app called Find My Friends, where you can share your location with others. All of my roomies and I share it with each other, so I flip open the app to figure out where everyone’s at.
I double-take—THEY’RE ALL AT THE HOTEL! At first, I figured my phone just had to load, but I kept hitting refresh with no changes. I call up Myles. “Hey, what’re you guys up to?” “Oh, ya know. We’re just out getting pizza.” “Don’t you lie to me! You’re all at the hotel!”
Our roomie, Logan, works for Dominos. They dressed up, the three of them, as pizza delivery men, went to the hotel, and said they had a delivery for this girl. The guy handed a room number right over.
First of all, three delivery men? He didn’t find that suspicious? Secondly, Corden was in yoga pants. And lastly, he didn’t ask for any proof or whatever. At the least, he could’ve buzzed her down.
I died. So freaking funny. The next day, we both got out of work/meetings early. We hadn’t planned on seeing each other again. We expected it to be a “weekend fling” of sorts, but nothing would happen after. Wrong. She came over for a bit, then I had to feed the missionaries, so we went to Noodles & Co. I invited a buddy that works with me (the only other normal soul in the library) to go with us, since he loves this story. So they met her, as one of the missionaries knew her from the Missionary Training Center in Provo!
She came back over for a bit, but then I had a date afterwards. Long story short, we fell for each other in a weird, fast, awkward situation sorta way. We facetimed every night until I randomly took a trip to see her that weekend.
The whole deal is so strange and funny. What started as a boring trip to Boise “ended” with her (well, her students) finding herself a man~
The stereotypical tribute you’ve all been awaiting! Man, my girl killed it! I’ve been waiting for weeks for her performance – the highlight of her career facing the biggest audience she’s ever been up against, and she most certainly did not disappoint! I even started using Twitter again, just to maintain a constant feed about how the show was going haha.
I was baffled at first, by the choices of Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott. One thing I knew for sure, though, was that we could expect “Last Friday Night (TGIF)” because Missy did a remix featured on Katy’s album, Teenage Dream, on which the original was also released.
Surprisingly, no TGIF. I don’t think any of us were complaining, though, as she prowled out onto the field belting “Roar” on her giant, polygonal Saharan beast!
A photo posted by Jonny Hender☀️ (@starkexp0) on Feb 4, 2015 at 12:40pm PST
She also sang “Dark Horse” on a life-size, Harry Potter-esque chess board, “Teenage Dream”, “California Gurls”, and headbanged to “I Kissed a Girl” with Lenny jammin’ on the electric guitar. Needless to say, it was quite the impressive show. The only part I didn’t understand is why Missy played such a big role…It was Katy’s performance! Regardless, they did a couple of Elliot’s songs. Lame…
Katy pulled some impressive stats, averaging “118.5 million viewers and a 48.2 average household rating, both of which are also records. Perry earned 3 million more viewers than last year’s halftime show.” (NFL) Within hours, there were memes about how she was dressed, and a new internet sensation – her backup dancer dubbed #LeftShark – as he “failed” the dance routine to “Teenage Dream”. Apparently, though, he did just fine:
“The choreographer behind the performance has spoken out on the whole situation, saying lefty “nailed” that “goofy” vibe they were going for. HA.” (Seventeen. Let me be clear: I do not frequent teeny-bopper websites [however I love the trashy gossip magazines at the registers], I was merely doing “research” haha…)
To top it off, though, was a classic case of nostalgia~
Today is for this girl. She had the dream, always believed in herself & her worth. Today she is the one smiling. pic.twitter.com/9jMh3hWubz — KATY PERRY (@katyperry) February 1, 2015
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it’s exciting to see it trending on Facebook for a movement of tolerance in the community. It has never been about discriminating against others. We are firm in our beliefs, in that we sustain unchangeable laws (or commandments) from God, but we are hopefully leading our lives in a way that shows our desires to follow Christ.
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Greetings friends! If you could do me all a favor and just sign a quick petition. CBYX is the State Department scholarship opportunity I had to serve as a youth ambassador to Germany, and funds are getting cut by 50%, if not extinguished. Those of you who know what this program has done for me, think about those to come, in additon to the relationship between our country and one of the strongest countries in Europe. Danke!~
“We the undersigned respectfully request that the U.S. Department of State reverse its recent decision to cut the funding for the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) by 50% and restore its support to $4 million to prevent a drastic reduction in participant numbers. The United States and Germany are two of the world’s most powerful nations and leading economies, and CBYX has played a vital role in fostering cultural exchange, building understanding and strengthening ties between our two nations for more than three decades. The result is one of the strongest and most cooperative alliances of the last century.”
Quite possibly the most exciting email I’ve every received. Okay not really, but when I had to submit a request to join, I was honestly worried I wouldn’t make the cut. Growing up and throughout high school, I was a closet-nerd. Now I’m pretty open about it. A close family friend puts it: “A closet geek that hides it well with a rich social life.” With that being said, now that I have my in, I will slowly take over this Comic Book Club, becoming their supreme overlord, while they praise my social capabilities and ability to interact with the female populace. It is now only a matter of time…
1) Pray every morning and night 2) Read my scriptures every day 3) Read 12 books 4) Achieve six pack (for the ladies) 5) Become comfortable and confident with dancing 6) No sweets 7) Become a strong swimmer
As a child, I always had it in my mind that I was either going into the field of robotics engineering, or I would serve in the military. I remember having that idea as a wee lad, with some other random career choices along the way.
In third grade, I was applying for FUTURA program in my school district. “The Loudoun County FUTURA program seeks to enhance and to develop the intellect of fourth and fifth grade students who have been formally identified asgenerally intellectually gifted.” Formally identified? Don’t act like you’re not impressed. So anyway, I had to submit a project as part of the application. I don’t remember what the requirements were, but I composed a profile on tanks. What third-grader does that?! It was sweet though. Right on the front, a family friend helped me to silk-screen my hand drawn picture right on the front.
In fourth grade, I thought astronaut would be cool.
In fifth grade chorus, we were doing some concert that featured a song where selected students got to voice what their career goals were. At the time, my ideal was to be a “rare animal DNA hunter”. I wanted to prance around the Amazon with tranquilizer darts subduing Earth’s fiercest beasts collecting blood samples for cloning and who knows what.
It was the year 2008 that changed it all! My previous debacle was whether or not I’d work as an engineer or serve in the military. I remember walking out of the movie theaters having just viewed Iron Man thinking – “I CAN DO BOTH!”
From then on, I knew that defense engineering was the career path for me. Not to come across as egotistical, although it does play to the part, I’ve always known I’m bound for something greater than the average. I feel like I consistently define myself by “above and beyond” experiences like going to Germany, serving a mission, and moving away to college on what appears to be a whim.
I thrive in the “important people” crowd, and love thinking about a career in something I’m as passionate about as I am in defense. My résumé is as important to me as my social security card.
I hold mostly moderate-conservative political and economical views, so the arms topic is important to me. When I was in Germany, I was in Englisch Konversation as a courtesy to the Germans trying to learn English. The class read an article on Texan college professors debating as to whether or not they should be armed in the classroom. The class had a discussion on gun control, and literally out of 30 or so students, I was the only student to side with the right to bear arms.
It’s something important to me, and I feel (especially now that I’m participating in ROTC) that it’s a key fundamental in making America so renowned.
As for what I hope to do now, I’m double majoring in mechanical engineering and German with the hopes to work for Heckler & Koch, a distinguished German firearms manufacturer. Even the SEALs use their sub-machine guns, the HK MP5. From there, I’d like to own my own defense engineering company comparable to Lockheed Martin or Northrup Grumman, eventually broadening my horizons to all forms of technology, similar to Honeywell or Mitsubishi. I very much relate to and admire Elon Musk for owning three very different technological enterprises.
I’ll be sure to remember the little people when I’m famous.
I was using part of my afternoon to get caught up on all the clutter I’ve had laying around. I found a list of quotes I recorded while on my mission and decided to digitalize it for future use. Here are the two that stuck out to me
Our life is a gift from God. What we do with our life is our gift to God. It is not enough to be good. You have to be good for something ~President Hinckley
It dawned on me today that I hadn’t recognized Christ enough in my Christmas. While I recognize that the world would go on without recognition of Jesus (and often does), it’s a special time to reflect on the reason for the season.
I am about to weave you a saga that rivals that of Homer’s Odyssey.
It all started in what I like to call “The Delivery.” In response to a group text I shot out to my co-dwellers, Mr. Myles “With a Y” Young granted me access to his rare, holographic Daewoo (the Bigfoot of the auto industry) on the condition that I deliver him to his DJ gig at the Boise Art Museum. Mission: Accomplished.
I pick up Aspen for the annual ROTC Military Ball. It’s like Harry Potter’s Yule Ball, but with less butterbeer. Anyway, Aspen was looking fine as ever, naturally (I wasn’t going to take just anyone), and we make an appearance. Supposed to arrived between 5:30pm and 6pm?
So anyway, we put on a face and pretend like we’re interested in everyone. We shake some hands, make some introductions, then get our picture taken by none other than the Susan Hessing! I served in her ward! She is most widely recognized for her popular pic of Sierra Sandison wearing her insulin pump whilst sporting her bikini at the Miss Idaho Pageant. So these pictures were on point. We haven’t received our digital copies yet, so this is just a sample of what we brought to the evening. Photo courtesy of a fellow second-squader dressed as Mr. Bean:
Aspen all of a sudden freaks. I’m trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Her high school nemesis is to my six. The Regina George of my date’s compulsory education was present and a fully-participating member of the ROTC program here at Boise State. I really tried to get them some face-time, but Aspen didn’t appreciate that. Heh.
Anyway, we went through the receiving line. In case you were wondering, I was disappointed when I didn’t get anything. I seriously thought it was food. Newp. Just some handshakes with the cadre (big words defined here).
We move over towards table 12, and who am I sitting with? My nemesis! This guy was an MSIV (Military Science 4th year). That means he doesn’t have to do anything we do. He’s basically just admin, running labs and PT tests. That’s where my hate first started festering. He was counting my push-ups on my first test and didn’t count 10 of mine for not getting my chest to the floor when the measure of an Army push-up is elbows at a 90-degree angle. So there. I hate him.
The night went on in formalities and traditions. There was a “1920s theme” which consisted of a few silhouettes of old cars or instruments, plus a couple of stars. Anyway, dinner was a disappointment. We had to place our orders for the caterer a month in advance, and they still ran out! No tri-tip for Cadet Henderson 🙁
We also had to do skits. The MSIs (me) were the clear winners with our Army Strong Shake Weight infomercial.
There were some speeches, some roasting of the cadre, and we closed. We weren’t supposed to leave until the Lieutenant Colonel (the head of our program) left, so we were left with three options: the dance floor (complete with 60-year old DJ and his pop-polka music), Christmas trivia, or socialize with whomever until the LTC left. We went with the trivia, the obvious choice in the given situation, although still not ideal.
We finally left. It was my roomie Logan’s birthday, so we thought we’d get him a cake and play Just Dance on his newly acquired Xbox 360. But then, a thought that would change the entire course of the evening, nay grander! – the course of my being – floated to the forefront of my consciousness. We were going to Myles’s DJ event!
So we pull up to the front of the Boise Art Museum, knowing that Myles and Corden (my other roomie) were DJing a Christmas party for a law firm. I whisper to Aspen that it won’t work unless we’re confident, tell her to grab my arm, and we walk up to a few people standing outside. I lead with, “Hey, sorry we’re late. Where is it that we’re supposed to go?” This lady tells me that it’s just in the back of the museum and that that they’re out of food, so I need to hit up the open-bar. I thank her and give the door a tug. Locked, with a sign reading, “Private Party”. But Museum Peon #1 comes to the rescue and lets me right in. I walk up to my roommates at the DJ stand, clasp my arms around their shoulders, and say, “This is my favorite song!” They both just turn around with big grins shouting, “Yes!”
So then we stride over to the bar. I just get Red Bull. Then I turn to Aspen and tell her that it isn’t enough just to show up and take their drinks. We need to mingle. She tells me I’m going to get us caught. There are only 20-30 people at this party. It’s not a huge deal, so the likelihood of someone knowing we don’t belong was high. Still, though, I go for it. I sit down next to this lady who was 40 or 50 and ask her her name. She divulges and asks me mine. I reply in full German accent, “I’m Stefan. I work in zhe mail room. No one knows me! I’m just trying to get to know people.” I ask what she does for the company, and she tells me her husband is one of the partners. Bingo. Just for some perspective, this company, Givens Pursley LLP, pulls in over $1 million every day. I catch a big name on the first cast. Her husband then comes over, and she introduces me as Stefan. I say hello, chat for a couple seconds, then excuse myself. Mingle: Complete. One of the partners of the company was convinced I worked for him.
I’m back over at the DJ stand now and can’t find Aspen. No worries. I just wander around checking out some of the art. It’s pretty dang cool. I end up back at the DJ stand, and the lady who let me in initially was standing there chatting up my roomies. I asked her (picking up the previous conversation) what’s good at the bar that night. She said she’s drinking a girly drink, like a strawberry daquiri. “Well I’m not getting that!” Then she explained how they were out of Red Bull (while I was drinking it right in front of her), so I couldn’t get an Irish trashcan. “Just get something on the rocks. You can’t f***ing go wrong with that!”. I go back over to the bar and get another Red Bull and comment, “Oh nice – Malibu. I’ll have to get that next time.” I can thank Germany with my familiarity with liquors. There were, I think, two bottles of Malibu at my 18th birthday party, among an impressive array of other hard drinks. It was my host-sister’s fav.
Anyway, after being around Corden and Myles so much, I tell Aspen that we either need to leave or dance to avoid suspicion. She says, “But you don’t dance. Do you want to?” Just then, a sudden flashback to my Mentor of Adventure, Drew Scott, and his immortal words: “Do it for the story!”. “Yes, for the story,” I declare. It lasts all of two seconds when I notice two older women, arms around each other’s shoulder, whispering and pointing at us. I grab Aspen’s arm. Time for our exfiltration!
On our way home, Aspen and I were giddy with how the night had played out. Our confidence was at an all-time high. She related it to the Impractical Jokers said she didn’t have the confidence to do that kinda stuff! I just said I don’t like dancing. We agreed on a trade: confidence for dance moves. Aww yea! We also decided to make this a regular thing. We’ll start with weddings. They’ve got the biggest guest lists, the best cake, and we can always use the “+1” or “we’re with the DJs” excuses. Corden said their company has at least four weddings every weekend and that he’d let us know where the biggest one’s happening.
And that was how a weekend changed the course of my life, bringing me one step closer to Tony Stark-dom.
“Bae”, or “bæ”, more accurately, has redefined annoying teen culture. It stands for “before anyone else,” and is used instead of “honey” or “babe”. It does, however, have an alterative meaning that might catch ya off guard!
Thank you, Urban Dictionary! This has been confirmed by my Danish buddy, Abel. Does it get any more Danish than Abel?!
These aren’t my favorite posts, because they’re so sporatic, catching the public up on what’s been going down in my life, but it’s fun to experience so many different things all at once. Grab your popcorn and let those greasy fingers scroll!
Break has been awesome. I was able to chill, de-stress, and still get some work done (although obviously not as much as I planned for myself – not all bad, though). I was sure to work-out Monday and Tuesday, but got busy the rest of the week. I started watching Agents of SHIELD at the gym on my phone 🙂
VainGlory happened. It’s a League of Legends knock-off in the Apple Apps Store. It’s free, it’s awesome, it’s time-consuming. We checked out iPads from the library just to play all break 😉
One night, after a long day, and not wanting to leave the house, a bunch of people came over and tried to get me to leave. I wasn’t having it. So in order to show how unsocial I planned on being, I opened Netflix, went to foreign films, and found this gem in Asian action: Shaolin Soccer! It’s so funny to me. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be a funny movie, but we’ve started watching weird kung fu movies. Iron Monkey was #2 🙂
Well, Thanksgiving didn’t go quite as planned. I was originally going to eat with Wendy and her fam. My roomie really wanted to eat with his family, but I told him I had plans. Then, a female comes along and invites me to eat with her family. Uh, okay! I tried to play it cool by saying I was popular this holiday season, but I could make an appearance. She was like, “Oh brother. Well never mind!!” Do people not know me and my sense of humor? I even included this GIF to help convey my tone:
But anyway, I called home and talked to everyone except for Robert (sleeping), then Facetime’d Connor. He wanted to hang out and just have me watch him play video games 🙂
I also skyped Megan, but only to talk to her super-cute niece. She’s like 3, and is, I’m convinced, the cutest toddler out there.
After all of that, I layed on the couch and fell asleep to Hitch. Super funny. I need to watch more Will Smith movies. I rewound it to watch what I missed, then watched The Avengers. I texted this chica asking if her family actually ate on Thanskgiving and she had understood that I was first going to Corden’s and that I was going to text her when I was done. She offered to bring me leftovers… Pass! Myles brought home X-Men: Days of Future Past instead. Finally! Now I only need to see Cap 2 to be caught up on the superhero movies I missed.
For those of you who didn’t know (or reject the reality thereof, such as my roommate, Corden), JJ is the greatest human being I know. My buddy, Connor, called him up to hang out, so JJ played big brother while I was gone and too him to Chick-Fil-A and the comic book store. What more can you ask for in a friend?
This is the first installment of a trilogy of posts relating to cities that have become my home. I have a broad audience here, so I figured it’d help to know what shaped me into who I am.
When I was three, my parents moved to Northern Virginia from Pasadena, California. As I understand it, the reasoning was because of the trees (and to escape the in-laws, naturally). Both of my parents served their missions for the LDS church in Germany, and that’s where they met. My dad was just finishing up and Mom had just started. My mom served mostly in southwestern Germany near Stuttgart and Dad in Bayern close to Munich. After Dad finished up his basic stuff at BYU (I’m assuming he studied pre-chiropractic), they headed out to California to finish his Doctor of Chirporactic degree in LA. One of my dad’s roomie’s from the Y moved out to Nova, and on a visit out there, mommy and daddy fell in love with the greenery.
We bounced around a bit once we got there, but eventually settled in Ashburn, just 40 minutes west of Washington, DC. Growing up, I always took it for granted. Every field trip in elementary school was into the capital city somewhere, so I felt like I had seen it all. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I went to DC with friends for fun. Crazy what we take for granted.
Fun-fact: Ashburn was originally called Farmwell after a mansion that General Lee had in the area. Didn’t know that! (Ashburn Wiki) Loudoun County has also been named richest county in the country and for a while was tied with Orange County as fastest growing in the nation. Doin’ big things out east!
Now lemme outline a few reasons why living in Ashburn is the greatest:
The Caps: DC’s pride and joy. Virginia doesn’t have any professional teams of its own, and all the other teams that represent DC suck (Nationals, Redskins, Wizards). The Capitals, though – they don’t mess around.
History: Viginia is rich in history. I can also just drive to Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, Jamestown, and Williamsburg. I remember living in Utah for a few months in elementary school hating history, because they were learning about the stupid Rocky Mountains when no one knew what Jamestown was. Even as a 5th grader it blew my mind.
Wegmans: If you haven’t experienced it for yourself, you’re seriously missing out. It needs to be one of the Wonders of the World. Way cooler than some polyhedrons formed by connecting a polygonal base and a point. They have the best local prices on Twizzlers and Monster, so stock up!
The Washington DC Temple: Even for those who aren’t members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon), it’s gorgeous. As you drive up 495, you round a corner and boom! There it is. It looks like the Walt Disney Castle. They have a bunch of free events in their Visitors Center, like Swiss Alp horn or Lindsey Stirling concerts. During the winter, they put up an insane amount of Christmas lights. It’s seriously worth going to. Festival of Lights
Trees: Oh my gosh. I seriously miss trees! Is that weird? Boise is the supposed “City of Trees”, which I get, because it’s in the middle of a desert. But the east coast, man. Nothing like it.
Appalachian Trail: No, they’re not the Rockies, but we’ve still got some awesome mountains with a lot of camping and backpacking to be done.
Hot 99.5: It’s only the greatest station for the latest and greatest. We’ve even got Ryan Seacrest! I listen to it through iHeartRadio, and it makes me totally miss VA sometimes.
Traffic: I dunno. It wouldn’t be home without it.
Dulles Airport: I live 7 miles away from what about.com rates as the 23rd busiest airport in the US. It’s seriously like the most convenient thing. Before flying out to Germany, the exchange students form the entire Southeast met at a hotel outside the airport. While everyone had 4am flights, I rolled out of bed at 8am to finish packing and leisurely made my way over to the hotel. IAD, as it’s sometimes called (Internat. Airport – Dulles [I once wrote IED on my baggage on accident…]), also has an iconic architecture to it
Deer: I randomly miss waking up to deer being in the front yard. It’s intense! The county pays people to hunt deer, because so many get hit each year. It also makes speeding inconvenient, because all our roads are covered in trees, and you never know when they’re gonna jump out.
Schools: It obviously depends on where you go, but my high school was rated #8 in the state. We also have a lot of moneys because of all the rich government employees 🙂
Metro: Public transportation is seriously awesome. The Metro isn’t the cleanest, but it sure beats trying to navigate in DC. I promised myself to not drive there again. It’s full of one-way streets and contradicting street signs! In a couple years, the Metro’s being extended to Ashburn, only two miles from my house!
License Plates: It’s like those random cravings that pregnant women get. I don’t know how to explain it. The little safety stickers on the windshield, too!
Lt. Col. Wales, who is the head of the Army ROTC department at not only BSU, but also NW Nazarene University, Idaho State University, and BYU-Idaho, spoke to us after FTX while waiting for the Blackhawks. He said a lot of things that caused me to reflect on how lucky I am to have this opportunity. Seriously though! This class has put me in a helicopter, gotten me tours of the mechanic bays of the Apaches, had me repelling off the Student Union Building, and sliding across the Boise River on a rope bridge. The stuff we do is so cool and totally breaks the mold of your standard student.
I can only really remember my dad saying it once, but I maintain that my father raised me with my top three priorities being to God, family, and country, and in that order. I think it was just one of those small things that stuck out to me, and I ran with it. Additionally, I always think back to all the war movies I watched with him. He’d take time to pause and help me understand what happened, why it happened, what I can learn from it, and help me to appreciate the magnitude of the sacrifice. I remember watching a Civil War movie where this guy was inspecting all these dead bodies on the field, when all of a sudden, one of them flipped over and stabbed him. Dad asked me what I could have done to make sure he was dead. My little 6-year old self (or somewhere around there), hesitantly suggested, “Shoot him again?” Dad was so proud! 🙂
Sadly, only 1% of America serves their country. Crazy to think about when you reflect on how strong of opinions people have about all the issues buzzing around. It’s their inherit right to be able to have that opinion, but it’s rather hollow when someone else is the one who fought for your opinion. “…the greatest challenge to our military is not from a foreign enemy — it’s the widening gap between the American people and their armed forces.” (Source: NY Times)
I love the idea of mandatory military service. It’s fairly common throughout several countries. I’m obviously partial to all things German. They serve at 18. I think it’s great. Think of a workplace where everyone has accomplished physical training, developed critical thinking in the stress of combat situations, and leadership and team-building courses. You’d have a healthier, smarter workforce, insurance would be lower because of their level of fitness (sidenote: insurance companies in Germany pay you to take health classes like yoga because it’s cheaper for them in the long-run), and you wouldn’t have to fund the annual go-kart trip to “develop unity.”
An interesting parallel as a missionary was to have everyone thanking me for my service. One time, I got into an elevator with a serviceman in uniform. I thanked him for his service, and he retorted with, “Thank you for your’s.” It totally caught me off guard. I get placed fairly frequently in similar situations when I’m in uniform. On Friday, we marched as a unit in the Veterans Day Parade downtown, and I was early, so I stopped off at the gas station to snag a hot chocolate. She only had me pay for the cup, since I was in uniform! On the way home, I got 4 small hot chocolates and a little chocolate-covered maraschino cherry all for 90 cents! Best roommate ever?
The parade was great. It reminded me of marching band. I loved it. We did a lot of standing around, since we were early. It was around 40 degrees, too, so we were all freezing in our two-layered uniform. Someone shouted my name a few times as we rounded a corner. I think it was a member who’s ward I served in.
BSU Color Guard at the Veterans Day celebration yesterday (souce: BSU)
As much as I hate poetry – in fact, it’s on an extensive list of over 200 things I hate (especially when they don’t rhyme) – I think this poem illustrates the overall point I’m trying to make:
It’s the Soldier It’s the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press. It’s the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It’s the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It’s the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, serves under the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.
This past weekend, per usual, was a much needed break from the pressures of school. My MTC (missionary training center in Provo, Utah) companion, Abel Birk, came up for the weekend to go to the BYU vs. BSU game. Yep. As much as it kills me, he’s a Cougar. Too bad we slaughtered them. Too be fair, to not sound totally ignorant, they would’ve killed us if it wasn’t for a few injuries. Also, a team who puts 55 points on the scoreboard shouldn’t have let 30 through. But it goes both ways. Without their MVP, suddenly they aren’t in the same league.
It was awesome to catch up with Abel, though. He’s very similar to JJ, so we became instant friends on the mish, and it was so good having him around. Just someone to laugh about nothing with, ya know? And he came up just in time to fill that ominous void that was the lack of having close friends here. We watched a lot of The Office (his fav), went to a baptism, and got lunch with some members he likes. The husband, Geoffrey Krueger, is a sick painter, and he showed us his studio – carefully hidden in an old hardware store. It reminds me of Michael Weston’s apartment in Burn Notice.
He’s having trouble making a name for himself, even though his talent is phenomenal. He started painting every day, after seeing the success that Julian Merrow-Smith was having with his online gallery, Postcard from Provence. Geoffrey was one cool guy and has an amazing talent. Check out his blog, Daily Dose of Painting! He also got me thinking as to how I can better market my familiarity with social media. Something to think about.
Saturday, as I’m sure you all know, was Katy Perry’s 30th birthday. We celebrated with cupcakes, her music video for “Birthday”, and watched Katy Perry: Part of Me. Strangely enough, it was only my second time watching her movie…Even Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 78%, which is fairly good, considering the target audience of the film.
This weekend, along with other experiences has made me realize that times past and experiences had will never be the same as they used to be. Going home to Virginia, friends matured, siblings grew, and buildings went up. I often think about whenever I’ll have the chance to visit Germany again. I think back to my two little host-sisters, Hannah and Barbara, who were only five and four years old when I left. If I were to go back right now, they’d be eight and seven! So different! And my friends and fellow exchange students wouldn’t be there to complete my experience. It’s just odd to think about. But rather than getting all wrapped up in the past, I love thinking towards the future and what will come of it—what I’ll make of it.
This week has been refreshingly invigorating and motivating on an onward and upward slope. I have several things to share.
First off, I’m really struggling in school. My problem is that in high school, I never had to study. I would retain enough info to pass my tests. I literally don’t know how to study, and that doesn’t fly at a university. I sit down, skim over my notes, get overwhelmed, and then I’m done. Leave some tips in the comments! I’m getting the hang of it, though. I have good ideas as to what I need to do, but now it’s buckling down and doing them. Plus, finding time will be tricky.
I work at the library on campus. I originally got the job because I thought I could just do homework. That is not the case. But lately, our library decided to clear out one of our rooms and open it as some kind of exploring room. I don’t really understand it, but I think it’s an online college (not Boise State) that will take over this room in helping patrons explore different fields they might be interested in as they relate to science and technology. 80% sure that was a lie, but it could pan out the way I remember it. Anyway, that room was full of micro-fiche, which are old newspapers, etc printed on translucent film. You throw it in a machine that looks like a microscope and voila – an outdated PDF! So to make room for this new venture, we’re getting rid of the micro-fiche…all of it. And the library wants to be environmentally friendly, so we’re recycling it all. For us peons, that means sitting down for hours and “husking” the film out of their paper envelopes, separating and recycling. Anyway, I put on my charm and got my boss to let me use headphones. Then I turned up the charisma even more and got him to let me have my laptop on to watch videos. Corden, my hipster of a roomie, showed me this video that obviously caught my attention. It’s called Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became The Real ‘Iron Man’. It’s amazing. He’s my real Tony Stark role model! Interestingly enough, Robert Downey, Jr. on his Reddit “Ask Me Anything” replied to a fan saying that if he got to spend more time with anyone, that it’d be Elon Musk. The seed was planted. Then when Corden presented me with this video, I saved it in the back of my head until I would later get paid to perform menial labor while getting my brain flowing with all sorts of new ideas. Elon Musk sold his first company, Zip2, at the age of 28, became a millionaire, then started and sold PayPal. Now he is the CEO of Tesla Motors, SpaceX (his personal venture to Mars), and Solar City. Very much worth checking out. If Steve Jobs was of any interest to you when it came to futurism and the advancement of technology, Elon Musk is your man. Another worthy mention is Elon Musk: 5 Areas That Will Have the Most Important Effect on Humanity.
I also started listening to The Richest Man in Babylon while “husking” the micro-fiche. It will take 5 hours to finish, but that’s easy with the task at hand. I need to be better at managing my expenses. I’m excited to implement saving 10% of my earnings and living off the 90%. I’m really good at preparing myself to make good decisions, but I’m balancing so much right now, I feel like I don’t get anything on my list done. But figuring out expenses will cut a lot of the college-related stress.
ROTC has been super cool. The week before last, we went to Gowen Field (the military base shared by the National Guard and the Idaho Air Guard near the Boise Airport) and worked on some obstacle courses. They weren’t you’re typical barbed wire crawling in mud courses, but rather problem solving and working as a team. This past week, we re-learned how to tie the Swiss seat harness, then hooked onto a rope bridge we had stretched taught across the Boise River and shimmied across. Sick!
Per usual, I never know what I want to do. Of course, I’m going to be Tony Stark, but the problem is that everything interests me and I feel like it’s derailing me from my end goal. I want to be an engineer, I want to own my own company, I’d like to learn programming, I want to work in Germany, I love art, etc. My dilemma precisely. So right now, I am double-majoring in German and Mechanical Engineering, double-minoring in Military Science (ROTC) and Industrial Engineering, and earning a Certificate of Technical Communication. Where will business fit in, you ask? Well, I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I plan on getting an MBA and a Masters in some sort of engineering, but I’m wondering if I can work business in now. I’d love to start a company while I’m in school. I guess that’s what’s so cool about the future. It’s always so suspenseful!
It was Friday afternoon. I got home after school, ready to chill. I asked my roomie Myles what he was up to that night. He casually informed me that they were to depart for Las Vegas in an hour. My heart stopped. I turned back to Myles. “Vegas?! Dude, I’ve been trying for months to figure out how I’m going to get down there to visit my best friend, and you just didn’t even tell me?!” “You should come, dude.” So within an hour, I called and got my shift covered, packed, and called Megan. We ran and got the rental car and an insufficient amount of Twizzlers, started on our SnapStory, and set off!
The occasion was the wedding of Myles’s sister. She’s 21 and now married to a fifty-something year old dude. The family wasn’t even invited to the wedding until the week before when some of the siblings got to prying. In the three years they’ve dated, no one has ever seen a picture of the guy, and they moved to Oregon to get away from her family. Super strange situation. To top it off, he took her last name. A dude with a maiden name…? So yeah. Really awkward and uncomfortable, but I love those situations. It’s my roomie’s sister, though, so that was just to fill you in, not to be judgmental. I wish them the best and hope it works out.
We drove down to Myles’s brother’s house in Utah, spent the night, and set out in the morning. Sleeping on the couch/hardwood floor doesn’t set you up for success when it comes to long road trips, but we managed.
Saturday, we grabbed In-N-Out Burger (double-double, animal style, protein style) and stopped by Myles’s sister’s house to grab her husband’s forgotten sleep apnea machine. We showered, stole their cool Nerf guns (all Myles), and forgot the machine…So we added an hour to our trip going back to get it (we were only out 30 mins, but still).
As soon as Vegas was in sight, we blasted Elvis’s “Viva Las Vegas” on repeat until reaching the hotel. We met Myles’s family real quick, then went to Chili’s on the Strip to meet the lucky groom. First of all, we went to the wrong Chili’s, so that was weird. Second of all, when in Vegas, eat at Chili’s? False. So I got outta there! Megan came and got me. It was so good to see each other again. She looked so grown up! When I knew her, she was just a junior in high school. Now she’s a college sophomore!
So not only had I not seen my best girl friend (“amiga” from here on out) in 3 years, but, on a whim, I make it to freakin’ Las Vegas on her 21st birthday! As you can imagine, however, she wasn’t in the best state of mind upon our reunion 🙂 She had gone out the night before and hit the clubs as soon as the clock struck midnight. She was hung over hardcore, so we went home, I got to meet her mom (super exciting), we ate some Japanese ramen, then went to bed.
Sunday morning, we woke up, got ready, and I went to work with her. She works at the Ciel Spa in the SLS Hotel and Casino on the Strip. They have security guards in their elevators! I just sat there in the lobby working on my laptop, submitting résumés to a few different employers and internship opportunities. Everyone was like, “Uh, why didn’t you go walk around…? You were in Las Vegas!” But to me, I was just complacent just being around her. It was like the routine JJ and I had when I got home from Germany: gym, Xbox, then read comics in silence sitting in his room. Occasionally, we’d chuckle and share what we just read, but it was “fun” just sitting there in the same room. Nothing had to be said. Myles and Corden came and got me, we went to the wedding, ate cake, then headed out. Coolest pastor ever.
It was one long drive home. 9 hours straight through Nevada. And how much you wanna bet I had service? Here’s a hint: I have Tmobile. But it was good. Aside from seeing Megan, the coolest part of this trip was the bonding with Myles and Corden. One of the hardest parts of being out here in Boise is not having a best friend. I don’t have my “Bdubs group” out here yet. My group of friends I can call on a moments notice and say, “Hey, let’s do something.” So I’m working on building those stronger relationships still, and it’s been tough. That trip was just what I needed!
One of the highlights of the road trip was our playlist. Here’s just a sample:
I have been crazy anxious to fill the masses in on my weekend. I went up to Idaho City (the former, thriving, gold mining metropolis of Idaho turned redneck-inhabited nature getaway) with ROTC for a Field Training Exercise (FTX) last weekend.
It was a blast. We met at BSU at 5:30am, bussed up to Idaho City, then marched up to camp. We busted open an MRE, then got ready to split into our squads. We had 6 “lanes” or courses altogether. We were “fighting” a made up enemy – the South Atropian Peoples’ Army (SAPA) – for an enhanced reality to it all.
High Angle Rescue We learned how to tie a few knots, along with a Swiss Seat, which is making your own harness out of rope for repelling.
Then, we had to go down a steep hill, pick up a survivor from a helicopter crash, and get him back up the “high angle”.
Recon This was a map and scouting exercise where the bulk of us held down a secure position while two teams circled around the left and right looking for a hostage. Move to Contact We marched a little over one kilometer, cresting 5 giant hills, to were we expected enemy contact. We started up the 6th hill, when the enemy comes in behind us. We run down into a ravine where there’s lots of cover and take them out. As we were moving, all of a sudden I just drop. I fell knee-deep into some kind of natural well! I was soaked. Wet boots and socks for the rest of the weekend -__- Key Leader Engagement (KLE) This one was the most fun. It added a very real dynamic to all our training. Basically, we walked into a village where there was a village elder and his two sons. He was upset because the US Army had bombed his village fighting SAPA. We were there to follow-up and build his trust again in the Army. Essentially, our squad formed a 360-degree security perimeter, while our squad leader and one other were in the middle talking to the village elder. The Atropian people (and Muslims in general) are known to be touchy. So sometimes the sons would come up and give us a hug, etc. It made me super uncomfortable, knowing they could be the enemy and that I had a firearm. Super funny, though…one of the sons asked our squad leader to come and see his goats. He declined, saying he was talking to the son’s father, but one of our guys, thinking to help the situation, says, “I’ll go and see your goats.” Well, they wander off, and the son comes back without him. He stabbed our dude. One of our guys yells, “Blazek’s down,” and our squad leader, mid-convo with the head honcho yells, “WHAT THE F***?!” One of them ran for an AK, so we off’d them. Stressful! It gave me a very real appreciation for our servicemen out there on foreign soil doing these exact things. Disabled Vehicle We pushed the ROTC Chevy Silverado up a hill in neutral, in addition to bringing two tractor tires, two telephone poles, and two water jugs with us. Ridiculous. It was an incredible team-building experience, though. Patrol Sunday, as our last lane, we went out on a one-kilometer patrol through the mountains. Every once in a while, one of the Cadre (ROTC leaders) would yell, “INCOMING,” and we’d dive down, drop our rucksacks, and assault up the hill. We’d get to the top, to find that the enemy had fled, so we’d go down, get our gear, and pursue. We’d also get reports that one of our guys had been killed, so we’d have to carry them with their gear back to where we had established security (back to our 360 perimeter with leadership in the middle).
It was an awesome, physical, intense weekend. I loved it. Aside from being able to eat whatever I wanted, due to the strain of all we did, it gave me a greater conviction that the military truly is something I want to pursue.
To close out the weekend, we ruck-marched (marching with all our gear in rucksacks) pretty dang far to a helipad, where the Idaho National Guard picked us up in Blackhawk helicopters. So sick. If the Army is where I’m headed, I either want to branch Armor (tanks) or aviation (helicopters), so it was almost like a job shadow for me 🙂
There isn’t a word that carries more hope in my opinion than opportunity. I had always thought the concept silly. I’ve always had the misconception that there’s so much help out there for people to succeed that there’s no reason for them not to, besides their own personal limitations. My eyes are being opened to a newer reality. To some degree, we are slaves to our circumstances. In others, we decide our future. There are, however, far too many who go without opportunity. As much as I disagree with how the guy runs our country, Obama’s “change” and “hope” campaign really resonates with us as humans on some subconscious level.
I actually feel greatly blessed for this opportunity to aspire to a higher education. Good gosh is it difficult. I’m taking 20 credits! Here’s the breakdown:
Currently, I have a double-major listed in Mechanical Engineering and German, a double-minor in Japanese and Military Science, and a certificate in Technical Communication. Who needs free-time anyway? I met with my advisor this week, and she said I might graduate in five years if I take summer courses haha. But one of the things Dad told me is that college is about broadening my palette. I doubt I’ll keep the Japanese minor, but it’s fun to explore my first year.
My classes are as follows:
German 303: Easy. I understand basically everything the professor says. The course is conducted in German. My professor, Frau Henderson :D, is also one of my advisors, since I’ve got a double-major in German listed. So I’m in good with her. She said I can be a tutor (paid) and a teacher’s assistant (paid with credits) next semester.
Japanese 101: This class is killer. The teacher’s assistants are exchange students from Japan, and they’re chill. They help me out a bunch, but it’s still super difficult for me. It’s not individual concepts that are what trip me up, it’s the double-translating of character to sound to English equivalent. I’m not sure I’ll take 102 next semester. We’ll see what grade I get in 101 haha…I’m taking it because I’ve always had an interest in the language and culture, plus Japan, along with Germany and Switzerland (got ’em covered!), are the top countries for precision engineering. But if I’m not totally committed, I’m not going to let Jap 102 tank my GPA
Military Science 101 (lecture): Super cool. We learn about fitness, squad tactics, how to read a map, etc. It’s easy, there’s no homework, and our exam is going to be pretty straight-forward.
Military Science 101 (lab): We meet up every week for two hours in Julie Davis Park right behind campus and practice things like marching, crawling, squad tactics, etc. It’s the practical side to the Army
Military Science 104 -Physical Training (PT): It’s at 6:30am MWF, so I wake up at 5am…It’s killer. The first Friday of every month, we have a PT Test. The minimums to pass are 50-something sit-ups, 40-something push-ups, and a 2-mile run in under 15:30.
Kinesiology 140 – Personal Health: I love this class. I got into healthy eating on my mission, and it’s been a blast to figure out the why’s of everything I was doing. It’s one of my general ed’s, so I’m not “wasting” a credit on some whim, which is a bonus. I’m pretty passionate about health/fitness, but it’s not something I want to pursue from a career standpoint.
Math 108 – Intermediate Algebra / Math 143 – College Algebra: Well. This is two college classes condensed and crammed into one semester. We use an online program called ALEKS to master each topic at our own pace to build a solid foundation. But instead of the typical 6 hours per week, we have to log 12 hours, since we’re doing a full course in half the time. So I do 12 hours of math homework every week, with two midterms and two final exams. I haven’t done math in 4 years! It’s been a tough, but fun refresher. I scored 100% on my midterm.
Music Ensemble 122 – Concert Band: Dang. I haven’t played clarinet in 3 years, but, like German, I figured there was no point in learning if I don’t keep it up. I’m only really keeping it up so I can play in a village orchestra in Germany 😉
So there ya have it! School is keeping me busy, so I think I’ll switch to short, frequent posts. I’ll be up in Idaho City for a Field Training Exercise (FTX) with ROTC on land navigation. It’ll be a blast. So I won’t post Sunday, but expect stuff the following week!
Post number two will carry us through the 11 action-packed, surreal days I spent back in Nova (see definition here).
It was a blast. Lots of emotions. Memories rekindled and memories made. I woke up early August 9th and rode with President and Sister Winder to the Boise Airport. I felt even more like a superstar walking through the airport alone. People recognized me as a missionary, but I was secretly smug knowing I got more attention than usual as people looked for my companion. They knew. A missionary in the airport? Alone? He carries himself too confidently to be leaving. He must be going home.
As suspense was high, I stepped off the airplane to…a subway? The Dulles Airport is known for it’s unique subway and trolley system. I rode over to baggage claim and turned the corner. As soon as I walked out the terminal, I saw…no one? This is way more anticlimactic than I had anticipated. Hey! There’s my family! And they’re totally in the wrong spot. I hoped to sneak up behind them, but I was spotted. Then the awkardness. Uncomfortable attention, like when Dad starts talking to my lady friends. It was just weird being back. I felt almost exiled as we were at dinner, etc. no one knew what to talk to me about!
It was good though. Real strange being around my family again. JJ understands me. Sometimes, we just need a break. And it was hard because they hadn’t seen me in two years. I get that. But they haven’t seen me (one person) in two ears vs the herds of followers and fan girls that expected to hang out with me. Balance was tricky, but somehow I managed. To quote one if my favorite ladies, “This is how we do.”
I don’t know quite how to articulate all my at-home shenannies. Plus I realize you’re all anxious to revel in my exploits in the City of Trees. So here are some highlights, and then we’ll get into the campus life:
Steak ‘n’ Shake pilgrimage with Blair like old times. Dang good burger for the right price! Traffic was absurd at 2am, but it was otherwise the perfect trip for us to do some bro-bonding.
Gettysburg trip with Dad, Jenna, and Connor. I love military history, but have never been much of a fan of the Civil War. We did the auto-tour, where you buy a CD and it guides you through the battlefields and sites. It was a leisurely, go-at-your-own-pace tour, which is the best. Being there and hearing all that went down added to the magnitude of honor and dedication for both sides of the war.
Connor got to meet with the missionaries, and I baptized him as a great close to my mission. Before leaving, I baptized my sister, Jenna, too! They made for very nice bookends to the most spiritual experience I’ve had yet.
We got to see Gary’s comic book basement-museum! Holy Hannah. He’s got an entire basement full of comics and action figures. Nerds unite!
My momma and I went to the Washington DC Temple, then hit up Robeks for a healthy, nostalgic brunch.
Naturally, we paid a visit The Laughing Ogre comic book store in Landsdowne. Too bad I’m poor!
Wegmans – Idaho doesn’t even understand…
Chilled at Buffalo Wild Wings with the D28 homies. They no longer carry Coke products 🙁 I’m over it. And by it, I mean them.
Burger 21 – delicious! I just had sweet potato fries and a bananas foster shake. Its so crazy how much Ashburn has grown!
Guardians of the Galaxy at The Alamo after a day-long superhero movie catch-up (The Wolverine, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, and Thor 2).
I visit the North American headquarters of Heckler & Koch, which is conveniently 3 miles from my house in Ashburn! They’re a German firearms manufacturer based out of Stuttgart. The Navy SEALs use their guns. In my ascension to Tony Stark status, I hope to land a job with them, which would let me split my time between Ashburn and Germany 🙂
Huzzah Games. Table top and card games with the dorks
I got to spend time with my buddy! 🙂 He was the hardest part about leaving again to Idaho
Thanks for all your love and support over the past two years! I couldn’t have done it with out ya! The whole blogging ever week to keep ya’ll posted will hopefully work out from now on. In the posts about college to follow, you’ll know why I have no freetime.
Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for me to establish a consistent internet presence with a little depth to it! As most of you are well aware, I returned to civilization and the land of social media only a short couple weeks ago having served a full-time, two-year, voluntary mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Communication was limited, which allowed for focus. I always joked that I was disappearing for two years like Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins – honing my caped crusading portfolio of capabilities, expertise, and ingenuity. You’ll never know…
Anyway, the point I was trying to illustrate was that correspondence was limited to archaic forms of weekly messaging. It suited its purposes, though, as I lead an adventurous lifestyle and it was a pleasant outlet for my thoughts in an attempt to clue you all in on what makes Jonny, Jonny. And I developed quite the fan-base. So here you are!
This will serve a double-purpose: to keep you all updated on my day-to-day and to replace a journal on my end. Enjoy! Updates on my life to be expected every Sunday~
