Dear Friend,
I have been having a pretty tough time with school recently. I have been swamped with school work and I can't seem to get it all done. Too many test and presentations and projects due now. Plus I need to be studying for finals that I'm not ready for at all. But luckily whenever I am in these types of situations, I look ahead and think of how great life will be after I get all this done. I start counting down the days till break which tends to help me get there. I take a little time to think about what I am going to do with all my free time and how awesome it will be to hang out with friends and take it easy, at least for a while.
I was thinking about how when my Granddad died a couple of years ago and how my mom and I really started to bond. We just sat and talked for hours and hours. I learned so much about my mom, stuff that I would have never, ever, ever guessed. Like I had no clue that my mom was married two times before she married my dad. I had never thought of that even being possible. My parents have been married for twenty years!! I just wanted to share that with you because it popped into my head today while writing for English.
I was also thinking about how a couple of years back this video game came out and I wouldn't want to admit that I was addicted to a stupid video game, but I was. I played it for hours and hours. There would be days where I would come home and just play for an hour or two after school, and waste my entire weekends playing. I had a profile that had a total of 170+ hours spent playing in the game. Ridiculous!!!! I will never let that happen again, because looking back at it, it was one of the most unproductive time in my entire life. So lesson to be learned don't get addicted to something, especially something that stupid.
Last year I was addicted to weight lifting, my friends and I would lift for 2 hours a day 5 days a week. That was the minimum, sometimes we would get together on the weekend and go running or hit a different gym. This time at least my addiction was helping my body and preparing me for my career in the Marines. OORAH!!!!!
Love,
Justin
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Dear Friend 11/5
Dear Friend,
I made a mix tape for my girlfriend recently I really spent a lot of time compiling and it has a mix of songs we have shared and both liked and songs that are just from me to her. Like the first song “Heaven” by DJ Sammy, its just a perfect song that makes me think of her every time I hear it. Here is the list of them all:
Songs For My Baby
Heaven by DJ Sammy
Live your Life by T.I. and Rihanna
Crush by David Archuleta
American Boy by Estelle
Right Now by Akon
Here In Your Arms by HelloGoodBye
Stop & Stare by One Republic
Glamorous by Fergie
Love Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale
Heaven by DJ Sammy
I really took my time choosing these songs so she’ll know how much she means to me. The song Heaven starts and finishes the CD because it is my favorite. It talks about how I’m in heaven when I’m with “you”. Every time I hear that song I think how much I love Jenna, and how blessed I am to have her. I hope that she can feel that closeness that we get to experience when we are together, and that she knows how much I love her. I hope that it will remind her of what a great thing we have, even though it will be hard on us when I leave for the military. I hope this mix will comfort her when I’m not around and when I’m a thousand miles away from her. That is what I hope she gets from this compilation CD.
Sitting in the living room with my family just talking makes you realize several things. Like my sister can’t forget anything. She will remember something you say 5, 10, 15 years later. It is truly ridiculous and can be very annoying.
My dad has a fun nature, sometimes. He loves to fight and watch movies. Sometimes it is hard for him to make the time to spend with us, but when he does we always have fun.
My mom has a talent for cooking, listening, and not taking any crap…or else. Everyone likes my mom, she always makes killer dinner, and listens to what you have to say and can give you good advice. Sometimes more advice than you were hoping for, but good advice nonetheless.
We get to see my Uncle once a year usually during thanksgiving. He is a gentle giant. He stands about 6’6” and has such a kind spirit. He genuinely loved hanging out with my sister and I when we were young. We would go down to the basement and just wrestle for hours. No matter how much older we got, we could never beat Uncle Mark.
My grandma, we call her Baba, is the most amazing grandma ever. We see her usually once a year also, but during the summer or Christmas. She is one of those grandmas who are constantly spoiling her grandkids. She would always make lots of treats and we would have the best food for every meal. She would get us toys when we got older, and try to make sure we were having fun. She really missed us, and you could tell every time you hugged her. She had that long, missed kind of hug. She is a perfect grandma.
Love,
Justin
I made a mix tape for my girlfriend recently I really spent a lot of time compiling and it has a mix of songs we have shared and both liked and songs that are just from me to her. Like the first song “Heaven” by DJ Sammy, its just a perfect song that makes me think of her every time I hear it. Here is the list of them all:
Songs For My Baby
Heaven by DJ Sammy
Live your Life by T.I. and Rihanna
Crush by David Archuleta
American Boy by Estelle
Right Now by Akon
Here In Your Arms by HelloGoodBye
Stop & Stare by One Republic
Glamorous by Fergie
Love Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale
Heaven by DJ Sammy
I really took my time choosing these songs so she’ll know how much she means to me. The song Heaven starts and finishes the CD because it is my favorite. It talks about how I’m in heaven when I’m with “you”. Every time I hear that song I think how much I love Jenna, and how blessed I am to have her. I hope that she can feel that closeness that we get to experience when we are together, and that she knows how much I love her. I hope that it will remind her of what a great thing we have, even though it will be hard on us when I leave for the military. I hope this mix will comfort her when I’m not around and when I’m a thousand miles away from her. That is what I hope she gets from this compilation CD.
Sitting in the living room with my family just talking makes you realize several things. Like my sister can’t forget anything. She will remember something you say 5, 10, 15 years later. It is truly ridiculous and can be very annoying.
My dad has a fun nature, sometimes. He loves to fight and watch movies. Sometimes it is hard for him to make the time to spend with us, but when he does we always have fun.
My mom has a talent for cooking, listening, and not taking any crap…or else. Everyone likes my mom, she always makes killer dinner, and listens to what you have to say and can give you good advice. Sometimes more advice than you were hoping for, but good advice nonetheless.
We get to see my Uncle once a year usually during thanksgiving. He is a gentle giant. He stands about 6’6” and has such a kind spirit. He genuinely loved hanging out with my sister and I when we were young. We would go down to the basement and just wrestle for hours. No matter how much older we got, we could never beat Uncle Mark.
My grandma, we call her Baba, is the most amazing grandma ever. We see her usually once a year also, but during the summer or Christmas. She is one of those grandmas who are constantly spoiling her grandkids. She would always make lots of treats and we would have the best food for every meal. She would get us toys when we got older, and try to make sure we were having fun. She really missed us, and you could tell every time you hugged her. She had that long, missed kind of hug. She is a perfect grandma.
Love,
Justin
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Its been a while
Dear Friend,
It's been a while since I last wrote you and I'm sorry about that. I have been swamped with midterms, Chemistry, ROTC, and trying to finish my application to the Naval Academy. As you know I have been dating Jenna for a long time, just about ten months! We have been having a difficult streak in our relationship, kinda like falling into a rut. But it has been getting a little better just recently.
Have I ever told you how beautiful Jenna is? It would be impossible to describe her exactly, but I’ll try. She has such beautiful eyes that when you look into them, you really can't look away. There have been several times where she asks, "what are you looking at?" and all I can say is, "just you!" She is so kind and outgoing, a genuine caring for people who are in need. I can't help thinking about her when I here that song, "We're in heaven" and knowing that whenever you are with that special person nothing else matters. Just you and them. That is how beautiful Jenna is, the kind of beauty that melts away everything around you that doesn't really matter.
My dad mentioned something about his “glory days” last night. When he fenced in college and how he went to the National Championships in New York City. It got me thinking about my glory days. I don’t think I have had them, because nothing too special has happened in my life yet. I think they will be a few days down the road when I’m serving in the Marine Corps and fighting terrorists around the world. I see myself leading troops into battle seeing the carnage that lies before me and know that nothing will stop us, because we are the world’s strongest fighting force. US Marines. That’s what I think will be my glory days. I really look forward to them; I wish I could be doing that right now!
I’m also excited about the upcoming holidays. We used to have my Aunt and Uncle over for Christmas every year, but we a couple years ago they mentioned how they haven’t been happy for a very long time, and they’ve just been acting. Which by the way must have been pretty poor acting because my Aunt was never very nice to my Uncle. They soon got a divorce and surprisingly enough they were much happier! Sometimes my Aunt comes down from Wyoming for Christmas but the last couple years we drive to Arizona and see my Grandma. She is always so excited when we come over and see her. We all like seeing her too, because she is the kind of Grandma that loves to spoil you. We always spend some extra time there at her house and do everything that she wants changed like hanging blinds or putting in fans ect. I do love the holidays though. Its definitely my favorite time of the year.
Love,
Justin
It's been a while since I last wrote you and I'm sorry about that. I have been swamped with midterms, Chemistry, ROTC, and trying to finish my application to the Naval Academy. As you know I have been dating Jenna for a long time, just about ten months! We have been having a difficult streak in our relationship, kinda like falling into a rut. But it has been getting a little better just recently.
Have I ever told you how beautiful Jenna is? It would be impossible to describe her exactly, but I’ll try. She has such beautiful eyes that when you look into them, you really can't look away. There have been several times where she asks, "what are you looking at?" and all I can say is, "just you!" She is so kind and outgoing, a genuine caring for people who are in need. I can't help thinking about her when I here that song, "We're in heaven" and knowing that whenever you are with that special person nothing else matters. Just you and them. That is how beautiful Jenna is, the kind of beauty that melts away everything around you that doesn't really matter.
My dad mentioned something about his “glory days” last night. When he fenced in college and how he went to the National Championships in New York City. It got me thinking about my glory days. I don’t think I have had them, because nothing too special has happened in my life yet. I think they will be a few days down the road when I’m serving in the Marine Corps and fighting terrorists around the world. I see myself leading troops into battle seeing the carnage that lies before me and know that nothing will stop us, because we are the world’s strongest fighting force. US Marines. That’s what I think will be my glory days. I really look forward to them; I wish I could be doing that right now!
I’m also excited about the upcoming holidays. We used to have my Aunt and Uncle over for Christmas every year, but we a couple years ago they mentioned how they haven’t been happy for a very long time, and they’ve just been acting. Which by the way must have been pretty poor acting because my Aunt was never very nice to my Uncle. They soon got a divorce and surprisingly enough they were much happier! Sometimes my Aunt comes down from Wyoming for Christmas but the last couple years we drive to Arizona and see my Grandma. She is always so excited when we come over and see her. We all like seeing her too, because she is the kind of Grandma that loves to spoil you. We always spend some extra time there at her house and do everything that she wants changed like hanging blinds or putting in fans ect. I do love the holidays though. Its definitely my favorite time of the year.
Love,
Justin
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Lessons I've Learned
Dear Friend,
This week has been crazy. Lots of homework and ROTC stuff. I love it to death, but it is really wearing on me. I have a midterm and a test next Wednesday to be studying and my Personal Statement needs to be written for the Naval Academy. But I was thinking about all the important things that have really changed my life and shown me something new. I thought I might share a couple of them with you.
Just about a year ago, when I had been dating Jenna for a few months one of my best friends, Nathan, said something that really made her mad. As you already know, my personality is a fixer. If there’s a problem I want to fix it and find the answer. I don’t know why, but I do know that it can be a problem for sure. So first, being a good boyfriend I take my girl’s side and tell Nathan to apologize, but he says he refuses to apologize for something that he doesn’t think was wrong. Which just made me mad, so I try to get his girlfriend to tell him to apologize, but that doesn’t work. I keep at this for probably a week, and I am just getting so angry at my friend that I can’t stand him! It isn’t so much because he pissed off Jenna, but because I can’t win! So I give up on him and try to work on Jenna and mention that it wasn’t that a big of a deal and maybe she overreacted……ya, not a good way to phrase that. Well that approach just made it worse. Now my friend is sick of me bugging him, and my girlfriend is pissed at me too. Obviously this isn’t going to work and I should bale out. I admit defeat, and stop trying to play “peacekeeper” with the whole situation and get my nose out of their business. It was a pretty sticky situation, but since I got out when I did I managed to save both relationships. What I learned and want you to learn is, don’t get in the middle of two good friends when they are fighting, because either you will lose one friend, or they will both hate you.
When I was about 14 years old I went on a backpacking trip with Boy Scouts and my Dad was able to come. We ended up backpacking around 60 miles in a week. It was so much fun, but really demanding. There were times that I really wanted to quit, but my dad was always there keeping me going. But the last day we had to walk about 10 miles with our packs which weighed about 40 pounds! At that time it was a ton of weight. But that day was hard for my dad, he hung in there but was really struggling, but he always had his pride of doing this trek so he never quit. He fought through it. We went back there four years later now I was 18, and in my prime. I carried a pack that weighed 70-95 pounds. It varied day to day on how much group gear I would carry, and if our little guy, Luke, needed help. But there were several days where my dad would mention himself as too fat and too old. The last day was very similar to the day four years before. It was 12 miles total, part of it being up a mountain, then back down the other side. About 6-7 miles till the end, after the mountain thankfully, my dad really messed up his ankle. The pain was obviously extreme because I remembered my dad’s pride. And it was so hard for him to let us split up his gear between the rest of the crew. I hiked the last miles fighting it with my dad. Seeing him never give up, even through the intense pain. Through this whole situation I learned how so often people change. Many people see there dad as a super hero, who is invincible and never does anything wrong. I was one of those kids way back when. But then you see things how they really are. My dad is just another adult who takes care of me and is there for me. I’m so thankful for that trek, because it really did show me that sometimes people do change, and our perception of people change, but some things never change. My dad will always be a fighter, a warrior, who will never give up. It’s important to look for these characteristics; it shows us who that person really is. I respect and look up to my dad so much for being the man he is, and that trek reminded me of that.
In my English class we are reading the book Perks of Being a Wallflower. There is a part where the main character Charlie says he feels “Infinite” I was thinking what does that mean to me? I think I would have to say that feeling infinite is when you get to experience something new and exciting with someone who you are really close to. A time where there is no real pressure to perform or do something correctly, but something relaxed and where you can be yourself with that special person. It could be seeing the most amazing movie with someone and the end finishes so perfectly that you just stay sitting in your seat for a minute and look at that person and say, “Wow”. And that’s it. That’s all you have to say. Or getting to see a meteor shower with your dad and you feel like you two might be the only ones seeing it. And you put your arm on his shoulder and just take a moment and are in awe together. I think that is what feeling infinite is to me. Just spending those moments with someone truly close to you where you are just taken back for a moment. That’s infinite.
Love,
Justin
This week has been crazy. Lots of homework and ROTC stuff. I love it to death, but it is really wearing on me. I have a midterm and a test next Wednesday to be studying and my Personal Statement needs to be written for the Naval Academy. But I was thinking about all the important things that have really changed my life and shown me something new. I thought I might share a couple of them with you.
Just about a year ago, when I had been dating Jenna for a few months one of my best friends, Nathan, said something that really made her mad. As you already know, my personality is a fixer. If there’s a problem I want to fix it and find the answer. I don’t know why, but I do know that it can be a problem for sure. So first, being a good boyfriend I take my girl’s side and tell Nathan to apologize, but he says he refuses to apologize for something that he doesn’t think was wrong. Which just made me mad, so I try to get his girlfriend to tell him to apologize, but that doesn’t work. I keep at this for probably a week, and I am just getting so angry at my friend that I can’t stand him! It isn’t so much because he pissed off Jenna, but because I can’t win! So I give up on him and try to work on Jenna and mention that it wasn’t that a big of a deal and maybe she overreacted……ya, not a good way to phrase that. Well that approach just made it worse. Now my friend is sick of me bugging him, and my girlfriend is pissed at me too. Obviously this isn’t going to work and I should bale out. I admit defeat, and stop trying to play “peacekeeper” with the whole situation and get my nose out of their business. It was a pretty sticky situation, but since I got out when I did I managed to save both relationships. What I learned and want you to learn is, don’t get in the middle of two good friends when they are fighting, because either you will lose one friend, or they will both hate you.
When I was about 14 years old I went on a backpacking trip with Boy Scouts and my Dad was able to come. We ended up backpacking around 60 miles in a week. It was so much fun, but really demanding. There were times that I really wanted to quit, but my dad was always there keeping me going. But the last day we had to walk about 10 miles with our packs which weighed about 40 pounds! At that time it was a ton of weight. But that day was hard for my dad, he hung in there but was really struggling, but he always had his pride of doing this trek so he never quit. He fought through it. We went back there four years later now I was 18, and in my prime. I carried a pack that weighed 70-95 pounds. It varied day to day on how much group gear I would carry, and if our little guy, Luke, needed help. But there were several days where my dad would mention himself as too fat and too old. The last day was very similar to the day four years before. It was 12 miles total, part of it being up a mountain, then back down the other side. About 6-7 miles till the end, after the mountain thankfully, my dad really messed up his ankle. The pain was obviously extreme because I remembered my dad’s pride. And it was so hard for him to let us split up his gear between the rest of the crew. I hiked the last miles fighting it with my dad. Seeing him never give up, even through the intense pain. Through this whole situation I learned how so often people change. Many people see there dad as a super hero, who is invincible and never does anything wrong. I was one of those kids way back when. But then you see things how they really are. My dad is just another adult who takes care of me and is there for me. I’m so thankful for that trek, because it really did show me that sometimes people do change, and our perception of people change, but some things never change. My dad will always be a fighter, a warrior, who will never give up. It’s important to look for these characteristics; it shows us who that person really is. I respect and look up to my dad so much for being the man he is, and that trek reminded me of that.
In my English class we are reading the book Perks of Being a Wallflower. There is a part where the main character Charlie says he feels “Infinite” I was thinking what does that mean to me? I think I would have to say that feeling infinite is when you get to experience something new and exciting with someone who you are really close to. A time where there is no real pressure to perform or do something correctly, but something relaxed and where you can be yourself with that special person. It could be seeing the most amazing movie with someone and the end finishes so perfectly that you just stay sitting in your seat for a minute and look at that person and say, “Wow”. And that’s it. That’s all you have to say. Or getting to see a meteor shower with your dad and you feel like you two might be the only ones seeing it. And you put your arm on his shoulder and just take a moment and are in awe together. I think that is what feeling infinite is to me. Just spending those moments with someone truly close to you where you are just taken back for a moment. That’s infinite.
Love,
Justin
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Dear Friend 16 SEP 08
September 16, 2008
Dear friend,
I am writing to you because I have been so overwhelmed with life and school that I need somebody to talk to. School has been really fun, a completely new experience then anything I’ve ever had. I love getting to meet new people and make friends, but it hard not getting to see your old friends. The schoolwork isn’t too bad, but I have some classes like Chemistry that are just killing me. I think you of all people would understand how difficult it is to have a teacher that speaks really, really bad English. Its almost impossible to get the material, but when he teaching it so inefficiently it is just too much for me. I just need to know that someone else understands where I’m coming from.
So, this is my life now, my days have been starting early at least on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I have ROTC those mornings at 0600 and to make the bus on time I have to get up at 0430! It is really starting to wear on me, but I am thoroughly enjoying workouts and the time I get to spend hanging with the guys there. The best part is on Thursdays; we have a lab that we do where we get to learn military training and drills. Like last week we learned about fire team movements and hand signals. It’s a blast!!
The reason I wrote this letter is because I have been struggling in school, and I want to share the little shards of hope that I have found.
Love always,
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