Monday, November 17, 2008

11/18

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

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