Julio's Musings

Two blog posts in one week? What in the world is going on here? I don’t even have much to say about anything. Alas, here I go anyway.

Complaining…

I used this first part to essentially complain about stuff. I complained for a couple of paragraphs actually. I complained about how it’s been a long few weeks, how I’ve been annoyed by various things and people, how I only have one class for next quarter which is making everything seem like it’s slowing to a halt when I want to just take whatever I have left all at once (though that’s actually impossible even if I were able to) and be done, etc. etc. etc.

Those paragraphs were all well and good, but I just couldn’t leave them in. The reasoning is in my next topic.

A Time to be Grateful

As I write this new section, it is September 10, 2011. That means that tomorrow is September 11, 2011, a whole ten years after the horrendous terrorist attacks on our country.

Ten years ago, I was being woken up on a day that school started late because of ISTEP testing. It was a half a day for us older students. I woke up to see the airplane hit the second tower. It was such a horrific scene. The Pentagon had also been hit, and I remember thinking to myself “So this is it. This is the start of the end days. It begins…” Perhaps it was a bit dramatic, but it was pretty clear that this would lead to war.

It was such an eerie day. It was the first time that the skies were completely silent from the lack planes. Bishop Noll got a bomb threat, because, you know, someone wanted to be an idiot and call one in on a day that law enforcement had infinitely better things to do. I managed to worry my mom by going for a drive with Amanda and Jaclyn after school instead of being at school when she went to pick me up. She was not at all happy about that, which obviously I don’t blame her for. I’d be pretty upset if the country was attacked and my child decided to go somewhere without telling me and with no way to contact him or her.

The majority of channels on the TV that week became 24 hour news stations. It was one of the most scary, ominous, and depressing times I can remember; a time that everyone felt the same exact way. My family, friends, strangers, those giving the news, and pretty much the whole country.

Ten years later, though, I am alive to mourn those that were lost. I’m still here, and that in and of itself is something to be immensely grateful for. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day. Thousands felt the loss of family and friends. The country felt the loss of their fellow citizens. Here we are on the tenth anniversary not only prepared to mourn those that died that day, but to also look to the future. We’re alive and we have to continue building good things for this country so that the legacy of those that died can live on in what we do.

Despite my original desire to complain about the things that aren’t perfect in my life or about those that have bothered me of late, what’s really important now is for me to regain my perspective. I’m alive. I’m healthy. I have an amazing family filled with so much love. I get to not only watch my nieces and nephews grow up, but I get to have a role in shaping the people they will be when they are older. My friends, even when they argue or have little stupid drama, are such wonderful people. I am so lucky to have them in my life and I love them all more than they know (probably because I don’t always show it like I should).

Although things are progressing slowly again at this point in time, I at least have the opportunity to progress and have a life. I am lucky and very blessed, and that is what’s important to remember.

On the Adventure in California

California was an adventure in a lot of ways for me. To be perfectly honest, I originally didn’t even want to go. Not only did I feel I had no right to take a trip anywhere seeing as that I have remained unemployed, but I also felt that so many other people I know need a vacation far more than I did. My life is horrifically simple at this point, and I just should not have gone anywhere when others deserve it much more. Plus, despite the invite to go, I always felt like I was intruding on the vacation of others.

Ultimately, though, I went. It was a time filled with fun, unexpected things, laughter, a bit of anger, frustration, a desire to return home, a desire to not return home, learning, happiness, bonding, lots of walking, being both cold and hot, fog, fog, and more fog, as well as simply having a nice time away from the typical daily routine. It was good to get away, probably more so than I would easily admit.

There were so many wonderful things to see. San Francisco was foggy most of the time, but actually taking time to go on a tour around the city was nice. Last time I was in San Francisco I was unable to do that because I was there for the Macworld Conference. This time, though, I got to take a bus tour as well as a boat tour around Alcatraz.

Napa Valley was pretty amazing. It’s so beautiful there with all the grapevines, vineyards, and the mountains in the background (Here’s one of the panoramas I made at a vineyard: http://360.io/qLxxdW). The wine tasting was pretty nice as well, though I learned that sweet wines are definitely NOT for me. Napa surprisingly ended up being my favorite part of the trip.

There were plenty of other things that we saw. The drugged out and drug selling hippies of Berkeley

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the sandy and sea-lion filled Boardwalk in Santa Cruz

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the Sea Otter Store in Monterey

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the view from various spots on Mount Tamalpais

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as well as the crazy hills of San Francisco

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It was a fun time with wonderful friends. Though I didn’t want to go originally (and perhaps questioned a couple of times during the trip why I did go), ultimately I am glad that I did.

The Next Adventure

I’m going to take the blame for not being able to go skydiving today like was originally planned. You see, we had to make reservations. I knew this. It said so on our vouchers. Yet, I kept forgetting and then thought that we could probably just go there and just go for our jump. But, in the back of my mind I kept thinking of making that reservation for the three of us. So I called last week and the result was not good. Since we had waited so long to make a reservation, all the weekends were booked through mid-October. That was a bad predicament because our vouchers expire at the end of September. Luckily, since we didn’t want to waste our money and not go, Lauren, Nikki, and myself decided to just go on a weekday. I made our reservation and we are finally going to go on the 21^st of September. I can’t believe it’s really truly official and that we’re going to jump out of an airplane! It’ll be (hopefully) a great experience and something I can finally scratch off my bucket list.

“Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead…”

And now I have the songs that are in my head the most lately:

Kelly Clarkson: Mr. Know it All (iTunes, Amazon) – I mentioned this song in my last blog post, but I’m putting it here again because, well, it’s Kelly and I love that woman! It’s a pretty good song, too.

Avril Lavigne: Wish You Were Here (iTunes, Amazon) – Avril’s newest single, it’s a typical love ballad. I guess I’m in a love mood again, which is probably good. I just saw the video for this song which made me want to add the song to my main playlist. I was listening to it a lot recently anyway.

ADELE: Someone Like You (iTunes, Amazon) – My cousin (and maybe Sara too?) thinks ADELE is off key and pitchy or something in this song. Christine actually hates this song. I, however, really like this song. I don’t think she sounds off key. ADELE has excellent range. But, it’s just my opinion.

Icon for Hire: Make a Move (iTunes, Amazon) – This was a free single of the week on iTunes last week. They are similar to Paramore (a young rock band with a female lead singer that has pink hair), but they still have their own style. I looked them up and discovered that, while they are not a Christian band, they have a deep belief in Christ. It actually took me by surprise because you don’t really read about young rock bands talking about God, but they did. That has nothing to do with me liking the song, but I just found it interesting.

Finally…

My last blog post was filled with things I want to tell people but won’t really tell them. It was, essentially, a coward’s way out of things. But I just wanted to write them down anyway. Publishing them was a last minute thing, really, but I did it anyway. I’ve taken the stance that I’m not telling anyone who goes with which items. It just doesn’t matter.

What’s important, as I mentioned above, is that I’m grateful for those that are in my life now. Even when I’m moody, angry, upset, unhappy, sad, disappointed, or whatever towards any of those important people, I have never wished they weren’t in my life. I have, perhaps, wanted to be away from them for a little while, but not once have I ever wanted them out of my life. They would have to do something incredibly horrible for that to happen.

And, thus, I say this to my family and friends: I am a better person because you are all in my life. Even if we fight or argue or have simple disagreements, know that I absolutely love you all with no restrictions on that love. I know I don’t say it enough, but thank you for being in my life.