Dwight, get out of my nook!

Oh man, can you believe that tomorrow is officially the last day of 2008? I don't want to get totally retrospective, but I want to clear my mind. This has just been one crazy, crazy year. I started off the year ending a quarter at SFCC with horrible grades, skateboarding all the time, working part time at Taco Time, and just started getting into drinking. I was drunk at a single's dance. I remember it all, or at least most of it. I remember people thought I was crazy, or just straight up didn't like me. It's understandable. I wasn't much back then. I really wasn't. I kissed around ten girls that night, just pecks on the cheek. I actually had one girl that I told her I wasn't going to kiss her, but that I would just give her a new year's eve hug. I lied, and ended up getting slapped. I deserved it I suppose. It's okay, how I was I supposed to know that she was going to get proposed to in three days. Whoops...

On January 22, I began working full time at Downtown Toyota. It didn't take me long to pick up smoking, a lot. It started out as cigarettes, and was that most of the time, and most of the money. I have always been horrible at saving money, but when you're wasting it on cigarettes, it disappears even faster than before. In March, I met a girl online named Mallory Ann, and she stole my pearls. After that, we broke up, and I started drinking more, and doing more stupid stuff. On memorial day, I met a girl named Amber Bakly, who was pretty amazing, and seemed to be a perfect fit for me. We were both trying to correct our mistakes that we had made in the past and trying to be better. Mostly because of my foolish mistakes, it didn't work out. We broke up at 4 in the morning on June 14, the day after the 70s and 80s dance. I made out with a midget the next day because I was on the rebound. I continued to smoke and drink, and started smoking weed. I was a fool, in so many ways.

I kept doing stupid stuff, a lot of it. I went to three family reunions over the course of the summer, and I loved seeing everyone, and it made me want to stop everything and be a better person, but when I came back to Spokane, I just wanted to be bad again. In mid August, I left for my mission, only to come home after 5 days. I had done a lot of bad things, and came home. That was a very sobering moment for me, literally and metaphorically.

I have been clean from everything since August 8th, I stopped counting the days after a hundred, I'm just proud of myself, although I wish I could say I have been clean my whole life. Since I came home, I got a job at a Roofing Supply company, doing data entry. It was a great job, I made ten dollars an hour, and became friends with a few of the guys there. Shortly after the fun began, temp workers started getting the ax. I outlasted seven other guys, which was crazy to me, but I basically did the work that my bosses would have to do if I had not been there, so they kept me as long as they could, which I was okay with. I got laid off on November 11th. One week after Obama took office, but don't worry, I'm not bitter. Other than a one day job I had later that week, I have been unemployed since then. It's been very tough and stressful trying to deal with that.

School has also been a huge challenge. I have wanted to get back into school so bad. My life has felt like it has been in a funk since I got put on academic suspension from BYU-Idaho. It's okay, I earned it, and I'm not bitter about them placing that status on me. I just wish I would have been smarter and not screwed myself over on that. I was set up to go to the following schools in at least one way or another, but they ended up not working: BYU-Idaho; Salt Lake Community College; Utah Valley University, LDS business College; University of Phoenix. Up until yesterday, I was unsure of what the future would hold for me. My Mom, bless her soul, told me to check out the distance learning program they offered from Spokane Falls Community College via the library complex here on Fairchild Air Force Base. After her kind urging, I went over there, ended up coming back home registered for two English classes, a U.S. History class as well as a Microsoft Word class, I'll also sign up to get credit for Institute, putting me somewhere in the region of getting 18 credits or so, I'm very excited and anxious to start. Now as I look into the future, I feel hopeful again instead of worried that something from my past will come back to haunt me. I don't know exactly what is to come of the future, but I feel comfortable with not knowing. I wish you all the best in the new year.

Love,

The Only One