As a New Year Begins

Well it is officially 2013!! I know I might be a little late on the new years resolution post and all but its better late then never right? As I look back on 2012 it was a good year filled with many ups and downs but in all was a great year. On my mission I met a great missionary. His name was Elder Davis and he was a senior missionary working as the car coordinator for our mission. Elder Davis told me on the first day of my mission that "Returned missionaries are always saying that the mission was the best two years of their life. They have it all wrong, the past two years of your life should be the best two years of your life". No matter what  point you are in your life, you need to make the last two years the best. Now Elder Davis was a wise man and I have tried to implement that concept into my life each day and I can truly say that the past two years have been the best two years of my life. To name a few here are the top events of 2012 in my life.

1. My brother Will received his mission call and is now serving in the Tallahassee Florida Mission

2. I worked for the summer out on Bald Head Island as a waiter and bartender and loved it. It was a fun new opportunity for me and I am grateful for the many great people that I met and friendships that were made.

3. I had the opportunity to go spend the weekend in Charlotte and see Dave Matthews in concert with my best friend Rebecca Willis. Dave Matthews was truly amazing!!!

4. Was able to share one of the greatest blessings in my life with someone very near and dear to me. 

5. I went to yet another great concert in Myrtle Beach with some great friends and saw SOJA

6. This fall I started back into school for the first time since before my mission. It has been a great experience and I am loving it so much. I never thought I would hear myself say that I love school but I do.

7. With Will being on a mission I have been able to spend a good amount of time with my youngest brother. I love this kid!! He is such a great kid and I dont know what I would do without him in my life.

8. Our family loves the outdoors and we have taken a number of great camping trips this year filled with lots of skeet shooting, cold weather and what would a camping trip be without a hurricane like rain storm. I love my family and the great times that we spend in the great outdoors.

As you can see I have had a great year but there is one thing that has stuck out the most and is by far the greatest blessing of 2012. Just a few months ago I met the girl of my dreams. She is my everything. She makes me laugh, she makes me smile, she kicks me into shape but most of all, she inspires me to be all that I can be and more. I love her with all of my heart. I cant live a day without her. I love you Leah Humphrey.

The Lord truly has blessed me this past year with so many great people in my life that have helped pull me through the mud of life and have been there to share laughs and smiles.

As one door closes we all know another door opens. I look forward to making this next year better than the last. I am excited for the many great events and also the trials that lie ahead of me in 2013. 

The Good Things in Life

Well its been a while since I have been on but life still rolls on and I am loving it. Alot has happened over the past few weeks. I have still been slaving my life away out on Bald Head Island. I must say though I love my job. Never in a million years did I think that I would enjoy working in the food and beverage industry but the place where I work is a very laid back and fun atmosphere. I love being a server. It helps being able to see this every night that I close too

I have also been hard at work in the wood shop lately. This past week I built 24 picture frames for the Bald Head Island Club that they used for center pieces on the tables at a big event. There is something about working with wood that just relaxes me. I have always loved working  with my hands and putting things together. I guess that is something that my father has instilled in me. He has been a very good teacher at that. He has alot of talent and has passed much of that talent to me. I just recently built me a longboard skateboard. It was a fun process.  It was something I have never done before. I must say i was very pleased with my first board. It was pretty plain but its a start. I plan on building many more and trying new things to give the board more character.

I must admit that I love music. Music seems to be my life. No matter what I may be doing, I have to have music on. I went and saw Dave Matthews Band in concert two weeks ago and it had to be the best concert I have been to. They did an amazing job. Not only was it a great concert but I got to spend it with a great friend, Rebecca Willis. We havent had much time to catch up since I have been home from my mission so it was fun time.

 I am so grateful for the many great friends that I have in my life. I have been blessed my entire life to have been surrounded by great friends. I dont know where I would be if it werent for the friends that I have. They are always standing there at my side when I fall (even if they may be laughing), they are there for a shoulder to cry on, they are there to share many great memories with.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Well here goes nothing! Its the first post of the new blog. 

Today is a great day!! Not only is it Mothers Day, but it is also the great day that I get to talk to Will. I just got off the phone with him and man is he doing good! Im so proud of that kid. All my life I have grown up knowing that Will was watching my every move and looking up to me as an example. For the first time in my life I feel the times have changed. I look up to him in so many ways. He is serving a great mission in Florida right now. It sure makes me think back on the great memories I had on my mission. I am grateful for a family who raised me in the gospel.

                             

I am also very grateful today for a great mother. I love my mother to death. Before my mission my mom and I would but heads on alot of things. I always loved her but like alot of teenagers and their mothers we didnt have the greatest relationship. Then I served my mission and alot of things changed. A mission taught me alot of things but more than anything it helped me realize how much my mother had prepared me, not only for this great time in my life but also my entire life. Just as Helamans Stripling Warriors, "We do not doubt our mothers knew it" (Alma 56:48). My mother taught me well so that I would be prepared for the ups and downs of life. Thank you mom for all you have done for me and our family. I love you!!

I know this picture is a little blurry but has always been one of my favorite pictures of me and my mom.

I must say I have a pretty great life right now. That was one of the reasons for starting this blog. I am horrible at writing in a journal so consider this my journal. I want to be able to look back on this time in my life and remember all the great things. I have a great job as a server out on Bald Head Island and am finally starting to make some good money now that the tourist season is starting. It summer which means wakeboarding starts now!!