Excitement; on the road again; adventures of the pacific northwest

FRIDAY! ( or at least my Friday )


This day cannot go by fast enough!

Tomorrow starts our mini-adventure to the wonderful Sea Side Oregon! We're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, all coffee'd up and bright eyed. We head south from seattle and down the 101!

I have heard so many good things about the scenery on 101 Pacific Northwest Highway, and am sure to bring loads of pictures back to show off my adventure.

We're really just going down there to see what Oregon has to offer, never been there yet and have heard a lot of nice things about the place in general. Looking for new people to interact with and try to peg their personalities. Seattle people are just a little to hardcore for our taste.

Hopefully we will have time to relax. But our 'weekend' is going to be filled looking at different houses that have caught our fancy; the stores ( Joanna found a book outlet warehouse where I plan on spending a little time at )

I'm going to try my best not to fall in love with the first house that I see that can be easily managed:

( no promises )



These houses are great! Right by the ocean, in little quaint towns. This is exactly what we were looking for. The problem is that we're still kids, had have a lot of growing up to do before we're ready for a big kid place. It's a big investment, and planning is very important. But it doesn't hurt to look and get excited every once and a while!


Heres to giving our trip a promising and relaxing weekend filled with good food, good times, and maybe a little creative writing in the mix somewhere!

Plans acquired, freedom awaits!

Despite having the feeling after work of just wanting to sit home and lounge on the couch there is still one thing in existence that is even more relaxing.

If asked to describe this feeling on one word, the only one that comes to mind is Freedom.

The freedom to see the open road, only have the company of the one you truly love; good music, and ahead of you an entire expanse of unexplored territory that is just waiting for you to see and enjoy it.

That is what our weekend is going to be. Free ( emotionally, not financially ) We are going to drive until our eyes burn. We will have the road, mountains, and ocean ahead of us. Nothing will stop us ( food and gas exclude! )

This is the plan:

A town we've never been to- a state that has plenty of opportunities for young couples, and wanna be writers. I can't wait to see the ocean- enjoy the scenery, the mountains. To have that freedom on the road- where one can think and plot and dream. It's going to be wonderful! Wish us luck in finding the wonders of this little town, and all of his adorable glory- I'm hoping for quaint little shops, and touristy quality hotels. This is our life- our freedom.


I'll be filling this blog up with loads of pictures and information about the town and all that we see!

Traveling; writing; and a zombie!

Today I decided; instead of the general ramblings of a wanna-be writer- I would actually provide you guys with something else to read.

This is a real post- I know, right? Might actually want to sit down for this one, as I tell you what's going on in my life. Which isn't much, and might be the shortest post yet. ( lets be honest, I'll start to ramble, as I'm doing now *stops* ) 

As I started writing this blog, I have realized that things in the world are true inspirations. I have written small stories about coffee cups, and wizards; fog and even football ( go seahawks ) 

I have been working slowly but surely on everything under the sun besides the one thing that I should be working on, which is my real story. The thing that looms in the back of my mind, poking and prodding my brain * write me…* poor soul. 

I am hoping that this weekend I'll have some time to where I can actually dedicate to my writings- working on my wizard story ( of a young man who works in a similar field as I- but as a Zap Representative- he can zap to peoples houses with a wave of his wand and essentially take care of any issues they might have with a wave of his wand ) And also the story of Lukas Fernweh, a young boy who finds himself in a world with out color. 

The plans are this weekend to actually get lost somewhere. The wife and I had been doing that when we lived in Minnesota almost every weekend we had off- driving around, the only road signs we were following were some variation of brightly colored cardboard with the words: " Yard sale " on it. In washington state it's still rather cold for there to be any sales as of yet. it's harder when you live in a bigger town to just drive around and get lost- not having to worry about the traffic of the people around you but being forgotten and forgiven, just the tires meeting the pavement and over all good conversation. 

We had planned to go to Oregon for the first time, to see what Portland had to offer. Thinking it might be time to look around for places that weren't so convoluted and populated. The people in Washington state are very unique in their own rights- just alike the air around them. Hard. Everyone has their own story- of how they came over here, either on boat or on road such as we had. No one is giving up their tale! Hopefully there are better stories and opportunities to see what the north has to offer us as a family. Maybe even cheaper living which would be a plus. 

As such, my wife claims to have seen a Zombie prowling the pier by where we live today on our way to work- just in time to discover a new place to inhabit- right? Just as the city falls! ( I didn't see this " zombie" and wanted to turn around ) We're safe here though, not a lot of windows, behind a locked door and 4 floors up. I'm pretty sure I saw a 24 food-service truck driving around too- the best time ever to being thinking of taking a trip somewhere and getting lost! 

Habits

The natural order of things is that we live our lives the way that we're used to living. That means everything that we do, subconsciously or consciously- has some type of purpose. 

They take control of our lives, they enable us to do some things, while disabling us from doing others. They might prevent us from getting jobs, or even be harmful to our health. 

But others can be good for you. Some habits aren't bad at all- they can consist of things you do for other people. certain things can even be good for you personally as well- which is where habits come from. It's something that you do to make yourself feel better. Being all part of your own brain that tells you as the person that you're happy if you do this one certain thing. 

What if you decided that today you're going to do something ELSE beside that every time you get a craving or even feeling that nagging feeling in the back of your head that you would do something else instead? 

I remember when my mother decided she was going to stop smoking that she had said she was going to eat a piece of candy every time she got a craving for a cigarette. It takes dedication to trick our minds into thinking something is the other, but eventually she was able to stop. 

Personally, when I'm getting in a bad mood about my job, some customer is being difficult I try to remember how much fun I had writing in my blog in the morning; how fresh and good the coffee tasted this morning, how beautiful my wife is, the cuteness of my puppy- and that I am working towards a goal. Something I know will eventually have me doing something that I truly love. 

Once you start thinking that way you'll crave things that are better for you, now candy isn't good for you by any means but making your mind tell you that " Hey, I'd rather have you write and make yourself feel better. " than, " Hey, why haven't we had a cigarette in the last 2 minutes?" 

Even as a kid I had problems dealing with addictions and habits. I had four-legged friends, was homeschooled, and lived an hour away from the closest town. It was hard for me to get through my own difficulty in life and the only thing I had for a while was books and a game. 

World of Warcraft could have ruined me, and if I had let it take over my life even as an adult I knew I wouldn't be doing a lot. I could have taken that time I used when I was playing to write out books, and read more- discover worlds that I never knew existed in my own brain.

 I didn't. After I did my chores, I rushed as fast as I could to get inside to play. Even sneaking in a couple of times just to log in to say that I did. To run my character around for a few minutes- just enough to sate my desire to be in front of that computer moving a character that didn't exists. A data stream that was saved on a server somewhere in California. 

I remember the feeling it caused when I couldn't play, the desire to have that in my life- to see what was happening in a virtual world, to talk and see friends that I craved to have. 

Then I grew up, I moved away- got a real job where I didn't have time to play those games anymore. I got better ideas for my writing and decided that it would be best if I filled my time with that.

I still had problems with the game occasionally- I would get bored of being an adult and tried playing, even my friends that I was now getting in the real world also struggled with the same habits I did as a teenager. They all tried to get me into those things, but I retained my own and after several years, I finally was free of those games. 

There are still games that I could play, but I have an addictive personality- if something is fun or good I want to do it until I am done. It's all a part of our lives here in this world.

My goal is to fill these addictive ideas and thoughts into something that I can use to be productive. For the most part it has worked. I am writing more than I ever have, consecutively that is. Writing the blog is bringing ideas into my mind, allowing me to think about that and crave my mornings where I can just sink into my music and let the worlds flow. 

Though there are still goals in blog writing. I want to start actually creating prose for my stories- I want to get into the depth of my creativity and actually publish a book.  

For anyone else struggling with addictions or even bad habits- just try to replace it for one day with something that you know will make you feel better. Not even a better person, you can't change that in one day. Try to do something different than going outside to smoke a cigarette or log into your game for a night. You might like the way it makes you feel! 

Good luck! 

The start of something...

Dense grey fog lays gently over top of the skyline, dulling the magnificence of the city lights. Halos float from street lamps high above me as the headlights of my vehicle cut through the fog as best they can. The only evidence that there is life on this planet, or that people are silly enough to get up this early is the dull red glowing of taillights ahead of me. 

 I take the curves in the road with practiced ease, as we softly talk about the day before and our dreams from the previous night. Happiness etched in our voices, content with each others company, I grip her hand; mine cold- to her warm. She smiles, as she always does when I search for her warmth in the darkness. 

Difference

We look in the mirror, we get used to seeing what reflects there. You see the scars of the mistakes you made as a young adult. They seem to us as though marked with a yellow highlighter. But they make us who we are, the choices we made as a child remind of us who we were, and the road that we had to take in order to become the person we are today. 

When do you know when to get off the road and start paving your own way? The american way is when you leave school, and start your own either through college or playing with the idea of the american dream. Starting work, getting bills- stressing out. The question remains, when do you change from this? 

As Americans- we expect there to be change that comes to us in our everyday life. Though most people realize that there has to be something there in order for us to make the 'change'. There is still a good amount of people who don't realize that there still needs to be something that is different in your life in order to experience something that can be considered a 'new' path. 

You can make small adjustments in your life that could just shape themselves into another change, instead of sitting on your bum on the couch after work or school you could do something closer to doing your dream. Going back to school, or just work on something you love. 

Currently I am working on this habit myself, everyday before work I have a couple of hours where I do not have anything to do. I dodge my bosses and sit and do something for myself. It can be anything- reading your devotion, writing something ( even free-writing- blogs count! ) or just meditating ( something I haven't tired yet ) these all will make your day noticeably different, both to you and your significant other or even roommates. 

I've made the mistakes here that I can promise you won't make any difference in your life. Spending all your money on clothes that you're going to wear through the day can sometimes make you feel good for a little while but it wears off. Or staying up all night with friends can sometimes make some good memories but at the end of the day you're going to be tired and not prepared for your day. Not only that but the people around you will notice that you're groggy or even rude because you're not 100%.

 Life is all about how you perceive it; how you make that difference in your own life so you can make the difference in others lives. It might mean life or death to that individual, it might make or break their day. The people in your live need you just as much as you need them, if you're not 100% for them how can you expect them to be 100% for you? Just keep that in mind as you're surfing the internet or searching for something to watch on netflix next time, make that difference that you'll feel good about the next day or even through out the day. It's all about getting the upper hand on the shadows of the day- shake them off and make good art! 

Consider me a writer

It's been a week. A week since I decided I was going to make a change in my life and try to make more of an effort to actually do something that makes me happy. This is what I found out so far.

As you read the entries up to this one, you might think I write about basically the same thing; happiness, things that make me happy, and time. These things are just always on my mind. My job is not a glorious one, I a am a tech support rep for a cable company. I don't necessarily get yelled at a lot, but it can get rather frustrating with the subscribers. Majority of which should really re-consider even having any type of technology in their house- but what are they going to do? They live in a world where it's mandatory to learn and use the tech that is in their house if they want to watch basic TV. The problem with that is when you get people who don't want help, they just want you to fix it…. 

However this blog entry isn't about my job, or the woes that it brings to my everyday life- it's about how much of a different it actually brings to my day. Last week as you probably already read- or even if you're starting with this one- it wasn't a good week to work. The days were long, and people were mad due to an outage that happened with a vicious wind storm, I was very down- the days were running together and I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the rest of the week. luckily I have people who watch over me. 

Over the years I have retained the stories that I read as a child and they've really made me into the man I am today- I love to read and these types of stories; ones that stick with you and retained over your life time. Memories of a happier time, a simpler time in my life where all I had to do was write. Though I didn't, and regret that choice daily. Though, a lot of it still means that I won't do the things I did as a child and leaves more time for me now to write when I get the time to do so  ( Which I should be doing anyway ) I hope to one day write one of those stories, and am working on a couple that I hope my readers will some day write in their blogs about! 

The reason I brought up these stories was thus: I have retained the memories of another person, or people in the stories I've read and want to keep them forever in the words that are typed here. I do this by making sure that my blog is a place where I can be safe. I can write about what I want to write about, where I can keep my thoughts and ideas safe. Kind of like the pensive of Dumbledore in the popular Harry Potter Books.  You, as the reader don't even need to ask to look through these memories! You're free to read and even comment on these as much as you like to- much like how Harry did, though he didn't exactly have the permission to rifle through Dumbledores, not like he cared though! 

This is my pensive, this is where I write, and fuel my ambitions to write, where I can freely write about everything that happens, or just random anecdotes about my life and how I feel about certain people ( which will more or less fill the pages far more than anything else ) I guess you could consider me an opinionated person. But you're not reading this to judge me ( at least I hope not ) you're reading this because you are interested in what I have to say. 

Writing here has made me write almost daily ( I slacked once! ) and through that has made me start thinking about writing, if you're ever thinking about becoming a writer in your life I would highly recommend doing this. It helps! 

So- here is to the new week, a new start to what I've already started, the writing flowing every day, and soon will overflow into something a little more productive than just writing in a blog. There are many stories floating around my head, many of which I will be posting here as well! Enjoy the ride!