I’m back to working five days a week (I just worked three the last two), and with it comes an increase in stuff. By stuff I mean stuff to study. Today a new online course begins with (why not?) three weekly assignments, I have a speech CLEP on Friday, and I still have to study for a promotion test next month; by study I mean a couple hours a night spent…studying. Oh yeah…I also have a full-time job. Is it possible for the brain to explode?

I’m not too concerned about the online course. It’s a simple communications course, but because it’s online I have to ensure I stay on top of the course materials. If not, things can go down hill quickly. The speech CLEP is a different story. I’m stressing out big time and not even sure why. It’s not the speech that bothers me, it’s the way I have to deliver it. I am handed a topic (any topic) and I have ten minutes to prepare a speech on it. What if I have no idea what the topic is, or don’t have an opinion? I’ll be in some trouble…let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Let’s hope I succeed. If I do I get my Associates Degree…finally.

Studying for promotion isn’t difficult, just boring and time consuming…but worth it. Steph laughs at how busy I am and says I should just do what she does and after work just come home and relax. I probably should. But then she says that’s why she married me. So maybe I shouldn’t. Who knows. Either way I’m looking forward to March when most of this will be out of the way. Of course, by then I’m sure I will find new and exciting things to wrap my head around.

It’s that time of year again, the time when people everywhere look ahead to the following 365 days and decide what it is they want to accomplish. Usually it’s to lose weight, eat better, work harder…or less; for me it’s usually nothing at all. I’ve never made New Years Resolutions before, but this year I thought I’d join in on the craze. After all, there are quite a few things about me that need improving. I thought I’d share them here because, well, what better way to ensure you accomplish your goals then to post them for the world to see? So without further ado…here are my New Years Resolutions for 2009.

1. Eat Right/Get to the Gym

Yes, it’s typical. I know. But I suppose there is a reason it’s one of the most popular resolutions: most of us eat terribly. I have survived 29 years without counting calories, drinking energy drinks like water, and eating junk food whenever I wanted to. I wonder how many more years that can last? Even worse - and something I was unaware of until recently - married men eat more. I’ve never eaten like I have this holiday season. Praise my beautiful wife for spending hours in the kitchen cooking up some delicious grub, but even she admits: we should probably watch what we’re cooking up.

I get picked on quite often when I mention my need to eat better and work out more. Usually I’m looked at oddly and then reminded of my rail thin figure. But hey, I like my figure - and I’ve notice it changing with age. Everybody was skinny once, is it wrong to want to stay this way? I never thought eating right was a big deal…but come News Years day it will be.

2. Build A Stronger Relationship With Christ

This is probably something we could all do, but if I take a personal reflection on my own relationship with Christ I know I need to work at it more. Please don’t misunderstand me: my faith in Christ is - and always will be - true and strong. But my passion for prayer and bible study - two very important elements of the Christian walk - has wavered a bit. I’m not sure why, perhaps it is because the Lord has blessed my life in amazing ways and when everything goes right we seem to forget why. The truth is we should continually pray and thank the Lord for the good times as well, something I have failed to do.

I like to compare the passion of the Christian spirit to a campfire. If you constantly attend to a campfire the likelihood it goes out (unless you don’t know what you’re doing, like me) is slim. If you keep supplying it with the necessary sticks and leaves it will continue to burn strong. However if you walk away from it for awhile, perhaps forget about it as you head to the river for a swim…it will die down. In the same way, if we feed our spirit with prayer and bible study we will remain “on fire” for the Lord, but if we forget, or fail to make time, that passion will easily die down. It’s just something I’ve noticed when I take honest look at my Christian walk and something I know I need to work on.

3. Become a Better Leader

I’ve been blessed in my Air Force career by making rank fairly fast. The good thing about this is the increased opportunities, and of course, the better pay. The bad thing (for me) is the increased responsibility for leadership. I have to admit: I’m a terrible leader. When it comes to leading a team I’m more likely to push them aside and do the task myself than lead them to victory. In the face of failure, I’m more likely to get frustrated and vent than I am to calmly react and inspire. This isn’t a good thing in any career, but in the military the effect is magnified. I’m studying right now to hopefully make the next rank this coming year and I know that if I do, the need to change my ways when it comes to leadership will be even more pressing. So why not start now? I should have started two years ago.

I don’t know exactly how I’m going to do this. It’s not like there’s a class you can take and all the sudden you’re a great leader. But I do have ideas on how to be a good leader. I’ve seen good leadership. I’ve seen bad leadership. I just need to take a good look at my actions and learn from them. I need to to map out a plan to succeed, because if I don’t - if I just let myself react - it probably won’t be as a leader, not a good one anyway.

So there you go. My 3 resolutions for the new year. They’re important to me and I know I will make a serious attempt to accomplish all three. At least until February. Isn’t that how’s it done? Like I said, I’ve never done this before so I’m unsure…

Things are looking a bit different around here. I finally got rid of the old look, which I liked but was driving me crazy. I really didn’t like having to find thumbnails for every post, etc. Now I can have more freedom to just post whatever without worrying about a photo to go along with it.

It should be fairly easy to find your way around. The links at the top will direct you to the different photo galleries and videos I’ve posted and the links at the bottom will direct you to a variety of other sites. If you haven’t already make sure you subscribe by leaving your email in the box on the sidebar.

One other thing, I’ve gotten rid of all the book reviews I posted here. If you like to read them, or others, you’ll have to head to Paperback Frenzy. I didn’t see the point in having them in two places.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is enjoying the last few days of 2008!

I saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire over the weekend…twice. I think it might just be the best movie I’ve seen in a while and easily earns a place in my favorite five. It combines everything I like in movies: good cinematography, quick edits, awesome music, tension, culture, love… I wanted to leave a post about it because it’s not very well known, yet I would highly recommend to anybody who hasn’t seen it. I’ve included a trailer for anyone who wants to see what it’s about. I’m sure I’m overselling it and need to shut up about it, but it really was great. It might not be your favorite of the year, but it’s definitely mine and I can assuredly say you’ll at least enjoy it.

I apologize for not updating this site very often. I am hoping to redesign it soon and haven’t felt motivated to add anything until I finish. Plus, (besides work, school, and studying for promotion) I’ve been busy working on my other project Paperback Frenzy. Check it out and tell your friends.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season and remembers the true reason to celebrate this time of year: the birth of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to everyone…and yeah, a Happy New Year.

You can check out a trailer for Slumdog Millionaire on the Videos Page

I haven’t updated my site here in a while, but I have been busy creating other sites. Steph and I love to take photos and thought it would be fun to start our own photo blog together. We called it H2 Photo because, well because we’re not that creative. If it doesn’t make sense then I’m sorry. I have been working on it a lot this weekend and it’s finally up and running. As of now there are only my photos up there, but Steph has some on the way. Make sure you check back often.

Check it out here: H2 Photo