Top Ten of 2007

The now dead Fancy Simple challenged it's readers last week to figure out the top ten events in our lives from the past year. Not the top ten great things or the top ten bad things - just the top ten. I have been sitting here thinking about my top ten and I can't wrap my head around the whole year, but I will try to write out the list. (The list is in no particular order - number 10 is no less than number 2)

10. Sociology. I had about 18 major changes in my 3 years at BYU-Idaho. I just couldn't find something that spoke to my soul and my personality. I have been an Elementary education major, a biology education major, a speech and theatre major, a communications major, an English major, a recreation therapy major, a psychology major, a health science major and then lastly a sociology major. (The total is 18 after you include the many times I was an English Major and a psychology major.) In the end I graduated with a degree in underwater basket weaving (or University Studies as BYUI officially calls it). I did this because I wanted to be done and I knew (or at least I thought I knew) that I was going to flunk two classes required for a sociology degree. In hindsight - sticking around at BYUI to retake those classes wouldn't have been that bad. But I digress....I really liked the way I was able to look at the world through a sociology mindset. I was even willing to try to learn theories - which for the most part in English and psychology, I could care less about. It was a very rewarding major and I miss a lot of those classes.

9. Wheelchairs. It's not very often that I get a good idea that ends up SAVING money. But this year I did managed to have a great idea in that area of life. As many of you know - I started and ran successfully a young wheelchair basketball program at Brigham Young University Idaho. When we first started, we were renting chairs at $35 a chair per weekend. These chairs weren't court chairs and weren't made for high speeds or hand to hand ball combat. Someone in the school administration said that the School could buy chairs from the Church. So for $50 a chair, the school purchased these horrible chairs that were constantly in my repair shop being fixed. They were slow and unreliable, and, in the words of Melinda, "should be burned." One day I was reading the Scroll and found out that the school was always looking for ways to integrate classroom projects back into the campus. I got with a friend and we made a proposal to the administration and then to the mechanical engineering program to have them build Activities court chairs. A normal Court Wheelchair costs at least $1500. The students were to design chairs for under $200 not including labor. After labor, and with a lot of help from me, the Mechanical Design teams created prototype chairs for about $500 a piece. Instead of paying $15000 for ten chairs, my brilliant idea saved the school $10,000. Not bad.

8. Graduation. In case you missed this in the first one, I'm not very good at keeping to things I start, so it became a bit of a surprise when I actually graduated this year. Mark Twain once said, "I never let school interfere with my education." I spent most of my early childhood in and out of hospitals which meant my formal education was never a concrete process. Unlike other kids, I wasn't assigned nightly homework nor did I go to school every day. It was fairly common for me to start a school year and last until about the 1st week in November only to get sick and not come back until the middle of April. The rest of the time I was home schooled by school district assigned tutors and my mother (as long as it didn't involve math). This isn't to say I didn't get a good education - I did. I learned about the medical field and cheering up those that were down trodden and about fighting for those that are either to sick or weak to care for themselves or to those that don't know how to fight. My parents fought hard to get me the best health coverage. And they tried their best to get me a good school education as well, but it just didn't solidify. So it has made school very hard for me. I grow tired of school very quickly. So I am very happy to say that I graduated. No matter how many times i wanted to give up or tell the world to screw off - I made it to graduation. The degree may be in underwater basket weaving - but it will do for now. I may take the 5 required classes somewhere else and transfer the credits back to get the sociology degree, but for now - this will do.

7. Unemployment. I started working when I was 14 for a demolition company. In theory it was also a remodeling company, but I only worked demolition. Since then I have had a plethora of jobs. Every job I have ever applied for I have gotten. When I used to go job hunting I never applied for more than 2 or three jobs because I didn't want to juggle that many offers. Since July 18th I have received over 200 rejection letters from various businesses and occupations. I initially kept the first one because I figured it was a fluke. I have since thrown away or deleted all of them. I have found out that I'm not as unique or over qualified as I once was. It was a very humbling experience. I know now how much more I will appreciate my job when I get it. Equally as humbling was being without money. I've always been able to pay my bills and take care of myself. I wasn't able to get a lot of grants and loan money for my last semester at BYUI because it was my fourth straight semester. Then I graduated with no job. At first I wasn't as careful - but as the months of unemployment wore on I became more and more thrifty to the point that I only use money for three things now - food, fuel, and health. This has been very hard. I have wanted to spend money on other things but I just couldn't. I didn't buy a single person a Christmas gift this year. Even though that was extremely hard for me, I just couldn't afford to and still buy food or fuel or pay my utility bills. Being unemployed has definitely taught me some lessons.

6. Nina. I'm grateful for the 4 months I had to date Nina. About four years ago I fell in love with a wonderful girl and she broke my heart into a million pieces. She had me jump through some hoops to prove my love to her and then she left me and that really sucked. I tried to recover as I slopped through the wastelands of dating at BYUI but I never really found anyone that I could fall in love with or who wanted to fall in love with me. As I told my father once, dating at BYUI is one continuous first date. After a while of dating at BYUI I became disillusioned with the idea of true love. If it existed - it didn't exist for me. Then came along Nina and I found out that I could still love again. I was able to remember and to feel what it was like to be in love again. Now - I realize you may be scratching your head saying "Didn't they break up rather loudly and don't talk to each other?" And, yes, you are right, but before it became very clear that we weren't meant to be, I was able to at least taste what love was again and it gave me a desire to seek it out in my life again. I gained hope. And for that - I am so thankful for Nina.

5. Friends and Family. I had a really enjoyable time this year with my friends and family. It was really great to have my dad and my brother at my graduation. It was nice going to weddings and memorial day events with friends scattered through the west. I really feel closer this year than any year prior to having a "best" friend again.

4. Independence. There is that old adage "You must love yourself before you can love another individual." Another version of that "You must learn to entertain yourself before you go about relying on others to do it for you." This year I became a lot more independent. I was more and more willing to leave my apartment and go places on my own. On hikes, to movies, or just on drives. I was able to find balance between me time, my entertainment and being with others. It was very nice to get to that point. I am able to entertain myself and to entertain others. I love that ability to step away from my TV and do stuff. I love that I don't need a group to get things done. There are times when it is nice, but it isn't required. The only negative I have seen from this new independence is that I need to tell people where I'm going. On a few different times, I have been on a hike or a drive where there aren't people for miles and the thought has crossed my mind "Hmm...If I get hurt or in an accident or something else, no one will know where to look for me. In Idaho that meant turn around and go back to where there are people and then call a roommate. In California it just means I need to get to the closest hill and get a cell signal so I can text someone and let them know where I'm at. In 2008, I'm hoping to get a little better at letting someone know where to start looking for my maimed body.

3. Developed Talents. This year was also a year of developing talents. I learned how to carve wood and shape wood to the point that they look like whales and earing boxes. I learned how to take better pictures. I'm relearning theatre design. I got to develop my construction design and installation skills. I had a lot of time this year to grow my talents.

2. Pounds gained and lost. I started out losing weight this year, then I gained it back, then I started running during the summer, then I stopped running and then I moved back to CA and stop exercising all together. I gained weight and lost weight. I ate right and then didn't eat right. This was a very imbalanced year but I'm glad I made so many attempts at getting healthier and staying that way. It creates a better foundation for 2008 as I strive again this year to be healthier.

1. PAD and inspire. My old boss Steve and I used to talk about legacies. He has often said that my legacy will be Wheelchair Basketball at BYU-Idaho. To be honest - that isn't the legacy I want. The legacy I want is to inspire people to do great things. At BYUI I was able to help one recently disabled young man see that his life didn't stop working just because his legs did. He was an avid basket player before his wreck. Then he was an avid video game player. He is now an avid basketball player both as a coach for a tradition team and as a player on a wheelchair team. Another young man I was able to work with was able to embrace his disability and to stop hiding from it. Once he embraced who he was as a complete person - he was able to be more attractive and is now married. I was able to work with the school and get a ramp and disabled parking available to best meet the needs of students with disabilities, which has inspired others to stand up for people with disabilities. That is my legacy at BYU-Idaho.
About a year ago, I found a guy online named Josh who ran a Photo A Day Blog. I loved that idea. After a very thoughtful gift from my father, I was able to start a PAD blog of my own. That single blog has inspired this one and this one, which inspired this one. What a great legacy to inspire others to share their lives more.
My sister-in-law once said, "I love my brother-in-law's photo blog because even though he is usually taking pictures of mundane things in his apartment it is great for his family who lives far away because you are then privy to little details about his life that just make you feel like you together, even when you are not."
What a great legacy - inspiring people to share the privy aspects of their lives.