You Can Have Whatever You Want, When You Realize That It Is No Big Deal

There is this idea floating around that when you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. If everything else in this world is not true, then that statement will always be correct. Think of the pedestal you want to reach up to and think of how many steps it will take to reach the top. What kind of steps do you have to take? How many steps were you thinking of skipping before you clip your foot and fall?

Remember when you thought those stairs going up to the tallest roller coaster were so daunting, it made you not want to ride the roller coaster at all? When you realize that those steps are not as high as you once thought and you forget what everyone told you about how tough it is doing what you want to do, then the steps become simple. One by one, you are reaching the top and you are closer to where you want to be. With every step, you become wiser and grow into the person you want to be and by the time you make it to the top, you feel like you can accomplish anything.

To give you a different idea, I will give you an insight on a joke I heard from a comedian recently that changed the viewpoint on my life and how I live it. Bo Burnham is a comedian that is about my age who is extremely bright and hilarious, he has become one of my favorites. During one of his songs called "From God's Perspective", he jokingly sings about how God thinks its funny that people try so hard to make it to heaven. "There are a trillion aliens cooler than you" is one of his points. But then he goes on and says that maybe life on Earth could be heaven, rather than hoping life after death will be better than life itself. I am not religious by all means, but I found this to be very enlightening when pursuing your dreams. When you realize that living is the best gift you could receive, then life seems way more valuable and there is no point wasting it. I hope the rest of you can do the same, whether it be from this post or in other ways. But I hope you all pursue your dreams with excitement and live your life to the fullest with a smile.

Big Boy Job? Not Quite Yet

I had orientation for my new part-time job this afternoon at the Plaza Restaurant in the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Columbus right next to the State House. I will be serving as I was back in Colorado, and hopefully I will be making some good money for the time being. The hotel and restaurant is absolutely gorgeous. As you can see from the picture,(which I stole from Google, unfortunately it is not from my own camera) the restaurant has a giant window that lights up the entire room and the view is of the State House. Magnificent setting for a high class hotel. Oh, and we get half-off coffee at Starbucks which is in the hotel. Pretty nice, huh?

Spicy Chili For Negative Degree Weather

First time making chili, and it was a success with the roommates, the dog and myself. I made it from Kelly Shelly's Picture Cook Book as a gift from my wonderful sister, Emma. On the whole, chili was a good choice and I did not mess it up, thankfully. I tend to combine the preparation together and cook it for a little bit longer than I should, and this dinner was not exception.

Chili with a whole jalapeno, zucchini, corn, and red beans made for a warm, appetizing meal on a cold night in Columbus. I thought it was not going to be spicy enough when I tasted it but it caught me by surprise as I did not put any cayenne pepper in the chili at all. Cayenne pepper does make chili a little more spicy but it tasted great the way it was. Everyone who ate it, loved it and applauded my chili making skills with full mouths. This recipe did not ask for a base so I just used water. It was not as thick as I am used to, so without the water it would have been fine as the liquid came from the red beans and the diced tomatoes.

This experience with chili might be the sign of good things to come. And by good things, I mean I will not be only making pasta and salads with some meat on the top. Even though the college recipes are absolutely amazing and sometimes can not beat them, the preparation is worth it for meals like this. So thank you, Katie Shelly. You're book successfully broadened my horizons in cooking.

The end result

Late Night in the Crew Stadium

Still in the office at 8:00 pm tonight, working on an entire camp manual for the Columbus Crew. As you can imagine, it is very complex and hefty with information. It revolves around the camp's mission statement to goals/objectives to sales plans/renewal of camps, and down to the day-by-day breakdown of each type of camp. I, of course, could not do this by myself because my supervisor was the guy who took over the direction of the camps in 2007. He knows the operations of the entire camp system like it was his own baby.

We finished the content of the manual around 11:30 pm. I did not even realize I was there for almost thirteen hours, which was very surprising to me. I loved reading and following along exactly how the soccer camps for the Columbus Crew operated. I did not feel tired or bored during the entire project, so there is a sign that this is the place for me. As an intern if you are not interested in the content or the department at all, then it won't work out. The fact that I am not getting paid for this experience and I stayed that long to learn more about the department, that's a sign for me that I am in the right place at the right time for my career.

I have taken a liking to our house kitten of which I am surprised. I find myself spinning the cat around on the floor, picking him up and taking naps with the little one. I love everything that comes with being in this town so far. My internship, my house, my roommates and all of the people I have met has made this experience here in Columbus so far very worth while. The next nine months will fly by... And now I will leave you with pictures of these beasts.

Concert on January 18th

Clockwork concert. First show since arriving in Columbus

This is Brian McBride, LEGO version

Snug As A Bug In A Rug

So as the title suggests, I am feeling pretty comfortable here in Columbus. The first week was tough getting around as I had to use my phone constantly to figure out where I was going, as my roommates are also always on the go and no one was able to show me around the town. Slowly but surely, I am seeing the town for what it is worth and am loving it!

My internship with the Columbus Crew is a great experience as I am working mainly with the Youth Camps that will be held this summer. About 50 camps will occur over from June to August and I will hopefully be coaching in most of them. I have never had an experience within a professional sports team and it is a different style of how they do business. There is a certain passion that everyone carries about their work that I admire very much. I recognize it because it is how I feel about working in soccer and how much I love working with my favorite sport. The Columbus Crew also has club affiliates, where the professional soccer club's youth program has partnerships with other soccer clubs around the Ohio area and the clubs receive special coaching, access to advanced facilities, and opportunities for its players to advance in their playing career. This is an example of how fantastic youth development is as a whole and how much the United States is trying to advance the sport I love in this country. And that is why I love working in this department of this great organization at this stage of my life.

I am so lucky to have this opportunity in my life to pursue my dream here in Columbus, Ohio. My life has not been perfect by all means. I have made some mistakes in life where it could have cost me plenty of opportunities and possibly a lot of time that I may have never got back. But I am here now, and all of that is behind me. I left my hometown, my friends, and my family behind for an adventure fantastic proportions. It has been what I imagined so far...

But until next post, I hope you all are doing well! TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

COtoOH

January 5, 2013

Other than my first two years of my life, I have lived in the same city of Colorado Springs. In the next few days, Colorado will be in my rear view mirror and an internship in Youth Development with the Columbus Crew in Ohio will be in my sights. Everything I leave behind in my mountainous state has given me the adventure to explore and to take risks such as this internship. As this internship is unpaid, it is a huge risk to move to a new city without any paying job as of yet. If you know me at all, development in soccer is something that I love and takes up most of my mind every hour of the day. This opportunity will open opportunities for me that I only imagined when I was still in school. The position will put me in a spot to put to tune my mind to my goal and I will be able to keep that goal in sight. Who knows what will happen during these next nine months. I know it will be glorious as I take a step in the direction of my dream.