Year in review....
Before I started typing this, I had so many thoughts and ideas that I wanted to write about but now I don't know where to start. So many things have happened this year. I gained a year in age, graduated the academy, stayed focused on my career path, lost some friends, gained some friends, matured a lot and realized that things have changed and things are going to continue to change. That's life. I refuse to use the word "D" in this post. When it comes around, I try to ignore it and move on with my life.
...
I read all of my journals that I posted over the last year to give me some ideas on what happened in 2005. I turned 23 in January and I think this was the year that I fully understood where I've been and where I want to go. I think I have matured a lot and realized that I don't want to be associated with the high school mentality.
...
Looking back on all of my journals, a majority of them consist of my status in the academy and the job market. Overall, I have gone through a great learning process over the last year. I have put out over 30 applications, took about 20 written tests, had approximately a dozen interview and gone through 6 extensive background checks. I have gone as far as I can before getting hired. At this point though, the closest thing I have going on is Romulus and Southfield. I told some people at work the other night that if I do not get hired by June, I am going to look out of state. Most people are tired of hearing/reading about this but I am glad to have a couple close friends that are interested in my life and want to know about the important things going on. I have gone through a lot of interesting things with this process and it's good to hear from my dad how proud he is of me and my dedication to this process. If other people don't want to hear about what's important in my life, then they don't deserve to be a part of my life. My teachers in college and instructors in the academy warned us going into this career path that we would be loosing friends and the group of people you hang out with will change. I made friends from my academy and made friends from other academies. With my experience working at the TPD, I know that there are quite a bit of ass holes that are cops. I refuse to be one of them and associate with those that I believe are going to be that type. As I said, this has all been a learning process. I went through an interview with Riverview a few weeks ago and was asked an interesting question. They asked me what kind of person I would or would not want to have as a reference on my backgrounds. That's when I relized that I have matured. I told them that I wanted to have people that are close in my life, that have their degree or are about to get it, have full-time jobs or about to start their career, and professional people that I can trust. I told them that I would stay clear of people that are stuck in the high school mentality, rely on their parents for everything and those who don't know what they want to do with their lives and sit around waiting for things to come to them instead of making the effort to mature. I know I am going to loose friends and already have. I know who's going to be there for me and who isn't. They know who they are and they know I will continue to be there for them.
...
This year seemed a lot different then most years. I did not go skiing in the winter in fear of hurting myself before and during the academy. The thing that sucked the most this year was that this was the first time in a long time that I did not go camping during the summer. I had a trip planned but no one could make it. Every summer I look forward to spending a few days with friends, campfires and the lake. Hopefully when I'm older I can buy some property on a lake somewhere.
...
The entertainment value of this year was outstanding. I got to see a bunch of Tigers games, the pistons make the Finals and watch them in Vegas, got to see Three Doors Down for the 6th time, saw Our Lady Peace for the first time in a few years, and finally go to see U2 at the Palace. On top of that, I went to Vegas for the second year in a row. I think I am done with Vegas for a while though. I had fun but it just wasn't the same fun as I remember growing up. Times have changed, people have changed. I tried to have fun but it just wasn't as much fun as I expected it to be. It seemed like it was another example of how things have changed.
...
This month I got my new F-150. I didn't mind the Taurus too much but I think I needed something a little younger. I've got my own apartment and full-time job. I didn't like the idea of having a family-type four door sedan before having a wife and kids. I am happy with my purchase of my truck but the gas mileage sucks. At least I'll have this when I move, which I hope is soon.
...
In a little over two weeks, I will turn 24 years old. Damn. I am happy with everything I have done over the last 23 years but I don't know if I am truly happy. Of course I still have a lot more to do like get a job, a house, a family, ect. I know it all takes time. I've been patient but sometimes I want more. I just had a friend from high school get married last month at the age of 23. I know I am close to starting my career which will allow me to purchase a house, ect. I know my life is not complete until I find someone. I don't know if I've been out of the dating scene so long or if I have just matured in general, but chasing after girls just isn't a priority in my life right now. I'm not the type to hook up with as many girls as I can or try to pick up girls at the bar. Of course some aspects of that are fun but sometimes I just don't know where that part of my life is going to take me. Maybe I am on the correct path right now and can start my career before I get too involved in anything.
...
Lastly, I want to thank those people that have been close to me over the last year and are truly great friends of mine. Andrew goes without saying. Carla is a pain in the ass most of the time but I am still glad that she's in my life and is fun to be around. Speaking of pain in the ass, as weird as it is sometimes to still be friends, I don't know what I would do without Diana in my life. She is my closest female friend and am glad that we can talk about almost anything and have a mature conversation. I've told her that I think the reason why we get a long so well is that we are both on the right path with our careers by having full-time jobs, she will be out of her house soon like me, and we know what we want in our lives. Along with those three, I would also like to thank Sara T, Dave, Matt, Stacy, and Lauren for being close friends. There are still plenty of other people that I did not mention but these people have meant the most to me and I know that they will always be there for me. If I did not mention your name, I'm sure you know where you stand in my life, most on my good side.
...
Tonight will be 2006. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know that I am going to make some changes in my life and things are going to change on their own. I know that my friends are going to help this year be better then the last. I also know that I am going to be out in Novi with friends that care about me and will be with people that I want to ring in the new year with. For those of you that I still talk to and won't see tonight, I hope 2006 is something to remember and better then 2005.
...
I'm sure there is a lot more that I did not think about that should be in this entry but being that I put it together in a little over an hour, I'll probably add more to it over the next few days.
...
I read all of my journals that I posted over the last year to give me some ideas on what happened in 2005. I turned 23 in January and I think this was the year that I fully understood where I've been and where I want to go. I think I have matured a lot and realized that I don't want to be associated with the high school mentality.
...
Looking back on all of my journals, a majority of them consist of my status in the academy and the job market. Overall, I have gone through a great learning process over the last year. I have put out over 30 applications, took about 20 written tests, had approximately a dozen interview and gone through 6 extensive background checks. I have gone as far as I can before getting hired. At this point though, the closest thing I have going on is Romulus and Southfield. I told some people at work the other night that if I do not get hired by June, I am going to look out of state. Most people are tired of hearing/reading about this but I am glad to have a couple close friends that are interested in my life and want to know about the important things going on. I have gone through a lot of interesting things with this process and it's good to hear from my dad how proud he is of me and my dedication to this process. If other people don't want to hear about what's important in my life, then they don't deserve to be a part of my life. My teachers in college and instructors in the academy warned us going into this career path that we would be loosing friends and the group of people you hang out with will change. I made friends from my academy and made friends from other academies. With my experience working at the TPD, I know that there are quite a bit of ass holes that are cops. I refuse to be one of them and associate with those that I believe are going to be that type. As I said, this has all been a learning process. I went through an interview with Riverview a few weeks ago and was asked an interesting question. They asked me what kind of person I would or would not want to have as a reference on my backgrounds. That's when I relized that I have matured. I told them that I wanted to have people that are close in my life, that have their degree or are about to get it, have full-time jobs or about to start their career, and professional people that I can trust. I told them that I would stay clear of people that are stuck in the high school mentality, rely on their parents for everything and those who don't know what they want to do with their lives and sit around waiting for things to come to them instead of making the effort to mature. I know I am going to loose friends and already have. I know who's going to be there for me and who isn't. They know who they are and they know I will continue to be there for them.
...
This year seemed a lot different then most years. I did not go skiing in the winter in fear of hurting myself before and during the academy. The thing that sucked the most this year was that this was the first time in a long time that I did not go camping during the summer. I had a trip planned but no one could make it. Every summer I look forward to spending a few days with friends, campfires and the lake. Hopefully when I'm older I can buy some property on a lake somewhere.
...
The entertainment value of this year was outstanding. I got to see a bunch of Tigers games, the pistons make the Finals and watch them in Vegas, got to see Three Doors Down for the 6th time, saw Our Lady Peace for the first time in a few years, and finally go to see U2 at the Palace. On top of that, I went to Vegas for the second year in a row. I think I am done with Vegas for a while though. I had fun but it just wasn't the same fun as I remember growing up. Times have changed, people have changed. I tried to have fun but it just wasn't as much fun as I expected it to be. It seemed like it was another example of how things have changed.
...
This month I got my new F-150. I didn't mind the Taurus too much but I think I needed something a little younger. I've got my own apartment and full-time job. I didn't like the idea of having a family-type four door sedan before having a wife and kids. I am happy with my purchase of my truck but the gas mileage sucks. At least I'll have this when I move, which I hope is soon.
...
In a little over two weeks, I will turn 24 years old. Damn. I am happy with everything I have done over the last 23 years but I don't know if I am truly happy. Of course I still have a lot more to do like get a job, a house, a family, ect. I know it all takes time. I've been patient but sometimes I want more. I just had a friend from high school get married last month at the age of 23. I know I am close to starting my career which will allow me to purchase a house, ect. I know my life is not complete until I find someone. I don't know if I've been out of the dating scene so long or if I have just matured in general, but chasing after girls just isn't a priority in my life right now. I'm not the type to hook up with as many girls as I can or try to pick up girls at the bar. Of course some aspects of that are fun but sometimes I just don't know where that part of my life is going to take me. Maybe I am on the correct path right now and can start my career before I get too involved in anything.
...
Lastly, I want to thank those people that have been close to me over the last year and are truly great friends of mine. Andrew goes without saying. Carla is a pain in the ass most of the time but I am still glad that she's in my life and is fun to be around. Speaking of pain in the ass, as weird as it is sometimes to still be friends, I don't know what I would do without Diana in my life. She is my closest female friend and am glad that we can talk about almost anything and have a mature conversation. I've told her that I think the reason why we get a long so well is that we are both on the right path with our careers by having full-time jobs, she will be out of her house soon like me, and we know what we want in our lives. Along with those three, I would also like to thank Sara T, Dave, Matt, Stacy, and Lauren for being close friends. There are still plenty of other people that I did not mention but these people have meant the most to me and I know that they will always be there for me. If I did not mention your name, I'm sure you know where you stand in my life, most on my good side.
...
Tonight will be 2006. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know that I am going to make some changes in my life and things are going to change on their own. I know that my friends are going to help this year be better then the last. I also know that I am going to be out in Novi with friends that care about me and will be with people that I want to ring in the new year with. For those of you that I still talk to and won't see tonight, I hope 2006 is something to remember and better then 2005.
...
I'm sure there is a lot more that I did not think about that should be in this entry but being that I put it together in a little over an hour, I'll probably add more to it over the next few days.