Roads untraveled

Well the journey has begun. Currently this post comes from the plane ride to Hong Kong. We are four hours in and still have 9 hours to go. It is crazy but somehow I can already see God pulling us through no matter what. We will be in Singapore before we know it. By the time I post this it will be 3am in the states on a Wednesday when it will be 8pm for me or should I say us! As far as I know me Bryce and Chad are having a hard time sleeping.

It is cool to see the work The Lord is already showing us. For one we are the minority. Once we are in Hong Kong it will become more of a reality. Can't wait until we are in Singapore! The suspense is already killing me and once we get there it will be hard to control myself.

For all the mothers out there yes I have been getting up and moving around so I don't get blood clots. The last thing I need is that ;) The layover in San Fran wasn't too bad. I wish we could have had more time to explore but their is always another time for that. For the time begin we are a 3 man team on a mission, and that is to expand His kingdom.

I sure hope the picture of the mountains show up when I post this. I think it is Alaska and it is beautiful. Look forward to coming across sites like this more often on the trip as we can just marvel and soak up God's marvelous creation. Until then, I am going to read some books I've been wanting to read for the past year. I got 14 days until I am back at OSU to finish my degree so I better get to it. I have 9 hours so I should be able to do it :)

Thank you everyone for the continued prayers for us! I am overwhelmed by the amount of support we have back home and this trip wouldn't be possible without all of you. YOU made it possible so thank you. For now, I'll continue down roads untraveled and write this next story of my life. God bless

Six months and counting

Today marks a day for me to look forward too. On this day six months from now I will have accomplished the biggest goal of my young life. That goal is graduating from college.

It is unbelievable how fast time has flied! It seems like yesterday I was moving into Sackett Hall for my freshman year. Now over four years later, I am almost a college graduate. I will never forget the memories and friends that I have made at OSU. These years have been some of the best years I have ever had and it is almost coming to an end.

Moving forward in my young adult life I wouldn’t be where I am at today if it wasn’t for my loving parents. Over the years I have had my ups and downs. I almost dropped out of school. My parents were there to comfort me during those hard times. I thank them for that. They always encouraged me to not have the little things stop me from accomplishing my goal in life. Life is too short. Now I am one step closer to becoming the man I want to be.

As well as my parents I have to God. If it wasn’t for Him I wouldn’t have the faith to carry on with my dreams and aspirations in life. He keeps me going in life and pushes me to become a better person.

Come June I will be heading somewhere. Where that place is I don’t know. It could be anywhere in Oregon, California, Washington, Australia. I have my options. But ultimately God is in control and I am excited for the next journey in my young adult life. Six months and counting. God Bless 

Year in review...well sorta

I've put this post off for nearly 2 weeks. I've had the time on my hands. I am not so used to being lazy so I had to give it a try and trust me I became an expert.

The following post is a reflection of the past months. My college career is coming to a close and I am trying my best to make the most out of it. These are some of the years I will never be able to have back.

September


September started with a trip to Corvallis to see the Beavs play Wisconsin. To say the least I wasn't looking forward to this trip. I was still interning with ODOT and would have to drive up from Medford to Corvallis by myself which I am not a fan of. To say the least the trip was worth it and I saw everyone I was so used to seeing on a regular basis during the school year. The Beavers won and little did I know that win would be the start of something.

My tenure or time came up with ODOT in the middle of September. I moved up to Corvallis for the last 9 months of my college career. Classes started near the end of the month. At this point I was told my senior year would be my easiest year of the 4 year or in my case 5 years. This ended up being the case for me and I enjoyed it to say the least :)

October

At the beginning of the month my little sister made homecoming court for her senior year. My brother and I made a day trip down south to support her since she was at all our football and basketball games over the year. She was so beautiful and the trip was totally worth it! She was runner up but who remembers that stuff 10 years from now? She was happy either way so it was good to see :) The following weekend after going home my parents came up for a Beaver game and what would be my last Beaver game with my family as a student. With that game and after the Wisconsin game the Beavs kept winning! We once were 6-0. With it being my last year I decide to get tickets for the game in Seattle. Getting the tickets nearly a month in advance was a long shot but their was something about the Beaver team that I liked. It almost paid off but the trip was blast! Good times with good people. Super blessed.

School was continuing to be what I was told. Easy. Compared to my previous spring term it was a piece of cake. I still was doing quite a bit of homework but it was something I have done more of before. Along with school I volunteered to help sign up students for our annual retreat in the fall for my church group. That itself was more work than school but the Lord made everything work out in the end minus all the stress I accumulated. Definitely learned to lean on him always no matter what!

Halloween came around and I did nothing! Instead I watched my Blazers beat the Lakers on opening night! Became super excited for the potential the young team had going forward and so far so good.

November

November came around and so did No Shave November. I became such a fan that after I shaved everything a couple weeks ago, I made a vow to never do that again. Facial hair is coming back in and I am looking good. Ladies start lining up :) Haha. Got to live for something right? Our annual Fall Retreat with our church was the first weekend and that was such a good break from school. It is so cool to be part of a college ministry where the power of God is present in people. 

After the retreat the term continued to work in my favor. Again, a blessing. The Civil War came up quickly and despite the loss it was one for the books to remember. I was able to get tickets for my dad and sister so it became a family affair minus my mom who was at home taking care of the animals. We got a picture with the Heisman that Terry Baker received back in 1962. It was awesome! My dad made some new friends during the game and lets just say we had a memorable game of flip cup at halftime that I will never forget! Good times indeed. 

Another memory would have to be our IM co-ed football team. We won the whole campus championship in great fashion too beating the other team 31-0! We had over 30 people their to support so we had the edge for sure. I tackled someone even though it was flag but you got to do what you got to do right? :) To cap off November we had to shave, which I didn't do completely until a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say this last November was the best November I could ask for. My super senior year was becoming all I had dreamed it to be :)

December

Finals came up before I knew it. Passed them with flying colors like a boss! Worked 3 days after finals to make a little cash and then headed up to Portland to watch the Blazers beat the Spurs 13 rows up from courtside! It was an awesome game to see and I couldn't be happier for the rest of the year. Break has been lazy to say the least but as I stated before, I have become pretty good at it. I am back in my element in the country and spending time with my family which will be my last Christmas break at home :( Reality sucks and it really hits you sometimes. Baby lambs were born as well so I was one happy camper :)

Looking towards the New Year

Well the world didn't end which is too bad, but that means I can chase my dreams still! I've applied for a full time position with ODOT and just have to wait and see what happens in January. Worst case is the Lord has other plans for me which I am fine with. One time will tell :)

New Year's Resolutions for me moving forward are pretty simple.

1) Grow closer to God and become more like Him

2) Gain 15 pounds 

3) Graduate with a 3.0 GPA

The 3 G's is what I like to call them. Not to hard to obtain in my eyes. 6 months will be gone before I know it. Life as an adult is right around the corner, but that is something I don't have to worry about until the time comes. Focus on today and tomorrow will come. Looking forward to what the Lord has in store for my winter term. If it is anything like fall I am going to be amazed no matter what and I am excited to see what is in store :) God bless and thanks for being along side me in my journey

Ecclesiastes 4:5

"The fool folds his hands and ruins himself"

I want to start off this post with this piece of scripture. As most of you know, this summer has been a blessing in disguise. This opportunity came my way for a reason, to be an intern at ODOT. If I chose not to embrace this once in a lifetime opportunity, I would be throwing it away. I believe God speaks to people in many different ways. Some people take the opportunities that are offered before them, sometimes some people don't.  I guess it depends on the season you are in.

Nearing the last month of my internship, I have learned a lot. Each person I have dealt with has been really influential in my growth this summer. A lot of responsibility has been thrown on my shoulders which isn't a bad thing. In today's economy, having your foot in the door of a company isn't such a bad idea. If the Lord opened up this door, it will take a lot to shut it. Hopefully I'll know what to do if that situation does arise sometime.

As most projects are in the closing phase at the office I am stationed at, my project is the only active busy one to say the least. The contract ends at the end of November. The next big project facing this area is an interchange at exit 24 on I-5. It is called the Fern Valley Interchange. Engineers have been talking about this project with so much excitement, it actually kind of worried me. So I did some research. PLEASE click on the link below

http://cms.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION3/docs/ProposedFVInterchangeStagingJuly2013.pdf

If you scroll to the last page, that is what you call a diverging diamond interchange! One thing that stands out is that when you go over the bridge you are driving on the other side of the road! CRAZY! Sorry but this excites me. I have the change maybe next year to be a part of this project. There is only one other diverging diamond interchange in the US and that is it! This is the future of driving everyone.

It is opportunities like this that get me excited about my field. I could take opportunities like the one I was blessed with this summer and chose not to use it. I believe that would be a waste. God speaks to you in many different ways no matter what the season! This summer has been an eye opener for sure. I can honestly say I know I am in the right field of study and I am passionate about it! It will be sad having it come to an end in one month. But at the same time I am looking forward to the next year of my life. It will possibly be my last year in Corvallis and I want to make the most of it before it is time to move on. Oh the excitement :) Can't wait! God Bless you all and thanks for following my journey!

My Journey So Far

This summer has gone by so fast! It is the first of August and I don't even know what to do with myself. One thing I can say for sure is that I am completely blessed beyond belief and I have no reason to ever complain again! This post will be all over the place but I hope you all can follow it :)

The job has been great! I am impressing my mentor more and more everyday and that has been my goal since day one. I am also learning a lot as well. It is a change getting paid to watch people work. Still not used to it. I guess I never will. The project has just completed Phase One which looks beautiful! It is so cool to see a project come together that you are a part of. This has been a dream of mine for the longest time and it is finally coming true.

My mentor couldn't be a nicer guy. I have been blessed to have him as my mentor. I look at how this summer is going and God could have chose a different path for me. He chose not to. David my mentor has already told me that I have done more than he has asked for and is thankful. David's brother is the project manager and he hired me back in May. So if I am good with David, I am good with his brother. David has already made comments as if I already have a job with them and with two positions opening up next summer that I get one of them. It is so encouraging to know I am liked and that my hard work is paying off!

A funny story this week that happened was Tim the project manager thought that I already graduated. It kind of connected all the puzzle pieces together once he told me that. Back in May when I interview he started the interview with telling me about their graduate program. This is great for people who have already graduated! He must have looked at my transcript and thought that since I have 190 credits that I was done with school which isn't the case. But because of all of this mess, I will most likely be getting a big pay raise which is also a blessing so I can't complain.

One of the hardest things I am having to face is the next year of my life. I am excited to graduate but the thought of joining the work force scares me a little bit. Not only that but where am I going to be! It is hard because I visited Portland last weekend and I have a lot of good friends in that area. Seeing them just made me miss them more! I love being home with my family in Southern Oregon, but most of my friends are in the Willamette Valley. The thought of me having my own place next year at this point and working full time is mind boggling! Though most of the signs point to me having a position here in Southern Oregon with ODOT, a part of me wants to be in the Willamette Valley close to friends. The one thing that gives me peace with thinking about this whole situation is that God is in control and I completely trust His decision. I want to be obedient to His will in my life and that is worth the world to me! I am so blessed to have what I do. This is just me looking out for what I think is best but in the end it is what God ultimately wants!

So this time next year Southern Oregon is most likely what I will be calling home for at least two years. Whatever happens after that is up to the Lord. This summer has been such an experience with all it's ups and downs with whatever the problems may be. All I know is that things are working out and before I know it I will be back in Corvallis finishing my last year of school! :) So exciting!! Anyways I want to thank all of you who are joining me on this journey by keeping up on whatever kind of blog you want to call this. I hope to be back soon, thanks for all the support. God Bless!

Pictures on the job

This is a Type 4A inlet being installed. They are 

what you would call a gutter on the sidewalk

Sidewalk after it has been poured

This is a baby retaining wall

This is a cast in place manhole for the storm sewer pipe

Just a funny picture of the job site next to us

Another funny picture

Week of July 9th-13th

This will be a weekly thing just so ya'll know. When you put in the hours I do you become pretty tired. So here is last week in a nut shell :)

Monday- In the morning a delivery truck dropped of 36 inch concrete storm sewer pipe! Extremely huge by the way. The pipe crew had to lower sewer laterals all week and since the pipes have asbestos in it they had to be extra careful. It is taking time. For the grading crew they continued to excavate the road to get ready for curb and gutter to be poured by the end of the week. The contractor pouring the retaining wall showed up to start working on the wall. After they pour the footing it takes a week to cure and since I am writing this 9 days later, they just showed up today to pour the stem so one more week of curing. One of the mixing trucks hit a cable line but luckily it didn't break :/

Tuesday- On this day nothing changed from the previous day. One thing that was different is that we had to perform some stabilization on the grade. That consisted of digging down 1 foot and filling the hole in with 4 inch minus or shell. This helps with the overall grade of the road so that in the future it won't fail. I had to measure out the areas of the digouts for payment so I have to be as accurate as possible.

Wednesday- I get to the site on this morning to find out the grader has a flat tire. Having gotten to know the crew over the last month I have learned a lot. Donny the foreman for the grading crew takes pride in what he does. His equipment is like a kids toys in a sandbox. Don't mess with him! The tire got fixed and he was up and running in no time. My mentor David had decided to go on vacation for the rest of the week. Another inspector showed up on the site to get familiar with the project. Good thing for him and for me the next two days would not be that exciting, haha

The next two days- I found myself for the first time looking for something to do. The crews where basically slowing down for the week. Grading was almost done and they had curb and gutter set for Monday. The sewer laterals finished up Friday and on Thursday they found out they have to relocate some water services because they are in the way of the 36 inch pipe. What is new! So water lines are on the agenda for Monday and the pipe crew.

One cool thing about this week was I got to know another inspector. The funny thing is this inspector has the same name as a friend of mines in engineering at OSU. Jake Pritchard is his name. One the the funniest things. The only thing I feel bad for the guy is that he lives in Roseburg! I live in Medford. If you are not familiar with the distance between the two cities, that is exit 30 to exit 124! Almost 200 miles a day! Just to support his wife and 11 year old daughter! I have such great respect for that guy. If I ever have to do that to support my family I will, but man it must be tough. 3 years and counting he has done this.

I got paid at the end of that week and I was pretty happy with the outcome. Not only is the internship an experience but it pays good that is for sure. Not complaining one bit :)

Until next time, God bless