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

Stand In Awe

I love this song and love this album! I wanted to post this because it is so good! Hope it blesses you how it has me :)

Stand In Awe

Week of July 2-7

This week on the job turned out to be pretty well given we had the 4th off. Most people get paid for the holiday but I don't. I tried seeing if overtime pay would kick in at 32 hours instead of 40 hours but that wasn't the case. I still got 41 hours in for the week so I can't complain. Averaging 9-10 hours a day and 45-50 hours a week isn't bad for my situation. I couldn't have been more blessed having the chance to live at home with my parents and save money at the same time. It is good to just come home and relax and visit with my family. I miss Corvallis but I am going to make the most of the next 2 months because odds are this will be my last time at home ever. Their is a possibility that ODOT may want me to work for them after I am done with school so I could move home then but that is further down the road so I don't have to worry about that just yet.

One of the many things that is great about this job is I am starting to really get to know the workers. To sum up most of the guys they are a bunch of perverts but they work their butt off! Being around construction surely hasn't helped with my sailor tongue but I look at this as a season in my life where I have to work on some things. Everyday is something new and I am learning a lot. My mentor sometimes throws me under the bus with paperwork but I look it as a challenge. So far I have done good so I am happy.

As for the project. We have moved to another phase which means cutting into another street and installing storm pipe. 30 inch pipe has been installed up to a certain station where we have to cast in place a manhole. The engineers at the city that designed this project sure have had a lot of problems. What makes this experience good is that I now know what mistake not to make. One of the problems with their design that they think is fine is having a 36 inch pipe flow into a 30 inch pipe. In all logic that is completely backwards but that is their choice. While the pipe is being installed the main road is being cut for subgrade before we build up the road. This phase is almost done and one of the most interesting things to me I learned last year in school was the process of building a road. I am now seeing it firsthand and it is amazing. At the end of the week, the contractor that is building the retaining wall showed up to form the area up with rebar for the footing to be poured. This got started today and I have a picture posted showing the process from afar.

With this job it can be super tiring. With the weather making a turn for the worst in terms of heat, I will be getting a lot of sleep that is for sure. I hope to keep up with more posts in the future but for those following the fun I am happy to share this part of my journey with you. It is so easy to get down on yourself when everything doesn't go to your plan. It happens all the time to me. But I am so glad God's plan for my life is better then the one I make up in my own mind. This summer has been a great journey and it is just getting started. Thank you all and enjoy the ride. God bless