To My Averi

Yesterday we went on an official Daddy/Daughter Valentines date. I asked you the night before if you would be my Valentine and you reluctantly said yes. You admitted it was weird. The next day when I got home from work you were still very nervous and again said it was weird. You got dressed, did your hair and then I presented you with a corsage. You were excited and loved the pink roses attached. We went outside to take pictures and while you were still nervous, I could tell you were excited to go out with just me and you. The week prior to this, your mom and I tucked you in for bed. About thirty minutes later, I could hear you begin to cry. I walked back to console and see why you were crying. You often get stressed out because of homework and get worried about all of the chores and other things you are asked to do. When I asked you what was wrong, you mentioned you do not want to grow up. You were scared to be a teenager and did not want to be an adult. Admittedly, you made me sa...

So many days are taken for granted and with each passing minute that I reflect upon I tend to be regretful. What I want you know is that I love you. I may not say it enough but I hope that in your heart and mind you know I love you more than I able to express. It is the summer of 2017 and by the end of the summer you will be eight. Time has gone by too fast and before I know it, you will be gone, off into the world. It scares me. It makes me nervous to think that I do not spend enough time with you. It makes be anxious to think that one day you will be off in the world. My hopes is that you will flourish. I will be hard on you, I will push but in the end my love for you will never diminish. Just recently we practiced softball. We set up the net in the backyard and I threw you soft toss. You struggled and I pushed you, I pushed you to the point where you were crying. I pushed you harder and you cried harder but you started to succeed. You pushed through the difficultly and through...

By choosing to be a part of the III you have taken the step to be defined by three words, sturdy, loyal and quintessential. To be apart of III this is the code we live by. We strive to be a better and quintessential human being. We value the emotions we are able to feel and nonetheless endure. We have a great compassion for this world, after all, our presence can be felt by anyone we encounter. We strive to first and foremost be loyal to ourselves. We are who we are and it is critical we accept ourselves. Our people, the ones we care about will always feel our loyalty. There are times we must move forward we are not held back for those who are not reciprocal loyalty.  At the end of the day if we can look in the mirror and feel we stayed true, we only radiate to others. As we grow, we continue to be stronger and more sturdy. Our physical and emotional strength pushes forward. We understand there are lulls and we understand that life may press us, through our strength and throu...

I hope you know I am always there for you. I hope you never feel like I am not there for you. There are times where I push to make you uncomfortable because you and I are so much alike. Know that when I push/ed you there is a reason. You will find that while it may be painful on the approach it will be okay. Remember to be mindful as you pursue your endeavors. Stay in the moment, try not to predict. Trust yourself, be you. Lately we have talked a lot about just being you. You cannot help if you feel a certain way. You can't help but be you. It may not be the majority or well received but at the end of the day at least you stayed true to you. You will feel better if you be you, not who they want or expect you to be. Try new things, go off the grid if you feel so inclined. Do it for you not for them or anyone else. It is okay to be afraid, but try not to look back and say I wish.

At 31 years old, I feel like I am becoming a grumpy old man because my friend list continues to diminish. I asked my wife what she thought, she said, “you’re becoming a better friend.” She said think about all the “close friends” you have had in the past and now think about the ones you have stuck with or have stuck with you. I thought about it and made of lists of things I loathe and things I appreciate. Here are the 6 ways to be a better friend; 1.         Know who you are. I used to try to get in different friend groups, only to realize I did not like them and ultimately found myself becoming someone that was not me. I want to grow each day and be better for those around me, there is no need to be someone I am not. 2.         Stay true.  Be honest, it is amazing the respect people will give you when you just be true. There is nothing better than listening to a friend knowing what they are saying is rea...

My only thoughts for the day is that I love you. Everyday you make me smile and happy. 

You are officially off to kindergarten, where did the time go?!? Trying to put words onto paper to express how amazed I am and proud of you I am would be unfair and would not do it justice. Your heart is so big, the love you give so infinite I cannot even begin to explain. I have to admit you do worry a lot and that makes me nervous. I try to encourage you to be mindful and actually just the other day we learned what that means. You were miserable because you thought of how much you are going to miss school and your teacher Miss Y and Miss Kristie. You cried hard and I could not help but feel bad bud happy you enjoyed school. The last day school came and went. I picked you up on the last day of school, we went to eat and I asked you how you liked school. You told me you are going to miss your friends and your teachers the most but were ready to not wear a uniform and meet new friends at your new school. You also told that you didn't make it to purple. There was not one day you ...

Dear Averi, You made a funny comment the other day about July 4. As you were talking with Bo and what July 4 was, you explained to him that this is the day we celebrate fireworks. We laughed at the explanation but in all reality it was not far off.  Your mom and I explained what the real meaning was and while you got the gist of what we were talking about I could still tell it was more about the fireworks for you. While you spend this fourth with your Gram, family and friends stayed over to watch the fireworks. We watched in amazement, we watched for those ten minutes and oooo and ahhhhed over all the bright colors, the loud booms but needless to say we watched. For that moment we all were lost in the moment. I remember when I was kid watching the movie, "The Sandlot" and always wanting to play a "night game" under the light of the fireworks. Keep that excitement for the little things.  When you live in the now and everything has a certain sense of amazement a...

When I first started this blog my goal was to tell you more about our life, my life and the ones you love. It is amazing to me how time fly's. You are almost four now. There is not a day that goes by that I don't look at you and say wow, what an amazing person. You grow and mature so fast it baffles me. I love when you sit and talk to me. One of my favorite things in the world is when you tell me about your day and the things you made at Ms. Stephanie's. The passion and excitement in your voice makes me gleam with love. I love you kid. A little about me on this day. You will soon find out, I believe in one thing, the present. I refer to myself as a Buddhist primarily because that is what people know. I am a believer in being a good human being, I am a believer in when I die, I will still have some sort of presence later, I am a believer that there is inherent good in everyone. Lastly, I am a believer that the mind we have is more powerful than anything in the world. ...

I recently read a blog about "50 Things I Learned in 50 Years" and needless to say it got me thinking. This awesome place has so much to offer and often times we take it for granted. In my 28 years here there have been so many things I have learned and so I put them in a list in now particular order, for you to ponder. Embrace your feelings, anger, happiness, sad, whatever you feel at the time, embrace. We focus so much on trying to be happy, understand the other feeling and often times we end up happier. Take a cold shower, for that time you sit under the cold shower be thankful. Drink a great cup of coffee, coffee is so good, so sit drink and be you. Eat something you not suppose to, like a doughnut or those little heart attack pies they sell in the grocery store. Every now and again partake. Take pictures, you never know what you will capture. Adopt the pick up rule, don't wait until the whole house, car, desk is a complete wreck. Make your bed everyday, t...

When your down in the dumps and feel like the whole world is collapsing, smile. Take a walk and say hi, compliment someone or my favorite find a picture that always brings back a good memory. The bad feeling you are feeling will pass soon just go with it. Don't be afraid to embrace the feeling and move on, even if you do not want to.

A friend of mine is a really judgmental person, particularly to the homosexuals of the world. That said I am sure it does not stop there. I used to see eye to eye with him and would over play my "homophobia" (which I never had). As I grew up and I made friends with anyone that was just a good person. My standards of a good person are vague and what I really mean is just a good person to hang out with. Your Uncle Dave has a lot to do with this mentality. I used to have to be the guy to break the silence when my friends were around. I used to be the guy that was irritated by inactivity and usually I would break that quickly. Sitting in just silence with someone is a way to learn about them very quickly. My insecurity would break the silence every time when I was with my friends. Your Uncle Dave always carried a certain swagger and confidence with him. He could care less who would come to hang out, as long as they were able to just chill and "be cool." Your Uncle...

From this day you we born just about 8 weeks ago. This blog will be for you and when you get old enough I hope you appreciate the words. As I sit and begin to write I am watching you in your white swing. We refer to the mobile with the lambs that spin as your friends. You like your swing very much but right now you are quite fussy and I have gotten up several times to replace the "bink" in your mouth. I am watching a movie called The Rocker right now, using a Dell, having a MGD all in our apartment in Ft. Collins. You just got back from your Gram's where your mom went to help clean her house for Thanksgiving dinner. My browser is open to Blogger, Facebook and GoDuke.com to check the Duke game. You are not aware of yet but your are a die hard Duke fan. Your Great Granddad graduated from Duke and from the time I can remember your Granddaddy has always made sure we were loyal fans. Your Granddad had a knack for keeping us kids loyal and keeping us away from the bandw...