just stine

Update....

2009-10-09T20:23:00.000-05:00

So I guess I will give you a quick update on my life before I head to bed. Well I have 2 more weeks of hunting camp left then it will be back to Texas with me. I am ready for this change, I have been in Colorado for almost 6 months and work can be slightly stressful out here. I have been expected to take a leadership role and expected to do things that I didn't know I was suppose to do. I currently spend most of my day between doing dishes and doing office work, I would much rather be outside cutting something down or building something, yall know me so you get my drift. I am just tired of 'good workers' complaining about everything they have to do, and telling me they know how to do something then whe it comes time for them to do it they say they can't, and I have to pick up the pieces.

Anyways, i am looking at buying a house in Trinity, I put a bid on it on Monday and am waiting to hear from my realtor whether the seller has accepted it. It is a little 3/2 with a gameroom on a little lot and I can see the lake from the front porch. I miss all of my friends that I never get to see or even really talk to.

I am trying not to roast in my room tonight, the staff has started a fire in our stove and it is nasty dry hot in the lounge, but if I keep my window open all night I may freeze....it will be in the teens tonight.

Well I guess that is all for now...

Here we go.....

2009-02-19T21:29:00.001-06:00

Well I guess it is time for an update…..what do you think?

I have been working for AEI as a trainer for 6 weeks and in that time I have been to 4 different states and a large handful of East Texas towns. I have spent time in Mississippi at Ole Miss and had a great time with those students up there in the freezing weather. I drove through Louisiana twice (tried to go as fast as I could to get through that state). Spent a couple of days in Tennessee over at Land between the Lakes, it was a great place. Oh and we (Leche and I, Leche is another trainer) stopped to check out the bison on our way to Kentucky. So I also spent sometime in Kentucky up at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky. It still looked like a wreck, i was there a week after the huge ice storm they had. On our way through Tennessee to Kentucky we stopped by one of AE’s hunting guides place, it was beautiful…..with white tail deer everywhere.

So I am having tons of fun and learning a lot. I am never at my apartment and that is ok. I never get to see Zeke and I miss him tons. I also never really get to talk to any of my friends and well that is really not abnormal, because that is just the way my world is. AE is a family and fun to work for, it is a great Christian company. As a company and family we come together and pray everyday it always turns into a good time of fellowship.

I am a trainer out of Texas for 6 months and I am up at our camp in Colorado for 6 months. Now being one of the full-time staff members that work in Colorado there is so much that I am responsible for on top of trainings, testing and inspecting. For example today I did an inspection in Huntsville and went back to the office and spent a good portion of the afternoon picking out t-shirt designs for camp. And I ended up being consumed by creating an equipment list for a course bid.

Ok so that whole mess may not make sense to you but just know that I am having fun and I miss you!!

In Summary

2008-11-08T10:40:00.003-06:00

The past couple of months have been amazing. That is amazingly good and amazingly hard. To work day in and day out in the beauty that God created is out of this world. To hike up a mountain and bring back a quarter of a elk was also out of this world. Everything I experienced truly made me a stronger person. I was physically and mentally pushed, getting up at 4 am and going to bed at 10 pm gets to you after awhile. Working and working hard day in and day out teaches you a lot about yourself and the other staff around you. (Or should I say the other staff acting like they are working).

I cannot write out the amazing things that I have seen and experienced, but I can tell you stories face to face (if and when you ever see me). There is a large amount of understanding those stories hearing them rather than reading them.

My trip home was great!!! I stopped in Canyon and spent a couple of days with B and Billy and Rocky and Bullwinkle, if was fun and relaxing. Oh and we made elephant cookies for the WT football team. Then I headed over to Sanger to the Tutts!!! Since I lived with them for a while back in the old days it is always like going home. Squirt and Squishy have gotten so big, they are going to be taller than me in a matter of no time. It was the weekend before Halloween so we hit up all of the trunk or treats. It was funny because Squish was a scuba diver so she was walking around with flippers on all night. And I also got to spend a day with TW. Oh on the Monday morning the girls woke me up and told me to get ready cause we had to go to school. So I got up and got ready and went with TW to take them to school and went later that afternoon and picked them up. Then I finally made it all the way home and made a complete mess of Sean's house.

Now that I have made it back to Texas I am still getting use to not being surrounded by mountains and huge pines trees (And we didn't have any grass up there either). I look up into the horizons daily looking for a mountain. I am also getting use to not eating as much and the fact that now I am living over 9,500 feet lower than I did for the previous 6 months.

So the word on the street is that I will be moving to Trinity, TX in the near future. I go out there in a week or two to hammer out the details of my new job. So life is going better than I could of imagined.

My Life......A Dream

2008-09-14T17:48:00.003-05:00

Some days my life seems to pure torcher, and some days my life is truly a dream. For the last almost 6 months I have really been living a dream. I live and work on the Contential Divide. I do not do the most amazing things in the world. I build and repair things, have taken kids to the tops of mountians, have packed out elk and clean outhouses, sinks and showers. Not things that most of my family and friends would jump at the chance of doing, but I do. The dream part comes from working for a company that I have always wanted to work for since I started working on challenge courses and working at a location that God has made so very beautiful. When I am working here I just know that I am where God wants me and that I am learning and making a difference everyday. I have found that I have a greater work ethic than the majority of my fellow staffers, my work ethic seems to match those of my bosses. I have also noted that this has been noted by them. Some tasks given out are given to me and only me, and I am given the say so on how things are done and whether or not I even want help on the task.

I do have lots more to say but my head is spinning with thoughts and I am unable to get them in order. When I do get them in order I will write them down and share them with you.

I love and miss you all!!!!

Alive and doing well

2008-07-05T12:26:00.003-05:00

hey yall

so things are going great up. over, across here in Colorado. in the past 12 days i have gone rock climbing, done a 3 day backpack trip , did a peak ascent to see the sunrise over the divide, gone rafting in 39 degree water, assisted in a wilderness rescue ( which included 4-wheeling up Timberline Trail past Lunch Lake, then hiking over to Silver Drainage which is close to where base camp is for Silver) and finally help upright a tractor that flipped over on a hill, and get a pole truck unstuck.

now that is just the major things that have happen there have been minor things like, cleaning outhouses, taking apart a weatherport and just hanging out at the Res.....

life is good, it is amazing to get to watch the sunrise and set over the mountains. i love to just sit back a watch all of the amazing things that God has created.

I miss all Texas and everything about it but at the sametime I am very excited about where I am and what I am doing.

Life or just a dream

2008-05-09T22:29:00.002-05:00

It has recently been brought to my attention thatI am preparing to live out a dream. My dream job has been to work for AE, not too many people knew this. TWT hit me over the head with that fact the other day. I thought how the heck did he know that....well he is Tracy and he put that thought in my head. The thought that I could actually work for a company that is the best at what they do. Sometimes I forget that I have friends that know what I am thinking most of the time, that is either scary or a blessing....I haven't figured that part out yet.

I have also been feeling kinda old lately. A large number of my 'kids' graduated of got married in the past year. And I remember them as teenagers trying to figure out life...or really anything. What really topped it off was today, I was able to see KB graduate and get married. That is crazy, it feels like just the other day I was making fun of her skunk hair. It is just amazing how much happens when you think you are paying attention. Life just flys by.

At times this all seems like a dream that I will awake from and have a greater knowledge of how to lead a better life, but I know that is not true. I am living life and God seems to be taking me towards something exciting.

I was already sore.....this didn't help

2008-02-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

on monday i rode my bike on campus and these are some things that almost happen to me.......

got hit by a car
skidded into and flip over a brick wall
run into at least 15 ppl going close to 15 mph
and biff it making a sharp corner where the sidewalks don't exactly match up evenly

Friends, Football and Beer...no......no Beer

2007-11-14T20:05:00.000-06:00

well last weekend was full of friends and football.....

on thursday B came down and so we got to hangout thrusday,friday and saturday.....no we really didn't do anything overly exciting....

but.....

on friday we met up with kelli, kris, ryen, courtney and karis for a little grub and some chatting. or in my case being fed by karis and making odd noises...nothing out of character for me....

then on to target, REI, cabela's and the outlet mall for me and B.....and i survived (i don't like shopping)...we didn't really buy anything

friday night KB drove in and we stayed up late playing with ringtones

saturday we headed out not too early....

stop 1 HLCCC
wake up kelli and just say hi, and play with remington

stop 2 brownwood
HPU v UMHB football game....i really didn't watch the game cuz i don't and never have gone to those schools....but i did get to see dale, carley, michelle, curtis and brett

stop 3 dublin-
so i no longer drink DP but i had never been to dublin so i had to stop and at least get some pics and so we did....and the little shop thingy was closed

stop 4 stephenville
time for the WTAMU v TSU game....WT folks are really into their football team unlike TxState folks.....KB and I spend almost 2 quarters there and the whole time KB was checkin out the Plowboys and #26 for WT

stop 5 buda
on the way out of stephenville we saw a cow statue thingy next to a tattoo place so we stopped and took a picture
after leaving stephenville KB and I drove through the dark for 4 hours to get home.....KB kept me entertained be teaching me about the different hip hop songs that are out now.....Chris Brown-Kiss, Kiss and Timberland, Timberlake and somebody else

anywho it was a goo weekend like i said friends and football

Birth Order

2007-11-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

I was reading an article in Time about birth order and does it really affect who you are and who you have become. I am not going to examine the article but if you want to read the whole article go to http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1672715,00.html and check it out. I found it to be pretty cool. It also gave me a little more information as to part of the reason I am who I am, things that sub-consciously affected me growing up.

So. do you fit into your birth-order profile?

Oldest Sibling
-may be better educated then younger siblings.
-likelier to hold a professional position.
-more concerned with meeting parents' expectations.
-likelier to serve as family historian and guardian of aged parents.
-higher IQ than younger siblings.

Middle Siblings
-may take longer to choose a career than other siblings.
-less connected to family,more to friends.
-may de-identify from firstborn, making opposite life choices.
-lacks the parental recongnitionfirst- and last-borns enjoy; may develop self-esteem issues.

Younger Siblings
-more tolerant of risk.
-likelier to be artist, adventurer, entrepreneur.
-often physically smaller than firstborns.
-less likely to be vaccinated the firstborns.
-frequently funnier then other siblings.

Well what do you think??

Washington oh Washington

2007-10-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

so i went to Washington State last week and i had a blast. now everyone knows that i travel to visit friends and this was no different. i went to Washington to visit my sister, Nikki. before this visit i had not spent any large amount of time with her in........2...no....3-3 1/2 years....crazy i know. i have lots of stories and a couple pictures so i am going to try to get most of it out cuz i get going about one thing and forget about the rest. here we go.....

Day One:

I left Austin at 8am on Thursday.....i really don't like flying that much especially when i am alone..but it was ok. as we were flying i got the chance to see some of the great creations that God has blessed this earth with. mountian ranges and valleys are amzing at 31,000 feet.

just a sidenote SEATAC is worse than ABIA.

after Nikki picked me up, i found myself starring out the window with my mouth open at all of the pine trees. simply amazing.

Day Two:

That morning we headed out to Mt. Rainier. Being from TX only makes it slightly difficult to read a map in WA. the distances are much shorter than I am use to....luckily Nikki was there to make fun of me along the way....... Holy snot.....i think that we could of stayed on that mountian all day....us TX kids were having a complete overload on our senses....the smell, the view, the lack of sound, the taste and the feel was out of this world. and yes i said taste......snow taste soooooooooooooooo good.

so we met Hank on the way up the mountain. We hungout for a little bit then we continued our way up the mountian. we ended up at a real live mountain lake!!!!!!!!!!!

We hungout there for awhile attempting to take in everything that was surrounding us.....we were in the clouds.

and we mananged to fit in a little free climbing eventhough we couldn't feel our hands.....

as we headed back down the mountain we saw Hank and decided to pick him up and give him a ride to town.....

so there is Nikki getting a picture with Hank.....our friendly snowman.......

Hank sat on the windshield for close to 50 minutes.....he was a great snowman!!!!!!!!

Day 3:

we went to Seattle....it was overcast and moist

there are too many people in that city!!!!!!!

sis took me to REI Flagship.....it was awesome.....2-story...climbing wall....snowboards, skis......pure craziness

then we went to the farmers market

then i tried crab cakes...not too bad

Day 4:

i flew home

great story HUH!

well that is only part of the story there were many other things we did.....

i had an amazing time....can't wait to go back or just move up there.....

Washington state has so many national parks and forests i really don't get why Seattle has such a high suicide rate....ppl don't know what they are missing out on.

OH and do go to Washington in the middle of the semester.....I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things.....

I love my life.....just wish there was more time to spend with friends

2007-09-17T21:04:00.000-05:00

So my weekend was wonderful. I am truly amazed with my friends, especially the ones that I consider to be part of my family.

Not too many things make me happier than going to Sanger and spending time with the Tutt's. We are basically one big happy family. Anyways to give you a quick run down of the weekend, there is way too much to share so I will give ya'll the highlights.

On Friday night was Sanger's Homecoming football game, and the excitement started before kick-off happened. There was an accident in front of the high school, it required Care Flight and the best LZ (landing zone) was the football field. So Sanger emergency services secured the field as the LZ.

They did a great job. Good job TWT!!!!!!!!!!

So the football game was played and Sanger won (they played Van Alstyne, I was thinking about changing the spelling of my name to styne....what so ya think?)

Then on Saturday morning there was the Homecoming parade. So I took Squirt and Squishy up the street to watch the parade then they informed me that we did bring a bag for the candy. I have never seen that much candy being tossed during a parade......all of my pockets were full.

Then we were off the Squirt's first soccer game. She was a great defender!!!!!

All in all I had a great time. I go on trips because I miss my friends that have become my family. And I also get a lot of time to think things through on my trips. I drive at least 3-8 hours around trip....it is great time to get a better understanding of yourself.

I had a great time working and getting dirty with TWT, like the good ole days. I don't think that anybody else can have as much fun as we do when we are working on something. And we don't know why we have that much fun. We are too cool!!!!

In a nutshell that was my weekend.....the end!!!!

'the church' versus 'church'

2007-09-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

yesterday i was hanging out with a friend, and we were talking like most friends do. she asked me what i was doing this weekend, and my response was a pretty typical one for me 'i don't know'...then she proceeded to invite me to church on Sunday. i didn't tell her no but i didn't tell her yes either.

see these days i am having real issues with 'church' not 'the church' but 'church'. honestly i am tired of judgemental, fake people that you find at a typical 'church'. i cannot count the number of 'churches' i have stepped into during my life time where i was looked up and down and totally felt like an outsider, even at the 'church' i grew up in. i probably didn't help matters by wearing shorts, t-shirt and sandals well and having a really short hair cut that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. but really who cares, i hope that everyone is at 'church' for one reason and that is to worship as a group of believers ('the church').

recently in working in the real world, not camp world, that non-Christians are much more likely to accept who you are no matter what you look like or who you are.

so when did 'church' become a social event instead of a gathering of 'the church'.....maybe i am missing something or maybe i am just looking at the wrong 'churches'. and growing up in a Baptist 'church' i am well aware that for it to be a good Sunday there must be food and an offering before you go back home.

i miss 'the church' and having real worship instead of being in a group of people that are just there for looks. i know that should not stop but it is.

well i think that is enough for now, time to relax a bit before going to work.

yes indeed it is Labor Day

2007-09-03T13:23:00.000-05:00

So I have been enjoying a 4 day weekend. I have not done too much, mow my rents lawn, played with Zeke, planted plants for the rents, read stuff for school and tried to relax.

Now when I try to relax there is always something that gets in my way...alot of the time it is Sean......but this time it wasn't him. This time it is the stress of having to spend too much money this week. See I am going to Washington at the end of September, I can't wait I'm so excited. But it seemed as soon as I purcheased my ticket everything has been breaking, zeke's electric fence stopped working (that took about 3 days to figure out what was wrong then a couple more days to get the part to fix it). Then I thought hey if you find a good deal on a new camera you should by it. So I did, I ordered a new camera on Friday afternoon, then on Friday evening I notice one of my tires was flat. Then Saturday morning I noticed another one had a cut in it. So what all of this boils down to is this upcoming week I get to buy new tires for my truck. Really, I am not mad because I do travel alot and I would rather be safe then sorry and I am sure my friends and family would agree.

Besides all of that school is going good so far, the kids are so young I am an old fart. But I understand things in a little bit different way than they do, which I think the awesome. Right now my favorite class is my Senior Sem. class in Rec. because of the book we are reading right now. My attitude may change because there is a-whole-freaking-lot of reading in that class and I am not much of a reader.