The only constant is change...

…or so "they" say. Some additional things "they" say: "One step at a time"…"baby steps"…"you have to walk before you run"…"you eat an elephant one bite at a time"…"your shnitzel is in my karfegnoggin". 2012 promises to be perhaps the most dynamic year in a long time. I could see it coming a mile away (something else "they" say). So what am I doing about it? See what "they" say above. There are some things beyond my control on the horizon, but also some things I'm taking control of. Ever since I had given up carbonated drinks for lent last year, I've progressively - up until New Year's Day anyway - drank more and more of them up to the point where I felt like I was carrying a brick in my stomach. I knew it was causing me to gain weight too, but I was truly addicted to Diet Coke to some extent, but Coke Zero was my crutch. Some days I know I had 8-10 cans. Sometimes days would go by without me drinking any water at all. With all of the upcoming events this year, I was hesitant to try and remove myself from the world of carbonated drinks. But after feeling more and more like I was carrying an aquarium full of water, and some of those colorful rocks and a palm tree or two in my stomach, I decided to pull the trigger on quitting. So I had my last Diet Coke around 7pm New Year's Eve night on my way to a friend's house to ring in the new year. It has not been easy keeping this resolution, especially when I'm driving around with my camera taking pics. I think I know how people feel when they have to have a cigarette in certain situations. I've never smoked but the urge to have an ice cold Coke really eats at me sometimes. But here I am, 1 day after my birthday, still going strong and making myself do this. I've been drinking lots of water and something else that I might find myself having to give up for next year's resolution….McDonald's sweet tea. Man that stuff is good! I can just see me laying in a gutter one day with 20 empty large cups and Popeye's biscuits scattered all over the ground around me and I'm screaming "don't touch my babies" while the people with a straight-jacket take me to meet some "nice people who care" about me. I have to stay away from Popeye's too. Those biscuits are like little pieces of heaven. Oh and I've noticed some weight beginning to drop off…not much but it's a start!

So with that resolution hitting on all 8 cylinders, and my determination to keep it going, I've given myself another self-imposed task; to be a better person from top to bottom. This can be tricky, and also is hard to measure. How do you tell if you are a better person or not? When people stop cursing you out for putting all the DVD's from the $5 bin at Walmart in their baskets? When people answer "a much nicer person than before" to the question "what the hell are you looking at?" when I'm in the frozen food section at Winn Dixie? When I quit scaring the bejeesus out of little kids on Halloween because it makes me laugh? Anyway…hindsight is always 20/20 and I look back sometimes and see so many situations where I could have done a better job being "me". I'm a happier person when I can contribute to the happiness to others around me. Some people are happier when they dress like a sheep-herder and dance around to the song "Safety Dance". To each his own I guess. I have some plans on how to tackle this, but I'm going to just keep them to myself and see what works and what doesn't. I have some ideas. Only time will tell. I'll get into the other changes, some major, coming up soon in another blog entry.

One last thing I've decided; that is to quit trying to pursue doing photography for a living. I absolutely LOVE taking pictures…and that is EXACTLY why I will maintain it as a hobby. I do not want it to become something that I have to do to survive, but something that I want to do. While it may not make a whole lot of sense to everyone, it makes perfect sense to me. I believe if I had to depend on it to eat at night and pay my bills, I would eventually lose my love for it and maybe even resent it. I can't, and won't do that. I feel less stress just saying that, because for a long time I wanted nothing other than to have my hobby as my career. What also relieves stress for me…orange juice freezies. I'll buy a half gallon and fill up 4 of those red plastic cups and put them in the freezer…and check on them every 10 minutes waiting for them to freeze up. YUM!

More to come soon! Another resolution…blog entries more than once a year or so…we'll see how THAT goes.

If you want to get a good insight into the history of the Oregon and California trails, as well as the geology of the land in which the pioneers crossed, read the book "Hard Road West; History and Geology along the Gold Rush Trail" by Keith Heyer Meldahl. I had no idea how hard it was on these families who packed everything and went west in search of the American dream. It will certainly make you appreciate what you have, no matter how much or how little. On a GOOD day they would move the same distance as we can in 15 minutes on the interstate…unless you get stuck behind the old couple in a 1989 Chevy Lumina with a missing hubcap and those nasty yellow headlights. Very informative and a great read.