One Year Ago....

So for awhile, nothing special has been really happening. Everything in my life is finally starting to settle and I'm getting used to corporate life and everything.



However, that's not what this post is about. This post will be one of the hardest things I've done, not because of any experience from here, but because of the nature of an event that happened on Oct. 23rd, 2006. The above picture is Me, My friends Josh, Brad, and Chris after a skydive last summer. I lost my friend Josh last October.

One of the best friends that I could ask for left and passed away one year ago on the date above. He involved in a landing accident while skydiving. He was a very experienced jumper (over 2000+ jumps) but one day, misread an advanced maneuver he was trying to do and hit the ground pretty hard. He ended up in the hospital during the month of September and was progressing and getting better. I was scheduled to fly out to see him, thanks to another good friend - Rob DeLeon - who bought the plane ticket for me. The flight was supposed to leave on Oct. 24th, right before the Compulsive Lyres were supposed to go to Chicago to sing.

Anyways, one day his condition started getting worse and he developed an infection where he started leaking spinal fluid. His condition from that point only worsened and his girlfriend and his parents knew that he did not want to live that way. (He would've been a vegetable for the rest of his life). So they decided to pull him off life support. Meanwhile back in Ann Arbor at Briarwood Mall, I was with the Lyres guys looking for new shirts and I got a phone call from Kristen. Now I had been in direct contact with her from the very day of his accident all through the recovery and even up to this point. However, the news I got was not something I wanted to hear. She told me that any minute now that his parents were going to pull him life support and Josh would slip away. He was slowly getting more sleepy and was already dying. I really hope no one ever feels what I felt at that moment. I pleaded asking them to wait one more day so i could get there, but they said that would be too late. So Kristen told me that she would hold the phone to his ear so I could say my goodbye to him.....

This was quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life thus far. I tried to stay as positive as possible, saying things that would make him laugh and that I know would put a smile on his face. It took me about 10 minutes to say goodbye, but I did and hung out the phone. As I did, I walked back into the mall with a shocked look on my face, and just collapsed on the ground as the guys came rushing over to check on me. I didn't want to talk to anyone or see anyone. I just wanted to go home. I hung out with the realization that my friend had just died and that I would never see him again.

Now its over one year later and I'm out in Colorado. Some days I think about everything he taught me and all the fun we had and other days, its hard not to cry. I know he's watching over me though, and one day I'll get to jump with him again. I have kept in contact with his mom and other family members and his girlfriend too....i think they appreciate me talking to them, and vice versa.

I'll close with this....whoever you know and as cliche as this will sound, everyone you care about, whether its friends, family, whoever...go and spend time with them and tell them you love them. You never know when the last time you hang out or go visit, really will be the last time. Josh and I hung out all summer and he was going to help me start training for my different skydiving instructor certifications. I am still going after those, but I just have to do it without his help.

Seriously, tell those you care about, how much you care. Realize how strong your friendships are with people.

I never want anyone to ever be in the situation that I or Josh's family was in with anyone.

Take care everyone....

Sense of accomplishment

(I hope this post makes sense.....had alot going on, so forgive me if it seems random)

So if you were reading my previous posts, I had taken a trip out to California to support one of the launch campaigns for my company. It was for the Worldview 1 satellite that we have been working on for quite a few years. Worldview actually launched on Sept. 18th @ 12:35 pm MDT. As I sat in one of our auditoriums at work with my friends and everyone else, I couldn't help but feel pretty damn proud and also amazed as the Delta II rocketed towards space.

As an intern here, I had the chance to participate in Integration & Testing for Worldview II. The brilliance of this spacecraft was alot to take in while it sat 10 feet away in the cleanroom during testing. I had a chance to work with the Attitude Determination & Controls System extensively and it increased my overall knowledge of the satellite system as a whole. While I watched Worldview being carried into space, it hit me that I had actually helped with the testing of this "Next Generational Digital Imaging" Spacecraft. That all the work I had done previously now made sense and that the work I had done (though insignificant compared to other engineers) was still a part in the success of this preliminary part of its mission.

I say preliminary because getting it to space is the first step. If you can't communicate with the damn thing, then the whole project goes to shit. And we were communicating with it about 1 hours and 42 minutes after launch, so all was going well.

Everything I had done up until that point, the testing, the long days and nights, the writing of code and test procedures that just seemed to go on and on, the staying up from 12 am - 9 am every day for 3 weeks out in Vandenburg while the Battery went through its autonomous conditioning cycle, EVERYTHING had been worth it to see it get to intended location in a Polar Orbit over earth. It was all worth it and I've been working with or alongside others who were working on it since my first internship here in 2004 and now to graduate from college and be sent out to a launch site (which is incredibly rare for someone with my limited experience and position), well that was an amazing opportunity. I felt as if I had watched the entire project from beginning to end and it felt pretty good, even if I didn't as much to do with it compared to others.

I know that my day will come though. I also got an award for my 1 year anniversary of cumulative service here at Ball which isn't that big of deal but nice that they recognized it.

Anyways, now its time to focus on the next project - Worldview II. This is going to be just like the first one, but much larger and with the same resolution (.5 meter) but bigger camera. For this one, I'll be working on the Electrical Power & Distribution System along with the Thermal & Electro-Mechanical Subsystem. I'm not exactly sure what all that entails, but that's what I'm currently learning. This satellite is expected to launch in Winter of 2009 and this time, I'll be in Vandenburg for the entire 3 months preparation up until the actual day of launch.

If I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment after Worldview I, I can't even imagine what I'm going to feel after we launch Worldview II. I'll also have the cool jacket, polo, bag, shirt, pin, and everything else to match with the WV II logo on it.

Being that close to a launch was definitely the coolest things I've ever been able to experience. I felt more pride and learned more from my work on that project and from my current project on WV II, than i've ever learned or had in school. One thing I'm learning is that school, Michigan especially, teaches you how to multi-task and handle stress and different jobs at once. The types of things I've learned in Vandenberg and on the job and that my leads and co-workers have taught me, can't be mimicked or learned in a classroom. Am I saying that college is worthless? Absolutely not. It does give you the knowledge to succeed in your field of study, however, the real experiences you gain and learn from can only be acquired from the stuff you actually have to face day-to-day in the Real World. From there, the real accomplishment will come from knowing that what you've gone through and experienced hasn't been in vain but yet is a stepping stone or building block to the next level of your life.

If you would like to view the launch of our spacecraft or view pictures of it while in Vandenberg getting ready for launch, you can go to the link below. I will be posting pictures from colorado and other travels next week as well.

http://www.digitalglobe.com/worldview-1_launch.html

The Trip

Sorry again for the delay in updates, but there is a reason and it will have to do with this post.

On August 17th, I walked into work like it was a normal friday. I was pumped because it was the weekend and we were getting paid. My mentor comes up to me and I had previously told him that I was interested in traveling with the group when possible. He said he would pass it on to my manager and whoever else. With my project specifically, I know that I will be going to launch sites at Air Force Bases and other places too in the future. That's exactly when I thought my chance to travel would come.....much later in the future.

My lead, who is also a good friend of mine, also was trying to get me to do some travel to launch sites for a few projects so that I could get the experience. Well, Paul walks up to my desk and asks if I was still interested in traveling and of course I answer yes. Right now we are getting ready to launch a satellite called Worldview I out of Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California and he asked if I would be interested in going. I immediately smiled and exclaimed "YES DEFINITELY!!"

Then he says, "Great, glad to hear it.....your plane leaves at 7 pm tonight."

...........................................i'm sorry, say what now?

So another colleague of mine was leaving to go out tonight too and the program manager requested me to come out too to help. Paul and I sat down and tried to iron out leaving on saturday or sunday, but it wasn't doable with the tickets. So, in a whirlwind of about an hour and 15 minutes, we applied for my corporate credit card, booked my flight roundtrip, booked a hotel room, rental car, received travel insurance, got accepted for overtime and travel expenses, and applied for a clearance pass at Vandenberg through United Launch Alliance. Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed, not to mention they were letting me leave at 12 pm to go home and pack.

I really had no clue what was really happening, but I followed orders and went home to wash clothes and pack. Luckily the dress as casual, so that made it easy. I was driven to the airport by one of my friends and I proceeded to Santa Barbara for a 2.5 week business trip to help support the Worldview I launch from Vandenberg. The entire trip itself was amazing. Normally someone as young as me (as far as time with company and position) doesn't get this chance, so I was very grateful. The one thing I had to get used to was that a launch operation is a continuous 24 hour process and I had work the 3rd shift from 12 am - 8 am every day. So things were a little backwards, but I still liked being out there. It was cool to be on an Air Force Base everyday next to the beach and to know that I'm contributing to the successful Sept. 18th launch of Worldview.

I took some pics and will upload them next week at some point. The experience as a whole was exhausting but well worth it. I saw another launch that wasn't ours at 3 am one night. I learned about another whole aspect of my job that hadn't been previously introduced to me and as usual I learned a crapload from all my co-workers and friends out there with me. It was kind of cool being in another place and basically having everything already paid for, even drinks. I didn't get to spend alot of free time due to me trying to sleep during the day, but I know I'll be back there in another year for the launch of Worldview II and this time, I'll be one of the main Test Engineers there for 2 months. All in all, even though the trip came as a surprise and I was really unprepared for it, I acclimated and got settled into the schedule. The entire trip seemed surreal because of the realization of my first official business trip. It made me feel good that my work was trusted enough and counted enough to be asked to come out and help support an aspect of the preparation for launch.

As I speak, they are only about another 2 weeks away from launch. Much like my time out here in Colorado has, my job is even capable (as I saw) of throwing curve balls out of the blue. I've learned to just go with it though and gain as much as I can from each experience thrown my way. I'm here to work and prove myself as a capable Test Engineer for my program, and with my mentor and other colleagues around me who are willing to guide and help me, my path through the workforce is still unknown, but not as dark anymore. Here are two pictures I took with my phone before I found out we could take regular pictures. This is the satellite sitting sideways on the Three-axis positioner or TAP. This week it is going through fueling and being put into the Delta II faring. This will be a Global Digital Imaging Satellite.



Here is a picture of the Delta II Launch Vehicle that Worldview I will be housed in for launch. They have a bunch of Launch Towers at Vandy, so this is one of them that just happened to have a Delta II on it...

So when do we buy books??

Sorry I haven't been in here in a bit, it's been a little crazy at work, as my entire department picked up and moved to a totally different building. This was my 2nd move in a month, but hopefully I'll be here for a bit.

I've gotten into the habit of going to the gym at 6 am now, which is awesome. While I was there today, I looked at the newspaper and there was a picture of a girl with like 7 textbooks at Univ. of Denver bookstore. They were talking about book prices (as they do this time every year). I wasn't as concerned about the article as I as with the picture. As everything has lately, it is slowly hitting me that I'm not returning to school, that this isn't an internship anymore and I don't have to worry about packing and leaving. Shouldn't I have realized this before now? Probably. But it's a bit different now. For 5 years, twice (or more) a year, I spent $400 - $650 on books for classes that we sometimes didn't even use. It became a ritual, and then a few days or after welcome week, we would start class and the settling back into the college lifestyle would begin again.

Now, it felt really odd that I don't have to worry about buying books. Honestly my brain was thrown off a bit. It had become so conditioned as a part of my life that now that I don't have to do it, my brain feels like something is wrong. Kind of related in a way, I got a call last week from my lead that I have a performance review coming up. Yeah....I've been here for like a month and some weeks, but I'm getting a review. Ok cool...no big deal. In my company's terms, with the internship time and now, as of this upcoming Sept. 30th, I will have been here for a year. So maybe that's the reason, but otherwise I'm not sure. With the notion of not having to buy books and this "review" coming up, my full-time lifestyle is setting. No longer will I be judged based on grades or projects or papers or will I cram in order to "show" that I know what I'm doing. Now I get a review and my performance is a reflection not only of just myself, but of my colleagues, my team, my department and the company itself. There is alot more riding on this now. At the same time, I don't have to worry about an "honor code" or anything of that nature. Now everyone works together and if you have a great idea and it works, people are happy to pass it on. They won't report me to my professor (boss) for copying like people do in college.

I guess this is all just another big part of my life. The last thing I'm dealing with is uncertainty. All throughout life, we were always conditioned to know what was coming next. From elementary to middle, from middle to high school, and from high school, hopefully to college. There was an order and even while in college, we had a syllabus to tell us what and when stuff was planned. Now, I go to work and do things that I know need to be done, but am not really sure of what will come or happen next. There is no exams to signify the end of the semester and to show that you're moving on. That part of my life now makes me a bit anxious because I have no idea what is going to happen (well, to a point), but I'm along for the ride and it's been good so far, so lets keep it going.

All in all, I guess that's just part of the transition from one point to the next. The uncertainty about the future and the adjustment of working for self to now working for a team, in addition to yourself.

I've missed this....

11 months. 11 months and 5 days since my last skydive. And pretty much the same amount of time since last being in the windtunnel either. As some of you may or may not know, skydiving is a VERY big part of my life and is a hobby that i deeply enjoy now. When I left Colorado last year at the end of August, I had the plan of getting back to Michigan and basically jumping my ass off at Tecumseh. At the end of last summer, I had achieved several objectives of mine. I had gone through water training (Water training is when we learn how to survive and get away from our rigs and canopies in case we land in water, either intentionally or unintentionally), I had received my B-License, which now lets me complete night jumps, hot air balloon jumps and water landings. (There are some Dropzone's which are right on the beach). So I was progressing nicely, or at least I thought. I had learned A TON of new shit from alot of my friends and done a bunch of new jumps and exits. I had racked up 3.5 hours in the wind tunnel and was now sit-flying. Basically, I was having the time of my life.

Well, upon getting back to school, money ran out. Time became non-existent as I entered my 5th and final year and the weather was (for the most part) shitty all the time and not jumpable conditions. I hung out with everyone at Tecumseh and missed jumping, but I knew it wasn't feasible. I was also trying to concentrate on securing a job, so that as taking alot of time as I was flying all fall semester to interviews.

Winter came (after about the middle of January) and left and the season opened up again. It's not been almost 7 months at this point since I've jumped. To make matters worse (in a sense) all my friends from Colorado keep emailing me awesome pictures from the Moab Boogie or other Boogies and parties that have been happening, or stuff from the tunnel. All I can do is look and be happy for them, but insanely jealous at the same time. Because I had no jumping and no windtunnel. It was ALWAYS cold and who knew when I would've been to jump again. Now in the skydiving world, depending on your license (there are 4 from A to D), if you let a certain amount of time pass without making a jump, you have to do what's called a "Recurrency Jump." Basically this means going out with an instructor and performing basic freefall and canopy maneuvers to make sure you can fly safely and not injure yourself or anyone else. For my license, the limit is 90 days and I knew I had passed that a long time ago, which sucks.

Well, at some point, a little bit after graduation, the weather became nice again and Tecumseh opened again. Pumped to finally be able to possibly jump, I go out and party with everyone and let them know that I'll be staying in Michigan for May and June to hang out before leaving. This didn't happen. After that party, I realized that by staying in Michigan, I would be spending money I didn't have and that I also had to worry about moving across country and trying to survive my first few weeks before my job started. So once again, I was unable to jump and moved back home to PA for awhile to say goodbye to all my friends and family.

Fast forward to this past weekend. A bunch (20 to be exact) of the interns from my job are going skydiving and I'm "sponsoring" them, so I get 10 free jumps out of the deal, which is nice. I then decide that this past weekend would be the weekend I would go and start again, as I was tired of being on the ground.....seriously. Now one thing that people in the skydiving world all know is that, the longer the time between jumps is, the more apprehension and doubt that builds. Basically, you start doubting your own skill (esp. if you're an early jumper). I was a little nervous, but couldn't figure out why. This is nothing new. One of my good friends and an amazing instructor and skydiver (Jimbo at Tecumseh) told me that, "The hardest jump you'll ever make is the first one after a long layoff." And he was exactly right.... After talking to all my friends who were doing tandems and waiting, I FINALLY got to go on the last load of the day. I was unable to use my free jumps towards my recurrency, so that sucked too.

I ask my friend Brady to do my recurrency and we go up in the plane after riding the trailer and after the gear check and i'm finally on the plane. But something was happening on the way up. As I watched the earth get further and further away and we ascended into the clouds, I couldn't help but smile. All the anxiety and apprehension had drained away. I look out of the door and was so happy to be back in the air and to be a skydiver. Brady could tell and he looked over and said "Welcome back to the air, bro."

The plane ride seemed to take forever and finally the yellow light went on and the door opened. There was a group in front of us going on a sunset tracking dive, so we were next after them. The green light went on, the first group went and Brady and I assumed our positions for the exit. I was in front of him on the outside of the plane holding the bar, I look back and he nods and I count off and let go.........
In that skydive, I fly down to him and dock and do the standard left 360 and right 360 and dock again. Then it was time to see if I still had it and have some fun. Brady went into a sit and I followed suit. After my legs went a little crazy, I rolled into my sit and was stable and stayed there. Holy shit!!! After a year, I can still do this!!!!
So excited I forgot to check my altitude and I see Brady pointing and I look and we're at 5.5 K, pretty much time to break off, so we break and I track away to the south.

Upon opening, the realization of why I do this and why I want to stay in this sport hit me. I had missed this so much and forgot what it felt like and how free you were. It is something I pride myself on being a part of, especially as one of the few black skydivers. From this point, I know I'm officially just beginning my journey as a skydiver. No more interruptions or having to wait for weather. No more having to miss out on boogies or cool shit because of money or school. It's gonna be awesome and its my goal to become an awesome Freeflyer*.

Anyways, I land and walk over to a trailer with another guy who jumped named JC. Brady says "Great skydive man!" and my friend Kartik asks me how it was, and I tell him, "Man I've missed this, but it feels good to be back."

Now that I have the windtunnel and here in CO they jump year round, I don't see myself becoming uncurrent anymore...in fact I'm gonna make sure. But i'm excited that I have a permanent place and I don't have to worry about leaving. Just another great realization that I'm on my own and this is my life now.

*Oh, if you like to see what sit-flying or freeflying is like, go here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=64suH8U9Ros&mode=related&search=

A subtle realization

Edit: This is a long post...but bear with me, as alot was going through my head this weekend.

Now that I'm moving into 4th week of work and being here almost a month, things are starting to sink in very subtly and it's usually when I'm doing something completely unrelated. Well this past weekend, I got a chance to go rafting down the Royal Gorge (http://www.whitewater.net/images/shot_of_day_royalgorge.jpg) for the 4th time and in between rapids and looking around at the awesomeness of Colorado landscape, wheels started turning in my head.

Oh and I'll post pictures of our boat "maximizing the splash" and going through some of my favorite rapids such as Sunshine Falls, Sledgehammer, Wall Slammer, Spikebuck Rapids, Three Rocks (where I got thrown out), and Boat Eater.

Anyways, as I was saying, it is starting to sink in that I'm actually here and this is my life. Now yes, I've been here for a month and I should realize that, but certain things about it still don't seem real. My job for example, in essence, I still feel like I'm an intern and that I'll be leaving at the end of the summer. But while floating down the Arkansas River with adrenaline pumping at full blast, I realized that this is the real thing now. Yes, I know that careening down a river, going through Class IV and V rapids shouldn't really have you thinking about your life and work, etc., but in between the chaos and trying not to fall out (again), it gave me a chance to reflect on some stuff.

As an intern, during the past 3 summers previous, I was given certain projects and things and i was able to contribute to the programs I was working on with my colleagues. I had a sense of "I actually contributed" or "I was in charge of that area of testing." But, I never really had a thorough understanding of how my work went into the entire test phase and integration of the two spacecrafts as a whole. Now, being here as a full-time employee, the tables have turned a little bit. I am now (or at least people are referring to me) the EPDS Test Engineer. Basically what that means is that for the spacecraft that we are going to be building, integrating, and testing for the next year or so, I am in charge of the entire Electrical Power System. I am the "Power guy." I'm sure you're thinking or maybe not, but at least I thought, big deal right? It's just a title. It didn't really occur to me until this weekend what my position really means when I talked to the guy who is the I&T (Integration & Test) manager (and a good mentor to me). He told me that I am the person who knows not only the entire specifics of powering the spacecraft on and off, but I know where every signal goes, when it supposed to be there, the telemetry that comes out, how things move, etc, etc. I also learned that when our project launches, I'll be in California at Vandeburg AFB (I mentioned this earlier) as the front man running the power system.

Now why does this seem like a big deal? Well, I thought that only older or senior/project engineers would get to do this. I'm essentially the youngest person in the I&T group and to be put in charge of an entire subsystem of a spacecraft is huge. Anything that goes right or wrong with the power system is my responsibility. I am in charge of almost 6000W of power running through the spacecraft at any point in time and I have to know where that power is going to and if it is too much or too little. Every connection, every signal, every cable connector, and each piece of hardware that pertains to EPDS is my responsibility. So as my boat went powering through Sledgehammer rapid this past weekend, I realized this and said, "Wait...I'm in charge of what?!!?"

The point is, is that I am now a part of something much bigger than I ever thought I'd be a part of. (yeah i know I just ended a sentence with a preposition, sue me.) It's not just a "project" for school anymore where I get graded or if i don't do my part, then we get delayed a bit and get some points taken off. If I don't do my part, I will make not only myself look unreliable and not responsible, but even worse, I'll make my team and my manager and my company look bad to our customers. Without a properly running power & distribution system, our satellite is no more than a giant metal box with some cool shit attached to it.

Wow. This is big. I've never stepped down from a challenge though and I'm sure as hell not gonna start now. There will be ups and downs, but I'm ready for it. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress of it all too.

And off topic, out of 6 rafting trips, I have never been thrown off the boat until this weekend. It wasn't even in the middle of a rapid, it was after....in a calm shallow section when our boat hit a small rock and tossed me and my friend Pam, who was behind me, into the water.

This weekend was amazing! In one way, it was because I love rafting and the trip was sweet and the other in how it made me realize just how big and important my part is in relation to the project as a whole.

I'm excited to see what exactly the next year has in store for myself and my job.

Overall....not bad

Here is a question people at work, friends of mine, and family keep asking me. "How does it feel to be done with college, to be graduated?"

I quickly answer that I can't tell the difference. Why? Because I'm still broke.
Yep. That about sums it up. So for those who don't know, I started my new job here at Ball Aerospace on July 2nd. Unfortunately, I came in on a pay week, so I'd have to wait until July 20th (this coming Friday) to get paid....Ugghhhhh....

Do you know what that means? Ok, basically this. I didn't have a signing bonus because Ball has an amazing relocation program. They moved ALL of my stuff, and my car, and paid for me to live in a hotel for 2 weeks BEFORE the moving truck got here, paid for all my meals and my flight out here. So yeah, I can't really complain there. But in being here, there is still a TON of stuff I need for my apartment. I have to register my plates, get a new license, EAT, pay bills already (stupid comcast and my energy bill) and a I may have gone to the bars a few times in Boulder and Denver. So yeah, all I keep doing is spending money for stuff I need (alcohol is a need) and I'm not seeing any back. But that will all change Thursday at midnight.

As far as everything else, I love it here. It has rained maybe twice and every now and then we'll get an afternoon thunderstorm which is cool to watch with the mountains in view. It has been incredibly hot....it was 101 yesterday and today it's 100 but there is no humidity or hardly any if there is, so that's a definite plus. It's still weird for me to actual say this is my home now, because it all seems so surreal, but I'm liking what I've experienced.

My job is going well too. I'm working in the Systems Integration and Test Group here at Ball in Civil & Operational Space. I'm gonna be working on a project called Worldview 2 and I'm in charge of the Electrical Power and Distribution System (EPDS). Ok, what that means for the non-technical people is that I'm in charge of everything relating to electrical power with this satellite, which is a pretty big job, but I'm pumped about it. I also learned yesterday that when this satellite is ready (hopefully Winter of 2009) and we go to launch that I get to go with it along with some other engineers to Vandenburg AFB to do more testing and get it ready for launch. That should last 2 - 3 months....so hell yeah!!! You can read a little about my project here: http://ballaerospace.com/page.jsp?page=82

So everything seems to be going well so far....but Murphy's law remains in effect.

First Post

Ok, so this is my first try at this whole "blog" thing. I have Derek Coatney and Dan McGraw to blame for this...haha

Anyways, basically I'll try to write in here at least once every week or so and talk about my life pretty much. I've gotta be at least somewhat interesting...haha

As far as a small update for now, I am in my third week of my job at Ball and I really like it. I will get into specifics a little later about what I work on. I am really loving Colorado but it is damn hot here. Today it was 102 degrees.....really?? I definitely didn't think it got THIS hot here, but whatever..

After living in a hotel for 3 weeks and numerous delays with my stuff on the moving truck, I FINALLY moved into my apartment this week. It feels really good to have a place of my own and it's definitely growing on me. I've already started getting billed for stuff, so there's money I'll lose. I will get my first actual paycheck this Friday, which will be a WELCOME change to being broke...haha.

As for now, I'm just giving this a try and if the blog works out, I'll continue. In the meantime, I'm gonna keep exploring Colorado and doing everything I possibly can to get settled and enjoy my new life. I'll probably give my first official update in a few days as to how everything is progressing. Until next time...peace out everyone.

If you have any comments, hit me up....