The time that has passed....

Alright, I can say that it has been quite the journey for me since I last updated this blog entry.

Well, here are some of the things that I have experienced since being home from Oregon. I have learned to be tougher because people can't take seriously the type of person that is always nice. My military training instructor once taught me that if people are taking advantage of you, or disrespecting you he would say to crush them. Now, I know that sounds like a harsh note but I realize now that being nice sometimes isn't always the right way to go. I used to think that if I just ignored the problem that the problem would go away. However, I have learned that problems never go away instead they just escalate. Sometimes standing for yourself in disparaging notes can have people understand what you're stating.

I have learned that commanding attention is different than controlling them for attention. As I have learned to command the presence of those of others respect and discipline are gained. Likewise, the reverse happens when we force people for that attention when we control them for their attention. There are many things over these months that have made me rethink my motives, because in these many instances I truly have learned to be alone. When you feel alone, you become one with it as if it is your best friend.

Life's simple moments can be better savored anyways when you're alone.

Anyways, here are some of the things that I have accomplished in the last several months. In the last months, I have lived in three different areas; and volunteered at different events. I have spoken up about the gospel in many of the places that I have been stationed. Also, I have a job that I am working as a power production specialist here in Minot, North Dakota.

This is my life, I hope that you stay to continue this journey with me. May God be with you =)!

The blessing....

Sometimes, we can never see what God can do to our lives until we live our lives every day. This past year, I have seen a lot of blessings that I know that I could not have done without God's help. I am grateful that I can kneel down on my knees knowing that there is a Being who listens to me.

Blessings can come in many forms, but most of those forms comes from us through trials and constant belief that something amazing can happen. I didn't believe that anything can happen, but now I have direction. Here is that direction.

Upon graduating from college, I was lost at words because I usually had some plan to move forward with my life. However, for the first time I didn't know how to progress my life without having my parents breathing down my neck. First, I realized that I needed to make some changes; and I needed to take a deeper look inside myself meaning that I had to change some things about myself. When I did some soul searching this past year did I start seeing the blessings come.

I know that I am not perfect, but I am striving for a more perfect life which each of us are capable of doing. But, I know that being worthy is not the same as being perfect. I learned that this past year that being worthy means to strive for perfection every day, but always falling short of perfection. As long as we strive for that perfection only then can our God give us our blessings. I am truly blessed to have learned that lesson this past year.

This past year has been both a time of mourning and rejoicing. Recently, I had my mother's father pass away. Another even that happened was an old friend from my former karate school who had passed away. Though there is times we sorrow over our losses, there are blessings that accompany it as long as we have faith.

Another principle that I have been reminded is the principle of faith. Faith is both a exercising principle and a hope that something will come. Over this course of this year, I had to exercise my faith in hopes that everything will work out for the better. In my faith, I have seen the blessings that have been accompanied. Here are the things that have happened this past year.

1. My relationship with my family has improved drastically.

2. I have a career. I know that through constant prayer, and doing all that I possibly can do it has been a blessing to finish it. I hope to succeed with the Air Force in the years to come while completing many things on my bucket list.

3. I have received my endowments. Now, I want to make note that endowments were not an easy task. For the longest time, I wanted to receive my endowments; and I had been receiving increasing pressure from my mother to receive them. I want to make something clear that I will NOT do something unless God tells me to do something especially something as sacred as my endowments. I have never been the hypocritical type of person.

4. Through God's guidance I have touched many people's lives while here in Oregon. For those that do know me, I didn't want to return to Oregon for personal reasons. However, I realize that God has other plans for me which sometimes we do not see. I am blessed that I can help people here in Oregon for the last time. I am blessed to know that He still watches over me. People say that one life can touch other people's lives, and if one person was taken out of the equation if affects the futures of others. I have seen that ripple effect in my life this past year.

5. Many of my transgressions are gone. I realize a bad habit can be a plague that inflict the harm of those around me. Bad habits are hard to break, and I have been able to break some of my significant habits over this past year! I have been blessed, and I hope that I can stay steady in the following years.

6. Direction in all things. Simply, I have direction in all things that are important. Ambition is important to me, but life lessons have reminded me that there are more important things than ambition. We shall see the miracles that will happen in the next few years. I am blessed to live my life. My closest friends will say that I live a miraculous and incredible life. I used to ignore those sentimental statements, but now I have to say that I couldn't agree more.

Anyways, the I will be able to continue my life by first starting off at boot camp in Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. I will be leaving November 26th, 2012. Thank you to everyone that keeps me in their prayers. I wish them all the best of luck in their endeavors. =)

PS One last tidbit about me is this portion. I want everybody to know that I have not forgotten my promises. For those that I have made promises with, please rest assured that I not forgotten you. I live by the principle of keeping my word. Lastly, I want everybody to know that when I say something it will come true even if it may take me longer than some. I hope that you guys can bare along with this journey with me. Cheers people! =)

The Plan - Reloaded

First off I have to thank everybody that still has faith in me, and keeping me in their prayers. I would like to thank God for the direction he has placed in front of me - I feel that everything is falling back into place; and I am once again happy that I have my path set.

A friend once told me that it wasn't time wasted to have used the college experience as a way to grow up. I have to admit that there are times when I feel that the growing up process during college feels like a waste of time, because I went through emotional distress; and had many hard experiences.

But, now I realize that it wasn't a waste of time. What would be an even more waste of time is if I didn't apply what I had learned during my college experiences towards the future I hope to achieve. These last 12 months have been an eye opener, and I am still growing up every day - I have to admit that I am not a perfect person. However, I am trying to do my best to achieve perfection as Jesus Christ has commanded us to do  - "Be ye perfect, as my Father in Heaven is perfect."

For those that haven't heard, I have been accepted into the Air Force. I will be leaving this coming November for Basic Military Training (BMT). Prior to that incident, I want to make sure that I can finish up the rest of the reading and research for my novel. I hope to read and research between 15 to 25 books in the next five months. Why am I doing the research now?

Well, I know that going through the military it will take up a lot of my time. I will at BMT for at least two months with only snail mail as my means of contact. Then I will be going directly towards Technical School thereafter! I hope to study within the next year so that I can hopefully achieve an officer rank - this means more pay and more respect in the Air Force. I have heard the test for the officer rank is a very hard test, and knowing I don't do well with tests, I want to study efficiently for it.

Plus, I want to use the money that I will be gaining in the Air Force to travel as much as possible for these specific reasons. One, is to experience life and expand my horizons. And, two is to use the money to visit places so that I can research those places for my novel. I know that I want to allocate my time more efficiently over the course of these next six years!

I will chase this dream, and this dream starts now! I hope with your love and support that I will fight for this novel to be done - this will be the first stepping stone to the ULTIMATE dream. Thank you very much everybody for your love and support - I hope that I don't betray your trust!

Love always,
Tee-J Valdez

The Summer Starts...

Alright, I haven't had a chance to talk to my mother as stated in my previous blog post. I don't think I am going to talk to her, because I am not going to force her to talk to me. I realize that nagging, worrying and second-guessing myself isn't something that is based upon faith. These last months, though I have been home for at least a year and a month now, have made me open my eyes that everything is falling into place the way that is falling into place.

Being home, I have been hanging out with friends whom I have had similar problems in the past. It seems that the Lord is helping me to bless these individuals lives as I move forward with it. Also, there has much thought and contemplation over the past events that have happened. Though it can be daunting at times, I know that if I have faith everything is going to be alright. I know I am talking riddles here, but I promise my readers that everything is alright.

As for some of my goals here are the things that I have done:

1. I have lost the weight needed. I have at least 15 lbs needed before I get back to my normal weight range. I am going to be training with a friend from the National Guard who will start training me for Basic Military Training.

2. I am hoping that I can lose another 5 lbs in the next week so that I can move towards MEPS which is the next process of the Air Force before I can go on Active Duty.

I know that the Lord is real, and He will bless me - this is part of my testimony. I have faith, and I have love. Cheers!

The days have gone by....

It has been awhile since I have updated this portion of my blog Web page. However, I have not forgotten to update. I am going to make it brief seeing that I do not want to bore my readers, but I want to say that I have learned a lot since I have been home. I realize that everything happens for a reason, and that we are blessed for the reasons that we pursue. I would like to add that I know that upon being home I know that it is that time in my life to reveal everything towards my mother what has happened in my life. As many of you may know, there are many times in my life that I didn't get along with my parents. However, I feel it is that time to reveal as much as I can without hurting them. I have a deep admiration and respect for my parents sacrifices that they do for me every day, but those that have heard my life story have all agreed that it is a complext life story. Very few have understood the complexities that have enamored it, but a friend once coined the term "that my life is complicated not boring." I always laughed at that jestful statement.

I have learned that when we run from our problems, we not only make ourselves look cowardly, but we also find that there will be nowhere else to run. I know that it can be a hard pill to swallow, and I admit that I still have much growing up to do; but that is what our lives purpose. Since being home, I recently took my ASVAB test scoring in the Category II area for jobs. My goal is to lose 15 lbs. in the next two months so that I can move on with my life. I recenly had an illness thus setting me back from my goal. I hope to lose that much weight soon especially with the allergy season soon to set in here in Oregon. I hope that I can keep my sights high, and I am blessed for all of you who keep track of this blog. I keep you all in my prayers, even if I miss a few people, but I hope that God blesses your lives every day as much as he has blessed mine. Be in touch!

Cheers,
Tee-J Valdez

PS Many of my hometeachess are in similiar positions where they do not have jobs. Truly, our economy is in a down position.

RING IN THE NEW YEAR!

Let us all ring in the new year. Okay, I think my New Year’s Resolution will include:

1. Lose the weight

2. Gain the weight

3. Lose the weight

4. Gain the weight

Wait, I think I see a pattern here that most Americans repeat every year! But, seriously I think I will keep the weight off this year. In addition to those New Year’s Resolutions, I will add correct my wrongs and break some bad habits. I want to make this year as a preparatory for the years that lie ahead of me. I have been blessed to know that there will be a lot that will happen in my favor if everything goes well.

I recently just had a New Year’s Eve dance with the Single Adults. I thought it was awesome, but felt weird at the same time because that was the first time I had done something with the church since I was a youth. It was nice being home for a change where I have realized many important aspects of my life that I didn’t pay heed towards. I am blessed to have the gifts that I was given this year.

Many of the Christmas gifts that were given were going away gifts chosen by me. They include:

Brand new pants

An AC adapter for my Ipod

And, a Timex watch – Ironman Triathlon – the same brand which was same model that had been damaged previously.

A Toaster Oven by Toastmaster

A George Foreman Grill

My own tool set by iWork – this is by far my favorite present

And a 3 in one printer by HP which cost only 19 dollars

It was nice of my parents to think of these gifts. Personally, I thought of just receiving the money but my mom insisted that she wanted to buy me something. So, without further hesitation I allowed her to buy me gifts.

As for the job situation, I have started to apply for some temporary jobs. Why temporary jobs? Well, I just need the funds needed for the next endeavor which is enlisting. That’s right I did say enlist! I am thinking of enlisting in the Air Force, because of the rigorous training and they have many of the amenities that I am looking for. Furthermore, they also have the places that I want to travel or stay. However, if I don’t get into the Air Force I am deciding to keep the Navy as a backup. I just hope that everything works out so that I can leave for BMT, basic military training, by this June.

There are so many questions that I need answering in my life, and so much yet to discover that I feel that this will be the route that I need to take in order to discover more of who I am. I feel this will be the right thing to do!

I hope everyone has a great new year as well! What are your resolutions or plans this new year? I hope that it is a good one!

REDIRECTION!

Okay, about a month ago I received a job interview with TSA which was a fairly difficult interview. The interview consisted of these criteria:

- A color vision test
- An interview
- Fingerprinting
- Filling out documents

If you fail, or do not meet the obligations outlined in the job process than you are excused from the process. The TSA will tell you upfront if you do not meet their criteria even before their 3 hour interview is done. Unfortunately, this was not the job that was for me. I was excused after my interview before I completed the other tasks.

However, the TSA process is much longer than an interview. There are 11 steps before you can become a TSO for the Transport Security Administration(TSA). The first four, which I completed include:

- Filling out the application (The application for me took 6 hours to complete, which is the first application for me that took that long).

- A computer based test, which tests a person on english and grammar skills. The test also tests a person on word matching, which asks a person to define a required word with a list of possible similiar words. After the vocabulary is done, then a person a person has to go through series of flash frames which has hidden x-ray items as if TSO personnel were looking through an x-ray image scanner. The items are shown prior to the flash frames. I will tell you that this test was very hard. There were no preparatory material to do this test. However, I passed this whole test.

- Contingent offer. This offer is an electronic offer to ask the person if they are still interested in the position. They will send this offer once a person passes the computer based test. Please note that a person only has two tries to pass the test before they disqualify themselves for the contigent offer.

- Once the contigent offer is set. Then, the person will be called for an Airport Assessment which can happen within the time frame of the time when the contingent offer was placed and/or when the two year mark happens. When the two year is reached than the contingent offer is expired, and the person must go through the whole application process again. However, if the person is called within that time frame than they will be go through the Airport Assessment, which is the job interview outlined.

Anyways, since the job interview I have applied to at least 146 job applications. That is an insane number already. If I do not succeed with the jobs within the next two months I am thinking of enlisting. Here are the reasons:

- It will give me a chance to travel, especially the possible places of Asia. I want to go back towards my cultural roots.

- Possibly gain combat experience. I would like to know what it would be like to protect the freedoms of this country as place my life on the line. I believe that each of us a duty to serve these individuals in this order:

• God

• Country

• Family

- Gain values that the services could only teach that I will be using later down the road.

- Also, gain another degree. I hope to use their educational resources as a way to go after the degrees that I want to attain. These degrees will be used to help my professional later down the road. The possible degrees that I want to attain later down the road will include:

• Automotive Technology
• Culinary
• Something in real estate, or business
  
• Computer Information Technology

My life needs some type of redirection. I promise you not that I will do whatever it takes too succeed. This month is to do some research on the schools that I am planning too attend. Also, I am planning to research into the types of Armed forces. Thank you too everyone who keeps in touch with me, and for their support! If you have questions or comments please attach it to this blog post! xoxoxo......Redirection! ;)

These are the countries whom I bleed my Spirit towards:


- United States of America



- The Philippine flag: my home country.

Personal note: We must never forget where are roots belong.