Winter in San Francisco

WOW! Has it been a crazy last few months. I am able to take a little breather this week before I have sisters and friends at my house for the next 3 weeks. I figured I should update all of my friends and family about some of the things that have been happening in my life since Christmas.

Since Christmas I have been to Los Angeles twice, started distance running again, implemented a full checkin/out solution for a benefit, participated in the Color Run, hung out with Flat Stanley, hosted friends from the midwest, and participated in Catholic Schools Week. See the pics below!

To give some of you a little incite of what I have been doing at work for the last 4 months, I have been implementing a software solution called GreaterGiving. It is a event management software that you can use from start to finish for events of your organisation from year to year. Back in November I was given the "okay" to start researching electronic solutions for De Marillac's huge Annual Scholarship Benefit (ASB) in March. I decided on GreaterGiving because it was exactly the solution we needed to register guests' credit cards and process everything automatically.

There were a lot of ups and downs during the whole process because of the tight timeline we were on to implement the software. I needed to import over 300 guests, teach others how to process another 500, create gift package appropriate for our event, create a checkin process, create a checkout process, and make sure everything works smoothly so that donors give over a half million dollars. I personally loved doing all this because I was in charge. My coworkers were taking my advice, going off of my suggestions, and implementing everything I asked. The night of came along and everything went flawless. I could not have been happier with the end results. I simply love process, technology, people, and bridging the gap between the people who work hard doing good things and technology to make their lives easier. I suppose there's a career in there somewhere.

That brings me where my focus has been and will be for the next few months, next year. I'm really enjoying working with event software, so I might look into development for those companies. Other opportunities include working on a development team for the mobile industry, specifically Android. I'm also pondering being a hobo and working on the warf here making money from tourists, I hear they make a lot of money. Kidding! Once I know more about this subject, I will let everyone know!

Picture Time!

A hiking adventure in California!

My awesome running shoes that everyone makes fun of

We visited Sausalito just north of SF and look what we found, just an average day in  California

A beautiful view in Sausalito

Watching the Superbowl  rooting for the 49ers!

Mr. Nennig during Catholic Schools Week

Probably the best burger I have ever had on Haight St.

My career path that led me to DMA

St. Boniface, the church linked to my school

Probably the funniest sign I have seen in SF. Fortunately, it didn't  get me to come in!

Coastal View

More Coast

Malibu beach on a beautiful January day!

My feet on the edge of the world!

At Anaheim conference center

The Genie in legos!!!!!!!

A picture full of raw imagination

If you imagine it, they will provide the building blocks

Best friends

If only I was able to get on the other side of that fence....

Does anyone see whats totally wrong with this picture?

Lookin classy San Francisco

Color Run!

Pretty much the coolest picture ever

Lumbard St.

Everything ready for ASB 2013

This is a book of poems that the 8th graders from my school made. We sold them at ASB. They are pretty amazing!

An except from Rise Above

continued..

The lovely hotel I stayed in for ASB 2013

Complimentary Starbucks :)

This was complimentary for each member of the event team..... pretty cool.

Registration all set up for ASB 2013

My roommates getting ready for the craziness

After taking down registration, we had to set up all the computers again for checkout in a 20 minute window

The De Marillac Choir performing for all 700 guests

A few pieces of art work by the students for sale

A view from the glass elevator heading to my room .

I'm Coming Home

Well in less than 48 hours I am coming home to Iowa. I cannot believe that it has been 5 months already. I have gone from a town of 6,000 to a university of 56,000 and now to a city and area that is considered the tech industry center of the world. In those 5 months I have learned a lot about myself, most of which is probably too personal to share on my blog but I would be more than willing to talk about one on one. But a few things that I can talk about are dreams, sacrifice, and relationships.

I came to San Francisco for two reasons: to serve the poor and to figure out what I am suppose to do with a computer engineering degree. The first is a dream I have had since high school when I realized I wanted to be an engineer. At that point in my life I knew that I would never struggle with putting food in my belly. I had just begun to understand the unjust world we live in and promised myself once I was done with engineering school I would volunteer for at least a year. Being in San Francisco I am accomplishing that dream and it has taken my second dream to a whole new level. It has helped me grow up and truly see how many great people there have been in our history, most of which will forever be nameless in main stream society.

My second dream has been to do something great. I figured a degree in computer engineering would get me there, though I'm finding it is merely a starting point. I'm in San Francisco starting to understand the global community, diversity, and craziness of the world. It is certainly not the midwest. Granted I knew this was true, I just never expected to affect me this way. At times I feel like doing something great is not fundamentally possible for me. I mean I learn about these great people and the uniqueness of their brains but more importantly what they have given up. To me, I see that I am at a crossroads with what I want in life and what I am meant to do in life. The hard part is deciding which is which. I have never been one to give up though and currently I don't see that changing!

Well my second dream kind of lays out the sacrifice thing, to be where I am right now I have given up a lot. Many would say I didn't have to but for me to focus, I do. Since I left 5 months ago I have given up my friends, family, biking, swimming, a job, the midwest, driving, peace and quiet, traditions, and a good income. Whats left? A stripped down version of myself ready to take on the world. I'm going home for Christmas soon and I thought the year is going fairly quickly, then I realized that I'm not even half way finished yet. Sacrifice is hard, but without it, it's impossible to grow.

I was in college for 5 years of my life. In that short time frame I gained 3 best friends, a brother-in-law, 2 nephews, a niece, and experienced the passing of two close friends. Now that I am away from them I'm beginning to realize how important they are to me. I was blessed with so many great people in my life and still because they are in constant support of me doing what I'm doing. Thank you all. Whether its a random card, text, facebook, or prayer, I appreciate all of you and cannot wait to see you over the next few weeks. You are what keep me going and without you all in my life I would not be who I am today!

There are a few pictures of recent events in my life below, be sure to ask me about them when I see you!

Christmas Tree at Union Square San Francisco

We bought Monopoly. What a great game!

At the top of a skyscraper in downtown San Francisco for the De Marillac Holiday party, compliments of a generous donor!

Went to the De La Salle estate in Napa to visit some retired brothers

The property where the brothers lived was breath taking

Beautiful sunset in Napa Valley

Enjoying some free wine tasting in Napa valley!

Learning a new skill with one of the LA volunteers

Trip to LA resulted in a trip to the Observatory. Amazing!

Hollywood.

The cast of Harry Potter!

The coolest staircase ever!!

Thanksgiving

It has been a while since I have written in here, so I thought I would give you an update on the recent craziness of my life. As some of you know my mother and my aunt came out to San Francisco this last weekend. I could tell you of all the things that we did when they were here, but if you ask them, they would agree that this blog would be TOOO long if I did that! You can see some of our adventures in the photo album below.

What I would like to talk about is planning, hosting, good conversations, and being with people you love. This last week my mom and aunt came, it was thanksgiving, and we had 3 people from LA up here at the house. To me that means a lot of planning to make sure that they are comfortable. If someone is going travel hours and hours and spend a nice amount of money, then I think it is your obligation to make sure they have the best time possible. The good thing about this is I love to do just that. I think one of my greatest pleasures of life is to serve and host those that I love. I think so many people get tired of doing things like that, but its those things I look forward to day in and day out. To say the least, I think everyone that passed through our house the last week and a half really had a great time with myself and my community.

Why is serving and hosting so important? Because I think it allows for those conversation that would never really happen otherwise. For instance, I was able to learn more about how my mother and aunt were raised in a farm house back in the day. I got to learn a bit more about how they interacted over the years and how important their families are to them. It's inspiring. I was also able to sit down with my mother and talk about retirement, saving money, and the hardships that I think about when I look into my future. I was also able to learn more about one of my LA friends that was up here. I was able to learn about her struggles, hopes, and dreams, and honestly just her struggle. Sometimes just hearing that someone else is also truly struggling can really make you feel a bit better. I was also able to talk to the vice president of my school in the last week. We talked about what do I truly want to do? Why did I come out to San Francisco? And even better he seemed like he legitimately wanted to help me. 

I think the close conversation we can have with those we love and are close to really makes life full. I think at times I miss that out here. Granted I can talk with my friends and family any time with technology these days, but talking online is in no way the same as someone physically with you.

Just having my mother and my aunt here with me made me feel so at home. Having the LA people up here was nice too because it was just great to talk with them about their jobs, struggles, and most importantly, share in laughs conversation with them. They are so similar to us here that its nice to see and hear about people doing the same thing. And ironically how similar they are to us in terms of what matters in life.

This last week truly gave me the inspiration I needed to continue on with my volunteering, but more importantly not give up on my hopes for the future. It showed me that I will always have those around to support me. On the other hand, it made me really wonder the importance of being with those you love versus chasing your dreams. We only have so much on this earth and and our loved ones might have less... Where is the balance with spending life with those you love versus doing your duty to God and society? Good question. Good question..

To have that support of your loved ones is really important and for that I would truly like to thank my friends and family for all that you do for me! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! I will be home in 3 weeks everyone. I hope that we can see each other while I'm back in the midwest. If we cannot, then I expect you are planning a trip out to see me, I would love to host you. :)

Below is a huge slideshow of all the pictures I have taken in the last week. Enjoy! 

PS. The thing I found most hilarious about my aunt and mom was the fact that they both love taking pictures. So you will probably find lots of pictures of them taking pictures of other stuff. 

Thanksgiving 2012 Pictures

Progress

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A few weeks ago I bought new running shoes. One of the things I am really trying to do while getting back into running shape is to run without music. Why? Because I think we all need quiet time to ourselves once in a while and I think running would be the perfect time.  I don't think I will be able to run without music all the time, but progress is progress. The first week I ran almost 25 miles.. and then my immune system shut down. I'm nearly though this sickness and then it back to focusing my time and effort of the thing I have been missing. Running.

A few weeks ago I gave out my first wait-think plan to a student (a sheet of paper that is apart of our discipline plan at school). Only days later, I sent my first student to the office. Since then I have sent 2 more kids to the office and given out 5 or 6 more wait-think plans. Mr Nennig is slowly starting to understand what is means to discipline. Progress.

Last Friday was the first time that I was completely in control of the 4th grade class all by myself for a whole day. The main teacher of the 4th grade was out for a wedding and so I was the "sub" for the class. I taught reading, writing, and vocab. I also lead the class meeting as well as my usual duties of homework support and art class. It was a long day, but only one kid cried the whole day! and I didn't give any wait-think plans out. Progress.

At work it I have been struggling a little bit with keeping myself busy because my position is different than the other volunteers. I don't actually "teach" a legitimate class that requires lesson planning and grading. This means that I really don't need to plan or worry about grades, which means I have time to do other things like tech work. Well the tech work for me at school has slowed down so I have been resorting to other things to try and fill my time positively. I am helping my roommate with the 6th grade during their time in the computer lab to teach them how to "Google" something. Its interesting to see kids type in 'google.com' and then search 'why the the Egyptians always worship so many gods?'. I have also taken more interest in my enrichment class. Rather than doing the same things I did last quarter, I am helping the kids through the process of creating a Android application. It is something that I can do and they seem to like it. If I cannot find something to do during the day, then I have found myself wondering into classes and observing other teachers to see what I can do to become a better teacher. Progress.

Can Anyone find a common theme in this post? Progress. I think this is what I need. Something that forces me to move forward. Now that my world is slowly changing from the unusual to the usual, its time I start taking control of it. So what the next progressive step for me? I need to find something that is fulfilling. Despite the fact that I am volunteering and helping kids everyday, I look at my life and ponder the fact that if I wasn't here in San Francisco would anything suffer? I look at my roommate that I work with and he teaches social studies and if here were to leave my school would be in shock looking for someone to fill his spot. Another one of my roommates told me that she is finally doing something that she feels like she is needed at her hospital. I think thats what I'm missing right now and I need to find that sense of need.

Are you needed where you are right now? Is there a reason you are where you are? Or are you just comfortable?

I personally believe that joy comes from feeling needed. And if you don't feel that you are needed, then maybe its time for a change and maybe mix things up a bit. Just a thought....