I grew up in a small town in Washington State and joined the Army straight out of High School - and stayed there (nearly continuously) for the next 15 years. During my time in service, I deployed 5 times (Egypt, Gitmo, Iraq x2, Afghanistan), got out of the army briefly and then back in, changed duty stations a few times, had 4 kids, divorced twice, and married twice. - needless to say, my hair has prematurely gone gray, but I still have a full head of it!
This brings me to the present.
I still have my struggles with post-military life, but I've found solace in confiding in other veterans and writing about the things I deal with. My wife has been super supportive as well and is great at calming my nerves. She's always there even when I think I don't need her.
I dove headfirst into community and veterans issues and am now an active part of many organizations. I'm the social media and website guru for my VFW Post and was nominated for and elected as their Junior Vice Commander my first year at the post and was elected to the Senior Vice position the following year.
I went back to school a got a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Media Technology from Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Some of the things I enjoy outside of spending time with my family are riding my motorcycle, taking pictures of nature, blogging, and making music. Oh, and if you've seen me in recent years, I can't forget photography. I play guitar and like to sing for my family and friends, but have no desire to ever do it professionally - well, secretly I do.
I hope you enjoy my incessant ramblings about life, politics, and whatever else happens to come to mind as I use this blog as an outlet - kind of a therapy for me if you will.
This brings me to the present.
I still have my struggles with post-military life, but I've found solace in confiding in other veterans and writing about the things I deal with. My wife has been super supportive as well and is great at calming my nerves. She's always there even when I think I don't need her.
I dove headfirst into community and veterans issues and am now an active part of many organizations. I'm the social media and website guru for my VFW Post and was nominated for and elected as their Junior Vice Commander my first year at the post and was elected to the Senior Vice position the following year.
I went back to school a got a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Media Technology from Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Some of the things I enjoy outside of spending time with my family are riding my motorcycle, taking pictures of nature, blogging, and making music. Oh, and if you've seen me in recent years, I can't forget photography. I play guitar and like to sing for my family and friends, but have no desire to ever do it professionally - well, secretly I do.
I hope you enjoy my incessant ramblings about life, politics, and whatever else happens to come to mind as I use this blog as an outlet - kind of a therapy for me if you will.