Final day in Texas and coming home!

Well, the day has come. After about 6 years here in Texas, I am about to move back with family to the Florida Keys and start life anew again. I have been looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. Don't get me wrong; Florida is and always will be my home and I am just wondering after the tragic events of last year's Hurricane Irma if home can still work out for me in the long run.

As for my life here in Texas, it has been a great run. About a week ago, I had my last day at my job at Adventure Landing and had to say farewell to all the friends and work buddies I made during my employment there. I am going to miss all those friends I made there and hope for the current staff that they carry on and make Adventure Landing a good place to work in my place.

For life outside of work, it was good. I got to own my first car ever, got to travel to some unique places around the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and enjoyed some of the good events that happened during my time here.

Now, that I am about to leave back to a place I am familiar with, I will look forward to building a better life for myself back home and hope to find better opportunities for myself down there. Once again, I am excited for new life down there in the Keys, but just hoping for the best whatever comes next in my life.

For those friends I made in Texas, thank you for your kind ways and helping me adjust to Texas in a big way. I appreciate everything that you guys have done for me since my time here and you all will have a special place in my heart.

For those friends that I have in the Keys, I just want to say I am coming home and hope to catch up with everyone down there. Florida Keys, here I come!

Tony

Man, it feels great to be a Raider fan again!

Today feels like the return of old times as my favorite team since 2001, the Oakland Raiders, won their 10th game of the season against the Buffalo Bills. In a season that was defined by returning the culture to a winning organization, it didn't come without a bit of drama (and a scare) as it was another close knit victory again.

I am just so proud that the team is back to their winning ways-a lost technique that they used to hold dearly about 14 years ago. The last time my team was in the playoffs was when I was back in high school as a sophomore. They went all the way to the Super Bowl that season (but lost horribly to Tampa Bay) and were regarded as one of the best teams during the early 2000s.

After that season, it was losing season after losing season after losing season that involved changes at head coach, horrible drafting (*cough* Jamarcus Russell), and refusal to find that formula to help us become a winning organization once again. At the time, I was considering changing favorite teams as some of my friends and family suggested, but I stuck with the team in spite of the continued failure.

All of that changed when the culture around the Raiders was in unknown territory after the death of the late, fabled owner, Al Davis (R.I.P.) in 2011. It was a time when the team started to come together in the face of organizational tragedy.

We now have a trusted GM making wise decisions, a head coach who has been to the promised land before, and young and promising talent capable of taking us to places where we haven't been in the past 14 seasons.

At 10 wins and 2 losses, it looks like our long playoff drought will be a distant memory. Now, I don't expect this Raiders team to be in the Super Bowl this year-I just wanted them to make the playoffs and gain respect from all of our opponents.

However far we go this season, I remember all the losing we have done in the past and the struggles to get back to that winning formula, and believe it was all worth it to get back to the promised land. All I can say is that it feels great to be a Raider fan once again and I am loving every moment of it!

At a Crossroad in Life

We all seem to reach a point in our lives to find a crossroad. There are several paths many of us take in life-the one we seem to continue on because we get used to it and are unable to change, and then there is another in which something completely different can happen in your life for the better or for the worse.

At this point in my life, I feel I have come to the same crossroad over and over again, but I choose to take the path for the lifestyle I am used to. Now, I feel like I want to take a different path to change my current lifestyle for the better (and hopefully not for the worse).

What I am contemplating about is my current situation in which I would like a better job, a place that I would like to call mine, and possibly a better lifestyle that comes with it. With all the complications such as paying for bills and being by myself for the most time, I would certainly life to call for a change in life.

Why I continue to take the path I usually take is such a mystery, but the only reasons that I can find is that I am used to the lifestyle that comes with it and the minimum benefits that are rewarded. Now, I feel at this time to take a different path that will hopefully come with benefits that are more suitable for myself.

I know it is not just me that goes through the same situation, but mostly everyone else would go through the same stuff that I am going through. We all would like to gain the most in life and would like to live life to the fullest, and not be cheapened by what we should be worth in life.

More opportunities grow by the day for everyone and it should not be wasted at any point in life. So I hope to take a different path to enjoy life, and hopefully everyone should do the same as well.

How a 10 Year Reunion can change your outlook on life

This past weekend, I just celebrated my 10 year high school reunion with the KWHS Class of 2005. It was a lot of feelings of deja vu as you see that despite all the life changes that each of my classmates have experienced, they are still the vibrant, funny, and exuberant people that they are since back in our high school days.

Of course, the first event that I met each of them (our first event was a meet and greet at Rick's Bar downtown), the usual questions come from everyone who approach me. "How are you doing?" "What are you doing in life right now?" "Where are you living?" When I answer to everyone, it's clear to everyone that I haven't realized my full potential in life just yet.

That's ok though, some others haven't either, but it's a great thing to get some helpful advice from those who actually care and take some time to listen to my story. I always feel that any advice that I get from friends, family, and any other influential people makes a huge difference into what I do in the future moving forward.

After seeing all of the changes that my fellow classmates have been through in their lives, I feel like this should be the perfect opportunity to try and change my life for the better. Although it will take some time to process how I should assert myself in life, I feel this should be the perfect time in life to start at this moment.

Hopefully at the next reunion that we have, I'll feel like I'll be better prepared to tell all of my classmates how my life has changed for the better. For now though, it was a pleasure to see people that I graduated with make their way through the struggle known as life. It was great to see you guys from the Class of 2005!

Love is difficult to find

A lot of people at this point of the year would like to seek that special someone to be with. For me, it's always been tough...it's like a glass ceiling that is actually made of metal and you can't even break through.

For many, it is easy and still easy to get a significant other for themselves while others like myself are still wanting that special someone to have to care for. I can admit myself that I feel a bit of jealousy looking at some of my friends who are already married, or are having a boyfriend/girlfriend that I myself would like to know what it feels like.

Being single for my entire life, I start to learn why I have been single up to this point. When I have been shy for most of my life not wondering what to say to others how I think, how I feel, or how I live, you think what others may think about you.

Having a relationship with someone is the most happiest feeling that anyone would be blessed to have. To have that feeling of love, company, and trust with one another is what anyone would enjoy no matter how old or young you are.

I do not think that any one person should continue to live single as long as I have...those people should have a significant other to care for. They deserve to have that one moment in their lives that make them feel that happiness with another person.

However, it is quite difficult to find these days when you try to be as nice and courteous as you can like I have and not get that happy moment with someone else as much as you would have envisioned it.

I would hope that this would not continue for myself and I would like to have a relationship with someone as should any other single person out there. They should enjoy life with any other person as much as they like to be happy.

Happiness...What is it?

Everyone seems to have their own view of happiness...whether it is being with friends, being in a relationship, starting a family, enjoying a job that they love, and accomplishing a goal that seemed damn-near impossible to reach. As I see it, it seems kind of impossible to know if I am content with happiness or if I am still looking for more to make me happy.

As it stands, I've done a lot up to this point that makes me a great person...being friendly among everyone who is around me, earned a college degree, and just improved on being a very social person. So I keep asking myself, "why am I still not happy?"

It just seems like the more I miss out on the fun things in life, the more the happiness seems to slowly but surely fade away. I'd like more fun things to happen in life like travel to places I've never been to before, meet with more people (and possibly start a relationship with someone), and just discover more possibilities that would make my life better.

Until then, right now I am content with life as it is right now...being with a family that enjoys life as it goes by, being at a job that brings joy to children (as hard as it is to work with them), and having friends that are willing and able to help you enjoy life as it comes. I'd still be asking what can I do to make myself even happier as life goes by. I'm sure everyone asks themselves this question as well, and does enough of an effort to earn the pursuit of happiness.

Hope everyone enjoys life as it comes!

My 2013 so far...

Already past the half way point of 2013 and it has been a mix of highs and lows so far. It is almost the one-year anniversary of me leaving Orlando for Texas and it has been quite an adjustment for me to make. I still have been at my job at Adventure Landing for almost a year and have seen a lot of changes there including the friends that don't work there no more and new people that do...I swear, it is as if I do not even recognize the place anymore. Can't tell if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it affects me more to either keep working there and hope something good happens or leave and find better work elsewhere.

As for life at home, it seems to be settling more despite my little dog, Ollie, getting sick over the past weekend. The poor little thing had to be put in the vet hospital for 3 days and so far has seen a lot of improvement. My little brother, Andrew, unfortunately had to put his culinary dreams on hold and is currently working at a craft store called Hobby Lobby. His friend, Brine, is currently looking for work as well. My mom still does a lot of arts and crafts hobbies at home while her husband, Charly, continues to do more work for the movie theater, Cinemark, and I must say he does a lot more travelling for his work than all of us.

A lot of things coming up in the future such as my little brother, Stephen's wedding to his high school sweetheart, Deanna and I am currently looking forward to returning to my home town of Key West, Florida...a place that I have not been to since moving away from there in 2009, and I am eagerly looking forward to seeing what has changed since then. I'm also looking forward to seeing the rest of my family and wondering what they have been doing for the past year.

Not a lot of great things to look forward to for my sports teams though as most of my favorite pro teams are in last place or close to it...pretty much sucks to be a fair weather fan, but I can live for it as long as the future remains bright for those teams. Definitely can't wait for football season though...there's no better time in sports than that!

I can only hope for the best that 2013 will end on a very high note personally and mentally too. I hope everyone else out there has a great rest of 2013 as well!

Peace and love to everyone out there!