The Happiest Day Of My Life (So Far)

My knees are trembling. My stomach is in knots. I check the flight directory 50 times.

Finally I get a text that she has landed. The knots start turning. I might get sick. I turn to the left and give a thumbs up to Rachael to inform her as Cassidy has landed. Then more waiting... tick tock tick tock. I check my watch 5, 10, 20 times. Finally I look up and see her, beautiful as always. Her purple luggage trailing behind her, and the smile that melts hearts, including mine. On this night I decide to return the favor.

I embrace Cassidy with a hug and a kiss. My left pocket has my cell phone, my keys and twenty-six cents in change but my right pocket has what she has been waiting months, maybe even years, for. I ask her how her flight was and told her I hope it is the last trip that we take separately. The next couple seconds are a blur. People walking around us, camera flashing, Cassidy crying. She even told me she hated me (about twenty times). Long overdue, I finally got down on one knee and asked the best person in my life for her hand in marriage.

After over five years of dating, we are no long boyfriend and girlfriend. In a couple of years we will be husband and wife. Typing that felt surreal, but then again so does this whole newly engaged experience.

If this blog is how you are finding out that Cassidy and I are now engaged, please don't take it personally. I tried to reach many close friends and family and even all of them were hard to reach in such a short period of time. In the ever changing world of Social Media, we wanted to make sure we told enough people, but knew if we told too many people that Facebook and Twitter would find out before we got the chance to tell our closest friends and family.

In speaking for Cassidy and myself, it is incredible to see how many people truly care about us, both individually and as a couple. We can't wait to begin planning a wedding and celebrate with all of you. God has blessed us with friends and family that have supported us through the best and worst of times.

My mom recently told me that I might have to lose some friends before I have a wedding so that I can afford to have everyone there. Somehow, I see that as a good problem to have. The amount of people I have met over the years and continued to stay in touch with is a blessing I cherish every day.

Thanks for all the kind words, each and every one of you reading this has helped in one way or another to get both Cassidy and I here today. For that, we will be forever grateful.

I love you all, and hope to talk to you soon,

-Jared-

P.S. There will be more pictures to come, but here is a sneak peak!

Stop & Smell The Roses

This world is crazy. You probably opened this up at work. After work you have to rush home. You get your evenings off but that doesn't mean you get to relax. Maybe you have kids and have to make sure dinner is ready. Maybe you participate in a softball or volleyball league and need to make sure you beat traffic or that beer will be warm and you won't be able to stretch properly. Speaking of stretching, have you been to the gym this week? This month? This year? Don't forget your doctor told you to get your 8 hours of sleep. He also said no more late night snacks, put that Oreo down! You finally lay down at midnight knowing that tomorrow is another day full of bills, work, rush hour traffic, and every thing that comes your way on a daily basis.

Jared, are you mocking me? Why would you make me recall my day? I am making you recall your day because I think you missed something. I think you were so focused on the negative parts of your day that you forgot how great your life is. 

The title of this blog post is "Stop & Smell The Roses." The reason for this post is because I don't think that we always focus on the right parts of our day when we deal with the craziness of life. When was the last time you stopped and counted your blessings? 

My last time was over 4th of July weekend. The family was together at the cabin and all got to spend some time together. It was a more frequent occurrence when we were all younger but with all of us going six different directions, not often are we all in one place at one time. 

View of the lake from the cabin. One of my favorite views. 

I looked out at the calm lake and just took it all in. The sunset, the lake, the loon in the distance and the bonfire that was about to need another log added. Stress overwhelms all of us. I had been stressed out about what I was going to do next school year and just didn't have the best week. As soon as I looked out over the lake, it did not matter. I had my family, I had a roof to sleep under, and I had the feeling of knowing that halfway around the world Cassidy was having the time of her life in Europe. The simple things were achieved, and there was nothing else that I needed. 

I encourage you this week to look around you at the simple things that you have that many people might not have. The majority of us have so much to be thankful for but rarely do we embrace it and many times we take it for granted. 

As for me? One of the things I am most thankful for is my first summer off from teaching. Like I said I have no idea what the future holds but am blessed in knowing the God has a plan for me and that everything will fall into place. Until then, I am off to go golf for the 4th time this week, another thing I am extremely thankful for. 

Have a great Thursday and a wonderful weekend, 

-J- 

2015, Five Months In & Loving It.

Hello all,

It has been forever since I decided to write from my personal blog, but that doesn't mean that I haven't typed up a thing or two since then. I decided to leave The Sports Script and take a break from writing about fantasy sports to focus on a new project of mine.

I have always been fed up with the lack of sports content that the Elk River Star News gave to Rogers. I would read as article after article was filled with mistakes. The wrong name going with the wrong picture or the wrong stats. People who graduated three years ago are still playing for Rogers according to the Star News Sports Editor (who I will keep nameless, just because you all know who it is if you live in the area.)

I decided to start attending Rogers winter sporting events. A basketball game here, a wrestling match there, and when I got home I would write up a little blurb about the stats and the game. The first few posts had almost no views, but as social media always comes through, suddenly my links were getting favorited, retweeted, and shared over Facebook and Twitter. I never write for views (because views don't benefit me in the slightest) but it is always nice to see how many people are reading your material and if you are succeeding in reaching a good diverse group of people. Throughout the winter sports season I had students, parents, and friends come up to me and compliment me on my blog. I had random parents coming up to me and asking me questions. The coolest feeling was when I was at a basketball game late in the season and at halftime I heard two women in front of me talking about an article. One mom ended up pulling the story I had written the night before on her phone and showed the other woman. Neither of them knew who I was and had no idea that I heard or saw this, but it was a great feeling and hopefully something I can continue doing in the future. If you want to read any of the articles that I wrote or see the website, you can check it out here!

2015 also brought up craziness in my early teaching career as well. As a half-time teacher, I continued to learn from colleagues and students and tried to become better with each passing day. I saw how much work teaching can be and how many teachers must have gotten mad when I used to ask if an assignment was graded the day after we turned it in. I continue to love my job at Rogers Middle School. My 6th graders keep me on my toes and keep me laughing, while my 8th graders have taught me so much about myself and have challenged me to always be the best I can be daily. I never could have thought that 64 middle school students could change a person as my students have changed me over the course of the school year. As we head towards the last few weeks of this school year and into the next school year the future is still wide open. I will attempt to seek full-time employment while I continue my personal challenge of always pushing myself to be a better teacher every single day. The journey isn't always easy but I wouldn't change my first year as an educator for anything in the world. Here is a picture of the teacher "gnome" that I received at the beginning of the year from Jean DeZiel, who is an amazing person and a great educator!

That picture reminded me of something else that I get lots of questions about. My weight. Many of you followed my journey as I lost 50 pounds through the Medifast program. While I haven't gained a ton of the weight back, my program is coming to the end and I want to make sure that I am back down to the weight I was at when this picture was taken. I have purchased a Lifetime Fitness membership and this summer will continue to make myself healthier through diet and exercise.

Another question that I receive all the time is "how is the family?" (Don't we all get that question all the time?) My family is still my everything. Josh is home from college so we are all home again until August. (Secretly I think my Mom loves this, even if it does mean a much messier and possibly louder house at 2:00 AM.) My dad and Josh are working together on making the two Broadway Pizza locations (Coon Rapids and Rogers) the best they can be. My Dad continues separate projects as he still caters and is becoming more involved in the Food Truck Industry. You will see some statuses over the summer about where his new "TC Eats" Food Truck will be over the summer.

My beautiful mother is finishing another school year at Hassan Elementary teaching 2nd grade. She decided to take on a new challenge for the 2015-16 school year and she will be moving to 3rd grade for the first time. She spends the summer with us, making sure we stay sane, while working in her garden and playing trivia games with my Dad on the iPad. (They have like 10 games going at once, I worry about them sometimes.)

Josh just finished his Junior Year at Moorhead State and has one more year up at school. Once he finishes up at school he will make the transition into a position at Broadway Pizza with my dad and will continue to make improvements to better the company every day. He is home for the summer but between the Cabin and friends, I might forget what he looks like.

Carter is graduating in 3 weeks and if that doesn't make you feel old... I don't know what will. Carter spends his time with his friends, his girlfriend Tessa (Tez as Cody and I call her) and working at Broadway with the rest of us. Carter will be attending UW-Stout in the Fall and I know he will do great things there.

Cody will be driving in a month from me posting this. Wait, let me repeat that. Cody will be driving in a month. By himself. With a license. If you live in the Rogers area, watch out. Cody is finishing 10th grade at Rogers High School and he also enjoys hanging out with friends and his girlfriend Nicole. He spends a fair share of time at Broadway and between all of us working there, there is never a doll moment.

2015 has been a crazy year. I have already been to Florida, Kansas, and Las Vegas. The trip to Florida was the first trip with more than 7 of us. Tez made the number 8 and we had a great time bringing in the New Year in Orlando. We spent time at the beach, Disney World, Universal Studios, the horse track and in our condo, which had a mini-pool outside the back patio. It was a great trip!

My trip to Kansas was a little more interesting. College friends Andrew, Dom, Scotty and I left on Friday afternoon from a weekend trip to Lawrence, KS to watch the Jayhawks play. We arrived at our hotel at 5:00 AM on Saturday morning and got a couple zzz's before we arrived on campus. From there we were all shocked with the history that Allen Fieldhouse had to offer. We walked around for 45 minutes before heading to our seats. The students at KU take their basketball a little over the top. The place was packed 2 hours before tip-off to the point where we had to split up. Still, the atmosphere and the game were great. The trip took a turn when we heard there was a huge snowstorm approaching. We left Lawrence about 12 hours after we arrived and headed back to MN. A HWY 35 closure and a snowstorm made for an interesting trip back. We made it back to Saint Paul just in time to watch the Patriots beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. The trip went NOTHING like we planned, but we all will admit that it was worth it.

Have I forgotten anything or anyone? Nope I think that is it... Oh wait. I can't forget about the most beautiful, intelligent and amazing person in the entire world can I?

On April 8th, Cassidy and I celebrated 5 years together. We decided not to buy presents and book a trip instead. We spent Final Four/Easter weekend in Las Vegas and had a great time. We even came back with money thanks to a Michael Jackson slot machine and a couple other games along the way. We attended the Beatles "LOVE" show, which has my highest recommendation. It was a great trip for both of us to get away from the crazy lives that we both live.

Cassidy just finished up her Junior year at The University of Minnesota and will spend 6 weeks of her summer away from me in Spain. I am not quite sure how I am going to survive those 6 weeks, but like always, we find a way to make it work.






Until then I will continue to dodge everyone's questions about engagement, living together, and kids :) Cassidy and I are both extremely happy and love spending the little free time we get together. A couple weeks ago we attended Delta Gamma Spring Formal and had a blast hanging out with her sorority sisters and roommates. Lexi, Mary, Tate, and Kelsey have all invited me into their crazy apartment with open arms and it was a blast knowing that I was always welcomed into 1017 @ the Bridges.




Well that is it from me. If you made it this far, I consider you a great friend that you would want to read this much about my life. I plan on continuing my search for  full-time employment this summer along with working at Broadway Pizza in Rogers. Nights off will be spent at Canterbury Park, Target Field, Lifetime Fitness and hopefully our cabin on Stuart Lake. As always I thank each and every one of you for your support. So many of you help me in my life on a daily basis and I could write forever about how much I appreciate it but it wouldn't be enough. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I will continue to find topics to write about over the summer. Have a great night and a great week!

-J-