#19 Find your dream and live it.

"Living the Dream", that's how a few of my friends have answered the question "how are you. Today I read the blog of my Buddy Ian. Ian and I have a storied history. We became fast friends while sitting at the back of our summer Drivers Ed. class as obnoxious 15 year old kids. We both share a love of baseball and we were both LDS which just added to the fun. we spent the summer carousing and harassing the teacher of our class. That fall I was a sophomore in High School and Ian was one of the few kids that i knew as I was the FNG. (FNG for those not used to military acronyms stands for "Freaking New Guy" or some derivation thereof) Because I swapped school districts between Jr. High and High School. I Digress... Ian and I were both in the MTC learning Spanish prior to laboring in South America. He in Venezuela and me in Chile. After returning from our missions I took the more traditional "Peter Priesthood" route and quickly got married while he enjoyed the finer points of bachelorhood. Somewhere along the way we both found the dream and are living it. I am blissfully wed to my sweetheart Heather and with 3 kids and one on the way I could not be happier. Soon my wife and I will be together for all eternity as we are sealed in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Ian is in Alaska. Now to be truthful I have never had much desire to visit Alaska on anything other than an extreme skiing adventure. But after reading Ian's most recent blog post (which you too can read here) I can see the lure in a very Walt Whitman sort of way. Now Nome Alaska may not be Golden pond, but he certainly makes a case. While Ian's dream seems pretty cool and I might like to visit for a while I am living my dream. But its also brings into contrast how dreams change. Back in 2001 my dream was to sit behind the stick of a fighter jet at Mock 2 with my hair on fire. And, again while this sounds like a great time (and I still hope my Air Force buddies come through on such a ride for me) after seeing some of my best friends away from their families for 6 months at a time I know that that dream would likely be more of a nightmare. I am thankful for what I have and for the people who surround me. I have a job that lets me provide for them and have fun along the way. I am truly living the dream.