Zac Sunderland

This is probably one of the coolest things I have ever heard. I wish I had learned about this earlier.

The following clip is from the official website:

"Zac is 17 years old, and he is growing up in Southern California. A year and a half ago, he had a dream to sail around the world. It would have been easy to dismiss such a far fetched fantasy, but Zac took his own money, earned like most kids from summer jobs, and bought a 36 foot sailboat. He named his boat Intrepid. His parents had hoped he would find something that would create a fire in him, a passion that would direct him away from all the negative and harmful influences that are so prevalent in our society, but even they were stunned by the scope of his dreams and desires.

Though they first questioned his dream, Zac was not to be deterred, and he worked endless 18 hour days preparing his boat.

In this time of war and historic economic upheaval, here is one young man who has set his mind to a fantastical goal, and stands as a reminder that life is about going forward against great odds and winning.
Zac's dream, a dream of adventure, discovery, and challenge, is one of the simple truths of being human. There is no agenda, no political motivation, just the simple desires of a young man to go exploring, to see new places and meet new people.

It is a simple testament to what is important, to working towards your goals. Most of all, with perseverance and faith in God, anything is possible."


http://www.sailzac.com/

http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/

Changes ...

Ethan will be one month old on Sunday! I can't believe I already have a month old baby. We are both doing really well. Ethan is gaining weight quickly (weighing almost 11 lbs. at our last appointment) and I am losing weight slowly but surely (currently at140 lbs.). I feel really good and am excited to get the go ahead for exercise and swimming pools and normal life at our 6 week check up on the 30th.

Even though things are great, I still have a long way to go to achieve my goals. I find it funny when people tell me I don't look like I just had a baby. Maybe thats because I know what I looked like before. This post is mostly for my own benefit. I will update with more pictures as my body continues to evolve.

118 LB. PRE - BABY BODY:


125 LB. JUST-BARELY-PREGNANT BODY:


165 LB. OVERDUE BODY:

150 LB 2 DAYS AFTER DELIVERY BODY:

The Beginning

I have delayed writing this blog because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. I had a vague idea about improvement and goals, but had trouble putting into words how I felt. After some thought and prayer I think I'm ready to begin.

"Ready to begin what?" you may ask.

To begin my life. I don't know how I got to this point. I feel as if I'm just getting by. I'm jut scraping the surface of who I can and want to be, spiritually, physically, financially, and in so many areas. In the past I have been content with 'good enough,' but it never felt right. I know that the changes I envision for myself won't happen overnight. I'm going to have to overcome some bad habits and establish new ones. Man's natural inclination is to go with what is easy and familiar. Life continually puts obstacles in our path to perfection.

Some of the things I know I want to improve include:

• Getting back into shape after the baby
• Making my home more like the temple (clean, orderly, peaceful, and happy)
  
• Making time for spiritual renewal, including temple worship
• Controlling my spending habits and living within our budget
• Preparing for the future
• Finding ways to be a better friend and serve those around me
  

This blog will be a place for me to record my goals, struggles, and progress as I work to create the best self possible. My goal is more than any list of goals or attributes. There is someone inside of me, someone I know that I can become, my best self, my real self. This is the person that I know God sees when he looks at my potential. I don't want to go through my life always wondering who I could have been.



As a beginning I read "Our Refined Heavenly Home," by Elder Douglas L. Callister. (Ensign June 2009; pg. 55) Some thoughts he shared:

"President Brigham Young said, 'We are trying to be the image of those who live in heaven; we are trying to pattern after them, to look like them, to walk and talk like them.' I would like to peek behind the veil ... and paint a word picture of the virtuous, lovely, and refined circumstances that exist there."

"Is Friday evening a frenetic flight to see where the entertainment and action will be? Could our society toay produce an Issac Newton or a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Can 85 channels and uncountable DVDs ever fill our insatiable appetite to be entertained? I don't know whether our heavenly home has a televsion set or a DVD player, but in my mind's imagery it surely has a grand piano and a magnificent library."

"Women ought to be praised for all the gifts they posses - including their attentiveness to thier personal apperance - that so unselfishly add to the richness of the lives of others. We must not let ourselves go and become so casual - even sloppy - in our appearance that we distance ourselves from the beauty heaven has given us."

"Some flippantly say, "How I look has nothing to do with how God feels about me." But it is possible for both earthly parents and heavenly parents to have uspoken disappointment in their offspring without dimished love."

Fun Stuff to Come Soon ...