Young, Tired & Trying

A young dad learning how to be an Adult a Father and a Husband

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  • Road Trip 🚗, Birthday 🎂, Deadline 📄& Crayons 🖍️

    Road Trip 🚗

    This week I had the opportunity to drive to Seattle to watch Game 5 of the ALCS with a co-worker. There is only one word that I can use to describe the atmosphere of the game and that is ELECTRIC.

    It was an incredible opportunity and it was a fun adventure. Yes, it did require me to wake up early on a Friday, miss work and spend 15 hours out of the house (7 hours driving), but it was well worth it.

    Birthdays 🎂

    As I mentioned in last weeks post we had my daughters 2nd birthday party on Saturday and everything went great! We went to the park where she got to play with her cousins, eat loads of sugar and open lots of presents. The prep for the party was stressful and involved several trips to the store and orders from Amazon that may not have all been necessary… 😂

    Deadlines 📄

    This week was the last deadline of the year for all of us Tax Accountants so naturally work was very stressful. For anyone who doesn’t know, there are 4 main deadlines for filing taxes.

    Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

    March 15th (Partnerships and S-Corporations)

    April 15th (Personal Returns)

    September 15th (Partnerships and S-Corporations who filed extensions)

    October 15th (Individuals who filed for an extension)

    No matter how much work I seem to get done before the deadline there always seems to be a large stack of returns that need an incredible amount of attention in the days leading up to the deadline.

    The good thing about this is that the next 2-3 months are relatively calm at work and the main work that has to get done is in preparation for the next year of tax returns.

    It also means that I can take some time off without feeling like I am leaving a million unfinished tax returns sitting in our queue so expect a fun post about our vacation adventures coming up this week!

    Crayons 🖍

    If you have a kid who loves to color and play with crayons you know the danger that looms about every time they take hold of the crayon.

    My worst nightmare became a reality when one day I went into my daughters room to find this:

    Apparently, a crayon had escaped the living room and entered her room. Later on she would find that crayon and continue to paint a toddlers masterpiece on her door and the surrounding walls 😂

    I have no idea how I plan to clean this up but I expect it will take quite a lot of time and elbow grease.

    Don’t get me wrong I love the creative side of my daughter and all I could do was laugh when I saw this. However, I can’t wait till she can be left unsupervised with crayons and not have to be in a constant state of worry that she is going to take that crayon to the wall like she is Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel 😂

    Rose, Thorn & Bud

    Rose: I think the best part of the week has to be watching Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam to win the game for the Mariners. The stadium was electric and the fans were all going crazy.

    Thorn: The worst part of this week was my wife having to go into the hospital because she had a bladder infection that progressed up into her kidneys.

    Bud: We are leaving for vacation! Stay tuned for a post about our vacation!

    Thanks for reading and I hope that you have a fantastic week!

    Ethan

  • A Letter from Dad

    A Letter from Dad

    Daily writing prompt
    What are you most proud of in your life?
    View all responses

    When I look into your eyes,

    I feel the fire to provide,

    My life is spent with you in tow,

    And nothing compares to watching you grow

    You are incredible can’t you see?

    You mean the whole world to me.

    So as you grow remember this,

    Your dad is here with a kiss,

    I love you girls more than words can mean,

    You give my life a brand new sheen,

    So when I am asked what I am most proud of,

    The answers as clear as the sky with no clouds,

    My daughters hold the proudest title,

    And to my life they are most vital.

  • Pumpkins 🎃, Playoffs ⚾️, Pigskins 🏈 & Pictures 📸

    Pumpkins 🎃, Playoffs ⚾️, Pigskins 🏈 & Pictures 📸

    Pumpkins 🎃:

    This week my wife and I took our two daughters to a local pumpkin patch/fall festival. This time of year has always been a favorite for my wife so we try to visit the pumpkin patch at least twice per year.

    One of the main reasons we have enjoyed going the pas two years is that our oldest daughter absolutely ADORES pumpkins. We will be walking around doing a regular shopping trip when all the the sudden she starts clamoring “pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!” We look around and what do we see every time? Some sort of pumpkin. Whether the pumpkin is on clothes, decorations or simply an actual pumpkin, she knows. It made for a wonderful family trip to the pumpkin patch surrounded by one of her favorite things.

    Playoffs ⚾️:

    Ask anyone that I know and they will tell you one of my most favorite things to do is watch baseball. That makes the fall one of the best times of the year as playoff baseball hits the calendar. While this year isn’t as enjoyable since my favorite team (The Washington Nationals) wasn’t in the playoffs this year (Or any year since 2019…), it is still exciting to feel the playoff baseball atmosphere come around. I have spent lots of time watching the playoffs this year as our semi-local team (Seattle Mariners) are having their first real playoff run in 24 years. There is lots of excitement and nothing more exciting than last weeks 15 inning win that propelled the Mariners into the ALCS.

    Pigskins 🏈:

    The other main sport that rolls around in the fall for me is Football. Sundays in my house are spent going to church and watching football. Something about turning on NFL Redzone and sitting on the couch watching hours and hours of commercial free football just makes the weekend so much more relaxing. This weekend was an exiting one for my favorite football teams. It started on Saturday with a college football game. Admittedly I do not watch a lot of college football as there are so many teams and so many games that I feel it is impossible to follow along throughout the whole NCAA season. However, I will always keep track of how the BYU games are going. I did not personally attend BYU myself but both of my parents did and have ingrained a deep sense of fandom to the BYU football team. They did not disappoint this weekend and won their game in 2OT. It was a stressful game but a win is a win.

    The stress level didn’t go down as the Carolina Panthers game came on Sunday morning. This game was one for the best Panthers games in years and ended with a dramatic last second field goal bringing the panthers to a 3-3 record for the first time in what feels like an eternity.

    As evident by my favorite sports teams I am not accustomed to winning much in the past 5 years but I will always enjoy watching them play. Winning just makes it that much better.

    Pictures 📸:

    This week we got to take some family photos as well. My wife’s goal is to make sure that we take photos every fall between the middle of September and the middle of October because she really enjoys the fact that our kids are the same age during that time. Our younger daughter turned one in the middle of September and our older daughter won’t turn two until the end of October so for the time being they are both one year old. It makes for funny interactions when people ask how old our kids are because we just say 1.

    Rose, Thorn, Bud

    When I was growing up my mom always made us share a rose, thorn and bud while we sat around to eat dinner as a family. As a teenager this seemed beyond extra but now as an adult I think it is valuable to reflect on the week and what is coming next. For this your rose is the best part of your week, the thorn is worst part of the week and the bud is the thing you are most looking forward to for the next week.

    Rose: My favorite part of this week was walking through the pumpkin patch with my daughter and watching her face light up being able to see and touch so many pumpkins. On top of that it is incredible to watch my wife’s face light up at seeing how happy her girl is.

    Thorn: Sunday morning we woke up to a frightening smell coming from our younger daughters room. Turns out her stomach does not settle well with milk and it resulted in a long a quite stinky clean up. We are trying some other milk alternatives for now and will see if one of those options settles a little better in her tummy.

    Bud: This weekend we get to have a birthday party for our older daughter. It is themed after her most favorite movie, Frozen. We are having her cousins and friends come play with us at the park. There will be cookies, presents and lots of fun to be had.

    If you want to share your own rose, thorn and bud feel free to comment it below, this is something that I will be regularly including with my posts and I would love to see what everyone who is reading is up to as well,

    Thank you for coming along with my journey and I hope that you have an amazing week!

    Ethan

  • Rediscovering a Lost Passion

    20 years ago, when I was in kindergarten I learned what it was like to write a story.

    17 years ago, while I was in elementary school, I attended an after school club about blogging with my younger sister.

    6 years ago, I graduated from High School and haven’t written to satisfy a school requirement since.

    Today I am reaching back into my love of writing to fill a void that I has become ever more present in my life.

    Writing has long been one of my deepest passions, but over time, it drifted away from me. Whether it was because life got busy or I started chasing things with more instant gratification, I’m not sure. What I do know is that I’ve been thinking a lot about how much joy writing brought me throughout my school years—how fulfilling it was to put my thoughts and ideas down on paper. I’ve spent years searching for a passion like that, all the while being blind to one of my earliest loves.

    So what’s next?

    This blog is something that I want to nurture and grow because I want to share my writing and thoughts with others around me. So expect lots of comments about parenting, sports, marriage and anything else that come to mind.

    I am grateful for anyone who takes the time to read this and that you enjoy hearing my thoughts!

    Thank you,

    Ethan