My New Digs :)

So what is it like to be a collegiate coach? It is pretty great. Right now the kids are not present so everything I am working on right now is recruiting. My head coach has a very pregnant wife so my biggest fear is running the team on my own if the baby comes in the next few days.

I live in the on campus apartments and have the title of Associate Resident. Don't be fooled, I really don't do anything at all. It pretty much enables me to be able to live in the apartment for free. So as an RA, I had to participate in a party for resident life staff training that they do every year on a party barge on lake travis. Me and the other assistant coaches parked ourselves about 25 feet away from the boat once it was anchored and vegetated for a while. It was quite nice until we saw some ominous looking clouds in the distance. Lighting followed as the clouds got closer, but we were not worried because it was still seemingly far off and the sun was still out. About 15 minutes later I notice that the storm all of the sudden takes a sharp turn and starts heading right for us. The boat captains notice the same thing and so we start to head back to the dock. What we didn't realize was that we were surrounded by this storm so we ended up having to drive right into it. The temperature dropped dramatically, the waves started getting rather large and coming up on the boat, the lighting was striking every 30 seconds, the rain and wind were crazy, and we definitely thought we were going to die. The captains decided that it was too dangerous to try and drive against the wind and waves so they shut off the engines and just let us get tossed around for 45 minutes. It was definitely a bonding experience for me and the other assistant coaches. Some how we survived the hurricane and made it back to shore.

The next morning I had to sit through a 4 hour orientation meeting. I love how dramatically different days end up being in the coaching world. I am just so glad I am alive and I have such a great job! Morning practices don't start until late September so I am considering this my vacation.

I took pictures of the incident, but they are all on my phone and I don't know how to get them off...once I do I will post them.

It is finally official

http://southwesternpirates.com/sports/w-swim/2010-11/releases/72010woodbury

I am way excited and move to Georgetown in 2 weeks...Ahhhh!!

Dr. Pepper

I love Dr. Pepper. All things Dr. Pepper. It makes me happy when sad, satisfies my strange and outrageous cravings for sugar, and helps me sleep at night. My love affair began in high school during numerous nights hanging out with my good friend Jen and swimming teammates in the hot tube making Dr. Pepper towers with our empty cans. Yes, Jen, I blame you for this addiction and at the same time I can't help but be grateful that Dr. Pepper is will always be in my life.

Here are some interesting products I found from fellow Dr. Pepper lovers...

My Hair :(

Today I went to have my hair cut at a premier salon. I had received an amazing deal on it and therefore was extremely excited. A couple friends had already had their hair done at this place and loved it so I had no fear. I brought in a picture of Reese Witherspoon's hair that I absolutely love:




I also specifically pointed out exactly how I wanted my bangs. The whole experience was wonderful. The cut was amazing, perfection...until he did my bangs. I couldn't see what he was doing because he was standing in front of me the whole time while doing them. When I saw the final product I almost cried. I have always dreaded having bangs that looked like a bowl top and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it would be possible to get them at 25 because that's only supposed to happen when your 12. After I left I spent an hour trying to play with things or pin certain sections up, but the damage was done. They were so thick and cut all the way back to my ears. Pushing it all back is nearly impossible and when done it looks pretty bad. I was so traumatized I couldn't even take a picture, but here is a good idea of what it looks like.





I have never had a hair cut that I have hated and the worst part is that it really is an amazing cut, I absolutely love it except for the bangs. I can't wear my hair down at all because I can't stand my bangs and it looks bad even when they are pulled back so I can't even take advantage of the otherwise amazing hair cut. Such a shame! Am I over reacting? Probably, but I feel like I have a mop on the top of my head and nothing anyone says changes that feeling. I feel like a hair don't and do not wish to be seen in public.

The clouds have parted

I finally received my grades for the semester. I took 4 masters classes which is considered death since it is recommended that a student only take one or two. The one class I was worried about was a stats class that involved a majority of work to be done in groups. Unfortunately I was put in a dead beat group. By the end of the semester I had resigned myself to a B because of the the many difficulties I had trying to do the entire groups work. I had to get a 95 on the final in order to get an A. I never thought it possible, but I was able to get that 95 exactly and also the highest grade in the class on the final. Therefore my 4.0 is still in tact!! I was so shocked. Me, the worst test taker in the world got a 95 on a stats final?! My professor emailed me with his congratulations on my achievement and I can't help but want to ask him if me made some kind of mistake but i won't. If it was a mistake I am happy to leave it that way :). I feel perfectly content thinking I am amazing.

Currently the Torpedo's are looking for a pool to move to. We are growing and need more sophisticated/larger facilities. I absolutely love coaching the Torpedo's and hope that everything works out. I have a ton of ideas that changes that I will be making for the upcoming short course season and just hope I survive the summer with the 5 classes I am taking along with coaching 2 teams. People think I am crazy, but I actually like being kept so busy.

I got the job :)

The great news I have been waiting to officially tell everyone is that I am the new head coach for the Torpedo's. I am so very excited and can't believe this happened. I have big plans for next season and I just hope that all goes smoothly my first year at the helm. I have been working with the UT women's team quite a bit over the past few months and Kim (the head coach) has become the only coach I have ever actually admired and not found anything remotely bad about. She recently attended the national coaches convention at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. They have this once a year and only coaches with athletes on the national team are invited. Kim told me that only 5 women were in attendance. I couldn't believe that there weren't more. It actually works out better for me I think because women are in high demand and I work so much better with men than women. Kim told me she would email me her notes. My jaw dropped, i couldn't believe she was going to give me something that less than 1% of the coaching population gets to see/hear. She has 30+ pages of notes on everything from all the top coaches and athletes in the world. Its complete genius. I only wish I had an opportunity to swim for Kim or at least meet her much much earlier in my career.

The UT men won the national championship this year quite amazingly. Half the team was in the emergency room from some kind of virus. All the guys I trained with when i was swimming for Randy are still there. My kids had a meet at UT a couple of weeks ago and one of them told me that they wanted to meet their idol, Aaron Piersol. So I brought her over to Aaron (practice ended as the meet started) and asked him to meet one of my kids. He did so, but was not happy about it. I was hoping that little Victoria wouldn't notice his bad manners, but of course she picked up on it. I tried to make excuses for him when she asked why he wasn't happy to see her. Aaron is no longer her favorite swimmer. I keep losing more and more respect for the UT men's team the more I am around them. Guy swimmers in general are not the best people in the world...they aren't the best coaches in the world either.

Some pics :)

Favorate Quotes

Just thought I would share some of my favorite quotes. It's always nice to find other people who think the same way you do about things.



"People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest."
- Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what."
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960


"To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle."
- Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt, "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

"How little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue."
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

"I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them."
- Jane Austen (1775 - 1817)

The Novel of my Life

disclaimer: I am perfectly aware that there a going to be a million grammatical errors that I won't catch so there is no need to point them out.

Prologue:

I know I am going to hear "I told you so" a million times after this update. I have been forced to face the fact that not everything thing or everyone is against me. I still hold to my pessimistic views, however, lately I have been feeling quite optimistic. It all comes down to that awful principle that when a door closes God opens a window; not getting what you have set your heart on is actually a blessing. Since I have a long commute to school, I have turned my car into my sanctuary. I like to listen to a lot of church material. Not just once through, but the same talks over and over again. I find it very interesting that even though I have listened to something 10 times, I can still get something out of it that I had never heard before. Lately, I have been listening to Hugh B. Brown. He has the most profound analogy that places Heavenly Father as a gardener and his children as the plants. He cuts down a bush that has grown very tall. The bush cry's out bitterly for being cut down after making so much progress,"How could you do it, how could you cut me down? I was doing so well and now I am only a small stub". The gardener replies "Look little bush, I am the gardener here and I know what I want you to be, if I let you grow they way you want to you will never amount to anything, but one day, after you have grown properly and reached your full potential, you will look back and say 'thank you Mr. gardener for cutting me down'". I feel like I can pretty much quote it because I have listened to it so many times. I think that everyone feels like that little bush sometimes. The hardest thing is to be cut down and trust that everything will work out. So for the first time ever, I am in a position where I can finally say thank you gardener for cutting me down. I used to believe that the amount of pain and suffering a person goes through will be equal to the joy they will experience at some point. Unfortunately in my experience, after enduring so much pain for so long and never receiving that compensation of joy, I had lost hope and faith in people. They always talk about doing the right thing, but when it comes down to it, they don't act. But now, I have, for the first time, received a glimmer of hope that there are people out there who can and will do the right thing.

Chapter 1:

I have been working as a coach for the Anderson Mill Swim Club (Torpedoes) for the past year and a half. I love my job and the kids I coach tremendously. I have a passion for coaching and teaching that I never knew existed. Whenever I receive compliments I always say that I learned from the worst, and I have indeed learned from my previous coaches who treated me in the worst possible way. This past year I have dedicated a large amount of time and effort into this team. The head coach was never around and as a result there was no established order. I saw that as an extremely detrimental situation for the kids and decided to take the rains. I brought law and order and built relationships with the kids and parents. I introduced dryland, winter training, goals, and character building concepts and principles that transfer from the swimming to all aspects of life. I gained the respect and trust of the kids and doubled the teams size with in one year. I can't even describe the amount of time drops and success a majority of the kids have experienced. I am so gratified by it.

About a month ago I approached the head coach about the upcoming summer season and coaching with the summer league team (Barracudas). I had been performing all the head coaching duties without a head coaches compensation. I also did not agree in large part with the coaching philosophy she had. I felt that a head coach should be there every day and show they care about every single person on the team. I addressed these and many other issues I had and told her the I would seek other coaching opportunities elsewhere if necessary changes weren't made. Her response made me feel completely dispensable and I was told to go somewhere else. I have never been so angry. I know she knew how much I put into the team and yet I was not as important to her as other coaches I worked with who put forth no effort and yet were paid twice as much. I could only see how once again I was over looked, something that has happened to me again and again. This also happened right after I was rejected by the swim camp. Fortunately, since I always expect the worst, I felt somewhat prepared for all this. Of course it would happen to me, its only natural. So I applied, interviewed, and was offered a position coaching for the Typhoons (another local summer league team). I was excited for the opportunity to work for a coach who had his act together and really wanted me. On my way to the house of one of the board members to sign the contract, I received a call from one of the Torpedo/Barracuda Board members. She said she heard that I was going to coach somewhere else and wanted to know why. I told her about my encounter with the head coach and how I was told to leave. She was surprised and horrified that the head coach did not tell the board anything.

Chapter 2:

Shari, the board member, began to express her apologies for the head coaches actions and asked for me to reconsider signing the contract with the Typhoons so that the Barracudas/Torpedoes could counter offer. I was in a complete shock, but felt it only fair that I let them have a shot since the head coach did not tell them she had told me to leave. This of course only increased my frustration with the head coach. I called the Typhoon board and told them that I would be letting the Barracudas/Torpedoes counter offer. They told me to let them know what they could do to make me reconsider. At this point I had no idea, but I told them I wouldn't sign anything and would keep them informed of what I would be offered by my current team. The very next morning I met with a few members of the barracuda board. They told me how shocked they were to find out what the head coach had done and that whatever I wanted they would do. Unfortunately I told them that after what the head coach had done, I did not want to work with her and wanted to have the head coaching authority since I would be the one doing it all anyways. They were completely supportive of this, but knew that it would be difficult because the board would have to vote in order to make this change in authority. Unfortunately, the head coach is also on the board and had a band of supporters. So the board voted and it was split right down the middle. I was once again shocked that I had received so many votes, I was sure I would receive little support since this head coach had been there for 30 years. I never dreamed that anyone or anything would be able to dethrone her. So then the politics started. The board would have to vote again the next day and all the while I had been getting calls from the Typhoons trying stay in the game.

Chapter 3:

During this fiasco word got out about my potential for leaving the team. As a result, I received many emails and calls from parents in complete support of me. I have never dealt with so much praise in my life. I never knew what effect I had actually had on all the people I interacted with on the team. I was so touched and grateful for this experience because I never would have known. It just makes my heart skip a beat when I hear the parents and kids confidently pledge that they will go where ever I go. For a moment, I let myself hope. I actually thought that maybe this could work out. Maybe the board will decide in favor of me taking on the head coaching responsibilities. However, that night Shari gave me the final tally. I lost by one vote. I can't say that I was too upset because I would still get to work with the Typhoons, but I do know that it would have been better for the kids if I stayed. I also knew very well the principle that unrighteous rulers cannot be dethroned because they surround themselves with people who will keep them in power. I by no means think the head coach is evil in any way, but I do recognize that the kids need someone who is there for them and who cares.

Chapter 4:

So The next day I called the Typhoons who were over joyed that I would be working with them this summer. I was uncertain of my future with the year round team (Torpedoes) because if the head coach had booted me out of the summer league team, then the year round team was definitely next. However, I completely underestimated the power of the parents. I think the head coach also under estimated the effect I had on the team. The next day I got an email from the team manager telling me some great news which I am not supposed to disclose yet. This great news, something I never thought would happen, is going to give me an amazing opportunity and I am so excited for the next season. Once I am given the OK I will announce the great news.

Epilogue:
I am so glad I did not get the swim camp position. Shari Dew said in one of her talks that we should not only pray for necessity, but for something better. Joseph Smith was not satisfied with what he and Emma would be able to eat one day due to limited resources. He blessed their meager meal and prayed for something better. Only a few minutes later a man showed up with a bag of flour and a ham. I never thought to pray for something better. I decided to try it out during my employment issues and I never imagined it would be this much better. There are bounteous blessings to be had if we only but ask.

THE END

No story is complete with out pictures! Here are some of the people I work with :)

Pessimism

I have learned through a great many years of never catching a break to expect the worst. It has always been my opinion that if you are prepared for the worst that if/when things do not work out, you are not shell shocked with grief and disappointment. I always think that, even though I am quite pessimistic that eventually something will work out...However, it has yet to happen. I feel the impending doom of having disappointment after disappointment come my way, I actually go into things expecting a resounding "No!". There is and will never be room in the inn for Sarah. This probably sounds like a horribly depressing way of handling things, but it has actually gotten me through some extremely difficult times. I do have hope for things to turn out, but it just seems like I am on a roll right now with everything NOT working out as it should. I am almost afraid to pray for more opportunities because of the impending rejection. My timing is soooo off it has become comical.

I have been facing some extremely stressful and frustrating situations at work (coaching) that have been the cause of much grief. My boss (the head coach) is never present at practices and yet has the authority (and pay check) to dictate schedules, workouts, etc. She also has made it very clear that two other guys who coach with me on occasion will receive a much greater paycheck than myself just because they are former UT swimmers. I have a high opinion of these guys, yet I feel it incredibly unfair that they receive so much when I am the one who has been running, directing, and building the team. I cant explain how much I have invested in the kids and how hard I work with them and their families to make sure everything is being done in their best interest. It is more than a full-time job. I recently told the "head coach" about my concerns with the payment situation. I know I am a good coach and I see how little the UT guys participate in everything and how little they care. I really think its because they are being paid so much more (3x as much) than everyone else for doing nothing that they are not motivated to do more. I hate that my experience and success with the team has been over looked just because I did not go through the UT program. So...after explaining my concerns I was told "its time you went somewhere else". My jaw dropped. After all I had done to improve the team I was going to be over looked once again because UT is not on my resume. It's really just one of those classic situations in life that you think only happen in movies because they seem so ridiculous. Its the worst thing in the world when those who are so undeserving receive the biggest pay out. So I have been seeking positions else where. Unfortunately all the teams now have filled their head coaching positions which means I will once again be working under someone who has no idea what they are doing. If my boss had told me this just a couple days earlier I would have been able to transition easily. One of the real cruel situations in life. *Sigh* So I now have little to look forward to and only hope that at some point in the next decade that I might catch a break. I have had it with working under disorganized and absentee coaches. I will kill myself if I am in that situation again...but as I said before, I will be expecting it. It's the story of my life.

My First Spring Break

In the past I was usually in the opinion that spring break served no purpose and that it was more beneficial to plow through the semester and get done earlier. However, after a lovely weekend/week of not having to drive to classes and work, I am of the opinion that the more "breaks" the better. I always ended up getting burned out in the past and don't know how i managed to keep my sanity without a spring break. I am currently spending this years break in NYC. A perfect way to spend my free time. I have had a great time so far. Me and Erika have been planning themed days of activities. Yesterday was our Alice day. We went to see Alice in the IMAX 3D, lunch at Alice's Tea Cup, Hat shopping, pictures at the Alice statues in the park, ate my first oyster at the Oyster Bar, and then had tarts.

We saw A Little Night Music and will be seeing Jersey Boys. I shall post a review of both when I return home. Celebrity sitings so far have only been the ones in A Little Night Music with Katherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury. To my great surprise, Mrs. Micheal Douglass is actually a very good stage actress. I heard Tim Gun lives on the upper west side and a couple of Erika's roommates have seen him, my goal is to catch a sighting.

Life will go on

I usually don't talk about any prospective jobs or opportunities I am pursuing for fear that I get rejected and I then have to go back and be forced to talk about it. Unfortunately this is one of those times. I didn't get selected for swim camp. Definitely I downer and something I actually let myself hope for. I usually handle these things by mourning in solitude, but I went against my better judgment and told people what I was doing. Won't be happening again. I knew it was a long shot in the first place, but it was my last hope of getting out of coaching summer league this year. There has been so much drama on the team I am currently with that it has almost killed me. I needed a break so badly, but it wasn't meant to be. So for those of you who read this and actually see me, don't talk to me about it. I don't want to be reminded. The only happy thought I can procure from this is that maybe there is going to be an earth quake in Austin (since they are becoming quite the fashion these days) and that the whole of UT will be lost in a black abyss and I will be the grateful survivor because I was not at swim camp. Yes, it all makes sense now. Swim camp is not worth getting crushed by a building. I leave for a trip to NYC to see Erika in a couple days and it could not have come at a better time, she is the best!

I think I need to watch a devastatingly depressing movie. Oh Hannah, this is where we would be making a trip to some fantastic indian place and stuff our faces until the pain goes away and find something to laugh about. We were so good at making each other feel better. OK i am done being dramatic. Life will go on.

Snow in Texas?

This past week we had a full day of snow. It wasn't tiny morsels of white like we would usually get for about 10min every few years or so, but Utah style snow. I have never ever seen or heard of snow like this in Austin for an entire day. It was the first time I actually had to scrape snow and ice off my car.



(Photo's courtesy of Fuller's)

As for an update, I recently applied to be a coach at the University of Texas Swim Camp. I am hoping and praying I get it because it is an amazing opportunity. I have been learning a lot working with Kim Brackin (Head Coach at UT). I always had ideas of how a swim team should be and had given up all hope on it ever being a reality until I went and worked with Kim and the UT team my first time. I almost died when I saw how the workouts were run and the relationships between the coaches and athletes. It was the ideal of perfection. Every athlete was cared for, even tailored to individually in workouts. Taper was a real concept and taken seriously. The overwhelming part for me was finding out that the whole team went to conference, there was no picking of teams. Everyone got to go. The way they manage that is having a C heat that is not eligible for points. So everyone gets to swim. There is never leaving girls behind to swim in a random meet by themselves. Basically everything I had envisioned as being the best possible way to do things actually exists. One of the girls on the UT team Carly Bispo, has a sister who swims at BYU as a freshman this year. Kim told me that she feels like she is missing out not being at BYU, but I assured her she was in the right place and that if anything her sister will be feeling like she is missing out by not getting to experience the amazing environment she is in.

So I hope I get the job, I couldn't imagine anything better than working with Kim and Jim for a summer. Crossing my fingers!!

Its actually happened...

I can count on one hand the number of boys in my life who have legitimately asked me on a proper date. I do not count blind dates or any kind of set up or "hanging out". Today was the 5th time in the history of my life that a boy asked me out. How can this be you ask? How can a person go through their whole BYU existence without going on at least a hundred dates? Well, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I was able to escape BYU unmarried with an opportunity to live on my own, find out who I was, and what I really wanted. I consider it one of the greatest blessing to have not been paired up and married off by the age of 21. However, the downside to this kind of thinking is that my social abilities around other single men are rather tragic. I have been told by my close friends that I come off as a bit of a she-devil. I do not think or sense that I am doing anything remotely close to that, but I also realize I am not the best judge. So I have recently decided to change some things that I think are reasonable:

1. Smile at people even if you don't like them or they smell bad
2. Make positive comments when in a conversation rather than sarcastic ones
3. Don't instantly shut off when someone mentions the topics BYU or Utah
4. Don't tell whole depressing life story in 2 min as conversation starter

The one thing I refuse to do is trade in my high heels for flats. I absolutely will not do it! I don't care if it is intimidating or makes me too tall, I love my shoes and people will have to deal with it.

So today, after a couple of months applying these things, I was asked out on a date. I was glad that someone actually noticed me for the first time in the 12 years that I have lived in Austin. So it's a start. I feel like I have progressed. Do I think I am any closer to getting married? Absolutely not. I think when I see the person I'll know right away, that's the advantage of being older. You know exactly who you are, what you want, and what you need so you can skip all the drama.