The Luckiest

It's not often we can look back at disappointments or let-downs in life and figure out why things happened the way they did. This past week I am fortunate to be able to look back at this past year and understand more fully why certain events needed to take place.

Back in January I was about to receive a promotion to be a service manager at the bank. The promotion was blocked by my manager's manager because he wanted to keep me in his area. I have been considered and nearly awarded the same promotion four times since January. This week I was finally awarded the promotion I have been working hard to achieve since I was a teller at the bank.

Next Monday I move to my new branch to start my new position as the service manager. My new position will entail managing the tellers at my branch, making sure the branch passes its annual audit, and working with the branch manager to ensure the branch minimizes losses and maximizes profits. It is going to be a fun new challenge for me but I have been preparing for this for quite some time.

Believe it or not, this promotion is not even close to most the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last little bit. For the past four months I have been dating Maria... You can call her Mar as long as you don't say it like a gringo ;) It has been going great and I am quite happy to say the least. I met her at work and never would have met her had I received this promotion any sooner than I did. Mar was born in Spain and raised in El Salvador. She moved back to Spain for Middle School. She lived in Long Beach California for her high school years and two years of college at Cal State University Long Beach. She has lived in Utah for the past year with her family. She makes me happy and I am more optimistic about where things are headed than I ever have been before.

Sometimes I feel like I am blessed with a lot more than what I deserve in life. This is one of those moments.

Hello everybody...a lot has happened in the nearly 4 months in which I have failed to blog.

Most notably...my Grandfather Clinton Russell Sagers passed away on July 5th. He was a great man and his legacy to me will always be one of hard work, light-heartedness, heroism and love for his wife and family. His passing was not a time of sorrow for me. It was a time of reflection and celebration of the life he had led and the fact that he was reunited with my grandmother who had passed 3 years earlier. He was honored with newspaper articles(Salt Lake Tribune/USA Today), TV newscasts, blogs, and facebook statuses/posts/fanpages. Amidst the flurry of praise and honor of a life well-lived I could not help but wonder how I would honor my grandfather. I decided that my grandfather(and my grandmother), although appreciative of words of praise, would be much more pleased if I honored them by the quality of life I choose to lead. I do not mean that my life would have to be one of fame and fortune. Not even close. I'm talking about a life which would bring continued honor and respect to the name Sagers. That if someone knew my grandparents, then met me, they could say they could see the resemblance in my work ethic, or affability. I guess, more than anything, I would want them to be proud of me. Whether that is vain or not, I don't know, but I think it is a good goal to shoot for.

Let's see...other news: life is good. Still at the ol' Wells Fargo. Still got the ol' house with 4 roommates. I have had two roommates move out because they got married and another one will be doing so in November for the same reason. So if you're looking to get hitched just come and live at my house for a bit. Luckily, everyone is looking to rent so I haven't even had to look for renters. They just come to me. It's kinda cool. I gotta guy putting stucco on the outside of the unfinished garage addition. He knocked on my door and gave me a quote I liked and the rest has been history. He should be finishing up here pretty soon. It's lucky he came by too because, although I know it needed to be finished before winter, I was having an incredibly hard time wanting to put siding on myself. Let's see...I have a girlfriend now and that is going along quite smoothly...to say the least. I am optimistic.

Sorry there are no pictures or videos...I needed to get a blog out there...and didn't care if this was fancy or not.

Ok, so my birfday is coming up... I read something in a book months ago which gave the characteristics of people born on specific days. Mine was pretty spot on. This is something I just found on the internet. Though not entirely accurate it is pretty close. I don't get too into horoscopes and all this stuff, nor do I have the slightest idea of how it all works, but I found this interesting. You should check yours out and see how accurate it is.

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Geminis born June 12 are big thinkers who possess the enthusiasm to go for all the marbles. These incredible optimists believe that everything that happens is for the best. When they must face a setback, they're never depressed. They are great self-starters who always seem to have a plan.

Gemini Information for June 12 You should embrace: Advice, work ethic, sense of destiny You should avoid: Confrontation, poor choices, materialism

Friends and Lovers

June 12 people have a genuine love of people and value diversity in their circle of pals. They enjoy all aspects of friendship. In romance, they are idealists who often marry early. They are serious about romantic commitments and seldom break them.

Children and Family

Family life is complicated for June 12 people. Though they try their best, they may not be able to meet the high standards of a parent or parent figure. They are much more liberal with their own children. They enjoy a large family and give equal amount of love to each child.

Health

These high-strung individuals enjoy good health, though they tend to worry more than necessary. They are always juggling a variety of tasks. Getting plenty of sleep and taking vitamins on a daily basis should be enough to give them the stamina and endurance they need.

Career and Finances

June 12 natives have the vision and determination to get what they want in life. They do exceptionally well in careers such as teaching and counseling. There are many projects they wish to accomplish in life, and most of these ideas require considerable capital.

Dreams and Goals

June 12 people have many goals, but sometimes details can derail their plans. Once they grow to understand the importance of managing those details, nothing can stop them from making their dreams come true.

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Anyway, I'm currently trying to figure some things out career-wise. I'm almost 100% positive I don't want to have a job where I have a boss telling me what to do. I want to do my own thing and make good money doing it. I have a few ideas but finding the time to research everything it would take to get them off the ground is difficult(derailing details? haha). Sometimes I feel like leaving my job would force me to take action...but I think I need to be a bit more patient with this one and do as much as I can on the side while I have a steady paycheck coming in. This new determination, along with some other work-related factors, have slightly decreased my motivation at work. I have to try extra hard to stay focused, though, because ol' Wellsy has been good to me and I believe in an honest-day's work for an honest-day's pay.

I feel like there is a big change on the horizon but I'm not sure what it is or what it is regarding. That's all for tonight friendlies.

Feel Good Inc.

BEFORE(Garage room 1st level)





AFTER(It feels great to have it finished)

The Good Life

I am falling in love. I am falling in love with life. It seems like my whole life I grew up thinking certain things were beyond my reach, that certain things could only be accomplished by those with more favorable circumstances than myself. I am now creating my own circumstances. It is hard to help others understand how I feel because they have grown up just as I have. I feel like I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. The most precious commodity in my life right now is time. There is so much I want to accomplish and there are so few hours in each day. I turn on the tv and feel like I have to watch something educational or it's not worth my time(excluding jazz games of course--hey, I have to relax sometimes). I now look at video and computer games as seriously addicting vices. My mind is more active now than at any other time in my life. I haven't "worked" for almost two years because I make my job enjoyable. At the moment I am not dating anyone...but I feel as if that will change shortly. I no longer let myself get upset or discouraged. I know things will work out. The glass is half full and there is a full pitcher right next my glass. I have much for which to be thankful. I wish everyone could feel this way.

The Secret

So, if you know me you know I am a pretty big fan of the documentary-type movie The Secret. The secret is pretty much the law of attraction, it is the claim that whatever you have in your life, good or bad, is in your life because you attracted it through your thoughts, words, actions, and feelings. With the purchase of my house I am realizing I have nothing to put in my house. So, as of about a week ago i have been trying to attract the following things into my life as CHEAP-ly or as FREE-ly as possible:

Fridge -

Washer & Dryer - My brother Cary said he'd give me the extra set he has in his basement.

Microwave - Brother Cary also has an extra microwave if I need it.

Kitchen Table - Bought a nice glass kitchen table at DI for $35. Need to find chairs.

Chairs for Kitchen Table -

Couch - 3 leads. First lead was a nasty nasty nasty couch. Other two leads are free and promising...will update on end result.

1 Bed -

End Table -

Entertainment Center -

Book Case -

There are also things I need to do with which I will definitely need to attract some help or knowledge my way. I took the first 3 days I will own the house off so I can pull up the carpet that is currently in there, sand and refinish the wood floors, and paint the interior. Also, probably around summer time I will be putting up siding on the garage addition which the previous owner started but didn't finish. I am looking forward to the work I will be putting into this house and the things which I will learn in the process. I know you want pictures, I will be closing in a week and a half and will take some before and after pictures of the house for you all.

Buying A Home

For those of you who may not know I have been trying to find a house to buy for the last 6 or 7 months. I am doing this because I don't want to throw money away in rent and it is time I move back out of my parents house. At first I tried partnering up with close friends so that we would have had more options in buying. After that failed twice I decided to go on my own. This meant I would have to look for a much less expensive house and would limit my options quite a bit. So for the last 2-3 months I have been looking for a cheap house.

Well, I found one. I actually found a few and only put an offer on two places. One was a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo being shortsold for $30K less than its worth. I put an offer on that one, then someone put an offer on it for $15K more, then the owner decided they were going to move back in and keep making the payments somehow. So that one didn't work out.

The next one was a house in West Valley by the Valley Fair Mall about 2 minutes from my work and about one minute from the freeway. It was a red brick house, 3 bedroom, on bath with a 3 car garage. We found out there were no offers so my realtor and I made up an offer and submitted it. When our offer went in two other people submitted offers as well. So we did a slightly better offer once we found that out and submitted it. It was a couple of tense days but I got a call on Friday and they accepted my offer!!

So it will be about two and a half weeks before we close on the deal but I am excited. I know there are risks and I know this is a big decision but I know what I am getting into. I already have a couple of friends who I will be renting the other two rooms to. I am looking forward to doing repairs on the house as well. It doesn't need a ton of work but I am going to be painting and sanding down the wood floors and refinishing them. The previous owner started making an addition on to the garage which needs siding on the outside to finish. Anyway, I am excited. I am a little nervous but more excited.

I will put up the before pictures in a couple of weeks and the after(i have made some repairs) pictures hopefully in about a year. Fun times!