A Beginning...

Well, I've been reading lots of blogs lately, and I've been intrigued. I'm a pretty big tech geek, so I'm surprised that I've never gotten into blogging before, but I think part of it is that I haven't felt like I have lots to say. That's surprising because, if you know me, I ALWAYS have something to say. So I figured, why not give it a go?

Anyhow, I'm James. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I've lived here for ten years now. The longest that I've ever lived anywhere in my entire life. I'm an Air Force brat...my dad was in the Air Force when I was growing up, so we moved all over the place. It's funny because even after living here in Las Vegas for this long, I don't consider it "home." My father retired in 1994 and he and my mom moved to Utah. I lived in Utah for nine years before coming here, and I don't even consider Utah my home. It's a complicated thing being a military brat...something I'll cover in a future post.

While I'm throwing out labels, let me add everything else that makes me who I am:

• Mormon
• BYU Graduate (Class of 1997!)
• Returned missionary
• Son
• Brother (oldest of three kids--one brother and one sister)
• Uncle (one niece, two nephews)
• Moderate Conservative (Yes, I'm voting for Brother Romney.)
• Single (I just realized, the last time I went on a date was August 25, 2002. Pitiful!!)
• Gay

Yep, a gay Mormon Republican. Holy hell! Yeah, it makes my life much more complicated than it should be, but that's how it goes.

Like I said earlier, my dad was in the Air Force. My mom grew up Catholic, and my dad's family was not religious. When we were stationed in Germany my mom joined the LDS church. My dad never joined, and for the most part he tolerated us going. We lived in many different places: North Carolina, Hawaii, Germany, Alabama (twice), Mississippi, Japan (twice), Illinois (twice), and California. By the time we returned from Japan the second time, I was 16 years old and had lived outside of the USA for nine years. My brother was eight and had only lived in the US for two years. No, I don't speak Japanese. I know some words and phrases, but not enough to hold a conversation or anything. I actually speak Spanish, thanks to my two years as a Spanish-speaking missionary in Washington state. People always think it's weird to have been a Spanish-speaking missionary in Washington, but I always remind them: "Who picks Washington state apples? Migrant farm workers!"  :)

After my mission my sister and I moved to Utah to attend Salt Lake Community College. After a year of that I moved down to Provo and attended BYU. That's where I came out. It's a long story that I'll tell later, but it was an interesting time in my life. Following my graduation I worked in Utah County for six years, and then in 2002 I got tired of it all and at the spur of the moment accepted a job here in Las Vegas. I bought a house a year later and here I am.

Well, we'll see how this blogging thing goes. I've set a goal to blog at least once a week. Maybe no one will end up reading this, but I think it'll be good for me to put things in writing. I keep a lot of stuff bottled up inside. It makes me anxious, or as I call it, crazy, sometimes, so hopefully blogging will serve as a release valve of sorts.