Guest Blogger: The Little Mermaid at HCT by Momof12

This story was written on my Mom's blog in January of this year. If you like, you can check out her blog It's called Twelve Makes a Dozen.

Back when my sweetie was sick, Bossy won a $100 gift card to the Hale Center Theatre. She offered it to me for my birthday, so I bought 2 tickets to see The Little Mermaid, assuming Bossy would be my date. Unfortunately, she got a migraine at the last minute so my sweetie graciously suggested I invite the Dog Walker who loves all things Disney.

The show was amazing as usual. The Dog Walker was super appreciative and jumped up quickly for the standing ovation.

According to what my mom had said on this post, it really was a fun show to go see, sort of like seeing the other one in Tuacahn a few years ago.

Christmas Lights 2022

This story was written in December of 2022.

Can you believe time really flies by when you're an adult?! Just like you never expect it to snow almost everyday in December, probably because there hadn't been much of it last Christmas here in Utah. Anyway, it's that time of year again! I've put up some Christmas lights that have been a bit different from the years before and there's also some familiar ones. The best one that I ever put up was this Jack in the Box blowup which is animated. If you click on the link, below, you'll be able to see how it goes. It's really cool! Merry Christmas 2022!

 

Divorced!

This story was written back in November of 2022. It's one of the saddest moments of my life. After all the things I've said from previous posts about having other future goals that are put on hold. This moment I'm about to tell you is really shocking and disappointing. Puppy Lover and I recently just got divorced!

I was really devastated when this happened. All my life, when growing up attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I always thought that divorce wasn't allowed in the church, because according to our religion, we believe in eternal families. But until now, I've learned that sometimes, divorce happens to some people, even LDS members, for a specific purpose like this one. Puppy Lover and I were married for four and a half years and there have been good times we had together as a married couple, like going to Disneyland and Universal Studios back in 2019 with my side of the family. But for quite a long time, she had mental depression that seemed impossible to handle for either of us. I've been very patient with her when it came to trying to be a good husband to her and always living up to my commitments of marriage. 

When we first got married, we lived in my parents' house for a year, and after discussing about how things weren't going well with Puppy Lover of living at my parents' and having to go through the rules that she never grew up with. And I had the turn to live at her parents' house for two years at the time. And then after getting a wage increase at my job and Puppy Lover finding a job that might best suit her, our parents helped us on finding a reasonably cheap apartment that would be close to between our parents' homes. 

Living in an apartment outside of our parents' households seemed like a very huge step for the both of us. Despite finally having a place of our own, I still had to work full time to pay rent and other expenses to keep living at the apartment. Puppy Lover just had a hard time with the idea of me having to go to work or even going to my parent's house for a little bit to get ready for work almost every day. She even started working at a Walmart close to our apartment but only at the same time as my shift goes. I had to make sure that when I got off work, I go straight over to the other Walmart to pick her up, since she gave up on learning how to drive. 

As a matter of fact, she had the tendency to call in from work when she had little deal symptoms. And her work hours have been cut for some reason that we didn't know about. Even on her days off, she was still scared to be living at an apartment by herself on days I worked, so back in April we adopted a cat that would give her some companionship while I was at work. The cat was a bit scared of the both of us at first, but after a little while, the cat was bonding with us, mostly me. It kind of made her sad that the cat was only bonding with me and not with her. I just can't help it if I'm like a total pet magnet! I tried not to be prideful about that, but it just happens to me at times.

Everything seemed to be going well for all these years of our marriage. But a few weeks ago, she decided that she was way too overwhelmed with being married and having to live independently when living in an apartment of our own. She was always calling her Mom and telling her about her problems with things like that and she even tried to hide things from me. It was really hard for me to have to live with my wife when she would refuse to talk about her problems with me. I didn't understand why she wouldn't tell me anything, but probably because she thought that if she didn't tell me anything, then nothing was wrong. And I know that's not how marriages should go. She then admitted that she kissed another guy behind my back and even though I forgave her, it turned out that she just didn't want to be married anymore.

I ended up moving all of my stuff back to my parents' house to live with them again, while Puppy Lover did the same for her parents. For the past few days after that, and even a little bit before Halloween, I ended up dressing myself up in different costumes while I'm at work. A couple of the costumes I wore were to show how depressed I was with having to deal with divorce. I dressed myself like a sad clown and Napoleon Dynamite. And there were even those times that I dressed up in happy ways to show how much I've been trying to overcome divorce. I even talked with some people about my problem and they have given me some encouraging advice. But I digress. Anyway, with me dressing up at work, it was very impressive to a lot of the coworkers around me, just because I've worked at Walmart for about seven years now and they thought I just made their day and they know how much of a hard worker I am.

I sometimes wish people would make my day too. However, people have made my day just recently before. Remember back in 2019 with my Capstone project and the judges really loved what I did and they wanted a copy of my book? Well, Mom finally helped me publish it on Amazon and we got the first paperback copy delivered to us. As a goodbye gift to Puppy Lover's side of the family, I gave each of her sisters, and her parents a copy of my book for them to read. They were really excited to have the book, and also a very sad to see me and Puppy Lover end our marriage. Her side of the family really enjoyed being around me for all these years, maybe because I gave them some good tastes in entertainment, like books, treats, and many more. 

Despite the farewell, I hope that they always remember me. Well, since I have done that, I should change my life too. My family has told me that I'll be able to find another woman who not only wants to marry me but who's also willing to live up to her commitments of marriage. I'm thinking after New Year's, I might go to a Singles Ward, go on the Mutual Dating app or be set up on a blind date. I'm still going through a lot of hard things with my life right now, but hopefully I'll eventually  get over them and be happy again.

Belated Christmas Card 2021

This was written for Christmas 2021, but got posted for New Years 2022.

 Puppy Lover and I have celebrated Christmas in a place of our own for the first time. We haven't done much throughout the season, other than visiting families, going to see Festival of Lights, Christmas shopping, and sitting in our new apartment watching Christmas movies together. 

We gave each other wonderful gifts and we gave some good gifts to other families. So Christmas in a place of our own for the first time was a blast.

Most of the times though, we have been busy with our employments and getting used to the idea of paying rent and bills for the first time on our own.

We're hoping as a new Year's resolution, we will be working on balancing our budgets. Merry Christmas 2021 and Happy New Year 2022!

It's Not Easy Being Green

 This story was written in August of 2020

This has been the most amazing moment of a ceremony that I've ever had in my life or for anybody else, because my wife, my parents, my younger sisters and I went to the graduation ceremony that was supposed to take place in May, but ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, it had been postponed to August. I was really upset about it when Utah Valley University and many other colleges throughout the country had to be closed up ever since the pandemic started. Ever since that time was announced of the postponement, I assumed that I could never have graduated without receiving my bachelors degree in university studies. On the contrary, Mom kept telling me that I still graduated, even though there wasn't a ceremony at the time to attend.

It had been a long time ever since, but then the day had come for me to wear my cap and gown and go to the ceremony. This time, instead of having to sit by a lot of graduates and listen to boring speeches from the college faculty members, this ceremony turned out to be an entertaining event for people of all ages. There were graduates in their cap and gowns driving in their cars decorated as a graduation parade and then coming out to get their picture taken and be greeted with respect and support. At first, since the pandemic is still going on, I thought I had to wear a mask, but then, they gave me a UVU mask that was really green and light. Mom was hoping she could get one of those. And I also got the diploma cover.

After that, we were told to pull into one of the parking lots facing the school. They were setting up a concert, but a lot of graduates had to have their cars social distanced from one spot to the other. It was a really hot time and I almost thought off taking my cap and gown off just to be in my extra casual clothes, but then, I had the feeling that I should keep it on just for this whole event, because something amazing might have happened. This whole event kind of reminded me and my wife of a county fair and a drive-in. So we might as well have called this a county-fair-drive-in.

They had a little band to come perform a gig for us while we were waiting for the commencement of the commencement. It was quite a blast, because at most graduation ceremonies before, we hear the "Pomp and Circumstance" music, but this time, as doing an applause, the performers didn't just want people clapping, but they also wanted them honking their car horns. For some reason, there were some cameraman who kept on coming to me to put me up on the big screen. Mom just thought it was because a lot of the faculty are seeing how amazing I am for graduating at such a big university and especially for an autistic person. Or, I just thought it was because we were up close to the cameramen who are shooting off the shots of the event. But the biggest thing that was caught on camera was when I kissed Puppy Lover and a lot of people were cheering to see a kiss on the big screen, especially with a graduate kissing either their boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse. But that's not the only thing that has happened, after the faculty have made their personal appearances and said their speeches, they directed every graduate to stand and remain standing to represent the college that they're graduting from. I was in the University Studies group. And after congratulating the graduates, fireworks were blasted into the sky and that's when the President of the University came up to me to congratulate me along with her paparazi. I sure enjoyed celebrating that moment.

My parents, wife, and sisters have said that this was the best graduation ceremony that has ever happened and that it was better than the past ceremonies. I ought to admit that it really was, so that you won't have to get bored with long speeches and you get a little bit of entertainment to watch. Whenever I heard the speeches from the faculty members during the commencement, they said that graduating from Utah Valley University is one of the biggest challenges for any college student to attend and be able to graduate from. It got me into thinking about that quote by Kermit the Frog from the Muppets, "It's Not Easy Being Green." When I heard of that phrase before in my life, I never understood how being green isn't easy, but after thinking about all these years of hard work and perseverence with attending Utah Valley University and the color theme is green, it got me thinking that it really makes sense why it's not easy being green. I had to go through a lot of time, patience, and effort to graduate with a bachelor's degree at a college like Utah Valley University. I even received a medallion for graduating Magna Cum Laude. It wasn't really the highest graduation award, but it was the best one for me, because it was showing that I'm smart about a lot of things and I can use this bachelor's degree in the future for myself and Puppy Lover. And this will be a memorable gradutation for the rest of my life and I can hardly wait to tell it to my future children.

Guest Blogger: Our Amazing Dog Walker by Crafty

This was made in June of 2020. Do you remember my sister, Crafty? Well, she made this amazing video about the story of my life and it's played along with a song that my mom found most relatable according to my special need. 

This is what my Mom said about Crafty:

When Crafty first came home from her mission, she really wanted to spend some time making a few videos she had been thinking about for a while. She made the one of her dancing, remember?



I have wanted one made for Dog Walker with this particular song for a long time. When he was younger, that song seemed so like him to me. When I heard it in the car or on the radio, it would always bring me to tears (still does), because people just didn't understand my amazing autistic son. He wasn't crazy, he was just a little unwell.



Thanks, Crafty, the video is perfect.

Reading Harry Potter to My Younger Siblings

This was back in March of 2020. My mom has asked me to write a blog post for her, probably because she was hoping for more followers to come read it much more, since I have autism and she tells me that a lot of you think that I have much more interesting stories of my life. And speaking of stories, that's what I've been doing ever since I've been self isolated on the quarantine of the coronavirus. I was feeling so worried about Puppy Lover because ever since her Mom talked about me having to stay at my parents' house for a couple of weeks, just because of the desperate spread of the coronavirus. She's been missing me so much and wishes that she would give me a hug and a kiss, just like a loving wife should always do. I even have been trying my best to be a good husband to her and she believes that I am a good husband no matter what's been going on.

Anyway, ever since this self isolation has started, I've been reading the first book of Harry Potter to Baby Doll and Curly, because they have to do some reading hours for school. And they really enjoyed the way that I've been reading to them. It kind of reminds me of the time that I used to read Harry Potter books to my Mom whenever I was required to some reading for school. Doing something like this had been a challenge for me when I was a kid, but it sure had been fun to learn how to read and ever since that time, I still love to read stories like this one. Ever since I've been in college, however, I always had to read a chapter from a textbook and those were the hardest to do, because I had to remember all the things I've been reading, especially out loud to my Mom, just so that she could help me understand what it is that I've been trying to learn from a specific chapter in a specific class.

Okay, I'm getting a little off topic here. Every now and then of everyday on the self isolation, Baby Doll and Curly would become very excited to hear more about what would happen in the next chapter of Harry Potter. There were the times that whenever I've read, people wouldn't be paying attention, but ever since I've been learning more on how to read, especially reading something in such an entertaining and dramatic way, they find interest in hearing more of me reading. Reading books like this makes me wish that I could be able to read to Puppy Lover. I even tried asking her if she would be interested if she heard me read a book to her, but she told me that Harry Potter is not her favorite thing, probably because she finds it weird and confusing. But I'm hoping there will be a book series that she would love to hear me read to her, I just need to find out what it is that she likes.

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Besides, I still love to read books to people, because it helps me spend more quality time with the people who have an interest in hearing a story or two. And it makes me feel like I'm being a good and supportive person whenever I read.