Travels Along

About over 4 months ago my friend Jedidiah posted a Video on my wall. That Video made me want to come and visit him in San Diego. After weeks and weeks of waiting I'm FINALLY HERE!!!!!! I have been waiting so long for a so called "vacation." There has been so much running through my head with college and potential internships I want to take. The thing is I feel as if I'm growing up so fast. It seems like only yesterday I was just 14 and entering into the strange big High School realm of excitement. Now senior year is closely ending. 68 Days till I walk the aisle to get my Diploma. I'm in the Invisible Children office it has been so great to see this whole shebang. I tried Sushi for the 1st time witch was very interesting. I really liked it. I potentially would like to live here. A few days ago I went to the Ancient caves of the Aztecs. It was so interesting. I took this picture not knowing it would make this. Can you see the face?

the last 50 minuets of my Childhood.

Well heres to my Childhood and being a kid. I have less than 50 minuets to soak it all in and just breathe. Yes this is an exciting step in my life turning 18 but there will be challenges. No doubt this means I will be making my own decisions as far as a car, credit card, cell phone plan, and other things. I take a look on the past year when I first turned 17. It was nice. No more seeking into R rated movies or actually buying a M rated game. I think of the great things that were given to me over the past year. My good friend did leave for an extended period of time but that did not change our friendship or who I was. I had began to connect with a house group through a church and have been going ever since. It has been a great blessing. Also at the tender age I had dramatically been moving with Invisible Children. I cannot say it enough. My experience with IC has been a huge part of my life. I still remember not wanting to do the screening at my school but I took that leap of faith and made sure that it would happen. In 21 I will be going to San Diego to visit Jed and the IC office. I am so excited. Well I'm going to enjoy these last 40 minuets I have but I want to leave you with this. Lyrics from Angles & Airwaves.


Open up your eyes
Take a breath if you will
And the sun is still alive even though it's hard to tell - Epic Holiday.

New Things...

I have not blogged in a while but I'm starting again. Many things are happening. Graduation in T-Minus 97 Days. I am eager to get out of High School but sad to leave. My Birthday is this week. Crazy 18! I can't believe it. The one age that defines I can do some things on my own. Credit Cards, Lotto tickets, car payments, and own cell phone plan. I have looked at a lot of things over the past couple of weeks as far as my life through the last 6 months and it has been a huge blessing. Just last year I thought I would never be the same because I lost a friend. I thought I'd be alone and depressed. But I have found that in God he can make everything beautiful in his time. I hope to travel more and more through the times to come. Costa Rica last summer was a Blast. I have met some of the most humble people on the earth. It was an experience of a lifetime! That's all for today. It's 37 degrees in Chicago. Remember Peace and Love. :)

Costa Rica Day 1

Well i'm in costa rica doing a mission trip to build a bridge for a small village. I was so eager to anticipate this trip. I just can't believe after two long months of waiting it's finally here. This morning our flight was delayed for an hour and we were kinda worried about the connection in dallas but the lord worked it out! We made our connection within 2 minuets before take off. It all worked out and we are here! Stay tooned for more!

Shaved!

Today was the Big Day. I shaved my head for the first time since I was twelve. It 

was a very emotional experience that I will never ever forget. All I 

could think about was Darleen and how I 

miss her and I wish she could have been there to shave my head. I wore her "Fight for Felten" shirt today to school. I couldn't help but think of all the young ones we have lost over the years to this horrible disease of cancer. It makes me so angry that they have to go through some painful things to get better. They are the Heroes in my life. They are the ones that wake up every morning with a shield

 and a sword ready to fight the battle of cancer for one more day. From what I've heard Darleen would say a little prayer every single time she went into the hospital and saw kids suffering from cancer. She said "Lord give the rest of my years to these kids I've had to have 20 wonderful years let them live instead of me." Every time I hear about a child who overcomes the battle of cancer I will 
think of Darleen's Prayer and how her legacy will live on through the surviving kids. She was the best and I miss her so much. Today was me paying tribute to her memory.  I feel very blessed and privledged to know strong hearted people like Darleen. So much has changed over the last 6 months but I'm still here, still strong and still the best person I can be.  I will always go by a strong quote Darleen said "Giving up is not an Option!" 

St. Baldrick's Day

In five short days I will be participating in a yearly event called "St. Baldrick's Day." It's a 501(c)(3) Non profit organization based on raising money for childhood cancer research by shaving heads to raise awareness. People shave their heads to not make the kids feel alone. 

I have been aware of this foundation since my freshman year. One of my good 

friends, Orion Pahl did this that year. He helped raise money and awareness for the kids with cancer. In my sophomore year he did it again. This time it was closer to home than we 

thought. Our good friend Darleen Felten was going back into Chemo for Ewing's Sarcoma. So a group of our friends decided to shave their heads to support her. 

In April of last year, Darleen went through a horrifying bone marrow transplant that she needed very badly. The doctor had said there may be a chance that she won't even walk out of the hospital. She addressed our church on April 27th, 2008 to tell us that she may never come back to our church. I could not believe it. Only days before this I had just gotten to know her. I didn't understand it at all. I could not help but cry. After we prayed for her I went up

 to her and hugged her and cried some more. She looked at me with her beautiful eyes and said this "Tyler, look at me I'm not crying don't worry. I want you to visit me when I'm in the hospital." I responded "Okay." She added. "If you don't visit me I'll check myself out of the hospital, go to your house, beat your ass and drag you to come visit me." We both shared a laugh. "I also want you to be strong and hit me a home run in baseball." "I'll try" I said. 

One month later Darleen was healthy. She was out of the hospital and she was very well. The doctors were amazed by her strength. I had just gotten my license and she was the first person I texted. Also when I got a job she was the first person I called. Then after that she went skydiving with some friends. She then saw her Doctor and she had gotten some good news. She could go to school. She was so happy. She started to take classes at ECC.

Then as school and other things started to happen for her it started to get worse. In September of 2008, She got the word that the cancer had grown and she only had a month left to live. Only a few of our friends actually knew about it. And on October 3rd, 2008 Darleen went home to be with God. 

In this explanation of Darleen I am participating in the St. Baldrick's Event in her memory. I know she would be proud of me and I know that she will be cheering me on as I continue to live my life to the fullest. I just want her to know that on Friday March 13th, 2009 is for her. 

This is for you Darleen!