I Wrote a Book!

So after 3 years to write it,  2 years to edit it, 1 year of ignoring it off and on, and now 2 months of learning the publishing side of Amazon, I can finally say it’s here!

I Wrote a Book!

It’s called:  TwentySomething: Surviving the Ten Most Important Years of Your Life. You can get it on kindle or paperback at Amazon. Here’s the highlights from the back cover.

How do I navigate the ups and downs of college? What kind of career do I want? How do I know if I should marry this person? What kind of faith or morals should I have in my twenties? Should I be investing or have a budget? What about the military? How do I deal with death and other negative emotions? Should I already have life and career goals? What kind of mindset and work ethic do I need to be successful? How do I figure all this out on my own?

Long Overdue Update

So it’s been a while since I updated anything on here. Life gets busy. Here are the highlights of 2018.

• I sold my house in January and moved to Georgia for a 9 month Army school. (WOBC)
• I learned to track my eating and lifted weights for 7 months which resulted in me losing 20 lbs and getting stronger.
• I can bench 225lbs, squat 170lbs, and deadlift 325lbs on my best of best days.
• I graduated Honor grad (2nd in the class) from my WOBC course at the end of August.  I’m a fully qualified 255A and up for CW2 next May.
• I received a promotion at my civilian job to Information Security Manager.  Yes I’m that IT security nerd. But it’s fun stuff!
• We moved back to Overland Park, Kansas over Labor Day weekend.
• The kids are back in school and I’m back at work this week. We are getting settled into our new house and new routines quite nicely after a busy, busy 3 weeks.
• Amy and I joined the crossfit gym across the street from our house. It’s fun and challenging.
• I learned that property tax is done differently in KS vs MO.
• Moving is expensive, even when you save and plan for it. So many small things you have to buy.
• More updates to come later.  Follow me on twitter @derekcreason for semi more frequent updates and Amy’s instagram stories are probably the most up to date of our random day to day lives.  We are having a blast living life and embracing this new chapter of our lives including new job, new school, new church, new neighbors, new community, new gym, new friends, new drivers licenses, new car tags, and some of our favorites to include same friends, same chiefs fans, same awesome KC metro, same KC BBQ, and more! Be sure to say hi or come over and see the new place!

Until next time, Stay positive and embrace challenges. Or some other motivational quip….  :) Later, Derek

Project Sunken Treasure

You probably didn’t notice or care. But this site has been down since August 22nd. That’s 8 weeks to the day.  That was a rough day as I woke up to 8 inches of water in my basement.

I learned a few lessons that day. Here are a few of them.

1. Don’t store your computer tower on the floor.
2. Don’t put your hard drive in the lowest bay in your computer tower.
3. Your backups of your computer files should not be on the computer next to your tower.  (I wasn’t quite at the 3 - 2 - 1 backup rule.)
4. You’d be surprised how much junk you store in your basement that you don’t need.
5. Throwing away your stuff is emotional. (It was my junk!)
6. Thank God for insurance.

So despite that major setback in life, things have been crazy busy and the world drives on.

Meet Benjamin Joshua!

On Friday January 27th, 2017 at 12:32am, My 4th child was born. Benjamin Joshua Creason. He is a pretty cool little kid and he is doing well. Both him and mom are back at home and settling  in nicely. Here are a few pics.

As many people know, I like to keep the names of my children a secret until they are born. This is usually for a few different reasons. Mostly its just fun and adds to the excitement.  For our 4th child, we chose to honor some soldiers with the naming  of our son. Here is the meaning behind his name.

Soldier Suicides

Today I had the displeasure of attending another funeral of a soldier in my unit that committed suicide. That’s the 2nd one in less than a year. Honestly, it’s an awful experience. If I never have to watch another mother bawl her eyes out for her child that is gone while hearing taps, I’d be ok with that. Sadly, I’m afraid it won’t be the last time I will have to go through this. As hard as it is for me and my fellow soldiers who were his friends, I can’t imagine what sorrow and pain the family is going through. I pray they will find comfort in this awful season of their lives.

PT Test

A new fiscal year in the guard and that means it’s time for a pt test at drill this weekend. Success! I passed. I’m proud of myself for never having failed one in my almost 5 years in the army. Although for some reason I always get nervous about them. This one I was a bit more nervous about since Caroline was just born 3 weeks ago and my training for the test took a serious hit due to taking care of a newborn. But I got over 75% in each category for a score of 236. I’m happy with that. On a side note, I don’t understand how some of these kids continue to fail. You know the test is coming and you know what is required to pass. Just google it! Do the math and put in some effort for a month or two before the test. It’s not rocket science. I’m old and body parts hurt, but I can still pass them. Ok rant over. Bring on the holiday food. Derek

Back to Civilian Life...

So I’m back from 9 months of training with the army. If you want to know what it was like, go join the army. Or just ask me sometime and I’ll be glad to tell you some stories. So I am back home and adjusting to my civilian life. This includes, but is not limited to the following: not exercising every morning at 5am, having 2 kids now, going back to work, going to army drill once a month, driving my car again, working on the house and other projects in my free time, and trying to limit my intake of caffeine among many other things. So if I haven’t said hi or got a chance to hang out with you yet, give me a few more days or better yet call me. I’d be glad to do whatever. I’m still playing catch-up on my life. Thats all for now. Later. Derek

Off to Training

So it’s off to training today. 9 weeks of basic and then 22 weeks of AIT training. If you need to get ahold of me or want to hear how I’m doing, you will have to get ahold of Amy as she will have the most up to date info. See you all at Christmas when I get leave. The Soldier’s Creed I am an American Soldier. I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American Soldier.