jake bryan- established 1976

so this is my blog.  i am creating this in hopes to share some of my experiences with the people i love and care about.  i have been fortunate to have many memorable experiences from around the world.  maybe this way i can share some of the day to day things that happen to me.  

this will just be a brief overview of what has happened to me in the first 32 years of life for this guy.  i was born in october of 1976.  i'm coming up on my 32nd birthday which will be yet another one spent alone and far from home.  i have the best parents in the world.  stewart and susan bryan.  i have every reason to be a happy person with the child hood i had.  i have always know who i am and best of all that i was loved.  i have one older brother joe, a younger sister holly, and two younger brothers jon and josh.  i couldn't be prouder of the people they are and the source of strength they are to me.  we share a closeness that is stronger than most people understand.  our family is close and we do so many things together.  it can be overwhelming at times to people who aren't used to it.  but i wouldn't change it for the world.  

i have a certain side of me that can only be satisfied by an extreme sense of excitement.  i love the water.  i love motorcycles and big trucks.  i have been broken and beaten down some in many of my thrill seeking adventures.  i am lucky to be alive.  my family has had more than one trip to the emergency room to check on me.  from wrecking a dirt bike on the sand dunes and breaking my collar bone to diving off the funny farm bridge and splitting my head open.  that one is my closest run in with the next life i believe.  i tend to put stress on my family in that respect.  they do question my choices sometimes but they love me through it all.

i have some amazing sisters-in-law.  they have made joe and jon so happy.  they have given our family additions to the super people already in it.  along with sarah and ruth, they have brought us jared, rachel, brock and jefferey.  those kids are what makes life so precious.

i have had many jobs and am currently in iraq working for the military.  i spent two years in afghanistan as a contractor and have since gone through some difficult times.  i got divorced in the early part of this year.  i have had some severe blows that have tested me and pushed me to my limits.  thanks to the love of my family i have found the ability to move on.  take each day as it comes and move forward.  everything happens for a reason.  lessons are learned and experience points gained.  i don't regret the mistakes i've made because they have made me who i am today and only strengthened my belief in god and family and that we are here to learn and make our mistakes to grow and learn from.  i know who i am and where i want to go.  this will be an eternal process.  a work in progress so to say.

enjoy the updates as they come and i hope you will find happiness with me as we travel this road together.  my prayers go out to all of you and wish you all the best, all the success you work for and all the happiness you deserve.  

jake