{"id":2524,"date":"2015-12-31T15:50:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T23:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jshox.com\/jay\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2025-11-06T14:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T22:20:14","slug":"the-rest-of-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jshox.com\/jay\/2015\/12\/31\/the-rest-of-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"2015"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2015 (or at least the rest of it picking up from my last post)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n


After Jake died – I was very distraught. Super broken up about it for weeks actually. It started to have an impact on my work. I don’t think I really posted about what I was doing at American Express during that time. I was working for the Financial Intelligence Unit (the FIU) for American Express. I was writing up reports on suspicious card member activity and referring my investigation to local authorities or to the main government branches. I helped them out for a year in that role. They “borrowed” me from my regular department on loan, and would keep “borrowing” me as a resource as they didn’t have any open roles at that time but had a severe backlog of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a year was up my department demanded me back and didn’t want my time to extend any further with them. I contacted the FIU team and they said they tried to keep me in that role, but the director of my department was adamant that they needed me in my old role. I was livid. I saw this as the company getting in the way of what was best for me and my career. In my view, the FIU role was a very good thing for my career and was a natural fit. I know what you are thinking (maybe)? So what was so big about the FIU, anyway?

I never considered myself to have much value. In regards to education or — well much of anything. This role really started to change the way I thought about myself. I was sitting next to people in this role with much more impressive resumes than I had. Everyone was either a former FBI agent, Homeland Security, lawyer, homicide investigator, or worked in other aspects for the government. Everyone had a law degree at the minimum. I was creating the same reports as these people were, with the same (if not better in some cases) quality of work. This blew my mind. How could I do that? I was just a guy with some college, who dropped out so he wouldn’t be strapped with student loan debt for the rest of his life with plans to return after paying off all the loans. I then never ended up going back because my school had closed down and I found a hard time finding other schools to accept my credits from my bible college.

So back to normal life, no longer with the FIU. I was recalled back to the service center and was again working in the accounts department for the Australia and New Zealand region. At this point, I was very determined to get out of my role and into a new role. As happy as they were to have me back in “my old role” they actually had me doing new things such as leading training and onboarding new employees. Not something I minded doing but wanted to have a “career” in mind since I not only had my wife to think of but also my daughter (Arabella).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I applied for numerous jobs within AMEX, finally getting some traction on a role as a Project Analyst. This was about the same time (nearing the end of summer) when I went on a pre-planned vacation. The wife and I had flown out my father-in-law to come to visit. Before this – we started off the weekend with a wedding in California. This was the wedding of one of my longest and overall best friends – Emily! Here is a photo from her wedding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the wedding, we went to my parent’s house and waited for Gramps (my father-in-law) to arrive. We wanted to show him as much as we could, including Arizona, as we had grown to love where we lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side note: during the trip, I ended up getting a call to do an interview for the Project Analyst role. I remember sending everyone off to do something around the hotel while I stayed in the room doing a phone interview (I was on vacation). I recall talking with Ashima and Vince, who I would end up working with as I ended up landing the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This trip was notable because it was the first time my father-in-law had come to visit and he normally didn’t travel – especially by plane. We took him and his sister all around Southern California – from San Diego to Los Angeles, to Las Vegas, and all-around Arizona from the Grand Canyon all the way down to Mesa. It was a fun and very memorable trip. Here are a few photos:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Ruby’s pier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Stratosphere, Las Vegas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ruby’s dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Beverly Hills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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London Bridge\/Lake Havasu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mesa, AZ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vacation ended and my new role as a Project Analyst, but also to act as a Product Owner for the corporate capabilities team. The team had a few people based in Arizona, more based in Florida, and a couple even in India. It was an exciting time. I had to learn everything from scratch. I wasn’t sure if I was succeeding or not in my role for at least the first year that I was in it. Then I began getting very positive feedback from my manager and others I worked with. This was a good fit for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the only other thing I’d mention for this post from 2015 is: BACK TO THE FUTURE!! I mean, you can’t be a fan of the movie and not mention that right?! So we had a whole weekend planned for October 21st, 2015 (the BTTF day). We went to some of the filming locations for the movie, as well as wore some gear. We also went to Universal Studios (because Hill Valley was actually the backlot in Universal Studios). Here are some photos:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
at Twin\/Lone Pines Mall (CA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Universal Studios Red Carpet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Where the DeLorean met its demise (train)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Twin Pines Mall (BTTF 1 and 2)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
In front of Docs van (with our custom shirts)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The intersection Marty rolled through (BTTF 3)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards the end of the year, we visited Oregon (Arabella’s first time). We left after we went to our annual Christmas eve service at Central. We came home and opened all of our presents that night. Then drove round the clock to get to the PNW (taking turns with my parents who were also aboard for the trip).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She met some cousins and extended family as well as my brother. Yeah, so during the trip we stopped in Seattle and surprised my brother (as he kept saying he didn’t have the means to visit). At the time it was also an attempt to get my parents in a better relationship with him. We took Ara around PDX and showed her things that she has probably forgotten she first saw, but we wanted to ensure that we did so that we knew she had the chance to see them with us. Plus you never know what will happen in life, or if you will get the opportunity to do so again in the future. So we went to see as much as we could from the Portland sign, Multnomah Falls, Pioneer Square (and our brick we have engraved), to the coast, and as mentioned Seattle too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Christmas eve @ Central<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Fun while visiting Flagstaff for snow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The tree was up! Baby proofed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Hilarious. It looks like she wanted to eat Oregon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Visiting my brother in Seattle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Oregon Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ara with Sophie and Rosemary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Rosemary liked Ara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
showing her PDX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to say that is probably a good highlight of 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

just Pray<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

note: this post was published on 07\/08\/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of December 2015 to keep chronological order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2015 (or at least the rest of it picking up from my last post): After Jake died – I was very distraught. Super broken up about it for weeks actually. It started to have an impact on my work. I don’t think I really posted about what I was doing at American Express during that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/diner.jpg?fit=1241%2C931&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4446,"url":"https:\/\/jshox.com\/jay\/2019\/08\/31\/2019-august\/","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":0},"title":"2019 – August","author":"me@jshox.com","date":"August 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"August is amongst us! I know it won't be long and I'll be back at work unable to spend all of this time with the kids. With that in mind... I'm trying to find ways that we can spend more time together. 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I have been able to secure a role in the FIU (the Financial Intelligence Unit) for Amex. This is a role that normally is given to those that have a doctorate, or previous employment with the government, law enforcement, lawyer, homeland security, the NSA..\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mar29.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mar29.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mar29.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mar29.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mar29.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3119,"url":"https:\/\/jshox.com\/jay\/2017\/09\/30\/2017-september\/","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":2},"title":"2017 – September","author":"me@jshox.com","date":"September 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"So a lot happened between the last post and now. We went to 5 & Diner again (no longer our normal location as they closed that location down during this time!). Gas was still pretty cheap (see below: 1.97\/gal) and the kids were bonding as well as ever. Arabella had\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/5nd.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/5nd.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/5nd.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/5nd.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/5nd.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6992,"url":"https:\/\/jshox.com\/jay\/2014\/09\/30\/2014-september\/","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":3},"title":"2014 – September part 1","author":"me@jshox.com","date":"September 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It is hot in September. 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Fun news: Due to being an American Express employee, we get a 1-year membership for free. I'll take it! Jake and Arabella are best friends but that doesn't mean that Jake doesn't still come over to us for some\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/nov22.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/nov22.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/nov22.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/nov22.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jshox.com\/jay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/nov22.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3542,"url":"https:\/\/jshox.com\/jay\/2018\/06\/30\/2018-june\/","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":5},"title":"2018 – June","author":"me@jshox.com","date":"June 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"June bug! 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