First things first, learning to dad.

My entire adult life I have known one thing to be true, I wanted to be a father. On July 6, 2015 we told our family that we were expecting. The joy and excitement my wife and I shared lasted less than a week before it turned into gut-wrenching devastation. Miscarriages are very common, but I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy. Through our pain and suffering, my wife and I grew closer and just over a year later, July 9, 2016, we welcomed the most beautiful blessing into this world, Eden Rain Sparks. To say my life was changed would be an understatement. This little angel you see above became my entire world.

So why am I writing a blog? I guess it's a mixture of things. I am a sentimental guy and like to have memories written down. I find writing helps me work through things and learn more about myself.

What can you expect in my blog? I would say expect a lot of things. Fatherhood experiences, my obsession with disc golf and stories about my beautiful girl and soon, my baby boy.

Let's start with fatherhood.

I am honestly a lucky guy. I have a great relationship with my dad even though my parents divorced before I can remember. I was also blessed with an incredible step-dad who always taught me that no matter what, my dad will always be my dad. Almost all of my memories with my dad revolved around his love of the outdoors. Fishing, hunting, hiking, swimming in a farm pond, ATVs and pretty much every other fun thing a young boy could want to do. We did it all. What I didn't realize as a child was all the lessons I learned through those fun adventures.

Now that I am much older, I understand how much can be learned by spending time outdoors with your kids. I learned patience while fishing. I learned toughness after a belly flop jumping off a rock. I learned to appreciate the beauty of nature as the sun rose over my treestand. The lessons are countless and so are the memories. I want to have this same impact on my children.

My daughter and I have been out on the disc golf course too many times to count and she hasn't even turned one. I find myself stopping to watch her discover something new as she bounces across the grass in her stroller. A bird flies by and she whips her head so fast and gets angry when it's out of view. I make my drive off the tee and she giggles because daddy looks funny. Everything is new to her and she is always learning, but so am I. I look forward to every moment I can get.

This is just a short introduction, but I hope to make this a weekly blog. Who knows what I will write about, but I hope you enjoy it. If not, at least I'm having fun writing it.

-The Disc Golf Dad