A few upcoming changes

Just a quick note to mention that in the coming weeks there will be a couple of extra things I will add to my blog. There will be interviews, opinions on different articles I may read in magazines, and just in general more diverse subject matter. Maybe there will be a trial period at the beginning just to see how it all works out but whatever the case you should be excited! I think. Don't worry though, you'll still get plenty of in depth, heartfelt, engaging thoughts from yours truly so keep your eyes peeled and also don't be surprised if you get asked for an interview! 

That Great time of Year

            One of if not the best time of the year is here....Christmas! I must say I am excited just to be able to be with family and friends and also to be able to go back home for a couple of weeks. I think one of the reasons I love Christmas is because ever since I was a kid I've always had Great Christmas memories. Although it's a bit different now since all siblings are spread out all over the place as well as my cousins but most of us will still reconnect at Christmas. It's so different now that everyone has their own lives and some are married and so on. Unfortunately, it will never be the same but that doesn't mean that it can't still be great.

           One thing that I'm not looking forward to is the flight back to the states! It sucks!! First of all I'm flying out of Brussels which is not that bad other then it's about two and a half hours away. By flying out of Brussels I get to eliminate one layover but I think in the end it really doesn't matter because it is a long flight regardless. So my flight leaves on the 22nd of Dec at 12 or something. So I have to leave Lux around 6:30-am or 7 just to get to the airport on time because around this time of the year the airport is CRAZY!! The line for check-in is wrapped around the corner and you stand in line for like 2 hours or something crazy like that. When I finally get on the plane I'm on there for like 8 hours only to get to Philadelphia and have a layover for like 5 hours! Then finally I head to Birmingham only to get in around 10pm! Long day to say the least but I guess I have no other alternative. The good thing is I get to do it all over again coming back! Fun fun fun! Well enough of the pity party for me I'm just happy to be able to go home. Some people would love to be in my situation but can't go home for one reason or another.

             I've got a long list of things to take home from Lux and to pick up when I get home. I have to be really organized when I take stuff home because I've allowed stuff to accumulate from last year and at the end of the year there is no way I will be able to get everything back home in two bags and a carry on. I will have to take several pair of shoes home, some jackets, some shirts, and some other things and still will have trouble getting things back in May or June when I go home. I need to switch out clothes too because after being here for 4 months now there are some clothes I have that I never wear so Im going to change those out for something I can make better use of.  Most importantly I have to find some new basketball shoes! My shoes tear up so quickly so I'm going to have to get at least two pair. We will see how that works out.

            Not only is it Christmas time but it's also the time of year where we all get those New Year's Resolution list together. Some people think that these list are silly and they can be unless you truly plan on fulfilling everything on those list's. I've personally never made a list and am kind of eager to make one. I would like to see if I could stick to what I write and follow through on what I say I'm going to do. It can be a real discipline type thing and I feel that it can only help you. I'm slowly actually very slowly learning that having objectives written down and planned out helps you to better achieve your goals. I know that just through my everyday doings. For example, going to the weight room without a clear objective usually ends up in me thinking, "What a waste of time!" I just wonder about from machine to machine, not focusing on any certain muscle group and hoping that I can feel some sort of burn as opposed to going in their with a plan and a workout written out. Why it has taken me so long to realize this is a mystery to me but thats not really important. I think I've always known that having lists and schedules can help me out but something in my head tells me to just wing it and time after time I end up disappointed. Weird huh? Well wish me luck and maybe after the new year I will post my objectives on here. Maybe........

Thanksgiving in Lux and in France

Wow this last week was pretty good if I don’t say so myself. One of my favorite times of the year, Thanksgiving, and It was much better then last years. Although last years Thanksgiving ended up working out just fine it still wasn't quite the traditional meal. Last year I was still getting to know people and didn’t have a whole lot of friends but this year things are a little different. All the American basketball players decided to get together and have our own dinner. I didn’t do any cooking although I offered to. The girls insisted on doing everything so I wasn’t about to argue with them. We were supposed to all meet at 11pm Thanksgiving night because as you may well know, Thanksgiving is not a holiday here so many, if not all of us either had games or practice so that was the only time we could all get together. Turns out that we would not start eating until 1am! I was so hungry that day because I didn't eat anything all day in anticipation for the big meal I was to eat that night. Luckily, the food did not disappoint. The girls did a really good job and we had so much food! As much as I don't like having that feeling of being too full, this is one of those times where I had to make an exception. I felt terrible afterwards! My plate was piled so high because as you were putting food on your plate you didn't realize that there were many other things that you had not even gotten around to yet. Nevertheless, it was fun to hang out with all the Americans and to celebrate like we do back home.

I had another Thanksgiving on Saturday with a family from church in their Chateau in France. They too, are an American family and were kind enough to invite me and some other of my American friends from church to their house. This place was really unique, especially with me coming from the states. Their Chateau was so OLD! It was built in 1572, and they did some renovation to it and it is really nice. They’ve very much kept the old look and feel of the place but made it very comfortable. I’ve never been a place that looked and felt so old before and that was still inhabited. I took a few pictures but as usual the pictures don’t really do justice to it all. They had a trampoline there and I have not jumped on one of those since I was young. With my friends Micah and Elizabeth there we were challenging each other to do tricks, sort of like HORSE. Micah ended up winning but I was still happy because the second I stepped on the trampoline, memories from back in the day instantly arose. After that we shot guns at a target in the backyard. That technically was my first time firing a gun and not to brag or anything, but I was 100% accurate on the day! We had to look through a scope on the gun and shoot a small target about 50 yards away. I was surprised I never missed. Maybe I should be a sniper or something who knows? Anyhow, after shooting practice we headed in to warm up a little and get ready to eat. Dinner there was very nice and relaxed and everything was good. We had a really good time and after that we headed back to Lux for Coming to America night at the Irwin's! My friend Elizabeth had never seen the movie and we felt that it was about time she experienced the goodness. She enjoyed it and after that we moved on to Taboo, one of my favorite games although it can be frustrating when you lose. We turned it in for the night after that. I spent the night over the Irwin's since I knew I was going to church in the morning and it wouldn't make much sense for me to go all the way home just to come back in the morning.

           Sunday, after church we all went to the International Bazaar in Lux City. It is a once a year event where representatives from around 40 different countries set up booths and sell popular foods and merchandise from their country. There was an American booth there but I was a little disappointed in the food they were representing. We had hot dogs, chili, popcorn, and nachos. Well, I didn't eat there anyway so it doesn't matter. I ate some Lebanese food, Dutch dessert cookies, and some sushi from Japan. It was all so good! I didn't realize I like sushi that much but it was really good. The Lebanese food was my favorite though. I wish I could have tried everything but my wallet was not agreeing. Later that day I had a big game against Musel Pikes in which we won. We really needed that win and it was a tough game. Now that we are done with the first half of the season we start over and play each team one more time before playoffs start in late February. I’m hoping that we can step up as a team and play much better so that we can guarantee a spot in the playoffs. 

               I’ve finally made the purchase that I’ve probably been contemplating for years now. I bought a Macbook Pro and I’m very happy with my decision. I’m already somewhat of a computer geek so I can think back to years and years ago when I’ve been up late nights trying to repair something that has magically messed itself up on my windows machine. Granted, I can’t really tell how great my Mac experience is until I’ve had some time to see how it runs but just reading posts on the internet and the many people who have switched from a PC to a Mac it seems as if I will never go back to windows. Things do seem to be much more intuitive on the Mac and just overall better looking. Also the chance of getting a virus on my computer is slim to none as compared to a PC where you have to have antivirus software, spyware software, and not to mention the constant updates that you have to download for windows to ensure that you don’t have any security flaws on your computer are overwhelming. I’ve got so many stories to tell of my experiences with windows that aren't necessarily good. I can honestly say that I’ve had to reinstall windows on my computer at least 10 to 15 times in the past and that is not good and is not fun. There are so many other things that bother me about windows which I’m hoping Mac OS X I don't have to deal with. So far everything has been very easy other then just getting to know the Mac operating system which I expected. The feel, look, and intuitiveness is enough for me to stay with the Mac not to mention I can still run windows XP on this machine should I have to for some unknown reason so that is another plus.  I could go on and on about this computer but at the risk of sounding more like a computer nerd I’m going to let it go. That’s something many of you readers out there may not know is that I am a Computer geek at heart and have been since I was kid. The one who is taking the computer apart, upgrading it, hacking it, repairing it and all that good stuff. I think I’ve made this post long enough. Type to you guys later!!