Whoa I've been away for like two months now!

Hello my loyal readers out there! If you are reading this then maybe just maybe you have stuck with me through this long period of Uhhhh rest? Maybe it wasn't rest but more like laziness. Well just in case you didn't know I am back in the U.S. now and after being here for about two weeks now I've gotten used to being back. Luckily I haven't been too bored and have been able to hook up with some friends and also able to meet a lot of new friends. They are all really good people and I enjoy hanging with them. It seems there is always something new and different to do which is always good. Last weekend we went camping and that turned out to be really good. We probably had about 11 or 12 people and we had a big fire going with Wine, Coronas, Cigars, and of course Smores! I'm not a huge smoker but I do like to have a Cigar every now and then just for the taste. We had good conversations, listened to music, and just relaxed. We kind of cheated the next morning when we woke up and left by going to IHOP for breakfast but hey no one is perfect.

At this moment I am hanging out at Montevallo. Earlier today I sort of had a sports day with one of my new friends I met who also does not work during the summer. She loves playing just about everything just like I do so we ended playing a little basketball, Ping Pong, and Air Hockey. We plan on during many other activities too since we are both pretty competitive. If you are reading this Elizabeth don't worry she has not taken your place as my competitive partner. It's good to find someone else who's schedule is a little more free during the day though that way I won't be so bored all the time. Here at my school they had a new recruit in so we all played 5 on 5 I guess to see what he had. I always enjoy playing with new people and just getting together with a number of guys that can all play fairly well. Tomorrow I have to head home to get some things taken care of but not until after a full day of activities here! I plan on going out to the driving range and working on my golf swing, then playing a little badminton followed by some racquetball only to end the day playing more 5 on 5. Needless to say I will be worn out tomorrow but it's always a good feeling knowing you pushed your body to the limits and that you are making it work as opposed to sitting around all day and just feeling useless.

My brother is coming to town on Thursday so I'm excited about that. My niece and nephew will accompany him along with my sister-in-law. I can't wait to see the little kiddies! I have to take them to the toy store and fulfill my Uncle-ly duties. I just remember as a kid the smallest things would make me happy even if it was just 10 dollars. It will be fun just playing with them and seeing them. I think they will be here until the following Tuesday and then they have to head back. At the end of this month I will start working the soccer camp they host every year here at Montevallo. I will be an Athletic Trainer which I might add I've gotten pretty good at over the years. That will last for almost 3 weeks and then I guess I will be free for the rest of the summer for whatever I want to do.

To all my Luxembourg people I miss you all and hope everything is going well there. Hopefully you guys are getting some good weather but just knowing Luxembourg I know that can be a lot to ask. Well for now I will leave things at that! Talk to you all later!

Sorry to keep you waiting but Im back!

I know it seems like it’s been a while since I last wrote and the reason it feels that way is because it has been! As much as I enjoy writing in my blog it can take some time and you kind of have to sit down and focus on one thing and I guess that's kind of hard for me to do. Usually when I’m doing something, I’m always doing something else on the side as well. Nevertheless, I’m back and I hope to be a little more regular in the near future. There has been so many things that have happened since the last time I wrote that there is no way I can write about it all or for that matter even remember it all!

Right now I am sitting outside by a river about 15 min from my place enjoying the beautiful surroundings and the wonderful weather here in Luxembourg. There is a joke here in Luxembourg saying whenever you get good weather, you better get out and enjoy it because you never know how long it will stay. Many times it’s either raining or about to rain or just finished raining or just overcast with no sun to be found. So I had to get out and take it all in. I'm in a place called Esch sure sur and it’s a very nice town with lots of beautiful things to see. I was sitting here before just taking in all of the Spring colors, smells, and sights. It really is an amazing thing to think about how our world works. How the trees, flowers, grass, and insects all know when Spring comes and when its time to start growing again. Although everyone doesn’t feel this way, it just proves over and over to me how there was an All Powerful, All Knowing creator who so thoughtfully and wonderfully put everything into being. To think that everything that happens in this world is all by chance is the most difficult concept for me to try and grasp. I was watching a documentary yesterday called, “Earth” and it was a great movie. The things you see in that movie are jaw dropping. I love watching things like that because it really gets me thinking and appreciating the complexity and vastness of this Universe.

My time in Luxembourg is winding down for this season. At the moment I have no idea what the future holds for me so as for next season I don’t know where I will be. I’m still pursuing possibly playing this summer in another country just to be able to travel a bit more and still get paid at the same time. I’ve only got about a month left here and even less then that before the season ends. WeI've been playing well as a team lately and I’m confident that we can win the championship. We have already qualified for the final four which starts in a little less then two weeks but we don’t know who we will play yet. The last possible game is May 17th and the season is over! This year has passed quite fast and to think that I’m already in my second year is crazy! I remember just coming over here last year and thinking how long this was going to be because I missed home so much and I just thought time was crawling by. Now that I have a pretty strong friend base and just a general knowledge of the Country things have gotten much easier.

Lately, I’ve been on my photography kick. I plan on getting a Digital SLR camera once I get home for the summer and I’m really excited about the different possibilities associated with that camera. I think photography is something I could really get into and enjoy. I’ve never really thought about trying to make money taking pictures but I guess on down the line if this is something I’m still exploring, it’s a possibility. But currently I’m just trying to learn as much as I can about photography and I’ve always known there was a lot of information involved but it can get really complex! Not only that but once you get really serious about it you have to start buying really serious lenses and not just amateur/beginner lenses. Many of these lenses cost 10-15 thousand dollars! It’s not unusual at all for lenses to be a couple thousand dollars but these will last you for many many years much longer than your camera will last you. Anyhow, I’m eager to get started and see if this is something I want to continue on down the road. I want to start printing pictures that I’ve taken and displaying them but as of now I’ve just transferred them to my computer and they sit there lonely and unappreciated. I’ll get there one of these days but right now I'm not there yet. Well I guess Ill let that be all for now, I’ve got a few things to do today before practice tonight so I'm going to handle that now!

The Playoffs are here!

Well its been sometime since my last post but nonetheless here I am. I guess a lot has being going on since last time but it will be hard to try and think of everything that's been going on since then. One main thing that has been on my mind is my coach! I think he has good intentions but many times he's just too much! He's one of those guys who screams and screams no matter if you are doing well or doing terrible. Half the time you are out there trying to do stuff so you don't get screamed at! With me being the lone American on the team he expects a lot from me and he never lets up. I realize that I am supposed to be the guy who does a little bit of everything but he puts the whole world on my shoulders! He says I need to average 30 and 20 or else I'm not doing my job. I have to defend, rebound, score, run the floor, and so on. I like the fact that he pushes me to do things I don't feel like doing or maybe I feel like I can't do but I don't know. We had a scrimmage game earlier this week against a not so good team. It's really hard to get motivated for those games because they are just not good. Well we ended up winning by 40 and coach was still upset. We shook the other teams hand and he immediately made us get on the line and start running! I was pretty angry that night especially since he made me play the whole game even when we were winning by so many and I had to go straight to running after that.

The playoffs have just started after a seemingly forever break. We had close to three weeks off and now we finally play a game. Luxembourg always schedules game weird. We have three weeks off then we try and squeeze a lot of games into a small amount of time. This weekend we had two games, one on Friday and another on Sunday. They were against the top two teams in our league at the moment which in my opinion was good. I like getting the top teams first and having the opportunity to have a really good start. Thankfully, we won both games and now can relax for a few days this week before we play again on Sunday. As usual everything is going good when you are winning but win you are losing life is miserable. People treat you differently, practice is not fun, and you start questioning yourself a lot. That's definitely one of the downfalls of playing basketball for a living. Most people think its all fun and games, which it is to an extent, but when you are not performing or your team is losing your job is always on the line. Job security is not a word that is used often in professional basketball. I hope to never be fired by any team but in the end you have to try and not take it personally. I can imagine that would be hard not to do but it happens so often in the professional world it's something many people have to get used to.

Enough about basketball on to other things. Some good news! My sister Rachel is coming to visit me in Luxembourg! The only people to have come to visit me so far are my parents and that was last year. I understand that it's expensive and that it's hard to get a lot of time off of work so I don't make such a big deal of it. I never would have thought little Rachel would be the first to sibling to come visit mainly because she's somewhat of a homebody. She took a step out of her comfort zone by accepting a job right outside of Atlanta, Georgia which is about two hours from home. Her coming all the way to Europe is definitely a step out! I don't think she would have done something like that if I had not been over here but that's not a big deal. I'm excited she's coming and I'm excited she will be able to see Europe. It seems like it may not be that big of a deal but most people in the world do not leave their own country or at least in the U.S. they don't so I look as this as being a great opportunity for her. I want to try and go to Paris for a couple of days while she is here but I have to ask my coach for a little time off which is going to be interesting. If we can win our next game then I think that I will have a better chance of getting that time off. I'm in the process of trying to plan out some things for her to see while she is here in Luxembourg. Luckily, she will be able to see me play twice! She hasn't been able to see me play since college and I imagine she never thought she would see me play in person again. Whatever the case, I'm happy she has decided to come and would love if other friends and family would visit sometime. Unfortunately, she will not have a long time here but it's better than nothing.

Many things have been going through my mind lately just about my life and other interesting important things. Nothing you need to be worried about but I do a lot of thinking and don't really open up and tell people what I'm thinking. I'm a pretty private guy and me writing these blogs is not in my nature but I try and give you a little something. There are many things going through my head at this very moment that if I don't stop thinking about I'll go crazy. Many people on the outside would never know if anything is bothering me because I try and act the same no matter what situation I'm in. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but It's me. Well I have Monday morning workouts at 9am in the weight room after a weekend of basketball. My body is hurting and I'm hoping that a little sleep will heal me and allow my body to recuperate. The team is going to a spa/resort kind of place tomorrow to relax and chill out. They have swimming pools, Jacuzzi's, sauna's and all that good stuff. I'm hoping that will relax my body and be enjoyable. We will see!