And I'm Back!

You know, I almost gave up on my blog and by looking at my past entries and the dates they were written on, it looked as if I were done. I guess recent inspiration and popular demand convinced me to embark on yet another try at blogging. I have a lot of respect for people who blog on a regular basis because it's not easy to have interesting topics to talk about everyday or however the blog is updated but I actually may have had some interesting things to say but decided to keep to myself.

Well for all of you who are new and for those who know me well, I am still in Luxembourg playing basketball and the season is actually at the end. I have one last game and then I will travel for about a month, on and off, before I head back home to the states. Lately, I've really been wanting to see so many different places and experiment different things. As I write this I just booked a flight to Berlin, Germany! There's a website called germanwings.com and they have an option called blind booking. It's where you pay 40 euros round trip and there is about 25-30 possible locations to go to. You book the flight and they don't tell you where you are going until you've payed! It's pretty exciting but I'm happy that I got the location I wanted to go to which was Berlin! Anyhow, I leave out on April 2nd and return the 4th and drive to Amsterdam, Netherlands only to return back to Luxembourg on tuesday! It should be a good time and I'm really looking forward to seeing new things.

As I was driving back from a city in Germany called ZweiBrucken (pronounced S-Vy-Brooken) or something like that :) it began to get dark extremely early and the wind was blowing hard and it started raining. It only lasted for about 10 minutes but it rained pretty hard and I was stuck in traffic because of a big accident on the highway. I rolled down my window and the weirdest thing happened.....I smelled the fresh rain on the ground and all these good memories and good feelings overwhelmed me! They were mainly from when I was a kid and how the little things used to be so new to me and I guess I just appreciated them more then. Things like the rain, sunshine,green grass, and thunderstorms. There are many more but it seems like when you get older it's easier to forget how the little things used to get you so excited. I'm trying to look at things now days as if I've not seen them in a while or I may never see them again because I truly believe everyday I have on this earth to see, hear, feel, and experience is a blessing from God and I would like to try and take advantage of every opportunity I have. That's not to say that I won't fall back into my old ways of taking everything for granted but I am going to try not to.

Enough about green grass and sappy stuff :) I need to get ready for my trip by planning activities and booking hostels. I am going to try and keep this blog updated a bit more often though :) Until next time..............

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!