Last Rounds

Before leaving the fam for an extended period of time, 6 months at least, I decided to spend my last few weeks with them. I enjoyed as much of the sinful stuff as I could before heading to the strict land of KSA. I'm talking about pork of course. I hope you weren't thinking anything other than that.

Hot Karl Chills in Knoxvilles

Not everyone gets a best friend to come see them before they leave the country for at least 6 months. Well, I guess that sounds pretty "best-friend-ish" actually, but I still think he's pretty much as good as they get. Heck, he did come to see me in Korea. Anyone this he's going to come to the Middle East? haha. Enjoy some pictures of the straight up Tennessee sights we took in - gun range, demolition derby, etc...

Another Chapter Ends... No Mo' MO

I came to Missouri to play college football and get my master's degree and I did a whole lot more than that...

The only sad part is that I don't know when I'll get 'mo MO. 

Back In Blog!

If a simple tornado took Dorthy to Oz, I think what has hit me in the past week or so must only be explained as one of those mammoth, intergalactic storms that NASA tells us about where the entire Earth could fit through the eye of one of those raging behemoths. I saw the storm coming. I saw it months in advance. Heck, I was the weatherman that spread the news about the incoming freak occurrence of a white bald head moving steadily into the Middle East with a chance of sand...lots of sand. I just didn't realize how quickly everything could change.

 Just a blink of an eye ago I was a college football player. Blink. A high school English teacher in Jasper, MO. Blink. A Master's degree holder. Blink. A high school football coach. Blink. Storm chasing in Middle America. Blink. Swing dancing in Knoxville, TN. Blink. Boat with my parents. Blink... Sitting at work in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia atop the tallest building in the city of over 4 million people, blogging.

Wow, blogging... What a novel concept. There was a time in my life, mainly in Korea, when I looked forward to writing for this blog daily. I took pictures of all my activities, posted them, shared stories about what I was going through, and truly enjoyed all the feedback I got. And I had all intentions of keeping up with my blogging when I returned to America, but things just got in the way: school, football, work, time, etc, etc... We all know the deal.

Well, now I'm back abroad, this time in Saudi Arabia, and I'm determined to dust off this old blogspot and bring it up to date!

I'm hoping to continue posting pictures, but I'd like to actually start editing some short videos too, and maybe even do a few interviews. We'll see. There is much to share though and I sincerely wish you all to follow along. While I love traveling I sincerely miss those of you were or are close to my heart. There is no physical place on earth where I can be surrounded by all of the amazing people I've been fortunate enough to become friends with throughout my lifetime, but I guess, in a way, this blog is kind of like the digital digital alternative to that. It's pretty great to think of it that way actually. Alright, I don't want to ramble on for too long, but there is much more to come in the near future: Flying from America to Germany to Jeddah, seeing my new apartment, being introduced to my new work space that just happens to also be in the building with the largest tv screen in the world taking up one side of the building, sneaking to the top of the building for the nicest views of the city anyone has ever seen (and because it's not open yet almost no one has seen them besides me and my coworker), walking the streets of the Middle East and the confusion that goes with it. Ok, I promise I'll have more enticing titles when I post them for real.

I'm Back!

As you may (or more likely may not) have noticed, I've been away from blogging for a little while. The thing is, when you move back in with your parents the last thing you want to do is tell people about it. Well, actually the last thing you want to do is bring a girl home, but closely behind that is blogging to everyone you care about that you've shacked up with Mom and Dad.

So if you were wondering, I've been in Tennessee for the past 9 months (WoW it sounds like a long time). Why Tennessee you ask? Because my parents feel like they're in college all over again down there and they don't have to pay the property taxes that are in Jersey. So I've been living the retired lifestyle for a while and it's definitely something I could get used to. Of course I wanted to spend some time with my parents who I hadn't seen for the whole year while I was away in Korea, and my 95 year old grandmother that was staying with them too.

Those aren't good enough reasons to move back home, you say? Well, yes those weren't the only reasons, but it was really nice to spend some time with my parents when I wasn't dealing with my teen aged angst (yet I've realized you will always feel like a child when you go home, no matter how old or successful you are). The real reason is that I decided that I wanted to go back to school and the idea of looking for an apartment, a job, and a school all at once seemed overwhelming. That makes sense right?

Oh yeah, and I wanted to train to play college football :-p

Punting Session -

So here's the low down on what has happened to me in the past nine months, the abridged version: I trained everyday to get better at punting. I put on about 20 pounds. I started teaching English to Russians online. I made lots of friends with retirees and Russians. I became an Irish citizen. I won a national punting competition in Florida. I turned 26. I got a division 1AA full ride offer to the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff to play football. I turned down a division 1AA full ride offer to UAPB because of eligibility rules. I made cool friends in Tennessee "around" my age. I moved to Missouri. I'm on course to get my Masters degree in English, my K-12 teaching certificate, and play Division II college football at Missouri Southern State University starting this summer. I moved into a really terrible house that was about to fall apart. I moved out quickly and found a GREAT home that's nearly brand new with a cool roommate and a cool dog :-)

...And that's just about where I'm at now. I'm really happy, and trying to be hopeful about starting school and playing football again, but both prospects also make me really nervous (but excited too). I wanted to keep blogging because I still rarely see any of the people that are always on my mind and I wanted to let you all know what I'm up to and that I still think of you.



I hope I can keep doing this every once in a while and if you haven't heard from me in a while, I'm sorry, but I was just a little embarrassed...no offense Mom & Dad.