NickTrip.com

Good to get back with posting. Things are going well out here, just getting ready for some friends to come in town for about a week, and then my mom will be here in Nov. Fall is great out here, wonderful weather and great friends. I’m getting baptized next Sunday. Pray for me. Our frisbee golf tourney went off well, I was 3rd place. My friend Gavin won. Even though he’s a Raiders fan, he still got the trophy.

It really is great out here in late Aug. through Oct. It is so much like Kansas…in terms of color. And the air smells like cross country and football. That is a great smell. Farmers market, going on walks in the morning or late at night, and watching the sun in the clouds and the sky is pink, and blue, and purple.  Any my 2nd team, the Ducks, doing pretty well. And no, I’m not hopping on the wagon. I’m a hawks football fan.

So, I’m back in the mode of, or should I say, not the mode of summertime. It’s over. It was fun, and I don’t regret that it has passed. I spent some great time with friends and family, and now I’m back in Portland, ready to get back to work, watch some college football, and have a bison burger!

The last of the frisbee golf tournaments is going to take place in two weeks. I’ve hosted three other tourneys, never finishing higher than 4th, and with about 15 people in this one, while I am going to do my best, 4th would be a great spot for me. But, my mindset is that I am going to play to win. If I don’t, if I give my best, its all good.

My new workout outlet is to ride a stationary bike for about 15 min, at a slow pace. After taking a year off from exercise, its not easy to come back from. I am also trying swimming, although I still struggle with technique, and that has resulted in some additional back pain. Trust me, if you don’t do the strokes properly, you get more pain than workout benefits. But I’m SOOOOOO happy just to be back working out at any level. Stop me if I’ve already mentioned this stuff. But, I do some underwater aerobic type stuff and some drills to strengthen my core and hips. I am happy to be given the gifts that I have, and I don’t want to complain about my bad back anymore. So if I do, call me on it. I got some new insoles for my shoes, and for those of you that don’t know, it is necessary to put them in the proper shoe. I didn’t know that they are labeled left and right. After a few weeks, and some weird foot pains, I changed them up. It’s all good now.

So, I hope that everyone can enjoy the rest of this month of September. Take care and keep in touch.

Ups- The sun is out in Portland, and will be for another week. The Jayhawks won a big game against Georgia Tech.

The fall oranges, greens, yellows and reds are on the leaves. School is back in full swing. My mom is coming to visit again for Thanksgiving.

I’m cooking for a group of friends tomorrow for Monday Night Football-making enchiladas. Going outside the box, making some black bean ones as well, which I haven’t done before. The usual peas and cheese will be in the mix also.

KU plays on ESPN Friday, what a way to end the week, and start the weekend. My friends Philip and Kim are coming to visit in October, and we are discussing the finer details of my baptism. Perhaps out on the coast. Wouldn’t that be cold?

The biggest up of all, just being alive and being a part of other peoples’ lives, and having God in mine.

I was going to title this post ups and downs. Sort of like a cheers and jeers post. But why? Why let negativity worm its way into my day, or anyone elses day.

I know that there will be ups and downs in life. But if we stay up, stay positive, and stay in Christ each day, who can stop us?

So, while in Kansas, I hit the ground running from the first full day. I was in Lawrence Fri and Sat, taking part in the pre-wedding festivities on Fri, and then the wedding Sat. Good time that weekend. The food was great. We went to a place on Fri just off of Mass St., on New Hampshire, around 12th or so. Can’t remember the name of it, but it was great. And no, it wasn’t Qdoba. Wedding was great. I managed to cut a few dance moves, not too many. I learned what the cupid shuffle is, and I also learned that gettin giggy wit it is harder to dance to than I thought. That song moves.

So, like I said, I did see a movie, went to BR for ice cream a few times, and met up with some friends for lunch, dinner, etc. Ate a decent sandwich at the Blue Moose in Prarie Village. They don’t have great food, but I do like their sandwiches. Also, ate at Italian Delight, and again, went with the pizza. Good stuff, and HUGE slices. If you haven’t been, I recommend it. And the food is all good.

I did buy some new shoes. Hopefully (at least I’m telling myself this) it will help my back. My old shoes were really worn out. I played some video games with a friend of fine, which I don’t do very often. Of course, I spent enough time in my youth playing video games. A little tecmo bowl, brought back some good memories. My mom and I ate at Chili’s one night. I love Chili’s. I could eat that grilled chicken sandwich or the Old Timer all week long. I still to this day haven’t had the baby back ribs though.

I went to a frisbee golf course in Olathe, played a 2 man scramble. We got beat by 5 strokes through the first 18 holes, so in my poor attitude state, declared that if we played again, our team would win. My brother and his teammate obliged, and we played well for 7 holes, down one, but then after 9 were down 3, hec, maybe 4. It was over. I melted down at one point and threw (what I thought was going to be a great shot) one of my shots 20 yards backwards and about 30 yards to the right. I’ve never seen a shot so bad. And apparently neither had my teammate, who was the only witnesss, but he told the other guys about it as we were finishing the hole. I thought that I had gotten away with anyone seeing it, but no. I was mocked, as I should have been.

And, my mom and I went to a friends house for dinner one night as well. Had some wonderful lasagna, topped off with a slice of tippins pie. The pie came after dinner of course, not on top the the lasagna.

So, the St. Johns social and seeing Inception could be the last items on the list, although just hanging out with family is a good option too. Although, the wildcard is the Royals play 2 games tonight. One starts at 6, the other after 9:30 I would assume. Midnight at the K! Probably won’t happen, but the weather would have cooled off by then. So, here’s to another good trip in KC. Oh yeah, I headed downtown as well, and went to lunch with a friend who took me to see the Bridge of the town of Kansas, near 3rd and Main. Cool view. If I ever figure out how to take pics from my phone onto the computer, I could post them so you could see. KC has a lot of bridges, like Portland.

The great thing about Kansas is that it can be 95 degrees one moment, rain may kick in and drop the temp about 10 degrees or more, and then its right back up to 95 within hours, and a bit muggy. You get all the jungle aspects of Costa Rica, without the nice beaches and food. Other than that, Kansas is just like Costa Rica.

So, its been a great trip. I got whooped at dominos last night with my family. I finished 5th out of 6, not a great showing. I couldn’t believe how mad I was getting. I kept it all in, but that just made it worse. Clearly I’ve got competition issues when I ticked off that my great aunt and uncle are beating me in a game of dominos. But, like Herm Edwards says, “Hello?! You play to win the game!” The slice of tippings chocolate silk pie made things slightly better though, and seeing them and my bro, sister in law and mom have fun, and I was having fun too, laughing a bunch as we all were during the night, made it a great evening.

So, my niece is having a birthday party, should be fun. Good weather to be swimming today. So, I will be present for that. Note, I say present, not necessarily active. I’ll just supervise. I did go see Despicable Me and got some ice cream a couple of times with my niece, which was fun. The movie was good. I enjoyed it.