NickTrip.com

I’ll get to the dramamine in a bit. Here is a list of things I did in KC. I will be back in Mid Aug. for a friends wedding, and more fun I hope, then it’s back to the school…back to school. Summer is great, isn’t it?

KC:

- Ate a several great places that I love and had some cooking from mom…enchildadas, tacos. Went to Johnny’s bbq, thai palace on westport, salty iguana, chili’s (don’t have em in Portland), italain delight, jack stack bbq (remember now, I went almost 2 years without bbq), among other places. NOTE: this time, I’m going to taco via, planet sub

- Played frisbee golf. I’m awful, but this is my new game. It’s free, easy on my back, and did I say free?

- Fishing. Oh yes! Didn’t catch much, small bass and catfish, but man it was great. I can’t even tell you how much I love to fish. Took me back a few years to some good fishing times in hs and college.

- Family gatherings on the deck. Tough heat in kc in the summer, but get some mosquito candles and good food, and it’s great. When I say family, that includes a lot of people. Friends are family.

- Royals game. Cheap craiglist tickets, virtually free. Got the hot dog derby shirt. What a stadium. Hadn’t been in about 5 years. I loved it.

- Went to 3 and 2 stadium with family to watch a ball game. It was great. And, I went to the concessions to eat. If you ever went out there in your life, you know what I’m talking about. One item that they took off the menu was the burrito. Remember the fried burrito? Well, they have a new one. The sign that day said, “Back by popular demand: The burrito”. What a day. I didnt get it, but I told them how they used to make it. Let’s see if they listened to my advice.

- I spent a lot of time taking an online class. Reading a book, etc…That helped that I was taking that class, to keep me busy during the day. I also spent 3 times a day stretching. My version of yoga and flexibility. I am now doing my back/core excersices. I haven’t done a running workout, or really any workout, since Aug. 1 2009. I hope to hit the paveement late Aug. 2010. Wish me well. One mile at a time.

-Saw some fireworks KC style. Hadn’t been in KC since 2007 for the 4th. That was nice. It just popped in my head, I also ate at town topic. Good burger. Oh, my fave, winsteads as well. Love that place.

-Had a great time at my mom’s 60th. Got to see some folks I hadn’t in a while. I’m telling you, this was a good fiesta. Good food for days.

-Went to chuckecheese with my niece. We won a lot of tickets. We have good skiball players in the family. She is next in line. Made some of the best shots i’ve seen, and the technique is solid. Some work to do still, but I see talent.

-Played some nintendo wii. My favorite game without a doubt is the bike racing game. I know, some will tell you its lame. Real lame. I love it.

- Got to hang with my family. #1 on the list, if that is the only thing I did, it was worth the trip.

-Fish dance at SMP. Great time.

-Watched cable tv like it was going out of business.

I can’t believe that it’s been since March that I’ve posted. Well, I’m back in Portland after a long stay in KC. I was in town for 5 weeks, maybe 6. It was fun. Good to be back home in my own bed though.

KC is always full of things to do, but with 5 weeks, no car, and people working during the day, I had plenty of time to relax as well. It was a great time because there was a lot of family time, and time to catch up with friends. Family and friends, I love them, even if I don’t always show it.

During the first week, my mom’s 60th birthday was the focus. And yes, I mean the first week. Big party, and family over at the house. 8 people in about 700 square feet, one bathroom. It’s tough being the lowest on the totum pole at age 32, especially with family under the age of 10 in the house. So goes life.

From there, we spent a lot of time at my bros house, on the new deck. Sweet set up. Talk about suburban paradise. Man, he put some hard work into it, and it showed. I could live out there. I wish I had that drive to work with my hands. He’s got it. I could write literally 100’s of pages on this trip alone. I love to think about my days. Mabe I dwell on them too much in my mind, but I often replay moments. Usually, I wish I hadn’t been so sarcastic or mean, or that I had said something nice. In my heart I’m always glad to be with my family though.

I’m happy for Kstate, and I hope that they continue to do well. I did pick them to go to the Final 4, although I had Kansas beating them. Won’t happen this year.

I am a fan of hard work, and teamwork. That seems to fit the Kstate mold more than the style Kansas played this year. Not to say that Kansas didn’t have teamwork and hard work, but that Kstate seems to demonstrate that more often.

Good for the state of Kansas that there is still a team going. On Saturday I am going to a concert at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, a Rock and Worship show. I’ll let you know how it goes. I don’t know many of the bands, but I’m hoping to learn a few and hopefully will like their sound.

I committed to going to this concert two weeks ago, and I knew that there would be a chance that Kansas was playing at the same time of the concert. It didn’t seem to matter to me. I have reset my priorities, and while I do love basketball more than most people, I’m sure that I will get more out of this concert and worship than a few games. Hec, I didn’t even watch the KU game on Sat. Not that I don’t care, because I am still a big fan of KU athletics, and track season is starting now too, but I need to put athletics, whether watching, or competing (which for me, is at an stalling point) into perspective.

So, I just got back from a trip to San Jose, California. It was a great break, and although it was sunny here in Portland while I was gone, the sun felt so much warmer in San Jose. The trip was great. Some of the things that I did:

1. Extremely intense mountain bike ride

2. Less intense bike ride into a town called Campbell, for a nice brunch (breakfast burrito the size of a watermelon- a few hours before the bike ride, not a good choice)

3. Trip to Golden Gate Park and the Science museum- great idea

4. Naps and Seinfeld, good for recharging the batteries between ventures in the Bay Area

5. Trip downtown and onto the San Jose St. campus

6. Scenic drive and short hike in the mountains surrounding the valley. Pretty perfect day that was.

The great thing about the trip was that in the shade, I never got goose bumps, and in the sun, other than the bike ride, I didn’t sweat. Air so dewy sweet you don’t even have to lick the stamps.

I’ve been in Portland for two days, catching up on just straight relaxation. I did some spring cleaning, paid some bills-gotta do that, and I’m now reading Psalms, which I’ve never done before, other than a few here and there. I’m feeling a renewed sense of God’s power and love for me all at the same time. God is capable of doing anything, and he has taken the time to make me, and be the central point of my life. I am in awe of that fact, and I am drawing closer each day to what He is calling me to do and who I am called to be.

So it looks like the Hawks should be number one again, and as long as they win a few in the conference tourney, they should be #1 overall headed into OKC and Saint Louis. I didn’t realize that I will be in San Jose the same weekend that there are tourney games for 1st and 2nd rounds. Last year I went to the games in Portland. It was good fun, even though I wasn’t really rooting for any of the teams we watched. It’s fun just to watch the tourney games, although I still prefer to watch on tv. You can watch several games rather than just one. Big 12 in KC should be a good time. I hope it sells out each night, give KC a good basketball name like it used to have.