Thanksgiving

In a family of 8 (including myself) it's usually never lonely around holiday times! And we have a lot of relatives from both sides of the family that live within 20 minutes away. So Thanksgiving is actually pretty chaotic.

But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my family... and it gets too quiet without them.

My favorite dishes are green-bean casserole, cheesy potato slices, hot buttery rolls with some chilled white wine to wash it down. Oh, and I'm a dark meat/crispy skin  kind of guy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A "Love" Story

So I have this friend who never really dated before. In fact, the word "dating" was almost never heard in his house. He never had a valentine, never had a high school sweet heart, and now that i think of it... he'd never had a girl friend at all. Then one summer he meets a woman. An amazing woman. He likes this woman. This is a good thing. The woman likes him. This, also is a good thing. The woman finds out that he is almost 5 years younger than her. This is not a good thing. So at the beginning he just befriended her and things were cool.

But before long, their attraction was undeniable. They had gotten so close to each other that they were practically dating. Things actually moved pretty fast, but my friend was fully aware of what he was doing. He opted not to tell his family and most of his friends because he was unsure just how to tell them, how they might treat him afterwards. And besides that, he finally felt that he wasn't obligated to do or tell anyone anything. So he kept it a secret. Like wise with the woman and her family, in fear of what other might think. They were... secret lovers.

For the very first time in his life he felt free. Independent. The life he wanted to live was finally his choice to make. He was in control of his life with no one to tell him different. Ironicly enough, she wouldn't let him buy even his own food when they went out. He felt humbled to say the least. She felt like she needed to take care of him. When they talked about their future together, she would jokingly call him her "man wife" because she didn't want him to work.

Long story short, 4 months later he confidently felt he was absolutely in love with this woman. At which point she decided to stop things between them. He was completely crushed. She said it would never work because they were both in different phases in life.
"If you were only older," she says. He simply can not believe that she would let age stop their love. "It's not love," she says. Each time she speaks... his heart sinks deeper into darkness. Wounded and after months of rebutting... he walks away into the silence that is loneliness once more. The end.

Camping Obsession

I was fortunate enough to be raised in a family took lots of road trips. We camped all over the U.S. which is what sparked my love for nature. Now that I'm all grown up... not much has changed.

Reading "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen and "My Side of the Mountain" inspired me even more to pursue my passion for the great out doors. After seeing the enormous Red Woods of California and the breath taking mountain scenery of the North East, I really couldn't just go back home and forget about it all.

Bear Grylls is one of my most recent heros. Popular from the hit Discovery show "Man vs. Wild," he has given me the confidence to survive primarily off of the earth. He taught me to never underestimate what the human body can do under intense situations.

Just this weekend I went camping with some of my home town pals. I ended up eating a cricket and fresh caught oysters from a near by lake. I'm not going to lie, the cricket was grimy and the oyster was very tough!

Writing and Singing

These are both things I'm no good at.. but wish to be. I can hardly play music as well. I've always found it very difficult to "express" my emotions passionately! When I get close to a girl I'm interested in, I trip over my words like I'm running a three legged race. Most girls think it's "adorable" that I don't speak correctly... I think it's annoying.

I thought, maybe if I practice writing poetry the song part will follow shortly after. So far, no such luck. But I'm not giving up just yet. I'm full of passion without an outlet... this is never a good situation.

Skydiving

...it's definitely something I could do as a hobby. It's an adrenaline rush for the first 10 seconds and after that it's like flying towards a huge painting at 120mph. My sis came with me but didn't jump so I think we're going to plan another trip on her birthday to come do it again.