Sara and I have been together for over a year now.

Seeing AC/DC for the first time…which included a full size locomotive engine on stage.

LOST on Wednesday nights with Sara, the McNeely’s, and Adam.

A trip to Chicago in March with Sara to see the Jimmy Eat World “Clarity 10 Tour”.

Signing Abandon Kansas to Gotee.

My first show at the Ryman…Death Cab for Cutie.

A trip to Maui in May with Sara and her family…which included a day trip to Oahu to see filming locations for LOST.

My niece Eva Sephora was born on July 25 to my brother Brandon and sister in-law Samantha.

Holding Eva for the first time on August 8.

Carnton Plantation concerts from SixtyFour and an Eagles cover band.

Seeing Metallica for the first time…which included an encore with Lemmy from Motorhead.

Taking Sara to her first Penn State football game (a white out)…even though I was sick, it rained, and we loss.

Seeing Them Crooked Vultures…which included legendary bassist John Paul Jones.

A trip to FL in October with Sara to see U2 for my first time and go to Universal Studios.

Road trips with Sara that included visiting wineries off the Natchez Trace and Fall Creek Falls.

Seeing Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen for the first time…a 3 hour set from the Boss included the entire “Born to Run” album.

Witnessing THE Titans win of the year at LP Field with a 99 yard drive and a 4th down last second touchdown pass.

Seeing SixtyFour go from a performance at a housing clubhouse in January to an electric show at 12th & Porter in December.

Spending Christmas in Indio/La Quinta, CA with Sara and her family that included a day at DisnleyLand, my first ostrich burger and date & banana shake, and evenings in the pool with 2 Buck Chuck.

Ending the year in PA with the Moist family.

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Sara and I went to Cali for Thanksgiving, specifically the San Diego area. We flew in on Thanksgiving and drove up to Dana Point to meet the family. Overall we were very busy, driving up and down the 5, hitting as many spots as we could.

On Black Friday we spent time in Laguna Beach after grabbing breakfast at The Greeter’s Corner Restaurant…

…and then hit up the Irvine Spectrum for some insane shopping while getting some killer food and brews at The Yard House.

The next day we drove north to visit the Zappin’s and Oatley’s. We hit up Kingsroad Cafe for breakfast, cruised by their friends boutique, did some shopping in Santa Monica, and ended the day with dinner at C & O Trattoria in Venice followed by a walk on the pier. It was a great time. 

The next day we hit up Kono’s Cafe at Pacific Beach for an AMAZING breakfast burrito brunch… 

…and then hit up the Coronado area, specifically the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado. 

For dinner that evening we were treated to a home-cooked Korean meal courtesy of a family friend. I even tried the jellyfish. 

Our last day in SD we hit up the San Diego Zoo with Sara’s mom. Pandas, gorillas, hippos, rhinos, and elephants oh my!

And yes, I finally had In-N-Out for the first time. 

After returning back to TN, and starting back at my new/old job,  I got the privilege to return to Cali this past week with Relient K. They performed their version of “Sleigh Ride” with Tom Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future) on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday evening. It was surreal being backstage as the other guests included Jim Carrey, Rosario Dawson, and Fred Willard. 

I even walked away with a Christmas gnome from the set.

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My dad had a business trip lay over on Thursday 8/21 so we grabbed dinner and had some killer conversation time. It was great to see him. I went to another Sounds game with Sara and some kids she watches. Again, the fireworks were awesome. The next day we took a trip to Murfreesboro and met up with Tobin to see Abandon Kansas play. They definitely impressed me and though I don’t think their album matches up with the energy they have live, I look forward to keeping any eye on them.
I got see the mighty Stone Temple Pilots for the first time when they rocked out the Grand Ole Opry on 8/24. It was amazing. I was just glad Weiland showed up. He is by far one of the best modern day frontmen you will ever see. I felt like I was transported back to 1994 when they opened up with “Big Empty”. It was a kick ass show.

I went to yet another Sounds game with Sara, Derek, and Danny but this time it was Thirsty Thursday (ie, $1 beer). The tickets were free and the beer was cheap so obviously you can’t turn down entertainment like that plus the people watching is great.

I took a trip Labor Day weekend with my bros Phil and Tobin to St. Augustine, FL. It was the first time I could remember I took a “guys” trip. We stayed on a boat called the Flip Side (owned by the former drummer of Creed and now Alter Bridge) and lived it up large for 4 nights / 3 days. We probably drank way too many Goombay Smashes on Reggae Sunday at the Conch House. But the drinks were free and the hang time was killer. It was a very historic town and a very chill environment. Their tourist slogan was “A quaint little fishing village with a huge drinking problem”. Thanks to Richard, Roli, the McClelland family, and the rest of the SSB guys for the hospitality and great times. I had never been to St. Augustine before and always wanted to go, so I’m really glad I did and that I made a trip with some good dudes who have become great friends this past year. Here are some pics.

Once I got back to TN Sara and I grabbed dinner with the Boer family. Debb sure does know how to cook a killer meal and not just cause I hadn’t had a home cooked meal in a while. Then on the weekend Sara and I had dinner with Beth and Devan at City House in the Germantown area of Nashville. It was my first time eating there and I freakin’ loved it. We followed that up by hittin’ up 3 Crow for Emmy’s and Derek’s birthdays. A lot of friends came out and it was great time seeing everyone and catching up.

I went to my first Tennessee Titans game yesterday. My bro JR had free tickets and I of course took the opportunity to go. I have never been to a pro football game before and it was killer to go to game 1. Not only did the Titans pull out a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars but Penn State alumni quarterback Kerry Collins came in and drove the team down the field for the game clinching touchdown win. As one of my favorite ESPN commentators says, “He was as cool as the other side of the pillow”.

Penn State football has started and so far we’re 2-0. I think we’ll have a really good season and I can’t wait to go home to PA at the end of the month for the Illinois game which is also the WHITE OUT game. And in case you don’t know what that is then click HERE.

Anyways, that’s the latest.

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On a side note, I finally weighed myself the other weekend at a Restoration Hardware in AL. I clocked in at 157.2lbs. Not too bad. If you knew me a year and a half ago I was over 200lbs. But I lost a lot of weight real quick when shit hit the fan last year. I was worried that once I started working in March and actually had some money in my pocket that I would start eating more and put the weight back on. But I haven’t. I have been diligent with refusing to eat the junk food and other stuff that was the cause of the weight going on in the first place. Not to mention I’m trying lots of new and healthier foods like salads. So yeah, I just feel healthier overall and it feels great. Now I just need to get toned up. I have been looking at getting a YMCA membership now that I’m settled into a place and a routine and even more so since there’s one right across the street from my new place. So yes, if you know me, than all of this might sound weird. But I have learned that when one area of your life changes many other areas of your life will change as well and hopefully all for the good, which I believe in my case they are. It’s not to say that I was a bad person before or an extremely overweight person but I have decided to take what has happened to me and create as many good and positive things out of it as I can.

Something that has come to my attention lately is this. There is a beauty in the spiritual. I don’t feel this was something I could have said years ago. I can only associate this awareness with attaching myself to Him as deeply as I have tried this past year. And because of that I have taken notice of a new beauty in people that align themselves with Him as well. It’s a beauty I have never seen before. It’s extremely exciting, humbling, and challenging all at the same time. 

Anyways, that’s the latest. Be blessed and be well.

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Last year’s 4th of July sucked for me. This year I got to spend it with family. And it was a killer time. Brandon and Sam, plus the dogs Texas and Tenne, came down and stayed with me for 4 days starting on Thursday. Their friends Veronica and Johannah came too. It was amazing coming home to dogs at the house for the first time in over a year. I loved watching them run around inside and outside in the yard. Even thought Tenne is only 8lbs she’s got the heart and energy of a dog atleast twice her size. I spent the first day mostly poolside with a PBR in hand. The result was getting some serious redness on my shoulders. But before that started I did secure a new place to live. It’s gonna be weird going from the house to a 1 bedroom apartment. Anyways, we then headed down to the Saucer in the evening and enjoyed a few rounds. Friday was the 4th so we spent more time poolside, though Brandon and I had to take some shelter due to the redness the day before, and then cooked out some brats on my camping stove. I’m used to cooking them on the grill but in a skillet on a camping stove wasn’t too bad. We then headed to downtown Franklin for their festivities. We met up with Sara and Emmy and grabbed some pints at McCreary’s and then watched the fireworks from the top of a parking garage. Since Brandon was in town we just had to go to Pancake Pantry Saturday morning for breakfast. Caribbean pancakes are the way to go. In the evening we met up with the Boer’s and Jackson’s for dinner at Wild Wasabi followed by some fancy mojitos at Lime. Sunday was time for worship at Grace Center followed by an afternoon of Guitar Hero 3 for Brandon and I. We ended the evening with pints and appetizers at Jonathan’s. In all, it was a GREAT time. I only wish Brandon and Sam lived down here. Here’s to hoping.

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