Mardi Gras

Well its Mardi Gras weekend here in New Orleans, which is always a huge deal here. I do love how the city likes to celebrate as a community but I never get too excited for Mardi Gras other than the extra time off. Once you’ve been to a couple of parades you’ve seen them all in my opinion. It also rained pretty hard here yesterday postponing a lot of the parades. I went to grab lunch from Crabby Jacks (a local poboy shop) yesterday and the place was packed then when I left it was pouring down rain. With the down time I have been using a lot of it organizing a lot of things. With graduation coming up I am drafting some cover letters for different opportunities. I know I’d like to work in athletics and right now I am looking for openings where I can learn and gain experience for a career in the field. As far as the semester goes things are going pretty well. I am making some progress in my training and classes are going well. Our first outdoor meet will be in San Diego, which will be here soon. Looking forward to perfecting my technique and then competing over Spring Break in San Diego. 

Cold Front in Nola

This weekend has been the coldest yet this year but still managed to have a pretty active weekend doing some things I do not normally get to do. Saturday morning I went on 2 hour bike ride then played softball for about 2 hours then played tennis for another 2 hours. Pretty productive day. On my bike ride I had never seen so many ducks in one pond over in Audubon Park. We had a group play softball on the quad behind Bruff and played two games. First game was first to 15 and the second one was first to 11. I was fortunate enough to be on the winning side both times and the Jon Frano was the unfortunate one to be on the losing side both times. I still had a lot of energy so got some people to play tennis. I hadn't played in awhile so it was fun playing again. On top of that I got a couple more recommendations for my UT-Austin application. Practice went really well this week and I'm in good health. Showing a lot of progress in the long jump and got some decent hurdle work in as well. Practicing my footwork for the javelin was challenging but got some good reps in this week. Excited to keep working at it and accomplishing the goals I have set for this season.

The Fly

Pond at Audubon

More Ducks

My future dog one day...

This week in Nola

I went to the Mat Kearney concert Tuesday at the House of Blues with one of my roommates. We got there a little late but we had a blast. Fun times and definitely would like to see another one of his shows. Schools gone well have my first quiz and test of the semester this week. I am really enjoying my real estate class this semester. Professor Aguilar is very entertaining and I feel like I am learning a lot in that class. I watched the Super Bowl earlier and was really pulling for the Patriots to win it, I'm a big fan of Robert Kraft and it was crushing to see the clip of him watching the very last play of the game. Still a great season and pretty cool how they dedicated their season to his wife. Getting ready for another week of training and hoping to make improvements to get ready for the outdoor season. 

Mat Kearney at House of Blues in Nola

First week back

With a week of school under way I am officially in the process of finishing my last semester of school at Tulane. First week went well and happy with my classes. One of my teammates turned 21 this past week and he some people over to the Columns Hotel on Saturday. Sunday I finished some reading for school then went right to watching the AFC and NFC championship games. Glad the patriots won but was hoping the 49ers could pull out a win too.  In other news glad the Texas Rangers signed Darvish and excited to see how that develops. Looking also to apply for summer internships with Nike and Under Armour. Good start to the semester and anxious to get back to training this week. 

Fun break and New semester

A lot has been going since I last wrote. The Christmas break went really well. Finished well in my classes and finished strong in my workouts. My break consisted of a lot of football, ping-pong, applications, workouts, and some modern family episodes. At the beginning of the break I went to some friends Deb ball, which was really fun and I got to visit with some people I hadn’t seen in awhile. Then all my mom’s side of the family was together on Christmas Eve like we always do. White Elephant exchange was fun and it was good be around everyone. My grandmother cooked a great dinner too. Also went to Billy Bobs to see one of my buddies play.

I also went to a conference in downtown Fort Worth. Saw and met some great people. A group went to South Dallas to help reach out to kids by just playing sports with them. We started with a football game as soon as we got there and after a little bit I definitely started getting competitive, but we had a great time. Every one has a platform to make and impact, its how you use it that matters. Came back to Nola to help out with the Saint Bernard Project that helps victims of the hurricane get back into homes. Fun to be back in New Orleans and Boston College has come down the past three years to help out specifically with the project. We had dinner as a group and then got to hang a little bit afterwards. After that I came back to Fort Worth for my friends wedding. I had a good time and got meet some neat people who knew some of my other friends. Always fun to make those connections.

I also finished my application to UT Austin for my masters. Very excited about that and some of the other options I am working on.  Now I am back in Nola and I start classes and practice tomorrow. Can’t wait to get rolling and looking forward to a great semester and seeing what God has planned.  

My buddy Lance

Certified through TEMS

St. Bernard Project Home Site

Adding my name to the house

Family receiving their home

Packaging Food to send to Ethiopia

Lines to prepare the food

Beautiful Day in NOLA

One of the best things about New Orleans is the great weather. Anytime I can get warm weather, I’ll take it. Now I do like seeing seasonal changes throughout the year but its extremely nice not practicing out in the cold. Today it is a cool 70 degrees and makes for a pretty nice day. Fortunately I had practiced today so I was not confined to my room studying all day. Finals week is always a hectic time for college students though I have a good schedule this week. My last exam is on Saturday then I’m heading back to Fort Worth. After the break we have are first outdoor meet in March so until then training everyday to get better. Days like these allow you to do anything you want and combine the weather with New Orleans culture; it makes for something unique. 

Front of Tulane Campus

Another tough loss

Man oh man its tough to be a Cowboys fan these days. I was able to watch the game since it was on NBC and it was rough. First Demarco Murray left the game with a ankle injury and then they give up a 12 point lead in the end of the fourth quarter. Cowboys missed another game winning field goal for the second straight week. However, there is a small consolation that the Tebow and the Broncos won again. I'm not a huge fan for how the media covers the Tebow thing way too much, but I am a big fan of the guy. I love his style because its refreshing and I hope they make a run if they get into the playoffs. Here at Tulane its finals week and I have two more. One on Thursday and another one on Saturday, I feel pretty good about them and I've had a pretty good semester. Training has gone well and looking forward to keep that momentum into the Christmas break. I'm heading back to Fort Worth on Saturday so I'll get in the day after my Grandpa's birthday. Tulane Basketball is also off to a great start having only lost one game and their next game is at Syracuse. During the break I'll finish my application to UT at Austin for my masters in Sports Management. Also side note on the Rangers, hate to see C.J. go wish he could've stayed in Texas but he's in a pretty good spot in LA.