Thanksgiving, Cowboys, and back to school...

This past week was Thanksgiving and I went back to Fort Worth, TX for the break. It was the first time I had been home this whole semester. It was great to see all of my family and friends. We had Thanksgiving at my Aunt’s house instead of my grandparent’s house this year. My Aunt Brenda did a great job and had some great food prepared for everyone. My Aunt Karen also made some (and by some, I mean a lot) of good desserts and I actually made a chocolate/pumpkin bundt cake myself; it was pretty good, too. I was fortunate enough to go to the Cowboy game in the new stadium with my cousin Brain, which was a ton of fun. I had a great time seeing the new Cowboys Stadium and spending some quality time with my cousin. The Cowboys Stadium is one sight to see. Some family friends were actually sitting a couple rows behind us at the game, too. Overall, I had a great Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for and I have to give God the glory for my wonderful family because I am truly blessed. This is the last week of classes before finals begin next week and I am actually traveling back to Texas on Saturday to go back for the Big XII title game. It is going to be at the new Cowboys Stadium, too. It has been a great semester and it feels like I just started it yesterday. The other day myself and some other student-athletes went to a USG meeting to help gather support for priority scheduling for student-athletes. It went well and I was glad to be apart of it.

Wave Days and football games

The weather recently could not be any more perfect these past couple of weeks especially for November. Training in this weather has been really nice as well. Last week the athletic department had one of its wave days at the Tulane vs. UTEP game. There were about seven different schools and a number of athletes spent time with the kids before and during the game. It went well and the kids had a great time going to a game in the Superdome. The game itself was extremely close. Tulane drove down the field with a minute 1:20 left in the game and no timeouts to score a touchdown in the last seconds of the game. We were able to score on our first overtime drive and stop UTEP on their drive. Tulane won 45-38. This past weekend I went up to Baton Rouge for the LA Tech/LSU game to see my cousin who plays for LA Tech. He is redshirting this year, but was on the travel team for the LSU game. My brother flew in for the game and I met up with some friends too. It was a lot of fun. I received a call the morning of the game from my other cousin who lives in Dallas saying that she was in Baton Rouge for the game with one of roommates that went to LSU. It was great to see her and I definitely was surprised to see her. LA Tech was actually leading LSU at halftime but in the end, LSU was able to pull out with the victory. Thanksgiving is about a week away and I am looking forward to spending time with all my family and seeing friends.

October...

These past couple of weeks I have definitely been watching a lot of good football games. Luckily, Texas pulled it off against OU last weekend (close 16-13) and there have been a ton of other close games as well. Last weekend Tulane had fall break so we did not have school on Thursday or Friday. It was a good weekend. I mostly spent it working on a paper and catching up on some much needed rest. Practice has been going great; I love being able to have the opportunity to get better each day. God has truly blessed me with so much. I helped work on the chapel house behind the Chapel of Holy Spirit this past Saturday, which was a lot of fun. I have not been able to get over there as much as I would like this semester so it was nice to have chance to help out. I mostly worked on help putting up sheet rock. Then on Sunday, a number of the student-athletes volunteered at Boo at the Zoo. I wore a harness then a cable raised me up. I pretty much pretended to be a prop then I would scare the people as they drove by. It worked pretty well and I had have fun doing it, though it did get a little uncomfortable at times.

Oh this is what my little brother is doing at A&M

so proud...

Homecoming and Destin, FL

A lot has been going the past few weeks. This past week was Homecoming week and parents weekend. My mom flew into New Orleans Friday night and we grabbed dinner on Magazine Street. Saturday we drove to Destin, FL for my cousin’s wedding. Though we missed many of the homecoming activities, it was nice to take a break in Florida. Destin is gorgeous, the sand was white and the ocean was green. The wedding went great and I was able to spend some quality time with the family. I have also definitely been watching as much college football games as I can; it has been a great season so far. I am excited for the big game this weekend with the Red River Shootout (Texas v. OU). Tulane also has fall break this week so there will be no classes on Thursday or Friday. The Track & Field team also received two new assistant coaches, a sprints/hurdles/relays and a thrower’s coach. The semester has been challenging on many different levels, but as far as school, it is a little tough. Overall, it has gone well and I am grateful for what God has been able to show me this semester.

New beginings

Today was the last day of our new coach's first week. It has been a good week of practice and our team definitely has a lot of potential to grow. I have had a couple of tests this week and lasts. I think they went pretty well, but I still have not received two of them. Tulane plays McNeese St. tomorrow so hopefully the team can get on a roll and build some momentum with a win. I have really enjoyed Tulane so far and I have been able to really get a feel for my surroundings much more so than my first semester. Tulane is a beautiful campus minus some of the construction we have going on here and there. I have also been able to take advantage of eating at some local restaurants, which have been good. We have a three-day weekend because of the Yom Kippur on Monday. I am looking forward to some good college football tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to get some rest along with some work. I feel that I learn more and more about Tulane each day which is nice because I think that is an important characteristic for a university to have. I was also fortuante enough to help out at the New Orleans Mission this past Saturday where a group of people and myself built flower beds for the homeless. Here are some pictures...

Where to begin...

Well I have been doing a lot lately and it is now midway through the third week of school. Things are going really well. Moving into my dorm was pretty easy. I am on the second floor and right by the stairs so I was moved in no time. Before I moved into my dorm, my family went to Ruston, LA to visit my cousin who is playing football at Louisiana Tech. After that, we headed down south to NOLA and on the way stopped at LSU to see a good friend. These first couples of weeks have gone well and it had been great to be back on campus. Yesterday was our first official track practice and we are currently in the process of getting a new coach. I am ready to get back in the swing of things so I can learn how to manage my schedule again with track and school. My brother is actually starting his first year of college at Texas A&M so there has been a lot going on lately. Tulane also plays BYU this Saturday, which should be pretty exciting considering they are coming off a big win against OU.

It came and went...

Well its already August and school is about to start up again. I am pretty excited about the upcoming school year because it should be a lot of fun and I will be a lot more familiar with everything. It has been a nice summer and I have been able to relax, but I've been working for the most part and staying on top of my workouts so I'm pretty beat during the week. I went to lake with my family last weekend. The lake was gorgeous and the water was smooth. I've tried to read some books lately before school reading starts up again.

The Fourth of July & more

So far summer has gone pretty well. I have been working as a landman and have been able to do my workouts afterwards, though its been fairly hot here in Texas. I went to Amelia Island, Florida with my mom and my brother for a family reunion. We had a good time and we were there for about five days. I saw some family that I had not seen in ahwile so it was a nice to get to see them. I went to my grandparent's lakehouse for July 4th. We went on the boat, watched a good fire work show, shot off some fireworks and then saw a depressing Wimbeldon match on Sunday (Roddick should've won). I have enjoyed being home, but I know in a month I will be ready to go back to school.

Summa's Here

Conference Championships was a lot of fun. I had my best jump of the season on my first attempt and we were 6th in the 4x1. I had a great time in Tulsa and my mom, grandmother, and brother even came up to see me run. We were fortunate enough to have some great weather and none of the events was postponed. I have now been back in Fort Worth for two weeks. My brother and my cousin graduated this past Saturday. We all then went to lunch afterwards and had a good time. It seems just yesterday I was the one graduating. My cousin is going to Louisiana Tech to play football and my brother is going to Texas A&M. Why he is going to A&M, I will never know; but I guess there are stranger things. These past couple of weeks have been good. I saw my grandfather who I had not seen in awhile. I saw a ton of people at graduation, which I really enjoyed. I am also working as a landman for an Oil & Gas Company and hopefully I will be getting a waiting job as well, but we will see. I am definitely ready for another productive summer and I want to accomplish many things especially getting stronger and faster for next year. I am trying to gain at least 15 pounds, wish me luck. I will need it.

more photos...

End of the Year

It is hard to believe, but my freshman year at Tulane is practically finished. I finished all of my finals last Thursday. I am now preparing for the Conference USA track championships on May 15 and 16. I am doing the long jump, 4x1 relay, and possibly the 4x4 relay.  I have had a great year, but it will be exciting to spend time with all my family again for a while. My mom flew into New Orleans on Mother’s Day to load all my stuff into the rental car; it was good to see her especially since it was Mother’s Day. We then ate lunch at this random breakfast spot a couple minutes from Tulane. I have met a lot of good people this year and I have fortunately been able to experience many things this year, which have contributed to my growth as both a student and a person. I hope that I will be working part time somewhere this summer, but you never know. I will continue to train during the summer for next year. Other than that, it has been a great year and I am looking forward to seeing old friends and seeing how all my new friends are doing back home.   

Ole Miss and LSU

These past few weeks I have been fortunate enough to go to some really fun and competitive meets at Ole Miss and LSU. Ole Miss fell on Easter weekend and our team left at about 12 on Friday to head down to Batesville where we stayed at a nice Holiday Inn. My friends Jared and Koplan and myself ate at Café Ole and we had some nice Mexican food. I participated in long jump and triple jump at Ole Miss. I had a personal best in the long jump, but fouled in the triple jump. Ole Miss has some phenomenal athletic facilities, plus I saw Jevan Sneed a fellow Texas native while I was warming up for my event in their indoor football facility. Our team did very well; we had a lot of team personal bests and one NCAA regional qualifying mark. For the LSU meet, I did the long jump, 100, 200, and the 4x4 relay. This was by far one of the most competitive and fun meets I have ever been to in my life. I did not do as well as I wanted in my first three events, but I made up for it with a decent 4x4 split. Richard Thompson who won the silver medal in 100 at Beijing ran the 100 later that afternoon, which was his first race of the spring. It was very cool to see all the many different talents at the meet. After the meet was over I was ready to get to my bed and I definitely had one if not my best nights sleep of the semester. Now I am focusing on finishing strong for the semester and doing well on finals then getting ready for conference.  

The tail end of freshman year

The pictures above are from a community service project I went to today. We went to Langston Hughes Academy to help build picnic tables, benches, wrap library books, and paint murals. My job along with some others was to build benches. It was a lot of fun, they gave us the pieces, nails, instructions and a drill then we did the rest. A friend of mine on my floor helped build it with me. As for the past couple weeks, I went home to Texas for Spring Break and enjoyed being back home. It was nice having the leisure to wake up whenever I wanted. I trained at my high school and caught up with some friends. Here at Tulane, we had crawfest yesterday, which was cool then I caught some final four basketball and worked on a Spanish paper. I have meet this upcoming Easter weekend at Ole Miss and on top of that some major writing and studying to do. I am eager to finish strong this semester and rely on God to lead me through it. 

Another day in the life...

Ok well it has been awhile since I have last written. I have been doing a lot of things lately with midterms, papers, and track; but everything has been going pretty well. I have been busy with TUknow, which was on Wednesdays for four weeks where anybody was welcome to have phenomenal meal and learn more about Christ. I also went to the Hornets and Mavericks game with a couple of friends, sadly the Mavericks didn’t really show up to play that night. I had my first collegiate track meet this past weekend at Southern Miss. It was a lot of fun and I did the Long Jump, Triple Jump, and 200m dash. I didn’t do as well as I wanted, but there is always room for improvement and I am excited for my next meet at Lafayette tomorrow. Today is the last day of classes and it is spring break next week. I think we are one of the few schools that have spring break on the last week of March. My brother and my mom are actually on Spring Break right now in Costa Rica and they get back Sunday. I am looking forward to going back to Texas and just hanging with the family so I am going to leave Sunday after the track meet. The weather recently in New Orleans has been great and I almost forgot what it was like to wear pants for awhile. Though I have a couple of assignments over the break, I am excited to just relax and unwind for a bit.

Mardi Gras

Well it is officially Mardi Gras here in New Orleans though I am sure in many people’s eyes Mardi Gras started on Thursday. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it; I was not here for the Mardi Gras festivities. I went home to see my family back in Fort Worth and since the Track season is fast approaching, there would not be a time for me to see my family until the end of the semester. It was a lot of fun to go back home see my family. These next two weeks there will lots of working and studying to be done, but I definitely believe it will go very well. It is hard to believe that the first track meet is only nineteen days away. The season should be a lot of fun and I am ready to start competing. There have been many exciting things going on around campus, these past two weeks I have been going to TUKnow and so far; the turn out has been good. TUKnow is a forum for non-believers to ask questions about Christ in a relaxed setting. We start classes back up again tomorrow so I am ready to get back in the swing of things and get back to work. 

Back to School!

                                           X-Ray ^

<-- lil bro laying in the hospital bed

It definitely feels like I have been at school for longer than a 

week though I have not. My break was a lot fun but I wish it 

were longer, ha-ha; but I am sure everyone wishes 

it were. It was an eventful break. I went to the zoo with my 'little' brother Jacori and he came over to play some rock band before I left for school, which was a lot of fun. Interestingly enough the last Friday of my break my brother broke his tibia (shin) playing in a soccer game and I was the only one of my family to be there. He was a trooper even though he was in a lot of pain. He was able to come home after we had been in the hospital practically the whole night. His friends came over and even made him some lunch and later brought him dinner, too. I think everyone catering to him started to spoil him. I left Sunday to go back to Tulane so I said my goodbyes to my family and wished them luck with the new gimp. Gaines later went to the doctor on Monday and found out that he was going to have surgery and they were going to stick a rod in his leg to support his shin...ouch! He took a little longer than expected in recovery but he is now at home, which is a relief. With that said the first week of school has been an adjustment, fun but an adjustment after being a free to do whatever during the Christmas break. My classes are looking good for this semester and it looks like they will be a lot of fun. This morning I woke up and went to practice early so I could eat lunch with a prospective student; but immediately after that I took a look nap, which was probably indicative of the long week that I had. 

Happy New Year!

So far, my break has been phenomenal and I have enjoyed the much-needed free time! Christmas was a blast as usual and I was able to spend quality time with the family on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, our family opened gifts and later went to a movie with my grandparents. We saw Marley & Me, which was a surprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it much more than I though I would. One of my gifts was Rock Band and at first, I was not too excited about it; but my brother and I have been playing it a lot lately and it is a sweet game. I have also been watching many Bowl games, I watched the TCU/Boise St. game with some of my High School friends who go to TCU. However, I am definitely ready for the Texas/Ohio State game. The National Championship game should be exciting, too. I am looking forward to Florida taking it to that school in Oklahoma. I spent New Years Eve at a friend's house with some friends from High School and we had a good time. I am excited about 2009 and I hope a lot of good will come of the New Year. Second semester should be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to going back to Tulane, though right now I am glad I still have a little over a week left of my break!