You Can Find Me in Saint Louie - ROCKCHALK

Well I haven't blogged in a pretty long time, so I figured I would let you all know what I did the past week or so.

This year I wanted to do some things that I have never really done before.  I guess you could call it a "bucket list" of some sort.  I kind of started to think about this during my time in the Dominican, and when I got back to the states I figured what better year then this year to do things I never have.  I decided I wanted to start running and figured what better way to make myself do that then register for a half marathon.  My ultimate goal is to run a full marathon, but figured I better start with a half and work myself up.  The 20k is in June here in Des Moines so I have been training for that and I am loving it.  During training the program I am doing it recommends that I take part in some 5k's and things like that, so I am also registered for the AIDS 5K here in Des Moines as well.  My brother, Adam, is running in the AIDS run as well, so it should be a good run for a great cause and I can't wait for this summer.  I am excited to see how I do during the half marathon and am ready to see what I can do.

As many of you know and as I have stated in a previous post, I am a die hard Kansas Jayhawk fan.  I have loved watching them this year, and many know I would give anything to see them in person.  I have gone to a few games over the years when they have played at ISU, but it just isn't the same as seeing them in a game either at Allen Fieldhouse, or some kind of tournament.  It all started during the Big 12 Tournament this year in Kansas City.  I was thinking about heading down to watch them, but I ended up not going.  Then they received a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and were placed in the Midwest Region.  To cut this story short, they made it to regional finals in Saint Louis.  The minute they won the game against NC State, I was online looking at tickets for the Regional final against North Carolina.  I was willing to spend a pretty large amount of money to see this game, and ended up finding a great deal on tickets.

I was all prepared to drive the 6 hour drive alone, when I called my mom to see what she thought.  Needless to say, she said her and my dad wanted to come with so I was pumped.  We purchased the tickets Saturday night and Sunday morning I picked them up and we were headed to Saint Louis.

The drive there felt like it took 2 hours because I was so excited.  We pulled into the parking ramp and when I got out of my car my legs started shaking because I was so excited (I am aware this is pretty embarrassing). The atmosphere down there was unlike anything I had seen.  There were tons of Kansas fans, and quite a few North Carolina fans, all chanting and all that good stuff.

The game was close through out, and in the final minutes Kansas pulled away and got the big win for a trip to the Final Four.  It was an experience I will never forget, and I am so grateful that I could share it with my parents.  I have always wanted to hear the "Rockchalk Jayhawk" chant in person, and it gave me chills to take part in the chant during the final minutes.  My family is obviously huge fans of the game, so it was an incredible experience for all of us.  It was also really nice to be able to go nuts during the game and actually have people around you who do not care.  Usually I am in my apartment throwing things and screaming until I have no voice left.

I am extremely excited about this Saturday's Final Four game, and I do realize that not matter what I do for the game, it will not live up to being there live, but I am still really excited.  I will more then likely watch the game at my apartment with all the windows closed to hide the noise that I make during the games.  My bracket is doing great this year as well.  In the ESPN bracket challenge I am in the 96th percentile, which means that there is only 4 percent of the 6 million brackets entered that are better then me.  Obviously I have picked Kansas to win it for as long as I can remember filling out a bracket, so I have them taking down Kentucky in the National Championship.  Either way I am pretty happy that I got to experience the game to go to the Final Four, and also am pretty proud of how this years team has performed.  No one expected them to be this successful this year, and they have been very fun to watch.

Other then that my life is pretty much the same.  Just working a ton and trying to train for this half marathon I signed up for.

Hopefully this message finds you in great health and also having a great start to the Spring season.  I am looking forward to catching up with you all again soon.

Until next time...

The Past Few Weeks and Weeks to Come

I haven't written in a while, and wanted to get a few things out about what has been going on in my life as well as what is coming up in the next few weeks.

When I think back a few weeks ago, I think of all the emotions that I was having when I got back from the Dominican.  As I wrote in the last blog, I was feeling guilty just to be back in the states.  In talking to a few folks, I found this was normal and honestly it took me about two weeks to finally feel comfortable being back and doing my job regularly and all of those types of things.  It is crazy how much one week away can change a person that much.  All is well now, but I will never forgot what that week was like.

As I have been thinking the past few days on what all I need to write in this blog, a few different things have crossed my mind.  One was that I need to send out a HUGE thank you to the Project 52 family and everyone reading this blog.  Your comments on Facebook and Twitter, and also in person are greatly appreciated and do not go unnoticed.  I honestly started this because I wanted to let people know what was going on and also to hopefully get people to think about going on trips in the future with Project 52.  I also wanted to give something for my family to read to let them know what I was going through and feeling during this life changing trip.  The blog got bigger then I expected and am so grateful that I could share with everyone what all went on down in the Dominican.  I also want to thank everyone for their support when I was sick last week.  From an email I got it sounded like there were a few people from the team sick, and I am hoping that everyone is back to normal finally.

Another topic I wanted to bring up was Kony 2012.  I have watched the video as I am sure most of you have (I will link it up below if you have not and want to take a look at it).  As with every movement these days, there are those who support it fully and also those who say it is a bunch of nonsense and is a waste of time.  I have done some research and also have looked at a ton of articles on it, and I actually do feel like this is a good thing.  I know many will disagree, but lets be honest here.  Joseph Kony is a bad man who does terrible things to people.  He needs to be brought to justice, and honestly I do not have any idea what the best way to do that is.  I just think that social media is changing the world and that can be good and bad.  I also think that it is a great thing that young people all over America are standing up for something they believe in that has to do with global peace.  It is not often anymore you see people care about something this globally.  It seems as if younger people seem to care more about missing an episode of Jersey Shore then they do about what is going on in the world, so when something like this comes about and people care deeply about it that makes me happy.  Enough about Kony, I just wanted to put that out there and let people know what I thought.

Now on to some great news.  It's MARCH!  As many of you know, I grew up in a family that breathes basketball.  From an early age I have loved the game and that is why March is the best time of year for me.  The NCAA Tourney is upon us and I have a feeling this year it is going to be a great tourney.  The thing that makes me the most excited is the passion that the players have during this time of year.  Each possession is critical and they leave it all on the floor.  As many of you also know, I have an obsession with the Kansas Jayhawks.  I think this years team is special, and from the looks of it, they might not run into any mid-major teams so that is a good thing as well.  I wanted to share a video with you about one of the players who I have the utmost respect for is Thomas Robinson.  I will also add the link to the video ESPN did on him about losing both of his Grandparents and Mother all within the same month.  He has come back this year better then ever and I could not be happier for him.

That is about all I have as of right now.  My goal was to throw a blog out there every Sunday, so I may try to get on that schedule because I actually really enjoy writing this way.  The next few weeks will consist of a ton of basketball, a ton of work (my territory expanded so I have a lot more road trips coming up), and also a ton of studying for the GMAT.  If all goes according to plan I will be heading back to school this fall at the University of Iowa to get my Masters in Business Administration/Marketing.  There are a lot of things I need to do before then so I am praying that it all works out.

Thanks everyone for continuing to read my blog, and I hope this message finds everyone doing great!

Kony 2012 Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Thomas Robinson Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ-kMt8HDME


Until next time...