Spidey-Sense

Before I start this post, I hope all of you know that I try to answer all of the fan mail that I receive. But the enormous quantity means that I cannot ensure a response for everyone. One e-mail I got recently, from Matt in Arizona, said,

“Long time reader, first time e-mailer. You talk about how blessed you have been with the friendships you have here in America. What do you plan to do to ensure making lasting friendships in Indonesia?”

Great question, Matt. I am a firm believer that life is all about confidence. When I did umpiring for 4 summers my boss used to say, “if you dress like an umpire and act like an umpire, people will treat you like an umpire.” It may be a stretch to relate that to life in general, but I think that if I go about my business in Jakarta with confidence I will be able to make friends. A couple other things that I will try to continue to do is be myself and keep a smile on my face at all times. I am so lucky to have this opportunity to meet new people and see a different part of the world. Why wouldn’t I have a smile on my face? If anyone ever wants to get a hold of me or ask me any questions, my e-mail ismattsphillips@cox.net

What a crazy last few weeks it has been. I have been trying to spend time with every person that has had an impact on me becoming the person I am today. Trying to see and hang out with everyone has further opened my eyes as to how blessed I am. I truly believe that I am the luckiest man on the face of the Earth (Lou Gehrig voice). After spending time with so many amazing people, I have thought, “what the hell am I doing leaving all these people and these strong relationships?!” But I am as far away as possible from regretting my decision to see a different culture and interact with non-Americans while it is a possibility. I leave Monday and it really hasn’t clicked yet. Probably won’t until I’m at the airport or in the air. Later on this evening some of my good friends in Lawrence are throwing me a going away party. Maybe it will start to hit me then, but I doubt it.

In the last few weeks I have played my last round of golf with my dad for at least a year, worked my last shift at Alvamar, and said goodbye to all 3 of my grandparents that are still going strong. I was lucky enough to play in the Carlos O’Kelly’s golf tournament for the 3^rd year in a row with my dad and 2 of his best friends (Kim and Stefan). Our group’s goal each year is to have the most fun out of all the foursomes. We are 3-time defending champs in that category. The last 4 years I have been lucky enough to be a part of the Alvamar family. They took a chance on me in the 2^nd round of the 2010 Cart-Boy Draft and I think that my accomplishments speak for themselves. My dad’s only sibling, Carl, is in Kansas City to visit their parents right now. Luckily, after getting back from Colorado (we’ll get there in a second) I was able to stop by to see him, his son, and my grandparents. My entire family has always been over-the-top loving and supporting of everything I do—very lucky to have them on my team. I took a trip to visit my mom’s mom in San Antonio with her and my little brother, Craig, last week. It was great to see her as well as my Uncles David and Rich and their families. I really hate everything about the drive there: from the Texas traffic in San Antonio and Austin to the 4-cylinder Dodge Journey I get to maneuver. I channeled my inner Kyle Busch on the way back and made it door-to-door in 9:20 with 3 stops. But everything else about the trip was awesome. Some good Texas barbeque and a lot of quality time with everyone made the drive well worth it.

After arriving in Wichita after the 9+ hour drive, I continued on to Manhattan to start a bro trip with my great friends Ian and Chance. The main reason for this trip was that Ian is not sure exactly when he will be getting engaged/married, and it is very possible that it happens within the next two years. If that happens, I really hope to be able to come back for the wedding. In case I am unable to attend the wedding festivities, we decided to take a 3-day trip to Colorado to celebrate the importance we all have in each others’ lives (below: Chance, Me, Ian).

The trip started by making it to Denver in time to catch a Rockies game at Coors Field. I had not been to Coors and it was a great place to watch a ballgame (conservatively I’ll say it was top 10 I’ve visited). We sat next to a friendly gentleman who was originally from Wichita and is a proud graduate of the University of Kansas. He was awesome to chat with during the game about everything from life in Colorado to how excited we are to see the Jayhawk basketball team mature next year. Maybe the best part of our conversation was when he introduced us to Dale’s Pale Ale. A locally brewed beer, it was fantastic—one of the better tasting microbrews I have ever had. He was one of the many instances of the people of Colorado being very friendly. After the game was over, we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Camping/hiking has never been something I have really done, so I let Ian and Chance organize everything for that aspect of the trip. The scenery in RMNP is like nothing I have ever seen before. “Beautiful” doesn’t even begin to describe the gorgeous views that the park provides. Ian made sure that we hiked the 2.7 miles to Mills Lake; he and his family had been there before and he said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The lake was very impressive…until we continued our hike for another 2.5 miles to Black Lake (pictured below). The snow during the last mile of the hike was a little annoying, but the trek was well worth it. If the woman I end up proposing to is a nature lover, Black Lake might be the spot. Absolutely stunning. The hike down was an adventure as Chance had the great idea of taking us off trail on the way down. He referenced his spidey-sense (yes, spidey-sense) multiple times on the trip when we didn’t know what we were doing. I have to admit, every time it worked out. Props to you, Chance. But you still suck at FIFA.

The packing is almost complete and I am excited to be back in Wichita Saturday to spend my last few hours with lifelong friends and family. But before that, I am pumped to celebrate the amazing group of people that have put up with me in Lawrence for the last few years.

Cheers