Ad Design...check

This is the first of many ad designs that I will be helping out with. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'm like a proud poppa that counts all the fingers and toes on his newborn and realizes he did 'real good.' Bryan, the technical art director, did a great job especially the way he added clothes to the model after management offered the suggestion. I'm really enjoying getting experience in many different areas of the magazines. I just hope they don't ask me to do any editorials! EEK!

My brokeded heart

As some of you know, I had a bit of a minor heart surgery done this past Thursday morning at UAB. I can hear you saying to yourself, I didn't know heart procedures could be minor. On the contrary my friend, this procedure was not really a big deal with the modern technology we benefit from. It is called Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation. You can read all about it until your heart's content right here. My doctor in Montgomery suggested that I go to UAB to have it done because they have the best doctors and equipment. That was good enough of a reason for me.

Dad, Mom, and I headed up to Birmingham Wednesday after work and spent the night with Nana and Granddaddy. Nana had prepared a feast for us. Fried pork chops, potatoes, carrots, fresh corn, broccoli casserole, rolls and homemade apple turnovers were waiting for us when we got there. We ate and visited for a while then called it a night because we had to leave by 5 am. I tossed and turned all night. Obviously there was a lot on my mind. Dad said he didn't sleep well because he keep thinking he was going to sleep through the alarm.

We got up on time and made it to UAB by 5:30. We only waited about 15 minutes before a young, attractive dark skin girl asked me to follow her. As we where walking down the hall, I kept thinking, please don't let this be the girl that tells me to strip. As she pointed me to the room and started the walk away, I thought I was in the clear. "Strip and lay on the bed" she said as she walked away. That's my luck. I don't think I've ever had an attractive nurse until this day. I had no problem with Two Ton Tina prepping me for surgery but not this girl. She was married, but still.....awkward.

The prepping conversation was interesting and definitely too graphic for mixed company blog viewing but it was not what I expected. All I'm going to say is that catheter was inserted in the groin region, and that's all I'm saying. After I was prepped, mom and dad came in the room, we met my doctor, Tom McElderry, and we waited until they took me back for surgery.

The next thing I remember was waking up and Kyle Bedgood comes in the room with a get well balloon and 4 Arby's shakes for everyone. I think he said his wife ran over his parent's dog but I'm still not sure because I was a little groggy. I had to lay still for six hours and by around 4:00 we were able to leave.

I took it easy during the weekend and was able to go to the gym Monday night. I ran for a while and got my heart rate up but it never went into supersonic mode like it used to. Some people have to go back for surgery if it continues to happen but I think I'm healed. I've had to deal with this since I was a freshman in college so I am extremely relieved and thankful. I know that God was watching out for me and I had a ton of good friends and even strangers that were praying for me.

So...long story short, I'm healed and I challenge anyone to a footrace! GO!

Living on locusts and honey

Okay, maybe it wasn't that rough but I was definitely at peace with God and Mother Nature this past weekend. The HikeFest group of 15-20 guys quickly dwindled after the news of Hatch's hemorrhoid issues. People were dropping like flies and when it came time to leave, we were left with a pretty solid crew of five, me and 4 seasoned veterans of the AT. Dirt, Cary, Adam, Clay and I set off that Thursday night with only a 35 lbs pack, 4 mustaches and and a dream.

Clay and I took his Tahoe and the other guys took Cary's Camry. We made a pit stop at Jim Bob's in Opelika for a dinner. An attractive young college student brought us our food and she asked if we needed anything else. Adam quickly responded with, " Yeah, can you bring Clay a razor to shave off that mustache?" We laughed until we cried while Clay hung his head in shame.

It was an uneventful ride to North Carolina and finally made it to the car drop at the end of the section we were hiking. We all loaded up in the Tahoe and set out for the mountains. A couple of hours later and several very long wrong roads, Dirt (the navigator) got us to the beginning of the trail. It was about 3 in the morning so we set up our tents and bedding and I was warm in my new mummy sleeping bed by 4:10. The wind was blowing where we were and there were several times that I thought my tent might not hold up. My head hit the pillow and my eyelids finally won the battle they had started on the way up the mountain. I never even woke up during the night.

I was awakened by the sound of Clay packing up his tent and Adam making fun of him. Dirt and Cary stayed in their tents until close to 10. We finally got packed up and started on the trail. We passed many interesting people along the way. The first couple was a young hippie couple. The woman was about 6 foot and had a bunch of cleavage showing. You're not supposed to see cleavage on the frickin' Appalachian Trail. That's against the rules! Then we came across several single hikers, a guy sitting on a toilet, old women hikers, and a college age couple that screamed out variations of cuss words at random times. It's like they were just trying out cussing for the weekend, just for funsies. Their favorite word seemed to be the word "fock". Most people switch the "o" with a "u" and becomes a "dirty word." Like I said, they must be new at it.

The only real downfall to the hike was the fog covered the views on the other mountains and they said that is one of the best parts of the hike. The weather Friday afternoon was kind of wet and cold but it didn't bother me too bad. Once I started walking, I was able to warm up. We didn't see any animal except for a few birds at our lunch stop.

We got about an hour and a half from the car and decided to keep going and get a cheap motel for the night. We made it back to car before dark ending our 15 mile trek through the forest. We made really good time and we weren't even in a real hurry all day. We took plenty of little breaks but we kept a steady pace. Somehow, we were able to load up all the packs and all of us in Cary's car. We picked up Clay's Tahoe and went to Clayton, NC to find a motel. We found an old Days Inn. When I say old, I mean this thing was a one level, rent by the hour motel. The room was decent and the hot shower felt amazing. I think all of us were asleep by midnight.

Saturday morning rolled around and our decision to stay in a motel was emphatically confirmed as Adam and I opened the door to see and hear one of the coldest, nastiest rains that I have ever witnessed. We made our way down to the awesome continental breakfast. Okay, the lobby of this place was probably a 12' by 12' room. Adam and I could have easily shut down that breakfast but we were considerate of the other guests. The lady at the desk was a friendly soul and asked what room we stayed in. We replied "35" and she said with all the sincerity in her heart, "oh, y'all got a nice room." We tried to compose ourselves as we finished our krispy kremes and headed out the door. I'm soooooo glad that we were big spenders and got a "nice room." I would hate to see the non-nice rooms.

We ate lunch at a HikeFest favorite, La Pachanga's. I was good mexican food. It was nice not having to eat on beef jerky, peanut butter crackers, trail mix, and dried bananas. After a full stomach, we loaded up and drive the 4 hours back to the Gump.

There are several life lessons that I learned on this hike:
1. AT hikes are more fun with mustaches, plus, bears are deathly afraid of them.
2. Never trust Dirt when he says "I think this is the right road."
3. Buy good equipment, it will pay off.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed hiking. I plan on returning again to conquer another section of the trail, maybe with more than 5 guys.