An Inkling of a Plan

June 18th marked the end of my master's degree program at the University of Washington. It culminated with a commencement ceremony in which my mother, father, grandmother, girlfriend, and long-time friend attended. During the graduation ceremony the staff and faculty from UW introduced the 2012 class, and acknowledged the completion of the 2011 class' journey. It was a celebration that only lasted just over an hour and a half, including the reception that followed. Anyone that knows me well, realizes that this is just my style. I should be receiving the actual documentation of my year's work in the next several weeks, a master's degree in education, with emphasis on intercollegiate athletics.

The job search has been low recently. I look at all the pertinent websites daily and send in an application here and there, many of which I am under-qualified. However, I have agreed to be employed by Cycle University here in Seattle. It is an educational/coaching company that specializes in cycling and multisport. I have been named the triathlon coach and am slowly working my way into the group workouts, informational clinics, and training/racing consultations. Soon I will find myself at local races recruiting more athletes to join the already 50+ members.

In addition, Autumn and I have decided to stay in Seattle until the end of high school football season so I may continue pursuing the officiating route. She has some good job security and has a lot of freedom for mobility. This upcoming football season I have been granted V3 (Varsity 3) status, giving me the opportunity to work many more varsity games, and hopefully more highly contested ones at that. I have also been placed on the board to assist the Vice President of the PNFOA (Pacific Northwest Football Officials Association) in planning, arranging, and organizing the weekly meetings and end-of-season events. Looking forward to gaining a lot more knowledge this year and working my way towards possible upward movement in the association.


Yesterday I returned from a two-week trip to Colorado to work on my house with my father. We had a fantastic visit, accomplished some major repairs on the house, and even threw in a couple races to boot. I arrived on a Friday and the next morning we drove to Beaver Creek, CO for an event called the Tough Mudder. My partner, the always fit Branden Rakita, and I ran a 10-mile running/obstacle course with 4,200ft of climbing at altitudes reaching 11,600ft. We turned in a great time of 1 hour and 29 minutes to finish first overall i the event. With that said, it is advertised as a CHALLENGE, not a RACE. Had you seen the men and women toward the front of the "challenge", you would realize immediately that it was also a "race"! Branden and I have officially qualified for the Worlds Toughest Mudder in New Jersey on Dec. 19th of this year. It is unsure if we will attend, but there is a possible $10,000 prize purse if we can manage to win the event that has us performing similar challenges for 24-hours straight in the misery of a New Jersey December. More to come on that....

After more than a week of carpentry, plumbing, painting, and scrubbing floors my dad and I decided the final two and a half days would be more relaxed and entertaining. The morning of July 4th, Dad and I headed to Palmer Lake, CO for a 4-mile running race that I have competed in two previous times. Dad took some great photos while I nearly threw up in the bushes and then we called it a morning. That afternoon Branden had planned a great 4th of July party, which involved an evening hike up one of the most difficult trails in Colorado Springs (the always-daunting "Incline"). A group of 10 friends of ours hiked up and watched the Manitou Springs fireworks show and then walked the trails (with headlamps, of course) back down. It was a very pleasant evening with great people.


The next morning my dad, Branden, Kaili Purviance, and myself booked a tee time at the Patty Jewitt Golf Course in Colorado Springs and played 18-holes of terrible golf. All of us had aspirations of a competitive session with some quality shots. Those hopes were dashed quickly and spirits dropped, but it was still a beautiful day on the course and a great time with some of my favorite people.

Finally, my last day in Colorado, my dad and I drove to Fort Collins on a recon mission. Fort Collins is a town that has some interest to both of us and we decided to take a day to see what it had to offer. It's quite a pleasant college town with many things to offer. A great lunch and tons of driving/walking around FoCo, as the locals call it, and we headed for dinner in Boulder, CO. On the Pearl Street Mall we had a fabulous Italian dinner and then drove off to the Denver airport for my evening departure.

Saying goodbye to family is always tough, but knowing that we have a birthday celebration for my mom coming up in just over a month make parting a bit more tolerable. The family will be gathering in Pennsylvania in August, from literally all over the world, to celebrate my mother's 60th birthday. I expect a big laughs and big love for an entire week on the east coast!