Farewell to my 20s

July 3rd, 2004 I transformed from a teenager into a 20 year old. If you would have told me then what all the 20s would hold for me, I might have turned around and ran.

In 2005, I had one of the coolest cakes (That's the Steeda logo for those that don't know. Steeda is an aftermarket manufacturer for Mustangs.) ...

... and had a lot longer hair.

2006 I went to Graceland for the first time.

I became a Harley-Davidson model (who's that sexy lady beside me? Wait, that's my future wifey)

Went to a concert that this guy named Eric Church was one of the opening acts. I've since seen him over 10 more times (with 3 more concerts planned for later this year).

Oh, and I saw this other guy ... his name is something like ... Garth Brooks

If that wasn't enough ... I got to talk to him over the phone for winning a contest. We're like best friends now. I call him GB, I mean that's just how we roll.

The "Beasts" became a dominate force in team trivia, at one point running off a 8 consecutive winning streak. 

I got to drive at Lowe's Motor Speedway with the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

2009 I pimped it out for my birthday.

Since my Junior year in high school, I had my '95 Mustang known as "Steeda". It was "just a v6", but I spent every dime I made on that car. I used to have people tell me that I was going to wash the paint off of it, because I kept it so clean. One rainy night, I rounded a curve on balding low profile tires and texting, as I accelerated to go up the hill I lost traction and ran my pride and joy 45 miles an hour into a tree. I used to never wear my seat belt, but as I sat in my car (what would end up being) the last time, something made me buckle up. I walked away without a single scratch or bruise. My baby wasn't so lucky. 

Went snowboarding for the first time. 

Went to THE Yankee Stadium before it closed.

I became an Uncle

In 2010, I went with a Red, White, and Blue themed party. This is one of my favorite pictures ... although it's slightly blurry.

I started smoking, started this blog, bought a new fancy smoker, and have gotten pretty daggum good at all things outdoor cooking.

That lead me to visit Memphis in May's World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest ... as a guest, NOT a competitor. 

One night while in Memphis, we went to Silky Sullivan's and I was forced to leave this note for the waitress. No, we didn't have a dying dog, but if we did ... it would have sounded better than the mess that was on the stage. Sorry, this was just a funny picture I found while looking through pics.  

2 years ago, just over a month before I turned 28, I went through an event that would forever change my life. It showed me how quickly everything I thought I knew about life can change. If you're new to my blog, and want to read more on that event. You can do so here. I have never in my life worked on my birthday. I know some think that's dumb, but I want to celebrate being given the chance to be alive and I want to do so with a day to myself, relaxing or doing whatever I want. I was cleared to return to work for July 2nd, and couldn't see requesting a day off of work 1 day after returning from missing a full month recovering ... so July 3rd, 2012 I was forced to work for the first time on my birthday in my life. To add insult to injury, on that same day, Andy Griffith passed away.

Back to the up beat stuff ...

I went to Bermuda

Bahamas

Jamaica 

and Cancun 

The last day that I was out for recovery, I met my sister to pick our a ring for Dawn. From day 1, she's been there for me through thick and thin, and has loved me more than I thought ever possible. Eric Church has a song called "You Make It Look So Easy". It's about a guy that's hard headed and hard to love (basically a typical guy), but she makes loving him look so easy. I don't know how Dawn does it, but she always makes loving me look so easy. She's made me the happiest man for over 3 years now, and the happiest husband for just over a year. I'm a lucky, lucky man to have such an amazing woman in my corner. I'll never win the Mega Millions lottery because I've already won the lottery once in my life ... and I'm ok with that.

I got a Dexter cake for my birthday in 2013.

I got to meet Sting (on of my all-time favorite Wrestlers ... hence the bright red face) at a Gamecock vs. Kentucky (where his son played) 

For Dawn's birthday, I told her we could get a puppy like she's been begging me for. I didn't realize that that little rug rat would end up having me wrapped around his little paw, too. If he looks happy in this picture, it's because this is his favorite spot. It doesn't matter how I hold him. He always tries to rotate so he's sitting right here.

July 3rd, 2014 I woke up with a couple of grey hairs poking out of my head, the love of my life beside me wishing me a "happy birthday old man", and a little puppy jumping on the side of the bed ready for daddy to get up so he can play. If you would have told me back then how my 20s would end ... I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

First GSSF Event

Dawn and I just participated in our first Glock Sport Shooting Foundation event this past weekend in Morganton, NC. 

We decided to join the GSSF for a few reasons. First, you get really great benefits (gun discounts being one of the best). Second, was for the extra practice that it would provide us and a way to shoot under pressure. I'm extremely competitive, so the pressure I put on myself to perform well (with a couple hundred people "watching") is pretty high. Then, this is a fun hobby that we can do together. I seem to get into a good number of hobbies, but not all of those allow us to spend time together. This is a way that we can spend more time together and cheer each other on as well. 

Luckily for us, I'm a member of GID (Glock ID), and met up with a member that had shot in the GSSF for years and he and his wife were more than happy to help us along. 

We were told from the start that Glock the Plates would be the toughest event to shoot in. Glock the Plates is 6 8" round targets 33 feet (11 yards) away. When you first hear, 8 inch target, it doesn't sound that small and when you hear 11 yards away (just over a first down in Football) it doesn't sound that far. Now think, a dollar bill is give or take 6 inches, so the targets are less than a dollar bill and a third in size around. Imagine having to shoot that from 33 feet (over 3 basketball goals). 

Glock the Plates is scored by your time. You're added extra time for each plate you leave up ... I shot my best on the plates, which is odd, since it forces you to be even more accurate. 

Next, we did the 5 to Glock. There are 5 cardboard targets and you fire 2 rounds at each. The goal is to hit inside the Alpha and Beta section. A hit in Charlie adds 1 second and a hit in Delta has a 3 second penalty. A complete miss (Mike) adds 10 seconds to your round ... I had a couple of 10 second penalties. 

The morning started out great. We practiced the plates and then shot the plates within 30-45 minutes of getting to the range. Then ... they had some trouble with the squatters at the 5 to Glock event. They're supposed to call names in order of the time that you sign up, but they were calling them from the time you stated that you're ready to shoot. This caused a huge bottle neck, and a mega waiting period. After a few hours one of the coordinators came over and explained how it was supposed to go and the line all but vanished. A little inconvenience, but everything won't run 100% smooth every single time. 

We finished the day off with the Glock M section. This is set up similar to 5 to Glock, except instead of having a cardboard target in the center, you have 1 steel target. 

The scoring is the same, except you're docked 10 seconds for missing the steel target. 

We both could have done better, but we had a great time and know what to work on for the next event. 

Review: City Smoke - Charlotte, NC

Look who's back. I know, it's been a while. Work has been extremely busy (which is always good when you're in sales), and I always have a lot going on during winter. 

A couple of years ago, we went to see one of our favorite local bands The Piedmont Boys play at a small local venue. They were opening for a band that we never heard of, Blackberry Smoke, but have sense grown to enjoy a lot. Blackberry Smoke has came back a few times, but they seem to always come back on Saturday nights during College Football season. Now, if you're reading this and you're not from the South then you may not understand this, but Saturday is game day ... that's all it is and there's no debating that. 

I was a little bummed that we wouldn't get to go see them when they came around, again. My wife being the amazing woman that she is, found that they would be coming to Charlotte (an hour and a half away) and got me/us tickets. 

So anyway, we get to the hotel and change before the show and saw City Smoke across the road and decided to try it out. The sign said "BBQ. BURGERS. BEER. BOURBON." I mean, I think it's pretty impossible to go wrong with that, right? 

City Smoke

A few weeks back, we were walking into another local sports bar and saw an advertisement for Sam Adams Rebel IPA. Unfortunately, we were there 4 hours too early and they wouldn't be serving it till that night (it was some kind of "keg tapping party" or something). 

As we were looking over the beer list Dawn asks "What's that Rebel one up there?" We both chose to try it out ... and both enjoyed it (It's Sams Adams, so it has to be good).

It's no surprise to those that know me. That I'm a big Scooby Doo fan. I don't know why, but I've just always been a big nut for Scooby Doo. When we saw that they had an appetizer called "Scooby Snacks" it was a must. 

They actual name is "BB'CUE SCOOBY SNACK" and they're "twin henry gray country ham biscuits with sweet honey butter and 2 smithfield ham sausage biscuits with jezebel sauce". 

If you ever go to Charlotte, these alone are worth a stop. These might be the best appetizer I've ever had. 

Since we got the appetizers, we decided to split the sampler plate. They actually have a few different sampler plates, so we went with the rib sampler. 

Here's the part where it gets tricky. The food was great. It had great flavor, the sauces were great, to the normal person this would have been some amazing BBQ. However, I'm not the normal person and I'm very picky about certain things, and one of those is calling something BBQ that isn't BBQ. The brisket in the picture appears to have a light smoke ring, but it didn't ... neither did the ribs or the pulled pork. 

Again, the food was amazing, but it wasn't true BBQ, and for that ... I have to knock off on the grading (as if it really mattered). If we're back in the area, we'll stop back in ... and I'll order 5 trays of Scooby Snacks. 

Review: Gringos, Greenville, SC

Gringos

Gringos is a new South West Mexican style restaurant in Downtown Greenville. I have to be honest, when I first heard about it, I swore it off. When I eat "Mexican", I don't want some interpretation. I want it from people that actually know what they're doing. The name Gringos made me think this was a bunch of white people (Gringo) making Mexican food. It's still kind of like that, but it's not a Mexican Restaurant, so I'm able to let it slide. 

We went to Fall For Greenville (Fall Down In Greenville as most of us know it), a few months back and ended up trying their tacos. It didn't hurt that they were the only ones with some what reasonable prices for the amount of food you were getting. 

Dawn got something weird, and I got the Bacon Cheeseburger Taco ... yeah. We both really enjoyed it, so I agreed to give it a shot. 

Now, a little back story ... Dawn is the easiest person in the world to get with surprises, but she has a really tough time getting me with one. Now, she'll hit me with a surprise cupcake or something every now and then, but I mean a REAL surprise. Well, an envelope came in the mail one day, I saw it was for her so I just put it aside. She asked when she got home if I saw who it was from, and I told her no (the truth). Then she told me I had to wait before she'd tell me. 

She had me in suspense for nearly 2 months, but on the day of, surprised me with tickets to the So You Think You Can Dance tour. Possibly one of the least "typical manly" things about it, I love dancing and love SYTYCD. The tickets weren't the cheapest, so I told her it was ok if we didn't go. She definitely got one on me. 

Ok, back to now, throughout the day we were trying to make plans for the show that night. One of us suggested Gringos since we both liked it, and it was within walking distant of The Peace Center, where SYTYCD was performing. 

Dawn got the Locos Chicken Burrito. She said it wasn't her favorite burrito, but still pretty good. I think the wrapping process made a few bites be all beans or all something else instead of even bites. 

Of course me being me, I didn't want to try anything new (why try something new when you know something is already good?). I got 2 Bacon Cheeseburger tacos. The Bacon Cheeseburger taco consist of ground beef, bacon, queso, and french fries. 

I really try not to be "that guy" in public taking pictures of food, so I try to do it quickly ... hence the bad quality. 

I've heard a lot of talk about Gringos, but it was really empty in there when we went. It was earlier in the night on a week day, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. All I know is we both really enjoyed the food, and will be going back. White people making Mexican ... you've finally won me over.