Clackamas Colton Communications (Freshman Year)
From Colton (September 8, 2024)
Sunday - After dropping Dad and Keat off at the airport, I didn't head back to the apartment immediately but went to Target for some clothes. I found a couple good pairs of shorts, which was surprising as I can never find actually good fitting pairs of shorts, and some cargo pants for when it gets colder. Found everything on the clearance rack too which was fortunate. I was only back at the apartment for a couple of hours before I headed to the school where Coach Stamme let me in to get some shots up. They're really lenient with the gym hours and coach even told me if I get asked to leave that I could just mention that I was there working out with a coach or give him a call and he could come let college safety know that I have permission to be in there. I don't remember if anything else really happened the rest of the day, might've even got McDonald's after my hoop sesh to avoid having to make any dinner. Going to sleep was a little rough because of the heat.
Monday - I just had a simple breakfast; cinnamon toast crunch and a protein shake before heading to the gym at 10:00 with Connor. This was a little workout with some of the other guys on the team, Jacari, Kalil, and Nick. Jacari and Kalil are both returners while Nick is a freshman. We ran through a few drills and played some one on one for about an hour and a half. I stayed after everyone left to use the shooting machine, which is a bit better than the one we had at West Jordan. This one lets you switch spots once reaching a certain amount of makes instead of only shots, a very nice function to have. I headed to the weight room for a short workout as well. Once I got home, I took a quick shower before heading out to do my first grocery trip. I headed to this smaller store literally called "Grocery Outlet" about a mile away. It says it's a "bargain market" so I wanted to check out the prices. The prices were indeed pretty good, much better than Fred Meyer and Safeway. However, my coach later pointed out to me that the stuff there can be pretty close to expired. My haul consisted of two dozen eggs, gallon of milk, two lbs. of ground beef, tortillas, apples, bananas, grapes, a pineapple, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen popcorn shrimp, two 40 pouch boxes of fruit snacks and some pop tarts. The pop tarts were a really good price, $2.99 for the 16 count boxes. I already had some groceries to get me started from shopping with Dad, deli meats, sliced provolone and cheddar cheese, bread, mayo, cereal, and ramen. Will have to remember to bring my own bags to Grocery Outlet next time because the bags they provided fell apart on me. I drove around a couple hours later while the sun was setting to look at some cool viewing spots and just to get better looks of all the trees. I headed to a Walmart about 20 minutes away (only a grocery Walmart, not a superstore), to get a couple things I forgot, shredded cheese, string cheese, a few mac n cheese boxes, and chick-fil-a sauce. Also went to chick-fil-a for dinner to use up the rest of my gift card that I got from DLP.
Tuesday - Sleeping wasn't nearly as bad because the temp throughout the day never got too high. Made myself some eggs and a protein shake for breakfast before heading to the gym a bit early for the first day of camp. Met the rest of the team and had a good first day of practice. Forgot about how awful running is as we did a lot of conditioning. At the end of practice, we hit the weight room for a short leg day. Clack has a small tradition at the end of every practice were everyone goes around and shakes each other's hands. Was only home for a bit before I went out to dinner Connor, Kobe, and their parents. Went to a nice place called McMenamins. After that, Conner, Kobe and I headed back to the gym at around 8:00 to hoop. We were in there till about 10:00 before we had to leave. Going to sleep wasn't that bad again with the temp being around 70 degrees outside most of the day.
Wednesday - I had some for cereal breakfast again and got two the gym a couple hours early for my appointment with our academic advisor to finally get my classes scheduled. Today wasn't actually a practice because we only have a limited number of hours each week that we could technically hold a "team" practice, so we just call Wednesdays open gym and play some organized pickup games. At this point, I have already proven myself on the court and am running some of our drills. I got back to the apartment and got my first glimpse of the heat this week. Over 90 degrees out and pretty much the same inside. I ended up falling asleep for about and hour and a half because I was just lying in bed with the fan positioned on me. Doing anything in my room while it's that hot makes me start to sweat quick. Even just getting up to change or organize stuff. I ended up making myself some food late, ground beef and a couple of eggs, trying out some of the different seasonings that Connor's mom bought. Spending time in the kitchen while it's that hot even got me to sweat pretty bad so I ended up leaving for a bit to drive around with some AC and grab an icee. Headed back pretty soon to try and go to sleep.
Thursday - Sleeping was a struggle. Always trying to reposition myself to get a better angle of the fan on me. Made myself a couple of breakfast burritos to eat before practice. Practice was pretty much the same. Tried to chill at the apartment for a few hours but ended up leaving back to the gym because it was just too hot. I was only able to get into the weight room because the gym was being used for some volleyball scrimmages. Got home kind of late and made some dinner. Kobe got a rice cooker for the kitchen and had made up a bunch of white rice for the three of us to eat when we wanted. I paired that with some of my popcorn chicken and chick-fil-a sauce to eat then headed to bed in the sweatbox.
Friday - More of the same, cooked up a simple breakfast, rice and eggs. Practice was good, even went and got my student ID card after. I moved my TV to the very side of my desk so I can place my laptop on the monitor stand (where the TV was previously), so now I can use the laptop while the TV is on and also got an HDMI cable so I can even us the TV was a monitor if I want. The resolution is pretty low though so most of the time I will just use the laptop display. Although, I also went out and got a wired controller that I can plug into the laptop so I can play my games with the controller and the TV as the monitor, making my Call of Duty games playable as if I was playing on the Xbox. Later that night, Connor's girlfriend and a couple of her friends came into town, and we went out and got some ice cream at the Clackamas Promenade, similar to our Jordan Landing. I went and got some shots up late at the gym before heading back and going to bed.
Saturday - No practice today. I headed to Winco to (it being the other best option for groceries), for some bread, rice, and a refill on my milk. I didn't do anything most of the day, the apartment was quiet because Kobe was out with his parents and Connor was back in Salem for the weekend. I played some games on the TV now that I had the controller which was pretty nice. I headed to the gym around 6:00 and got to shoot around for about 45 minutes but got kicked out by custodians. I drove around a bit later that night but not much else. I made some more chicken and rice for dinner. That rice cooker has been very clutch. It wasn't as hot throughout the day so going to sleep wasn't as troublesome as the past few.
Sunday - Today, all that has happened was I made a quick breakfast and did my laundry for the first time since being here. Our complex does have a laundry room, but it's pretty small and the room was hot when I went and checked it out, so I ended up going to this laundromat a few streets down. It was really simple, and the machines were good so the wait wasn't too long. I will probably just do my laundry at our apartments from now on as the one down the street costs a bit more. I'm hoping to get in the gym later today to get shots up and lift but other than that, not much else going on.
Main things I've been eating: eggs, cereal, fruits, sandwiches, rice, and lots of protein shakes. Fruit snacks and string cheese has been awesome too.
From Colton ~ Week 2 (taken from texts)
Got classes scheduled, met with a school counselor. Math and writing will have to wait for next term. Have an Intro to Business class and an Intro to Business Computing, as well as a Public Speaking class that goes towards my communication credits. Along with basketball and the College Success class (it starts September 9th, before the official term) totals up to 17 credits. Intro to business is in person Thursdays at 10:00-11:50, coaches are fine with it though I can still be at practice. Public speaking is Tuesday nights from 6:00-9:50, and the Intro to Business computing is online.
I went to a local laundromat last week but tried the apartment ones this week. Laundromat is more expensive, but a bit nicer.
From Colton (September 23, 2024)
I don't think I'll do the same format as last time, most days will look pretty much the same as there isn't too much that I do outside of practice right now.
It cooled down these last two weeks, there's only been a couple of days where I've felt that I was too hot in the apartment. Today however got up to 80 degrees and tomorrow is looking to be worse - 88 degrees. I actually picked up those couple ac units that Gray offered a while ago. I spent the last few hours figuring out a way to set it up in my window, it's meant for a window that slides up and down, not side to side. I looked up some videos and found a decent method. I got a 3/8th inch metal rod from Home Depot (along with a hacksaw), and cut it to about a couple inches longer than the ac unit and by placing it in the bracket on the top where normally you would slide the window down on it, I can use the sides of the rod to catch the edges of the window sill and keep the unit from falling out. I got a couple plastic sheets and fit them to fill the rest of the open area above the unit so bugs and hopefully rain can't get in. I sent a picture to dad if you want to see the setup. It's working really well already, I'm actually pretty cold in here right now, I love it.
This week of practices has been a lot better than the first two, we've been doing a lot more scrimmaging. Right now, there's actually 19 players at our camp and only 12 roster spots available, so there will be cuts made. I'm not sure how many because I think we have a couple redshirts, meaning they'll stay on the team and practice, but won't take a roster spot or get to play in games. I'm not nervous for myself as I've definitely earned a spot, but for the other guys. Everyone is really cool and I don't really want to see anyone go. Quick list of names: Connor O, Kobe, Vitaly, Brooklynd, Sam, Dallas, Jacari, Lincoln, Miles, Dom, Jordan, Nick, Reggie, Gray, Mason, Connor G, Kalil, and Jake. The last five are returning sophomores while everyone else is freshman. Vitaly and Brooklynd are probably the ones I'm the closest with. Before our practice on Friday, the coach actually sat everyone down just to talk a little bit about the cuts and what to do to be noticed more. He actually mentioned that if he had to pick a starting lineup at that moment, there were only two people who he'd be sure to have in it, Me and Gray. We didn't actually have practice today since there is something going on in the gym for all CCC staff that will take up the court until the end of tomorrow. So we're only going to be able to go in and lift tomorrow but not get any shots up.
My meals have pretty much stayed the same, lots of eggs, fruit, sandwiches, ground beef, air fried chicken, and protein shakes. I found that the Grocery Outlet sells those frosted sugar cookies for like $1.50 so I've been eating an unhealthy amount of those. Usually, I'll go to Grocery Outlet for most of my stuff but there is some stuff I have to go to Winco for, like fruit snacks, certain brands of sliced turkey and ham, and cream cheese. Usually I have to go to Winco for Grandma Sycamores but I found them at Grocery Outlet today, so I got a few loaves because they were a bit cheaper. The rice cooker has been very nice, cook up about five cups of rice at a time and throw it in the fridge, then I eat it with a few of my meals. Goes well with scrambled eggs, ground beef, chicken, and also chick-fil-a sauce.
I did get a job at a nearby Walgreens (just applied on the website), went in for an interview last Thursday and got it. Will just be working the register, sales floor, and photo booth. I'm trying to do 15-20 hours a week, probably on three shifts; Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. My first two shifts have just been completing required training modules on the computer. They have not been great at communicating my schedule though, the manager who hired me didn't even tell the shift lead I was coming in yesterday to finish up the training and they still haven't clearly told me what hours to come in. On Tuesday, Connor's girlfriend came up with a couple of friends so we went out and got ice cream at the Clackamas Town Center, basically just our Jordan Landing. And on Friday, Q was actually in Portland watching Lexi play soccer (she plays for Utah Tech). I would've gone to the game with him but it was during my practice so I met up with him after the game to grab some food and hang out. He's rooming with another player who was on our trip with Coach Scott. He's told me about how most of the teammates in his pod of dorms all smoke, the same with Carter's guys at South Puget Sound. Apparently Carter's entire golf team are crazy partiers and there's drinks all over his apartment. I know I wouldn't like that, my situation is actually really good, everyone on the team is high character guys and Connor and Kobe obviously don't do any of that stuff so living with them has been good. That's pretty much all I've got for the last couple weeks.
Love you <3
From Mom/JenBThis format was great. Love just getting little insights into what is happening, what is different. This is WONDERFUL, and makes a mommy heart happy!I had peeked at the weather and saw there were some warm days again. I'm happy you got the AC unit. I'll have to get the picture of the set up. You know I love my cool room! Duct tape is your friend when it comes to jerry-rigging stuff. Too bad you didn't get it immediately when it was even warmer that first miserable week! If you use it a LOT and the power bill goes up, we'll have to pitch in a bit more (our power bill for September was the highest it's ever been!) And from GRAY huh? Is he just Gray, or Grayson?Thanks for the list of names. Two Conners. When is the team officially finalized? I'm looking forward to seeing the https://www.clackamascougars.com/landing/index website updated, team pictures and such!How has fridge/freezer space been? I still wonder how we did it with 7 (at Snow) and 8 (at BYU). I honestly can't remember.You'd mentioned "work" in a text ... I had wondered if you meant school work. You got a job! Do you think you'll be able to keep up with it once the season and school are in full swing? I guess if they are willing to work with your schedule... and then communicate to you your schedule! Let them know your Thanksgiving and Christmas plans. Poor Dad was on the computer much of last night booking flights and such. I did give you the heads up that it's EVERYONE coming in December, right? ;) Kate will be staying home with Vera, but all your brothers are coming with Dad and me. We'll all fly together on Dec26 (with you returning). The Blackham Bunch!I'd wondered about crazy college life and just figured at a community college it might not be as bad as a 4-year, as so many of the students would still likely be under 21. I guess at Snow we had a lot of older kids too, but that's Utah/Mormon culture, returned missionaries. What are the ages of most of the boys on the basketball team, any older ones? I remember there was a clause in your signed contract about not drinking (I guess it was during practices/games) but it seems most would be underage?I know you love your sugar cookies. $1.50 is a deal ;)Thanks again so much for this little write up. I really, really, really, really, really love it!
From Colton (reply):
Just Gray, he was actually the leading scorer last year. He's 6'6 and it's weird because he's one of the best shooters I've ever played with. I bet they'll finalize the team once the season comes around but I'm not sure.
The fridge and freezer have been a little tight. We each just take a shelf in the fridge (I'm on the top), and the extra spots on the door and drawers can just be used by anybody. We all just put any condiments and butter on the door shelves and the drawers on the bottom are still empty. I don't buy too much food at a time, just make a few trips a week to the store when I need a few items. That way I don't have to store too much with our limited space.
I am a little worried about working once school actually starts up, but I think I'll be fine. Are you guys going to be staying in a hotel or an AirB&B?
Most of the freshmen are around my age, with a few exceptions. Jkari (I misspelled his name earlier), is actually 22 and still a freshman, Reggie is the oldest at 24, Mason and Kalil are both 21, not sure about some of the others.
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From Mommy (October 4, 2024)I made the 1SecondEveryDay video for September and realized I didn't have ONE cute Colton face in it! I did get your A/C picture from Dad, so at least that made an appearance. Momma needs at least a couple pictures a month! I know you don't love it ... but for me? Pleeeease? Things here at home ... Dad has had a couple big bike trips. Those are done now (whew!) Cal's team won the championship, even without you. We had to replace the A/C here at home ( without A/C for a day, it works really well now, I have to turn the thermostat up sometimes to turn the a/c off). Had to have the oven and dishwasher repaired - I couldn't bake sourdough for a little over a week. Coop had a couple bad weeks of Fantasy, but has one the last two. Cal & Kate went camping and Cal almost chopped his thumb off with an axe (left-hand, so he didn't get out of playing pickleball).How often do you have your A/C running? I was impressed with your jerry-rigged set-up!You've now had all your classes - did you have to buy books (save receipts, send any/all school expenses to me, tax write-off). After week 1, can you get a feel if the classes will be challenging or easy? Did the College Success class end (was it just the three weeks before school started) or is it still going?Dad said he never got a text from you asking about Microsoft Word/Excel. He thinks he's on a plan that maybe has one more on the license?How's Walgreens work? Any improvement in the communication? What hours have you been working?How's life with roommates? Any issues - leaving the toilet seat up, or not cleaning up messes? How much "cleaning" do you guys do? No problems parking? Laundry going okay?Just got your October rent payment in. Conner's mom mentioned you'd told him about a food assistance program?... and of course, how's basketball going? ;)u and miss seeing your cute face!
From Colton (October 4, 2024)
I'll try to get some pictures for you, I don't have any good pictures that I've taken even after being here a month. The last two Tuesdays a bunch of us have gone and got tacos at this nice little Mexican place like 10 miles from college, so occasions like that would be good for me to get a pic.
I haven't had my AC on too much in the last couple weeks. I'll turn it on for a bit if the room is feeling warm but it is starting to get colder and rainy so it hasn't been that necessary. It's also kind of busted I think, whenever I turn it on, the AC part will turn back off after 15-20 minutes, so I usually just keep the fan that it has on.
There is one book I think I'm going to have to buy for my intro to business class, but I think I should be able to get it covered through what's called the STEP program. Our wrestling coach is part of that program and he mentioned to us about applying for food benefits with the Department of Human Services, something he had some of his wrestlers do, to receive a food stamps card. I went ahead and tried it and was able to get a phone call with a DHS worker where they just asked some questions about my situation and I talked about how I'm a college student living away from home and I qualified for some food benefits. $292 a month to spend on groceries. After that, Connor, Kobe, and most of the people on the team applied too and I kind of told them what to say in the interview. So Connor and Kobe both qualified as well. I met with the wrestling coach a few times to get into the STEP program and possibly get more benefits, and they were good to cover the costs of my books but when we checked the required materials for my classes, none of them had a required textbook listed. First day of intro to business was yesterday and in class he showed us that there was a textbook for this class, but I didn't know about it when I met with the coach. I'm going to reach out though and see if we could get that covered.
I do think the term will be challenging. Mostly worried about getting schoolwork done in time while juggling basketball and work. The College Success class is done, nice to have three credits already completed before the term started. Also, Connor told me we should have access to the Microsoft Office apps through moodle, which is our website that we use to turn in work and view classes.
Walgreens has been better now that I'm officially on the schedule, so I have the schedule of my shifts. My shifts are all closing shifts, 5:00-10:00, only two or three shifts a week. It is a pretty boring job though, and having to stand for that long makes my legs sore especially after already having practice earlier in the day.
Connor and Kobe are great, there haven't been any problems around the apartment caused by any of us. We do have a lot of ants around, even in mine and Kobe's rooms. Connor went and got some ant traps that are supposed to get rid of them pretty well. We don't clean that much haha, but we don't really let the apartment get that dirty in the first place. I always do my dishes right after using them, I think they do too. And I try to keep the kitchen looking good after I use it so as to not annoy them, which they pretty much do the same.
We had a little update to our schedule, that Dec. 20th game at Centralia got moved up to Nov. 23, so we play Centralia twice in one week. I don't know if changing flights time is possible without just having to purchase a whole other ticket, but since there's no game on the 20th anymore, I would be available to come back for Christmas a day or two earlier. Again I don't know how to go about changing a flight. But overall, basketball has been the same pretty much, been doing a lot of scrimmaging. I think right now the starting lineup would be me, Sam or Lincoln, Connor O, Gray, and Mason. I do have to focus on keeping my spot though since Kalil, a returner from last year, is also really good and a point guard.
Love ya!
From Mommy (October 6, 2024)My A/C does that too ... it will run for a bit (15min or so) then shuts off, then will come back on again after a while. I think it can't run continuously, needs to take little breaks. Mine also has a temp setting (set it to 68 degrees, and it won't turn on unless it's warmer than that ... although I have mine turned down to its lowest, 61 degrees).How does your online class work? Like the online ones you (or Coop) took, with assignments, and a Friday due date? How many people are in your in-person Tues/Thurs classes? Glad the College Success class is done (that's what I thought). Do be sure to make your school assignment due dates a priority. College classes likely don't accept things late the way the flexible high school teachers did.Good on you for finding financial aid options (or thanks to the wrestling coach). I still wonder about filling out a FAFSA and then applying for any school scholarships - if they'd just take place of the basketball $$ or if it could then go toward housing. Have you been eating any ramen? Stereotype of the poor college student diet ;) (although you ate it at home too). It's funny here at home without you, we don't go through the Grandma Sycamore or deli meats, and Coop said I don't need to buy the fruit snacks. We've had some leftovers I've wished I could zap to you!Dad is looking into seeing if changing your flight to a day earlier (your birthday!) is an option. We'll let you know.I'll be putting all your games on the calendar - so what's this "NW Juco Jamboree" coming up this weekend (on the schedule/Oct13) - has the team been finalized? Do you know if this will be streamed?
From Colton (October 7, 2024)
Online classes are the same as any other online classes I've had, posts most of the work at the beginning and we can work at our own pace, assignments are due by the end of the week. My Tuesday class had 17 people, it feels similar to high school but most of my classmates are in their 20s and 30s. There are one or two kids around my age in that class. Thursday has around 30 people, and I have that class with a few of the basketball boys.
I keep meaning to fill out the FAFSA (with some assistance from dad) as it is a prerequisite for applying for some scholarships here. I already have the essay parts of the application filled out, just need to get the FAFSA done. I talked to Stamme about that and he said that money could go towards housing or anything really because my tuition is already paid for through basketball so any potential money from scholarships would just be added back to my account as a "refund". Haven't really been eating any more ramen than I normally do at home but I do have some stocked up for some quick meals. I have a lot of snacks that I've been stalking my room and our kitchen with since the Grocery Outlet has some really low prices and now that I have plenty of money to spend on groceries. A 90 pack of Mott's fruit snacks was $7. I also got like 10 packs of Oreos and those fudge stripe cookies for free from work since they were about to be disposed of for being too close to expiration.
It's just an event where a bunch of teams go and scrimmage, not any official games. Coach told us the team we play but I forgot which ones. The team still isn't finalized so I think coach will actually put in two teams in the jamboree. I don't know if it is streamed but I'll ask.
** The games WERE streamed, not the best video quality, but here's the highlights **
From Mommy (October 20, 2024)Hey there ... had a funny tonight. Landon and Keaton came over and the boys wanted to play some Mario. They were getting it set up ...Landon: We need another Joy-ConCoop: Any extras are downstairsKeaton: I miss ColtonI guess you were the errand boy they'd send? Not that they don't miss you in general, as I'm sure you are missing us all SO much, right?We got some pickleball in this morning ... had four of my five boys. It was a little cool to start, but then it was really a perfect pickleball day. We moved so that we were in the sun, because that actually felt good (and the shady section had SO many pine needles all over!)Dad and I went to see a show at Hale Theater with the grandparents last night - The Adams Family. It was cute.I've enjoyed having your games to watch again and make highlights. I just finished the third one, it's saving now. Wish I was there to get video myself, but the stream is better than not having a view at all. Another "Jamboree" in a couple weeks, there at Clackamas? When will the team be finalized?Did I mention Cal wasn't able to get signed up for the Wednesday night league (they didn't have enough teams). That's a bummer for him. And me, as I like to go watch (I do still need to make the highlight video of the championship game).The weather turned cooler here, some got snow, but we just got rain and dropped temps. Have the temperatures dropped enough that you'll pull the A/C from your window? I still have mine up, although it's not running as much as it was. We'll get up over 70 again this coming week though.Are you able to stay on top of everything? With basketball, school, work, grocery shopping, laundry and everything else? I'm so glad you got to see Carter, Q and E! What school is Carter at again?Love you and miss you!
High school basketball buddies together again! Picture & text Saturday/October 19, 2024. Ethan came down and stayed with Carter for a few days and he flew back out today. We got some breakfast and hung out this morning. Met in Portland, just outside of the PDX airport.
From Colton (October 21, 2024)
Hah yes I was always the one that had to find extra controllers because I would be the one to know where they are.
I think there will be streaming for our jamboree in a couple weeks, not sure yet how it will work. And I think the coach is still going to wait a while before finalizing the team. Also, our assistant coach is out for a couple of weeks, he just had two knee replacements.
I'm sure Cal's team wouldn't even want to play in the league if it was without me anyway ;)
Temperatures have dropped here in the last week or two, and lots of rain. Sometimes during the day, I will still turn on the AC unit but for the most part, I have left it off. So pretty soon here I might as well just put it away so it doesn't get too cold in my room.
Having a little bit of trouble with school but has been fine for the most part. Public speaking is fairly hard, mostly from how serious the teacher takes it. The business computing class isn't too hard, there's just a lot of work to get through every week.
Carter is playing golf at South Puget Sound. It was a lot of fun to see them, I actually didn't know Ethan was in town until a couple days ago, he had scored a pretty cheap round trip ticket a while back, said it was like $150 or something I'm not quite sure. But talking about our living situations, I definitely have the best one and I feel a little bad for Q and Carter. Ethan stayed at Carter's place and said he couldn't stand a couple of his roommates. I told Carter he could come spend some nights down at mine when he wants once his golf season finishes. Would be a good idea if he wants to come down and watch some games.
I've been loving those skillet meals, tried fettuccine alfredo, garlic chicken pasta, and shrimp fried rice. It would probably be beneficial to learn how to cook them myself but these are just so easy, and they usually provide me with some leftovers too.
Love ya!
From Mommy (reply)S Puget Sound ... the team that got you in a buzzer beater! SO close!I am so grateful that the roommate/housing situation has worked out so well. Originally I remember I felt like that was the "one drawback" to Clackamas. So grateful Conner's family was able to get so much done and that you have your own room and that it's going well. Very grateful!Really, those skillet meals are PERFECT for your situation, making meals on your own, quick and easy but pretty healthy. I think I tried making a big batch of alfredo chicken from scratch, but I think you guys liked the frozen bags better. Too bad the "favorite noodles" aren't still around, they were tasty and so easy! I know I've tried a few other brands a time or two, pretty good. I'll have to look at what's available and grab one or two for Coop to try too. I remember after Landon's ACL surgery I went shopping for him and he had me pick up something similar, but more of a veggie stir fry. Maybe he added chicken himself? I can't quite remember. Your brothers are perfecting their dinner skills. Cal and Keaton both have their own Blackstone grill now. Keaton says he has fried rice perfected. Landon and Keaton both have a sous vide. Something to aim for eventually? Take after your dad/uncles and get a smoker/blackstone?Hope you've been sleeping. Your dad laid down to rest his eyes a little before 8:00 last night ... and didn't wake up until 5:00 in the morning!
Colton - Conner, Gray, Vitaliy, Mason, Lincoln
Sent via text Friday 10/25/2024
From Colton (October 28, 2024)
I should be better with getting assignments done, I've been procrastinating but ultimately getting the stuff done. Work has been just fine, but it does make it a little harder to make time for school. Wednesdays and Thursdays I only have about an hour and a half between getting home and getting ready for work and I like to use that time to get a shower and lay down for a bit. I'm also a little worried about my work schedule once the season starts, I will probably have quite a few games on nights where I'm scheduled to work.
Gray and Mason showed me a way to get into the gym basically whenever I want through a door at the back of the gym. We are technically supposed to have a coach in the gym with us at all times but the security doesn't enforce that, they only kick us out when it gets too late and they need to shut down the building.
I thought I mentioned it in a text a couple weeks ago but Kobe did get a car. A Toyota Corolla, same as Keaton's. Him and his parents got it shortly after the move. We don't really carpool either because we all head to the gym at different times and leave at different times too.
I haven't thought about the possibility of trick-or-treaters. I'm working that night so I won't be home but I might grab a bag of candy just in case Connor or Kobe have to deal with it.
I've been having a little bit of car trouble, the check engine light has been popping on for a bit then turning back off. Also getting the message that I'm due for an oil change but according to the sticker from my last oil change, I should've been good for another couple thousand miles before needing another one.
Also trying to get around to getting my debit card replaced. I'm pretty sure my current one is damaged. Funny story, I haven't actually known my pin for like a year now, and I never really needed it as there's always a way to bypass entering your pin when using a card reader. Except for the Winco near our place. I head there pretty often for groceries and their card readers require you to enter your pin. I usually don't have to use my debit card because I have the food stamps card, but I also got a reusable grocery bag so that I don't have to use the paper bags that all stores have down here. So my food stamps card paid for everything but the 88 cents that the bag cost and I couldn't use my debit since I didn't know my pin, and they also don't accept credit cards so I couldn't pay it with that either. I also didn't want to take the bag off the transaction as I already had put all the stuff I'd purchased in it. The only cash I had on me was a $100 and luckily the self-checkout was able to break that down. Felt silly using a $100 bill to pay off 88 cents. After that is when I asked they mail me a reminder of my pin, I ended up changing it to something I'll remember. But even with the right pin, my debit was getting declined when I went to buy anything. I'm still able to use it perfectly fine for online purchases and I added it to my wallet app so I can use Apple pay for any card readers that have tap. I even called America First to check and see if they could view the status of my card and it wasn't blocked or anything.
I've been having to use two washers at once when doing my laundry as my loads don't really fit into just one. Been going through a bit more clothes with having practice everyday and we don't have dedicated practice jerseys. The washers and dryers at our complex cost $2 for each use, but the process is really convenient. They have an app where you select which machine you're using and you can put money into your balance on the app so I don't have to physically use my debit card. It also has the timer for the machine on the app so I just head back to my room while it's going then come back when it's done.
**(update/reply to mom's reply)
Kobe is going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, he also already has his tickets. Connor drives home every weekend so he will for sure be heading home for holidays too.
I figured out the debit card situation. It wasn't damaged or anything. When I reset my PIN number, I also went ahead and enabled "Card Guard' on the America First app, which is just an app that allows you to enable and disable your card, along with sending you notifications whenever a transaction happens on your card. My card was enabled but there were some deeper settings that were set to off by default which was causing it to decline. I was able to use it successfully today when getting tacos. I also went ahead and changed the address on my account so no more mail regarding my account should be sent to you guys.
I think I'll give the schedule to Justin (the scheduling manager), but I feel a tad bad as I'm already on pretty low hours and this will probably reduce me even more to like two shifts a week. I did already get approved for Thanksgiving and Christmas so not to worry there. I'm actually scheduled this Sunday but we have our jamboree so I'm trying to swap shifts with someone but no luck yet.
Love ya!
Taco Tuesday!
Sent via text 10/29/2024
Just to keep this mostly COLTON, I'll just feature his letters from now on (which often are answering questions Mommy had asked) and will include some tidbits from texts as well as emails.
November 6, 2024
I had work at Walgreens on Halloween, but both Conner and Kobe were home. They said we didn't get any trick-or-treaters. I don't think we had any candy ready anyway so that worked out well.
The matchups for the jamboree were just 20minutes/running clock. I called them games but it did feel a little weird with how short they were. If you get behind in one of those games, it's really hard to come back. We're actually not going to the last jamboree in Bellevue because it's starting a little too early and we would have to drive up a few hours earlier than that so our coaches decided not to go. They have all the roster decisions made now, just need to have those talks with the players who won't be receiving a jersey. Hopefully we will have our media day sometime next week before the first game. I have number 15, for some reason we don't have any numbers below 10.
School is still about the same, just getting it done. I've liked the online class more than the in-person so far, but my in-person classes are mostly online anyway since they only meet once a week. I haven't got my classes for next term planned yet, I have to make an appointment with PJ, our academic counselor.
I tried all week to get my Sunday shift swapped but there were no responses, as nobody really works similar hours to me. I had to call out a day before and let my manager know I couldn't come in. I still haven't got my schedule to them yet, but none of my games conflict with work until December. They know I'm unavailable during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday, all good with my travel home.
Parking at the apartment wasn't an issue at all for a while, we actually have two spots since we're on a corner of the complex. And there's a lot of guest spots right by our place too. Lately though, they've been working on the roof of all the buildings and lots of those spots are taken up by dumpsters they're using for the old roof parts. We had someone come and do something that did get rid of the ants in the kitchen. I still have some in my room unfortunately. It rains almost every night, which really creates a problem in my room. So much moisture gets through my windows just from condensation and gets onto my blinds too. It drips down and although I can see that it's not actually wet, it makes some stuff in my room feel moist, like my pillowcase and blanket sometimes. I've checked the windows in Connor and Kobe's room and it doesn't happen to theirs at all so I don't know why it's happening to mine.
South Puget Sound and Tacoma are possibly two of the best teams in the NWAC so we weren't too upset with those losses. Blue Mountain was rough, we did not play that good. I was happy with how many assists I was getting, especially for how short the games were. Got to talk with Q and Lance (another kid from our recruiting trip), a lot at the jamboree. I don't know if you noticed but in one of the games you could actually see Centralia on the opposite court and even see Q at times. The game against Tacoma was awesome, it was the last game of the night and we had some of the other teams watching too. I don't know if you already watched it all but a fight almost happened so the intensity was just higher because of that too. Gray and I stayed for a couple hours after the scrimmages with Coach Stamme in the team room, we were talking about the roster decisions and the scrimmages. I think they're going to have me be a captain with Gray and Mason. Stamme is back on his feet now after his knee replacement surgery, he's walking with a cane, already looking a lot better than before.
Love ya!
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November 14, 2024
Haven’t seen any snow here, thank goodness. Locals say not to really expect it either, just rain every day. Driving in the rain is a little sketchy at times because the roads are really dark at night, not many streetlights here in Oregon.
I’ve been giving Coach Stamme rides home from practice while he’s still recovering from his surgery so he’s been showing some of his favorite food spots around Oregon City.
Utah vs BYU ... No one pays attention to Utah schools in Oregon so I didn’t hear much about the big game in person. My social medias were blowing up though.
No media day for team pictures yet, not sure of when that will be arranged. Haven’t actually got to try on any of the jerseys yet. We’re going to be wearing dark blue tomorrow even though it’s a home game, Centralia had a problem with their away jerseys so they asked if they can wear white. Super excited for tomorrow, got some buddies and coaches back from Utah wanting to watch the game too to watch Q and I play each other.
I needed to ask you about our Amazon account. Would I be able to order with it too, I need to get some different color compression undershirts for our jerseys. There’s only a few of us away from home, me, Connor and Kobe, then Jordan, Reggie, and Dom (redshirt) are in an apartment right outside the campus.
Love ya!
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November 22, 2024
We're expecting the second one against Centralia to be much harder so trying not to let the win make us underestimate them.
I think our furthest travel actually comes from a region game, Southwestern Oregon. They're in Coos Bay, about a four hour drive south for us. I like that most of the games are pretty close, but I think I would still enjoy far away games. Although, since we take a small team bus, the seats can sometimes be a little uncomfortable, so long drives won't always be fun.
Plantar fasciitis pain was always the back of the foot on the heel. Haven't had it in a while. Funny though since I actually went out and bought some special inserts for plantar fasciitis last week, but I only wanted to use them for making my new basketball shoes more comfortable. I got these new "Way of Wade" shoes, and they use a much larger than average insole that's very cushioned, but it makes the shoe really tight. I had the same brand of shoes for my senior year at WJ and I remember having that same issue with my foot hurting too much with the original insole but felt pretty good once I replaced it with my own. Still trying to get them worn in enough to the point I actually would wear them in game.
Interesting updates from Coop/DLP. I do remember some meetings talking about those end of year bonuses. I think I know those who were let go, that's unfortunate.
Really excited for the Thanksgiving holiday next week, it'll be nice to sleep in the big bed again. Been talking to Jair a lot and am excited to see some of the guys again.
Got all registered for Winter term, mostly online classes with one in person meeting. Grades are okay, public speaking is a little hard because of the teacher, she's a hard grader. Walgreens has still been pretty good, going down to two shifts a week. I haven't really been buying the sugar cookies anymore, they are not always at the Grocery Outlet unfortunately. I've been really liking those oatmeal creme pies and oreos. Found a couple good frozen baked ziti and lasagnas that are easy and really tasty. Lots of ground beef and eggs as well, and fast food :).
Love ya!
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December 8, 2024
Sorry for the late reply, this has been a really long week. It was so good to be back home for Thanksgiving but it did make this week feel quite a bit more stressful as I had a lot to come back to. I had work the night after I got back, a speech in class on Tuesday night, work Wednesday night, my final project due in business class on Thursday I spent all night finishing up, then on the road Friday morning. Just not a lot of free time at all, which also makes it hard to find a day to get the charger in the shop. The check engine light is on, oil change due, and one of the tires has low air pressure (although I think that's just from the cold weather).
The weekend was pretty fun considering it didn't quite go the way we wanted. We did three to a hotel room, and all of our rooms were in this one clump so we were just usually all in one room hanging out whenever we had time. I was with Jkari and Miles. There was a 7/11 right by the hotel, so we took a few trips where we would all go and grab lots of snacks with our EBT cards and go to one room and watch either college basketball or college football. Sorry to say I didn't really get any pictures. The first two games we had a couple players almost get a tech for swearing on the court so when we were hanging out Saturday Night and talking about that, we jokingly talked about no more swearing from that point on during the weekend and it became a big part of that night. If anyone swore, they had to do 50 pushups, then 10 more for any additional after that. We were all just listening for it and whenever someone accidentally swore we would freak out, it was a fun night. We went to a pizza place the first night, Red Robin the second, and a quick sandwich place called Quiznos tonight before heading back.
The game against Skagit Valley was rough, but we weren't too down after that loss. They are ranked #2 in the NWAC and to only lose by 12 without our main big guy wasn't too bad. We just got killed on rebounding is what we really took from that game. Pacific JV ... even though we won, we should've played better so everyone was just pretty calm in the locker room after that one. Tonight was a game we really should've won. It does suck we are missing two key guys but we just did not play how we should. I'm happy that I was able to get my buckets these last two games as throughout the season I've been struggling to get the ball in the rim. Pierce's best player (#0) and I were talking a bit during the game as we were going back and forth with a lot of buckets between the two of us. He was cool, he did not enjoy having to guard me.
I'm happy it was very easy for Dad to get the flight change done, I was a little worried about that coming up. Connor didn't start one of our games earlier in the year because he was late for our shootaround that day so I know missing a practice would probably result in something similar.
Lova ya!
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January 18, 2025
Been a while since a write-up, super busy. Starting after Dad and the brothers left, I went to get my car checked out the day they flew back. Drove it to this little shop, "The Affordable Car Doctor" run by a previous Clackamas student that our coaches know. I took an Uber back to the apartment as it was probably going to be a couple hours, and both Connor and Kobe were not home. However, that turned out to be pretty unfortunate because as I get back home, I realize I left my apartment key on the key chain for the charger fob when I dropped it off at the shop. So I was locked out, with no car, neither roommates home for a while, and no way to get in. I do have a spare key to the apartment, but ironically I keep it in the car. That was a funny story, I just sat on the steps for about an hour talking to Jair on the phone before they called back saying the car was ready. Not great news about the car, they found the reason the check engine light was on - the tube connecting the gas tank to where you pump gas was broken. I Ubered back to the shop to pick up the car and was told that they'll order the part and it would be available two days later to get it installed. It's about $700 for the part, tools used to find the problem, and labor to install. But when I go back, they go to put in the new tube and it turns out that the one used in my car is the slightest bit different from the one usually found in Chargers. They make some calls and the earliest we could get the right part is Feb. 19. So that's pretty much the plan for right now, they said it won't affect the performance of the car anytime soon so just driving around with the check engine light sometimes on until we can finally get back in there to get it fixed. There's been more problems since then though. I've realized that I can't get the car to lock anymore. I press the lock button on either the key fob or from the inside and I'll hear the click as if it worked, but nothing actually happens. I could lock the doors manually by pressing down the little thing then closing the door, but I've never really been one to lock my doors anyway (take after dad in that way). The trunk also won't open, tried pressing the open trunk button on the inside and even the button on the trunk itself. I'll always hear the click as if it pops open but it just stays completely still.
Picking up Jair, Steve, and Carter at the airport I was a little worried about not being able to get my trunk open for them to put their luggage in. I was planning on hurry jumping out and climbing though the backseat to hit the emergency open handle from inside the trunk but they didn't have too much with them, packed light enough that they could just keep their bags on their laps in the car. Went to McDonald's for breakfast on the way home from the airport (their flight was at 6 am). We stayed at my place for a bit talking before I left for practice. Introduced them to Connor and Kobe. They all passed out on the coach for a couple of hours as they were very tired. After practice, we headed to a little restaurant called Thai Chef, where I unintentionally ate some peanuts. Headed to the hotel after that to chill for a bit. Decided to see the Sonic movie that night, I showed them my beloved Grocery Outlet right before the movie theatre so we could grab some snacks to bring in. Movie was not that great, but we all really enjoyed going because it became a running joke for the rest of the trip.
Second day of the trip, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and just hung out for a bit before I had to go back for shootaround. About an hour and a half before the game, I came and picked them up and we drove to the gym. I left the car with them to go get something to eat because I had to be at the game quite a bit early, and didn't want to make them wait at the gym for a while before the game started. Game did not go that well, although it was fun to play against all kids from Utah. Talked to a lot of them after the game, including getting a pic with Quince. Went back to my apartment for a bit for me to take a shower and get changed so we could head back out. We went to Salt n Straw and walked around there for a bit, it's a cool place. As we got back into Oregon City, we were still hungry because we didn't get any real food, so we went to MOD Pizza for our last meal of the day. Spent some more time at the hotel before I went back to my place to get some sleep.
After breakfast the next day, we went to the Clackamas Town Center to walk around and check out the shops. We all actually did end up buying some things, which was surprising to me because I don't usually get stuff from the mall. After that, we drove around to a couple different Goodwill's because Steve and Carter wanted to go thrifting. Carter did end up finding a really cool hoodie from one of the stores, making that little venture a success. After all that driving, we ended up in Milwaukie, Oregon, which we discovered is a pretty trashy city. We ate at a Taco Bell and went back to the hotel to relax a bit. I made reservations for us at Oswego Grill for dinner, the same place Dad took us to for dinner on the second night they were down here. I went back to my place for a couple hours before I was planning on going back to pick them up then go to dinner, but they ended up calling me because they decided to Uber back to the mall to mosey around a bit before dinner. I met up with them at the restaurant. It's funny because I don't think I've ever gone to an actual restaurant with my buddies before, we always just get food at some easy fast food place. We all got a nice steak dinner (not nearly as good as dad's), and then went back to the hotel. We took a little trip to a nearby Fred Meyer to grab some snacks and games for the final night at the hotel. We spent a couple hours hanging out and playing Sorry. Woke up the next morning at 6 am to take them back to the airport. It was such a fun few days, I was really glad they made the trip up.
The team was in a pretty rough spot after the 0-2 start to league. Had a pretty tough couple days of practice leading up to the Umpqua game. Nobody was really on the right page and team morale was very low. That win against Umpqua was very much needed, I don't know what the next week would've looked like if we didn't get that win. It's pretty helpful that our region is so competitive, like even though we started 0-2, we still have a very real chance to win our region since any team can lose at any given time. After just the third game, there were no undefeated teams left in the region, and as of right now there's two teams at the top who are both 3-1, Umpqua and Portland.
School hasn't been too stressful these first couple weeks, anticipating it might get a bit worse as we go on. I don't really have a good way of sharing my assignments or classes with you like I could in high school.
Work has been pretty much the same. Being a common store and working the closing shift, I've gotten used to seeing some homeless people come through the store. A few of them bring regulars that I see most shifts I work. But there was a pretty bad interaction on Monday where the cops had to be called. I'd seen this man come in lots of times before but I'd never heard him talk before. But when he came in he asked me if he could use our phone at the photo booth, so I first asked my manager because I didn't really know if we allowed customers to use our building phones, and my manager said it's been a problem before so we don't let them. My manager came and told him we couldn't let him use it and the man got pretty angry. Once my manager asked him to leave he then flipped out and grabbed the phone and tried to throw it at him. As we called the cops he started leaving the store, but made sure to wreck some things on his way out, a bunch of bowls in the checkout line he just completely knocked over and broke. The cops informed us that he apparently had already been banned from our store before, which we were not even aware of.
There's this girl I've been talking to a lot over the past couple weeks, her name is Haley. I know I'm already really busy with school, work and basketball, and there isn't too much free time to work with, but she is really cool. We've only gone out a couple times because she lives pretty far away (about an hour and a half drive) in a city called Lebanon. I met her because she was at our game against Walla Walla a few weeks ago, she knew one of the players on Walla Walla from high school. She is driving up today for the Chemeketa game so I'm excited for that.
Not too much else has been happening, just trying to stay on top of everything. Going to start getting ready here in a bit for the game.
Love ya!
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January 27, 2025
Still battling through a lot of sickness at the moment. Most of the team has seemed to get over it by now but I'm still feeling the same as I have been the last couple of weeks. Yesterday was particularly bad, super sore throat and body aches throughout the day, I actually had to call out from work. I want to apologize to my manager because I feel I've been pretty unreliable the past month. I've had three call outs from being sick, and checking the schedule this week, I realized I got scheduled on Wednesday even though we have a game. That one is not so much my fault as they did have my game schedule so not sure why I got scheduled to work that day but I had to let my manager know I also can't come in on that day. I never realized how much ibuprofen helps me when I have a sore throat, when I wake up in the mornings it's been really bad, then I get some ibuprofen in my system and I start feeling significantly better.
Really looking for a win on Wednesday here. That game against Lane was pretty good, they just were hitting some huge shots. Number four on their team hits a tough three in overtime and he's typically not a good three point shooter. I felt that a couple of my layups at the end of the fourth quarter should've been called and-1's but I guess not. I even asked the ref after one of them if he really didn't see any contact on my finish and his response was, "Yeah I probably should've called that. You got fouled." Then the very next play I get a similar take, get a lot of contact, and still no call. I also got a tough scratch on my ankle from one of my falls during the game, the player landed his foot on my ankle when I hit the floor and it ended up bleeding pretty bad. And the worst part, it's not a very pickable scab. Looks like Mason is pretty much out for the year, his knees just won't let up. He's also been told by doctors that he probably shouldn't continue playing basketball anymore. Also don't get to see Vitaliy as much now that his season is done. Really only see him and Mason and games now since they don't always make it to practice everyday, especially since all they could do is sit and watch others be able to play.
I've been finding that some of my groceries go bad a little before they're supposed to. I remember a couple times back home where the lunch meat would spoil a bit, so I've been buying smaller packages of my turkey and ham so they don't sit in the fridge as long. Hasn't exactly been working though as they still turn into that yucky feel and taste two or three weeks before the expiration date. Even some of my cereal, I had a big box of Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch that should easily be good for months but when I tried them a few days ago, they were really stale and gross. And I can't figure out why since I kept the bag sealed well and the box shut but they still went bad. Hasn't been a problem with too much stuff but just something I've noticed recently.
Things have been going really well with Haley. We have officially started dating as of Saturday night. I drove down to her house last Tuesday and met her parents. They're both really into sports and have been watching the streams. Haley played basketball in high school, and was a really good free throw shooter. So we've had a running joke about me improving my free throw percentage to meet her standards. She actually competed in this huge free throw competition when she was really young, don't know exactly how it worked but she placed 8th in the whole country in that competition. Haley came up for the game on Saturday, and she stayed the night with me so as to not have her make the hour and a half drive twice in a single day. I'm heading down for dinner with her and her family tomorrow after practice. Haley really likes looking at the Blackhamball account, yet she says she's too afraid to follow. Also while on the subject, Connor was pretty bummed out that you don't follow him on instagram. A few of the teammates mentioned to me they were followed by "Blackhamball" and Connor checked if he was just to find out that he wasn't (he's not actually upset, we just laughed about it).
I've been fairly good at staying on top of my assignments so far. The classes have turned out to be a bit easier than I anticipated. Only having the one in-person class has helped as well since I still feel really busy. Also still a bit worried about the car situation. One of the guys from the shop did text me just to check in and let me know we're still waiting on the part for the Charger. I updated him with some of the new problems that came up, we're just going to wait until Feb. 19 to check those out.
Love and miss ya! <3
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April 25, 2025
Classes so far haven't been much of a problem, staying on top of all my assignments and getting good scores. I have A's right now in all three classes, except it doesn't look that way for one of them. I've found that some teachers grade in a way where all assignments for the entire course are included in the weighted total, even the ones that haven't been given to us yet. They call them dead grades. It was more annoying during the season where coaches wanted progress reports of our classes and my weighted total for one of those classes was like a 50% when that was because we were only halfway through the term and I had done all the work available. All my classes this term are online, except for a once a week lab on Thursday nights for my environmental science class. The teacher is pretty lenient in that class, Sam, Brooklynd, and I (they're in the class too), were able to get our stuff done really early last night in class and leave after only an hour.
I don't think I am finishing out the track season, my hamstring is taking a long time to recover. It was feeling decent going into this week, enough to try playing in open gym on Monday. I was playing fine for about 20 minutes until I stepped a little wrong and my hammy pulled up on me pretty bad. It doesn't hurt too bad most of the time but if I get going at all and try to play it will just pull up again. The basketball schedule now is open gym on Monday and Wednesdays 5:30-7:30 and training on Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00-2:00. Most of my time is spent sitting with Stamme and Wags though.
Kobe came back Wednesday night from over a month in Hawaii. Funny he came back on a pretty hot night, a good welcome for him back to the no air-conditioning apartment. I had to bust out the window AC unit last night, got it all set up again without any problems. It wasn't turning on initially and I was getting worried but unplugging it and plugging it again did the trick and it cooled down the room pretty quick. I forgot how warm it gets in here because it hasn't been a problem for the last 4-5 months.
Easter weekend was pretty fun up here. On Saturday I went and met up with Haley and her family for Topgolf. Her oldest brother CJ lives in Seattle and he was down here for a couple days so I got to meet him. Funny coincidence that Landon was up here at the same time, and Haley and CJ have the same age gap as me and Landon. Haley came with me to Kolby and Jami's shortly after Topgolf. It was a blast seeing them and Maddie and Mia. Their house is insanely cool, I don't know if Landon told you but it's like a treehouse. The entire thing is on stilts over a hill, and the person living there before them was an interior designer so it was very nice there, especially the upstairs bathroom. We'll hopefully go back there sometime soon and maybe spend the night. Dinner was also very good, however Haley didn't eat too much. I've learned that she is just as picky of an eater as you, maybe even more. We got some more food a while after when driving back down to her house for the night. For Easter, we went up to her grandparents house in Eugene and had lunch. Played games, exchanged some gifts and ate very thanksgiving-like food. Haley and I drove back up to my place (separate cars) so she can spend a couple nights here then drive back. We went to the mall to get her a necklace for her birthday coming up here on Monday, then went to Salt & Straw after I got back from open gym.
I've been getting better at cooking these past couple weeks! Chicken alfredo might just be the best thing on Earth. I just make a big batch of it, a couple pounds of chicken, then I have leftovers for several days. I haven't experimented with the sauce mixes yet that you suggested, still just been doing the jars since they've been really good to me. Haley and I actually cooked up something Monday night, just some spaghetti and breadsticks. Except we used rotini pasta instead because I wasn't a big fan of the spaghetti last time I did it. I don't know what to call that meal if I'm not using the spaghetti pasta, like isn't the meal literally called spaghetti. Haley informed me that Franz breadsticks are actually the ones that Olive Garden uses so I got a bag of those and threw them in the oven then using butter and garlic salt is actually soooo good. Steak has still been a little problematic for me, just hard to get right. Definitely overcooked it the first two times, I tried again last night and it was a lot better. Also tried sirloin last night instead of skirt.
I haven't been good about getting the Charger in for fixes. I did get an oil change yesterday that was pretty overdue but the check engine light is still on. I mean I know the reason it's on and it doesn't affect the performance of the car at all but the place I took it to initially never got the part needed to fix it and I haven't taken it anywhere else to see if they could get it. The backup camera is almost useless, for some reason it only works in the mornings, I don't know how that happens but anytime past noon I just get a blank screen when going in reverse. Also, I think I had told you about the weird electrical problems in the car, like the doors not locking the trunk not opening, I could only do those things manually from inside the car. But just in the last few days the locks have been working again, it's always a little exciting when I start driving and I hear the locks click down once going a certain speed, because that means they're working again.
They're repainting the buildings in our apartment complex and it looks pretty dope. It's a white and black color scheme now, instead of the tan. Pretty easy way to make the buildings look more modern. It's been pretty noisy outside my window though with them working on it, especially after just getting the AC unit back in there so the window is technically open.
That's about all I got for today. Sorry about not being good about writing. Love ya!
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May 11, 2025
Happy Mother's Day, you guys go do anything today? I can't seem to remember which house the Mother's Day party is at every year. I just got home from Haley's house, they were going to go up to her nana's house to spend Mother's Day but her nana had to suddenly go to the hospital last night, she's been having some health issues. :(
You might like to hear that I've been having my own pickle peeps this last week. Played a few doubles games with Haley's brother, Ty and his girlfriend at a nearby highschool that Ty coaches football at. Then Haley and I went and played some games against each other on Monday and Tuesday at a park near my apartment. I was a little disappointed with my pickle skills as we got kinda crushed by Ty and Jordan. Haley beat me three games to two on Monday but then I got her back on Tuesday. She always mentions your instagram on Sunday mornings, "your mom posted the pickle peeps!" Haley and I went bowling last night, then had dinner at Applebees, both being a pretty bad experience. Our waitress forgot our mozzarella sticks, had to remind her once she brought out our meals, she then returned pretty quickly with the sticks but definitely not fresh. They were fine until I bit into one of the last ones and the cheese was just kind of tough and not stringy at all, it was yucky. Grabbed some shakes from Dairy Queen after that did help numb that damage haha.
The hamstring has been feeling a lot better, I've been doing all the practices and workouts with the team the last couple weeks. Something I didn't really realize at first is that the track coach had actually taken over paying my scholarship for Spring Term. When I told him that I wouldn't be finishing out the season I did mention that it'd be fair to take that scholarship back for someone else but he was really cool about it and said it was okay and they don't take them for injuries. He did ask if I would help set up stuff for NWAC championships since we are co-hosting that with Mt. Hood, so I will definitely help out with that.
Our recruiting has not been looking too great. We are in desperate need of a big man since Gray is gone and Miles has decided not to come back for sophomore year (he's going to OSU for school). And it happens to look like there's no good recruitable bigs in Oregon, so Stamme and Wags have been looking into some Utah recruits with my help. Coach Scott actually came through with a group of kids, similar trip that I went on last year. You probably remember me mentioning Rone a few times from going to pickup games and playing against him in Cal's men league. He was with Coach Scott when they came in and Wags really liked him. Not sure if it's 100% yet but looks like Rone will be coming here next year which is awesome. I gave Stamme some names of bigs I knew in Utah and he's been in a lot of contact with one of them. Desperately hoping we could get him to come here as he would be a huge help. Stamme's been calling me the "Director of Utah Recruiting."
I don't know if you remember a game called Stop, but I've been playing it a ton over the last couple days. I got Haley into it and got Cooper back into it as well. I started out beating Cooper every game since I had been playing a lot recently, then once he got used to the categories again he started kicking my butt. I've been playing Fight List again too, that was another one I remember playing with you and Coop. I tried out Fight List 2 and 3 but they're a lot different and not as much fun.
Hasn't been anything new with my cooking. I will probably make some chicken alfredo right after finishing this up. Although, I'll probably use ground beef instead since my chicken is still in the freezer. How do you usually defrost chicken? I've been putting off using the chicken in my freezer since I don't really want to go through the effort to defrost it.
That's all for right now. Happy Mother's Day again! I love you! <3
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June 17, 2025
I'm very happy to be done with my freshman year, more just excited to be done with the schoolwork. Looks like I finished with a 4.0 again with 15 credits. Coach Waggs texted me a quick congrats on finishing with a 4.0 for the last two terms. We finished up our Spring training not last week but the week before. and the court was closed last week as they were redoing the surface. I've been going into the weight room early mornings everyday to lift and just get myself acclimated with waking up really early again as I'll need to do that for DLP here in a couple weeks. I talked a little with Coop and mentioned that I am good to start working again on the 30th, the day after Haley flies back to Oregon. I know you had mentioned for Haley to fly out later on Sunday so she could be there for pickleball, but just looking at the flights on the day, they all got significantly more expensive in the afternoon/evening. They went from around $160 to $300+, so she ended up booking an early flight. I'll be dropping her off around 7 am, she departs at 8:26 I think, might not be exactly right. I was a little bummed about that, I wanted her to be there for pickleball too.
It's been really nice having the apartment to myself for the last couple weeks, although I've only really been spending the weekdays there, weekends I've been going up to Haley's house. But having the whole kitchen and space in the fridge/freezer for the time being is awesome. Chicken alfredo is so so so good, I have been making it every week. I tried this protein pasta instead of regular and it turned out great. I've been trying to eat lots of protein everyday to put on some muscle for next season. I learned that canned chicken is kind of awesome, it always seemed pretty gross to me, but I tried it out with a recipe I saw on TikTok and was very pleasantly surprised. I would just prefer to just cook up chicken breast myself and store as that's a bit cheaper but cooking chicken is sometimes a process and I would always need fresh chicken in the fridge. I did buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts from Winco as you get more chicken for the price that way and I was looking at ways to cook chicken well from frozen, but it hasn't worked that well too far. Expect me to be a lot more attentive to your cooking this summer and how you're doing it haha.
I've planned a bit for when Haley is in Utah. I think we'll try a hike at Donut Falls, it's been a while but I do remember doing that hike before with Landon. Also planning on a picnic dinner on Friday night at Flight Park, it has a really good view of the sunset. I know we haven't been much of a coffee family, maybe except for dad, so we have never much gone to Starbucks. Haley doesn't like coffee either but she does love Starbucks and other drink places. So, she's seen a lot of videos on TikTok about Swig, and she is way too excited to try that out. She's made it clear that we will be making several trips to Swig throughout the trip, even though I've never been impressed with it myself. We'll definitely hit Dunford too, as it's owned by Franz and she's curious to try their donuts. I don't know if I ever mentioned that her dad also works for Franz too. I'm so excited for this lake day, Haley is too but she's also a little worried about getting motion sick on the wave runner. Will you be coming to the lake as well? And do you know if you and dad will be making some dinner that night too? Just want to know so I know what to plan around.
Can't wait to be back in Utah! Love ya!
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