In the thoughts of Nate

We are all very close to a much-needed winter break. With the workload increasing for almost all of my classes, I'm getting stressed out very easily and haven't been able to take it out at the gym. I probably went 3-4 times the past 2 weeks which isn't the worst but I would have liked to get my normal schedule in. Alright now let's talk about what I have going on for winter break. So first off, My mom is taking me to Italy for a few days as a Christmas present. I am so excited to go because I've never been there before. My mom's favorite thing to do is travel around the world and experience other cultures. We are planning on going to Florence and Venice. During our time there we will go on a wine tour. I am super excited about this because I will be able to drink legally. We are coming home on the 21st so we can see everyone for Christmas. After Christmas, I'm going to Florida to see my dad and stepmom for New Year. I know going to Florida is nice and all, b

 This past weekend I finally went to my girlfriend's college which is Miami University, located in Oxford Ohio. I left on Friday and got ready for the big 5-hour drive ahead of me. On the way, I stopped at the University of Purdue to see one of my friends from home and he showed me around the campus. He also showed me the frat he is a part of which was really cool to see the different types of college life. After about an hour of visiting, I got back on my way to Miami. I ended up arriving at around 11:30 at night and we just spent the night in because I was so tired. The next day, we wake up at 11 for this thing called Beat the Clock. It is an event at a bar that sells very cheap drinks but gets more expensive as the hours pass. After we spend about 2 hours there, we head to another bar where I play pool with all my friends that also go to this college. I should also mention that 2 of my other friends who go to Ohio University. I was so nice to see everyone and have a great time.

 I'm so glad I'm getting back onto my old schedule with the gym. I haven't been able to work at all during soccer because that is just way too much stress on my body and I simply don't have enough time for it. For the past couple of weeks, I've been going consistently every day except Sunday which is my rest day. My split usually goes; back and bi, chest and tri, and then legs and shoulders. Today was leg and shoulders day. I went pretty hard today so I will probably be very sore tomorrow and the upcoming days. I could easily say that my favorite split would have to be back and bi. there is nothing better than getting a nice bicep pump. Hitting back is nice too but not as good as bi's. Next in order would have to be chest and tri. This is a close second to back and bi but its just not as good to me. Last is legs. This used to be my favorite but after some time I've just grown to not like it as much.  Since I'm planning on playing soccer next year, I need

My friends and I wanted to go to the city this past weekend but had no plan. Luckily, other friends wanted to see the Christmas tree get lit up, so now we had a move. We left for the city at about 5:15 so we had enough time to get to the tree. On the way to the tree, one of my friends dropped her purse and it probably got picked it immediately. Being in the middle of Chicago and during a big event was probably the worst time to drop something like that. Supposedly she had many valuable things in her bag which is very unfortunate. After we spent about 20 min looking around for her bag we left and got some food because we were all hungry at the point. The best part about it is we didn't even get to see the tree get lit up. The girls in our group decided to head out early because the one was very upset and she just wanted to leave. We had to have spent at least an hour deciding what we should do next and we decided that we should at least try to see the tree even though it was so pack

 It is time to decide whether or not I want to stay next year or go to a college in Ohio. This is a huge decision for me because I'm deciding whether or not I want to stop playing soccer. First off, some of the pros to staying here are staying with the friends I've made and continuing to play soccer. The only cons would be leaving the friends I've made and not playing soccer. It might seem like an easy decision for me, but it is not. I don't think I'm ready to give up soccer yet. I was on the brink of deciding to go back to Ohio and attend a college with some of my friends and my girlfriend when the coach asked to have another meeting with me. The whole team got to choose when they had their end-of-the-year meeting, and when I talked to him, I was still undecided. So his asking for another time to meet wasn't too surprising. The only thing that scared me was how quickly I had to make a decision. Once we had our meeting, it was clear what decision I would make. I

Finally, we are getting a break. This week, I got to go home for the first time since I've been at college. I was so excited to see all my friends and family. The best part was getting to see my dogs. I missed them so much. When I got home, I hung out with my mom for a while and caught up. Later that night, I went to see my girlfriend. The next day was my flight to Florida to see my dad's side of the family. Thankfully, my sisters were there too because I wanted to see them. We usually spend Thanksgiving in Florida with my dad's side of the family. The Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, just like it is every single year. My stepmom makes the best dinner, which I am very thankful for. Unfortunately, I could only stay in Florida for a couple of days because I wanted to spend some more time with my family and friends from home. On my last day, I spent some time at the pool and had a little bike ride before I had to leave for my flight back to Ohio. The day after I got back, My

As soon as i think soccer is over,  Coach texts me, "You should really come to practice tonight". I was thrilled because I had been trying to play with the first team. Once I get to practice the coach greets me and says thanks for coming. I start off practicing very strong because when I play with better competition, I rise to that level. I am playing with perfection. I swear I only messed up a few times during the drills and I was finishing all my shots on goal. This was so good for me because it will help me decide what I want to do next year. I was leaning more towards returning home, but now I want to wait it out a little longer and think it over. I think that is the smart choice. Some even better news is I got to travel with the first team to the NCAA National tournament. I was super excited to travel with the team. We had a 4-hour bus ride to the stadium, which was alright. The seats were so uncomfortable but it was over before I knew it. We get to the stadium for pract

 It's week 10 now, and I've gotten into a really good routine for my college life. With soccer being over, I am going to the gym every day, and I'm playing a lot of basketball with my friends. Other than that, everything else has been the same, with my classes starting to pick up with more work. I got assigned my final project for an engineering class, and we are taking over a month to complete it. I think we should be able to get it done within a week, but thanks for giving all that time. As for my other classes, I know I have a final exam for math and a final presentation in my business class. I will have to do a bunch of studying for these classes. One thing that was highlighted this week was the cage. For some reason, they were making the best food. I think my friends and I went 3-4 times this week, and it hit every single time. I'm a big fan of the flatbread pizza they have there; I even got two of them one night they were so good. The other places are really good