Welcome y’all! This will be an active journal for all things that peak the interest of this small-town, Georgia boy, which is probably too much for any sane human being to show interest in. I have started and stopped many online projects before realizing that I should just write about what I love. Each of these topics are close to my heart and I cannot decide on one or the other to pursue (faith, family, music, outdoors, etc.), so they’ll all be here. One website is the answer for a terrible multitasker like myself!
With that being said, I will divide categories up the best I can and I will promise you one thing. Every topic I write about, or create content around, I have experience in. No one ever truly masters anything, in my opinion, and we never stop learning. If I head into uncharted waters, you can bet that I have begun sailing into them. In other words, you will never read or hear me blowing smoke. If I am taking the time to write or create, it’s either to share my experiences or pursue a topic further.
About Me
Here is a not-so-brief background so you have an idea of what to expect here.
Career
A C+ boy turned truck driver and that’s all there is. Kidding, I managed to find some A’s and B’s along the way!
I didn’t know what I wanted to do all throughout grade school, but one evening, sitting on the banks of Lake Jackson with some buddies after a long day of fishing, I told them I would be a Walmart Truck Driver and the first thing I would buy is a big ol’ Mako center console boat. They, also being familiar with how difficult it was to gain a position like that without decades of experience, had a hay day as they burst into laughter. You would’ve thought that I told them I was about to head to Mars.
The decision almost seemed to come out of nowhere, but I knew I would do it. I made my plan and for the next seven to eight years, I would make career decisions that would place me right where I needed to be when the time came.
Why Walmart? I knew they treated their drivers with respect and paid them handsomely solely because they are the best of the best. It probably had something to do with me spending countless hours as a kid backing and maneuvering my metal toy Walmart truck all over my Hot Wheels tracks at home as well. I would say it’s a combination really, but I made the dream of driving for Walmart happen in November of 2019, at the young age of 24, after what felt like truck driving boot camp just to get hired on. Now, I’m still waiting on that Mako!
Music
Early on, I had a love for music beyond just listening. I would sit and listen to my MawMaw play piano for hours on end as a kid. Fast forward to seeing my Uncle Chad play his guitar and I knew that I wanted to learn to play this amazing instrument. At the age of fourteen, I took a few guitar lessons and hit the ground running on my own from there. I fit as many guitar books on my shelf as it could hold and slowly began playing, and understanding, the sounds of the music I loved. I was far from a prodigy, but after fifteen plus years, I have learned a few things and continue to learn every time I pick one up.
I believe everyone should have a creative outlet in life and that’s what music is for me. It’s a way to turn my mind off, even if only a brief second, from the many obligations and responsibilities I have. It is also fulfilling to hone in a craft that I can share with others and hopefully inspire them as well.
Outdoors
My interest in the outdoors also began at an early age. My dad would take me fishing at ponds all over Upson County, Georgia. He wasn’t a big outdoorsman, but he “messed up” when he helped me catch my first fish. I remember him baiting and casting for me, urging me to be patient, and cheering on my “fight” with the giant fish as if it were yesterday. Needless to say, that was all she wrote for my love of fishing. I happened to get lucky enough to meet a girl who could out fish me as well, and she played guitar!
Hunting came a little later, when I began to drive. I had been a few times with my granddad as a child, but all I can remember about those early trips was how cold my butt was sitting in a tree stand. My high school crew really sparked my interest in hunting. We would wade any body of water that held our prized Wood Ducks and bring them to back to whoever’s house was closest to pan fry them and get them on a biscuit for breakfast. We would rotate between duck blinds, deer blinds and tree stands until we all had a good bit of meat to last us through many nights of grilling the following year. Although, the back strap didn’t make it too long!
Family
Fast forward to today, and I am still hunting, fishing, picking and grinning. Oh, and that beautiful, guitar-playing, fish-tugging girl is now my wife. We have logged more hours picking guitars and trolling the water together than I can count. She has also given me two beautiful kids of my own that we can now share our lives and passions with. My seven-year-old boy is beginning to out fish us and has recently started logging some long hours in the woods chasing Whitetails, while my four-year-old girl is always making sure her trick worm color matches the color of her pole and teaching us how to snack properly while in a deer blind. Both also have an ear for, and love, good music.
As a God-fearing, husband, father, trucker, musician and outdoorsman, I couldn’t think of a better direction to head with this journey and what to talk about; besides, all of the above!
