The End of the Chapter...

I finally got on the flight and was back in the ‘burg before you knew it. Most of you know what has happened since then, but basically I am spending my time between White Sulphur Springs, Morgantown, and Pittsburgh. I saw my sister get married in a beautiful ceremony where as Carrie's friends put it...they saw a 'sparkle' of a tear during the ceremony. I am applying for jobs trying to enjoy my time off. I am enjoying Greenbrier county and all of the things that make it home. I am riding a wonderful Harley on some amazing trips. Thanks for always riding along, Uncle John. We all miss you. Mom and Dad asked me to help on some projects around the house...be careful what you ask for. I think I am working them crazy, but I am having a blast with the parents that I love so dearly.

I have no idea where I am going to end up or what I am going to be doing. So far I have applied for Jobs in Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Vermont, and Texas. I am still hoping for that fellowship, but we will see.

This is probably the end of this blog. I will start another on whatever adventure I end up on. I have no idea of the name or have no idea of when it will start, but I will put a link to it on here. I will also let everyone know when it is up. I cannot believe how far this blog has reached. It is amazing the people that tell me they read it all the time. I get comments from friends of friends that I never thought had any idea what was going on. People in many of the states and around the world, from 'Mum' in Pittsburgh to friends on the west coast and Europe. Wow. I realize how many friends and family that I have and how special they are to me. It is really nice when I see all of them again…that they already have read what I have been up to…so there is no need to update and tell the story 100 times.

Finally, This has been a heck of a trip. I have grown professionally and personally. I have made some great friends and truly consider myself ‘international’ now. I traveled to some amazing places such as Bahrain, Dubai, Jordan, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Austria. Worked with some really great people from Pittsburgh and Qatar. That included everyone from Tunisians, Australians, South Africans, Canadians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Qataris, UAE, Filipino, Indonesian, New Zealand, etc. I lived in the Ritz Carlton for 2 Months. I played cards with a great group of people with as many different nationalities. I got Insh' Allahed a thousand times. I learned a lot about Islam and the Muslim culture. I learned that not everyone hates Americans and that not everyone in a white robe is a terrorist.

It was truly a great experience…to have a country boy from West Virginia working with Arabs in the Middle East… Who would have thought it? When asked “Knowing what you know now, would you choose to do it all over again? Or Are you happy you did it?


Absolutely.