One Last Training…

T got one last training session on before Christmas Day. He’s got a lot of work to do moving forward. He will get where he needs to be though. It was a bit of a hard/frustrating day for him as he realized just how much work he needs to do moving forward. Being sick for months has put him behind the eight ball so to speak. It’s all good though. 

Two More Events Scheduled for 2023

T will be competing at the 2023 East Grand Prix. He will weigh in May 12th and fight May 13th. We will drive to this event. It’s about the same distance as going to Kentucky to visit our family. 

T will also be competing at the USAT Nationals event also. He will weigh in on July 6th and fight July 7th. 

The calendar is starting to fill in. T is looking forward to all that he will learn this year as he fights in his “New” age and weight division. We will also drive to this event because it’s so close to us. Again it’s like making the trip the Kentucky to see the family. Thankful we can drive to these events with the price of plane tickets. 

USA TaeKwonDo Athlete Academy Sparring Training Camp 2022 Videos…

Earlier this month T got the opportunity to be before one of the Olympic coaches. He was thrilled to have this opportunity and learned a lot and had so much fun too. It was an intense training where everyone was showing off their skills. Since then T has been training harder and sharpening his skills where he saw that he was weak and needed to do better. He is hyper focused going into his first year as a Junior fighter and his mindset is great. He knows this could end up being more of a learning year than a winning year but he is still gonna give it everything he’s got, do his best and leave the results in God’s hands as he always does. There’s always ebb & flow with this sport. Some years you are winning more and others you aren’t. It happens to even the best fighter but you keep moving forward. T is looking forward to seeing a lot of growth in himself this year. With each camp or cross training he gets to do he’s trying to improve himself more. He’s a very realistic guy and he gets that from both his dad and myself. So proud of all he’s already accomplished and all that he still will accomplish in this sport as he continues to focus, grow, and learn. He will make a great master someday with all that he has learned and is learning. Here are some of the videos that we were able to take. You have to really look to find T because the place was very full. These are just raw footage. I put no music or anything with them. 

Orthodontist Appointment 🦷

So T got his rubber bands on his braces today. He will now be coming in every 6 weeks until the braces come off. He’s ahead of schedule with everything and should be getting them off sooner than expected. 

Driver's Ed Eye Exam...

T had his Driver's Ed Eye Exam yesterday and aced it.  It was a quick in and out to get this done.  Now he has the classroom portion done and his eye exam done.  All that is left now is his driving portion and we will be on a waiting list for that portion.  Just hoping his turn doesn't come up when he has comps to attend.  He's wearing one of the shirts that his Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jeff, Corey and Sarah got him.  

Another Update on Me...

So after our weekend travels to Kentucky and back with Scot doing almost all of the driving, which was very different for us, I went to the Chiropractor today to get adjusted.  He basically told me to avoid any traveling that is more than a few hours away until he releases me from care for the car accident that I was in.  I'm making improvements with each visit but I still remain in lots of pain a good majority of the time.  I do as little driving as possible and as little lifting or anything that requires lots of strength as possible.  The less I do the more things can stay in and the longer they stay in the more healing can occur.  I'm ready to get back to normal living.  I hate that this accident is keeping me from doing the things that I normally do and used to have no trouble doing.  It's been a real bummer to have to contend with this here at the holidays.  I'm grateful though that things weren't much worse.  It's good to keep things in perspective.  Our lives are busy but it's ok to slow down a little to allow yourself the time you need so that you can make forward progress.  The good thing is that I've been able to watch more Christmas movies as I've rested and recuperated🥰. 

2023 Carolina Rumble...

T is officially signed up for his first tournament/training camp of the 2023 season.  He is looking forward to training with Olympian CJ Nickolas.  CJ is on Team USA and is World Ranked #6.  This will be an incredible opportunity for T plus he'll get to have quite a bit of fight time with guys that he doesn't normally get to train with.  This will help him gain valuable experience for the new division that he will be in from 2023-2025 as a Junior Fighter.

Neal Family Collage - A Work In Progress...

I'm working on a Neal Family collage.  I only need one more pic of four of our family members and then it will be ready.  Maybe it will be good enough to actually print to a canvas too 🤞🤞🤞.  Here's what it currently looks like though.

Beautiful 😍 Sunset…

Caught these pics of the beautiful sunset as Scot was driving on the West Virginia Turnpike. 

Neal Family Christmas 2022

We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the family in Kentucky this weekend. We even got to see our first snow of the season even though it was just flurries and a dusting of snow on the ground. The kids had a blast opening and playing with their gifts. Family is Everything!!!