Fresh Kicks

Throughout my life I have always had a great love for shoes. In my ladder years of high school I began accumulating shoes, because for almost any occasion that would warrant a gift I would ask for a pair of shoes, then I got a few short-lived jobs during the summer and used a portion of that money to also purchase shoes. Currently I have roughly 20-25 pairs of shoes (I've never officially counted.) I've lost a few pairs, some I let people borrow and they were never returned, and others lived their full life. For some reason as of recent I haven’t had a pair of high tops, and that never really mattered until the recent series of unfortunate events. Four to five months before moving to Austin I badly sprained my left ankle playing basketball. Then in January I sprained the same left ankle (as if I had more than one left ankle.) playing basketball. It swelled up and became very bruised, since January I have tweaked it multiple times, and sprained it two other times, the last one being 2 weeks ago. At first I was going to simply purchase an ankle brace, but then thought if I just had a good pair of high tops that would also do the trick.

So this weekend on a pure whim, we made a trip to the NIKE Factory Outlet in Round Rock, to see what they had in their inventory. We were really on our way to HEB, when Heather decided to keep driving. I found these bad boys (pictured above.) I found a box for a size 11, opened up it up and the air was filled with that fresh smell of new shoes. I pulled out all the paper tightly stuffed inside the toe of the shoes, slipped them on my feet, laced them up and took a small walk up and down the isle. They felt good, comfortable, lightweight, and seemed to give adequate support. So I pulled them off my feet, jammed the padding back into the toe of the shoe, and placed them back on the shelf.

Heather was confused, she was asking, "I thought you liked them? Don't you want to get them?"

I replied, "I need to take the walk."

The walk:

Is a customary voyage that can take anywhere between 5 minutes to a month at sometimes. It's where I leave the item walk around elsewhere to see how much the item sticks with me. If it stays with me and I still have a desire for the item, then I return to purchase the item.

I wanted to use my "walk" time to go to the Adidas outlet, and check out what they had to offer. Although they had a fresh pair of black and white high top flavor. The price didn't sit as well with my bank account. The smell of that new pair of shoes was still thick on my mind, and I could still feel the way those all white Nike’s with a hint of silver accents was hugging my feet. So we made the voyage back to the NIKE store, where Heather and Hannah waited in the car while I returned for my new pair of shoes.

I'll be able to give an official report on their performance on Wed. but until then they are sitting pretty beside my bed.

Welcome Home!

P.S-Here's some pictures of our Labor Day weekend Bar-B-Que that the church had at the park. (Free food... I'm there!)