My new job, Chicago and the NBA Draft

I am excited about the opportunity I have been given to work at my alma mater as a teacher and a coach.  The old saying “There’s no place like home” is truer than you think.  I came home in April after moving to Nashville for 6 months.  My experience in Nashville was a great, even though I didn’t like the job I had at D1 Sports, but several things happened.  I got engaged, I was close to Katie, I coached at Ravenwood High School and met some cool people, and I went to 13 Belmont games.  So overall it was a great experience.  However, once I moved back to Pendleton County I was offered 3 positions (2 coaching, 1 teaching) in a span of 20 days.  It was a no-brainer for me to accept all three positions.  God was calling me back to my hometown to give my experiences and knowledge to young adults in Pendleton County.  So starting in the fall I will be teaching Health and PE and coaching girl’s golf.  I am also the freshman boys’ basketball coach and will be assisting the Varsity and JV teams as well.  My summer break is down to less than a month now because we start golf practice on July 23^rd.

Last weekend I decided to go to Chicago to visit my college teammate, Jonny Rice, and to watch my childhood friend, Nate Jones, pitch for the White Sox.  Another college teammate of mine, Brandon Baker, rode with me from Cincinnati to Chicago.  According to MapQuest, it said it was going to take us 5 ½ hours to get there.  With some luck of having zero traffic issues, Bake and I made it to the Windy City in under 4 hours and 45 minutes.  We had an awesome time as we toured downtown Chicago, saw two Brewers-Sox games and saw Nate pitch in a Major League Baseball game. 

Nate and I played Potato League together for Star Bank.  Ironically, I pitched and Nate caught most of the time.  Nate’s mother, Debbie Jones, was our coach.  Nate and I also played on the golf team together in high school.  Being from a small community it was neat talking to him before the game right after he signed autographs for about 20 minutes.  He pitched one inning on Saturday night vs. Milwaukee and did not give up an earned run and struck out Aramis Ramirez on a nasty 2-2 slider.  With that said, the Sox went 1-1 when we were there and I now have a new favorite MLB team.  U.S. Cellular Field is a very nice ballpark and Chicago is a sweet city with LOTS to do.  We got to see Wrigley Field, the United Center, and Millenium Park.  Portillo’s was a great restaurant with Chicago style foods and I highly recommend it.  Shout out to for Jonny’s parents for letting us stay at their house for the weekend.   

Lastly, the NBA Draft is tomorrow night.  For most families, the night of the draft is just a normal night.  For the Belcher family it is a HUGE night.  My brother, Kane, and I always watch every pick and analyze who needs what and how will they be in the pros.  The night of the 2008 NBA Draft was one of the worst nights of my life.  I had gotten LASIK eye surgery the day before and my eyes were swollen so much that I could not watch the draft.  I could only hear what was going on.  It was pure torture.

With UK coming off a National Championship Season and having 6 guys in the 2012 draft, this year may be the best ever (The 2011 draft sucked).  All told, 7:00pm tomorrow night I will be a tweeting NAZI.  Here is a brief preview of what I think is going to happen in the top 10 and with every Kentucky player:

1.       New Orleans-Anthony Davis (Kentucky) No brainer. Davis will be an All-Star within 2 seasons.  His defensive presence is unmatched by anyone in the last 5 drafts.  Maybe future HoF’er.

2.       Charlotte-MKG (Kentucky) If MJ passes on this guy he should never be allowed in Charlotte ever again.  MKG has the potential to be Scottie Pippen. 

3.       Washington-Brad Beal (Florida) Beal was mainly a ball handler in high school, but was a spot up shooter who could get to the rim in college.  Reminds me of Kelenna Azuibuke on steroids.  Great body and is a playmaker.

4.       Cleveland-Thomas Robinson (Kansas) Cavs need an All-Star big man.  Robinson has the potential to be it.  Head over heels better than Jared Sullinger.  I had the privilege of playing against him in 2010 and I can honestly say he is strong as an ox.

5.       Sacramento-Jesryilo Jeefddeeyy (Foreign Country) We can all agree that there will somebody in the lottery that picks some unheard of foreigner that is tall and shoots threes.  I’m guessing it’s gonna be Sac-town.

6.       Portland-Andre Drummond (UConn) Raw big man who could be like an Andrew Bynum.  Portland loves drafting big athletes with high ceilings.

7.       Golden State-Harrison Barnes (North Carolina) You don’t want to play this guy in HORSE as he is money from mid range.  Needs to be an attacker to be successful in the league.

8.       Toronto-Dion Waiters (Syracuse) Raptors pick a guy who isn’t too far from Toronto and they’ll be getting a good one.  6’4” shooting guard that is super competitive.

9.       Detroit-John Henson (North Carolina) Henson is a right handed Sam Perkins but with less offensive ability.  However, the Pistons need a tall athletic center who can block shots alongside Greg Monroe.

10.   New Orleans-Damian Lillard (Weber State) If Hornets decide to not to trade the 10^th pick they draft Lillard to play alongside Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis.  Lillard reminds me a lot of Jay Williams of Duke-an undersized playmaker.

14. Houston-Terrence Jones (Kentucky) TJ is a great pick by Houston as he is a 6’9” left handed athlete that can shoot the 3.

18. Houston-Marquis Teague (Kentucky) Houston needs a back up PG and Teague is a great one with a great upside.  Will team up with TJ in the fall.

28. Oklahoma City-Doron Lamb (Kentucky) One thing that OKC lacks in a 3 point bomber they gain in Doron Lamb.  Lamb can spot up in the corner while the big 3 drive and kick out to him.

32. Washington-Darius Miller (Kentucky) John Wall and Darius team up once again.  Miller is an absolute winner that will be a great asset to the Wizards.

*Besides New Orleans, Houston might have the best draft this year as they get the 14^th,

16^th and 18^th picks OR Dwight Howard.  Either way they will be a lot better than last year which makes me happy because Kevin McHale is the Rockets’ coach.

*The Lakers will have the worst draft as they have zero picks this year.  Sucks to be them.

*Biggest Sleepers-Damian Lillard (Weber State) Averaged 25 PPG last year in the Big Sky.  Can flat out score.  Meyers Leonard (Illinois) 7’1” white guy who is super athletic and is a poor man’s Anthony Davis.  Royce White (Iowa State) Mr. Triple Double is afraid of flying on planes.  He does it all and is a rebounding machine.  White needs to be picked up by an east coast team to limit long distance traveling.

*Most overrated-Austin Rivers (Duke) I saw him play in his first collegiate game vs. Belmont and showed signs of brilliance, BUT he is too slow footed and not a good enough shooter to be an elite NBA player.  He should have stayed in Durham.

Keaton

Affirmation!

                We haven’t “blogged’ in a while and there is a reason for that. We have been in a serious time of transition and upheaval.  Your mid-20s are a difficult time period. So many BIG decisions that have to made that will affect your entire life. It can be overwhelming at times. Keaton and I, along with deciding to commit to each other in marriage, have been wrestling through decisions about where to live and what to do career wise.  Not exactly as easy as deciding where to eat on Friday night…

                This is a story worth sharing, though. If you have ever felt like God has forgotten about you or things are not going according to planned, just know that He is still at work. I know some people (my father included) do not necessarily think God is in the details of our lives, but I whole-heartedly believe He is. He is always at work and I am about to tell you how He creepily started directing my paths to Butler, KY (just south of Cincinnati,OH) well over a year ago. Yes, I called Him creepy….

                If you don’t already know, Keaton moved back to his hometown of Butler, KY in April. God was working in his heart to get him back to the community he loves and grew up in. This was all wonderful except I work for my dad in Nashville, TN. We had always talked about living in Nashville, so this was a major adjustment for me. Not only was I going to have to find a new job in a matter of months, but I would have to move away from my friends and family. Quite scary if you are not the biggest fan of change (and who is?).

                So going into May of this year I was incredibly uneasy about our future. Would I find a job? Would Keaton get a job? Would we be able to get married in October? Would we be able to take care of ourselves? Just all the questions that fill you with doubt and TERROR.

                Let’s backtrack now to February of 2011. I had withdrawn from Graduate school, moved back home and was in need of some quick job….Serving! I had always thought I would enjoy serving, so I went to Carrabba’s in Hendersonville and they were hiring. I only worked at Carrabba’s for four months.  I ended up with some regulars who would come in and ask for me, and one of them was a group of Dollar General people. I got to know them, they got to know me, we had a fun time together. End of story….so I thought!

                So I leave Carrabba’s in June 2011 and go to work for my dad at his and his brother’s CPA firm. A woman who had worked for them a decade had decided to move, so I had the fortunate opportunity to take her place. They work out of an office building in Goodlettsville, TN located beside the Dollar General headquarters. Towards the end of 2011, they started doing renovations in my dad’s office building and said that Dollar General people were moving in because they had run out of room in their two GIGANTIC office buildings. Well, what do you know, but one day I get on the elevator with the VP guy I had served at Carrabba’s. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Well, hello there! You probably don’t remember me…

VP: KATIE!

Me: Knob Creek!!  (That is not his name, but I remembered people I served by their drink order)

VP: What are you doing here?!

Me: I work for my dad on the second floor. Do you work in this building?

VP: Yea we just moved in. You know, we came back to Carrabba’s to let you know about a job opening we had back in the fall and you were gone.

Elevator opens….

VP: Well great running into you!

Me: (Totally bummed) you too!.....

End of story….or so I thought!!!!!

Fast forward to 6 months later…..

May 16, 2012…..a great day for many reasons. #1. It was my  25^th birthday #2. God rocked my world.

           A woman came into the office and introduced herself as working for a company called Daymon Worldwide and VP guy (who I thought worked for Dollar General) had sent her down to talk to me about a job opening they had that they thought would be a perfect fit. My heart was saying YES!!!!!!! But my head was saying Katie, you are moving to Butler, KY in October….She told me to email her and she would give me more information about the job. I emailed her and told her that I was more than interested in the job, but I had to move to the Cincinnati area in October, so I didn’t think it would probably work out.

So disappointing, right? Such a great job opportunity in a tough economy and I can do nothing because I’m not staying in this area…

       She emailed me back within a couple days and said that they were still interested in me and in October they could transfer me up to their Kroger account in Cincinnati. Whhhhhaaaattttt?? Was this real life???

Long story short… 

       I applied, interviewed and signed the contract to work for Daymon Worldwide this morning. In my interview, the VP guy called running into me “serendipitous”. How would a serving job at Carrabba’s that I thought was just a job lead to a job for a company that works right outside Butler, KY?!!  What if I hadn’t been scheduled to work that night at Carrabba’s that they first came in or what if I hadn’t had that table section?? What if my dad had not had that opening at his office? All the details, the very small details, that had to align to create this crazy string of events. It could have never been predicted or orchestrated  by anything other than Divine Intervention.

Bonus: Keaton got officially offered the PE & Health teaching job at Pendleton County High School yesterday!!!!!

          What a big week. But even more than us getting jobs, how grateful are we to God for working behind the scenes to bring about such good! Both Keaton and I have been very discouraged at different points over the past few months. We just could not see how everything was going to work. Did it go according to planned? Absolutely not, but it is way better than we ever planned.

         This whole experience has been unbelievable. If I could offer any advice from this experience it would be this….Let go of your plans. It is hard to relinquish that control, but do it and see where God takes you.

So excited to see what adventure God has planned for us next!