Keeping Up with the Kulczaks

I haven't posted anything new in my blog for over a month now. In between that break from blogging, I've been a busy man. I received my tax refund right before Spring Break, so that was perfect timing! So I'm no longer struggling for money. In fact, I'm contemplating quitting my job at Noyer in the middle of next month, when I receive my last paycheck before the end of college. I spent most of my time during Spring Break back home in Noblesville, which I didn't mind at all. I played a lot of Halo with my brother Sam and went shopping with Mom, which was nice because I actually had money to spend. The second weekend of Spring Break I watched Sam while my parents were house hunting in Pittsburgh. I took Sam to a Lego Convention in Indianapolis. I don't know who enjoyed it more, me or Sam? Sam bought some Legos at the convention, and so did I. Yes, I bought Legos for myself. Haters gonna hate!

Coming back from Spring Break, I was immediately busy again. My Capstone team and I have put A LOT of hours into building a 3D Model for our 2nd presentation. I stayed awake for 36 hours working on that model with my team! It looks awesome and our professors were very impressed. After all of that madness with the presentation and model, I turned 23 years old a few days later. It's weird, because 10 years ago I was a teenager. Makes me feel pretty old compared to most of my friends! My family came down to visit me on my birthday and I got ribs, onion rings and green beer at Applebee's because it was also St. Patrick Stewart's Day weekend (See what I did there). I went out to the bars afterwards to celebrate my 3rd Annual 21st Birthday.

Make it so number 1!

Last weekend I went to Noblesville on Friday to surprise my grandma when she came into town. The next day I took the Writing Proficiency Exam in the morning, and then went to West Lafayette for the rest of the weekend to visit my favorite young married couple Ben and Alice. We went to some swing dancing events and went to a bar/restaurant called Nine Irish Brothers, where they had over 20 different combinations for Guinness. 

So there you go, now you're basically all caught up with what's new in my life. I've had quite a few papers to write and other college stuff to focus on. But at least now I'm not broke! The next post will be about the last few weeks I have left at Ball State, so stay tuned!

State to State Part 1: Michigan

After hearing the news of my family moving to Pittsburgh this summer, I've reflected on my life in every state I've lived in. I've lived in 3 states so far; Michigan, Missouri, and Indiana. All of these states have impacted my life in more ways than one. Today I'll cover the first state I've lived in, Michigan.

I lived right there on the mitten!

I was born and raised in Temperance, Michigan since March 15th, 1990. It's right near Toledo, Ohio, so at times it felt like we lived at 2 states at the same time. We lived in a small one story house with a giant tree and shed in the back yard. It was the only back yard we've had so far that was completely flat. Right before we moved to a new house, we adopted our dog Maggie when she was only a little puppy. In 2001, we moved to a bigger 2 story house in Lambertville, which was the town next to Temperance. It had 2 master bedrooms and a huge yard, even though it was really just a hill. My brother John and I shared one of the master bedrooms at one point. We had 2 beds, a TV, and some bean bag chairs in our huge room. In 2003, my brother Sam was born into our family. 2 years later we moved to Missouri. If you'll look to the right you'll see where these cities are located on the map of Michigan, and by map I mean my hand since it is the mitten state after all!

Almost all of my family lives in Michigan, so the hardest part of moving to Missouri was saying goodbye to them. I was 15 when I moved with my family. I didn't have many friends, so I considered family members as my good friends. I was socially awkward then.......more than I am now. I didn't fully develop into who I am now until after Michigan.

In my old neighborhood in Lambertville, we had a huge neighborhood pool with a diving board and a giant floating Alligator thing that everyone jumped on half the time. There was also a YMCA that most of my family back home belongs to that had swimming pools, video games, a basketball court and pool tables. I biked around town a lot and met up with friends from the neighborhood to play video games or jump on trampolines. I was big on Pokemon after the craze began during my elementary school years, always buying new cards and the Game Boy games (that money could've went towards college). I was also all about Legos, especially Lego Star Wars and Bionicles. I'd have boxes of them in my room and would build and play with them for hours. I hung out with my cousins a bunch of times, especially my younger cousins Joey and James (who are both now taller than me).

The food in Michigan was always good. My favorite food based in Michigan and Ohio was always from Tony Packo's. They're a company that sells food such as pickles, coney sauce for hot dogs and relish at grocery stores, and they sell really delicious hot dogs and fried pickles at their restaurants that are located inside Anderson's, a grocery store chain with tons of free samples of food. Every time we visit Michigan, we stock up on Tony Packo's to take back home with us. I also enjoyed the sports bars such as Sideline's and the mini Chuck E. Cheese place called Toon Town (or Pizza Town?) that was around for a little while, both in Lambertville.

My favorite attractions of Michigan were visiting all of the Great Lakes and staying there until after the sun set. I always enjoyed staying in cabins both in the upper and lower peninsulas, though a few years ago in August it was freezing in the porcupine mountains and I only had one sweatshirt and 1 or 2 pairs of jeans since it was still summer. Every year my entire family used to stay at Maumee Bay State Park for a weekend in December. We would always go sledding, walk on trails, and visit the nearby lodge that had racquetball and tons of arcade games and bouncy balls that we'd buy a bunch of for 25 cents each. My favorite place to visit in Ohio is Cedar Point. I've been there with my family about once or twice a year, more often when I lived in Michigan rather than now. I used to be afraid of riding the big roller coasters, but family members helped me conquer that fear. They still make fun of me for it every time we go to Cedar Point together.

My family and I left Michigan in July 2005, right after I finished middle school. Since then, we've visited Michigan at least 3 times a year to see our family or go on vacation. I don't see myself living in Michigan anytime soon, mainly due to the economy in Michigan not being a great place to work in the construction industry. But I still plan on visiting Michigan more than once even after my family moves to Pittsburgh. I still love Michigan and my family that lives there, and I take what I've learned in Michigan to heart no matter where I live.

Here are a few photos of my family and Michigan!

 

To Be a Kid Again

In case you couldn't tell from multiple Facebook statuses and couples talking about it, today is Valentine's Day. It's a day centered around love. It's also a day that many single people complain about, hence the day Singles Awareness Day. Today though, I celebrate not the tradition of love on Valentine's Day, but the tradition of candy! I'm 22 going on 23 next month, so instead of getting Power Rangers or Avengers Valentines cards with candy hearts from teachers and classmates just like the old days, I bought myself a Hershey's Cookie n' Creme bar. Today I didn't want any fancy schmancy dinner date (not without seeing A Good Day to Die Hard anyways), I just wanted chocolate. Don't worry though, I won't eat too much candy. Otherwise, I could get ------------------------------------>



Candy on Valentine's Day made me think of what it'd be like to be a kid again. A lot of people wish they were kids again. Childhood had it's good times, but I still prefer being an adult. I'm taller, smarter, funnier and better looking now that I'm an adult, at least I think so anyways. Still, I don't mind acting like a kid at times. It can still be fun and hysterical. Plus, there's candy! There's a difference though between being a kid as an adult (Michael Jackson), and acting like a kid. So yeah that's what the first half of my Valentine's Day is like; acting like a kid by having nostalgia over having candy on Valentine's Day. Enjoy the rest of your day, and remember don't be afraid to act like a kid every once in a while. It can be fun. Just act like an adult when the situation calls for it.

Why yes, that is Patrick Stewart in a ball pit. You wish you were having as much fun as he was!

My College Chair

Today, I'd like to thank someone who's been there for me for all 4 years of college. Someone that helps me relax and someone that is with me when I'm watching TV or playing video games. I'm talking of course, about my black round chair. After a long day of classes, work, studying or whatever, it's great to just sit down and sink into my chair. I got it for free from someone before college, and I've been using it ever since. My first 2 years of college I didn't use it as much since my old dorm rooms were smaller and I'd have to pull it out from under my bed whenever I wanted to use it. I started using it more my Junior year of college, when I had a single dorm and more space to myself.That same year, I bought a black ottoman to match the chair for maximum relaxation. This year, it's in my bedroom at my house by campus. I have 2 couches now that my parents were going to get rid of if I didn't take them. I keep them in the family room where I use them for when I use the projector or when I hang out with friends.

The chair has seen better days. It has a few holes and tears on it, but it is still comfortable. Thanks for being there for me I needed you the most chair! I'll love you always, or until college is over and you fall apart.

There it is, the throne I sit on.

Just a Phase

This weekend I shaved off the mustache I had for more than a month. I took a good look in the mirror and realized it just wasn't helping me. It was too blonde. It wasn't ginger like my ginger beard when I grow it out. I also finally got new shoes this weekend. The ones I had before started getting holes in them, making my walks outside extra cold. And then I had my friend Brooke Anderson cut my hair for me, this time requesting for the hair stylist's opinion of what to go for rather than my own. It turned out great! So with the hair cut, shave, and new shoes I feel like a new man.

Oh no! That's all the money I had left!

Ending the mustache phase reminded me of all the other phases I've had in the past. For example, in 2011 I was in the fedora phase. Every where I'd go, even while I worked at Home Depot, I'd wear a fedora or any hat I had. I still have them all, but I just haven't worn them in a while. There was also that phase where I'd carry around a coin and roll it on my hand because I thought it was cool. I kept dropping coins though, like Sonic the Hedgehog dropping rings. Earlier this year, I was in the beard hat phase, but it's not super cold out anymore, for now anyways. I'm sure there's a phase I'm in right now too, but without knowing what the phase is. If you've noticed I'm in a new phase I'd be interested to know what that is!

There's nothing wrong with phases though. Almost everyone wants to be unique in some way, shape or form.The reason they are called phases though is that they don't last very long. Life wouldn't be as fun if you didn't change it up every once in a while. Who knows what the next phase I'll get into will be. Anywho, enjoy this old picture of me in a fedora and this new picture of me with my new haircut!

Shotguns and fedoras don't really go together.

It's so short, I found the rest of my forehead!

My Spiritual Design

A couple semesters ago Lauren Fronius invited me and a few friends from Cru to go to Taylor University on a Thursday. They had this weekly event called Living Waters. They had a band with a guy that played a ukulele and another guy that played on bongos. They had a service before and after the band played that was good, but the most interesting part of the night was after the service, where they had a few people tell visitors what their spiritual design was. I wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but Lauren told me I needed to talk to them. And so I did, and I was confused at first as to what I had to do. I asked them what I needed to tell them, and all they asked was what my first name was. Then they closed their eyes and prayed for the answers to what God's spiritual design for me was. They wrote the answers down on a piece of paper. I was amazed by the answers they gave me and how much they related to my life. It was a mind blowing experience for me that God gave them the answers just like that. To this day, I keep that sheet of paper in my Bible and it reminds me of the crazy experience I had at Living Waters.

Below are the answers those people gave me. They also wrote down Psalm 139:19 next to my name, which is weird because the verse says "If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me you bloodthirsty men!" I don't know how that relates to spiritual design, maybe they wrote down the wrong chapter or verse on accident. I haven't figured that out yet. The Lego comment is one of my favorites.

Luke 

Psalms 139:19

• When he looks at you, the word goodness comes to mind. You carry part of the Lord's goodness.
• A desire to learn and discover and explore things, the Lord has placed this in you.
• Visionary gifting - to imagine how big things can grow - to want to see the big picture in it's fullest.
• Excitement and energy - you have a child like faith.
• Sensitive heart for people.
• Saw you as a kid sitting in your room building with Legos - saw you as a builder, of ideas and mindsets and hearts. Both physically and metaphorically. He calls you a builder.
• He calls you a cherished one, something that is so precious. Your family also loves you and how his love is so much greater. He loves you.

Our Training Presentation - How To Set Up a Nintendo 64

Today in my Training & Development class, we gave a training presentation in which it had to be simple and easy to follow. The assignment was to teach the class by taking 5 pictures that represented 5 easy steps. I worked with Luke Pritchett and George Adamiatis (I call them George Lucas) and I had my roommate Logan Nunn take pictures of me and the Nintendo 64. We chose how to set up a Nintendo 64 as our topic. We had to pretend like the class had no idea how to do it themselves. The presentation went well and the class got a kick out of some of the pictures my roommate took of me. Down below are all of the pictures. Enjoy!

Step 1 - Gather Material

Duhhhhh which controller do I use to play Goldeneye?

Step 2 - Plug It In

Oh yeah, we have a projector at our house. You Jelly?

Step 3 - Blow Into Cartridge

Sexxxyyyyyyyy

Step 4 - Put In Game

It's beautiful!

Step 5 - Turn It On

It'd be foolish to use a picture of me not winning.