Address(es)

My new home address is:

912 East Pierce Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006

To be safe, you can also use 910 East Pierce Street to mail something to me as that is the downstairs of the house and my landlord tells me that he is only for sure that one of the mail carriers knows there is a 912.

Check out photos of my place here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16921286@N02/sets/72157603170104656/

Photos of the inside start at the 9th photo.


My office address is still:

Pat Tillman Foundation
2121 South Mill Avenue, Suite 214
Tempe, AZ 85282

Find out more about the Pat Tillman Foundation here: www.pattillmanfoundation.org

Or email me at work here: hiriley@pattillmanfoundation.org

Or call me at work here: 480.621.4074

Or fax something to me at work here: 480.621.4075

one week down

i am officially one week into my first real paid position and have to say that work is what it is cut out to be

it is fun, it is grueling, it is rewarding

i've spent the past week reading through over 300 applications for our Tillman Military Scholarships, organizing my mind, and planning for the future of our other two programs

since i'm away from all of the blissful distractions of Arkansas, i have the time to handle this month of readjusting and can focus on the workload

keep the Pat Tillman Foundation on your radar as we have a lot on the horizon

returning the Celica across treacherousTexas

As work on my Capstone comes to an end and as Haynes' and I's trip around the West gets closer, it is hard to take another five days away from Tempe.

However, this past week/weekend was a great one and the adventure was just another addition to the life of a Riley.

I left last Wednesday at noon after getting the oil changed on the Celica, calling about my stolen bicycle (I got a lead that the Austin police arrested a thief and found a stockpile of high-end bikes), and finalizing the agreement with CGI U. I drove 11 and 1/2 hours, stopping twice for gas (once at an eerie station) and finally reached a rest stop outside of Big Spring, Texas, around 12:30 a.m. to stay the night. I slept well and woke up to an amazing sunrise and headed to my first stop in Anson, Texas, right north of Abilene.There I did a whirlwind tour of the town and found the local breakfast hot spot - Mi Familia. I had contacted Rory Fanning, who is walking across the U.S. to raise funds for the Pat Tillman Foundation, about meeting him on his walk. This took me a little out of my way but was well worth it. I got two coffees and four breakfast burritos and headed on highway 180 to Albany where I met Rory at the intersection of highway 6. He hopped in the front seat and we chatted about the Pat Tillman Foundation, his life, my life, his walk, my planned travels, and his visit through Arkansas. If you haven't yet, check out his blog and read insights of an amazing journey (www.walkforpat.org). After an hour, I left Rory to the road and headed to Dallas to pick up Haynes and meet Wesley out for a happy hour drink.After showering at the Bradshaws' apartment and doing some quick work, I headed to north Dallas with Haynes. We took over an hour trying to find the meeting place because of botched directions, Wesley's dead phone, and mostly because of Haynes' and I's impatience with each other. But when we finally arrived we got a beer and some nachos and enjoyed our time with a "gold" or "dear" friend.* And later that night we spent some quality time with Wesley and his wonderful wife, Holly. They (mostly Holly) prepared another great meal (I had another great meal with the Bradshaws last fall, so that makes it two for two). Eventually we left and headed to Waco to spend the night with Kelsey. We arrived around midnight to a house full of newly initiated Chi Omegas, watched an episode of the Office and caught some shut-eye.

I woke up in the morning to bring Kelsey to class and head to Austin to pick up Erin and Marie from the airport. While waiting for them I ran into James McKinney, a friend of the Clinton School and student at the University of Chicago - it was nice seeing James and we got to hang out some over the weekend. When Erin and Marie arrived, I dropped them off at their hotels and went to meet the Clinton School students in Austin. After a quick minute with them, I headed to lunch with Marie, Shawn, and Tillman Scholars Nikki Lewis and Christien Crynes. We had a Texas meal at Stubb's Barbeque before leaving the Scholars and heading to meet with a potential Foundation supporter. This meeting was extremely successful and set the tone for a very successful weekend. That evening we attended the opening session of the Clinton Global Initiative University conference and social reception before heading out for a brief night on the town with Molly Brunkow and Berto Noensie. The first event held at the University of Texas' Gregory gym is where I captured this photo of Shawn, Berto, Nikki, Christien, Erin, and Kelsey.The morning came early and we all got to the Convention Center just in time for the opening session. This was a great panel and afterward Marie, Shawn, and I went backstage to meet with some of the panel members. This day went by fast and I was able to perform both my role as a Clinton School student and as Program Coordinator for the Pat Tillman Foundation. We met with and approached many potential partners for Foundation initiatives, I ran into many friends from Arkansas (including 15 Clinton School students and many Clinton School staff) and new acquaintances from Arizona, and I even ran into friends from last year's conference and other events (including Dani from California, Anya from Minneapolis, Stephanie from Minneapolis who was at Slate 60, and the Winkelman sisters). This day ended during the night with a few bar drop-bys (a great one with Carly's friend Lyric), a dying phone, and an exciting pick-up in a crammed Celica with Sonic.

We were up again early with some pan dulce from Christien's mother and on our way to east Austin for a service project at Rosewood Park and Community Center. I spent the day collecting trash and large pieces of metal - two shopping carts, two large metal light poles - from the creek with a group of other students. At lunch I was able to meet a few more conference attendees and have some great conversations before dropping Shawn and the Tillman Scholars off at the airport. This was an exciting morning with some notable volunteers in attendance.With the conference over, I met my family members at REI and then parted ways with my sisters for the evening. Haynes and I got some barbeque at Stubb's and went to the Winkelman's house for an immediate redirect to restorative yoga with Eli and her mother. An hour of sleep-inducing positions and we headed to Frankie and Angie's for some pizza with the rest of the family. Then back to the house for some amazing tea and eventually out of Austin to Waco for another night at Kelsey's.

In the morning, we left and brought Erin directly to the airport, had lunch with Wesley and said goodbye until April, and pulled over for a motorcycle cop. After a disappointing speed trap ticket, Haynes dropped me off at the airport 6 hours early where I slept and woke up to Clinton's interview from the day before on CNN and then I began "hangin' with Mr. Cooper."

I finally made it back to Phoenix and Stephen, my roommate, picked me up.

Haynes will be here soon. Our trip around the West is about to begin. I need to tie up all of my loose ends here first though.


*Our mom has always told us this true sentiment, and I believe it is a good guide to relationships: "Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver, the other gold." Likewise, my friend Carly tells me that she refers to friends from a long ways past or of gold status as "dear friends."

cheers to Arizona and a career?

I'll make this entry short, but it should break down my next year.

As I'm reaching 25, I at least have some clarity as to what I want to pursue for a career - working internationally (or for a U.S.-based internationally-focused institution) for either a government or non-governmental organization. My first focus will be the state department.

But that will have to wait...for now. As my last trip came to a close and I was finishing my application for the Foreign Service Officer Test, I received an E-mail stating that the February testing window had been filled worldwide, almost two weeks before the deadline. This was a knock to my plans, but after having all day on Tuesday (because the plane left without me) to think about it, everything worked out.

The Pat Tillman Foundation and its staff have been great. My time here has been productive and educational. And they have shown that they feel the same way towards me. So, when I returned to work on Wednesday I proposed to my boss coming back after graduation to help see through the initiatives I have been guiding. She totally agreed, and now here I am.

I will still go travel with Haynes in March and April and some of May (and with the encouragement of my boss) and will be in touch with the Foundation and kept in the loop throughout this time. Then in June I will come back to start full time, working on a contractual basis until December. I will still be focusing on the FSOT (also, with the encouragement of my boss) and will take that test in June. This all works out perfectly - it is times like these that God shows his direction for your life.

Now, I'm off to root for the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

So cheers to Arizona, and to the semi-start of my journey into the real world!

Celebrating the Creed of our Constitution and other adventures

I'm on a flight as long as one crossing the Atlantic, so have had the time to write this before transcribing my thoughts through the keys.

My most recent trip was amazing for several reasons - one being able to see family and friends, another having the experience of a business trip and successfully fulfilling its purpose, and a final reason being the food, fun, frigid cold, and fancy beers.

It all started after I ran (and walked some after the 7.5 mile mark) my fastest 1/2 marathon ever, enjoyed the Cardinals' win at the Ringler's house, and then relaxed until taking a red-eye to BWI via Charlotte. Stepping off the plane and out of the bus to enter the metro, I faced a flurry of flakes that didn't bode well for my already stiff and aching knees. But I made it to the Eastern Market metro and the smiling faces of Haynes and Erin just in time. After relaxing and eating at Erin's new place - an awesome "English basement" - we met up with my Clinton School colleagues at RFK Stadium to participate in a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service event to package care boxes for our troops.After two hours of enjoying the company of friends, seeing the excitement in the pre-inaugural air, and writing some thoughtful letters, we returned to Erin's where I took a much needed nap. When I woke up we made our way to Carly's place to party the night away in preparation for a long day on Tuesday. This was good fun with good people.

In the morning I woke up early, dressed in my best, and headed out with mistaken confidence of finding Marie. Already late for coffee (as planned ahead of time), I couldn't get anywhere fast within five blocks of the Capitol building. It was crazy and when I tried to find the Silver Gate where our tickets were for I just ran into lines for other gates and ended up packed like a sardine for an hour and a half. The only benefit to this concert-like atmosphere was that it was keeping me warm. After making it out and making a wide U-turn to get to where the gate was on the invitation, I found that the Silver Gate was not accessible from the north and that I was on the wrong side of the mall from Marie. I did see comedian George Wallace however. Finally, I made my way through the 3rd street tunnel and to the line for entrance into the Silver area where Marie was waiting on the steps with a solemn look. Immediately we assessed the situation and realized that we wouldn't have much luck in getting in and so we just walked down the mall and ended up watching the inauguration from the WWII Memorial on a big screen.It was still amazing - to just be there and experience the moment made the trip worth it. During the ceremony I felt like a newscaster, accurately stating that after the botched swearing-in that President Obama would probably have to do it over and then pointing out the two mistakes in his speech (one being that there have only been 43 presidents with Grover Cleveland serving twice and the other being that there have only been 43 transitions because George Washington didn't transition from anyone - the President said 44 for both of these). After this speech, Marie and I started walking to meet Erin and Haynes and on the way Tom Hanks walked right in front of me. I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Hi, Tom", to which he gave me a salute and a thumbs-up. We also passed by the gate through which we were supposed to enter.Back at Erin's we relaxed before preparing food for the party. After cleaning the grill, cooking the steaks and burgers, and preparing other things, only Chance and Molly showed up to join Erin, Haynes, Marie and me. Eventually Carly showed up after marching in the inaugural parade, but that left a ton of food. As the evening came to a close, Haynes and I spent over 10 minutes backing the truck up out of the alley behind Erin's place to get it ready to bring Marie out to meet a friend across town. Haynes showed off his taxi-like city driving skills as we zig-zagged around balls and ball-goers and avoided cops who probably didn't have time to pull us over for running red lights. After dropping Marie off and making it back home, Carly arrived. We all talked while watching the President and First Lady dance to "At Last" at countless balls and listening to the commentary on the First Lady's dress and the couple's sexuality and love and finally headed to bed.

I woke up early again, walked Erin to the metro, and met Marie for coffee to discuss the start of our exciting two days of meetings. Our first meeting was with Amanda Meredith of the minority office of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and we got some good information. Then we went to the office of Senator John McCain, next to lunch with Erin in Gallery Place near her work and then to the Capitol building where we watched a video, joined an eccentric tour and walked passed Larry King and Congressman Dennis Kucinich. After visiting Senator Pryor's office for the tour and making our way to Congressman Snyder's office for a meeting, Marie saw how truly small Arkansas is - I ran into three people I knew (two randomly, and the other who I knew would be there). Later that afternoon we met with Congressman Filner's office and then got coffee while waiting to meet up with Haynes and Erin. When we finally met them I received a call from the Department of Veteran Affairs explaining that they had just received our letter of request with the Secretary and that they were sorry that they were just now contacting us but that they had just started work (which was true - it was just one day after the new administration got to start). We set up a meeting for the next day and then stopped at Erin's before meeting two Tillman Scholars in the D.C. area for dinner. Per Chance's suggestion, we met Katie Munsch and Matt Cicinelli at Granville Moore's - this was an amazing restaurant both for the atmosphere and the awesome mussels, dips and beers. After a long dinner and some good talk, Katie dropped the Riley's back off to head to sleep.Again, waking up early to meet Marie for coffee, we started the day off in Representative Harry Mitchell's office - he is the congressman for the Tempe district - and then on to a meeting with Congressman Boozman of Northwest Arkansas. This was a good meeting with Boozman having a lot of good information and then getting a photo taken with us.After the photo, one of his staff members walked us to the street and Marie and I got lunch at Good Stuff Eatery (run by Top Chef competitor, Spike) where we ate some good food and had a good shake. Then on to meet with Patrick Campbell of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the minority office for the House Committee on Veteran Affairs, and finally our last meeting of the trip with the Department of Veteran Affairs where we were escorted up to the office of the chief of staff for the Secretary. After all of this I walked Marie back to where she was staying, said goodbye, and walked to meet Haynes before Erin's event at the National Portrait Gallery - and along the way took photos of some great Shepard Fairey wheatpastes.Haynes and I met Carly at the National Portrait Gallery and attended the Face-to-Face program before eating dinner with Erin's friends Clark and Leonardo and our childhood friend, Joanna Swirszcz (who now works for Vic Snyder) down the street from the gallery. After dinner, when the non-North Little Rockians left, we met up with Quinten at a bar across the street and had good times with a hometown crowd. Then we all caught the subway together and scattered off on our ways home.I slept in on Friday as best I could but had to wake up eventually because Erin's friends from Michigan drove overnight to get to D.C. and Haynes and Erin were bustling around to move their car. We spent the day walking the national mall and made our way around the Tidal Basin which presented a great view of the D.C. skyline in its frozen state. I got to see my two favorite monuments/memorials - the Jefferson and Albert Einstein - before ending the day with a late late lunch in Georgetown before Haynes and I had to head out to New York City. Before we made our way entirely out of the beltway though, we met up with Katie (my friend from Tempe) and her college friend in Silver Spring, Maryland, for a brief dinner. We eventually made it back to Haynes' apartment in Stuyvesant town at 1 a.m.We woke up and were ready at 10 a.m. to start moving Clarissa to her new place in Brooklyn. This lasted until 3 p.m. and then we got a large load of Meagan's stuff to her new place. During all of this, Haynes' friend Scott Reinhard got to town and helped out. In Brooklyn we climbed to the roof and celebrated quickly with a couple beers. Later, Meagan brought us all out to dinner for the help and we all ended up back at the Manhattan apartment for some late night cookies and talk to be eventually joined by Meagan's friend Joe (who she knew from San Francisco) and Haynes' friend Halligan (who was in town from Philly and whose engagement photos are the most amazing I've ever seen).The next day Haynes and I attended the Graffiti Baptist Church, arriving late, but spending enough time there for Haynes to say his goodbyes and for me to meet this family of Christians in the Lower East Side for the first time. When we left we went straight back to the duties as moving machines and got Kara and Meagan on their way. Haynes stayed with them on the tail end of the trip while Scott and I took the bikes over the Manhattan Bridge all the way to the Brooklyn Museum. There we enjoyed the exhibits (my favorite piece probably being the plastic Indian) and rode over to my friend Amanda's place until Haynes and Cam were able to pick us up.From there we dropped off Cam and headed to Katz's Deli (this is where Harry met Sally) where we met my friends, Drew and Danis, and Haynes' friends, Nina and Michelle.After a great meal we went to Max Fisch's, a nearby bar, and then to my favorite, McSorley's, where they always remind you to "Be Good or Be Gone." Before ending the night we hopped over to another Irish pub where music is played every Sunday evening. This was a great end to the night and a good reminder of Haynes' and my adventure in Galway.Monday morning was another early one, waking up to head up the Hudson to Beacon, New York. We made our way out of the city and to Sleepy Hollow where we stopped for photos and a few good bagels. Then we made a stop with an awesome outlook over the Hudson (somewhere near to where West Point is).We drove through the hometown of my classmate Carly and eventually made it to the Dia: Beacon. This unexpected treasure is one of the coolest museums I have ever been to and was only bettered by the building in which it is located - a former Nabisco cookie box factory located right off the Hudson. The windows and display spaces and building design all made for a great atmosphere to view so many amazing large pieces of modern art. The most notable pieces belonged to Richard Serra and Haynes stole a few clicks with his iPhone.After a few hours there we drove the same route back home, proving to be late for the meeting I had already postponed, and then getting pizza at Two Boots before dropping Scott of at LaGuardia. Then we moved a final load of Meagan's stuff and again her and Kara treated us to dinner at a Mexican place near to their new home.

Tuesday was the earliest morning of all, waking up at 6 a.m. to make it to the rescheduled 7:30 a.m. meeting with CGI U. I got breakfast at our meeting place, Lou's Cafe, a coffee and had a good discussion. Then Haynes picked me up at 8:30 a.m. and started to bring me to LaGuardia until I realized that my 10 a.m. flight was actually out of Newark. Haynes used his amazing, yet scary, driving skills again to try to get me to the terminal in time but I only made it 20 minutes before the flight and thus had to settle for checking in for the next one at 4:40 p.m. So I missed the Tillman Tunnel event that night in Tempe and had a lot of time to think and return phone calls, and also think about life after my Capstone - the topic of my next post. But after an exciting and exhausting trip filled with celebration, work, and other adventures, I was ready to head back to any form of consistency and rest and say goodbye to our nation's capital and the city.

Who knows Southern?

Well, the past week has been usual. I was in and out of the office and back and forth from North Scottsdale (a 25 minute commute) to Shawn's place passing by the beautiful Camelback Mountian both ways. Shawn and I have been, as he calls it, "roomies" and have exemplified that by doing some running together and eating healthy meals together. Marie came in for two nights and I was demoted, as Shawn calls it, to "R3" or "roomie 3."

As for my project, I attended the Leadership Through Action class again on Tuesday, E-mailed all of the former Tillman Scholars on Wednesday and already set up 11 interviews with those who replied. I am still designing my assessment tools but will have that done soon and will start interviews at the end of next week.

Now, the purpose of this post is to answer the question of the title: Who knows Southern? The answer is Lo-Lo. Last night I met up with Liz G (who I couch surfed with on my second night) and her friends and headed down to south Phoenix. After a short search through a dark neighborhood, there it was - Lo-Lo's Fried Chicken and Waffles.



The group I was with are all from the valley (what they call this entire Phoenix Metro area) and kept commenting on the "health" issues that come with grubbing at a place like Lo-Lo's. They only plan to go there once every two or three months - this is the type of food I ate every Tuesday with Zachary at Your Mama's Good Food. When we got there and ordered some sugarlicious Kool-Aid I gulped it down and got right into ordering the SoulFood Platter with a piece of fried catfish (okay), a piece of fried chicken (down right delicious), some cheese grits (great), a piece of cornbread (sweet) and some mac and cheese (amazing). If you'd like to see what a plate looks like just go here - http://www.loloschickenandwaffles.com/index.php. After finishing up this plate and trying some of Liz's waffle, I got a refill with sweet tea and let the food settle.

Needless to say, Lo-Lo knows Southern.

PLEASE do not park in front of our home, THANKS

Since I wrote on Tuesday, I visited the Leadership Through Action class with Professor Michael Mokwa and the 17 Tillman Scholars. It was nice to experience the class and meet more individuals involved with the Foundation. The greater my understanding of what happens with this Foundation and the LTA program, the more effective my project will be.

In visiting the class this was my first time to try to navigate the Arizona State campus and so I drove to the business building and looked for free parking working my way back south toward the Foundation office. I came from Palmcroft (basically 21st street), all the way to 13th and started zig-zagging around past no parking and "only 1 resident pass holders can park here" signs until I reached 20th street and parked legally near an elementary school 30 feet from the stop sign because any closer was not legal. I got out and walked to campus, making it to Dr. Mokwa's office only 3 minutes late. Well, when I got back to my car, I got this note on my windshield:



I almost knocked on their door to ask for some sugar, but decided to leave so I could catch the rest of the terrible Presidential debate with Katie and Gary Ringler. At least they were polite - "please" and "thanks."

The rest of this week I have run with Gracie, watched some baseball, swam, finished my work plan and met with the Executive Director (Marie Tillman) and Director of Development (Shawn Jones) to finalize my work plan for my project. This was a good meeting and now I am on my way. I also went to a social event last night for the Tillman Mentors - it was nice, small, and way out northeast of here. Now I'm in the office, where the AC is on and off and as that goes so goes my sweating.

I've also found a place to live - in an apartment complex with this 38-year old Intel/Real Estate nerd (not in a bad way) with braces named Stephen for $475 a month, all utilities included and the complex has pools and hot tubs and a work out room. It is right down the street from where I was house sitting, a nice location, with a Whole Foods and $3.17 gas right around the corner.

So things are looking up and below are some photos of my trip across Texas to Tempe for you to enjoy:

at the air force base with todd


with kelsey before dropping her off at class


chris and judson on stage at ACL


me with jud at ACL


me with amy at ACL


the future