My brother Nick

I am writing this post so I can link-up with the singles day on Kelly's Korner .  For my regular readers, I am going to be writing this as if you don't know me or my brother.  Just play along.

 

Hi!  My name is Natalie.  I am a speech language pathologist in the Phoenix area of Arizona.  I have an older brother, Nathan, and a younger brother, Nicholas.  Yes, our parents really like names that begin with "N".

 

I have been married for 12 years and have 2 little boys, Spencer and Elliott.  Nathan has been married for 7 years and has a new baby girl, Bella.  And then there is Nick.  Nick is single.  And I want to change that!

 

In the interest of full disclosure, Nick does not know that I am writing this post.  We talked about it something like 2 years ago (these singles day link-ups have been happening for a while!) and he gave a "not a yes, but not a no" answer.  But I didn't actually get his permission to put this out there.  I think he'll be OK with it.

 

This is me and Nick on Thanksiving last year.  I was showing his socks.  It's an inside joke.

 

Nick, me and my son, Spencer

 

Nick and my husband, Michael

The head tilt is another inside joke.  It's just one of those stupid things that nobody remembers where it came from, but we just do it.  Nick was a freshman in High School when Michael and I started dating, so they go way way back.  They pretty much call each other "brother-in-law" and nothing else.

My brother is a great guy.  Let me tell you about him.  I think a list is called for.

 

He just turned 33 in late June. 

He owns his own home in Tucson, AZ. 

He recently finished remodeling his kitchen.

He does not have roommates.

He owns his own car. 

He is employed and has been since 2004 when he graduated from college.

He has a retirement plan and health and dental insurance.

 

In other words, he is a grown-up!  I know how important this is to a lady looking for a good man.  And Nick is a good man.

 

He is a good brother, a good son, a good uncle and a good friend. 

He is generous. 

He likes to entertain and is a gourmet cook. 

He likes fine dining, but he isn't snooty about it.

He is funny and interesting and a good conversationalist.

His faith is important to him.

 

Nick likes to travel.  He has been all over the world.

 

(I stole some pictures from his facebook page!)

 

Skiing with our brother Nathan in Vermont.

 

Running a half marathon. I think they were in Georgia.

 

Scuba diving off the coast of Saipan

So, I know that all of you are thinking:  OK, OK, OK.  He's great!  But he's single.  What is the catch?  Well, there is a "catch" depending on your opinion of such things, but my personal opinion is that it is not a negative.

 

Nick graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 2004. The Merchant Marine Academy is one of the five United States service academies. It is charged with training officers for the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the military, or the transportation industry. Midshipmen (as students at the Academy are called) are trained in marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship. 

 

Nick has a bachelor's degree in Logistics and Intermodal Transportation. After he graduated he started working on a cargo ship as a 3rd Mate.  He put in enough time as a 3rd Mate and worked his way up to a 2nd Mate. At some point (I don't remember when) he started working on a heavy lift ship.  Last summer he finished obtaining all of his qualifications to become a Chief Mate. A Chief Mate (C/M) or Chief Officer, is a licensed member and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The Chief Mate is second in command of the vessel.

 

So what does this all mean?  It means that Nick works on a ship, at sea, and is gone for months at a time.  It also means that when he comes home, he is home and doesn't have to work for months at a time.

 

Nick is still friends with many of his former classmates.  Many of them work the same job as Nick and have met women (and for the women, men), developed relationships, gotten married and had kids.  Their going to sea has not prevented these things.  But for some reason, Nick has not met many (or any!) women in Tucson who understand what he does for a living and are willing to give a relationship a try with someone who is gone for long stretches at a time.

 

When Nick is gone to sea he almost always has access to email and most of the time has access to a phone.  I keep in constant contact with him, as do our parents.

 

Sooooooooo. 

 

I find myself trying to wrap this up, and I'm not sure how.  I think I've done a good job listing the pros: he is a great guy with a lot to offer, and I've been honest about the cons (I hate calling it a con!): he works on a ship and goes all over the world for long stretches.  Maybe I should define long stretches.  Depending on the job and the circumstances, he has been gone anywhere from 1 month to 5 months.  And he's been gone for 5 months only 1 or 2 times in 10 years.  Most of the time he is gone for 3 to 4 months.  But then he is home for 3 to 4 months!

 

Right now Nick is gone.  He is on an oil tanker doing an apprenticeship to get his oil tanker license (I think......don't quote me on that.  I might not have been paying really close attention when he was telling me about it.)

 

But, he will be back in just a couple of weeks and maybe if this whole link-up works, you could be the lucky lady to go out with my baby brother. 

 

Leave me a comment!  We'll figure it out.

 

I will leave you with just a few more pictures. 

 

Uncle Nick with Elliott. 

This picture is about 2 years old, but I think Elliott is very cute in it.  In addition to being uncle, Nick is also Elliott's godfather.

Uncle Nick with Spencer at Disney World just over a year ago.  Spencer's middle name is Nicholas.  Can you guess why?

 

And this one I stole from his facebook.  I have no details to offer about it!

 

Let's make a match!

 

Update:

EEEK!  I've never done this before and I didn't put another way for you to contact me when I originally wrote this post.  You can leave a comment or email me at bunsteen@gmail.com

 

For the two anonymous comments that were already left: if you come back and read this: email me!