Big Stuff

Well this is going to be my last post for the year 2008. I only started this blog 3 months ago and yet I already feel so attached to you as my readers. Granted I only have a couple, which I am completely fine with, but I want to thank you for reading my thoughts and even giving me feedback every once and a while. I started this blog initially because I had alot on my mind and I needed someway to write about those thoughts, and honestly when I started I could've cared less if someone was reading it or not, as I still could care less. But I also just wanted to start a blog that was consistent. And by consistent I mean at least 1 post a week, usually 3 or 4 a week. And I think I have achieved that goal of consistency over the past 3 months, and I hope to continue that consistency in 2009.

As I have continued writing on this blog I have found myself thinking more and more throughout the day about certain things, and then coming back and writing about them. Without this blog medium I don't think I ever would have caused myself to think like I have over the past couple months. I've wrote about behavior of people, advances in technology, and sometimes just my everyday life and what I do on a daily basis. So I think it has been a nice balance of thoughts. But I really do enjoy that time when I think about something that I have never thought about before and then I have the opportunity to come back and write about it and share with you, and then get your feedback.

As I was thinking about writing this year end post I was planning on just doing a year review of major events that have happened in 2008, and I might still do that, but I have realized that that it is really cliche. So then I decided to just write about my blog, and the purpose of it and such. But I think I will give some 2008 major event reviews. I will do it by category. And I will start out with my favorite of course:

Technology: Hard for me to think of a single biggest event, but one that sticks out in my mind (besides the release of the iPhone 3G and the ability to put applications on the iPhone and iPod touch) would be the proposition from Microsoft to acquire Yahoo at $31.00 per share. Yahoo then turned down the offer, but this was huge in the tech industry, I'm pretty Yahoo will be bought by someone in the next year, the question is, who will it be? Full Story here

Note: I know the most about Technology therefore that section is longer than the rest.

Political: Obama wins the Presidential election and becomes President Elect. Full Story here

Sports: Michael Phelps wins 8 Gold medals in 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Full Story here

Music: Kinda hard to narrow down, but here's a link to a list of the top 100 songs of 2008. Take it for what its worth and that may not be much. Song list
Also here is a link to Billboard's site

Those are all of the categories that I feel like doing. Feel free to add more to this though. More categories, or what you think were the biggest stories for these categories that would replace mine.

Happy New Year to everyone.
Keep close to Christ.
I love you all.

Josh

:) Marley & Me :(

WARNING:
The following post may provide information or spoilers for
the movie "Marley & Me". If you have not seen the movie and are
worried about hearing spoilers you may not want to read this post.
Don't say I didn't warn you.

I saw the movie "Marley & Me" yesterday with my family and I was
pleasantly surprised to say the least. I was with my family because
my little sister was just dying to see it. At first I wasn't really
looking forward to this experience just because I knew that the movie
was about a dog and that was about it. Later I found out that Owen
Wilson co-starred in it with Jennifer Aniston, so that raised my hopes
a bit because I love Owen Wilson.

So let me just cut right to the chase. About halfway through the movie
I found myself asking the question "How have I been entertained this
long by this movie and am continuing to be entertained? All this movie
is about is a dog." To be more specific the life of a dog. But it is
more than just the life of this dog, it is the life of this dog living
with this family.

And once again I find myself asking another question about three
quarters of the way through the movie, "How am I so attached to this
dog?" I'm so attached to this dog that tears are welling up in my eyes
as I watch this dog get older and suffer from a twisted stomach and
then eventually die. And it wasn't just me that was holding back
tears, well actually it probably was just me because the rest of the
audience had already lost it. All I could hear across the entire theater
was the sniffling noses and people just crying.

The creators of this film did such a great job portraying real life
with the family, and the dad's job, and the birth of three children,
and through all this the dog "Marley" is there chewing stuff up and
causing trouble wherever he goes and the family still loves him.

All in all this was a very refreshing movie. As you can tell I think
it was very well made movie. And for those of you who know me, you
know that I am not the biggest fan of dogs so I was amazed myself at
the fact that a tear was rolling down my face by the end. It was one
of the few movies I've ever cried in and the first thing I wanted to
do by the end was write about it. So here I am sitting in the mall writing
this post on my iPod while my sister is shopping. You'd be amazed at
how fast one can get at typing on this touch screen keyboard. LOL.

Anyways, hope I didn't ruin too much for those of you who are planning
on seeing the movie and for those who aren't planning on seeing it,
you might want to rethink that decision. That's all I'm gonna say.
I'll let the post speak for itself.

Hope you had a great Christmas.

Happy New Years!

A Note:
It took me about half the movie to realize how they came up with the name "Marley" for the dog. Earlier in the show Owen Wilson's character starts playing a song from a Jamaican singer and starts talking about him. If you can't figure it out after that hint then God help you.

Christmas to me

One thing I've realized over the past couple weeks is that I'm
beginning tontiink less and less about Christmas every year. As I was
studying for finals I realized, wow, Christmas is less than 10 days
away. I hadn't even been thinking about Christmas let alone done any
Christmas shopping. All I was worried about was passing my finals. But
even when I did begin to think about Christmas this has been the most
laid back I've been about getting my shopping. In fact as I'm writing
this it is Christmas eve and I still don't have gifts for everyone in
my immediate family. LOL. I don't know what it is but I think my
priorities have just shifted over the years and Christmas has just
become smaller in my mind. My priorities this year have been on
soccer, school, relationships and therefore I just think less about
holidays.

I think another thing that has contributed to the smallness of
Christmas in my mind has been that naturally the concept of gifts has
less significance because at this age I already know what I'm getting
before I get it. In fact I'm usually the one who buys it. I don't know
if I'm going to be surprised with anything this year, which is
completely fine with me. I'm just saying that I think thisbis another
thing that has contributed to what has happened.

Really I'm not too heartbroken by the fact that Christmas isn't a big
deal to me anymore. It Is just something that I've really noticed this
year in my own life. I've been thinking about whether this is right or
if there us something I need to change. I still haven't come to a
conclusion. It is just something interesting to think about.

Has anyone else felt like this recently? Or does anyone feel the
opposite? Does anyone feel like Christmas is a bigger deal to them
than ever?

Ho ho ho

"Guitar Praise"??

I was out today with my parents getting some Christmas shopping done. Well I wasn't getting much shopping done considering WalMart didn't have the chia pet that my little sister wanted and I have no clue what to get for my other little sister, so it was really just me walking up and down aisles and finding things that I wouldn't mind having. LOL. I mean I'm really not too worried about not being able to find something for them so it's all good. But I did run into my friend Micah Landers, the author of the Remedies blog and it was good catching up with him and talking his past job and his future plans.

But in our shopping adventures my parents decided that they needed to stop by Family Christian Bookstore to get some things so we ventured out to Florence. As soon as we pull up to the store I notice a sign in the window, it says "Guitar Praise". As soon as u saw this I just cringed. Obviously this is a Christian spinoff of the ever popular xbox 360 game "Guitar Hero". The first thing thought that came into my mind was "Why can't these Christian companies just come up with an original idea?" If these companies would just simply come up with an original product they might actually sell some stuff or imagine this, they might actually influence some kids in a positive way. Sure they might have some success selling a product but that doesn't mean that the kid is gonna like it. Usually these parents just buy these kind of things for their kids as a Christian alternative to the real thing and usually the kids hate these products simply because they've already had experience with the real thing and they know what the experience should be like and when they don't get that experience they are disappointed.

Here's an idea. Get some good businessmen to come up with some good original concepts and then get some good marketers for a Christian company and then see what happens. I'd bet that there'd be some success with whatever product they came out with.

As I continued perusing through the Family Christian Bookstore I also noticed some other things that really seem to be some poor business decisions as far as the customer experience go. First of all I picked up a cd to see what the titles of the songs were and half of the back of the cd was covered by this plastic electronic alarm. I couldn't even read the titles of the songs. Now, this may not be the fault of the store, but it most likely is. I mean, I thought the alarms were on just like one cd, but no, they were on every single cd, I couldn't read the titles of any of the titles on any of the cd's. It was annoying to say the least.

The next thing that would definitely hinder me from buying a cd from this store was the fact that they took out the "cd listening stations." These were small scanners that allowed a customer to scan the cd's barcode and then listen about a minute of every track on the cd. These were in the store, but since they have been taken out for some amazing reason. These two things I noticed almost immediately. And I wouldn't be surprised if their cd sales have gone down durastically. Now I could see someone saying that these cd listening stations kept people from buying cd's because all they do is listen to the cd in the store and leave. But this isn't a good argument because its only a sample of the song and I'm definitely more likely to buy a cd if I can listen to it in the store.

These are just some of the things that I annoyed me about the Family Christian Bookstore. This caused me to think about the concept of "Christian Bookstores" and their purposes and what not. This is a different post for a different time, but it is an interesting thing to think about. Hope this post interested you a bit.

Comments, Thoughts.

go read something

one down

First day of finals down, two more to go. I had my Systematic Theology final today and it went actually better than I thought it was going to. Its amazing what happens when you actually have stuff to study. So I was up till about 1:30am last night studying for that and then got up and went to breakfast for the first time in a while, and then studied for a couple hours before the final. Then I just took a nap, and basically have done nothing. I'm just so glad to have that one out of the way. Now I have an Ethnic Literature final tomorrow which shouldn't be too bad, and then a Greek final on Wednesday which is going to be another huge one.

I just wanna go home, if you haven't already figured that idea out from my last 10 posts. LOL. So, I'm homefree on Wednesday at like 11am.

homefree almost

a success

It has been another great weekend so far. And its just been great to get all those papers and stuff out of the way. I still have 3 finals to take before I go home on Wednesday, so I'm not looking forward to those, but I'm definitely looking forward to going home.

If you couldn't tell from me last couple posts this week has been a pretty sucky week. But there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and this weekend I think was part of that light. I realized some stuff through some processing and talking with some friends, so its been ok. Plus it helps to get some sleep as well. Yesterday I slept till 3:00pm cause we didn't have any classes, and then today I slept till 2:00pm. It was absolutely amazing. I haven't gotten to sleep in that long in a while.

O yeah, and I almost forgot, on Thursday me and Nate had our premiere of The Wheel Seat Live It was an episode of our videoblog except it was Live. And it was a huge success. We had 27 unique viewers, which really translates into 27 unique computers. We can't even tell how many actual people were watching because at alot of computers there were more than one person watching. I'm guessing we had around 40 or so viewers, which is phenomenal for our first episode. I'm really looking forward to what is to come. And I just want to thank all of you for making that first episode possible. It was a blast. If you join the facebook group you can get updates as to when the next show will be and other things.

Last night our soccer team had a little get together at coach's apartment. We ate some pizza and watched 2 soccer games, it was fun. And then today I went to Starbucks with a friend and talked about this week and got some things figured out which was really good. Then I took Nate and Savannah to the train station and now I'm sitting back in my room. So it's been an eventful day. LOL.

Just 3 more days to go and I'm home free. Thank the Lord.

one down, one to go

Well, one big paper down, one more to go. I finished my Doctrinal Position paper at about 2:30am this morning. Glad to have it done, but now I gotta turn right back around and do another research paper for my sports ministry class. Hopefully it won't be too hard. And then once I'm done with that I'll be done for the week thankfully. But hey, the fun isn't over yet. Then I gotta come a couple days later and take 3 finals which I'm not looking forward to at all, especially Greek and Systematic Theology. But after those are done, I am home free.

Home free...wow, those words sound so delicious right now. Home free from December 17th-January 11th. And then, yes, I have an important announcement to make here on my blog, (warning: geekiness coming up) I am going to be attending Macworld Expo this year. Some of you may not know what this is, so I'll fill you in. Macworld is like the biggest conference once a year for Mac Computers. I am so psyched about going to this, 1. It takes place in San Francisco, California, and 2. Its gonna be awesome, cause I'm a geek. So anyways, that is happening January 6-9, I am flying out there and then flying back home, and then driving back here to school. Its gonna be an awesome break, and I can't wait to just be home, as you all know.

That's just a quick update for right now. I'll give some more once I'm a little less stressed. O yes, and another important announcement, the Live episode of The Wheel Seat is going to be taking place on Thursday Dec. 11, at 11:30pm. So be sure to tune in to http://ustream.tv/channel/thewheelseatlive
sorry for that little plug there.

stay strong

go home

Forewarning, this post has the possibility to be somewhat "emo" so don't be surprised when this happens. Just a little disclaimer.

Well I just finished my ridiculously hard greek take home test that I wouldn't be surprised if I failed and it was almost impossible for me to concentrate. That's the problem with take home tests, my thoughts are all over the place. Right at this very moment I just want to be at home, I don't care what I'm doing at home, I don't care if I'm working at home, if I'm in pain at home, I don't care, I just wanna be at home. Why? Don't ask me why? I don't know. Maybe because one of my best friends is at home, the only guy that I can connect with on a geeky level, but I can not only connect with him on a geeky level, but also on a life level, which is great. I miss him alot.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my friends here, especially one of my other best friends who is my roommate, and even since last night its been great to talk to him about life and different stuff, and at that moment last night I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else except right here in my room talking to him. But right now at this very moment I wanna be in my friend's apartment talking to him. Talking to him about computers, about life, about girls, about how he thinks the government is going to eventually be controlling every move we make as humans. LOL.

I don't know. (this is the part of this post where it might get really confusing because I'm just typing at random now, whatever comes to my head...). There's just been some things that I don't even know what the right reaction or the right feeling should be about it. I do know how I'm feeling about it, and some of that is natural, but I don't know if its right. How about this, how about I just skip this last week and a half of school, take my car and just get the heck out of here. I mean, the temperature here in Chicago hasn't been above 25 degrees since I can remember, let alone above freezing. Don't know what that has to do with my emotional state of mind, but I'm sure it has some effect on it. LOL. And this is the second paragraph that I have ended with the letters LOL. Just thought I'd point that out. Maybe my emotional state is as bad as I think it is, at least I'm making myself laugh out loud while writing it.

Anyways, this is officially probably the most confusing post I've ever written, but its probably because I have alot of thoughts about a situation that I can't really just talk openly about on here, so instead I'm just giving all these nuances to things that some may be able to figure out while others will have no clue. But thats ok I guess. I think I'm aloud to write a post like this every once and a while. Right?

any comments or complaints, let me know.

drink your ovaltine

spontaneous

This weekend has been an eventful one and most of it has been through spontaneous decisions, but those are the best ones right?

I started off the weekend with the creation of a new episode of The Wheel Seat (me and Nate's official videoblog, see the latest episode below). It was a great episode, we had a great shoutout, a special guest appearance by Lil' Wayne, and a big announcement concerning our live episode coming up soon. So that was a blast, and I spent a good bit of time editing that and posting that to facebook. So that was really spontaneous, and even more spontaneous was when I went to McCormick's and Schmick's to eat with a bunch of friends which was a blast, and it was good to hang out with them, cause I don't get to hang out with them that much.

On Saturday I was probably the laziest that I've been in a while because both of my roommates were gone all day. I literally sat in my room all day and just talked to some people online, read some stuff, and then Nate came back around 9:30pm and he convinced me to go to his house with him, so we drove my car to his house and I spent the night there and helped Nate with Sunday school at his church this morning. Eventually we made it back to school, and now I'm studying for Greek and I still have yet to write a paper that is due tomorrow.

So this week is definitely going to be not fun considering the fact that I have 2 big papers due, and a test. At this point, I just can't wait to go home for Christmas break and then just say home. LOL. But only another week and half to go. So anyways, just thought I'd give an update from the weekend and give you an opportunity to watch our latest episode of The Wheel Seat and join our facebook group and be watching for updates on our live show coming up soon.

What a better way to start off your week than reading this blog. Have a good one.

listening

You know what I just realized, how helpful it is to talk to someone who actually cares to listen, and who actually wants to talk to you, and possibly figure out a solution (if needed) for whatever we are talking about. I also want to emphasize, it is helpful when that person that I am talking to is completely unbiased and simply wants to help me with whatever I am going through. I discovered this the other day when I was talking to one of my friends who is doing this project for her counseling class. She has to interview someone (that someone being me) in front of her teacher, as if she is counseling them, and then she is graded on her performance. So my friend and I had to meet beforehand so she could practice, and so I could get more comfortable with this whole shindig. It actually turned out to be very helpful and very profitable, which wasn't what I was expecting at all. Not that I didn't think that she could do a good job, but just that I wasn't going into this expecting to get anything out of it at all, when after it is all said and done I probably will be helped as much if not more than she will be.

Then I started thinking about it this morning and I realized that, yes, she was using counseling methods that aided her in helping me, but really she was just listening, engaging in conversation, and was just there to help me out, and to talk to me about what is going on in my life. The awesome thing is, that she doesn't judge me, and she doesn't think of me any different because of the conversations that we have had, which is awesome.

So I just want to encourage you to listen to someone today, and then not only listen, but engage in conversation with them. And don't judge that person for what they tell you, and be confidential about it, let them know that when they are talking to you they are safe.

Well, I've got a test in an hour and a half that I haven't studied for, so I should probably start on that. But I just wanted to write about this as the thoughts were coming to my mind, because if I don't do it right away then I will lose it. Happens quite frequently actually.

O yeah, and it is 12 degrees today in Chicago...awesome...I'll try not to die of frost bite

Black Friday Best Buy Campout

This Thanksgiving was most definitely the most unique Thanksgiving I have ever celebrated in my life. Continue to read and you will find out why. At 11:30am on Thanksgiving morning I find myself sitting in a tent on a sidewalk preparing myself for what was to be an adventure for sure.

Lets start from the beginning. I flew home on Tuesday because my Systematic Theology exam got cancelled, but you already know that because you read my previous post, (right?). So, Tuesday I just hung out at home, and I think I went to Jared's. Wednesday rolls around and my mom is talking to me about my Black Friday plans. (Now for any of you who know me, you know that every year after Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents house, me and a bunch of my friends go to Best Buy and campout. This tradition was started 6 years ago by myself and my dad. As the years have gone by, my dad stopped coming, but I still camped out every year.) So my mom, knowing that I was planning on camping out again, was just asking what I was gonna get, and what time I was gonna get there. In this process of talking to her she exclaims that my family needs a laptop, because somehow every time I leave for school every computer in the house seems to die. So my family has been without a computer for almost a month and nowadays its hard to go that long without access to a computer and the internet (or at least thats what we think).

I told my mom that Best Buy was going to have a laptop on sale for really cheap ($380 to be exact!).

Before I go on with the story I would just like to say that ever year I have gotten to Best Buy earlier and earlier. My first year I got there at 3:00am and last year I got there at 9:00pm the night before, so I was planning on getting there this year between 7-8pm. And I always would envy those people who were on the front of their building with their tents and such, because I was always on the side of the building. But the people on the front of the building had to get there between like 12pm and 3pm the day before, which I thought was ridiculous, and I would never be able to do. Well here's where it gets interesting.

So when I told my mom about the laptop, much to my surprise her response was, "Well, how early would you have to get in line to get that laptop?" I told her probably around noon on Thanksgiving, and the next thing was even more of a surprise, she said, "Well if thats what it takes to get the laptop then you can do it."

WHAT! Was I really speaking to my mother? The woman who thinks I'm ridiculous for in previous years getting in line at 9pm the night before, and now she's giving me permission to skip family Thanksgiving dinner and go wait in line starting at noon...
I was so taken back by this. But I gave it some time just to make sure she was serious. I asked her about it a while later, and after much compromise she said that if I could get someone to come and sit in my place for about an hour while I go and eat dinner with my family then I could do it. I thought this was so awesome. Don't ask my why, but I was just so excited. I guess just to be able to say that I did it. That I waited in line for 17 1/2 hours outside Best Buy on Thanksgiving for Black Friday sales.

Thankfully I was able to get a hold of Josh Puckett who so kindly sat in my spot in line for an hour while I went and ate dinner. So I got there at 11:30am the morning of Thanksgiving, setup my tent and my lawn chair and waited. Now to some of you that may sound like a real drag, but no, it was actually really fun. I met some cool people, and altogether it was a fun experience.

I didn't mean for this post to be this long, so I'm just gonna wrap it up. But I did make the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Ok, so I was in the background of the picture but it's still cool. And also I made a little documentary of my Black Friday adventures. I was 7th in line, and it was awesome. So you can check out my experiences by watching this video below. Enjoy!

I just wanna thank Josh Puckett, my mom, my grandparents, Jared Tolley, Jessica Krumpelman, and my trust footwarmers (they worked wonders).

17 1/2 hours!

LANing it up

Just an update from this past week/weekend. It was amazing to say the least. Turns out that half of my classes were cancelled last week from Tuesday to Friday, meaning that I only had 2 classes the rest of the week, so I just decided to skip, and fly home on Tuesday. So the following is what I did last week while I was home.

I slept in till at least 2pm everyday, which was awesome. I haven't gotten to sleep in in who knows how long. So I caught up on some sleep, and then spent most of my evenings at Jared's new apartment. It has been good to get to spend some time with him. We have been really good friends for a while and it is just good to get together and talk about life, and the things we have in common, being technology. One of these nights I got to watch the movie Wall-E on blu-ray, and it looked amazing. I think that was my first time watching a blu-ray movie on an HDTV and I just can't get over how great it looks.

Friday we had a LAN party at Jared's which was fun, and it was the best one that I've been to in a while. We actually got the network up and running and played some AOE (Age of Empires for those of you who are not up on your gaming lingo). And yes, I did play a game of AOE, I sucked it up, but it was fun to get to play. The night went by pretty fast actually. Before I knew it, it was 4am and I was still as energetic as ever. I ended the night by watching "I am Legend" on blu-ray and then went to bed at 6:30am and woke up at 3:30pm. So it was a blast. Check out my facebook profile for some pics from the LAN party and such.

We then had a family game night which was fun. We played one of my favorites, "Cranium" and it was fun to just have fun with the whole family, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Haven't had that in a long time. Then went to church on Sunday morning and had an amazing lunch at Olive Garden, and then flew back to Chicago.

Now, I bet you're asking yourself, Why did Josh fly back to Chicago for only 2 days?" Or maybe you're not asking yourself that question, but let me answer it for you because if you weren't, at least now you are asking it. I was scheduled to have a Systematic Theology Exam on Wednesday morning and then I was planning on flying back home later that day. So that was one of the only reasons that I went back. But I get to my Syst. Theo class on Monday morning and my professor decides to move the exam to next week, so then I really had no point in coming back to Chicago. So needless to say, I flew back home last night meaning that I was in Chicago for almost a whole 48 hours before I came back home. But its nice to get back home.

So that was just an update from last week. I know, nothing too interesting, but just felt like I should give an update from the LAN party, so be lookin for those pics.

LAN (Local Area Network) (Yeah I know, I'm a nerd)

upbringing pt. 2 introspectivity

So this is part 2 of the previous post, "upbringing." I thought these next thoughts might add a bit too much length to the last post, and I know how easy it is to get discouraged when initially looking at a 6 paragraph post, and just give up before even starting, so I'm just thinking of you. So just picking up where I left off...

Another thing that evokes thoughts about this subject is some introspective observation. Looking at myself and how my behavior, body language, verbal language, etc. how all this has changed over my lifetime. I noticed the most in my freshman year of college. Thankfully I got 2 awesome roommates who I loved, unfortunately they both got married and moved off campus, but its still awesome to keep up with them. But anyways, both of them used to say the word "frick" alot, and I'll just say now that I have no problem with the word "frick." I never said it before college because it was just never a word that was in my vocabulary, but after living with them for only two months, I found myself saying this word quite frequently. I noticed this after a bit, and I was amazed at how this word just became infused into my vocabulary almost unconsciously. This is just one example of how behavior can be influenced so easily and so unconsciously. And this may not be true for all people, and maybe I'm just very easily influenced because I know that is true for some people, but I think this is true for all people to an extent. We as human beings adapt to our surroundings and sometimes that means changing our behaviors and actions, language, etc.

So a thought I would give you readers is to maybe every once and a while, look at yourself and ask yourself why you do the things you do. If they are things that you do because others around you are doing them, or if it is from some outside influence.

Actually after reading back over this post, I guess it has come a bit of a ways from my original subject of how people are brought up, but I think these are some good things to think about. So think about them, and then if you want leave a comment.

peace

upbringing

You ever think about why people behave the way they do? I don't know about you, but sometimes I just get into this psychology mode where I observe people and the way they dress, behave, talk, and I wonder, how they came to be the way they are today. This doesn't happen to me alot, where I get in these modes, but every once and a while I will see someone do something that I'm not used to seeing, or hear someone say something that I'm not used to hearing, and I wonder, how is it that they came to do these things? This also makes me think about different cultures, and not just different international cultures, but even different cultures within the US.

An example of different cultures even within the US is the Southern culture, the west coast culture, the northern culture, even the midwest culture. Some of these are more distinct than others, but the distinctions are still there. I just wanna talk about the west coast culture. Just this semester I've made some friends who are from California. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the way that these people dress and behave is general to all people in California, but I'm just trying to gain insight into how they are brought up, etc. One thing I have observed about my friends from Cali is that they are very laid back. Not that they don't care about stuff, but they don't let stuff worry them too much, I could be wrong, but I think this could be a result of living in Cali, and just the culture there. Remember, I'm just speculating here, don't go and crucify me because of the things that are written here. LOL. No, but seriously.

I realize, alot of this has to do with the person's personality, etc. but another thing I wonder about, is one's personality a product of how they were brought up, or are they naturally born with a certain personality, I think it could be a bit of both. For example, I'm alot like my dad, quiet, and introverted, but why is that? I think it has alot to do with my upbringing. I was homeschooled for the first 5 years of elementary school. All I'm saying about that is that I definitely didn't get as much interaction with others as other people my age did who weren't homeschooled. So that could've had an influence on this. But like I said, I could've gotten this through some genes, if it is possible for this to be genetical. I'm not sure.

One thing that has caused me to think about all of these things has been imagining myself with kids someday. You can't tell me you haven't thought at least once about how you are going to raise your kids. Well I've actually thought about it quite a bit, just by observing how others raise their kids, and how my parents raise me. Granted I might still be years, and I mean years away from having kids of my own, it is still interesting to think about, and I think we have to think about, even before date, or marry, because the way that I would like to raise my kids has an effect on who I am going to date. If I see qualities in a girl that would give me a sign about how she is going to raise kids, whether good or bad, it will put some kind of influence into our relationship.

Hmm, well I'm trying to decide whether or not go into my next thought that could be a bit more lengthy, or I could start a part 2 of this post in the next post. After looking at the length of this post, I think I will start a part 2 of this post. So look for that. Again these are just some thoughts I've had, but I would appreciate your comments, or criticism.

kids these days

home sweet home

How many times have I found myself in this situation. I have thoughts that I would like to write about, but I find myself writing this at 1:15am and I'm too tired to put my thoughts together, so again I'm going to resort to writing about what has happened in my life recently, which is one of the purposes of this blog, so I guess I shouldn't see it as a second resort, but I just like to mix it up with things I've been thinking about. We'll save that for tomorrow though.

Well I've been looking forward to this day since last week, after I figured out that 2 of my classes are cancelled from Today till Friday, so I came to my senses and realized that I could fly home today (Tuesday) and stay home till Sunday, and only miss two classes. So today I hopped on a plane and flew home for about 5 days, and I'm looking forward to just relaxing, and spending time with family and friends. So I've put those ideas into action already, I had dinner with my mom and sister tonight, and then went home. Then I came over to Jared's apartment and hung out till about 2am. He's got a pretty sweet setup. I'm looking forward to the LAN party that is gonna take place on Friday night there.

To give you an update of the weekend, I went on a retreat with the Jr. High youth group that I work with every week, and it was absolutely awesome. I'll write more about that later, but it gave me some new thoughts, and I loved just being able to connect with the kids. So be lookin for another update soon, like in the next couple hours. LOL.

peace

quick to answer

There are so many thoughts that come into my head throughout the day that I immediately then think, "Hmm, I should blog about that" and then I almost immediately forget it. LOL. Sometimes I write them down, like this morning in Syst. Theo. But most of the time, I just tell myself that I'm going to remember, and then end up getting to my room and forgetting everything. My roommate is listening to Christmas music right now, I know right, ridiculous, but what ya gonna do. Anyways, so since I can't remember any other thoughts I've had today, I'll write about the one that I remembered to write down.

This morning in Systematic Theology 1 my professor Dr. Weber was talking about the Hypostatic Union. Then a fellow classmate raised his hand and asked a question about whether God will be in the form of a human when we get to heaven? Dr. Weber immediately answered by saying that he cannot tell us what we are going to see in heaven, but it does say that "the blessed shall see God." And he proceeded to give the Scripture reference for this verse. It made me think about how much training and work he has gone through to get to where he is today. How much knowledge he has about the Bible, and about God. I made a note as soon as he quoted this verse, the note said, "Dr. Weber is like a human concordance, someone asks a question about seeing God in heaven, and he pulls out a verse about "the blessed will see God." Crazy." It just really got me thinking about how knowledgeable this man is, to be able to receive a question from a student and without even flinching in a couple seconds give a very good and thought out answer along with a Scripture reference.

I'm just comparing my professor to myself, in that, if someone were to ask me a question like that, even if I did know that verse, and even if I did have an answer to the question, it still would take me a while to think about the question, give an answer, and come up with a verse to give to that person to think about.

Just a thought I had during class, and thought it would make a good post. Like I said, I had several other thoughts today that I thought would make good posts, but I can't seem to remember what they were. Maybe I'll remember them tomorrow while I'm sitting in class.

its all good

Then what?

As I was sitting in church today some thoughts started to go through my mind about my college, Moody, and the students that attend here. I started thinking about how much this school is taken for granted by many people here. I hear stories of students going off and doing stuff that could very well get them kicked out of this school, and I wonder why they do these things? It is an understatement to say that it is a privilege to be able to attend here at Moody, and not only attend but also have all of our tuition paid for by donors all around the world. All we pay for is room and board along with some other fees and expenses.

Why is it such a privilege to attend here? Well before I answer this question, let me preface it with, I'm not saying that I or anyone else who attends here is any better than anyone else. All I'm saying is that this is a great school, that teaches the Gospel and Word of God, and if you are pursuing a life in full time ministry then this is a great place to study. This is not the only place to study, there are plenty of other great schools that one can attend in order to get good Biblical training in pursuit of a ministry career. So I say that to say, it is somewhat difficult to be accepted here, there is a rigorous application process, but it is a privilege to be able to attend any school that teaches the Gospel, and the Word of God. Yet so many times people forget why they are here. It is to train for full-time ministry, not to see how many rules you can break without getting caught, because if you are caught then this privilege is all of the sudden gone. Then what?

I just hope people will ask themselves that question. Then what? Before making decisions. I'm not getting into the discussion of whether certain things are right or wrong, regardless of what I believe, all I'm saying is, there are rules that have been set in place for this time in life, they are to be followed.

Just some things I've been thinking about. And this is a challenge to myself as well, as much as anybody. I hear stories of people getting kicked out of school for major things, but yet, there are minor things that I do not follow alot either, such as letting people in the back door of the SDR. So I need to examine myself as well.

O, and by the way, my pastor gave a great message today on judging other people, check it out at www.parkcommunitychurch.org

peace

TGFLS

Today was one of the chillest Saturday's I've had in a very long time, which was amazing. Here was my schedule today. Wake up around 9am. Go to Brooke's apartment where she fixed us pancakes and eggs (which were delicious). Go to my floor's football game at 11am. Lunch. 6 games of racquetball. Then me and nate continued our "Arrested Development" marathon for a couple hours. Then dinner. Sleep for 2 hours. Then ping pong, shakes, and then more arrested development with the rest of the crew.

Sorry, I just realized that you probably don't care about my schedule at all, but I was just so proud of that, that I really felt like I should put that out there. And to top it all off, Benji has been here this weekend, so its been awesome to spend time with him. So that was my day today. And if you keep up with my facebook status you will know that I am still showerless today as well, which makes it even a lazier day.

TGFLS (Thank God For Lazy Saturdays)

this day

Today was a pretty good day, except for the fact that I had to get up at 7am for Syst. Theo. But other than that it was a good day. I actually spent alot of good time with friends today. I would say that was the theme of today, friends. I went to a cafe with Nate and Savannah, which was fun. I later went to Starbucks with Tom Clark. After that, me and Nate finally did another episode of "The Wheel Seat" which is our video blog that we started last year. Then we went to dinner, and came back. Our floor had a volleyball game which I went to and Savannah and I cheered for D3. After that we went to watch The Office. Then Benji finally got here, and me, Nate, Brooke, and Emily spent the rest of the night with him. We just caught up and had a great time, just laughing. It was awesome. We then ended the night with watching like 20 minutes of the movie "Hook" before we got tired and decided to go back to our room for the night. And that brings me to right now. I was trying to decide whether I should blog or not, and I decided to because me and Tom had some great talks today just about God, and His power. In fact that is what I originally wanted this post to be about, but it looks like it has taken a turn to another theme. Like I said, that theme is friends.

So I'm just gonna scrap the idea of writing about what I originally was going to write about, and instead just write about friends. Like I always say, "If you got a good thing goin, don't stop it." Actually I don't always say that, but it is appropriate for this situation. I will write about me and Tommy's talks tomorrow. But today I have been shown the importance of friends, and just stepping back and realizing that is good to do. Yes, this day has been busy, but not stressful busy, just busy with friends, which is usually good, especially when it has nothing to do with school whatsoever. And especially when one of my closest friends that I haven't seen in forever is visiting. This is a good thing.

Well everyone in my room is in bed, and I am struggling as I write this to keep my eyes open, so I apologize for the sloppy writing. That first paragraph was probably pretty rough to read, LOL. Anyways, cherish your friends, and don't take them for granted. So I'll end this post with a line from a popular Michael W. Smith song...

"and friends are friends forever if the Lords the Lord of them, and a friend will not say never, cause the welcome will not end..."

enjoyment

This week has been a bit crazy, even though soccer is over, its like the professors knew ahead of time, "Well soccer is over now, so we can kill them with assignments." That's not really what happened, but it felt like it. Tuesday I had a big Systematic Theology Test, Wednesday I have a paper due, and a big Greek Test. I know that doesn't seem like alot, but those two classes are the two that I'm not doing so hot in, so I had to make sure that I was ready for that stuff.

I've also been thinking more about my videography work. I actually got one project done this week which I was pleased with. Then I got another potential client for a wedding videography this coming summer, which then led me to think about my website, and since I've been in the redesign stage for the past month I haven't gotten my videography section back up yet, so I worked on that some last night, and just thinking about everything that goes along with that. After thinking about it, I've been seeing all my friends get engaged around me, and its just been crazy to watch, but I never looked at it as an opportunity to do alot more wedding videography this summer. But in this aspect unfortunately I have to do my internship this summer, so it would be kinda difficult to do all of these weddings while I'm traveling doing my internship. But we'll see. I'd like to be able to work around it, because I could bring in a pretty significant income if I got a good number of weddings. Speaking of which, if you or someone you know is getting married, let me know, I do wedding videography for a VERY affordable price and good quality. So just throwing that out there. But it has felt good to get back into some video stuff again. I've been putting off some projects as of late, and this week has been good to get back into those.

Well today is an exciting day as Ben Harrison (Benji) is coming to visit for the weekend, and should arrive sometime tonight. He has been one of my close friends for the past 2 years here at Moody, and last semester he decided to transfer to a school back in Iowa where he lives to study Business. It is better for him because that is what he is passionate about, but I've missed him alot. So it will be really good to get to spend some time with him this weekend. We just got a new couch in our room, thanks to myself (another great craigslist find). And it is a sleeper sofa so Benji will stay in our room for a night or two and then stay in his old roommate's room for a couple nights. So I'm just really looking forward to this weekend, and it feels really good to have those big tests out of the way this week.

O yeah, and tonight is "The Office" so we are gonna watch that, at our weekly office night get togethers and then hang out. Those are always fun. I absolutely love that show. If you've never watched it you should definitely check it out. It is alot funnier if you have been following it for a while, but if you're new to the show you will still find it hilarious.

So I just spent some really good time with a good friend named Tom Clark at Starbucks, and I have some thoughts from that time, but I'm gonna write a post about it soon. So look for that.

The Office 9 pm EST/8pm Cent.

rollercoaster

I've been waiting all week to blog about my life this past weekend, but unfortunately school has been ridiculous with papers and tests and junk, but now I am free, at least for a couple days. So I'm gonna take this chance to blog as much as I can.

This past weekend, was a big one to say the least. Our soccer team went to the NCCAA Regional Tournament in Grand Rapids, MI. As you all know my life has been...(is consumed too strong of a word?) yes, consumed by soccer for the past 3 1/2 months and it all came to a climax this past weekend. So all of last week was spent just preparing mentally and physically for this tournament. Our first game was the Semi-Finals against Northland Baptist Bible College.

Let me just give you a little background info first. Northland is our big rival. Every year when we play them it is one of the biggest games of the season. But here's the thing, Moody has not beat Northland since 2001. You read that right, we have not beat them in 7 years. But every season it is a close game.

So needless to say, this was a huge game. We also lost to them in the regular season this year 5-0, so we were really lookin for some revenge. Anyways, the game started and it was 0-0 throughout all of the first half. I'm actually trying to remember the first half, but for some reason it was a blur, I can't remember much of it. But the second half was when all the action started. We scored first, and it was absolutely crazy after that first goal. It is always better if we score the first goal because it just gives alot of momentum and helps us play better. So it was 1-0 and then they scored to tie 1-1. Everyone played seriously to the best of their ability that game and we all pulled together and it ended being a tie 1-1 in regulation. So we went into sudden death overtime. No one scored so we went into the second overtime, and still no one scored. Then we went into a shootout. For those of you who aren't so educated on soccer, in a shootout each team is allowed to choose 5 players to shoot and the teams alternate. Whoever scores the most goals at the end of the shootout wins.

So Northland shot first and scored their first goal. We shot and scored, making it 1-1. Andrew Stoddard (our amazing goal keeper) then proceeded to block 3 PK's in a row, and scored the rest of ours meaning that WE WON THE GAME! It was absolutely amazing. When Stoddard blocked that last goal, we all just rushed him and were yelling and cheering. It was one of the best feelings ever. You had to be there to really get the full experience, but if you knew how big it was to beat Northland, you would be as excited as we were. We all just went crazy. All I could say was, "We just beat Northland!" To just think that no other Moody Soccer team has beat Northland for the past 7 years, and our team beat them. Its just amazing.

So as you can imagine that was an extreme emotional high. We celebrated so much that night. Coach took us out to a Bar B'Q steakhouse which was amazing, and we went back to the hotel. But we had another task in front of us now. We had advanced to the Regional Championship to play Maranatha Bible College, who we lost to in the regular season in double overtime 3-2. So it was a bit of a struggle to adjust to that, but I think that I personally adjusted ok, but I wish I could say the same for the rest of our team. To make a long story short, Maranatha played a different system from the first time we played them, and we did not adjust to it at all. They ended beating us 5-1. It was not a pretty sight. We were so pumped about beating Northland and looking ahead to Nationals in Florida, that we had made the mistake of overlooking Maranatha who had a strong team.

The moral of the story is, this weekend was a rollercoaster. When you go from the highest of emotional highs, to the lowest of emotional lows in less than 24 hours it is a pretty crazy feeling. So the season is over now. I can now have somewhat of a life outside of soccer now. I'm planning on just resting for 2 weeks, just relaxing, and then getting back into running and working out consistently in preparation for next season. I don't feel like there is anymore to say except...

Northland here we come!

here's to next semester

Well it is about that time of year, when we have to start registering for classes for next semester. Last semester I got screwed, when I went to register literally 3 of the 4 classes I wanted were filled up, so I had to completely redo my schedule. I mean, it all worked out in the end, it was just majorly annoying at the time. So I was hoping that wasn't going to happen again, and thankfully it didn't. Only one of the classes that I wanted was filled, so I just filled that time slot with something else. And that something else is Print Media Design and Production. I've been wanting to take a couple media communications classes for a while, but just never had the chance, so that is why I am so excited about this one. I definitely need to improve my skills in photoshop and such, so I'm really looking forward to this class. Granted it is from 1-3:30pm every Wednesday, but hopefully it will be interesting. So my registration was very successful in my opinion. I mean, this media class doesn't really count for anything, but o well. I figured it out and I'll still have normal class loads next fall and spring, so its all good. So just wanted to give an update on that.

Also just wanted to thank mudering muses for his input on my last post long live the blog He brought out some great points. So thanks for that.

I was also thinking today, how it might be good to do an episode of the JSquared Podcast before the election next week. Just to get each of our views on it, and everything. I dunno, its just a thought, chances are it won't come to fruition but we'll see. Would you all like to see that happen? Or do you even care? LOL.

here's to next semester. :)

long live the blog

I've been thinking recently, and the question has come up, why blogging over facebook notes? Or contrastingly, some people prefer facebook notes over blogging. Well here are a couple thoughts I have, and some reasons why I prefer blogging over facebook notes.

First of all I think that facebook notes serve a different purpose from blogging...for me at least. I think many people use facebook notes for the same purpose as blogging, but for me I don't think they should have the same purpose. The purpose of facebook notes in my eyes are to write simple little notes that then go up on all of your friend's newsfeeds for all of them to read. Facebook notes in my eyes just seem common and overused. I am never really motivated to read a note on facebook, especially if it is more than 2 paragraphs long. I mean, I have hundreds of friends on facebook and every single one of those friends has a chance to read that note, therefore it just loses value for me. It is somewhat hard to explain, but blogs are just so much different. If someone is reading my blog then I know that it is someone who at least mildly cares, or at the least care more about how I'm doing than if it were someone on facebook. Why? Because for people to read my blog they have to go to my website, then click on my blog link. It is not integrated into any social network in any way, it is its own independent site, so just by the fact that they visit that site says something. And if someone is reading my blog consistently it means that they are subscribed to it in their RSS reader which means that they've taken even more time to keep up with me. I think there is just much more personal value in blogging.

Secondly, facebook notes are just so stinking unattractive. It is so hard for me to sit there and read a facebook notes because I feel like my eyes are bleeding. I mean, not that facebook GUI is extremely unattractive but in a note the font is just so small and and I almost have to squint to be able to read it. Plus when I take a first look at a facebook note it is so intimidating if it is more than 2 paragraphs long because it just seems like so much because the font is so small. It really does annoy the heck out of me. Now granted, the background on my blog is white, and some may say that is boring, but it just has such a more personal feel to it, and at least my font isn't size 0.2. Ok, so that was a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point. Or maybe you don't...

Here's my point, if you write a facebook note I am less likely to read it than if you write a blog post. Sure I may see your note in my newsfeed, and I might click on the link to go to it, but the chances of me sitting there and actually reading it the whole thing are pretty slim. Like I said, I do think that facebook notes have their place, because they are very helpful to get some important information out to a bunch of people at one time. There is also a feature in notes that allows you to mention people in your note. I think this was originally designed for the purpose of if you actually did mention one of your friends in your note then you could let them know that, but now it has evolved into mentioning a long list of people because then they get a direct notification about the note, so they are more likely to read it. So I think facebook notes have their purposes, but I do not think that one of those purposes is to "blog" your daily or weekly thoughts. An actual blog is so much better for that purpose. Imagine that, a blog is good for blogging. Crazy.

What do you like better? Notes? Blogs?

Long live blogging.

family night

This weekend was good and relaxing. Always love those relaxing weekends, although I was thinking about this 12 page paper that I had to write for Systematic Theology but I got that done, so no longer thinking about it. Although I did learn some very valuable things pertaining to what Arminians believe and how it differs from Calvinism. It was good stuff. I'll blog about it sometime this week. But first lets get to the fun stuff.

Friday night we had what we called a "Family Night." Me, Nate, "Benji", Emily, and Brooke. We got Benji on skype video and we played a game called "Celebrity" with him. It was a blast. We took some pics, check them out on my facebook profile. They're pretty good. It was almost just like having Benji back. It was great. So we played a couple games in Brooke and Emily's apartment and then just relaxed and ate some popcorn and oreos. It was great to just relax. I really wish I just had an apartment. Just to be able to lay on the couch and watch tv and not have to worry about rules or getting in trouble for watching a movie or anything. Its just great. Maybe one day. Well, hopefully one day. I mean, I'm gonna graduate eventually, and I hope I don't end up living in my parent's house for the rest of my life. LOL.

Then Saturday night was men's open house. Now, if you know me, you know that I loathe open house with a passion. I just really don't see the point in it at all. At least casual open houses, because the girls just come over and sit in our room and its just really awkward most of the time. But last night was a formal open house which means that our floor was supposed to plan something to do. So made a slip 'n slide in our hallway. At first I thought it was gonna be really lame, and I wasn't looking forward to it at all. But once it got started, I got interested. The slip 'n slide was directly outside my room, so I just opened the door and watched people fling their bodies down the hall on this plastic wrap covered in water and baby shampoo. It was pretty funny. The night ended with a bang, when one girl from a sister floor tried to surf the slip 'n slide and ended up getting her feet knocked out from under her and banging her head on the floor really hard. She had to go to the ER. So needless to say she was the last person to do the slip 'n slide, but luckily there were some really good slides before that. Again, check out some pics on my facebook profile, but here is a sample.

So overall it was a good weekend. I ended getting about half my paper done by Sunday and then on Sunday I finished up the other half. So not too shabby.

This was just a small update from the weekend. I have some actual legitimate thoughts to blog about, but again, it is late at night, and it would take me alot longer to blog about those then it would to just give a quick update. So I figure, a quick update is better than no update, right?

ok, peace to all...have a good monday, or as good as it can be.

spillage

I read someone's facebook status tonight and it said, ________...has guts to spill, but no one trustworthy. I wanted to immediately comment on his status and just let him know that I know how he feels, and that I hope that he can find someone to trust, but thought that might be kinda awkward for a status comment. lol. Thats where that facebook discretion comes into play that I wrote about a couple weeks ago. Anyways, I really did feel for this guy, because I have felt that way so many times this semester, like I have so much to spill and that I just wanna talk about, but sometimes there is just no one around that I trust. Thankfully I have found some good friends that I can talk to, and know that I can trust them, but they are not always there. And some people do not always have that someone to trust and to talk to. Unfortunately I do not know this guy well enough to just be like, "well dude you can spill your guts to me if you want." I just feel like that wouldn't be my place at all, but I do hope that he does find someone.

And hey, if your that person that needs to spill some guts, but has no one to trust or talk to, feel free to spill to me. I know that is kinda contradictory to what I wrote in the last paragraph about not being close enough to this person, so it felt awkward, but I mean, if you are comfortable enough to share with me, then I would be more than happy to listen, and try to help you out. If you are reading this then you probably already have all my contact info, but just in case, you can go to my website and there you can find my contact info, cell, email, etc. Anyways, I just really felt for that person, and felt like I needed to write about it.

love you all.

another

Today ended the break from soccer practice. It was good while it lasted. If you have been paying attention to my facebook status lately, you will know that I have this big Systematic Theology paper due on Monday, and I just started it last night. Surprisingly, I already have two pages done. I've been thinking about it all day, and I've really let it kinda stress me out. It has just been a while since I've put a big paper off till the last minute and then just busted it out the night before, so I'm a little nervous right now. I've got a little over ten pages left, but I think I can do it. Anyways, I bring that up because the topic of the paper is "God's Will: Secret and Revealed." And it is kinda ironic because as you know from my previous posts, I've been struggling with what God's will is for me pertaining to my internship this summer, and what I should after graduation and such. I got a little more stuff cleared up today about my internship. I still need to do alot of praying and seeking God on my decision, but it was good to talk to someone about it, and get their feedback. But I think it will be good to get this refresher on what God's Word says about His will, and what is revealed in Scripture and what isn't. I just really need a good grade in this class, because I'm not doing so hot in it right now. DANGIT! And as I'm writing this post I'm remembering that I have Greek homework due tomorrow (another class I'm not doing so hot in). Well I'm gonna go do that while listening to my newest friend Pandora Radio

hope you all have amazing Fridays.

a break...kinda

Well, this weekend was somewhat successful as far as this sport that is my life right now (soccer) goes. We tied Robert Morris 1-1 on Monday, and won 2-1 against Andrews University on Tuesday. So it was a good weekend overall, except for the fact that both of these games were away, and these two days were our "Fall Break" or "Study/Reading Days" so we didn't have any class, but we still were busy as ever. But o well. Thankfully Coach gave us off practice today and tomorrow, to give us a bit of a break. I guess it was a break. It has been more of a break mentally, than it has been physically. We still are required to run for at least 30 minutes on each of these days, but 30 minutes turns into about an hour and a half of being in the gym, which is ok I guess. Actually I was in the gym today for longer than that cause I had to TA (Teacher's Assistant) for one of my Sports Min. Profs. So anyways, I say all that to say, that coach gave us these days off to sleep, catch up on homework, or just rest, but none of those things got done today. LOL. O well, it was good to just run on a treadmill again. Never thought I'd see myself typing those words but it is true. I've actually been gaining weight through soccer season this year, so today I lost about 3 or 4 pounds, just by running 4 miles. It felt pretty good except for the fact that my calf muscle was killing me. So we'll go back at it again tomorrow. Another "day off" practice, but it'll be good cause I'm meeting with my former roommate, Tom Clark for our weekly catch up/get in The Word time. I would like to write a post about how crucial it is to set aside time like this with a close friend to just talk about each other's lives, spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. But I'll save that for another day, maybe tomorrow in fact, since we are meeting tomorrow. Give you something to look forward to.

But in the meantime, I've got a 12 page Systematic Theology research paper on "The will of God" due on Monday, which I just started, so I better get to that.

I also wanna welcome back my best friend and roommate, Nate Nearpass. He returned back to campus last night, and he's almost going at full force. I wouldn't say completely full force yet, but he's almost there. He's gotta rest for like another 4 weeks, but I sure did miss him, and its good to have him back.

shout out to spleen boy, love you.

call

Many times I find myself reading a friend's blog and that blog initiating thoughts in my mind that I then feel like I need to blog about. So I found myself doing this today, and some of the thoughts in this post are a product of this friend's blog. So this friend was saying that she has been good lately because she is becoming less and less confused. At the beginning of the semester she just saw alot of things as pointless and was confused as to why she had to do them, but is now understanding more and more why God has placed her where she is. When I read this I was jealous. I long for the understanding that she has, I long to not be confused. Granted we are going through completely different situations, but still, I was jealous. lol.

From practically the beginning of the semester things have happened that have just completely confused, and I had no clue why they were happening. Then about 2 1/2 weeks ago things got worse and I was really getting tired of everything. But then for a week things went really well, and it looked like things were looking up for the most part, I was beginning to understand some things about my situation, and why they were happening. Then God threw me for a loop again this past week.

Some things have happened over the past week that have caused me to rethink alot of things about my life, and my future. This past week was missions conference. Now, if you know me at all, you know that for the past 4 years I have believed that God has called me into the foreign mission field after I graduate, specifically doing sports ministry, that is why I decided to major in sports ministry. So usually during missions conference you hear about God confirming the call on people's lives to go to the mission field, it seems quite unusual that God would cause someone to question that call. But now that I think about it, maybe it is not so unusual, because this has been some of what God has been doing to me. And I think it is a good thing, it is just hard. It is just hard to go from "almost full assurance of a call" to "rethinking that call completely." It is scary to not know what God wants for my life. I think one thing I realized this week is how hard it is actually going to be on the mission field. It is not going to be some walk in the park. And I think for a while I thought of it as that. Over the past couple years foreign missions has become more and more real to me. Through observing and watching my youth pastor and family pick up everything and go to Ireland, then also seeing my youth small group leader and mentor do the same thing, sometimes it is not all it is cracked up to be. I think sometimes we get this perception of missions and it is full of glitz and glam, but it is not. It is just life. It is life in a completely different culture than what we are used to here in North America.

Some of this confusion in my mind is caused by the fact that sometimes I don't know which gifts God wants to use more. I have a gift of sports and also technology/computers. And I love to use both of these for God's glory, but sometimes I don't know which one I should pursue the most. I attended two seminar sessions at missions conference that had to do with using your passion for making videos and filming on the mission field. So it really just got me thinking about that. Also considering there were no specific sports ministry agencies here this year at missions conference (honestly I think it is because Moody doesn't consider it a priority, but thats just my opinion, and the opinion of almost every sports ministry prof. here at Moody, lol) so there were no seminar sessions to attend pertaining specifically to sports ministry. So this is one dilemma that I have run into this week. The other dilemmas I think have to do with fear, as I mentioned earlier.

So these are some of the things I've been thinking about. I've been thinking about other things as well, but my mind can only focus on one thing at a time, so we'll save those for another time. Basically it all comes down to spending time with God, and seeking His will always, and always remembering that He is my Savior. The cross of Jesus Christ, thank you Lord.

And as I was rereading this post I was thinking that the way I started out in the first paragraph about reading a friend's blog...well I felt bad calling this person my friend because I've never even met her, a bunch of my friends were friends with her on facebook, so we ended up becoming "friends" on facebook and I found her xanga and started reading it. So just wanted to clarify that. I know, sounds kinda stalkerish, but hopefully me clarifying that cancels out the stalker factor.

ok clarification made.

visit

There are always so many things to write about yet if I wrote about them all in one post it would be a VERY long post, and it would probably lose your attention very quickly. So I'll just start out with the latest. This weekend a very close friend of mine from back home, Adam McNeal came and visited me along with his girlfriend, who is best friends with Chelsi, so we all hung out all weekend. It was a blast. It seems that God is just giving me exactly what I need exactly when I need it. I had one of the worst weeks a couple weeks ago, and then that same weekend my parents flew up and surprised me at my game. Then this past week was really good because it was missions conference but through missions conference I've just been thinking about alot of different things pertaining to my future, and just been a bit confused, and then this same weekend my best friend Adam came up and visited so it was good to catch up with him, and just talk to him about stuff that I've been thinking about and such.

Not only was it really good to just talk to Adam about everything, but whenever we get together its just fun, because we've been through absolutely a TON together, and we could go on for a long time just talking about memories that we have together. It is awesome. So that was another enjoyable aspect to the weekend. It is good because when we get together we can be the most immature people but yet we have some really good talks, and that is what it is all about. Helping each other through the good times and the bad times, those of which I've had both recently. Just to be able to sit down across from a good friend at starbucks and just talking about life, what our goals are, and things we are going through. I love it. And when he got in his car today to go back to his school in Louisville, KY it made me sad because I feel like a piece of home is leaving me. I felt the same way when my parents left last time. There are somedays when I just want to get on a plane and go home. Hopefully that day will be coming soon after soccer is over. Me and Jared Tolley have a new project in mind that needs to be done within the next month so I'm hoping to go home soon.

So that is just one post of many that I could write about this week and this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to write some more soon. This upcoming week looks as if it is going to be another busy one. I've got a big research paper due for Systematic Theology next week, so that is going to take some time for sure. Anyways, I'm listening to Hillsong right now and loving it. O yeah and why can't the Bengals win a freaking game. Its ridiculous. Not the best note to end on, but I feel like an appropriate one.

who dey!? yeah right.

juntos no more

Juntos!
If you are a Moody student or attended any of the general sessions of the missions conference here at Moody last year then you will recognize this very over-used Spanish word meaning "together." That was the theme of the conference last year, and the keynote speaker felt the need to use the word "Juntos" literally about every 2-3 minutes, and if that wasn't enough he used it in about every part of speech that exists. Needless to say last years main sessions were not the greatest, we found ourselves sitting in the auditorium for 2 hours counting how many times the guy said "Juntos." So honestly I wasn't expecting much from this year's main sessions, and to be even more honest I fell asleep last night during Al Guerra's session, which was probably worth listening to but I just couldn't keep my eyes open after a very draining (both physically and emotionally) soccer game (another post for another day). But I did enjoy today's sessions very much.

Al Guerra spoke again this morning and thankfully I was able to stay awake, because he talked about how to minister to people that we don't want to minister to. He spoke out of Matthew 28. ...And brace yourself...I also took notes, yes thats right. So a couple points that he made were to 1. Lead by theology. He talked about learning what we have from our Systematic Theology classes, which I am taking right now, and work hard to apply this to real-life leadership situations. Another point he made was to 2. Study the culture. This was very stressed that we should go into a culture as learners. Don't go into a culture ignorant of their rituals and practices. I think many people do this, especially when it comes to short-term missions trips and they lose their effectiveness because of it. So the morning session was very beneficial, and I was glad that I got the extra sleep in order to stay awake.

We are also required to go to some seminar sessions. One of these that I chose to go to was called "Movies and Media: What does that have to do with Missions?" So of course, if any of you know me you know that this immediately caught my eye, and it didn't take me very long to decide which one I was going to attend. The woman leading this session graduated from Ashland College in Ohio with a videography degree and now works for a missions agency doing 50% video work, and 50% missions work. It was very interesting to hear how this worked. Half of the year she will spend traveling around the world filming and producing content for different missions agencies, and then the other half of the year she will spend building relationships with people in the area where she is living, whether it be London, England, or somewhere else, and then try to influence these people for Christ. I think this is a very interesting concept. And I just kept getting more and more interested because she has her own company which is something that I've always thought would be awesome to do, and I've done some freelance work before under the name of JSquared Productions, but it hasn't gone too far. But this session just evoked some very interesting thoughts in my mind on some cool opportunities that are out there.

Tonight we had another main session, and you'll never guess who the speaker was...Steve Saint. Steve Saint for those of you who don't know is the son of Nate Saint, one of the 5 missionaries who was speared by the Auqa Indians while trying to share Christ with them. Some of you might have seen or heard of the movie "The End of the Spear." This movie was made about this man, Nate Saint and the other missionaries. I remember seeing this movie, I believe it was my Sr. year in highschool, and after coming out of the theater just sitting in my friends car and just crying because by the time I had already felt God's call on my life into full-time missions and I didn't know if I was willing to give up my life like that for the cause of Christ. And so that movie really had an impact on my life, and evoked alot of thoughts in my mind. So it was amazing to hear Steve Saint speak and just give first hand accounts of how he felt, and how his mother felt, throughout all of this. While interviewing a wife of one of the missionary men who died, she was asked, "When this happened to your husband how did you not ask God, Why?" And she responded, "I guess I just never thought about that." ("that" being questioning God). That just amazes me. And Steve's challenge to us was to be heroes of the faith, and be willing to give my life for Christ. So tonight's session was very impactful, and exceeded far beyond my expectations, even though my expectations were very low coming into it.

With all that said, I'm tired and need to get some other stuff done, but I am genuinely looking forward to what tomorrow has to bring. Sorry for such the long post, they won't be this long all the time.

We're all in this together, juntos no more.

the spot

It's official, Chipotle hits the spot everytime. Don't ask me what that "spot" is, but it gets hit everytime I eat a chicken burrito with black beans, mild salsa, cheese, and lettuce from Chipotle. I happened to have one of these tonight, since it is Sunday. See, here's the deal. Here at Moody we do not get served dinner in the dining room for dinner on Sunday nights, so we have to eat on our own. My family (immediate and extended) for some reason give me Chipotle gift cards like they grow on trees. Seriously, anytime someone from my family visits, or I go home, I get at least 2 Chipotle gift cards valued at $10 each. This eventually results in alot of Chipotle currency. Therefore, every Sunday night I have no reason not to eat at Chipotle. 1. I love it. 2. I don't have to spend money. 3. I have enough gift cards to last mean probably for the next 10 weeks. LOL. Every once and a while I get a gift card for a different restaurant such as Subway, and sometimes I get a Starbucks gift card. Just to clarify, I am not complaining whatsoever by writing this post, I am just writing. In fact I absolutely eating Chipotle every week, and feel very blessed to be able to eat there every week. So thank you to my family, and thank you Chipotle.

shout to the fam!

accessibility

I was just thinking about this tonight. This thought just popped into my head while I was in the bathroom, don't ask my how or why, but weird stuff happens when you're on the can. So anyways... I was thinking about how much access we have to put our thoughts into the world anywhere and anytime we want. Just think about it, these thoughts just popped into my head 5 minutes ago as I was using the facilities and I have the ability to walk 5 steps across my room, sit down at my desk, make a couple clicks and all of the sudden these thoughts can be posted on the World Wide Web for everyone and anyone to see and read. And then if that is not crazy enough, if you are reading this post right now then you can immediately post a response to these thoughts for anyone to see. If you do not agree with what I have to say then you can state that disagreement which could evoke thought in my mind or anyone's mind who reads your comment.

Think about our parents. Back when my parents were my age (20) and in college, they did not have this accessibility. If they had thoughts in their minds then they could make those known by verbally talking to someone and then get that person's feedback, but even still that is just one person. Unless someone was a writer for the school newspaper or even the town newspaper then they could write an article about some interesting ideas or thoughts they have, but that has to go through editors even before it is published, and even still it is a limited audience. And if a reader had comments or thoughts or disagreements with the article then probably the only way to express those thoughts to the writer was to write a letter and send it through snail mail. In which case the writer could write a response to these comments but that would take at least another week before it was published.

Nowadays, like I said, I can express my thoughts on my blog and literally within seconds if someone is reading my blog I can receive a comment about my thoughts. And with the access of facebook and similar social networks, I can post my thoughts and they can be sent out to however many hundreds of "friends" I have. It is just crazy to think about how technology has changed life in so many different ways. And then another topic for another day is videoblogging, which is something that I just picked up last year. The ability to record your thoughts on video and post it for the whole world to see. Again, another topic for another day.

I have so many thoughts about technology and how it has and is helping us. And as you can see from this post and previous posts, I am a strong advocate of technology if it is used properly. That is the key. I think it can help us in so many ways. It just annoys me sometimes when people are so against technology for various different reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is just because they do not know how or choose not to use it properly. So I will write a post like this every once and a while just talking about my thoughts on technology and where the world is going with it.

agree? disagree? thoughts? comments?

winning streak

Well, some good news for the weekend so far. We had 2 away games this weekend. Friday we played Robert Morris (Springfield, IL) and Today (Saturday) we played Lincoln Christian College. These were 2 big games for us considering we haven't had any wins on the road so far, and we were on a 2 game winning streak before this weekend. Against Robert Morris we played exceptionally well, I thought. Our defense had a couple breakdowns, but thankfully we've got a beast of a keeper who saved our butts on numerous occasions. Andrew Stoddard is our keeper and he had a heck of a game on Friday. We ended up winning 2-0 to give us a 3 game winning streak. Then today against Lincoln Christian we had a slow start, I think because some of us were tired from the Robert Morris game (I know at least I was). I did not play well at all, at least in the first half. I don't know what was going on but I couldn't make a pass to save my life, but I picked it up in the second half. It was 4-0 at halftime, and we ended up winning 8-0, a good clean win. And to top it all off Jollypop (a.k.a. Josh Jalandoon) scored the last goal with 16 seconds left in the game. We went crazy just because he doesn't get to play that much and so it was a big deal for him to score. So all in all it was a good weekend. I'm glad to be back home though. I love traveling with the team and my best friends but it just drains me, especially playing two back-to-back games, so naturally I'm wiped now. Maybe I'll write a post sometime about some experiences of being captain. I've learned a ton throughout the season so far, but sometimes its just stressing. But its ok. I'll talk about that another night. Tonight is a night to celebrate. 4 game winning streak. We have our last home game this coming Tuesday against Grace College (Winona Lake, IN), so that is a big game. If you are a student at Moody make sure you come out and support us as we go for our fifth win in a row.

ole' ole' ole'...ole' ole'

scattered

I've got alot of different thoughts running through my head, so usually I would use this medium of the blog to get these thoughts out of my head in some kind of order, but tonight there are so many I just feel like I would have to write like 5 different posts for them all to make sense, that is how scattered they are. Plus I'm just tired and don't feel like focusing my mind on just one thing.

One thing I will ask though is that you continue to pray for my roommate and best friend Nate Nearpass. He went into the hospital on Tuesday and as far as I know he is still there. He had to go to the hospital because he had strep and mono at the same time, and he couldn't breathe through his throat because of the strep, and he couldn't breathe through his nose because of the mono so they had to hook him up to a breathing machine. Also, he couldn't keep any of the medicine down. I talked to him yesterday and he said he was doing a bit better but still pretty bad, so if you could continue to pray for his health. Also that he wouldn't get too behind in school, and that he could return to campus as soon as possible.

Any requests you might have let me know. I would be happy to pray for them. Comments...

useful

We have what we call here in the Moody realm a PCM. These letters stand for "Practical Christian Ministry." A PCM is something that every student here at Moody is required to do each and every week. This is some type of ministry here in Chicago outside of school. For example, tutoring, working in a church in some capacity, whether it be youth group or AWANA, or playing soccer in a park once a week. So last year me and Ben Harrison, a dear friend, were Jr. High leaders in a church in Schaumburg, IL. I was technically the tech and video guy, while Ben was the games and activities guy, and we both helped lead a small group. Well I decided to do the same thing this year just because I had built some good relationships with the kids already, and I didn't want to have to start over somewhere else, so I felt like it would be good to continue to grow those relationships. So I've been going to my PCM now for about 6 weeks. The first was really good, it felt so good to get back to a familiar place and do ministry with those kids and just catch up with them again. But the weeks following this were just, ya know, nothing too special. I think some things that contributed to that were just plain old tiredness because I have class all day and then soccer practice, and go straight to PCM, so I'm so tired by the time 7:00pm rolls around, so its a struggle to stay energetic and interact with the kids. Secondly, I haven't been involved in a small group yet because one of my responsibilities this year is to be in charge of the Jr. High website, so me and Nat (the youth pastor) have been setting that up during small group time.

So I say all that to say this, last night was the first night since the kickoff of PCM that I really felt useful. Why? Because I was a little more awake than usual and Nat asked me to do announcements which is a little unusual, but I'm happy that he asked me, and he also got me in a small group. But little did I know that he was giving me my own small group. So I had 4 Jr. Highers to discuss the lesson with for a half hour and it was great! It was just good talking with them and interacting with them on a different level than I am used to when we are just playing games or whatever. I could also say that this was the first time that I felt like I was doing ministry, but I know that that statement is not correct or true because I am doing ministry in so many other ways, but thats the way I felt at first. I don't have to be leading a small group, or be up in front of everyone doing announcements to be doing ministry. Ministry is done in the small ways as well, and I need to remember that. So I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the year, especially the retreat, because that is a blast as I found out last year. And I can truthfully and confidently say that I love my PCM, and not everyone can say that, and if you go to Moody you know what I mean.

shout out to all my guys and girls at Refinery!

paranoia

In the midst of the craziness of this week, and my parents visiting and such, my best friend and roommate, Nathan Nearpass was diagnosed with strep and mono at the same time. I know right, crazy. The bad thing is, he had already had mono for a week before he found out what was wrong. So me and Kyle Isabelli (our roommate) have been basking in the glory of mono and strep for at least a week and we didn't even know it. Now I'm not taking anything away from Nate because I have the deepest sympathy for him right now as he's at home and can barely talk, I'm just saying that I just hope that me or Kyle doesn't get it next considering Nate is not allowed to play soccer for pretty much the rest of the season, which sucks. I mean, I can't imagine having to be out for the rest of the season because a physical illness, and not an actual injury of any sort, that must be the worst.

On top of that there has been someone on campus who has been diagnosed with the dreaded MRSA (or as we say it mersa). Don't ask me what it stands for because I don't know. All I know is that I'm probably more afraid of getting this than I am strep or mono. So I'm officially paranoid, and for good reason. The symptoms of MRSA are red boils on the skin and apparently it eats away at your insides. I don't know all of the in's and out's of it, but our athletic trainer has freaked us about it enough to know that it is something I do not want to acquire. Probably the worst thing about it is that it can be retrieved just by touching something that the person with MRSA has touched.

So that is and is going to continue to be my paranoia for the next couple weeks. Anytime I itch or see any kind of red spot on me someone else I start freaking out. Maybe you should too.

peace from the ultimate immune system

ignorance

I am a strong advocate of facebook. I love learning about how facebook has been developed over the past couple years, their business plan, and I just love watching the changes that they have made to the site. It is just something that really interests me. I actually wrote a blog post when they released the new chat feature on facebook because I just thought it was brilliantly done. So just as a preface to this post, I am a very big supporter of facebook, and I believe that they have done some things with the online social networking world that is amazing. But I just want to write about some things that just annoy me to death when it comes to facebook, and it doesn't really have anything to do with facebook, persay, but more to do with how ignorant the people are that use it.

Here's the scenario...I log onto facebook tonight and just doing the usual checkup, checking messages, notifications, etc. Then I notice in my news feed that there is a "story" saying that this guy and girl, two of my friends had ended their relationship. I had already known about this, so I was just like, "ok, thats legit." And I go about my business, I go and write a blog post, then a couple minutes I go back to facebook and notice that two people had commented on this "news story." For those of you who do not know, facebook just added this new feature that allows you to comment on any news story directly from your news feed on your home page. I think it is a pretty nice feature. It allows you to comment on someone's status, and just makes the social networking better I think. So this is what two people had done, they had commented on this news story of these two people ending their relationship. These people commenting on the story were asking "did you really?" "what happened?" And in my in-the-moment fit of annoyance I commented back saying that it was ridiculous, like were they really expecting the people to comment back and tell you what happened? Actually as I'm writing this post more people are commenting on the story, saying that the person posted that they ended their relationship, so it was their own fault. But they did not post it at all. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of facebook I think is that their user preferences aren't the easiest to navigate through. So unless you spend about 15 minutes digging around in the preferences so that these things aren't automatically put in your news feed, unless you do that all that stuff is going to automatically be shown to the world in all of your friend's newsfeeds.

As I said, I am a strong supporter of facebook and I think it has done alot of good things. I think one of the most annoying things about facebook for me though is the whole "relationship" aspect of it. Like if you are dating someone then you can list yourself as in a relationship with this other person. Which, sure is great, until maybe you break up, then it sucks because the whole world knows about it, and we've come accustomed to this phrase, "its not official until its on facebook." So I would suggest that unless you really know the in's and out's of all the preferences and everything and you have total control of what you want publicized and what you don't want publicized, then I would just put minimal information on your profile. I actually just came out of a relationship and I had this on my profile, so of course I had to end it on facebook when we broke up, but thankfully I knew what I was doing with the preferences since I didn't want this all over everyone's newsfeed, so thankfully I didn't have to put up with any of this trash, but I know what its like to have to put up with it.

So I guess the question could be raised, "well if you don't like people commenting about the story in the newsfeed then, Josh, why are you blogging about it?" Why am I blogging about it? Hmmm, ok, well because I'm blogging about it so that people aren't ignorant and think that facebook is the end all be all of communication these days. I mean if you still wanted to talk to them about it on facebook, if you really cared then you could message them about it maybe, and by messaging them I mean sending them a private message that no one else can see. But then again, if you really like actually cared then I guess you would actually verbally talk to this person about it and find out what happened. This is why I'm blogging about it, because people are ignorant and I'm just trying to make it so there are less ignorant people in the world of facebook.

Then again, more and more adults are coming into the world of facebook. I just got a friend request from my aunt tonight, it is starting to be a family reunion on facebook. lol. Which I'm completely fine with, but that is another post for another time. I've done all my ranting for the night.

comments please...