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!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
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)
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)
Friday, November 21, 2008
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
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
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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
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
Sunday, November 9, 2008
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
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)
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)
Friday, November 7, 2008
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..."
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..."
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
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!
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!
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