I'm sitting at my computer at 245 am - its so crazy - people are leaving - jenny left- parsons and goodie leave soon - and its sad - but its exciting at the same time

my friend emily (hi emily) had a quote in her profile that i'm stealing and putting in herre

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."

Its good - and its tough - but it is necessary

Proverbs 21:5
"The plans of the diligent lead to advantage, But everyone who is hasty surely comes to poverty."

I noticed a woman wearing a "fight against prostate cancer" shirt today as i was running....haha

Do men wear "race for the cure" and if they do - why would they wear them in public -too often

It takes a strong person to listen completely to an entire album of Radiohead songs...in silence

Here's something thats worth blogging about - it really gets me frustrated - and by no means do i dislike people this applies to -

Why do people still wear their senior class rings? I saw 2 people in the course of my night with theirs still on their right ring finger - why?

YOU ARE NOT IN HIGH SCHOOL - you are fixing to be a college student - and if you've registered and/or paid - you could consider yourself one now - but why wear that ring that holds meaning and memories of high school - its time to move on - people who are staying in town - nothing wrong with that - just dont hang out with all of the people still in high school - make new freinds -meet new people - MOVE ON it really is tough to see people refusing to move on - and in some respects - i think the brandishing of that high school ring symbolizes that

however...i do understand if someone is adamant on wearing it until they begin classes in college - because high school held such meaning and such - thats great - cherish those memories - but do look forward to new scenarios -new challenges and new achievements...

Wow - 8th day of august...

time flies...eh? what a trite and stupid phrase...nevertheless true

i'm leaving for fish camp in 12 days

i bought a down comforter and thermal blanket for my dorm room, as well as a fridge...i'm very very excited

why do people act as they do? why must people make stupid mistakes, after seeing friends and loved ones of theirs make a horrid lapse of judgement - do people really think they will not make the same mistake? or are the just ignorant...

WEll i'm up here at a&m in the student computing center writing this blog - i took off from my house at about 10 am - and i got here - i needed to come up here for a few reasons - 1 is to get a shot at the health center - why there? you may ask - because its alot cheaper - esp. for the menigitis shot - so i tossed my new bike in the back of my truck on the way up herre - figuring i'd ride around campus - and thats exactly what did - and it has been one of the coolest things - to ride around-and people just look at me not like a visiting high school student but - as a normal college kid on his way to class - it just amazed me - it really was one of the coolest feelings - and i dunno - maybe i'm just acting like an excited freshman - but thats what i am - and thats ok. i ate lunch at quiznos up here and the girl who had very little clue a/b properly making a quiznos sandwich dumped so much carbonara sauce on it - i thought i was gonna choke - anyhow - i got a permanent assignment - and i'm in crocker - on the north side - and i'm rooming with this guy named george austin mccurry - i havent talked to him yet - but i imagine i will sooner or later-
and i'm not sure if ben and i are going to try and switch but - i'm not sure if we are going to do that -

anyhow - i'm very excited -

its very crazy - this is the last day of july - this is far and away the fastest summer yet - its just flying by - wow

I'm in Hazlett, New Jersey - at my aunts house- and i'm having fun - its been pretty miserable weather herre - but tomorrow i get to go to the beach with my cuzin's and my brother and his gf kelly - yay - and we get to go to the boardwalk as well -

friday i will get to go visit west point - and i'm very excited - hopefully i'll get to see pete and chip and wrendon and adrian - that would make this trip really great -ya know?

fantasy football is starting up and that makes me excited

college is coming up and that makes me excited too - i just wish i knew where i was living - bummer...

i've met alot of people who i'm looking forward to hanging out w/ next year - whoohoo

i'll update my blog at a later time- so check in with it

I just got back from playing wiffle-ball at the church - it was so much fun - we played 2 games and my team won both - it was so fun to play ball again just like when i was a little kid - ghost runners and pegs and everything

anyhow - food time

This is such an exciting time in my life - i'm getting ready to go off to college - and i just got a bike - its a sweet Haro - V1 - and i'm gonna get a computer - i finally broke down and decided on a PC - but i'm gonna get a dell Axim as well -so thats exciting - i think i'm gonna buy myself an IPOD from Mac and some new oakleys with my birthday money and the leftover cash from graduation -

anyhow - i'm ready - ready to go off - ready to start new - ready for a challenge, new people, new places, new everything - and its close enough to home - to make a weekend trip - but far enough away, barely -

i'm ready

This sucks

everyone is getting their housing assignments except for me -i'm really bummed - i just want to be in a dorm - even in a temporary space - and i want to figure it out - i just wanna get it over with - dang...maybe i can room with ben - maybe not - hopefully though i can be exactly where God wants me - and i know that i will - its just such a bummer that i hear stories and stuff - and i'm not in yet - anyhow - i won my 2 games at king of the beach -so i'm in our bracket finals - and hopefully i'll win that tonite

today i was driving along and i saw a sign for "sno-cones" and it pointed down a street - so i turned around and proceeded to support the local industrious attitudes of some young entrepreneurs - i pull up and they charge me 1 dollar for a 'sno-cone' served in a 16 oz. styro. cup - it was mostly ice and it had just a little bit of flavoring - so - it was like slightly flavored ice not a sno cone - but its ok - i was glad to pay them and tip them a quarter each - those young guys are up to something good - keepin out of trouble...ha

anyway - as i was driving along - eating my crushed ice - i started to think - hey - i would expect some young'ns like that to overdo the flavoring

instead - they under-flavored it - bummer...

i'm over at miori's updating and my family just told me that we're going to New York in the next few weeks - yay

update time -

i am up at a&m for my orientation - and i'm having a really good time - surprisingly -

i'm getting really really excited about just like - getting into the world of college - being on my own and meeting SO MANY NEW PEOPLE - its really very cool -

i got my ID today and i signed up for my claim account - so i can access everything like - schedules and stuff - but tomorrow will be the real test at 1:30 when it becomes a crapshoot for classes - its crazy - i'm sure i'll blog at a later time - but i just got back from mission trip in chicago - it was way awesome - definately taken out of my comfort zone was i - walking the streets of englewood ya know - the 3rd roughest neighborhood in America - 1st in chicago - it was quite and experience - stories later

well - my deepest apologies for those of you who have visited my blog within the past few weeks and have seen no such update - its a shame that there is not more time in the day to do the things i would like to do - i.e. blogging, sleeping, et cetera...

however - since my last post - i've done a few amazing things - first of all - i've graduated from high school - i am going to Texas A&M University in College Station next year and i'm unbelievably excited - so far this summer i've already visited the following places (in chronological order):

Panama City Beach, Florida
Miami, Florida
Labadee, Haiti
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Georgetown, Grand Caymans
Cozumel, Mexico
Cleveland, Ohio (layover)
Greensboro, North Carolina

and i'm scheduled to fly from N.C. to Chicago, Illinois, and then back to Spring

I calculated that of the 30 days in June, I've spent 9 at home, that means - sleeping and eating in my house. Its kinda upsetting - i really would love to spend alot more time with my friends - however i did get to go to Panama City Beach with my chruch youth group and on a 7 day cruise with Kyle Craddock and some other guys including Daniel Lockley and Rob Davis. Kyle and I met some girls from Minnesota - they have funny accents - Howdy girls, if you're reading this -

After coming home from the cruise on Saturday, I left this past wednesday morn for North Carolina, since my brother Steven is playing in the 2003 Southern Regional. Select soccer teams are part of United States Youth Soccer Assn. - and they have a national tournament - starting within the state - so the state champions go on to 1 of 4 regional championships to face other state champs - and the regional winners meet in the Final Four of the nation at 'nationals' in Baltimore. So, Steve's team has made it thus far and hopefully they'll do well at this regional tournament. I get to watch 3 of their games then i leave for Chicago - and our missions trip with our church - i'm really excited to get to serve in
Chicago - When i get back on the 7th - i immediately go to A&M for my testing and NewStudent Conference - where i get my schedule for next year - what i'm hoping for is no 8 am classes and no classes on friday -however - i will sacrafice either one to get one of those 2

I WILL POST later this week before i leave - regarding feelings and thoughts i've had in the past few weeks - thanks for reading this - and please continue to be my friend - ha.

thank you for visiting my blog

well let me...uhh...'clarify some things'
1st of all - i edited my last post to pacify upset critics - maybe i shared a little too much
2nd of all - never did i ever say that catholicism was wrong - i know that its a religion that people believe in - i know this - i'm not denying it or criticizing it at all - in fact - its believes coincide with mine as a Christian - i would classify myself as a non-denominational Christian - not a Baptist or Methodist or Catholic - i'm just a christian - but all i mean by my comments about the museum - was that i was confused as to some of the thoeretical reasons behind such an extravagant display - i mean - i'll stick by what i said in that, some parts didnt make sense to me, i simply was confused about the extravagance with which it was presented - i wish i had someone there to ask questions of but since i didnt - i still remain confused to this day
- the art was amazing, from the papal tiaras to the plaster reliefs of bernini to the drawings of michelangelo - and the educational value of the exhibit was undeniable as well - i learned alot about the catholic religion as well as other religions (there being a section of how catholicism - the Pope to be more specific - interacts with other religions - i.e. the 'Thanka' hand stitched by the Dali Lama, given to John Paul in '79 i believe it was)
and i'm sorry if i personally offended anyone with my comments -in NO WAY do i HATE the catholic church or anyone who is catholic-and i pray that no one mistakes me as an ignorant, hateful, bigot
i'm sure that i'm the only one with views differing from others- but isnt that what makes us all diverse? the fact that we can get along in the midst of our differing feelings.

Well i went to the museum of natural science today and i saw an exhibit on Popes and the Vatican - it was really cool - and a few things came to my mind as i meandered through the exhibit:
1- old people have nothign to do during the day - i realize that this is an exhibit which might spark more interest in older people than younger ones, however - there was just a complete domination of women over 65 - with white hair parading around in groups yelling to each other since they couldnt understand their own words over the "audio tour earphone set" they were wearing...it was so bad- i would gently wisper (it is a museum after all) "excuse me ma'am" and even slightly tap them on the shoulder - no response - it was so stupid - like i tried not to get frustrated but it was futile - however the exhibit was nice but it did spark another set of feelings:
2- with all the starving people all over the world as well as the instability in the catholic church (so it seems to an onlooker) i found all of these exhibits unbelievably, outrageously too much - as i walked through, the exhibit was selfguided and began with many works of art from painters and sculptors ranging from modern works to works from the 400's - paintings, frescos, statues, etc.- and that was very nice - some of the reliefs done by bernini were unbelieveable - then we got to the papal artifacts part of the exhibit - and thats were my mind raced - as i walked through -looking at jeweled crowns made of gold and rubys and diamonds, i thought to myself - wow - this is completely unnecessary - now i understand - it is part of a history of the catholic church - and these were implemented in the past into the papal vocation, however - it just seemed like too much - from the 30 pound hand embroidered gowns that the popes wore once or twice, to the exhuberant staffs made of sterling silver with picutres of the crucifix decorated with rubies and gems. i thought - and actually heard a few comments very close to this one: "i probably shouldnt be saying this but, ya know what - with all of the poor children throughout the world, and the catholic third world countries, it seems as if this is all a little much" - and when i heard that - yea....anyhow - so we went on to see the velvet ivory chair in which the newly elected pope (elected by all of the worlds cardinals) rides around the streets of the vatican and rome in, and we saw the pure white ostritch tail feathers with which him and the 12 men who carry the throne on his shoulders are fanned off with - and it just seemed to me that this isnt what a religion should be all about - it should be about a relationship with God -

thats just my feelings - take it for what you wish -

that was my exciting day - ben also got an airsoft gun - and we're having a war at will's old house at 8 - bring the pain, girls

And prom is over

the beach was so much fun i cant believe it - we shot each other with airsoft guns, snuggled around fires, played in the ocean, traded money with each other through hours and hours of poker, and ate much food provided by the girls.

What a great memory

As we were walking out of capital Grille, where we ate, matt skains sees a ferrari and gawks, so the owner comes up and starts talkign to him; skains is telling him about his car's specs and the guys like - hey - hop in - check this out and so skains does, wait it gets better, he lets skains start it up, wait it gets better, he tells skains he races them and gives him his card "call me and we'll go driving" he says to skains, and he goes on "if your group didnt have to leave, i would let you drive it." so our group doesnt leave - and he drives it around westheimer and streets for a few minutes - wow -like this is a silver FERARRI - like amazing - any how

ape was a blast - my roommate won a digital camera, and i didnt win anything - except a good time

i got accepted into a&m - i'm very relieved and excited so, yea...

PROM WAS FUN.

VERY FUN.

AND THE FUN IS STILL COMING.

YES!

Wow - how about that

Prom 2003 is here! I cant believe it - i remember going last year w/ Chelsea Meyer - hey chelsea

i cant wait - tonite i'm having a cookout for our group who wants to come over then - tom. we take pictures at 4 - dinner at 530 - waterwall- to the sofitel for the dance - back to APE - then to galveston and our beach houses -

i'm so freakin' pumped - i have an AWESOME DATE - my girlfriend brittany.....thats part of the reason why i'm so excited - and all of my best friends - i get to spend the weekend with too

well i'll be sure to update with stories and some pictures

There ya go
i just got back from oklahoma - visiting the University of Oklahoma and Whitney

it was really cool - i loved the campus - it really is nicer than a&m's but i'm not sure what i'm going to do
i have a deicion to make between the 2 schools and its really tough - i dont know what to do -

oh well

i stayed with whitney in her new summer house and her roomate was not there the first night so my mom and i got a room - saturday after i went on a tour of the campus, i was very tired so i went to take a nap and whatever - my mom went shopping and whitney was napping in the other room - and her roomate (who was graduating that day) decided to bring her whole family - over to see her house she was living in this summer - and her room happend to be the one i was napping in - so this is how the situation worked out
-i hear whitney get up and welcome them to the house and i think to myself - you have 3 options here (as i was sleeping in ONLY my shorts)
1. Get up and shut the door quickly -
2. Pretend to be asleep as they peek in the room
3. Get up, put a shirt on and go meet the people - expecting them to be gone in a few minutes

now this isnt a particularly big house - so you can here where people are and stuff
so i hear whitney say "and this is my room..." (next door) and i think "ok - decision time" - so i decide option 3 - get up and put a t-shirt on - and just as i bound off the bead and dive for a t-shirt - whitney's roomate's sister peeks her head in - and sees my scrambling through my stuff on the side of the bed for a t-shirt - and i think she happened to see me dive off the bed as well - and i KNOW she noticed whitney coming from down the hall when she came to greet the guests...so i said - "hi." and the situation was awkward from the get-go
so i walk in to the living room - down the hall - and i notice her sister is pregnant and sitting down - and we catch eyes as i step in to the room and i just smile and nod and listen and meet some people and afterward - i got to tell whitney and her roomate - the story - it was very funny i must say....yea - anyhow - i did have a great time this weekend though visiting OU - thanks again whitney and janna for letting me stay w/ ya'll - and thanks mom - for being my mom and for driving up there and staying with me too

Variety show is over
and so is the weekend following it -
we have some excellent new standleaders and some standleaders that i personally am bewildered at how they made it -i'm just beside myself at the list of people who didnt make it - more than i am at the people who did make it - i mean - it was crazy - i was at tryouts and i saw who did well and who had crappy tryouts and crappy shirts - i saw that and i remembered and i'm pretty sure that every standleader there voted for many of the people who didnt make it - and i'm not sure about the teachers but - it just seems so weird to me - who knows

well its over and its really too bad to see my school year end - especially such a big part of it - eh...but its ok - soon enough i'll be opening a new chapter in my life...we'll see