Halloweekend

We had ourselves a little shindig down at the old van down by the river. Or I guess it was at a guy's house off of campus. The point is, we had a halloween party. I went as the Burger King. I find that to be the most entertaining and awesome advertising campaign in a long time. So I stood there with my paper crown and my creepy smile offering my 'sandwich' to people. I think it was a big hit. I got many 'you're creepy' comments, so that was a plus. It was good fun hanging out with people that I wouldn't normally see around because they're not in my iTeam. There were very unique costumes there...and there were some sweet food items as well. Spence went as a frat boy. Very funny carrying around his beer bottle filled with cream soda. He 'passed out' at one point and we wrote all over him. Rachel and another girl went as nuns, JK, Chuck, and Chad went as Control, Alt, and Delete keys respectively. It was good ole fun. Now I've got to buckle down and study as the rest of the week will kick me if I don't.

God works

God works in HUGE ways. That's what I can say right now. He works hardcore. And never let anybody tell you that prayer doesn't work.

Break Fest - the meat

So the meat of the Break Fest reveals itself.

The ironic part to that statement is that there was in fact no meat at the thing. We fasted for the night (not that that's a long time) and got kinda hungry. The idea was to deny ourselves through that spiritual discipline. Once it got dark and we had set up our tents, we got together for a time of worship together. After that, we broke off and went into silence. Each man went to his own place and did his own thing with the Lord. My place was a spot in the grass near the creek in the back yard. I layed there and honestly couldn't quiet my mind. I found it somewhat hard to praise God with my mouth shut, but it was a welcome change. I read the good book for a time and stared at the stars and thought. I also realized how cold it was. So I got up and walked around some more. I found a near hole in the ground to go to next. It was between a concrete wall and a couple of dirt hills. THere I sat and just sort of admired God is all his little things. The fact that when I breathed I could see it and I could see how the path of the air I breathe is slightly manipulated by the currents in the air arounnd it. It created a really interesting and beautiful effect. After the time I spent there, I got cold again, so I got up and walked my way around the property. I ended up in a small patch of woods. There I found a perfectly hollowed out 'cave' of trees. there I layed myself down. It was sharp! The ground had twigs and branches on it as well as these broken off twigs that had sharp nearly knife like tips. So after clearing those out from under my back and bottom, I settled in. I looked up only to find an intertwined canopy of tree branches and sky. It was a vey beautiful site. It really offered my a slight amount of warmth and protection from the cold, but not a lot. In that spot, I found a spot to place my flashlight and have it shine down on me as I read through the book of Joel. I'll be honest, I read through it all in that one sitting, and I read it because it was short. But, it worked out well because I got to learn about something I've never read before. How many people know that Joel is about God's people coming back to him through a plague of locusts? I sure didn't. After I read through that, I got myself my sleeping bag from the tent I was gonna stay in and took it with me back to my site. I then fell asleep quite peacably, although I woke up many times throughout the night because it was ridiculously cold. I finally got myself up early though for a wonderful sunrise and a test I had to take. It was a basic skills test for entering an education program if I end up doing so. So I will be using it if I go to grad school. Finally, I came home to watch the Illini game. My dad then came by because he was across town for the day. I got to hang with him for a while and then had SNG. Now I'm chillin' in my room thinking I'll be going to bed early, despite the fact that we get an extra night of sleep tonight. I hope you all had a blessed a Friday/Saturday as I had.

Break Fest prelude thingy

I went to a somewhat men's mini retreat called the Break Fest this Friday night. It was really good. The whole concept of the night is solitude. So we started off with a few worship songs and then broke off to spend time with our Lord alone in the country outside of Champaign. Not that it's out in the wild and crazy outdoors (in somebody's backyard), but it was still a very enjoyable experience. I will write more on this later, but it is Dad's Day here on campus, and while my dad isn't here for that particular reason, but he is here in town for a couple hours, so I'll be hanging with him for the second Saturday in a row

Official congratulations to the White Sox

Congratulations White Sox. I'm not too happy for it, but I'm happy for my friends that are true Sox fans. NOW, since I've mentioned the fact that I congratulate the Sox, I don't expect to hear crap from their fans about how awesome the Sox are and how sucky the Cubs are. I'm really not in the mood for that. At least it's NFL season now. Of course the Packers suck...maybe my teams are sucking is gonna give me a chance to do better in my classes. Whatev though.

I did 3 hours of Psych 100 subject pool stuff today. It was intense, but at least it's done. Long day. Now I've got to get some homework done and some bed gotten to. Just thought I'd drop those facts. And this one...I left my dorm at 10:55 today, and was home for 2 hours between that time and 11:45 pm. It was well worth the business and awesomeness though. Nighty night y'alls

NO Stros

The Stros' lost. After 5:40 of baseball and 14 innings...the White Sox somehow pulled a win out of their butts. What an amazing game that was. My head hurt so bad at the end of it. I was going to give blood today, but either I copped out or found other things to do. I guess I'm gonna try to use this hour and a half to relax...because the rest of my day is jam packed. I won't be back until 12ish after I leave at 5:30...then I've got to do homework...fun fun fun....keep it real y'all

a post because I can

So I don't know if I've posted this yet, but I've decided that I'm not going to download music anymore unless I've payed for it. So I deleted a ton of songs off of my computer and am now committed to buying cds that I have and don't really 'have'. Watching game 3 of the world series right now. 5-5 going into the 9th. Here's hoping the Stros pull it off. Updates to come...

third frustrated post in a row

The Illini lost 63-10 (56-3) at halftime

The Packers lost 23-20 to the biggest joke in the NFL (the Vikings)

The White Sox won World Series game 1

BUT...........

God is good. My dad and best friend from high school were in town this weekend for the game. So it was fun to hang with them and go to church with my dad and such. So I did have something good going on my my life. I guess God is helping to teach me that sports just don't matter that much. Trust me, it's not fun. But I'm ready to try to emotionally detatch myself from sports so much.

I guess the Packers aren't that bad...even though they are 1-5. Records are the only thing that matter in the NFL, but looking deeper to make myself feel better about the Packers, I see a pretty good team. Making excuses, I say that we've had a ton of injuries. It looks like we only have 1 reciever on our roster that should be a starter in the NFL and our all star running back isn't an all star anymore. He's also hurt. Then our cornerbacks are pathetic. I think even the Illini could pass all over the Green Bay secondary. Now, for numbers justifying my complaints. We've actually outscored our opponents total this season. our losses have been by 14, 2, 1, 3, 3. Our win was by almost 50. We need to fix little mistakes for next year. This sucks. Good things I've got other things to worry about.

WHAT THE FJKLEDJTEWTOIRWUE*()%RU$#W*U*$()#@()

I am SOOOO pissed of right now...because of a video game...yes a video game. Turns out playing with people takes up my time too much too. Justin beat me at Madden and friggin' Imig beat me at NFL Street2. I AM FRIGGIN' ANGRY...why? Because I'm a bad person? No, because I just am a bad sport and I really am not perfect in the eyes of God, or in the eyes of anybody else. I am so bad at getting pissed when I'm being beat instead of just accepting somebody being good. FKLERJEIOWU%@)*U$()@#*$()#*@!()*$)#@!(*()%^*#@)$%*EWILgfa. I'm actually really concerned about this. I shouldn't be this angry from a football game. I shouldn't be yelling and screaming. I need to respect other people. I think I need to not play for a bit or something because it's just ending up uglier and uglier. I really am angry inside right now. I'm kind of scared by it right now. It's not good. Pray that I let that anger subside from me.


On a different note. Justin played very well...he really has gotten better. He straight beat the crap out of me. He ran for more yards against me in one game than many people have in 5-6 games. He had phenominal blocking somehow and somehow T.J. Houshmanzadeh had more yards than somebody with TO could have against me. It sucks. But he beat me fair and very square. So, whatever

Imig beat me

I'm secure enough in my manhood to say this...Imig beat me fair and square at NFL Street2 36-34. It was an impressive showing. But I still killed Ty at Madden, so it's all good. Fun night. Good, lazy, and refreshing hopefully. Although it convicted me that homework needs to be getting done. And it doesn't look too promising for the weekend. I've got so much going on with homecoming and Psych subject pool and friends coming in and apartment searching. It's kind of ridiculous. I hope I can find some time for work. I'm off to bed. Gotta be up way earlier than I want to be.

New fangled look

Instead of plugging away at my homework, I've decided that I needed to change the look of my blog. I hope the new look is satisfying. I'm also in the process of combining my knowledge of C programming to help me with HTML and maybe get some new cool stuff going on with my blog templace...customizing it and really making it my own. We'll see how it goes...

This is a test

Now I’m testing out Blogger for Word.  There are so many ways to post on this thing.  I love it.  I can always seem to get connected whatever I’m using.  BTW…Cardinals lost.  WOOT!!! Now I just hope they can beat the White Sox in the World Series.

Some U2 song about a beautiful day

It was a beautiful day today. Very beautiful outside. I found out facebook has new image hosting features. Just great, another distraction for me. Check it out though if you have the facebook. I got my registration packet for next semester...gonna hit up some hardcore techno classes. Looks like I'll be taking ME300, ECE205, TAM251, TAM 212, Physics213/214, and either Math415 or maybe Econ 103. I've decided right now that I'm going to finish my engineering undergrad work. I'm very excited about where I am with it, and it'd be cool to have an engineering degree from here. Plus, God has put me in some situations where I've got good opportunities to make great friends in engineering. After graduation, I'll either hit up grad school for education, or maybe try to hit up a program called Teach for America. It's where I'd get to teach in a low income school district and get my teaching certification at the same time. That's sort of where I'm at right now. Have a good night you guys...........

SON OF A...

Stupid Cardinals and their fans....the only saving grace is that they still have to beat Oswalt and Clemens to get to the World Series

ILL - INI (the aftermath)

The Illini Basketball Madness was an exciting evening of basketball and was a great way to kick off the season. I got to see the new players on our roster play a bit of basketball and some random other stuff. We also got to relive some old memories from last season such as the comeback of the century against Arizona. They had some sweet highlight montages. Here are some pictures from the evening

Here is THE COACH...Sir Bruce Weber. When they did the player and staff intros, Dee Brown, James Augustine and Coach Weber came from out of the crowd. Weber came right by where I was sitting. Notice the sweet championship ring on his finger.

This is a mass of people. I love Illinois!!! All these people lined up outside the Assembly Hall at 8 o'clock at night for a basketball team. There was an excitement about the night that not many things can generate.
NOW!!! This is an exciting picture. It is the team huddled up with the 2005 FINAL FOUR banner being raised in the background. It was a proud moment as we got to look back at the achievements of the previous year. Plus, I got reminded that I was actually at the Final Four and I attended the national championship game.
This is a blurry picture, but it actually looks kind of cool blurry. It is Brian Randle, one of our more athletic players dunking in the Slam Dunk contest. He ended up winning the contest on a between the legs throwdown that was awfully sick if you ask me.
And these are your 2005-2006 Fighting Illini!!! This is the whole team huddled up after introductions. This team is ranked 23rd preseason by ESPN.com. We'll have to see if we end up higher than that in the end. My inkling is that yes we will. We've got the talent to do so, especially if our young ones step it up. It's gonna be fun!!!

ILL - INI

This weekend, neither of my football teams are playing!!! What ever shall I do??? I know what I'll do. I'll go to the Illini Basketball Madness tonight. This is the kickoff event for the coming basketball season. I'm excited to get to know the new players and cheer on the old players despite the fact that they're playing eachother in a scrimmage. This reminds me of the time I went to a national championship game oh so many months ago. What a sad time, as we lost, but it was exciting to watch them get as far as they did.

Now it's the weekend...I'm gonna go do something productive....adios

An analogy

Twas a glorious day today. The weather was phenominal. My cell phone came in and my mom should be sending it over here tomorrow. iTeam was great. I helped Kaylin with her homework...always a good feeling to be able to help somebody. And did I mention the awesome weather. I went outside on the quad for my quiet time with God, which was very awesome. I also was able to put an anology to my life....here goes.

I've decided that when you have your eyes fixed upon God, he's in your vision. That doesn't mean he's the focus though. So I've decided over the last month or so that my eyes have been fixed upon God like always, but he was blurry and not the focus of my vision. I think I've remedied that and am ready to really focus every aspect around him. It's very exciting. I love God.

Madden is badden

It's as if I've realized something. And God taught it to me. Always awesome. Let's start at the beginning.

I was frustrated by my physics homework on Monday night and was growing rather tired of it. Completely distraught, I turned off my desk lamp, threw on my jacket, grabbed my Bible and started to walk. I walked to a secluded spot and just layed down. I then commenced to not struggle to have a quiet time. That hasn't happened to me I think ever. And when I say quiet time, I mean pure silence with God. Just sitting and listening to him. Waiting with my mind on him alone. He told me that I'm not making the time for him I need to. So, I decided I don't need distractions. What are the distractions in my life right now? Madden and TV. So I cut the problem off at it's source. No video games unless somebody is playing with me. That's the way it's going to be for all of October. I'm excited to play it out and see how much more free time and God time I'll have.

I already seemed to have abetter day because of it. I got more homework done with my newfound study group and some of it on my own. Very productive and exciting. I also got a great God time today oonce again. Keep me in your prayers as I embark on this exciting journey with my Lord.

How about the Packers winning!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!! 52-3 ROCKS!!!

The Exorcism of YO MAMA

Last night I watched a thrilling and ugly contest of football prowess between Clinton Community High School and Monticello High School. Clinton won it's third game of the year and needs to win it's last two games to get into the playoffs. Then I went to Ted's with some friends. Homecoming is great because I get a chance to see a ton of people. I really enjoyed talking to all the different people that I've not seen for a long time. I got to talk to Coach G too, which is always an enjoyable experience. He's a great guy. THEN the most glorious thing occured as I managed to get myself a whopping 11 hours of sleep. I guess I needed it bad. During the day I didn't do much but clean my room that hadn't been cleaned at all since I left for school LAST year. I didn't even finish it all the way though. I got distracted by Illinois losing to flippin' Indiana.

Tonight I went to a movie. We went to see The Exorcism of Emily Rose. What a creepy film. It was not jumpy scary, but real scary. It's really scary that something like that can really happen. Some people might think, "No way that is real," but my faith teaches me that spiritual warfare is very real and not something to be taken lightly. I felt so much for the girl and wanted to cry for her and the pain she had to go through. I highly recommend the movie. It's scary and it really hits up on some serious issues. It also portrays the church in a very positive light. I don't think it really made anybody look too bad. I think the movie should open up the eyes of a few seekers looking for answers.

Following that episode of awesomeness, more awesomeness reared it's beautiful head. I got to talk to my dad about a little bit of everything from school to faith and back again. I cherish those times sharing my faith with him as father and son and brothers in the same family. I think that makes sense....If it doesn't, I apologize....it's almost three in the morning. I'm going to bed

TAM it

Last night I was up late doing TAM homework, but I wasn't alone, as I've now found a study crew that will be very helpful. They're good guys and hopefully we can work our ways through the homework together. I'm going home this weekend....IT'S HOMECOMING!!!! The Maroons are 2-4, but we're playing a pathetic Monticello squad, so hopefully we can pull of a victory. I wish I could've gone to my sister's powderpuff game on Wednesday, and I'm sure she's sad I couldn't make it. Hopefully I can make it up to her. Well...gotta get to a couple classes today, so have a nice weekend.

Cause I'm Broken

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL,
It turns out I can't do anything without the strength of God. Crap...I knew it. Even though I thought I owned my exams, it turns out I ended up with average scores. I really need to not have these average scores affect me. I'm doing just fine in school and I would love to not worry about it at all or let it bother me. Somehow I've lost sight of why I'm doing school. I'm not doing it to even be uber-successful. I'm doing it to get my tent making skills. I talked with Spence today. I love that kid. The time I spend with him is very helpful and exactly what I need during the hectic stupidity of University life. Now I've just got a bit of homework to do here and there and another week will be behind me.

I watched the Packers lose yesterday....again. The saddest part is they have a chance as winning the division still. Lets hope they win the division or get a high draft pick. Not barely lose the division and get a crappy pick.

Now I'm up doing homework. I think I'll be done with it soon and start reading. There's a book I'm starting called Blue Like Jazz that I really want to finish this week. So, off to something other than blogging

CLEVER TITLE

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY up in the land of ice and snow....
-Percy the pale faced polar bear


Last night, I took a gamble, and won big time. I found a cd on a Wal-Mart run called "Holy Hip Hop." I thought about buying it...I decided I had to. The risk was well worth it. It's a cool cd with some hardcore sound and uplifting lyrics. Then today I played four games of basketball...and lost every single one of them. I wasn't even too disappointed...although it was somewhat depressing. Then I napped. I needed it as well, because it was a solid 1.5 hours of being dead to the world. The only thing that woke me was somebody pounding on the door. Now I've been doing homework since. EXCEPT for watching football, eating dinner, hanging out, lighting my hand on fire (not really, but I did have fluid on my hand burning)...but otherwise...homework.

This week should be pretty easy...other than the usual lots of homework due. I plan on making sure I've got some good God time this week. I need to make sure of that. So keep me accountable of it if possible. Time to get back to my MP..............

OOOOO by the way....the Patriots lost, and that picture of Tom Brady getting owned sums up the awesomeness of that. If the Packers win tomorrow, they'll have as many wins as anybody in the NFC North...despite starting 0-3. I just hope they can pull it off. It was a crazy awesome weekend in the NFL...NOW REALLY....MP TIME

Late post

So Blogger has been down for a day or so...what the heck is up with that. Stupid internet. Well, what's happened to me recently. I just had a ridiculous week. I had three exams right after having another exam last Friday. BUSY BUSY BUSY...STUDY STUDY STUDY. I didn't get a chance to work out or anything. Most bodacious. I kept looking towards the prize of the weekend. Now it's here and it's been splendid. I played basketball Friday afternoon and lifted with Justin. It was great fun, despite the frustration of the basketball. Then I helped spot for a guy during lifting and he hasd some sweet tattoos and I asked him about them. We started talking and I found out he was a Christian and it was cool just to have that conversation. I want to get a tattoo because I think it would be a great witnessing tool just like his. I've still got to figure out what a good one would be though. Then I relaxed a bit in the evening. We had a guys night at Mike and Ty's apartment. While there, a Madden 06 tournament broke out and I won it. It was good to play against new people I'd never played before. Then I slept in, watched the Illini lose...they're playing scared. Then helped with set-up for SNG, napped, and wrote this. DONE