jeepers

• I definitely don't post as much this semester. I've been so busy with things that by the time I get back to the computer I'm so dead tired. I'll see what I can do about that though.
• Illini won 2 games this week. Both in convincing fashion. Now it's on to Wisconsin, which will be a huge test and can help determine our destiny in the conference.
• I stayed up Thursday night working on homework with my sweet-nas engineering buddies. We hung out and talked in funny voices. It was a gay old time.
• Of course I also had 3 Rockstar energy drinks and couldn't fall asleep for almost 2 hours after I tried to go to bed.
• I've been feeling sick the past couple of days. It's not the best feeling, but I think it comes from the fact that I'm being stretched quite thin right now. I've got to figure out a better way to do things to get more sleep.
• One option could be to drop a class. GASP!! I know my parents wouldn't stand for it at first. But we'll see how things go.
• I'm going to stop lifting at 6:30 in the morning unless I can be sure to get to bed early. I'm definitely a night owl and that's just how I roll.
• I think I'm willing to add caffeine to my mix of things every once in a while as it was very helpful to do homework.
• FRIDAY NIGHT: Set the stage. Jeff and I are hanging out with Rachel, Sarah, Julianne, and Megan. We are trying to figure something to do. The hockey game is voted down by the ladies. So instead...we go to Walgreens, so they can buy!!!... (drumroll please).... HAIRDYE!!! Jeff and I had stumbled upon a chick night. It was kinda funny and kinda sad. So Jeff and I decided to go just hang out. We ranted for a bit about Christian books and wondered how John Eldredge or anybody else that wrote a book all of a sudden can write our theology and we should trust everything their books say instead of questioning. God calls us to test the word of God to make sure that it is true. Shouldn't we then test these books instead of assuming they tell us exactly how to live our lives.
• I stayed the night at the Outpost with Jeff and I had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. That was MOST exciting.
• Saturday saw me having my hands on Illini tickets and deciding not to go to the game and give them to somebody else. Instead I did homework and watched the game on TV.
• Saturday Night Grace on Saturday was the first time I became an announcment person. Julianne and I did it. I think we did a great job. It was honestly not hard for even the reason that you can't see a darn thing when you're up in front of everybody and they're shining spotlights on you.
• Then we just hung out. Honestly, nothing hard about that.
• Although we decided to have a Madden tourney. Right now it is down to the Championship Game between me and Ty. I have to play him soon.
• Then I went over to Pi Lambda Phi to hang with my engineering buddies. I'm really excited about them and their friendship. It's great to have guys like that to do homework with.
• Now a wave of tired has washed over me and as I have Mass tomorrow morning as well as basketball tomorrow at 12, I must get me some sleep.

SOTD: 33 - The Illini won their home game today in convincing fashion. They have been perfect at home for some time now, as this game was their 33rd straight home win. It's an impressive streak and it is tied with Gonzaga for the longest current streak of that type

WOTS (Word of the Semester) - BOLD - I really don't remember if I wrote this before or not. The point is, God I think has put the word bold on my heart this semester. Just in such a way that I should be stepping up and being bold and making decisions and taking risks and not sitting on the sidelines, but really taking the effort to step out and really try new, exhilirating, intense things.

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD?????

What a great God we have. He's so powerful. My last couple of days have been just GLORIOUS!! I've enjoyed friends, meetings, and the good Lord. Tuesday was like the most spectacular day. I have no idea why either. It was just great hanging. I've been able to encourage Jeff as of late and he's encouraged me in return. I've been dealing with my own issues of confidence and what I can do to serve God. I can believe lies that I'm not fit for talking to people and they don't want to hang out with me but I just have to cast aside that crap and be BOLD. I definitely feel like that's the word of the semester for me now. And it's been great.

Tuesday I was loaded with meetings. I had a short hang-out time with Mike and then Mike, Casey, and I met for discipleship. That was great and encouraging. Then I had the Illini Life student board meeting. I decided that I need to step down from my spot on the board and let others participate because I am in very deep already and I can't stretch too thin.

I played basketball with some of the guys on Tuesday night and it was fun. Justin was making lots of shots and I am working on getting better doing things away from the ball. I love learning about basketball...it's a lot of fun.

On Wednesday, I was so tired. I think it's catching up to me getting up at 6:15 to lift. I might have to figure something out. But I was refreshed by the Large Group Coaching meeting. It was great talking about prayer in light of Ty Grigg's talk on it at SNG on Saturday. It was so cool to talk about how we communicate with God and then to actually do it. Iteam was great too as we just had a fun night of community planning what we were going to do for the semester and just having a blast getting to know eachother and talking about prayer too. Everybody seemed very excited to be praying for another person.

The HIGHLIGHT of my week came talking to Eric. This kid is truly a kid after God's own heart. Lord knows he's trying. And I don't think he minds me saying that on here. He was such an encouragement to me tonight and really showed me what God can do for me when I step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself to challenge others. What a great way to start a semester!

SOTD - 81 - You know you gotta put it down here because it's the biggest stat of the last forever. It's just amazing what the kid did. Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points in 1 single game this week and that is phenominal. It is the second highest point total ever in 1 game. It is second only to Wilt Chamberlain's. Some can argue that the 81 is better...let the debate begin!

poooooooooooosssssssssttttttttttttt

Once again...slacking I am.....I've been so busy. Incredibly busy. I've been working on school and working out and people all week. I've done something physical each day nearly and I feel great. The only day I didn't was Saturday. I've been getting up at 6 on MWF and a slight bit later on the Ts. The weekend is a bit lazier, although I played some basketball today.

I bought a PDA (a real cheap one) to try to organize my life a tad bit better. So far it's working well. It's just a matter of keeping track of all of my friggin' homework. It's gonna be rough. I'm still stoked about this semester though.

I went out to dinner with Julianne on Friday night. It was fun and the swing dancing that us and some others went to was awesome. I'm thinking about learning more about the swing dancing if I have time.

I watched a couple of Illini games this week. We definitely aren't as good as our team last year, but we're still fairly good. We played Indiana close despite getting beat down. If we just made free throws, we could have won it. As for the Northwestern game, that was trivial. It was fairly boring to watch as NW is quite bad.

Oh, and on Friday night, we boxed at Mike and Ty's apartment again. That place needs to get a name because I feel bad leaving the other folks' names out of the equation. I boxed Calvin and it was a blast.

On Saturday I went to an Illini Life leadership retreat thing. It was really encouraging and it is very exciting to know that we are really focusing on outreach and getting out to people in our dorms and around campus letting them know the Good News. It's very excitng and I feel refreshed by it...for now. I hope it continues.

I also got to talk with Dan Herron a bit and he really is an inspirational fellow. I'd like to get to know him more this semester.

As well on Saturday, I watched the Illinois-Northwestern game, but I really got to hang and talk with Justin about his investments. He really knows what the heck he is doing. I really enjoyed the information he told me and the way he presented it. He's going to be very good at what he does later in life.

Finally on Saturday we had SNG. I was asked to help with a thing before the actual talk. It was fun just being a part of the behind the scenes action which I will be more of this semester. After SNG we went and saw the movie, "End of the Spear." It was really cool. It is about missionaries that went to a tribe in the middle of nowhere and the story of the Grace that comes from God. It is a true story and just very inspirational. It's the second movie I saw in a week. RIDICULOUS. After the movie, we went to the apartment and played cards. Good fun it was.

This morning I've played basketball and now I've got homework to do this afternoon. BOO.... BUT!!!! There is football tonight. I'm most excited about that.

SOTW(eek) - 2 - This weekend is the conference championship weekend in the NFL and that means there are only 2 games this weekend. Soon the entire season shall be over...but it won't end without a bang!

Wowza

It has been quite the long time since I last posted. I've been so busy, I just seem to forget what to do. So I've been at school for nary a week and I've done a whole lot of stuff. My class schedule reminds me of what Hell could be. But I know God's got my back through a schedule as stressful as this. I've just gotta step up to the plate and do it. School has been good so far. I've been getting up at 6 on MWF so I can lift before my 8 am class. I've really tried to get into this semester with a commitment to my physical well being.
I just realized I need to go run and do something. So forget what I said about updating you. I'll try not to forget everything I did this week....

quick post

Went and saw Glory Road tonight. It was good. Fairly cliche, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It was fun and fancy free. There was also a preview for a movie about the spelling bee. The music in the preview made me want to see it sadly.

FLASHBACK: Sunday - Colts lost, Bears lost. I was saddened by the first one and the second one was great. Not to rub it in, but let it be known...offense wins championships.

Back to today. I played SSX 3 a ton today to feed me addiction for snowboarding as of late. I also played some basketball with some homies and bros. Finally, Jeff and I had a good talk. I've been dealing with some crazy stuff and he's been there for me. It's great. I've got class at 8 tomorrow morning....wow, that's gonna be fun....

SOTD - POISED AND READY - This semester is gonna be long but it's gonna be great. I'm poised and ready for it...and God is on my side.

I had a bad feeling

about the Colts...I had a bad feeling about them going into today and it was confirmed by their losing. That suck. Now I don't care about any of the playoff teams. At least then I had a team I liked in the playoffs. Boo football. Boo the Bears. boo boo boo

post-it note

I have been scanning the internet for a good buy on a snowboard and it's hard. I think I've narrowed it down a bit, but it's still quite hard. If you have anything, let me know. I'd be glad to hear about it.

I also went to LCC today to visit Danielle as well as a couple of other friends (Scott, Ryne) and it was great. I just got to hang out and catch up for a while. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

SOTD - Mike McCarthy - Yeah, that's not really a stat, but it's the name of the Green Bay Packers new head coach. We'll have to see how it works out.

A long breath of relaxation and boredom in the form of an update to end all updates

Let's get it started...

• I went to the Illinois game against Michigan State where we squeaked one out at home after playing fairly crappily. It was exciting seeing what Dee Brown can do, even though I think he's stupid every time he takes the ball up in a 1 on 3 fast break.
• I rode with Matt Febus to pick up Jackie at the airport for our long haul up to Boulder Junction, Wisconsin for the big Illini Life/Cornerstone Winter Getaway. It was a fun and peaceful trip up. We got there just as it was getting dark and snow covered the ground. It was a most glorious place to be in.
• The first night there we ate out at a restaurant called JJ's Pub n' Grub. Twas pretty good eats.
• The first night entailed a game of Risk that didn't finish, but came down to Jeff and me having our forces bite back and forth at eachother.
• I could not fall asleep for the life of me because I was about to snowboard for the first time the next day.
• I woke up excited and ready to go. I put on my makeshift outfit, grabbed my gear and was off. Ross was supposed to teach me how to glide down the slopes with ease.
• Instead of Ross teaching me, he disappeared and taught others while I learned from Pete and Fred. I definitely fell...a lot. But it was all worth it as I definitely had little fear about the whole ordeal and wanted to take a trial by fire approach. I learned slowly but surely as my gear got basically soaked. My head got hit majorly a few times when I caught an edge and just biffed hardcore.
• I heard the Illini lost at Iowa at that point and was sad. I wasn't extremely disappointed though. The pessamistic fans, *cough* j*s*in *cough* can be bitter about it, but I've decided since I didn't see it, I'll give us the benefit of the doubt and realize we're young. It's gonna be one of those years in the Big Ten where you have to win your home games and sneak a road win from time to time.
  
• That night we had pasta and it was so glorious. It felt good to just eat. My body was sore, but I was so ready for another day. I played a game called The Settlers of Kattan (sp?). it was a lot of fun although there's no army killing which is lame.
• A lot of the group that we were initially gonna go back to the same resort with backed out, so we got a smaller group together and we rocked some of the slopes together. I got better, although my morning was somewhat frustrating. The afternoon was great, as we went to the terrain park and were goofing off on some of the jumps. I did fairly well for only my second day out.
• That night we had the largest game of Mafia I've ever been in after eating some quality tacos. It was fun to be part of a game that big and I just improved my ability to keep a straight face in the game.
• I definitely fell like 10% of the times I fell the first day which was incredibly encouraging and I even went all the way down a black diamond hill which was most exciting. I did go on my heel edge down it, but it still totally counts :)
• I realize I've learned a ton of snowboarder lingo at this point and realize that I consider myself a snowboarder and therefore really enjoy it and want to get my own equipment soon. I might even get to go again in February if it gets organized.
• The second night we had a worship time and it was really good. Although my mind drifted to the slopes from time to time, it was still great thinking about the things God has done for me this year.
  
• The third day we went to a more fun resort in my opinion, because of the higher amount of different routes to take down the peaks and the fact that the sun was shining and I did my best so far.
• I rolled with a crew of fairly experienced folks and went down plenty of fairly intense routes, at least for me. I felt pretty good about keeping up, although they flew past me still.
• Carving was my goal to work on this day and I was able to tighten my carves up a bit. They're still not extremely tight, but that comes with time. I learned quite a bit more about control and got to even help with some first and second day boarders. My confidence ran high most of the day.
• I definitely got frustrated towards the end though when I couldn't keep up with anybody and I was getting my butt kicked frankly by the slopes and the people. But I stuck it through and God really blessed my trip. He showed me a beautiful day and some great fellowship.
• We got to make our own pizzas that night and I must say that mine was awesome!!! Food is so much tastier after a hard days work. I also had to help cleanup, but there were so many people helping that it was easy. What a great blessing!! (especially since I still was sore all over)
• We played more Mafia (lots more) and really had a good time with it. But once we got bored, Jackie, Cale, and I left. We hung out and decided to get Spence with a sweet prank. We had this numbing arthritis cream and put it all over his face. Jeff woke up and asked what was on his face and Cale responded, "You won't feel it." HAHA
• This prank was so good that we took it to the Mafia game. We waited until the people had to close their eyes and we put Icy-Hot on the back of Calvin's neck and the numbing cream on Bemi's forehead. It definitely bothered them. We also put the numbing cream on Ross's neck.
• RIGHT AFTER THAT though, Jeff came screaming into the room with peanut butter in his hand...not the jar, but the substance. He threw it at Cale's face as well as my own. We ended up even after that whole ordeal. It was fun.
• Finally I went to bed and had to wake up to the sad thought of leaving my downhill haven. We cleaned up and were off. I'm glad Febus drove because I was T-I-R-E-D. I slept on and off most of the way to Rockford where Jackie and I switched to Ross's car as we had to drop her off at the airport the next day.
• The Sandlot was on TV at Ross's, so we watched that. I'd never seen it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then Ross conked out and Jackie and I just hung out and caught up as she's been in Colorado all semester and I in Illinois. So it was really glorious to talk to her about random thoughts and things. She's a good girl.
• Ross's dog is soooooo cute. What a pretty puppy...although she still doesn't rival mine.
• Ross also has the most amazingly decorated basement with so much sports memorabelia it's freaky. It was a very happy moment.
• Finally after sleeping phenominally on Ross's basement floor, I awoke for our trek to Midway to drop Jackie off and to take me home. It was kinda fun getting lost in Chicago on the way there.
• We waved goodbye to Jackie and drove off to central Illinois. It was a good trip and I got to talk with Ross about a lot of fun stuff from girls, to mega-churches, to Chris Hovan. He dropped me off at home and now I'm here.

Snowboarding gear tally: I bought mittens and goggles on the trip. That's a start... Now my investments towards my new hobby (at least what I think will be) need to be a board, bindings, boots, and good waterproof winter gear.

SOTD: ~19 - This weekend was great spending time with friends. I definitely went for the going downhill part however and took advantage, snowboarding for about 19 hours in a 3 day span.

NOTES AFTER THE FACT: I realize this is my longest post in a while and it's laden with lots of info, but I'm going to throw more out there. It was REALLY great to see friends I haven't in a while on this trip. I got a chance to see Fred, Erica, and Pete. These are three people that were very important to my freshman year and I don't know where the heck I'd be without their influence. I thank God for putting them in my life and keeping them there from time to time. I'm also grateful God has blessed us with snow. It's gorgeous, especially under a bright winter sun. It's also very fun to fly down a hill on a board on it :) I also got to see friends from this summer which was also great. The most prominent being Jackie and Ross. Jackie is a great friend and Ross is a tight bro. I'm glad it worked out as many of my plans over the last few weeks haven't worked out. It was such a great time. God really blessed it, despite the injuries that some attending the trip incurred. I can't wait to go snowboarding again, and Ross says we might be able to go in a bit more than a month. It would be GREAT.

OK, I've run awfully lost. Absorb all of the info, and God bless you guys...

The Shaft

The shaft is exactly what former Packers head coach Mike Sherman got. As I watch the press conference he is giving after being fired, I realize he is the classiest man. He has a love for the city of Green Bay, the players, and the franchise. He didn't deserve what he got and he keeps talking about being honored to have been the coach. Now some of that may be just the standard stuff to say, but you can just see that he is a man hurt by being fired. I really love him and I hope that he finds a job somewhere and is very successful in it. I also hope we get a good coach out of this whole shady deal. God bless you Mike.

Does anybody else notice the Metroid Prime music in the background of the David Crowder Band song "Do Not Move"?

Today I went to wrestling practice. It was most enjoyable and I always enjoy talking to Coach G. I also get to wrestle around aggresively which is always fun.
I also totally got a pretty good quiet time with God just chillin' around the house today which is great considering all the other distractions I can fill my day with. I'm really glad I know the Lord :) He's pretty sweet.
Also in my journey throughout the day I made dinner for the family. I made spaghetti with way too many noodles, but it's all good. It was pretty easy and it adds to the stuff I know how to cook for the apartment next year.
Today also was filled with 5 hours of an awesome football game as PSU-FSU was a great contest. There was a lot of sloppy kicking, but it just had the swings back and forth and the excitement of a BCS game just like it should have. I also rooted for the winning team once again and am now 3-0 in BCS games this year. Now I just hope that Texas wins, as I figure they're the team I'll like in this particular bowl. Not sure why though. I'm hopefully going to Morton tomorrow and I got a ticket to the Illini game the next night (Thanks Andy!!!) and then it's off to the Winter Getaway with iLife....very exciting!!!!! I get to hang with friends from ISU and UofI and Jackie, who I've not seen since the summer, which is a cool thing. I'm excited to connect with those friends. I've got friends from all over and it's cool when I can sit back and enjoy a few moments with them.
Now it's time to go do something else, so enjoy your day and God bless!

SOTD - 1880 - Shaun Alexander is a former Alabama running back as well as a former FCA member and is somebody that is a great role model for kids playing football, which is very cool. He won this year's NFL rushing title with 1880 yards, 20 more than Tiki Barber, who was the next closest back. Congrats Shaun!!

That is gutsy football

So I watched football all day today, I'll give you my thoughts after this....

West Virginia just won the Sugar Bowl by faking a punt and completing it for a first down. What a gutsy play call. That speaks huge volumes for West Virginia. They were talked down about a lot but they delivered against the best team in the SEC. They haven't won YET, but that's the kind of playcalling that can burn you. It turned out well and this statement game has been a success for them. West Virginia has won this game now as they got the first down they needed just as I type.

So I've gotten my pick twice so far in BCS games as I was pulling for Ohio State and they pulled one over on Notre Dame. They won with big plays and speed. Wisconsin also made another huge statement for the Big Ten as they beat Auburn by two TDs. Louisville couldn't hold on however against Virginia Tech. I definitely watched parts of all of those games. It was great.

I've not really done anything but football today, so I think I should take my dog for a walk or something. I hope tomorrow is a successful day of some hard work and wrestling practice and more!!!

SOTD - SHADY - The Green Bay Packers fired head coach Mike Sherman today and the only word to describe how it went down is shady. They seemingly want to kick Brett Favre out without cutting him or sitting him on the bench. So Favre most likely had his last game as a Packer. Let's have a moment of silence for Brett......................................

2005

Happy 2005. I'm glad 2004 is over with. Just so you know, I know the numbers seem like they're off. But they're not. After all, a couple of years ago, Dick Clark was unable to do the New Year's Eve countdown, therefore it never actually changed years. So Happy 2005 you guys.

Let's see here.............................

Not much happened, then more didn't happen, then we had a party. It rocked. We had it at Josh's house and it totally wasn't the typical New Year's so it was great. We played Star Wars Trivial Pursuit (which I won), watched Three Ninjas, played a sweet-o game called Danish, and drank sparkling grape juice. We also watched the Family Guy movie, ate lots of food, drank nasty flavors of Jone's Soda, and stayed up all night, literally. I talked with Scott a ton and I was really excited with who he's become. All of my friends are great.

It is utterly amazing that my group of friends has stayed as amazing as it has 2 years out of high school. We are still interacting in ways that most people don't seem to interact with their HS friends already. We totally delved into deep conversations about eachothers lives and also had crazy goof off fun. I'm really glad we can get together and do things like that. I took some cool night pictures that I'll post on facebook too. Now I'm really tired and think I'll sleep for a couple hours before I decide to get up and do some stuff again.

SOTD - 5 - The Houston Texans and the San Fransisco 49ers face off for the rights to draft the top player in the NFL draft today. They have combined all season for 5 wins.