As it has been a week since my last post, I will post once again

Quick updateish thing going down.

• I got me a new phone for my birthday. It's a lot of fun. THANKS MOM!!!
• I love life right now, despite how frustrating it can seem.
• I had me an exam in ECE tonight. It was ridiculous and nuts and difficult as all who took it agreed with me.
• I'm VERY excited about this week's iteam. It's probably my most favorite topic as of late. It's tough getting the media together for it. Andrew is doing a great job, but it's a huge undertaking.
• I'm having some interesting issues with my goals and dreams. I feel as if right now I don't have any and I'm trying to get some thrown my way, so I can have direction for my life, even if it's later crushed.
• I can't think of much else at this very moment. But Stay Classy Readers....

SOTD - 2 - The college basketball season is about to heat up, and the number 2 is awfully important. It is the number of games left for most teams in the Big Ten conference schedule, and it is also the place in the conference that the Illini lie. It's going to be tough to win the conference...but anything can happen in the Big Ten.

Quantitative

Our society, ever since the technological boom and having society become 'civilized', we want to evaluate everything quantitatively. Why do we do that? Why don't we want to evaluate things like love, community, faith? How can we evaluate them quantitatively. This series of teachings is going to be killer.

Advertising

So, as I'm sitting here doing homework, I'm listening to a teaching by JR Woodward on the Gospel of Mark. It's the first of what is supposed to be a killer series. This first teaching, he is talking much about advertising. He's talking about how we have things that we don't need. What do we need to be doing? Do we need to be getting rid of our stuff? Do we need to prepare ourselves and guard against these advertisements. I'm feeling slightly convicted and thinking about things I have. Should I have them? Should I worry about what I purchase? I think these are some stark possibilities. Just thoughts my friends....Just thoughts.

fo rizzle, what's newzile?

So my birthday is come and past. I'm 20 years old now, and I can no longer blame anything stupid I do on being a teenager. Now I must learn to do smart things :) I really was glad to have my family over for my birthday. It was great. We ate Red Lobster and we just hung out. It was good to see them. I got a new phone and a DVD...fun gifts and I was definitely gladdened just by having the people around. My dad baked a cake and it was quite tasty. We definitely chowed down on that, and it was glorious.

Thanks to everybody else that made it a great birthday. I definitely enjoyed playing basketball, watching movies, watching the Illini, and just hanging out. It was a lot of good, clean fun. My friends here at school are great! It's too bad I couldn't spend time with my friends at home too.

I've been writing my support letters for New Orleans and that has been a fun task as of late. I've enjoyed taking care of the logistics so I can go on that wicked awesome trip. It's going to be great to serve in that capacity.

I have to be getting myself a new sports coat for SNG this weekend, as I've used all the ones I currently have. I just gotta get a ride to the thrift store.

One of the coolest things that has happened to me lately, and I appreciate it a ton, and I know it's somewhat superficial, but it's great, is (wow this is a really big run on sentence) that Imig fixed my iPod for me. At least theoretically. It hasn't been working properly since nearly before this summer. So its nice that it's working now. I hope it stays that way. I really think I'll be using it to listen to more recorded teaching and learning in my free time. Thanks Shmim!

As for other things. I think I'm gonna stay up all night tonight, so I can work on homework and get ahead. All I have tomorrow is my ECE lab from 8-10...I can sleep when that's done. I'm excited about this.

SOTD - 3 - Currently, Joe Lunardi, ESPN's expert on the college basketball postseason tournament, has Illinois as a 3 seed. That's a good spot for us.

ESPN

I watching College Gameday on ESPN, chillin' here trying to do homework. All of a sudden, there's a piece on about coaches getting ejected. They then have Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas acting an ejection out. Bilas kicked Digger out of the game. It was awesome. So hilarious. They definitely portray sports in the most awesome way.

Of course ESPN is slightly ridiculous as well. They definitely promoted ESPN-HD on one of their broadcasts. Not in the form of a commercial or sponsor, but in the form of a guy they had mic'd up saying that you needed to get ESPN-HD to see the glory of his awesome outfit. Extreme Self Promotion Network. Still great TV though.

SOTD - 82,431,390 - That is one honkingnumber. It's also the population of Germany, the country with the most medals after a week of the olympics. They have 15 total, while the US, with it's 295,734,134 people has only 10. We gotta step it up. America must win at the olympics, or the terrorists are winning ;)

Valentine's Day

Umm Valentine's Day...what a lame holiday. Too bad it was incredible. I got to hang with Fred and Mike, which is great. I love being challenged by them and the conversation with them. Then Ty and I prepared lasagna and Jeff prepared the ambiance and Evan prepared himself as we got four girls together with us. These girls were Rachel, Sarah, Megan, and Julianne. It was a lot of fun eating dinner with them. It was great to hang with them and enjoy company as friends amongst all the hustle and bustle of couples that this day brings about. Then we watched Lady and the Tramp. That is a movie I haven't seen in FOREVER. It was so much fun to hang and watch that movie. The one thing I don't get is that the movie definitely has the Tramp calling the lady "Pidge" although it definitely feels like he says "bitch" and there is nothing wrong with that because she is a female dog, but still, it was hilarious to me.

Finally, another couple of the ladies that I'm blessed to have in my life, Morgan and Brittany suprised me with cards and they got us guys a huge cookie. It was so sweet of them. It really makes me appreciate who they are and what they offer me. They really seem to be pursuing that Godly woman life and it's encouraging when they show appreciation for us guys!!!

SOTD - not lame - Valentine's Day is not lame if taken in the correct light.

It's amazing how Firefox remembers the different things I've typed into this field so I never have to worry about 2 posts with the same title

First off...OSU roadtrip recap:

Left at 5 AM, drove to Indianapolis chugging Rockstar energy drinks all the way. We then stopped at McDonalds where we got some food and then rolled out awfully quickly. We kept on driving, all the way through Tom Raper country. Tom Raper is apparently a jack of all trades, as he sells RVs, home, and more. Not sure why his name is raper and he sells so much stuff though. I'd want to change my name if I were him. Anyway, we kept driving, rocking the tunes hardcore until we arrived in Columbus 5 hours after we left Champaign. It was exciting to be there. We got ourselves all ready, putting on our orange and painting our faces. We were all pretty stoked as the game was the biggest so far in the season. So we got to the arena, which was very nice, although too professional feeling, and were ready to rock Ohio State. That however, did not come to much fruition. We got S-P-A-N-K-E-D!! Ohio State shot better and brought intensity that the Illini never thought to bring it seems. We just didn't want it and we barely shot the ball, obviously not wanting to even try to win. It was a slightly ridiculous game. But I had the most fun I've EVER had at a basketball game. I brought my intensity and it was so much fun cheering crazy loud despite being up in the fifth row from the top. I probably started 80% of the ILL-INI chants in the building. There were a lot of Illinois fans there too and I feel bad for them having to deal with a loss like that after travelling to see the team. Imig and I cheered up a storm though and we really had fun. My favorite thing I did was just yelling at the free throw shooters for OSU, "HEY!!! HEY!!!! YOU!!! SHOOTING FREE THROWS!!! YOU'RE SHOOTING FREE THROWS!!!" It was totally obnoxious and they totally bricked it a few times too. I enjoyed talking back and forth with OSU fans too. The ones I talked to were fun people and really had a respect for their team and other teams fans. I enjoyed that people can up to me afterwards and said that they enjoyed my cheering that I was very sportsmanlike the whole time. That was encouraging! When we drove back, it was a lot of conversation about what needs to change, now that we're in the midst of our first two game losing streak in 2 years. But it was fun to ride back with the guys that went and we stopped at Burger King AND White Castle. White Castle BABY!!!

NOW for something completely different:

I dropped physics, which I already mentioned, and it is great. I realized I have a lot more time in my week and can really focus on the classes I have. I got some homework done yesterday and had a conversation that needed to be had. God really blessed it and made things a lot better and clear. I thank him for that. I however have to deal with the frustration and having the 'burden' taken from me slowly but surely. I hope God will give me the piece of mind to have that happen.

SOMETHING ELSE:

Today is indeed Valentine's Day. As a single guy, of course you have to be bitter and not enjoy the holiday. It'll be fun though because a few guys and a few gals are getting together as single folk to just hang out and enjoy what should be dinner and a movie. It'll be a nice stab in the face of the Valentine's holiday saying that it has to be for couples and that single people need to be bitter. So that will be much fun methinks.

and FINALLY:

SOTD - 1940 - So Yahoo is a wonderful tool as they have all sorts of answers to strange questions. The answer to the most recent is 1940. The question was concerning at what time did women start to shave their legs. It turns out American culture didn't have women shaving their legs until more recently than most probably thought. Now, I could say something like, "Women, I challenge you to step up and take down what society has made for you and don't shave your legs!! RISE UP AGAINST CULTURE!!!" But I think shaved legs look nice, so I'm not gonna tell them to change anything.

physics drop

Well, I dropped Physics 214 today. I'm glad. I got a 49% on the midterm exam and the class was just straining me a lot. Now I don't have to worry as much as I now have 6.5 hours less of class per week and can get my work done for the classes I'm still in better. The University did a great job in helping me. I had to jump through some hoops and go to 4 different offices, but it was totally worth it. Now I've got to buckle down on the classes I'm in.

On a wicked strange sidenote, I'm watching something on the Olympics and noticed that the databases and info they keep are done with Sun Microsystems computers. I assume they use Linux or Unix for the Olympics then. TAKE THAT MICROSOFT!!!!!! (I'm such a nerd)

Coming soon: Illini basketball roadtrip 06 recap....

Respect

I decided I love being who I am. The guys I hang with tell me that they like me because of who I am. The fact that I am Christian and love my faith and the respect and understanding I have for them seems to make them like me. They're great guys. It's especially great when I really am pursuing a Christ like lifestyle. I dunno. It just feels great to have people say that.

Other things...school sucks. It's rough as my grades are taking a hit despite the work that I completely am doing. I think I'm going to have to reconsider this engineering thing once more.


SNG was great. Chris talked to us about how we need to love and how that is the biggest practical for evangelism And truthfully love because we really care about people. It's great!!! I totally wore a red blazer to SNG tonight. It was great. Most spectacular.

SOTD - 5 - Tomorrow the Illini play at Ohio State. It's a very important game. I'm going there. It'll be a five hour drive there. But it'll totally be worth it to go. It's time for Illini bball roadtrip 06.

Michael Roitman should rethink his career

That is my newest facebook group. It's awesome. The guy was my professor for Math 230. He was horrid. I despised him and his teaching technique. Now I can totally honor that pathetic semester with a facebook group.

I went home for a ceremony honoring Clinton High graduates that went to Illinois to play basketball tonight. It was fun. Lamkin, Brad (new guy to me), and I went to Clinton and ate at El Rey and then went and cheered really loud before a high school game before coming back to school.

When I got back, it was instantly into ice skating. That was fun. Rachel took quite the spill!! After that, I went to Jeff's chem research lab where we played with chemicals. Fun stuff. Then sat around Busey waiting to finally get plans together. Finally..FINALLY!!! We figured out what we were gonna do. The best part is that it was at my room. It felt good to finally hang out at my place with people. I'm glad they all came. It was quite the crew including Jeff, Calvin, Justin, Paolinetti, Julianne, Rachel, Megan, Sarah, and Kaylin. It was good fun.

Now I need to go to bed so I can get some quality sleep so I can homework it up tomorrow...ick.

SOTD - poop - needest I say more????

WARNING: Somewhat cryptic or something like that

Thursday Homework Group = always awesome. We definitely made fart jokes for a good amount of the time. There has to be a way to cancel out the engineering homework. Got to hang with Jeff today. That is always fun. We took Paul out to sushi, which he's never had before, and he really enjoyed it. It's always good when you get somebody to step out of their box.

iTeam was fun last night and I'm excited about what we're doing for spring outreach. It's going to be challenging, but I'm stoked about what God's got going on.

cryptic part: Not surprised. Just sort of dazed and confused. SHOOOOOOOOOOT, that's so cryptic, I don't even get it.......

Up late again

Up late...awfully late again....Bed must start soon. I've got an exam tomorrow and other things kept getting in the way. I feel like I'm not stoked about this test....that's ok though.

I talked Morgan about God tonight. It was great talking to her about Christian unity and hwo it's something I really have a vision for. I just hope people see it like I do someday...as long as I'm not crazy and I have it completely wrong.

I also talked to Casey and Mike today in our discipleship meeting. Those guys are such an encouragement. Such great dudes. They really are helping me through ma thangs.

My small group started tonight too. It was amazing the level we hit. I'm stoked about the dues I've got here. The group they had last semester really helped them to get into the mindset that I would just love us to be at every week. The guys are so encouraging. I love their hearts and desires to get things right with God. Striving to get there...just as we all should be.

Finally, Fred rolled into town today and that is awesome. It's great that the guy is back on the block. He's just the coolest dude. He's gonna be a great challenge this semester. I love it!

SOTD - $12.33 - I stumbled across a new book thanks to the xxxchurch.com podcast. These guys are awesome first off and they have a ministry that is just incredible. But in any case, they had an author on the show promoting his new book "No More Christian Nice Guy." He was talking about how Christian men are trying too hard to be nice and not hard enough to be good. Jesus wasn't the nicest dude always. He was bold, passionate, and intense. That's the man we should work towards, not a spirit of timidity. So I bought the book on amazon.com for 12.33 including shipping and handling. I'll tell you how it goes.

Check it out!

Check out the newest addition to my blog...it's my favorite super bowl commercial, streaming straight to you right below my archive links.

AAAAAAA JESUS

What a great name that is. It invokes so many feelings in everybody's hearts. And that is the case with my buddy Pat. He's a great dude and I'm excited that I've gotten to know him. He really impresses me. Just talking to him tonight for an hour and a half about our faiths makes me so encouraged. God really has blessed my taking risks and revealing my heart for all to see.

Pat also told me a astory he heard...it's very cool. It relates to how we describe the trinity. Like, we don't know what it is...how can God be 3 in 1???? Well this is the closest I've heard an analogy work towards the concept. It still falls short because it was designed by me...but it's still cool....here it goes.

God is a man. He is walking and he sees himself in a mirror. That reflection is Jesus. It is God, but it wasn't created by him. It was begotten from him and was always there. It's a reflection of who he is. The Holy Spirit is God's knowledge that that reflection is Jesus and himself. He passes that knowledge on to us. I think it's a beautiful picture.

SOTD - .5 - Gonzaga extended their homecourt winning streak to 35 games, the longest in the country tonight. But they got it because a home clock operator forgot to start the clock on time allowing the .5 seconds left on the clock not to be run off until later...meaning Gonzaga got the chance they needed to win the game.

Thoughts

• SUPER BOWL XL...not very XL...good game, but not great. Bettis is good for the championship. I'm happy for him. Too bad Seattle is left out of the Super Bowl winning franchise crowd. Hines Ward deserved the MVP. If it wasn't for his 2 TD snags, it was for the block he made on his cornerback when the Steelers needed a first down run. Most recievers wouldn't be able to do that.
• The commercials...not great, but very good. The first half's were better. My favorite two were the FedEx caveman commercial and the Sprint "theft deterent" one. They were hilarious!!!
• I finished the haircut today. Justin helped and did a great job. He = the man.
• I posted some more pics on my newest facebook album.
• Now I'm doing homework and watching a movie. Rock Rock On.
• I went to Spanish mass this morning. That was wicked. I don't understand as much spanish as I thought I did.

SOTD - 0 - # of NFL games left in the season :'( I'm so sad. Time to get school work done now that football is over though.

He is our KING, he is our LOVE

What a great dude God is. I know my posts seem awfully cryptic and the last one probably completely contradicts this, but whatev.

As for God being great, as Chris P. He's the man, and I respect the dude so much. Just talking to him about faith and God brings a smile to my face. Justin is the man as well because he knows when people should stop doing things.

SNG was great tonight. Alison Smith talked about our call to evangelize and let people know about God, about why they need him, and all of that stuff. It was so encouraging to me. As for the rest of SNG, the worship was amazing. The music fit where I was perfectly, and it was great. As for announcements, Julianne and I did it for our second week, and I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna be tough to top what happened tonight. She definitely chopped my mullet off. In front of the whole church, my mullet died. It was great how it was set up and it worked superbly. I couldn't imagine it working better to be honest.

Then just hanging out was fun. I enjoyed it, but the real fruits of my hangout came just hanging with the boys around the dorm. It was good fun. I love them much. Although it definitely messed with the amount of sleep I was planning on getting tonight, it doesn't matter to me. It was totally worth it.

Oh, just to plug it, listen to the newest David Crowder Band cd. It's great! It's called A Collision. It's amazing and I could listen to it a ton...and I do.

SAD MOMENT - The Illini lost tonight....at home....to Penn State. WOW....that was somewhat shocking. But it'll be alright, I could justify it 20 ways as being an ok thing. So I think I'll just leave it as it doesn't matter too much. And that's saying a lot coming from a guy that loves sports so much as myself. I'm just ready to win the rest of our games...that'd be nice.

SOTD - .1 - That is the amount of time that Rich McBride's shot came too late. He made a seemingly game winning shot that ended up not counting after further review because he released it .1 seconds after the buzzer went of. Most depressing...but it should help build his confidence.

LOST

God, I feel lost and confused at this moment. I feel like I'm over-dramatizing things that don't need a ton of drama put upon them. I don't get why I'm freaking out God. It's like stuff is getting my crazy down and confused. I don't know if you're confusing me on purpose, or if I'm freaking out because I can't let myself trust in you. It's ridiculous. I just feel like I'm going to burst. I feel like I'm not trusting people, I just don't get what's going on. I lay myself before you to freak out and hopefully figure it out. God, I want to trust in you.



(As for other things, Upper Room was great tonight. Although I just can't seem to sty encouraged. What in the heck... I got to talk to Mike from across the hall last night and it was great. He's such a cool guy. I'm off to bed though. I need sleep so I can get some stuff done tomorrow.)

I have a serious issue with posting on a regular basis nowadays

Just finished my hw for the week. It's a lot of work, but it's still fun. I'm just trying to figure it out schedule-wise. I haven't worked out this week. Gotta figure out a better way to work the schedule.

I haven't done much socially other than watch Illinois games...we are 20-2 now...MOST EXCITING. I've had iteam and hang out times, but those have all been serious moments, delving into serious conversation about what's going on in my life. My mindlessness has been a couple hours of video games.

I've got a Physics 214 exam next Wednesday. That's a quick turnaround from the start of school, but next week is already the fourth week. That's intense. In ME300, I'm learning about steam power plants. Now I have a far better idea of how what my dad does works. It's very cool stuff and applicable to life.

If y'alls could shoot a few prayers my way for my relationships with friends. I'm trying to figure some stuff out, and it's not being very clear to me right now.

I can't wait for tomorrow, just because we weekend will be here. So goooooood.

I haven't even had time to do much of anything this semester. Stupid time wasting website visits have gone down, ESPN watching has gone down, and yet I still have little time. I can't figure out why. Sooooo much school. I'm even losing time for God, and that's a problem. I've been working on it getting it into my schedule, and it's been ok, not great, but ok.

Speaking of time, I don't have much before my 8 am class, so I'm going to hit the sack.