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.