hey! how are things?

ill catch up on the major events since my last blog in the form of a poem:

almost got arrested by the cops
dont shoot squirrels in town
turned 22 and had a blast
eventually the leaves turn brown.

bought a sweet truck
'93 dodge V8 4x4
took it to the mountains with awesome people
couldnt ask for more

still no full time job
gonna be a substitute though
teaching kids will be sweet
and im gonna make some dough

ok thats that. now for some current events. my fingers are freezing. our house has no heat. well we use electric heaters but we all know how much those jack up the electric bill and since i dont have a full-time job and my income is a little limited i choose to sit and be a lot cold. the toolbox has so much character though; no heat, a conglomerate of 9 random dudes, a dog that farts worse than ryan and me combined, a washer and dryer in hell, no heat, broken walls, a greek and an asian, ranch dressing, no heat, but it lacks absolutely nothing. well it actually misses only ryan fawley. missss you!!

do yall ever feel that tugging in your soul like God's really telling you to go to mad depths for Him but you don't know what it looks like or what you're supposed to do in the least bit? like there's something right in front of you that keeps slapping you in the face but its blurry and you can't make it out through the fog. that's kinda where i am right now. its weird because i don't have a full time job and i have a pretty good feeling that it's because God's trying to teach me a lot about relying fully on Him, which is awesome and i love living this sort of life of faith, but i get stressed out and kinda embarressed when i run into old friends and they ask me what i'm doing now and all i have to say is that i hang out with middle school kids and only do odd jobs here and there -- which i've slacked on a lot lately -- and am not taking classes of any sort, but sit around and hang out with people and play way too many video games and watch too many sportscenter reruns. and sometimes i feel like its just a cop-out to say that God just wants me to hang out and be a substitute teacher on the side. its just my prideful nature that's getting in the way. i mean i think the reasons why i feel like im failing in life is because firstly this isn't what society says you're supposed to do, and secondly i've always been told that i have so much 'potential'. what does that mean? just because i got good grades in high school i need to go to college and get a job that i hate so i can make my own money and blah blah blah? potential shmotential. im here to serve God. nothing less. but, there is something more. it's just slowly being revealed to me.

oh yeah. i might go to africa soon to help build a orphanage. that'd be sweet.

this blog is worth $40

as i sit in my room watching a documentary on blood diamonds in africa, i relfect on yesterday, the most unproductive day of my life. however, the night was just the opposite. four of my housemates and i were chillaxin late into the night on our front porch trying to name all 50 states when our boredom and ADD (which everyone has if theyre normal so i dont really believe in the 'disorder') set in hard! the majority decision was to go ding-dong ditchin which quickly turned into a house-name-sign stealing/frame-the-other-dude-young-life-house-with-a-prank extravaganza. soon tho our easily distracted minds were drawn to a trampoline in our neighbors' yard. *side note: i just found $40 in my pocket!* our plans were then changed to include carrying the trampoline down the street about 5 blocks and placing it in our friends' front yard. "what a genius idea!" the 5 of us agreed as we sweated and struggled to transport an awkward trampoline across town, until we got to their front yard and they were all hanging out on their front porch. we had a good laugh for about 3 minutes and then carried it back to our front yard instead. not such an overall genius idea. still sweet tho.

i told you that story to tell you this one...

as i drove from harrisonburg to fredricksburg with my parents to watch my studd younger brother play soccer at the university of mary washington we were drawn into a discussion of tradition. my parents are both amazing individuals that i love and respect so much. however there are times when we just plan disagree. i believe tradition is a great thing, but something to be careful with because it can easily turn into religion. and then outside of 'christian' traditions it can keep you from experiencing new things and can dull life into a repititious, mundane, routine. i strongly believe that most life growth is gained thru struggles outside of one's comfort zone. so if someone is always doing whatever's comfortable, growth is inhibited, passions are repressed, and the full life that God offers His children is flattened. something to remember also is that there are no formulas for this life. but the positive side of certain traditions is that they can unite individuals and encourage fellowship. i guess there's always multiple ways of looking and experiencing things. my theories and beliefs are not close to perfect, but i do know that there is so much to learn from other people. we all think and process differently. so take what you can from me and then teach me something new. let's challenge eachother. let's challenge the 'accepted' views of society. let's learn and share. let's love. let's grow.

Tailgating and T-shirts

Working at an outdoor retail shop, a customer would occasionally come in asking, “Do you all have any ‘Life is Good’ t-shirts?’” I would think to myself…”who would pay 25 dollars for a crappy cotton t-shirt with the image of some stick figure fishing on it?” Well, although I’m not a huge fan of the t-shirts I am a big fan of life, and life is good. Especially, living live to the fullest.

Well…this week was the 1st home game for the Mountaineers…sometimes I don’t think people here know how to spell mountaineers; thus, they say “Go Apps.” Hmm…that’s not important.

On Friday, I went to drive my car only to find out that I had to move my car to a lot off of campus. The $204 parking permit I bought wasn’t good on home football game days, because they clear the lot for tailgating. My lot isn’t even really that close to the football stadium. It’s a 10-15 minute hike, and if you’re drunk it might take you 23 minutes.

Well, that kind of made me a little mad, but I took a step back and realized how good life is. I have so much to be thankful for…things I take for granted every single day, and I’m complaining because I have to move my car to a lot that’s 10 minutes away when they’re people living a half mile away in a homeless shelter willing to give their kidney to own anything, to have a job, to eat three meals a day, to be loved and I’m thinking about how much it sucks to move my car to a parking lot ten minutes away and what $3000 dollar bike I’m going to buy next.

Wow…it’s time to refocus. It’s time to listen. It’s time to be uncomfortable. It’s time to follow my friend Jesus. It’s time to live.

beginning has begun!

ryan and i have had some interesting experiences since the crawdads in 1996 when we sported numbers 80-99 on the backs of our jerseys and crushed our competition with our dynamic defense and outlandish offense. but that was only the start. now we have a blog and will be documenting our adventures....

i bought a fishing pole at 2am this morning with my roommate brandon at walmart. but this wasnt just any fishing pole. it was a rocket-shooting fishing pole. i thought itd be a good investment being as im a wyldlife leader at pence middle school and hang out with middle school kids all the time. so i bought it. and well, its already broken. but dang that thing was sweet.

in honor of the new blog...

For far too long there has been talk of a blog between my friend and myself. Well, one boring afternoon that dream became a reality. It's alive...

...they're no good places to ride a bike here in boone.