Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was relaxing. It was heart-warming to be with family. It was hilarious (had a party Friday night, tons of laughing involved). But, the one thing that was missing from the yearly tradition of Thanksgiving is this: the feast and Grandma's house.
Every year my Grandma hosts Thanksgiving for their side of the family. My mom, my aunt, and my Grandma are all incredibly amazing cooks, so it is a joyous time (especially for my mouth).
But, this year, my Grandma had surgery on her fingers. She has been ridden with artheritis for years, and just recently decided to have surgery on her fingers to do whatever the Doctors do to make it better. Anyways, she couldn't cook. So, we decided to have our Thanksgiving meal at an Inn. Weird, right? It was nice though. We had a great time, and the food was very good.
Overall my break included:
* Staying up until 3am wathcing movies and talking with my family
* Showing off my first published piece of writing
* Shopping
* Drinking Caribou Coffee (I miss it so much since there aren't any Caribous in Indiana)
* Hanging out with friends
* Being lazy
It was a very nice weekend. Now I am back at college and prepared to conquer my tests. Spanish is killing me, so I am pulling out the big guns and ready to battle verb conjugations, tenses, and verbage until Spanish begs for mercy.
Wish me luck.
Oh, and a goal that I just completed: I ran a mile in 6:30. I had been getting a little slow, so I set a goal for myself to complete a mile (only breathing out of my nose so it helps my breathing as well) in 6:30.
My next goal is 6 minutes flat. That will take me a while to reach; bring it on!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
the new blog
I changed my blog. You probably noticed if you still have eyes, but I just wanted to reassure you: you are in the right place.
This change is not only layout and title, the purpose changed as well. You probably read the little tag line under the title, but let me explain it a little bit.
There are many things that I want to do before I eventually get married (if I am one day blessed with a bride, that is). I want to do anything from skydiving to traveling to Italy to eating sushi to publishing a book. There are many goals that I would like to accomplish before I say: "I Do."
The purpose of this blog is to:
1. Comemorate my futile and humerous attempts at suceeding at the little things
2. Entertain you
3 Give a glipse of my younger life to my future wife, and the journey I took to become the man she will know as her own
4. Have fun
So, without further ado, let me welcome you to: Before "I Do". You will hear an account of my life as I tackle various obstacles.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving.
This change is not only layout and title, the purpose changed as well. You probably read the little tag line under the title, but let me explain it a little bit.
There are many things that I want to do before I eventually get married (if I am one day blessed with a bride, that is). I want to do anything from skydiving to traveling to Italy to eating sushi to publishing a book. There are many goals that I would like to accomplish before I say: "I Do."
The purpose of this blog is to:
1. Comemorate my futile and humerous attempts at suceeding at the little things
2. Entertain you
3 Give a glipse of my younger life to my future wife, and the journey I took to become the man she will know as her own
4. Have fun
So, without further ado, let me welcome you to: Before "I Do". You will hear an account of my life as I tackle various obstacles.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thanksgiving Break
Thanksgiving break is coming nearer and nearer. The thought of eating food that is natural and good for you is exciting to me. I will soon be eating food that wasn't made by simply adding water. Yeah, that's the huge downside to college: the food.
I wake up too late to eat breakfast, so I am restricted to two meals a day.
When i'm a home I eat an average of 4 meals a day, sometimes as many as 8. I am hungry ALL the time. I can't wait to eat whenever I want to, even though Thanksgiving break will only last for less than a week, it will be time that I will immensely enjoy.
I signed up for classes next semester. It's scary to think it's almost been a whole semester here at Taylor. It doesn't feel like that long, yet at the same time it feels like a lifetime.
I recently discovered that I can take a Forensic Science class instead of Chemistry or Physics for my Gen-Ed science class next year. You have no idea how excited I am to take Forensic Science. I watch way too many invesigation movies/shows, and even read articles and books on the side concerning murder mysteries.
It's funny... one of my friends is already dating in college. He met her two months ago and they're boyfriend and girlfriend now. I think it's hilarious. They're both great, but they're both freshmen... and they both have 4 years ahead of them of soul-searching. Yeah, love is in the air at the Taylor campus.
I wake up too late to eat breakfast, so I am restricted to two meals a day.
When i'm a home I eat an average of 4 meals a day, sometimes as many as 8. I am hungry ALL the time. I can't wait to eat whenever I want to, even though Thanksgiving break will only last for less than a week, it will be time that I will immensely enjoy.
I signed up for classes next semester. It's scary to think it's almost been a whole semester here at Taylor. It doesn't feel like that long, yet at the same time it feels like a lifetime.
I recently discovered that I can take a Forensic Science class instead of Chemistry or Physics for my Gen-Ed science class next year. You have no idea how excited I am to take Forensic Science. I watch way too many invesigation movies/shows, and even read articles and books on the side concerning murder mysteries.
It's funny... one of my friends is already dating in college. He met her two months ago and they're boyfriend and girlfriend now. I think it's hilarious. They're both great, but they're both freshmen... and they both have 4 years ahead of them of soul-searching. Yeah, love is in the air at the Taylor campus.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
No Shave November
I just wrote an article for the campus newspaper, The Echo. My article is being printed and will be all around campus on Friday, making this my first time seeing my name in print. Yes, I am stoked beyond belief.
Here it is:
Title: No Shave November
The second week of November has come. It’s not the weather that has the men of Taylor uncomfortable; it’s the stubble on their faces. That’s right, it’s No Shave November.
No Shave November has been a Taylor tradition for many years. But it still has male students cringing at the inevitable: a semi-hairy face.
Here are a few things that signify the beginning of No Shave November:
Men will…
• Scratch the chin area
• Express shame while in the presence of females
• Constantly use excuses like: “It’s usually not this long” or “I know I look like a 12 year old”
• Make fun of the beardless to feel better about themselves
Guys know if they have clean-shaven faces come middle of November, they will be publicly disgraced for being too proud to resemble a fuzzy peach or for having a hormonal imbalance. I can personally attest that neither of these outcomes is desirable.
Men may complain about being unable to socialize with females because women fail to hold eye contact. . . every few seconds their eyes drift to the lower half of the face. The first week of November I thought to myself: they must be admiring my cheekbones, which, of course, were sculpted by Michelangelo himself. But when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I found my eyes drifting to the lower half of my face, and Michelangelo had nothing to do with it. My inner pubescent boy was showing.
I’d like to make a quick shout-out to those “real men,” those guys who can grow full beards in half a week. You know who you are. Others might not because they can’t see you beneath the facial ferns. You bear that hair with manly pride. Continue being awesome.
Yes, it may be true that almost every creature that deserves an “awww” is furry. Imagine these baby animals: a penguin, a duck, and a dog. If you thought to yourself “awww” or screamed it out loud, then you have passed the test. If you did not have the “awww” moment, then you are heartless. Now, to dispel the mental image that furry creatures are the only adorable ones imagine these baby animals: a seal, a pig, and a naked mole-rat. If the “awww” moment didn’t happen, then visit the prayer chapel; God can still save your soul. (Yes, naked mole-rats are adorable.)
Never fear, men who can grow only patches, because like the naked mole-rat, you are still loved. Let’s hope Taylor can survive the rest of November. And women, imagine a baby seal next time your eyes drift the lower half of a man’s patchy face, and feel free to have an “awww” moment.
Here it is:
Title: No Shave November
The second week of November has come. It’s not the weather that has the men of Taylor uncomfortable; it’s the stubble on their faces. That’s right, it’s No Shave November.
No Shave November has been a Taylor tradition for many years. But it still has male students cringing at the inevitable: a semi-hairy face.
Here are a few things that signify the beginning of No Shave November:
Men will…
• Scratch the chin area
• Express shame while in the presence of females
• Constantly use excuses like: “It’s usually not this long” or “I know I look like a 12 year old”
• Make fun of the beardless to feel better about themselves
Guys know if they have clean-shaven faces come middle of November, they will be publicly disgraced for being too proud to resemble a fuzzy peach or for having a hormonal imbalance. I can personally attest that neither of these outcomes is desirable.
Men may complain about being unable to socialize with females because women fail to hold eye contact. . . every few seconds their eyes drift to the lower half of the face. The first week of November I thought to myself: they must be admiring my cheekbones, which, of course, were sculpted by Michelangelo himself. But when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I found my eyes drifting to the lower half of my face, and Michelangelo had nothing to do with it. My inner pubescent boy was showing.
I’d like to make a quick shout-out to those “real men,” those guys who can grow full beards in half a week. You know who you are. Others might not because they can’t see you beneath the facial ferns. You bear that hair with manly pride. Continue being awesome.
Yes, it may be true that almost every creature that deserves an “awww” is furry. Imagine these baby animals: a penguin, a duck, and a dog. If you thought to yourself “awww” or screamed it out loud, then you have passed the test. If you did not have the “awww” moment, then you are heartless. Now, to dispel the mental image that furry creatures are the only adorable ones imagine these baby animals: a seal, a pig, and a naked mole-rat. If the “awww” moment didn’t happen, then visit the prayer chapel; God can still save your soul. (Yes, naked mole-rats are adorable.)
Never fear, men who can grow only patches, because like the naked mole-rat, you are still loved. Let’s hope Taylor can survive the rest of November. And women, imagine a baby seal next time your eyes drift the lower half of a man’s patchy face, and feel free to have an “awww” moment.
Monday, November 8, 2010
NanoWrimo
NanoWrimo stands for: National Novel Writing Month.
The goal of NanoWrimo is for hundreds of thousands of people around the world to write a novel in the month of November. Yes, a novel in a month. You read that correctly. 50,000 words is the goal. That is equivilent to 5 pages a day with 1.5 line spacing. It takes unparalleled dedication and focus, which I lack.
I am on page 18, and I am supposed to be on page 40 by the end of the day. My homework is kind of controlling-and yes-that is my excuse because I know I could prioritize my time to get both done with extra time.
Life at college has gone a little bit downhill to be honest. I have lost track of what I value most. I guess i've been sitting on the sidelines watching life happen and not been taking part in it.
I've noticed that on days that I clean my room organize my life, do all my homework early in the day, read a bit of a book, do devotions, go on a walk, and write, at the end of the day I feel amazing. But, since it is so hard to be self controlled enough to do all those things in a given day, I have been ending up at 2:00am every night wondering where my time went.
Yes, I have blogged countless times about being organized and self controlled, but it is really something no one can have too much of, and I would like to exercise that mental muscle of mine as much as possible, because I know that when I get out of college and possibly live on my own, everything will be on my own shoulders.
The goal of NanoWrimo is for hundreds of thousands of people around the world to write a novel in the month of November. Yes, a novel in a month. You read that correctly. 50,000 words is the goal. That is equivilent to 5 pages a day with 1.5 line spacing. It takes unparalleled dedication and focus, which I lack.
I am on page 18, and I am supposed to be on page 40 by the end of the day. My homework is kind of controlling-and yes-that is my excuse because I know I could prioritize my time to get both done with extra time.
Life at college has gone a little bit downhill to be honest. I have lost track of what I value most. I guess i've been sitting on the sidelines watching life happen and not been taking part in it.
I've noticed that on days that I clean my room organize my life, do all my homework early in the day, read a bit of a book, do devotions, go on a walk, and write, at the end of the day I feel amazing. But, since it is so hard to be self controlled enough to do all those things in a given day, I have been ending up at 2:00am every night wondering where my time went.
Yes, I have blogged countless times about being organized and self controlled, but it is really something no one can have too much of, and I would like to exercise that mental muscle of mine as much as possible, because I know that when I get out of college and possibly live on my own, everything will be on my own shoulders.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Fall Break
For some random reason it hit me today of how much I want to life in loft downtown Minneapolis once i'm out of college. I want to live in one with a few other guys for a few years and enjoy our young bachelor years in the city and pursuing our dream jobs. Me, I might be found under the name of Benjamin Grey in my future outrageously popular newspaper columns and possibly blogging career. I will write books and short stories for fun on the side, and maybe try to get those published. And, after a few years of outrageous fun and unforgetable memories with my best friends, start a career in film-making as a screenplay writer for TV shows, and maybe a few movies.
Yeah, doesn't that sound so nice.
I have my life planned out. Since ink blots on a web page cannot convey vocal inlfection, that was an extremely sarcastic statement. I know that planning your life out rarely happens the way you imagine. But, this is a goal of mine rather than a dream. I would like to work towards it. If it falls through, then so be it, but I would love it beyond capacity of words to have a life half as exciting as what I just described.
I looked up some penthouses and lofts downtown and found some for decent prices for some really classy places. Split between 5 or so guys would be a really realistic yet epic way to live.
All wishful thinking aside about my future, on to a more mundane but still cool subject: I FINALLY have my life organized!! I feel so good. I'm not sure how much i've mentioned this before, but one of my characters in my book is named Tatum Foxx. She is the upitome of awesomeness and attractiveness. The one thing that seperates her from other girls (aside from the simple fact that she can kick the butt of nearly every person on the planet with special thanks to 5 forms of martial arts)is this: she is self disciplined.
Discipline is a character trait that i've had to fight for my whole life. Especially the last 3 years has been a constant uphill battle for organization, time-management, and effectiveness. I DO get a lot done, especially compared to the average 18 year old college male, but, I'm not comparing myself to statistics of the national average (which is depressing), I am comparing myself to my potential. I know I can do better, so I have been trying to.
Tatum Foxx is the one who has pushed me the last month to finally achieve what i've been trying to for 3 years. I can finally say that I have a decent grasp on self discipline.
Over the fall break weekend most people were staying up to 4am playing video games and doing nothing. So, I decided to utilize a handy program (unknown to me before this week) called OneNote. It comes with most Microsoft Office packages. Anyways, I organized my entire life on this program. I wrote out my To Do List for short term and long term.
Over my elongated weekend (thank you Fall Break, I love you) I dispersed my homework between my 4 days of break, doing most of it at the beginning, leaving Saturday and Sunday for free-time. So, while everyone else was being lazy bums, I was cleaning my room, reading tomes, writng short stories, writing assignments, and having a great time doing so.
Right now I have the evening to enjoy myself where all the guys on my floor will be up nearly all night studying last-minute for assignments and tests due for monday.
I still have a long way to go in the area of self-discipline, but I am happy to say that for once I can be content at what I have achieved.
Yeah, doesn't that sound so nice.
I have my life planned out. Since ink blots on a web page cannot convey vocal inlfection, that was an extremely sarcastic statement. I know that planning your life out rarely happens the way you imagine. But, this is a goal of mine rather than a dream. I would like to work towards it. If it falls through, then so be it, but I would love it beyond capacity of words to have a life half as exciting as what I just described.
I looked up some penthouses and lofts downtown and found some for decent prices for some really classy places. Split between 5 or so guys would be a really realistic yet epic way to live.
All wishful thinking aside about my future, on to a more mundane but still cool subject: I FINALLY have my life organized!! I feel so good. I'm not sure how much i've mentioned this before, but one of my characters in my book is named Tatum Foxx. She is the upitome of awesomeness and attractiveness. The one thing that seperates her from other girls (aside from the simple fact that she can kick the butt of nearly every person on the planet with special thanks to 5 forms of martial arts)is this: she is self disciplined.
Discipline is a character trait that i've had to fight for my whole life. Especially the last 3 years has been a constant uphill battle for organization, time-management, and effectiveness. I DO get a lot done, especially compared to the average 18 year old college male, but, I'm not comparing myself to statistics of the national average (which is depressing), I am comparing myself to my potential. I know I can do better, so I have been trying to.
Tatum Foxx is the one who has pushed me the last month to finally achieve what i've been trying to for 3 years. I can finally say that I have a decent grasp on self discipline.
Over the fall break weekend most people were staying up to 4am playing video games and doing nothing. So, I decided to utilize a handy program (unknown to me before this week) called OneNote. It comes with most Microsoft Office packages. Anyways, I organized my entire life on this program. I wrote out my To Do List for short term and long term.
Over my elongated weekend (thank you Fall Break, I love you) I dispersed my homework between my 4 days of break, doing most of it at the beginning, leaving Saturday and Sunday for free-time. So, while everyone else was being lazy bums, I was cleaning my room, reading tomes, writng short stories, writing assignments, and having a great time doing so.
Right now I have the evening to enjoy myself where all the guys on my floor will be up nearly all night studying last-minute for assignments and tests due for monday.
I still have a long way to go in the area of self-discipline, but I am happy to say that for once I can be content at what I have achieved.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
the one exception
I just got back my first big paper. By "big" i mean 20% of my overall grade in Literature class. Guess what grade I got in it?
D
To make matters worse, it was one of the best essays i've ever written. The teacher happened not to be able to follow my unconventional "hourglass" essay structer based off of modern journalism, but instead is traditional and usd to the boring 5-para-essay format, so she couldn't find my thesis statement.
As a result of her confusion, my angelicly perfect essay was given a D. There were no marks on it for grammar or anything, adding to my anger and frustration because it is inherently perfect, but my proffessor just isn't up-to-date with the newest formatting techniques.
Other than that little revelation I recieved earlier today, life has been wonderful.
My first improv comdey show is in a week.
My sister is flying in to visit tomorrow and staying for 4 days; I can't wait!
I've been having a ridiculous amount of fun and I'm learning a lot through my classes.
I'm hoping to start getting published in the campus paper soon.
My radio show starts tomorrow night.
Life is good. Mostly.
D
To make matters worse, it was one of the best essays i've ever written. The teacher happened not to be able to follow my unconventional "hourglass" essay structer based off of modern journalism, but instead is traditional and usd to the boring 5-para-essay format, so she couldn't find my thesis statement.
As a result of her confusion, my angelicly perfect essay was given a D. There were no marks on it for grammar or anything, adding to my anger and frustration because it is inherently perfect, but my proffessor just isn't up-to-date with the newest formatting techniques.
Other than that little revelation I recieved earlier today, life has been wonderful.
My first improv comdey show is in a week.
My sister is flying in to visit tomorrow and staying for 4 days; I can't wait!
I've been having a ridiculous amount of fun and I'm learning a lot through my classes.
I'm hoping to start getting published in the campus paper soon.
My radio show starts tomorrow night.
Life is good. Mostly.
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