Studs

Micah & Matee
These are some of my friends in chapel. It's always good times

The Update

These are pictures from like the last month and what i have been doing enjoy!

Beginning to end

For beard growing month in the dorm i shaved my whole head: Here is before

yep you guessed it

And here is the end of February:
Yeah, i agree, i am not attractive hairless or hairy and my dad would just say i am not attractive at all! But hey, Que sera sera.

SPRING BREAK!!! dreaming

It's Spring Break! 3/4 of the IWU's campus is in Florida, my roommate is in the carribean(Picture below)

Steve
due to my knee therapy and healing i am in Plymouth, Indiana. It has been fun times with the family and good down time, but i am definitely not getting any tanner. Sorry for the shirt being off in the pictures, but honestly, if i were at the beach with my shirt off would you even give it a second thought?!?

dreamin
This is where i think i am at when i put on my reef sandals or smell my surf wax

reality
And this is pretty much the sad reality of it all! I have been reading and thinking a lot of things through, though, so time has gone quickly


sarah dignal
This is me and a fellow San Diegan raising a sandal solute to warm weather while it was snowing at a soccer game earlier this year. What a great bonding moment!

The Knee Update

the infamous CPM machine
This is the machine i was on 6 hrs a day for 2 weeks after the surgery. I strapped myself in and it would bend up and down slowly.... it put me to sleep most of the time! THe funnest part was asking people for help when i was a useless lazy bum stuck in this machine... I still have the tendencey to yell at people for help but it is not effective without the machine anymore! :)
The doctor's say i am ahead of the game... but that doesn't mean much. Between 6-10 weeks the graft in my knee is weakest and the most prone to injury. This means that no matter how well i walk or feel, i really can't do much activity/sports. I did go and shoot some hoops outside by myself the other thought. I felt like a kid and it was great!!! ...juking out the invisible defender in front of me, shooting the last second shot 3..2..1... and then shooting the last second shot again because i am the only one who saw i missed 3..2..1... and then shooting it again- you get the picture, until i actually make the last minute shot and make the "crowd cheering sound" with my hands raised as i walk back into the house victorious. Good times. I should be pretty much full force by the next school year. Everything until then just takes time... That Kills Me!!!

Chicago trip

Kelly and me
Hence my pitiful and desperate nature, Kelly, was nice enough to pick me up on her way to chicago today. She is the RD in Evans and needed some things from ikea-Quick Interlude- Is Ikea not the best store ever!?! There is way too much cool stuff in there- and i just needed to feel like i got out of the house. It was fun. along the drive, i made her pull over so i could see if there were waves on Lake Michigan. I couldn't tell completely since there wasn't a beach, but this is where the picture is taken.... not a bad picture considering i'm holding the camera and i still got the chicago skyline in the background... okay, maybe its a bad picture of me, but besides that!

My Deep Thought for the Day

I was thinking about how i would make God look attractive. Maybe that in itself is the wrong approach?!? Anyway, i thought about how my extrovertedness would be one of my main means to show a person that Christians can have a good time and that Christians are not hypocrytical all the time. I had a lot of different other reasons and as my thoughts were winding down i thought... not very many of my tactics in persuading people to come to the Lord would be solely on their need for him or the comfort that he gives or the sole fact that he is completely relevant to our culture! Then it made me question how much of my relationship is based not on the sole fact that i need God and that he is relevant, but on the dependece of fun personality traits or other things of little importance. How would i explain what makes God worthwhile? I sure hope that the next time the topic comes up that i don't sugarcoat it with fun or shortcuts, but with the reality and impact that GOd has made on my life: his love, joy, patience, and everything else He has given me!

People to know

This is my friend and boss Levi!!! He is the RD of Hodson(the dorm i live in)

Levi the RD
If you ever want to find out something about yourself, just sit down and talk to him. He is the best questioner and most contemplative man i know... and i love it! Next year i am going to be an RA in the dorm! That will be crazy! Crazy Fun! I don't know. I'm suppose to be matured and ready to move on my senior year of college and instead i am going to be more involved in on campus activity than ever before! What can you do!

Birthdays are fun

This is a fun picture from Tana's birthday party at Mi Pueblo's.

tana's birthday
It's always good times with fun birthday toys and hats... that could entertain me for days!!! Maybe i should have my birthday more often!... can i do that?!?

Surgery's over!!!

Thank you to everybody who prayed for me! The surgery went great!
1st day back- I couldn't feel my leg, half of my right hand, and slept 3/4 of the day
Day Two- leg elevated most of the day, mom typed Friday's homework assignment and dad helped write! Slept 1/2 day
Day Three- hobble around without crutches, got out of house and went out to eat, can write and type with my right hand!
I go back to school Monday and start rehab...I should be able to walk at longest within a month but no strenuous activity for 4-6 months. So right now i have an excuse for sleeping, reading, and watching a lot of movies! Ahhh... the hard life! God has been good to me and there has been very little pain so far although i am sure more is to come...

What's wrong with this picture?

nice
Yep! You guessed it... I have no hair!!! Our dorm is doing beard growing month where the guys all shave their faces and see who can grow the best beard by the end of the month... some guys shaved their heads too. After i said something along the lines of "i would never do shave my head anyother time in my life..." My RA already had his razor in hand and 50 guys were chanting my name. Peer pressure, being myself... call it what you want, but i couldn't let the crowd down and it was a once in a lifetime thing... so here i am... bald! Below is my roommate the first two years of college sporting the mohawk!

Awesome!

Surgery!

yep you guessed it
Next thursday February 10th is when i have surgery! I am supposed to be fully recovered in 4-6 months. That means i will have surgery on Thursday, come back to school on monday with crutches, and press on. Spring break trips are out of the schedule. On a lighter note...after doing the pushup plan, I just did 100 pushups straight for the first time ever!!! that's exciting! and Yes mom i left this picture up there since i know you love it so much!

Pushup Galore!!!!

Pushup Plan
My dorm,Hodson Hall, does a 2 week pushup plan that guarantees an inch on your chest by the end if you do it right. You max out on pushups sunday night and do a percentage of your max every however minutes for 16 hours of each day. Not only do you work out, but it builds community, and this year we are even getting sponsored for every pushup we do. We will end up raising at least $5000 for the Tsunami relief by the end. It ended today... Thank goodness because i don't like pushups anymore!!! here is what i did:
Sunday50
Monday280
Tuesday 400
Wednesday640
Thursday208
Friday736
Saturday384
Sunday180
Monday448
Tuesday1584
Wednesday1152
Thursday624
Friday448
Saturday432
Sunday120
Totaling:7686

I'm important!!!

this makes me smile
I have always said i would be something when i make iwu propoganda! hahaha They have all these pictures of different good looking students on every wall and every magazine and i was beginning to feel left out. So when i finally was in the IWU triangle for going on the china trip: It was amazing... It was kind of like Mike Wazowski on Monsters Inc.: "I don't believe it...(in utter shock)...I was on TV!" SO in my case, (Despite the fact that i am in the back and this is silly picture of me) I was thinking "I don't believe it...... I made IWU propoganda!
Disclaimer: If anyone is offended by the word "propoganda", I'm sorry, you can replace this word with any of the following words: material, pictures, your mom! jk

I'm not slacking

Prof 3!
I am focusing my concentration problems so i can be more effective! I hope you enjoy this at my expense. :)

DONE FOR!!!

So i tore my ACL in my knee... that means surgery in a month or so and approximately 6 months of rehab! I am walking around great right now, but will be out soon enough. I was telling Steve A(my roommate) that God had a purpose for all of this and that God was probably trying to get me to slow down and teach me just like when i had surgery on my hand. His Response: You better hope you get it right this time or the next time you are going to be a parapallegic. :) Steve, always knows just what i need to hear! hahaha. I think the only appropriate thing to do now is to play "Survivor" by destiny's child. I'll keep on keepin on'. Lord willing of course! :)

Keep on Keepin on

Yea for Trace

Trace
Trace just called to say he had a great day... Just imagine this... a sophomore in college finally got a job he wants coaching a major high school's guy's volleyball team. He will get paid decent too. Praise God and thats a good day in and of itself. After that he went to the beach where the waves were HUGE(10footers)! He took some pictures of the waves for me since we are both surfers. He didn't have a board to go out so he just sat on Mission Beach throwing a tennis ball around watching this majestic waves crash. Beautiful. After that he met some girls as he was taking pictures of the beach and he found out that they might be Christians... do i have to mentioned that he was absolutely stoked when he called me. He had a great day but the thing that made me most excited was that at the end of the conversation, he was thanking the Lord for the experience and day! If there is one thing i have found and am still learning: it's that you can't fulfill your life by an experience or money or friends, but God, so he better be a part of what you are doing and who you are!!!

Update on the Bum knee

So i just saw a trainer(which means this is NOT certain without tests) but the consensus was not as good as i was hoping for... they said that i probably have a sprained MCL and possibly a torn ACL but i have to see a doctor first. Recovery Time: All i know is i was expecting 6 days and they said anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months! Go Figure!! But things are all in God's timing so it will work out! To lighten up the mood though, here is what i accomplished in class today!!!

Another Prof
No really, despite popular rumors i actually do learn stuff in class!

Messed Up!!!

This morning at my church league basketball game, I MESSED SOMEONE UP! One of their players was dribbling around a defender and going for a lay up and i saw my chance... i soared like i never soared before, timed the shot perfectly, and PINNED this guys layup against the backbaord. It was aMAZing on the way up! Then i got MESSED UP on the way down from the block. i landed on my left leg and it buckled inward. They say it's just a strain and nothing is broken, but it hurts like crazy! They say that if the swelling doesn't go down and the pain ease up, i might have to set up an appointment for an MRI to see if any ligaments are torn. But let's get serious... am i really that accident prone.... am i going to overexaggerate stuff?... YOU KNOW IT! I'll be okay with a little time and sympathy from the girls. Just kidding! Maybe God just wanted me to slow down for one reason or another. Que sera sera. And for those guys who were wondering... no we did not win the game :)

Back at School

Since i more lazy and inactive this Christmas than ever... I was ready to get to work when i got back to school. But not that much work. I have all upperlevel classes and a C.S. Lewis class where i already have to read 2 books by next Friday!!! ANd if you know me, that's insane to ask of me. I'm growing up and gonna have to be more disciplined since i really do want to learn the information in each of my classes this semester. I know... some of you are getting scared that i am getting way too serious, so here is proof i am not. This is a little picture of my profs that i drew to compensate for my attention deficit disorder(not really but maybe.) I am not going to say her name to save embarrassment from my poor doodling skills

One of my teachers

So Disappointed!!!

THE CHARGERS LOST
I was up and down the whole game!!! We lost at the end of the game... and then there was a penalty... and we scored and got the toss... then punted it... then got it back and went for the winning field goal... and LOST!!! I was exhausted by the end of the game! I think Michael Lieberknecht in the picture below felt the same way!

Janelle and Michael
I picked Michael and his girlfriend Janelle up from the airport on the way back to school. Due to the nasty snow storms in Marion and power being lost, they stayed at our house in Plymouth for a night. Talking to them makes me feel like i am back home.

The Down-low on Christmas Fun

Christmas picture
Christmas was a blast! Here was the classic family picture where you had to find a nice place to take a picture and then find a picture where everyone looks good... Good times!
1st week: Kelly came in and we did a lot of Christmas shopping since i hadn't done any prior to this
Christmas day: Brandon and Jen came in and stayed for four days completing the family time. Here are some Christmas day pictures

Jen and B opening presents

My wrapping job on brandon's gift
TO make up for my wrapping skills or lack there of i make visually stimulating packages so that the receiver is so enthralled and dumbfounded by my randomness that they totally disregard the terrible wrapping job. This is Brandon's person wrapping job!

Marshmellow guns are fun
My mom got my day, brandon, and i these plastic guns that you can shoot marshmellows out of them... It was War!!! :)

Kelly likes my style of playing cards
We played a lot of family games(cards, Balderdash, Boggle, etc.) Good times. This picture below is Brandon getting caught in mid throw.

brandon pegging me
Brandon Jennifer and Kelly all left on Thursday
The Last week was PAINFUL!!!(keep in mind i don't like going to the dentist)
Monday: got wisdom teeth pulled
Tuesday: played basketball
Wednesday: got in grown toenail pulled
Thursday: got a tooth mold from dentist
Friday: Got stitches from wisdom teeth pulled out

It is truly better to give than receive

My dad's gift
My Favorite Gift was this picture that i blew up and put in a frame for my dad.

New Year's Resolutions!

This picture has nothing to do with the subject... i used my brother in law to get your attention!

There is just something about making goals and accomplishing goals that i love. I also think it is important to make goals so that we can keep our focus on God. Take into consideration 1 Corinthians 9:24,26-27

"24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." So as you make goals and start a new year keep your focus on the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed(Proverbs 16:3).
Here are a my quick 2005 goals:
Physical:
Run
Whiten Teeth
Develop Waking up Habits

Mental:
Read 5 Books for fun this year
Better Studying Habits

Spiritual:
Read through Bible in year with Brandon Bruce
Consistent Prayer Time

Social:
Watch the minimum TV without someone else there

Emotional:
Get Consistency before Sanity!
Develop Family

Fun:
Start to Learn break dancing
Flip on to feet from back
Dunk in a game
Sled down roof
Surf on Lake Michigan
Shovel sidewalks

I Love New Year's Day

Primo's baptism
There is something about a new start that is amazing. Here is my Dad baptizing Primo who was being shipped over seas to serve our county in a few days. Praise the Lord for a fresh start.