SOOOOO READY TO BE DONE!!!

Hey there friends. I am not going to lie, the semester is coming to an end, and I could not be more excited. School is just so long and tireing. I know that so many people say that when you get out of school you want to go back. I know that it is probably just me being young and naive. But i am ready to be done. Don't get me wrong. I love college. I love the experience i am getting here, and all of the amazing people i am meeting. I am loving staying up late, and doing random things. I love not having that much money and wondering how i am going to eat the next day because i spent my money on something that is completely pointless. I love all of that stuff. BUT..... I hate waking up and going to a class and hearing a professor ramble on about non sense for an hour. I hate having the pressure of getting a good grade because that is what defines your life. I hate all of that supid crap. I hate sitting in class and stareing at the clock and watching it tick by so slow. I hate dealing with stupid advisors that dont really have any good adivce for you. I hate all of that stuff. So i cant wait to be done with that. After going to school for the majority of my life, i am ready to move on. I am ready to get a job, and start persueing things i am really passionate about. Lets face it, i am not that pssionate about school. I am ready to buy a house, and hopefully start a family one day. I am ready to see new challanges that God is going to have me face. I am just ready for that next phase of my life. Thanks for listening to me ramble on about how i hate teachers that ramble on. lol. 

In Christ....

Lets go prune some stuff

Prune (verb) - Trim by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, esp. To increase fruitfullness and growth. 

There are so many things in my life that are preventing my fruitfullness, and growth. I have kept grudges. I have held onto things in the past. I have continued to walk in the ways of the wicked. I have constantly turned my back on Jesus. I have said things that i should not even think about. There is so much stuff that i must cut away so i can grow, and bare fruit. 

Pride, Greed, Selfishness, Lust, Gossip, Judging, Lieing, Coveting. These are just a few examples of things in my life that i need to cut off. Think of how much these 8 things can hinder my relationship with God. Not only with God but with my friends, and family as well. If you think that cutting these things out of your life will only help your relationship with Jesus then you are comepletely wrong. If you are able to cut these things off then your relationships with all of those around you will flourish. That is the most amazing thing about being a christian. If we are able to focous all of what we are on Jesus our lives would be so much easier, and less hectic and stressful. The reason why our lives are filled with so much pain, and suffering is because there is so much that needs to purned. We wont let go of those dead parts of us. We want to hang onto them. In reality if we cut them off we will be more beautiful, and at rest than ever. 

So is there anything in your life that needs to be cut off? If so give it to the Lord. Cut it off and let something new and beautiful grow in you. 

Lets Recap

The semester is winding down and i am so glad that it is almost over. I have had so much fun hanging out with friends and building relationships this semester. But i have not had that much fun sitting in endless lectures about stuff i am sure to never remember for the rest of my life. So much has happened this semester. It is always fun to take a few seconds and look back and remember all those good times. 

When i first arrived here i moved into a new apartment complex. All my friends were so close by and i knew that it was the begining of some very fun times. Playing tons of ultimate frisbe. Talking about music. Just hanging out. It was all such good times. We started the year off right with a huge dance party. Who doesn't love a dance party. We beat the number 8 team in the nation in football and were nationaly ranked 14th in the country (that didn't last long). It was fun talking about the chance of going to a BCS bowl(even if it was just for a week) Football was huge at ECU and the campus could not stop talking about it. It was an awesome feeling. 

Young life was starting up and it was awesome to get back out to the highschool and to start building those realtionships with highschool kids once again. It is always a challange, and it will always be a challange. I have loved it. Planning clubs where i get up in front of kids and they laugh at me and i fee like an idiot. It is always a great time. I love seeing those kids smile, and leave club and hopefully learning something about Jesus. We took some kids to rock bridge for fall camp and it was a great time. God is working on the hearts of so many of those kids, and it is such a bliessing to be a part of it. 

Dating heather has been great. It has for sure challanged me in new ways, and made me grow stronger in my faith. It continues to remind me how imperfect i am, and how selfless i need to be to follow my Lord and savior. I never thought being in a realtionship could teach you so much about how to follow Jesus. It makes perfect sense though becase a realtionship between a man and a women should be as much like a relationship between Jesus and you as possible. You must sacrifice alot of yourself to help build up the other person. It has been a great experience. God has continued to bless Heather and I's realtionship. It has been hard at times with school, friends, and younglife. But We continue to put God first, and when there are difficult times he has always helped us through them. It is so awesome to have a realtionship that is focoused on bringing glory to God. I have loved every second of it. 

Sundays have been great. I have bounced around from church to church wich sometimes can be frustrating. but i have had many different experiences and i am positive that they have all helped me. God uses so many tools to help you grow, and i am sure he is using that in my life in some way.

There was great news this semester that Sam McSpaden is going to be coming back to join us next semester. I could not be more excited. Freshmen year was so great. I am going to love talking to him about politics, and all of the good stuff we used to talk about freshmen year. Sam has been a big part of my college experience, and i am glad to have him back in it. 

I have formed an amazing bond with 7 of my close guy friends. We have continued to meet every wednesday and discuss deep theological issues, and how God has impacted our lives. We have continued to grow with one another, and make comitments to pray and encourage one another. It has been a blessing and God has truly been at work in the lives of my friends and I. Building a community with those guys has been great and i am so lucky to have such great friends. 

Thanksgiving is coming up, and then its off to disney world for christmas break. I am sure that i will have more stories as my life continues on. Late nights, crazy dance parties, Jesus, young life, tennis, old friends, and a girlfriend have all contributed to an amazing college experience and i am excited to see where the next year and half takes me!!!

Sam McSpaden

Well a good friend of mine came into town this weekend for a visit. Good ol sam bo. It was awesome getting to see him. It took me back to the days of freshmen year when we would watch movies in the dorms and try to get on each other's nerves as much as possible. We would always talk about politics. I never knew what i was talking about but i would just argue for the fun of it. Those were great times. 

It warms my heart to know that sam is coming back to ECU next semester. It will be fun times all over again. It was great to see him and talk to him this weekend. I was pretty busy so i did not get to see him as much as i would have liked. But it is ok because i am sure we will be hanging out alot next semester. 

Sam is one of the coolest people i have met. I love just chillin with him and laughing with him about stuff. He is also one of the smartest people i have met. That kid knows so much about politics it is ridiculous. Sam it was awesome seeing you and i can't wait to build more memories with you. HOLLER

Growth

Over these past months i have learned alot about life, relationships (with friends, a girlfriend, and God), and about Christianity. One thing that i am learning is that no matter what you never stop growing. You are either growing closer or farther away from someone or something. You are always growing spirtually weather you realize it or not. You are always growing physically. You are always growing in your knowledge. No matter what you are growing in something. 

The reason why i started to think about growth, and i why i wanted to write something about it is because of something my good friend Bryan Oakley said. 

Bryan said:  "The more we grow to be like Christ, the more we realize that we are sinful, and dirty"  

That was such a crazy realization for me. I guess i kind of realized it a while back but for someone to actually verbalize it and say it to me hit me pretty hard. It it so crazy that the more and more i get closer to Christ, and the more i become like him the more i realize that i am so underserving of this reliegion, or that i am not even worthy to be his servent. It is really hard sometimes because i am constantly judgeing myself and looking at myself and saying that i am so bad. The beautiful thing about it is that God has had grace on me so i can be his servent and i can follow after him. 

Parts of me at time get really annoyed with how dirty and sinful i am. I hurt  people i dont want to hurt. I say things i dont want to say. I do things i dont want to do. I let that awful sin creep out of me and affect the people i care about and love. The more i strive to be better it seems the more i have to work on. Not one day have i gotten up and said it is easy to follow christ today. I guess part of that is because i keep becoming more like him so i keep seeing more and more wrong with me. 

While part of me gets really annoyed there is another part that absolutely loves it. I get to face a challange everyday. I get to try to defeat the devil in some way every day. Do i fail? Of course, i fail all the time. But do i win? Yes i do sometimes, and its those moments that make the challanges worth it. Yes the times of failure greatly out weigh the times of victory. But the times of victory or so much more sweeter than the sorrow that comes with defeate. 

Will i wake up tomorrow and realize there is something else that is wrong with me, and that there is another part of me that needs to be purned? Of course there will be. But i welcome that challange gladly. God has challanged me so much and i have grown so much because of it. 

Thanks for all who read this i dont know if it has as many followers as it did before but if you still read i appreciate it. 

Nostalgic

Back in the day Phil and I began our musical journy together. Listening to certain CD's just take me back to the times we usd to sit out side and write songs about whatever was on our hearts. Music is something that ties phil and i together in a way that is not shared by most people. Our times that we spent together that revolved around music will be memoreis that i will never forget and will always hold on too. When we used to play together it didnt matter if there were 2 people there or 350 people. We always had a blast and always went out and acted crazy. We would spend hours on end fantasizing about how we would play warped tour and 1000's of people would listen to our words and sing along with us. Every time i pick up a drum stick and sit down behind a drum kit i remember those amazing times. Every time i put in emery the weeks end, or underoath their only chasing safty i think back to those great times. Sing aloing with matt pryor and the get up kids. Listening to dashboard in the minivan at birkdale. All amazing times. My dreams are still alive and maybe one day people will sing along with phil and I. Maybe we will share the stage once more and the lights will be on us and we will pour our hearts out for a auidance that is willing to listen. I still love playing music with phil and i will never want to share the stage with someone as much as him. It doesnt matter if there is a better singer, or better guitar player, or if there is a better drummer. The point is that when phil and I get on stage it means so much to us, and there is something about it. I love it and will never change it. 

Love ya phil. Lets continue to build those memories. 

All you need is love.....

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

As humans we desire it, we want it, we crave it, we need it. We see love in our frindships. In our reltionships. In our marriages. Every where we are looking for it. Love is such a great thing and it is something that is given to us as a gift. It is crazy as humans how we want to be loved, and to love so much. It is something that i think every one runs on, and every one desires. 

God loves us so much and wants us to love him. He has showed us unconditional love and is always going to forgive us no matter how much we screw up. God is so great and love us so much. So all we need is love, and God is going to give it to us. 

An Update.

Well hello there friends out there in the in the blogger world. I have not written in a good while and i am in my philosophy class so i figured what better way to kill time than to write in my blog.

ECU is going good. School is hard, and boreing, and long, and  strenuous. But hey its going to help me in the long run so i cant complain. LOL. Im sure that you have seen the pirates with two huge victories on the football field this year. It just sucks that we then loose to teams like NC state, and Houston. So pretty much the season is a huge let down. Its ok though i am a pirate for life. So ECU pride all the way. BLEED PURPLE AND GOLD. 

Young life is going good. A couple of times things have been rough. But hey challanges are only going to make us better. It is hard getting out to the school, trying to get kids to sign up for camp, getting kids to come to club. There is just so much stuff that you have to do and it wears you down. But when you get those kids that come up and give you a hug and say it is so good to see you it is all worth it. 

Friends are awesome. I keep building stronger bonds with people i know that are going to be in my life forever. It is so awesome having deep relationships and being able to talk about things that matter. Being able to get together and talk about God, and talk about our troubles, and hardships. But to also get together and lift each other up. A group of my guy friends meet once a week and pray for each other, encourge each other, talk about our trials, our goals, and our motivs. It is so awesome. God is so great and having friends that want to lift his name up with you is so awesome. 

Things with Heather are great. We are always growing together, and growing closer to God. Having a girl in my life that loves the Lord more than she will ever love me is such a blessing. I see God in her life every day and it is so great. The more i am with her the more i realize that i am not attracted to her, but i am attracted to the presence of God in her. Having someone who can encourge you and pray for you and share in converstaions with you about the Lord is such a blessing and i thank God every day for Heather. 

God is great. Loving him is the best thing ever. He has blessed me so much and continues to bless me daily. I am not worthy to be his servent, i am not worthy to do his work but he allows me to do that. He allows me to call myself a christian and to call my self a follower of Jesus. By keeping him at the forefront of my life he has blessed me in so many way. I am not saying that my life has been a cake walk. Actually it has become alot harder the more and more i give to Jesus. The more i give to him the more he challanges me. He keeps telling me.... Michael you are doing great, but you can be better so here is another challange. I love that. I love that he is challenging me every day. It is hard, and sometimes i get frustrated. But i have to know that i am going to be better because of it. 

Enjoy your life, and live it in a way that is pleasing to your Lord. 

Love you guys. 

A Journey

It has been two months since heather and I started to date. Most people see two months as not a big deal. To me every day is a big deal. Every day i am learning more about heather on a deeper level. She is learning about me on a deeper level. The journy has been great so far and i have learned alot about relationships, life, and God. 

Since i have started dating heather i have had rely on God more and more. I love that. Our relationship challanges us to be better people, and to be better christians. It is so great that we are being challanged and that it is not necessarily something that does not call us to something higher. Being a christian is hard for sure. But the walk of being in a christian reltionship is even harder. Being a young life leader, a full time student, a good friend, a good boy friend, and a devote christian is hard. There is nothing easy about it. But i have leanred that the best things in life are stuff you have to be challanged about, and stuff that you have to fight for. If things come easy and you dotn have to work for them then what is the point. Where is the reward. The great thing about being a christian is that there is always something to work on. There is always some way you can better yourself. Sometimes its frustrating. But i am glad its like that. Because i will never get tired of feeling the reward for something i have worked so hard to achieve. 

God is great and has blessed me so much. I see him every day more and more. Friends, family, and even random people i meet. I see God in some way. I am so thankful for heather and I i have grown so much in Christ because of the way she has challanged me. I see Working through her all the time, and she has helped me in so many ways. My journey as a christian is never easy but it has never been more fullfilling and rewarding and i am excited to see where it is going to go in the future. 

Caught up in the flesh.

Being a Christian is an awesome journy, but no one said that it was easy. So many times people look at Christian and think say that "they have it easy" or "they dont understand anything". Statements like these are ridiculous. We for sure no what is going on, and we for sure dont have it easy. 

Walking the life that we are called to walk takes courage, strength, and most of all faith. We are called to stand up for what we belive in, and face challanges head on. We should not turn away from them like cowards. Confroting situations is hard. No one likes to do it. But that is what we are called to do sometimes. We are called to have strength and not back down from hard situations. We need to stand firm in what we believe in. We need to not bend on certain subjects and have the will power to withstand temptation. And above all we need to have faith. There are going to be times when we fall short.  When we fall. But we need to have faith in our Lord that he will bring us back out of that darkness. He will lead us, and guide us hand in hand with him. We are human it is going to happen. Is that to say that we should not strive for perfection..... NO. We are called to strive for that. But when we do fall we need to rely on him. We dont need to dwell on our sins because we are fogiven. It is hard. We get caught up in our fleshly desires. But that is not what we want. We are designed for much, much more. Struggles and temptaions are going to come our way, and we are going to fall. But it is how we deal with the sin that is going to define us as Christians. 

Everlasting Beauty

I wanted to write today because i feel the urge to share something that is always on my heart. Its something that takes my breath away daily. It has impacted my life in so many ways and will continue to do so for all eternity. I am talking about the Everlasting Beauty that is Jesus Christ. 

I have grown so much this summer in my reltionship with Christ. I look back and realize that this summer has been so different and blessed in so many different ways. I realize that this has been the best summer of my life. I have grown closer to friends, i have gotten to go to alaska and see beauty that some people only dream to see, i have become closer to family,  i have an amazing girl in my life. But above all i am closer to my Lord and Savior. I have grown my leaps and bounds this summer. Every year i feel like i have grown. But this summer i feel like i grew up and that my love for my Father in heaven is greater than ever. I have delt with plaguing sins and i now realize that my Father has cast them away. They will never return to me again. 

I am a weak coward. I dont deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Jesus Christ. I dont deserve to wash his feet. At the site of temptation, or hardships i run away and hide. But with my father guiding me, and me standing by his side i am transformed. I stand tall. I am brave and courageous. He makes me a man. He makes me what i am meant to be. If i live for him i feel amazing. I feel like darkness will never touch me. The strength that runs through my veins is so powerful. God is truly amazing. He has brought me out of dark places and has welcomed my back with open arms. I have betrayed him many times and he has cried because of it, but he will never forsake me. 

I am so underserving. It brings me to my knees sometimes and i feel so dirty, and disgusting. But God does not look at me in that light. He lifts me up. I need him, i want him, i lean on him. He is my rock and my salvation. He hass carried me to the table and put me where i dont belong. He is truly amazing. 

This is the everlasting beauty that i am talking about. It is what i am so passionate about. It takes my breath away, and brings me to my knees. He is so beautiful. He has stolen my heart. He holds my hand and comforts me. I see him every day. His grace is so amazing. My God is so beautiful and powerful and wonderful. I love my God, i will love him forever. 

"I lift my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed he who watches over Israeli will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.----Psalm 121

Bryan Oakley is AMAZING!!

Today i was in Charlotte all day. Bryan has been staying at my house this week because he is working at a tennis camp. So he stays over due to gas. I came home from my day in Charlotte. I came up stairs and sat down in my usual seat and got on my laptop. Then bryan said hey i got something for you. I want you to read this. Then he gave me a sheet of paper and on it was the following....

Within my book of memoreis

Are special thoughts of you

And all the many nice things

You often say and do 

As i turn the pages

And recall each single thought,

I realize the happiness

That knowing you has brought 

This book is filled with magic

That only you can make

Our friendship is magic

Something that will never break

As this book is written

With many good times to come

Each page makes us stronger

And soon our friendship will bench 468 lbs

Even when somebody treats me like the Roman Emperor Nero

I know that i can always come to you, my guitar hero

The friendship that we have is a supernatural bond, and it is....

Go look under the guest bed. 

So i then proceded to go to the guest bedroom. I bet down and pulled up the bed skirt. I looked under and i saw something amazing. It was a freaking JOHNNY CUPCAKES BOX!! I was so excited. I grabed the box and went back down the hall and opened it up. It was s shirt that i mentioned i liked a long time ago. He remembered and purchased it for me. If you want to view it go to www.johnnycupcakes.com and look at the shirt with the blue monster behind the fence. I was so excited. 

Bryan is an awesome friend and im so thankful that he is in my life. I can always come to him for advice, and talk about issues with him. Every day i thank God that he is such a good friend to me. I have known him since Sophmore year of highschool and plan on knowing him the rest of my life. 

Thanks Bryan Oakley for all the good times, and memories. 

RECORDING!!!!!

What is up my dear friends, and readers of my blog. There has not been alot going on recently. I am kinda just chillin out and waiting to go back to the great university of ECU. That is partly why i have not been blogging recently. But i am actually doing something really awesome right now and that is why i have decided to blog. Becuase i have something that is worth blogging about. 

I am actually in Conover NC and i am in the studio recording a demo with some awesome friends. Phil, has been writing some music recently. We got together and practiced and came up to the studio with jason piland and tyler dunlap to lay down a couple of demos. Recording has gone great. I think who ever chooses to listen will enjoy the music. It is alot more listener friendly than our old stuff that we used to play. I think those who listen that used to hear phil and I play our older stuff will be quite suprised at the change.

The band is known as making history. It is a pretty cool little project. Lyrics are pretty insightful, and it is good music to just sit back and chill and listen. We will have a myspace up soon and there will be demos up, Pics, and a video that is documenting the recording. So be on the look out for it. 

Thanks for reading, and sorry that i have not posten in a while. LOVE AND HUGS!!

God??? A wuss??? SHOOT!!! YOU CRAZY!!!!

Hey there friends. I just want to say that this has been a great weekend, and good times. Friends have came and visited and it was so good to see everyone. I enjoyed every second of it. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with awesome people in my life. It is great to have people surounding you that can you build you up, and make you a stronger person. 

So anyway. I am sure that you are wondering about the title of my blog tonight. Well I was doing my devotional and it was talking about God being a lamb, and a lion. And it just made me start to think about how many times that we see God in a light that he is so loving and careing. And he is certainly all of those wonderful things, and it is awesome that he is that. BUT!! At the same time he is a lion. And we forget that as well. 

I was reading in the book of revelation. I mean you usually dont read in that book but the devotional that i am doing directed me in that direction. AND IT WAS AWESOME!!! It had all these verses showing me that God is indeed a lion. Let me just quote a verse for you.

Revelation 14:9-11

   A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and recieves his mark on the forehead, or on the hand , he too, will drink of the wine of Gods fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tourmented with burning sulfer in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their tourment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who recieves the mark of his name."

WOW!!! I mean it doesnt sound like God is playing any games. I mean He pretty much is showing us that he hates sin, and hates the devil and look what happens if you follow him. Not only will you sufer but God himself will stand be side the edge of the lake of fire and you watch you in tourment. I mean pretty epic. God is indeed Epic. I like how it doesnt describe him as a lion when he is standing and watching. It describes him as a Lamb. I mean Imagine what he must be like when he is a Lion. 

All i know is that im glad my God is EPIC!!! Im so glad that my God doesnt play games. So next time someone says that your God is weak. Or says that he never shows anger. You might want to take them to this passage and let them see how freaking Epic your God really is. 

Mike is the coolest ever...

Hello, all. 

This is Sandy in place of Michael Stemler. Let me tell you, we just had the most awesome weekend ever at his casa in Concord. 

Heather, Laura, Quinny, Ythol, Yaron, Andy, and I all came down from Raleigh to hang out with Mike before the summer ended. Last year, some of us did the same thing and visited Mike and went to Carowinds and since it was so much fun, we did it again this year. 

We drove down yesterday and had a beautiful dinner of enchilladas and dump cake. Baller. It's so much fun with everyone being together. Basically, we have the best group of friends in the history of mankind. No joke.

Today we got up early to head to the wonderful land of Carowinds. We spend all day running around the park, taking silly pictures, going on roller coasters, screaming our hearts out, and venturing to the water park. Needless to say, we left exhausted. After a few naps and showers, Aaron and Baird arrived to hang out with us for a few hours, being so close to the area. We had some great food at Foster's Grill. Lots of good times. Tomorrow's church then we head home. 

Thanks for the fabulous weekend, great food, and good times at su casa, Mike. I speak for everyone when I say, we love you lots and lots. You are awesome. 

:)

Three Kings

So let me frist start out by saying that I had an amazing weekend. I got to go to Raleigh and see my Heather. Every moment i spend with her i feel like God keeps strengthening our relationship. Keeping God at the center of our relationship is a huge priority to both of us. I am so thankful for that. I know that if he remains the center and we both grow close to him while we grow closer together God will bless our relationship in ways we never imagined. I loved spending time with Heather this weekend and being a goober face. I got to meet her amazing friends, and dine at the great establishment known as good berrys. I got to go to church with her and her family and that was great. So thanks Heather for a great weekend. 

Today I was talking to my good friend blake oakley. I told him that i was looking for a good devotional and some good books to read until the end of the summer. I thought that he was just going to write some stuff down for me to look at. I came downstairs and he had three books for me. He said that i could boorrow them for as long as i needed too.

These are the three books that blake gave me to read. My utmost for my highest by oswald chambers is a daily devotional. Seeing and Savoring Christ by john piper is another devotional that you could do daily but is pretty in depth and is filled with refrences to verses in the Bible. A tale of three kings is a really easy read and is written as a play. It helps relate to brokeness and how we as christians have to go through pain and suffering. I am so excited to read all of these books. I began reading them all today and it was great. So i sugest that if you are looking for some good books to read you should check out these books. 

MY MOM IS MY SUPER HERO!!!!

I found this new band, and saw them at warped tour. They have an awesome song. So i wanted to blog it. This one goes out to my mommy. LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

She opens up my bedroom door

She's waking me up soon

"I'm turning on the light" She warns

Its the little things that you do

She's the one that starts my day

my dear mom..... my comforter

my friend forever 

when life's right or wrong

she is also my laughter 

yet my shoulder to cry on

my mom is my super hero

my mom is my world

all out of gas no place to go

she knows just what ill say

she turns and laughs and opens up her purse

and gives enough for the week

she didnt have to give but she did

thats just the kind of women she is

love. she is love

my dear mom

my mom is my super hero 

my mom is my world

love is the action that she shows me often

even when it is not in her kisses

blessed with a mom who puts herself after her childred

it doesnt get much better than priceless

my mom is my super hero

my mom is my world.

www.myspace.com/betweenthetrees

"You Shine girl, oh you know you shine!"

Well all i have to say is that i have had a great weekend. Thusday night Heather Leigh Carnahan came to my house for the weekend. I have been looking forword to her visit for quite sometime. She arrived at my house and brought my grandma a milkshake. She met good old wayne, and barb. I have to say that my parentes loved her. It was awesome. After the introduction we sat down and ate dinner with the family and all that jazz. We then went upstairs later on in the night and watched sound of music with barb, and wayne. We sung along to all the songs and acted like goobers. It was awesome. We then went on a little walk and then went to sleepy land because we had a big day in store for tomorrow. 

We woke up and we went out to cracker barrel for breakfast. It was awesome. I love that place (not as much as cookout). After that we then went over to my dads work and took a tour around. He showed heather all of his killamanjaro pictures. My dad is a goon. After the great time at Hendrick we then went back to the house and got ready for our white water adventure. We arrived at the white water center and took a walk around the whole place. It was a great time. It was then raft time. Our guides name was Craig, and he was a starwars nerd. It was pretty funny. He was flirting with heather a little bit so i almost punched him in the face. HAHA JK JK...... But seriously. Anyway it was an awesome time. After our adventure it was off to our next event. 

We drove down to charlotte and went to southpark mall. I took heather to the Cheese Cake factory for dinner. She has never been there, and loves cheesecake so i wanted to take her there. We had a great dinner, and great converstaion. We then walked around the mall for a little bit and looked at alot of stuff that we couldnt afford. After the mall i asked heather if she had ever seen downtown charlotte. She said that she had not. So i decided to take her down there and walk around dontown charlotte. I have never been there at night. It was really pretty. We walkd around and had awseome conversation. 

After walking around Charlotte we then went back to concord. Heather and I then went on a walk. There is this pretty cool place in my neighborhood so i took her up there. There is like this gazebo deal and this pond. I wrote her a letter and i read it to her telling her how i felt about her, and about us. After all that i asked her to be my girlfriend. And then she said yes. It was a great time. 

The next day it was lake day. We drove over to mooresville and went to hollys house. We got to chill with all of my good old highschool friends. I loved it. I mean the lake is awesome, and being with heather just made it even more awesome. We all went to chilis for dinner. It was a good time. Who doesnt love chilis. I mean they have awesome blossems. THERE EXTRA AWESOME!! After that we then played some cheezy mind games. It was funny seeing people not able to figure them out. After that we came back to the house and watched The old disney movie Hercules. Loved it. We stayed up and chated for a good while. 

the next day we woke up and went out to lunch. After lunch time we had a devotional together. I just have to say that im so glad that heather and I make it a priority that everytime we are together we get in Jesus time with each other. It has helped out in so many ways. We then shared with each other, and spent some time praying for each other. After our Jesus time we went to see a movie with mom and dad, and then went to dinner. 

After dinner it was time for heather to leave. It sucked. I didnt want her to go. It was super sad to see her leave. But our time together was so great. I am so greatful that heather is in my life. I know that it was planned out by God. He has brought me someone who challanges me in so many ways. She has helped me grow closer to God and i am so greatful for that. 

Heather Carnahan, "you shine girl, oh you know you shine!" : )

Step up to the challange.

Today i had an amazing 5 minute conversation with a dear friend of mine Daniel Thomas. We didnt talk for long but it inspired this blog, and inspired the thoughts im about to write down. I look up to that man so much, and to hear him say things that he said to me, and about me really meant alot. So thank you Daniel for everything you have done for me. 

So many times we get on spirtual highs. We are living the good life. We feel like nothing can get us down. We are reading the bible everyday. Our deepest sins and addicitons dont seem to have any effect on us. There is no doubt about it. When you are on a spirtual high there seems like nothing can get you down. But we all know that there is an another side. 

It is inevitable. We will hit that rut. That hole that seems like it has no end. We keep falling, and falling. It may not be that we are giving into our addicitons. It could be a situation that we are. A time of hardship. And suddenly we seem so far from God. Its hard to find one on one time with Jesus. Were suddenly "too busy for that". Suddenly we find ourselves sleeping in on sunday mornings. Then to top it all off we say to God. Why are you doing this to me? I dont deserve this im a good person. We think God has totally forgotten about us. When the truth is we have forgotten about him. 

There are so many times that i have asked God why i have to go through this stuff in my life. I remember thinking that i will never get out of this hole, and that it seemed so dark. After looking back on these situations, and times of hardships i realized God was challenging me. He was putting me to the test. Think back to when you had to face something and you didnt think you could ever get out of that hole. Think how much you have learned from that time, and how much better you are because of it.

God is always challanging us. He wants us to be something great. Think of all the bible stories about the Israelites in these battles greatly out numberd. Think of David and Goliath. They steped up to there challanges and became something great. As a great author said "dont you want to be William Wallace, or Maximus from gladiator." Dont you want to be noble and heroic? Dont you want to be great? Well you can. God wants us to be like that. These challanges make us better people, and better christians. So next time it seems like it cant get any worse. Think about the challange in front of you and rise up and freaking punch saten in the face. Show him that you are strong enough to withstand him. Because you walk with the ultimate warrior, the ultimate hero. You walk hand in hand with God Almighty.  

Jeremiah 46:3-4

"Prepare your shields both large and small and march out for battle! Harness the horses mount the steeds! Take your position with helmets on! Polish your spears! Put on your armor! "

AND PREPARE FOR GLORY!!!

Crickets in Stereo

The past few days have been slow. I have not had much to do other than sit around, fold laundry, and watch movies on HBO all the time. I watched this phat movie tonight called smoking aces. It was way better than expected. Crazy twist at the end. So i sugest you watch it. After the move i was feeling super lazy and i wanted to fix that. So i went on a night time run. 

I have not been a night run in a while. It was really enjoyable. I ran around my neighborhood and there was this cool spot by a pond so i sat down and just chilled for a while. All i could hear were crickets chirping in the back ground. It was really peaceful. I just took the time to think about certain things, and to pray to God. I have been neglecting my one on one time with Jesus latley so it was good to have a conversation with him. As i sat and enjoyed the peacefulness i couldnt help but think back to this song called Crickets in Stereo.

 

Back in the day when i started on my musical journey Phil and I stumbled across this band by the name of Forever in Motion (www.myspace.com/foreverinmotion). I just remeber listening to this song by them and loving it. It always reminded me of summer nights and great times as a kid. It took me back. I will never forget all those summer spent just chillin as a kid, and i will never forget all the good times i have had with phil listening to music. 

Crickets in Stereo 

Take me out to those summer nights

When i was just a little boy five years old

Lay down in the back yard and listen to crickets in stereo 

With a gental wind and whispering trees

The man in the moon similing down on you and me

and the fireflies all dancing to the sweetes serenades

Let me take you back to those summer nights

When we were just little ones five years old. 

We'll lay out by the swingset in the back yard

Listen to crickets in stereo

I will take your hand through the shade of the trees

As moonlight through the branches beams down on you and me

and the fireflies all dancing to the sweetest serenades. 

Good friend, Good times.

The past couple of days i have been hanging out with old friends and thinking back on old times, and just enjoying the awesome summer weather. On thursday i woke up and drove over to the great town of Troutman NC to meet up with phil, bryan, and blake. We were going to spend the day on the lake. When you get 4 awesome guys together and go out on the lake it is sure to be a great time. 

We went to the boat launch ramp and proceded to put the boat in the water. It was the first time Phil has gotten to take the boat out without his parents. So we felt pretty privileged to take it out by ourselves. After we put the boat in we drove up to the north part of the lake. It is pretty chill up there. We go to ride around on the tube for a while and act like goof balls. It was fun times. Then we travaled back down to the state park and went wake boarding. Phil went out and tried to do some jumps and all that jazz. Blake tried for the first time and was able to get up. It was a great time. 

After that i headed over o the oakleys house hold. Allan cooked us some awesome burgers and hot dogs. I love cook out food. Its probablly the best thing ever. We then chilled and holly, britt, and bethany came over. We spent the night talking and just chillin out. Then Blake showed us some Anime it was a great time.  Phil is hooked on it. LOL. 

The next day was the 4th of july and the oakleys were having there big cook out. We got to eat BBQ. GAA SOOOOO GOOOOOD. it was awesome. We got to chill out all night and play games and catch up with tons of good friends. We played Volly ball and our team won the tournament. Were pretty baller. After the festivities we drove home and i was pretty tired. But I  had a blast chillin with everyone. 

Heather is coming in like 6 days. Im excited. 

PIXAR ROCKS MY FACE!!!

Today was a good day. Not a face exciteing day by any means. But it was still awesome. 

I woke up and went downstairs and began to make certain arangements for Heathers visit in 2 weeks. I am super excited about her coming. I than began to work around the house. I had to move boxes, and clean off the porch. It was a good time. Sometimes just doing labor is good. You just think about stuff so thats what i did today. 

Later my mother and I went to the mall to get a picture i bought in alaska framed. Its such a phat picture. Its actually a painting but its only a print of the original. I couldnt afford the real one. After that we walked arond a little bit and just chilled. Then my mom got a phone call saying that their was someone that made an offer on our house on the lake. I was so excited. It has been stress city owning two houses so im so glad that someone finally wants to buy our other house. 

Tonight my sister and I went to see the Pixar film WALLE. 

It was simply amazing. It held my attention the whole time. It had everything in it. Pixar is such a great film making company. Every time i see their movies it makes me feel like a kid in world where we are suposed to grow up and be mature in. But a pixar movie just takes me back and feel like i can just sit and become completly emersed in a world of imagination, and enjoymment. I was free to let my mind wander and wonder. So thank you pixar for making me feel great. 

Side Note-- In the movie Walle the robot does what he is suposed to do every day. OVER AND OVER AND OVER. But inside he knows that there is more out there. There is some other purpous to life than collecting trash and forming it into little cubes. It just reminded me that we have a purpous, and sometimes we get caught up in the monotony of life. We become complacement and just settle for stuff. Just remember that we have a higher calling, and that we have a purpous to fullfil. 

Captivated (in more ways than one)

Today i started on a new book, Captivating. Its the girls version of Wild at Heart. It is basically a manual to the way a women works. So i sugest everyone read it. Girl of guy. 

I have learned alot in that book and im only at chapter three. God is indeed adventureous and he is indeed a risk taker. We always see God as this mans man up in heaven. Someone who is not afraid to go out and hunt down a wild beast. Certainly God is indeed all of those things. But we forget that he created beauty. Look around. The earth is full  of intracate details. There is beauty everywehre you look. And at the pinicle of beauty there is the "crown of all creation".... The Woman. We forget that God creat man AND women in his image. We see the other side of God when we look at women. careing, compassionate, loving, gental, protective, and wanting a relationship with us. With out women we would have no insight to the full aspect of God. I have to say that i am captivated. I am truly captivated.

That is just something that i read and thought about today while i was reading. So i wanted to share it with all of you readers who read this. God Bless and have a great day. 

Sunglasses don't shoot lasers

OH MY GOSH!!!! What a blog i have instore for you guys. Today was one of the best days summer thus far. So i can not wait to share with all of you who read this. 

I woke up today around 10. I was super tired had a late night the night before. It was all good though because i knew i was going to go to the lake today!!! Phil rolled over to Bryans house and we all hoped in our cars and started our journey over to Holly's house. On the ride down i listened to some epic hardcore music (the devil wears prada, and august burns red). Nothing like some breakdowns and screams to get your day started. We arrived at Holly's house and hoped out of the car and went into the house. 

When we passed through the threshold of the door we were greeted by some amazing people. Daniel, Sarah, Sydney, and Samual Thomas had come to enjoy the day with us. It was so great to see these awesome people. Daniel, and Sarah used to teach us back in highschool and there two kids are just little bundle of joys. After talking for a little bit i noticed that there was a bowl of chips. Half of the plate was lays, and the other half were fritos. Of course i had to grabe some fritos. I mean lays are nothing compared the greatness of the corn chip taste you get with a frito. I knew it was going to be a good day. 

We then enjoyed burgers and hot dogs for lunch. It was a real cook out for once. Not just the fast food resteraunt. We then went outside and threw a little disk around. Samual asked me what the well pump box was. I decided to tell them that ghosts were kept in it. (samual is only 4 1/2 year old). I dont know why i did that but someone did it to me when i was young so i decided to return the favor. Then it was finally boat time. And how i love boat time. We set out to sea on our epic journey. Ok well i mean it wasnt really epic, and it wasnt really a journey but it made it sound awesome. There is only one way to descirbe the weather while we were out on the lake today..... BEAUTIFUL!! We drove around for a little bit and enjoyed the day that God blessed us with. 

 

I went up to see what was going down on the top of the boat. Samual was up there and we proceded to have a disscussion about our sunglasses. I was rocking some Ray Ban Aviotors and Samual had the gull to tell me that my glasses were not as cool as his. He said that his were blue and had silver streaks. And i said mine had a cool vynard vines crokie on it. He said that his were way cooler and that mine will never be as cool as his. So i told him that my sunglasses shoot lasers. So i told him to beat that. Well he simply told me.... "Sunglasses don't shoot lasers!!" (said in a 4 year olds voice with confidence). So i said well mine do. It was one of the best conversations i had in quite a while and it took me straight back to the time when you would battle on the play ground about whos dad was cooler. So thanks Samual for all the memories you brought back to me. 

We then parked the boat and we proceded to jump off the roof. I love jumping off high stuff into water. You feel like superman. We than swam around and chilled out for a good bit in the water. Our water journey came to a close so we proceded back to the dock. We went inside and enjoyed some delcious cheese cake. I was loving it. Then it was time for the Big Finish of the day...... SLIP AND SLIDE!!!!!

Phil brought his slip and slide and i have to say i was quite excited about this event. Phil and I set up the slip and slide. We then began to run water over it and our excitement kept building. I poored some bubbles over my self and had to be the first to go down the slip and slide. I went down and got up and my face looked as if i was a kid on Christmas. Phil, Bryan, Daniel, and Samual all proceded to go down it several times. All of us were having a blast. I think it was the first time samual got to experience a slip and slide. So that opened up a whole new door for him. This one time i decied to see how fast i could go down and how far i could slide off the end. Well i did a pretty good job. I went pretty far in the grass i got cut up pretty bad. In the process it pulled my pants down and every one got to see my butt. But hey it was fun, and everyone thought it was awesome. We then had a compititon to see who could slide up the slip and slide the farthest. Daniel beat us. I guess he had more experienced since he was older than all of us. 

                                               

Our time on the slip and slide came to an end and we went inside and chilled out. We were pretty tired from our awesome day. I had a blast and so many awesome things happened today. So thank you God for the great day. SUMMER 08!!!!!!!

Side note--- After the slip and slide Bryan and I were walking and Bryan stated to talk to me about Samual. He said that kid is having so much fun. He got to ride on top of the boat, and go down a slip and slide for the first time. He was simply on cloud nine. You would have thought that kid was at disney world. It made me think back to when i was a kid and if i was climbing a tree or playing with a water hose iw as happy. So dont forget those times in your life. Because they bring so much joy when you reminisce on them. 

2 gentlemen, and 2 scholers!!

So here is the deal i didnt put a side note in my previous blog because i wanted to dedicate a whole blog to two great people in my life. Philip Varvaris, and Bryan Oakley. Love these two guys. So im just going to take some time to elaborate on these awesome people. 

Bryan oakley is so awesome. He is so determined in everything he does. If he wants to acomplish something he will set his mine to it and certainly get it done. If i never need to talk to him about theology or religion i know i can always ask him for advice. Im so thankful to have him in my life and help me out with stuff. It has been great being room mates with him the past few years. So bryan oakley is the man. 

Philip Varvaris.... What can i say about this kid. We have been in a band together and been friend for a good while now. Phil is such a great person and his family is awesome. They are some of the most Godly people i know. Phil contracted Lyme disease in high school. It has taken energy from him, and it has tried to hold him back for years now. I have seen this kid battle back against it. When he has been down he just fights it off and has had a great attitude about everything. I truly believe Satan has been trying to hold him down because he knows how much impact he can have on peoples lives. Phil is a true warrior and i have so much respect for him.  

Both of these guys have had a great impact on my life. I consider them both to be my brothers and i have been through many hard times, and many good times with them. I am glad to stand beside these guys as my brothers in Christ and face challanges with them. 

Thank you God for both of these amazing men that you have placed in my life. 

Good times, Good times!!!

So yesterday i was still in the great town of Greenville. Baird called me and bryan, her, and I decided to go to the pool. We chilled out for a good bit and i finished my book. We then got in the water and talked. Talked about movies, and books. It was good times. 

After that we went back to the apartment and hung out, and watched VH1 I love the mellinium. It was cool. It goes back and you see all the fads and such that were going on in the world. Later that night Bryan and Whit got invited over to the tennis coaches house for dinner. They asked if i could come and of course the coach said it would be no problem. We went over there and chated for a while. The coach is a good man. He is a little bitter at the world though. Like he is funny but some of the things he says he is just mean. He married this really cool women and i have no clue how he scored her. GA CRAZY.

Dinner came to the end and we got kicked out of their house. And i literally mean that we got kicked out. The coach said "hey, its time to get out." It was funny. We went back to the apartment and just relaxed. It was a good time. 

This morning we woke up early and rolled out of Greenville and headed towords Raleigh. We went to heathers house and chilled out. We went to the pool. Ga it was so good to see that girl. After talking to her over the phone for countless hours it is so satisfying to see her face and get to give her a hug. 

After the pool we went to the mall and i got to see laura, quinn, and sandy. It was awesome getting to see those girls. They are such awesome people. I ate moes for lunch and it was great. Moes has such good burritos. I sugest you go there. After we ate we walked around the mall for the while and acted like goobers. 

Our time in Raleigh came to an end. So we left the mall and headed back to heathers house. I said good bye to heather and it sucked leaving her. I already miss her so much. Bryan and I rolled back to statesville. We ate lasagna for dinner. It was great. Then phil came over and it was man time. We just chilled out and talked. Loved it. 

My week in greenville was great but im glad to be back and be chillin with friends again. 

DO I KNOW YOU???

FRIENDS!!!! Man im so excited these days. God is just great. Today was another chill day. I mean it has been great just being away and not dealing with stress and pressure and other things. I have had a ton of time to just sit and think, and spend time with Jesus. This has been a great time to just get away. Who would have thought that Greenville NC could be a refuge. 

I woke up and just chilled for a lil with whit and bryan. We always have a good convo in the morning. I tried to get some ultimate going but it was just not working out. I got to talk to heather on the phone this morning i usually dont call her until night but it was awesome talking to here because it just made my day better. 

Since no one was down for ultimate i decided to read my book (heather got it for me if you didnt know. I have only said it in every blog since sunday, its called wild at heart if you didnt know that either.) I only have one chapter left i pretty much just beasted that book. But every chapter i read i grow closer to God, and learn alot about my self so it has been awesome. 

After reading my book i got on facebook and did a little stalking. I was looking through my friends and i noticed there was people on there that i never talk to. So i decided to delete them as my friends. I know im such a BA. But hey it is what it is. If i dont know you then get off my friends. Its tuff love, tuff love. 

After that Whit and I went on a search for a bike. It was fun i felt like a little kid walking around wal-mart and target and looking at bikes. We got a few down and rode them around. SO MUCH FUN. People are like ummmmmm sir you cant do that. And then your like get off my case im thinking about buy it. HAHAHAHA. AWESOME. But our search for a bike did not yeild any results. So we did not bring back a shiny new bike. But it was still a good time with Whit. 

We then just watched the College world series. I can honestly say that i think that is the first full baseball game that i have watched on TV. But i enjoyed it. Baseball games are fun to go to with friends because you can just chill and talk. I think of as more of a social thing than a sporting event. But hey thats just me. Then Ryan Eaton came over and we watched Semi Pro. It was decent. I mean when your watching a will ferrel movie you have high expectaions, and it did not satisfy my expectations. But that was my day. GOD BLESS!!

Side Note--- MONEY MONEY MONEY. It can do alot of good but it can do alot of bas as well. Today i was thinking about it for a little bit but if you have too much your too stressed dealing with finances, and if you have to little your too stressed dealing with how to get more. Im not sayinng its bad to have money, or anything. But just keep things in perspective. Greed can consume a person. But if you are able to use money in the right way it can be a powerful tool. 

Sweet Summer

Summer time is just so AWESOME!!! Yesterday we had to move in to our new apartment. So moving stuff is always a pain. But we got all of that stuff done. By the end of everything we were pretty worn out so we just chilled in the apartment for a while. 

After chillin i went over to ECU to be at the young life table for orentation. It was pretty good. I chilled for about an hour then I peaced out and went and played some basketball. It was a good time. I had not played in a good while. So getting out there and running around was a really fun time. I then cam back to the apartment and chilled out some more. If you have not noticed i have been doing alot of chillin as of late. 

Baird came over to the aprtment to check the place out. We found out that she is living like a building away from us. So that was cool. we sat and talked for a little bit. I then sugested that we go to cook out. So of course we did. LOVE THAT PLACE. We then went back over to campus and sat and talked about young life for a good bit. Then i talked to heather on the phone and then went to sleepy land. 

Today i woke up and went to the pool for 4 hours. GA SO AWESOME. Just livin the dream. I read 4 chapters in my new book heather got me (wild at heart). It was great. I tried to get a tan and such. I think i got a little one. but i forgot to put sun screen on my shins so my shins got burnt. 

Tonight i went over the the great sid bradsherds house. We played the great game known as nertz. Im not too good at it. I end up just cheating and stuff. But i still lose everytime. but i just like beign around everyone so it works out. My philosphy at that game is if your not winning cheat and just have fun. HAHA. GREAT TIMES. 

BTW God is awesome. 

Greenville.....

Today i woke up in the amazing town of Greenville North Carolina. Its a great place. But when school is not in session there is not a whole lot to do. 

Whit, Bryan, and I went to covenant church. It was a good time. I got to see the great Sid Bradsherd. Bryan strofman was there as well so it was awesome getting to see those guys. The lesson today was on sex. Which was different but it was good. Im so tired of going to covenant and hearing about money all the time. So it was nice to have a different talk for once. 

After church we went back to copper beech and sat around our table and talked. Jess came over and we talked about various things going on in our lives. We don't have a TV in our apartment right now and its kinda nice. The conversation is always going, and its just fun talking to everyone. We then headed over to the storage unit and got some stuff to move into our apartment. I needed to get my bed sheets and stuff so i didn't have to sleep on just a mattress tonight with no pillows. 

We then headed over to gregs house and his dad cooked us some bomb chinese food. Gregs dad is an awesome cook. I mean he does own the world renowned beef barn. So after eating a great meal we sat down and watched con air. Such a classic guys movie. All about this guy going home to see his girl, and beating people up on the way. And to top it all off he saves the day and his daughter embraces him at the end of the movie. Such a great movie. 

We then came back to the apartment and i read some of my new book i got as a preseant from heather. It is a little book known as Wild At Heart. GAAAA It is SOOOOO GOOD. I have just read two chapters and i loved every second of it. So thanks heather for the awesome preseant. The night is over and im about to make a phone call and go to sleep but today has been great....

GO PIRATES!!!

Side Note-- Jesus was a warrior. Everyone thinks of God as this dude who just went around and played with children all the time. He certainly did that but he was also a warrior at heart and longed for adventure, and danger. 

The Morning Of

SOOOOOOO...... Yesterday i woke up at my good old house in Concord NC. After helping around the house for a little bit i packed up my things, and bryan and i began our journey to the great city of Raleigh NC. I was in a rather good mood because i was going to get to see an amazing band play that night known as the morning of (www.myspace.com/themorningofrock), and i was also going to get to spend some awesome time with Heather Carnahan. 

Bryan and I began our journey with some awesome renditions of old praise hymns in the car. After that we decided to call some people and leave funny messages. Every time bryan and i ride in the car together it is always good conversation and super fun adventures. We continued our journey but when we got to raleigh we had to experience the worst thing ever..... TRAFFIC.  I absolutely hate traffic. We had a GPS with us so i just put in to go on a alternate rout and we completely bypassed all the traffic. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! 

So we arrived at our destination. We roll up and Heather came out to greet us. She was looking beautiful as always. I gave her a big hug and well that was awesome : ).  (emoticons rock).  We chilled for a while and then the great Aaron brooks rolled up. GA it was good to see that kid. We embraced and such. We then sat down and ate an amazing dinner prepared by Mr. Mike. We had a great conversation and laughed alot. 

We then rolled over to the concert. We went a little early and we had to listen to some sucky bands play. But hey it is what it is. We all danced around like goons. It was pretty fun. These girls were totally checking out bryan and aaron it was rather funny. After hearing 6 other bands the Morning Of took the stage. And i am pleased to say that was worth the wait. They were really good. The girl in the band had great vocals and great stage presence. They were just so thankful for us being there and watching them. So that was a great time. 

After the concert we of course hit up the cook out. I mean it was late you got to go to cook out. We then went back to heather's house. Heather and I went on a walk and had some good convo. Bryan went to bed. When Heather and I came back i woke up bryan because he told me too for some reason but i think i just scared him. We found out later that he didn't even know what was going on and was in a daze. 

Today we woke up and began our drive to the great city of Greenville. We arrived and reunited with the great Whit Whitwell. I have to say that is was so good to see him. I mean he is awesome. I love just talking to him because he gets so excited about stuff, and is so passionate about things. It reminds me that life is great and to be thankful for what you have. Because Whit is so happy all the time and so full of joy. So that just brightened up my day. 

We got our keys to Copper Beech and we came in to see our new home. IT IS BALLER!!!! We reunited with jess, amanda, and ashley. It was good to see them. They our new neighbors so it was fun to joke around with them. Later in the day i went on a run around ECU. It was a great time. I saw college hill, and i said to my self. IM GOING TO OWN THIS HILL. So i did. hahaha. I am now back at my apartment and chillin. Im probably going to go chill with jess, amanda, and ashley and then probably go read wild at heart. Heather bought it for me. So i am excited to start that. 

Side Note- Be happy. God is so good. Dont spend time being sad. There is so much to be thankful for and so much that makes us happy. So dont dwell on things that make you sad. Dwell on what makes you happy, and what you have been blessed with. 

THE MONSTER!!!

Whats up team!!! 

Today i woke up to a list of stuff that i had to get accomplished. Since we moved it has been pretty stressful around the house. So my dad yelled at my mom about something and then i got yelled at and it was just not a good time. So i got up and proceeded to work on this list i had to accomplish. At sometime i knew i had to call copper beech about stupid apartment crap. So i called them and they gave me some problems about paying my rent, but after some talking we finally reached an agreement and it all worked out. 

After dealing with copper beech my sister and I proceeded to work on the lists of work we got for the day. We got alot of stuff done so that was good. It made my parents happy and that was good. I cooked dinner for everyone and it was fantastic. I made enchiladas and i have to say i did a pretty good job. I love cooking food. I love food in general but it is so much better when you prepare it yourself. You feel so much more accomplished after words. 

After eating dinner bryan, kevin, and I went over to the mall and walked around for a little bit. We went into books a million and looked at some cool books. I mean what else are you going to do in a book store. 

After words we proceeded over to the great place known as cookout. One of the greatest things on earth. I wanted to get two coke floats. But i did not want to carry two separate cups. So i walked up to the window and i explained my predicament to them. I made the suggestion that i pay for two and they just put it in one big cup for me. After the person checked with the manager for top level clearance on the situation she came back and confirmed that it was a go. I decided to call the creation the MONSTER!!! They thought it was a good name at the cook out and said that next time i come they will know what i am talking about. So i created an awesome drink at the concord cook out. I know be jealous. 

Anyway that pretty much sums up my day. It was stressful at times. But the creation of the monster made it all so worth it. 

So hey!!! I just wanted to give a quick shout out too two avid readers of my blog.... Jennifer and Bartley Cook. Yeah heather told me that you guys read my blogs so i wanted to give you a shout out. From what heather tells me you are awesome people, and i cant wait to meet you. Hopefully it will happen sooner than later. congratulations on the new bundle of joy that will be coming into your life in a couple of months. 

Side Note-- Pick up your cross and cary your load. Im not trying to call people out or anything. But sometimes we forget that we do have a burden as Christians, and it is responsible for us to carry our load. We should not become complacent and comfortable. We need to take risks and stand out. So pick up your cross and cary it. 

Kevin, Phil, Bryan, Carolena, and Brad

What is up my dear friends. It is my favorite time of day (other than when i get to eat)..... BLOG TIME!!!!

So yesterday Kevin, Phil, and Bryan cam over for a great time. Bryan, and Kevin are working at a tennis camp and they are staying at my house. Phil came over to just chill out. I cooked this pasta dish for all of us to enjoy that night. It was yummy. Then after that we decided to play a great game known as sequence. Kevin and I won 11 games in a row. We are pretty beast. There was just no stopping us. We pretty much are the number one sequence team in the world. 

After that Bryan and Kevin went to bed, and phil and i went up stairs and watched a movie known as American Dreamz. It is a satire about american idol, and america in general. Its pretty funny. After that Phil went to sleepy land and i made a phone call to heather and then went to sleepy land as well. 

This morning i woke up and went downstairs and rocked out to the across the universe sound track. It was pretty fun. Phil, and I then went out on the lake with Phil's brother in law. We went wake boarding. Well i tried but it hurt my forearms. I could not hold on to the rope anymore. So i just gave up. We then did some awesome tubing action. It was super fun. I love tubes. They always make me smile. We had a great time and a good discussion. 

After the lake phil and i headed back to concord to eat some dinner. We played some more sequence. Kevin and I did not dominate as much as we did the night before. But it was still fun times. Then we went upstairs and chilled and watched some TV. This cheesy magic show came on and Kevin and I could not stop laughing. This guy appeared out of this box and there was cheesy smoke and green lights going on. IT WAS CRAZY!!! Carolena and her friend brad chilled for a while. We played guitar hero and i love guitar hero. Its kinda my life. 

Anyway i love chillin with these guys. They always make me laugh. It is such a good time. We can just sit and laugh about non-sense for a while. It is fun times. 

Well I'm out. I love you guys. REPRESENT. 

People Watching!!

What is up friends!!!! 

So today i woke up at the bright and early time of 6:30 in the AM. Yeah not the most fun thing to do. We got off the ship in Vancouver Canada. We rode the bus to the airport. I have never really seen much of Vancouver, but it was a pretty phat city. While we were driving i saw a cirque de sole tent. It was PHAT. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to go see a show sometime. we got on the plane and began our journey back to the great state of North Carolina. 

We landed in Denver and we have a 4 hour layover. Its all good since i have free internet and can sit on my MAC and Blog. HAHAHAHA That sounds so much like I'm an aspiring writer. There is not a ton to do in airports. Sometimes i just lay down in the middle of the floor and take naps. its always a fun time. But another great activity to do in a airport is people watch. You see people from all over the united states. So it is pretty fun times. I always have a fun time trying to find EMO people. Some of them just make me laugh, and some of them look pretty hardcore. There was this girl with a pretty awesome Tattoo. So that was something cool to see. 

BUT .... The best thing to watch ever in the airport is people that are running to their gates. It is so funny to see people try to do like the half walk/ run. Lets just face it people there is no cool way to run to your airport gate. But its funny to watch people to try and make it cool. Also it is fun to see dads trying to hurry up their wives and two kids with all there roller carry ons dragging behind. Anyway I'm sure if anyone has spent time in a airport you know what I'm talking about. 

Well life is good and i cant complain once again. Spending time with my family all week was great. I mean sometimes we got sick of each other but its all good. Family is great. 

Once again i just want to give a shout out to daniel, and sarah thomas i love those guys. I  read  a comment from sarah and it made me really happy. SO GO THOMAS'S!!!  or how ever you spell it. (sorry sarah i was never good at english)

Side Note--- Friends Friends Friends. Surround yourself with great people because it will make you great.  If your friends challenge you and you challenge them then you will both grow in your walk with God, and in other things. And plus friends are just awesome. 

My great Alaskan adventure!!!

Well it is nearing the end of my cruise, and i have some extra internet left, and some free time so i thought i would blog my trip. So here we go!!!!

We flew into Alaska on monday june 9th. It was a nice change of scenery. You looked out of the airport and you saw snow covered mountains. We took a hour long drive to get to our cruise ship. We got on the ship around 10 at night, and we were pretty tired from traveling all day. So we ate dinner and went to sleep. 

The next day was just a day at sea. So i pretty much just spent the day chillin. I worked out a little and read the Bible some. It was good times. The next day we were in college fiord. It is just bay with glaciers and all this awesome scenery. At night we chilled and ate dinner. After dinner we went to see a show with our friend Laurie in it. She is one of the main singers on the ship so it was cool to see her perform. After that i went to sleepy land. 

On wednesday we were in glacier bay. It is pretty much like it sounds. Its a bay with glaciers in it. It was super beautiful. Then after seeing the wonderful scenery we went to eat dinner once again, and saw another show. 

On thursday we were in Skagway Alaska.  It is a town with a population of 800 people. So it was nice and small. I went into town and walked around for a while by  myself. It was pretty nice. I then went a little hike and found this waterfall that someone told me about. I sat down by it and had some amazing time with Jesus. It reminded me to not take the earth for granted. God has blessed us with so much and sometimes we just over look it. 

We then went to the capital of Alaska the next day, Juno.  I love it there. It reminds me of a mini san francisco. I walked around town with my sister and my mom. We went into this art gallery and i bought a piece for my room. I love art and this is my first piece so i was pretty excited about it. It was some old school alaska native art. Should look cool in my room. I got to talk to heather on the phone that day so it made me happy. I Love talking to that girl. She just always makes me smile and laugh. 

We then went to ketchikan the next day. My father, sister and i went on this awesome zip line course. It was so phat. The longest zip was 700 something feet. We got up to 35 mph. Pretty BALLIN!!! I then walked through town once again. It was good times. 

today is the last day on the ship. It sucks leaving such a beautiful place. But I'm ready to get back and see all of my friends. Im heading to Greenville on the 21st. so I'm pretty hyped. But on the 20th im going to go check out a little concert in raleigh, and see some one special!! But the cruise was awesome and i had a great time. 

Side Note-- dont take stuff for granted. God has blessed us with so much. We tend to over look things sometimes. If we just take time to slow down and look around we will see Gods beauty in everything. He is such an amazing God and his creation show how amazing he is. So sometimes just slow down and look around and see what a great place we live in. 

Time to pack

Today i woke up at around 11. My father came up and got me up. He is super excited because we are leaving to go to Alaska tomorrow. Probably one of his favorite places in the world. 

After waking up and taking a shower i started to gather the cloths i want to take with me on my trip and took them downstairs to wash, and iron.  I enjoy ironing my cloths. I feel like I'm so responsible or something. Like I'm really doing stuff on my own. I dont know sounds kinda stupid. But thats how it makes me feel so i just wanted to say that. I got everything packed in my suite case and then I sat down and took a little break from packing. 

After a while i felt the sudden urge to play some drums.  I went upstairs and played for a while. It was a great time. Then i decided to go get my Ipod and play to some of the old worship songs we used to play in chapel. I played how great is our God, give us clean hands, show me your glory, oh praise him, my glorious, he reigns, and holy is the Lord. It took me straight back to high school praise band. It was awesome. Those songs will always have a special place in my heart because i loved playing with phil, john, and jason. It was great times. Even though no one really sang any of the songs it was still a great time. 

After playing my drums for a little bit i decided to go on a run. I ran around 2 miles. It was great. I came back and took a shower and chilled and watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords. It was so funny. If you enjoy dry humor i highly recommend this TV show. its and HBO series so you would probably have to rent it from blockbuster, but its worth it. 

Now I'm just chillin and watching the NBA finals.  Im about to call heather in a little bit, and i cant wait to do that. I love talking to that girl. Its just awesome. 

Side Note-- Set Goals!!!! I went on a run today and it was too the club house and back. Its around 2 miles. At the beginning of the summer i wanted to be able to run to my clubhouse and back by the end of the summer. I never ran much so i began to run everyday. It is not even july yet and i have already accomplished my goal. If you set goals and set out to achieve them you will be surprised how quickly you can can accomplish them. so i challenge you to set goals in your personal life, in your work outs, and in your spiritual life. Its a great way to get things accomplished, and can be very rewarding!!

Yeah im a bum, so what!!!

Well i woke up today at around 9.  My grandmother was leaving to go to Florida so i wanted to say good bye to her. After i said good bye i went back up stairs and went back to sleep. lol. 

So then i woke back up at around 12. Yeah I'm a bum. My sister, katie and I went downstairs and made some breakfast. And by breakfast i mean pizza rolls. If you read my blog everyone knows that i love pizza rolls. So while we ate our pizza rolls we watched Little Miss Sunshine. Its so funny. I love it. It has great filming and the plot and everything is just awesome. If you have never seen it i suggest you go see it. 

After that i just went upstairs and played drums for a while. After that i watched some more TV. I then i decided i needed to be active. So i went outside and went on a run. WHEW!!!! IT WAS HOT!! I dont know if anyone noticed but we are experiencing a heat wave. So after my run i just sat there for a while and recuperated. I then went back upstairs and watched some more TV. Holly called me and told me she was going to come over and chill. 

Holly came over and we watched various movies that were showing on HBO. It was a good time. We just chilled and talked and laughed at stuff on our computers. After that i went over and saw jamie jordan. She was in concord for the night so i went and talked to her for an hour. It was good to catch up and talk about random basketball stuff. 

Just wanted to give a shout out to Sarah Thomas. She is an awesome person and i love her. I always had a great time in her class. I was always goofing off and acting like a goon. But it was so fun.  Sarah is a great person and i will always remember her and how awesome she was. 

Side Note-- Since i bummed around all day i dont have anything really. I mean God is good all the time. So i cant really complain. GO JESUS

The best day and a half of my summer vacation!!!

Well I'm not going to lie. Im pretty excited about writing this blog!!!!

So yesterday i woke up in Statesville at Bryan's house. I took a shower and got dressed and went to get in my car. I drove over to the Russell Stovers store to pick up some goodies for Heather's mommy. I grabbed some food at micky d's and then began my journey over to Heather's house. The drive seemed long for some reason. It was only 2 hours and 15 minutes but i think it seemed longer because i was so excited to get to Heather's house.  I get into Raleigh and called Heather to get directions to her house. 

I arrived in front of Heather's house and there she was too great me. She came down to my car and i gave her a big hug. Not going to lie it felt good to finally give her a hug and hold her for once. (sorry for anyone who thinks thats cheezy or anything but it is what it is) After that it was time to meet Mrs Carnahan.  I walked in with my chocolate gifts in hand and introduced myself. I gave her the presents and she gave me a big hug. After that we chatted for a little bit and laughed alot. it was a good time. 

After that Heather and I went to the park. We got on the swing set and swung for a little bit. Then we both realized that it was 1312231 degrees out so we decided it was time to go to the mall.  We rolled over to the mall and i saw a best buy. Of course i had to go inside. I picked up the across the universe sound track. One word ---PHAT!!!! After that we proceeded over to the mall. We walked around for a little and then decided to get chick fil a. It was yummy, always is. Then we walked around some more and i spotted a build a bear. I asked Heather if she ever done one. She said no so i said well we need to go make one. We went in there and after some arguing over which bear to build Heather picked one. So we started to build. Heather did the build a bear dance and kissed the heart and sealed it with a kiss. It was pretty freaking funny. The guy who helped us was really cheesy. but it was funny. Then it was time to name it. Heather asked me if patches was cool. And i said that is a freaking awesome name. So Patches became our new friend.  After the mall we rolled back to the Carnahan estate. 

When we got back we decided it was time to do our devotional together. It was awesome. Its so cool to be able to talk about God and share about him with Heather. Its one of my favorite things that about heather and I.  After the devotional and time with Jesus we went downstairs and waited for Mr. Carnahan to come home. I have never been so nervous in my life. He walked in and i introduced my self. I gave him so nascar goodies. And i think i won him over with that. So after the initial meet i feel like things went good. So that was awesome, and i was glad i got that behind me. 

After chatting to the pops for a lil we needed to get ready for dinner.  I took a shower got dressed and walked downstairs and chilled at the table for a little bit.  Then Heather came down stairs. She was rocking some sick skinny jeans, and gold flats, and a nice top to go with it. Bottom line...... She was looking gorgeous. We rolled out to olive garden and got a table.  We sat down and goofed off.  We both ordered and ate our delicious food. After dinner we went back to the house and ate some cheese cake and chilled with the parents by a fire. It was a good time. We went up stairs after the fire and watched TV. We decided it was time to watch billy madison so heather found the old school VHS tape and we popped it in. Only to discover that it was taped over. We both were pretty upset about it. So we said well we need to go rent it. We went over to blockbuster and on the way we sang to hey jude and i must say we sounded just like the beatles. We got the movie and went back and watched it. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! Love that movie, it never disappoints. 

After the movie heather and i went on a walk. Towards the end of our walk we decided to bust out like we were in a musical so we started jumping on stuff and doing random dance moves in the street. Yeah we were so good we could be a Broadway. After the walk we got on our computers in heather's drive way and stole internet from the neighbors. So that was a good time. Then after that heather and i just chilled in the drive way and talked for a good while. It was a great time. I just love talking to that girl so much. It was about 2 am and we decided it was time for bed. 

I woke up this morning at the bright and early time of 9:30. Heather came and woke me up so it wasn't as bad as just waking up on my own. We went downstairs and enjoyed some pancakes. After that we chilled a bumed out for a little bit. Then it was POOL TIME!!! i love the pool.  So we went to the pool and swam around and acted like mermaids and such. yeah we are goons. We got a little hungry so then it was time for a cook out run. I think this is like the 5th day in  a row i have had cook out. After we ate and chatted for a good while we went back to the pool. it was around 3 and i had to leave. It was a sad time.  I packed my things up and said thank you for the hospitality. Heather walked me to my car and i gave her a big hug goodbye. It was sad parting ways after an amazing day together.  I drove back home and chilled with some friends on the lake. But my time with Heather was the highlight of my summer so far. 

Side Note-- Let God into your life. It is so hard to drop your guard and let God control things, and give things to Jesus. It took me the longest time to do it. But i finally did and i have not been happier since.  I am so much closer to Jesus than i have ever been, i love life, and i have a great girl in my life now.  Im so grateful for everything. I know that if i had not giving everything to Jesus i would not be where i am right now. So just give everything you have to God.  He will bless your life in ways you never imagined. He has done it for me!!!