Twas the Week After Christmas

- This break is much better than last winter break. And thank God, I was miserable last break. And we even went to Hawaii last time, which was good, I'm not complaining, I just don't think I was prepared for how long I'd be home last year and not even an exotic vacation could save it. This time around I was prepared and a better attitude and better job keeping myself busy helped.

- Christmas was good. It was like Christmas should be. It didn't come too fast, my whole family was home and gift trading time was fun. And the mom made a prime rib that simply melted in my mouth. I was glad that I could be here for it and I'm taking it all cause I know that someday I'm gonna miss my Christmas's at home.

- A lot of my time here as been motivated to discovering new music. And man did I ever hit the jackpot. If you're tired of your music and have a little bit of extra time you should check out Discover America, Porcupine Tree, Mashlin, The Roots, Bus Driver, Martin Sexton, The Weepies, Rocky Votolato, and AHIRO. That covers a pretty wide gamet of music from country to folk to prog rock to indie rap. Its all pretty good stuff. Nothing really gets me quite like finding good music. And the best find of all was one of my favorite songs in the world that not to many other people are familiar with, Ariel Ramirez by Richard Buckner. Not to many people know this song which added to my trouble with finding it. I know Jordan can appreciate it.

Ariel Ramirez
Richard Buckner

Oh, where you lay
Your head tonight
I'll roll away alone
And close on down

Take up your ring
And fly back out
And we'll pretend
Forget we're dead

Yeah, we'll lay it down
When we're all through
When we're killed or cured
And barely heard

Put Ariel on
And smoke away the night
Do the white net crawl
Until the hammers fall

I kept your poem here
With all my other gear
But in the end
I missed what it meant

Oh, where you lay
Your head tonight
I'll roll away alone
And close on down

Perspective

- Perspective. Its that slap in the face when you realize you had it all wrong. It's that call to an old friend that brings you back and reminds you that your life isn't an accident. It's that picture you love on your phone that makes you smile when all you want to do is scream. It's that laugh that reminds you of a thousand other good times and the thousands that are to come. It's standing outside at night on a sidewalk bordered by walls of snow lit a dirty orange color by hundreds of christmas lights and suddenly wanting to take a walk in the freezing air in nothing but jeans and a fleece. It's re-evaluating what you're doing before you lose one of the best things to ever happen to you. It's God's way of telling me he has a plan for my life when every fiber of me is wanting to do it my way.

- God is faithful. It's funny the stupid things people do every day that they come to regret. All it takes is a little perspective to help you appreciate what you have and think about how the way you're living could threaten all of it. I get it now.

For all you know

this could be

the difference between what you need

and what you want to be

For all you

this is what you want to be

Bound to Happen?

- The semester is over and I'm home again. In retrospect, I've grown more in the last four months than I have in several years. This semester took me out of my comfort zone, forced me to adjust and lose some old bad habits. I emerged on the other side moving foward and much more grown up. I regress every now and then, but for the first time in awhile I have reasons why I shouldn't. Sometimes its just so easy to live in wishing things were the way they used to be that you miss the good times that are right in front of you. For the first time since I started at CSU, I am comforatable with the idea of post college life and whatever else is waiting for me. My future isn't as uncertain as it seems sometimes. And even if things don't end up the way I expect them that doesn't at all mean the end of the world. Variety is the spice of life, its true. So here's to the end of an everlasting transition and my newfound control of my destiny.

Library Thoughts

- There's only finals week left in my third semester at CSU and as I sit in this amazingly soft library chair going over the review study guide for my speech final, it still hasn't hit me that I'm almost halfway done in my time here. It all seems to be going too fast. I love everything about it up here from the friends I've made, to the streets I walk, to this beautiful town I've spent more time exploring this semester. I love the mix of responsibility and margin of error my parents provide for me as I make inevitable mistakes. I've got good friends, a loving family, a great girlfriend, a secure future, and all the opportunities in the world ahead of me. I've never been happier in my life than this time I've spent in college so far and thats really something because all things considered, I've had a pretty happy life. Sure, there are always those things that I wish could have been different, but when you're sitting in a spot similar to mine, there's not very much room for complaining. Really, there's no point to this post beyond me taking a second out of typically stressful finals studying to reflect on how good I've got it. God's blessed me considerably and I don't take enough time to just sit and be greatful.

Chill

- Blogger keeps trying to trick me in to updating. I refuse.

- You know those times when you come home from school, walk into your room, and put down your stuff and out of no where your mind takes a quick trip down memory lane. You get a quick outside perspective on your current life and all that you have and you just smile cause for the first time all day you remember that your life is pretty good. You've got a pretty sweet set up and you know you have people there looking out for you that genuinely care what happens to you. I think they need to make a word for reverse loneliness cause thats what this is, and I have it. I'm happy and I'm rolling with the punches. I know I'm not but I feel invincible and it's one of the greatest feelings in the world.