Overnight

I missed you all yesterday.

Sorry for my absence. My uncle is in town so I donated my room for his benefit. Trust me he's a legit guy and its been ages since we've seen each other.

Main point of focus right now is the shock that I actually got what I wanted. To work overnights. Wow. I went to work for the time I thought I was scheduled...turns out i was 6 hours early. Yup. I went back home and took a hearty nap for about 3 hours or so. I really thought about this one while I was laying there before and after the eyes were shut.

How often do you have a bad day?

Be honest now. Are you in one of those grooves where nothing will ever go right and you can't find a good thing to think about? I don't mean to gloat here but...

I can't remember my last bad day.

Truly bad day. Like the one where someone apparently pees in your cornflakes. (I've heard that saying so many times...but has it ever really happened?) Doubtful. I've had bad moments, no doubt. Snap I dropped my camera this week and broke the lens *cringe* I should tend to that at some point soon. I have a prom coming up a week from saturday, but there will be another post about that soon or something like it. The big thing that hit me as I was walking down the stairs to write this was: Make bad moments just that. (Confusing huh? I was aiming at a philosophical theme) Think about it further. Make those moments just moments, that brief half hour or even instant where you see you camera hit the ground (sorry I'm really missing taking pictures). After that moment.

Drop it. Move on. Smile about it. No matter how grim. Even with something serious like a death. Reflect on the good things about it. Anything it takes to cope with that one lousy moment. Because is it really worth wasting 24 hours to have one bad day. Once its gone its gone. (Even Jack Bauer smiles, and his days are dreadful from what I hear)

Basically the rant is close to being wrapped up because I'm due for either
a)Another Nap before work
or
b)A blizzard, I've been craving one terribly recently

If you were wondering it will probably be a snickers or oreo blizzard. There is simply nothing better in the form of frozen treat.

(picture is of me playing in snow with my brothers, sometimes I miss the snow)

ø Connor ø

Gentlemen Lesson #2

Hey guys, take out those pencils and paper cause it's time for another gentlemen lesson. I hope last lesson encouraged you to hold that door open just a little longer but now it's time to move on to a new topic.

Senioritis has already plagued myself so this lesson it going to be very difficult for me. A sure way to get a "thank you" is to pick up some one's dropped item. Whether that be a pen, a notebook, an assortment of jellybeans, or even the person them self. I know the last thing you want to do is bend over 3 feet and pick up an object that's not yours but you'll be surprised by the positive reactions.

Let's say you're in a crowded hallway and someone drops a folder containing hundreds of pieces of paper. Don't just walk by and stare at them. You should be right by that person's side before the paper even hits the ground! We've all been embarrassed by dropping something (Connor and his camera) and knowing that everyone is watching us makes the situation 10 times worse. So by helping that person it shows that you're looking out for them. I can assure you that your kindness and thoughtfulness will diminish their embarrassment as if it never happened.

How many times have we seen a book slip off a desk and not helped? How many times have we seen a friend slip and not be there to help? When will we start lifting them up? It's time we start treating everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve. It all starts with a gesture. "And if we do these things the whole human family is going to live in peace."
(Quote from retired priest: Father Al)

I should be hungry because there is a lot of stuff on my plate...

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Reality has been slapping me in the face hard lately. College finances, injuries, homework, college finances, scholarships, college finances, and various other stress points.. It's in these situations I wish I can say that the verse from Philippians 4:6-7 comes to mind right away but I often forget about it...

It says, "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and by petition with thanksgivings, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Dang... if I lived by that I'd be set, huh? But life is a roller coaster (i know, cliche). It seems almost inevitable. There will be grand times. There will be crappy times. It's all about our attitude as we enter the situation.

As I taught in the Wednesday FCA last week, we aren't always going to be happy. The Bible says so. There will be seasons for everything. But I'm convinced that we can always be joyful if we choose to be. Joy is long term happiness. It's being happy and hopeful for the future. The case that I'm referring to is Heaven.

I'm saying this as much for me, if not more, than for you guys.

Thus, these are my thoughts tonight. I anticipate seeing a post from my brohas tonight upon returning from the meet.

peace,
-sam
p.s. i will try to post the album cover to the song that i listen to as i write my post for the day.
tonight is The Outsiders by Needtobreathe

The Bible: How are you reading?

John chapter 7. It says three times in there that the Pharisees wanted to arrested Jesus because it wasn't His time yet. Three times. In one chapter.

Whenever I'm reading the Bible and something happens to be in there more than once, it tends to be a bit more important. Like it's begging for us to pay attention to this fact because they just keep repeating over and over.

So often when we read the Bible we just glance over the words without actually putting ourselves in the situation that is occurring. For example, in Acts 16 Paul and Silas had just got done getting beaten with rods and clubs for preaching the Gospel in the city. That same night while they were sitting in jail, with scrapes, cuts and bruises, oh yeah, and they were in shackles from head to foot, it says that they were singing hymns and praising God... What!?!?! Can you imagine praising God in a situation like that? Most of us would be mad at God for doing that to us since we were preaching the Gospel but Paul and Silas didn't see it that way.

Don't simply just read the Bible. Experience it. Feel it. Make it a little uncomfortable. But never forget the whole message of the Bible: God created you to worship Him and have a relationship with you. That's why He sent Jesus to die for us. That's the only way that it could have been done.

Never forget that, friends. Be blessed.
-sam

Graditude

Pounding, its what my head is doing, but ignore that now. I have 4 (or more) dedicated readers to please with my blog posts =D.

First things first, My camera lens broke today...disappointing.

Okay now I'm over it. Material possessions are trumped constantly by the amazing people that I get to live life with everyday. This is a post thanking them. Without them I would be constantly looking for a group of comrades to adventure with me.

My co-writers of this blog. It took me darn near 12 years to find a solid group of friends (no doubt I'm still on good terms with friends of the past). You guys with each quirk and high tolerance of Connor nonsense make everyday brighter. I can't bring myself to not smile around you guys. Thank you so much.

Those people I encounter daily at school and work that brighten each day of mine whether it be by letting me goof off until they smile, or making me smile first. I couldn't name names because this blog post would be never ending. I love spending each hour of each day in school with you people. You all know who you are.

My Parents, things are constantly ridiculous especially with me as a kid. Running around at the wee hours of the morning, track, working, morphing, all of it. I couldn't make it without them. Helping me financially. With life stuff. Making sure not to answer their phones =D, but I still love them nonetheless. I can't thank you enough daily for all the support they give me in anything and everything (legal) I do. Thank you!

I don't know if I will ever have a finally segment to people I thank. Life is so...trivial when you live only for yourself. This kind of gratitude should be given to everyone. Frequently. Making someone smile is the single greatest thing you can do for a person (in my mind at least).

Smiles mean something, they are contagious. Infect the local population with smiles. It brings you closer to the person, to their heart. When someone is smiling, they reflect their innermost self. Nothing being held back.

All of this being said with regards to genuine smiles. No fakers allowed, the real smile will emerge.

Of course lastly (and firstly too) I must thank God, He blessed me with every single individual of these people in my life. (Granted if you don't believe in God, you were somehow put in my life and I do indeed love every interaction with you.) He blessed me with these hands to write this blog as we read. (or is it as we speak?)

Continue on with the goal this week guys, its almost Sunday (not quite)

Found and Faceless

There are days where something goes right. There are some where everything goes right. Last weekend one of those occured. I would have blogged about it sooner but the spur of this blog caught up on me. Reflecting back on the pictures and everything it hit me.

This was all so relevant to last summer at LIC (camp). "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him" Putting on morph suits and trying to be upbeat, respectful, loving, and caring. Nobody need knows who we are but our actions represent a power greater than any we could handle. A Holy power.

Its astounding how much good you can do the world and society if you don't need anybody to know you. If you can be nameless, faceless. Think about that along with this weeks challenge. Don't desire the attention that comes with doing good things. Just focus on the deeds and how you are making somebodies day without needing gratification. God sent his Son down for the ultimate sacrifice and His gratification didn't come until after he was killed by us...for our own sins.

Stay strong, Love others, Pray often (its like a telephone I've heard =D)

øConnorø

Adventures past comprehension

Blogging, despite how little I've done it, is difficult. We need topics that are interesting, worth reading and often I find myself going through my day searching for that moment. Ironically that moment came to me mere minutes ago. A girl I had seen before at my grocery store had strolled in except this time with a longboard in hand and went on about her shopping. Moments passed and she was done. I sat and admired how she looked so comfortable rockin her long green skirt with a shorter blue dress (or blouse, I am foreign to these terms) over it. Having talked to her before when she came in I struck up minor conversation and it ended with longboarding. Surprisingly enough she agreed to longboard with me (I just saw it as a joke in passing) Looking for my supervisor I asked to leave ten minutes early to which he agreed.

Moving on to the boarding part, nobody cares too much about the set-up. She was AWESOME, now I don't use caps often but she was deemed caps lock worthy. Conversation went from light to dark like the passing streetlights guiding this journey. Its hard to put mere words to a person, in short I was amazed at how open she was with this guy from the grocery store and how much has happened in her life. Such an impression she left on me. Her views on how her fellow women should be dressing more modestly, attitude about going to California with 200 dollars and coming back with nothing to show for it, everything. One of the last questions I had for her was "looking back, what would you change about your childhood?" Her reply was simply "money, we place too much of a value on money and it tears things apart, families, dreams, friends. Its such a horrible necessity in our society today." Growing up her parents had been divorced and were constantly down on their luck, but in front of me was not a girl that felt like she deserved an IOU from God. She was living the dream. Loving life. Turning breadcrumbs into a feast. As our journey closed up, I could feel nothing but joy.

There are truly people out there in this world that love. What they love is their own; Friends, Family, God, and anything else they deem lovable. It just goes to show, how you approach things can make all the difference, and some random guys night.

Can you make someones day

Can you be the difference

Its worth a try

ø Connor ø

Gentleman Lesson #1

As Connor mentioned in his last post--it's a rare sight to see a male be respectable and kind towards a random female. So I think this blog will become a textbook for the basics of becoming a "gentleman". Not very many hold this title so hopefully many of us will learn the secret ways of the gentlemen (including myself).
This lesson will focus on the concept of holding a door open. Sounds simple enough but how many times do we open a door and not glance behind us to see if someone is behind us? We might hold the door open a couple of times, just to cover the guilt, but why don't we try and hold the door open every time we see someone within reasonable distance to the door. You could even take it one step farther and open the door and let the other human walk through before yourself! If they take it upon themselves to say "thank you" don't just stand there like an idiot! Stand there like an idiot and respond to their words :) Say "your welcome" or "no problem". Who knows, this could even start up a conversation!!! But we'll work on conversations another day.
We are always looking for a big moment that we can use to impress others, but most of the time it's the simplest moments that can turn some one's day around. Take advantage of those moments. Keep those doors open as well as your hearts and respect all those around you. Also remember that as we try to become better people and live out God's word than hopefully one day He will open his doors and let us walk through to a place of unimaginable peace and happiness!
---Joe---

My pup is a wimp....

This day, April 26th, 2010. 'Tis a sad day. It has been confirmed that my dog, pictured above, is a wimpy little puppy. i know, i'm not proud of it, but alas. it is what it is. today when i took him for a walk, we went to lincoln. while our time at the soccer fields running and having a grand time, two other dogs leashed by another human came over. hugo, of course, was intrigued by these other canines but him only being around 20 weeks old, he still is not... properly socialized. much like a homeschooler. but that's not the point. one of the other dogs was a young golden retriever and thus very much larger than little hugo. so the golden retriever was pushing around our favorite little puppy. hugo was looking at me as if he was saying "HELP!". hahaha so i saved him. but he's still cute though. i just wouldn't turn to him to save me if a barrage of panda bears was stampeding toward me...
keep it real, friends.
-sam

Pizza, Pain, and Pokemon

With my mouth currently full of pizza (Jack's Pepperoni Frozen to be specific) I will not be able to do the Morgan Freeman narration while you are reading this. My apologies. Today I finally saw our fourth guy of the shakers, oddly enough on roller blades. We will continue to pester him until he finally turns on his computer (indeed its still in the off position). Still recovering from yesterdays longboard fall and not loving any second of it. Had the privilege of playing Ultimate Frisbee with Sam today and enjoyed that until I bumped a scrape or bruise against a fellow competitor. Currently the thing on my mind is women (typical guy right?). Moreso the mistreatment of them, not just abuse and such because that is something entirely intolerable, but also the monotony. So many of us (I'm unsure why I say us) find a routine and lose that sense of passion, the sense of dare I say it? Love. It may be a teen-young adult thing but it seems like less and less women are getting swept off their feet. (granted again there are amazing gentlemen out there proud to hold the title of gentleman) I also am opposed to myself getting married and settling down (marriage rocks for those who plan upon it and are married) (I use a lot of parentheses) My take of it is merely from the lack of confidence that I have what it takes to fulfill my high standards that I set. Father, Husband, Brother, Son, Cousin, Friend. Lots of titles to keep. Sorry guys/gals, that was my rant for the night, even at that an incomplete one.

Challenge for this oncoming week: Do something to make someones day: tell a joke, open a door, buy a candy bar....ANYTHING, just make that difference be that change. Actions speak thousands times louder than words.

Much love

ø Connor ø

Manure Man!

Most of us would do just about anything to not be caught by the cops. Whether that be running for your life, bribing the cops with money and chocolate, or keeping a litter of puppies hostage while demanding your freedom. However, none of those compare to what Thomas Hovis did while eluding from police. The suspect was wanted for drug charges and he had previously spent 15 years in prison for murder.
The police knew that Thomas was trapped inside of his barn but when they entered they were dismayed at his nonexistence. Turns out all they had to do was follow the smell. They looked down into a vat where liquid fecal matter was collected and saw the top of Mr. Hovis' head. By fecal matter I simply mean "POOP"! I'm not talking about a little turd somewhere on a farm. I'm talking about an industrial sized container of liquid poop.
Unlike others, I admire Mr. Hovis. If he is willing to be covered head to toe in poop than I think we should just let him run free :). So if your day is feeling a bit crappy just think of Thomas Hovis and hopefully a smile will spread across your face.
---Joe---

Ignorance Is Bliss

Hey everyone! My name is Joe and i guess I'm the 3rd captain of this crazy blogging ship. Like my comrades I love any type of competition. I can't imagine a day where I don't play or listen to music. Jesus Christ plays a huge role in my life as I try to follow in his footsteps. I recently learned that I need to pull others along so they can follow in his steps as well (easier said than done).
All four of us see this world for what it truly is and not the sugar coated version--which is why this blog is going to be quite fun. I bring to the table lots of questions about people and their actions. Most of the time I see the funny side of these type of people but I'm sure there will be just as many serious posts as there are funny posts.
Can't wait to get started and I hope you all enjoy!
---Joe---

Commencement

this is my first time blogging... it feels.... tingly.. anyway, my name is sam. i'm one of the four-some here on this blog. first thing you need to know about me is i'm a Christ-follower, not a Christian by today's standards. but a straight-up, Bible following, devil-rejecting Christ-follower. a lot of my posts will prolly deal with matters of the such, not all of them though.

my interests include soccer, playing guitar, hanging with friends drinking shakes, yelling "SHAKE DAY!!!" in the pool, and smiling at people while holding a door open for them.

my thought of the day came to me while i was at a service called The Point. we were singing a song. the lyric went like this, "I'd run a thousand years just to know I was getting closer to You." the You is in reference to God and that just made me think, is that really how i'm living my life? that i would run for a thousand years just to know i was only getting closer. very challenging for me. so let it be for you. keep it real.
-sam

Inception

Actually I'm writing this just to put off cleaning my room for a house showing, but that's beyond the point. I had thought about this blog idea from corny movies like "Julie & Julia" (thats the only blog related movie I can think of at the moment) but never seemed to find a niche of people to write it with me. I'm boring alone. Hopefully my co-authors will introduce themselves in a similar manner to this.

I am Connor

Caring

Observant

Nice

Never-quitting

Outstanding

Romeo-explanation (he cares for people, mainly juliet, but in a similar way I too like to care for people, males and lady types alike)

I love longboarding, camp, friends, family, Concordia St. Paul, and Jesus!

The premise of this blog is not only to unite friends merely, but to entertain and examine the many intricacies of this life we are all living.

Big thought of the day: Registered at CSP today and loved it as well as got the theme verse for the LIC summer season (Lutheran Island Camp) "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15

To all the future readers and my fellow posters, I hope this is a great journey for all of us.