A New Semester, A New Start

Orientation week is drawing to a close. Classes begin tomorrow, and at this point, I'm ready for a sense of routine to come back into the days.

The freshman class is great this year. The 13 that were in my "O Group" are all fantastic people, and it has truly been a blessing getting to know them. It's also been an extremely exhausting week.

For starters, a tragedy in the life of my friend/O partner, Neil.

So things didn't go exactly the way we'd planned, but it was still good.

Vague? Yes. Sorry about that.

Moving on... my schedule is hectic, but after meeting several of the new freshmen music people, I'm really psyched about the classes I'm taking.

Honestly, when I got here, I didn't know what to expect. But I'm beginning to realize anew just how special this place is, and also that there are few joys greater than reuniting with friends after 3+ months apart. I haven't smiled so much (or sweated, for that matter) in a very long time.

It was nice to feel really joyful again.

:-)

I was looking through some of the older stuff I've written and I came across this little gem. I don't know if anybody else will like it, but I honestly wonder what possessed me...

Anyway, here you go.

The First Post Ever.

For some reason, my little brother - who happened to have his birthday yesterday - has been on a Lord of the Rings kick. So now we're watching "The Two Towers" for what must be the tenth time. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty darn amazing series (not to mention that Viggo Mortenson and Orlando Bloom are smokin' hot).

In other news, there's only a week before collegiate life begins anew.

I think we're in for an interesting year, folks.

Just Another Summer Day

Not a whole lot has happened recently. I've still got a few books I need to finish, my dad managed to trade his motorcycle for a huge pontoon boat, and I actually got to sleep in today since I'm now done working until I go back to school.

It looks like I'll get a week or two to get my head on straight before going back to Arkansas. Here's to hoping that's a success!

It's now officially summer. The last two days have had highs of 100 and 102 degrees, with promises of ridiculously hot weather still to come. Yuck!

Anyway, life is weird. I got to hang out with some girls from high school the other day, and it was wonderful to see them all again. I'd forgotten how much I missed them and their unique views on things. It was interesting, though, to see how much I had changed. I used to see the world exactly as they did, but I guess my experiences have changed me in more drastic ways than theirs have.

Perhaps really they've just been truer to themselves and I'm allowing myself to be swept away until I'm not really sure what's going on anymore.

In any case, it was a lot of fun, and hearing their different stories and plans for the future got me thinking about how much we really do learn simply by living life day-to-day and talking to other people.

Some day, I'd like to write a book or two about all of the things that life has taught me. I'd like to think it'd be worth reading, especially if there's anything akin to wisdom in it. God knows I've got a long way to go on that count, though.

I don't know what'll happen tomorrow, but for now I'll assume that it'll be a relaxing day and that when it's over, I'll have read a little, written a little, laughed a lot, and tried to love as best I can.