Cinnamon Rolls

The cake turned out great and there is some for the Guest too; so he'll be pretty happy. It tastes amazing; it's rich but still, makes your mouth explode in happiness when you take a bite. The one down side is that it never lasts beyond 3 days but eh, it's just that good. My next cooking desire is the bake my infamous cinnamon rolls. Yes, infamous. Infamous among anyone who's had them, specifically my family and the random company we have. See my mom likes to show off a little and so she has me make cinnamon rolls whenever she has friends over that stay the night or something of that sort. I also like making them because they're so freaking tastey, gooey, and just wonder all over, it makes my mouth water just thinking it. That and I'm hungry right now but still, their amazing. More amazing than the my Chocolate cake. Now, this probably sounds arrogant and one thing I'm not is arrogant except for a few things like running, ping pong, and making these. I made them when the ski trip people came to my house for the night and they can vouch that they're awesome. But I'm making them either Saturday or Sunday morning and can't wait to eat them.

Just want to give a shout out to my Grandma who just accepted Christ in her life last week which is so freaking amazing which has been a prayer of our family's for a long time now. Now to just get the rest of the extended family to realize it's a better life.....

I got paid two compliments last night at work (note: I'm not trying to boast or show how great I am, I'm making a point) which came completely out of the blue and turning a time when I was getting really frustrated at another co-worker who was talking crap behind my back but whatever. One co-worker asked when I was going back to school and we started talking about that and "I was like I want you to go back to school too so that you can get a better job than this"
(that is one of my goals while working there, encourage them to get better jobs and make them laugh, my brother helps me with the laughing part. Man, we're together at work we just get the whole place rolling but again, not boasting just proving a point) And out of the blue she was like "I'm going to miss you when you leave, I like working with you. You make it fun" and I was just surprised and stood there with my mouth open. I was not expecting that at all. Then from my manager, who is the really cool one and we've had some conversations about God and life and such, said, "I look forward to coming to work when I'm working with you and Jonathan(which is my brother)." Dang, what the heck? No way do I deserve such compliments. God, what is this? My point is, is that while working at Wendy's I didn't think I had an impact on other people, that my actions or character or who God made me had an affect on others for the better and last night I was proved wrong....twice. I mean being back here I haven't felt like I have had much of an impact on any one which is fine but man, me having an impact at Wendy's? I never saw it coming but apparently God had other plans. We have more of an impact on other people's lives than we realize, for good or bad. Especially as Christians though, just by being a Christian you are having an impact on other's lives or witnessing through example even if you never talk about God once. Christ changes your heart in such a way that your character is unlike everyone else that does not know Christ, people notice this change, they notice that something is different about you than the "rest of them" and in this case it was a nice difference, one that they enjoyed being around and that is something that I am glad I could offer them in such a crappy work environment such as Wendy's. So be an impact, be a change that makes the difference even if it is just one person; you can make a world of difference. later yo, Guest time.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

One word: Ecstasy. No, not the drug. The rapturous delight you will receive when you eat this cake. Take one bite and you will be transported to a state of sudden emotion; of sudden exaltation and intense feeling. Basically, it is really, really good. And I'm making it today so I can eat it. Overall I have been cooking a lot, mostly desserts and breakfast foods. I did make dinner for my brother and I because my rents were out of town so I made some simply spaghetti. I started boiling the water and opened the spaghetti box and left it on the counter. Being the clever person I am I turn to get something and knock the whole box of uncooked spaghetti noodles all over the kitchen floor which is dirty. Being the conservative person I am I decided not to waste such a great amount of food and figured the hot, boiling water would kill all the germs so I scoop up all the noodles and throw it into the pot. I cook everything fine and the sauce was made without a problem and I served it to my brother who starts eating it and well, surprise!! There's tons of hairs and other junk from the floor in his spaghetti. He later jokes that our house isn't Wendy's and that I shouldn't use the same, hmm, technique I do at Wendy's at home. Mine was fine, I didn't find one hair or anything...whatever. I'm a really good cook, I promise, when it comes to desserts, breads, and breakfasts foods. So I'm making my cake today because I want to eat it. When I annouced my plans, which I have to do in my Mom's kitchen, my dad got really excited ( he'll eat anything I'll make, helps my self-esteem ;) Hopefully there will be some leftovers for the Guest I'm having this weekend but that will be cutting it really close: this thing goes real fast. Alright, I'm off to make it. You should make one too; it's really good. Oh definitely cook to some good music otherwise it won't be as fun. I got some new music from my sister some include Shimmer- Fuel, Flagpole Sitta-Harvey Danger, The Kids Aren't Alright- The Offspring and Dave Matthews Band, is always fun to cook to, which are all upbeat and good cooking music. Give it a go.

One Mid-Summer Night's Eve...

It is 8:20 am on a beautiful, hot summer day here in Blacksburg, Virginia. I haven't woke up this early all summer but I'm about to go run up a mountain with a friend, so it's worth it. Last night I went on a Midnight run for the first time. I've gone on a 5 in the morning run before because it was the indoor season my senior year and we had to get 2 runs in one day, but a Midnight run is completely different. Firstly, you don't have the sun coming up so you can't see anything. Secondly, it's a lot cooler to run in the dead of night. Thirdly, you get people to stare out their windows because they think you're a thief or something. So why do it? Well, I needed to go on a run and I ran out of time to do it in the day. See yesterday was very busy. I woke up, ate breakfast, went to the movie and lunch with my brother, bought his b-day present, got home and hung out with Susanna, ate dinner, played this awesome video game with my brother's best friend and his older brother which is one of my good friends, made cookies which we ate before we baked, played more video games, then the friends went home and finally, I could go on my run. It was quite the adventure, running into complete blackness with a few stars to guide your path. My eyes completely suck and when I don't have my glasses I have to squint to see far away (you've probably seen this if you have hung out with me). But it's even worse at night and every little shadow looked like a trash can I was about to hit. But alas! I didn't hit anything and got to see one of the coolest night skies I have seen in awhile. Plus it was a lot cooler. The down side? Can't really get a tan from starlight although that would be cool to say you have starburn instead of sunburn. Although that sounds really nedry but whatever. So go on a Midnight run; maybe with a friend so you don't get scared because in pitch blackness you have no idea what's going to pop out at you.

Unexpected Fun

Today was a pretty fun day. This whole week my parents have been out of town, my sister moved to Fairfax, and my brother worked day shift while I worked night shift. All my friends also work day shift and two are in running camp so I haven't hung out with anyone really except myself. It's kind of nice to have that once in a while but I don't think I could live like that, I like people too much. So today was the first time I got to hang out with my brother all week so we went to go see this movie, on the right, because we had heard so much about it and we weren't paying for it (my mom left us money for the movie and lunch). So we went to the movie and ate at Red Robin afterwards where we always go....I guess it's a thing my brother and I have. This movie wasn't too bad. When I first heard that it was coming out I had no interest at all in seeing it and thought it was completely stupid. This just shows you how wrong first impressions can be. This movie, other than Ratatouille, was the best movie I've seen all summer. Spiderman 3 and Pirates 3 were both entertaining but completely underdeveloped, random, and disappointments especially with all the hype that this movies got. This movie, however, had a developed story so you know what's going on and is pretty action packed which is always fun. There are some political jokes scattered around but not to many to be offended by and there are some funny spots. There are a few lame lines in it and "I'm too cool for school" scenes but all in all it's very fun and entertaining. Also, this movie is the leading box office holder and apparently did better than both Spiderman 3 and Pirates 3. Pretty interesting. So if you have a few bucks and you have nothing to do, go see it. You'll have fun with it. Later

Relationships Part 2: True Friends

So we're created for relationships right? Not just with God and our families but with each other, you and I, me and the person down the street, you and the person sitting next to you, with strangers: which are basically people you don't know that aren't family related but have the potential to becoming closer than family. This part on relationships is about friendships, not just acquaintances or people you hang out with that are near you, but true friendships, friends that stick by you through thick and thin, friends that "love" each other. Whoa, hold on there, "love" each other? Isn't that kind of gay? That is the number one response you will get when you say you love your friend, well if you're a guy and you say you love your guy friend. I mean right now you're probably thinking this is gay talk. But it's not, it's something entirely different, entirely biblical, and entirely forgotten by this world. God wants us to have true friendships with each other, whether it be from 10 to only 4 people, He wants us to have these relationships with each other because it is how we grow in Him, it is how we are encouraged, it is how we are loved. To really open up to people, to be able to be vulnerable about your problems to someone without them turning their back, and having them care and look out for you is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. It is also comforting to know that you have someone there that is always going to be there for you, that is also going to help you or just laugh with you, to have someone love you in a sisterly and brotherly kind of way; in a Godly way. There are numerous examples such as the friendships of the 12 disciples, Moses and Aaron, Jesus and everyone he met, Lazarus and Jesus, Paul and Timothy, David and Jonathan. The friendship I'll be focusing on today is David and Jonathan's.

There friendship can be found in 1 Samuel 18-31. David, is Jesse's son, a Shepard's son. Someone who did not have a lot of wealth nor status. Jonathan was Saul's son, the Prince of all Israel someone of great wealth and status. They first met in Chapter 18 right after David slays Goliath, the infamous bible story. I think this is one is just as awesome. Now it says in Chapter 18 verse 1, "Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." Whoa, talk about close. That was this says they became close that "Jonathan loved him as his own soul". Now I bet it took a lot to time for them to get that close but it doesn't really say how long, but I don't think that part matters. The main point is that theses guys loved each other and were the best of friends, true friends to one another. The story continues with Israel still at war with the Philistines with both David and Jonathan fighting under Saul's banner. But due to David's expert war abilities and noble heart he gained favor among the Israelites and was reigned as a hero, more so than Saul, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands."- Chapter 18: 7. Now being the arrogant king Saul was he became of jealous of David, to the point that he wanted to kill David. Now there are several messages in this story you can take out of it like the danger of jealous, coveting something that is not yours, arrogance can lead to harm, etc. but I'm focusing on the relationships of Jonathan and David. So, Saul sought out to kill David, first tried to bribe him but now sought to kill him. Now Jonathan stood by his friend seeing that his father has become evil and was no longer with the Lord. He risked his own life to save his friend's. He helped David escape to Philistine so that David may live. Now here is what is said about their goodbye, because they would never see each other again alive, "As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so." Chapter 20:41 Now I don't think I would kiss any of my friends but back then it was custom to do so, same with the bowing thing. But they wept together. These guys were never going to see each other and they were closer than brothers so they wept, they were in despair. I mean, their friendship meant so much to them that it caused a wave of tears to come down. That's the kind of true friendship that we were meant to have. Maybe not cry in front of one another but it is definitely close, and emotional. The story goes on, it's very interesting, but the last point I want to make is that Saul and Jonathan die together in war against the Philistines who is then defeated by David later on. But when David had learned of his friend's death he mourned, all of Israel mourned for a long period of time. It was like losing a part of yourself. It's a great story of love and friendship, and I encourage you to read it.

So David and Jonathan loved each other like they were family. In this case they were closer than family. Does that mean true friendship replace family ones? No, it is something completely different and just as fulfilling. I never knew what it was like to have "true friendships" nor what it was like to be close to anyone like I was with my family. As displayed in my other post, I'm really close to my family and didn't need anything else. Well, I was wrong, dead wrong. I didn't know what it was like to be close to someone, to be loved and cared for someone that wasn't a family member. It's great though to have that, to have true friends there to just have fun with, to grow in Christ with and to be there when I'm struggling. I thank God for both my family relationships and my true friendships. I have grown in Him through both, so much. I can't imagine living any other way. So, here's what I'm saying to you. It's okay to be personal with someone, it's okay to be close to someone, to be vulnerable in front of your friend. It's okay to open up to them because what you will gain is a true friendship one that is like David and Jonathan's one that is of love, support, fun: is of God. It's incredibly rewarding and fulfilling to have that.

Relationships Part 1: Family

This picture makes me laugh almost every time I see it. These beautiful young ladies are my two older sisters. Both are married, so sorry fellas. Kasey is the eldest of us four kids and is the one doing the dirtying. Kelly is the second oldest and is the one being dirtied upon. This was at my high school graduation party last year. It's interesting to look back and see where everyone was in there life back then and see how much they have changed and they way my family has changed. But first a brief history. Mom and Dad met and got married. Kasey was born in San Diego, California. Kelly was next in Washington D.C. about 7 years later. Next came me in Cape May, New Jersey about 3 years later. Lastly came Jonathan, also in Cape May New Jersey, about 2 years later. So we're all pretty close in age except for Kasey. We moved around a lot due to my Dad's job, being an officer in the Coast Guard for about 25-30 years, can't quite remember. Because we moved around a lot it made our family extremely close. We all made friends whenever we went but they were never as close as we were to each other. And that is still true today; to a point but that will be covered in Part 2 when I write it tomorrow. We, like any other loving family, do have our arguments and fights but they never last so long that we never stop talking to each other; I have friends where this has happened, where they don't talk to certain members of their families because of a fight in the past or something like that. But we can always have fun together. Always. It's extremely rare for all 6 of us to be together in one place though. We all live in different places, living in the different lives we have so it's a big deal when us 6 can get together.

Well, this weekend I hung out with my two sisters and my mom a lot. When I'm home I always hang out with Jonathan so that's nothing special. But it was awesome to be around my two oldest sisters together, especially now because one has a beautiful daughter who is the funniest and cutest baby I have ever seen. Yeah, call me biased, whatever. If you saw what she did you would agree, you know it. Anyways, my sisters and my mom wanted to go see Evenings, that new chick flick about sisters and their dying/crazy mother (i didn't like it at all, don't see it. Only went cuz they wanted too and it was free for me). But before we did that we had some lunch and my niece was getting fussy because she was tired. So I put on some music, happened to be Dave Matthews Band, held my niece and started to sing/dance with her. Not only that my other two sisters started dancing too and then my mom joined in and we had this awesome Dave Matthews dance party, kinda. It was one of the most fun times I've had all summer...it was hilarious and we were all just laughing and having a good time. My niece gave a few smiles as well.

The point of this story is that in this age family is not taken at seriously as it should, nor is it valued like it should be. 60% of marriages end in divorce. Kids are beaten, harassed, and molested by their parents and/or siblings. Families are broken up and torn apart. Siblings hate each other. Family members kill each other over money, sex, drama, you name it, it happens. Just watch the news, you'll see it. It's disgusting. It's awful. I hate it. I love my family to the ends of the earth and can't imagine living in any other kind. I use to regret what my family has been through, moving around a lot and more, but now I'm actually glad. Glad because every single one of us is close to the other, there for one another, and we love one another. Something you don't see in this world too often. I have several friends who hate their families, or feel like their family hates them or dislikes them or whatever, and that just makes me want them to have the kind of family I have. I mean there are tons of loving families who are close to one another and love each other but there are more families who do not. I just wish people took Jesus more seriously when he said honor your Mother and Father, and love your brother and sister. We were created for relationships; first and foremost relationship with God. Secondly relationships with each other, from our family to our friends. So I encourage to have fun with your family, to get to know them if you don't, and to love them, the kind of love that shows.

Happy Late Fourth of July

Happy belated fourth my audience. I hope you had a great day of remembering what this country and it's servants have been through to let you be able to live the way you live. I hope you celebrated in the classic American tradition through the consumption of burgers and hotdogs, with beer to drink (the 4th is the highest day of alcohol consumption....really reflects what our culture is all about), the seeing of fireworks, and just having a good time even though half of this country doesn't even realize what happened yesterday nor the severity of the situation. Our founding fathers committed high treason, which would have resulted in hanging, having their entrails cut out and burned and other assorted punishments. Our most patriotic of figures were actually the most treacherous of traitors. Anyways, thanks dudes and every person who has served this country, for putting your lives on the line so I can live in the best country in the world. I had to work my 10 hours shift, but at least I got to hear some of the booms from the fireworks. Lets me know there is life outside of Wendys.

The hippies in the top left hand corner is Fleetwood Mac; the group I'm in the music craving for and the group I've been listening to non-stop these past 3 days. They're an interesting bunch, but first introductions. It goes from left to right, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks. I didn't memorize the names, I looked them up. They actually started in London in July of 1967. Their has been so many change ups of band members it would take forever to list them all. But essentially the members you see in the picture are the members known as Fleetwood Mac making the band extremely popular and famous in between 1975-1987. They have sold over 100 million copies of their albums making them part of the "list of best-selling artist". After several band break ups and re-formations the band moved to California searching for a replacement to one of their lead singers who had left the band. Lo and behold they stumble upon Stevie Nicks and the band starts to become popular (1975). The band hits huge success with songs like Over My Head, Rhiannon, Say You Love Me, and Landslide. Several years later, on a different album, Go Your Own Way, Dreams, Don't Stop, You Make Loving Fun, Gold Dust Woman, and The Chain were created and produced top spots on song charts across America. Several other albums were created in between their success years of 1975-1987 including Mirage and Tango in the Night. Several of my favorite songs a included in these ablums. Their music genre started off as blues to blues rock to rock which was when they started to gaining success. Nowadays the band is still together but not really producing anything although they did just release another ablum about 3 years ago.

So how did I start liking them even though their main fan base is about 30-40 years older than me? My Dad. Whenever the family went on road trips (usually to Florida) or visit our grandparents or beach trips or whenever we got in the car to go somewhere far, he would listen to them. These songs would always produce childhood memories and fun times we the family had. So thanks Dad, for getting me hooked on Fleetwood. Whose upbeat songs and tempos I throughly enjoy.

Left or Right?

Finished reading Psalm 119, interesting chapter in the Bible; supposedly it's the longest chapter and it's numbered in Hebrew which I just researched last night. Not sure why but it's something to explore or think about while I'm bored at work. My music selection this week is dominated by Fleetwood Mac. I'm just in a Fleetwood Mac mood. You ever get those kind of cravings for a particular artist and so you listen to them for awhile and then you get tired of them and move on. Well, maybe not but right now I'm in the Fleetwood Mac craving. They're interesting bunch; something to write about in a future blog. I took my brother off "My Peeps" list upon his request, I didn't reject him from my "peeps" group. He just hates sentimental stuff, or deep stuff, personal stuff whatever you want to call it. Doesn't mean he's shallow just never has liked talking about it. Work is still going, 10 hour days, the usual. But let's get down to business. The fork in the road....well, I feel that God is placing several of these in my life right now, choices I have to make. In an earlier blog I had written about not wanting to care as much for people anymore, that it is useless and unfruitful, and how life would be so much better without it. One train of thought that brought about this desire to not care was that whatever I did, anything I said, whenever I tried to help, whenever I was trying to be there for you didn't help, made the situation worse, had no effect so and so forth. Basically, I don't have an impact on other people's lives, God is not using me to help anyone, and I'm not needed. It's fine though, that's just life. So in response I stopped trying, stopped caring. I think not having a "Christian community" has taken a bigger toll on me than I thought it would. That's another factor for this change in thought.

I mean, look at all the Christians in the world that don't care a lot about others and their lives seem to be better that way, or at least that what it looks like to my friends and certain family members down here in hickville. I have to admit, life has been easier, less draining, and more fun. I'm having a great time hanging out with my family and friends not caring a lot and life is awesome.....but something feels wrong about it, something is amiss and ah, you guessed it, it's caring. I really don't know why I make a big deal about it, why this has been on my mind for the past month and a half, why this is bothering me so much. But I believe God is doing something here to have a lasting effect. Being spiritually alone, not having a community nor friends where you can talk about these things, has really made me dependent on God. It's extremely hard and can make a guy feel alone but maybe that's what I need to go through right now to prepare me for the future. I don't know. Maybe this caring dispute, which ever road I take, is suppose to shape me into someone that God can use...I have no flippin idea. But I do know this a choice of mine, a choice I had come across before this past school year, a choice of life........

Well God, You have made it plain enough to see what the right choice is and well, fine. I chose to care then. I'll continue pursuing, continue caring. So I may have no impact on anyone's life, I may not be needed, I may not be worth something but I know that you have given me this "spiritual gift" to serve you and if that doesn't help anyone down here or have an impact or help anyone at least I know that I am serving you in doing so. Who knows, maybe I'm worth something more than I realize. Only God can tell. Man, I'm hungry....alright I'm out.

Holler Back Youngen

Holler! This picture was taken in Quedlinburg, Germany which is this small town with a castle in the East side of Germany. I have no idea how those rocks were formed like that but they were pretty sweet...also, this is where I was this time last year. A lot has happened since then. So I have no intellectual thoughts for you or unquenchable questions to ask just kind of a re-cap of what's been going on since those who do read this I barely talk to.
Summer has finally begun. Freaking YES! I still work about 40+ hours a week at my favorite store Wendy's but I need it to just be able to go to college next semester. An advantage of working at night is that I have the whole day, well from 1130 (which is when I wake up) to 5 to just fulfill the day. And each day has been that, very fulfilling and very rewarding. It's funny, looking back at what I wrote earlier on, when I first arrived "home", and how hard it was adjusting due to two jobs, 3 and half hours of sleep and other stressful situations like Sheryl. Anyways, the second job is finished which leaves the whooollllleeeeeeeeee day just for me (talk about self centered). So what's been going on....been hanging out with some old friends, mainly Stephen (Freaking awesome), Brian(Freaking awesome), Matt(Very funny), and Darren(Goofy cool) playing pool 21, disc golf, volleyball, extreme gulping, and other stuff. When I'm not hanging with these cool dudes I'm spending time with the family playing video games (well, with my brother), RISK, Spades, Scrabble, and UNO. Yeah, the quote is from when we were playing RISK and I was about to win the game by taking my her capital and she called me a shit....that's the Hooper side of her (long story) of course if you met her you would never know it, she hides it pretty well ;) Love you tons mum.
Speaking of my mom, she doesn't like me being home because I eat her out of house and home; seriously I eat a ton and she hates how we don't have leftovers anymore because I always eat seconds or thirds. Yeah, talk about fatty but I run every other day and when I'm not running I'm swimming but because swimming costs 3 bucks every time I go I've been going less often due to financial stresses.
Met with my pastor, really funny guy, extremely smart. Had some great conversations with him and he treated to lunch....gotta love that. He's sending a team of college kids to Kiev, Ukraine (another long story) in the next few summers and wanted me to go so that is something I'm looking forward to.
Let's see...faith wise has been pretty nice. Been trying to dive into scripture a lot to know more about the God (duhhh), but more on learning about God intellectually, developing my own "theology" as Reggie puts it, and learning more about what Methodist believe in and what Baptist believe in, the difference between the two and which one I believe in more. Been reading Psalms with Jordan, because the book I just read, Praise Habit, made me want to dive into Psalms so that's nice.
Anyways, I'm out of stuff. I'm forgetting lots, I'm sure but hope your summer is going well. It's funny how it goes from harsh to nice. Later guys

"Do What Tastes Right"

BEWARE: The following blog may contain material inappropriate for kids younger than 13 and for people that love to eat at Wendy's.
This blog is dedicated to the truth; the truth of what is really in those sandwiches. Let's start with the basics, everything meat wise is stored in the deep freezer in, usually in the back of the building. The temperature of this contraption is about -10 degrees, if it was anything higher the meat would spoil. All of the descriptions I am about to reveal are stamped in bold letters on the sides of the boxes that the meat comes in.
Chicken Nuggets- "Chicken breast shaped fritters with Rib meat"
Fries- "potatoes and preservatives"
Spicy Chicken Filet- "Chicken breast with Rib meat coated in paprika"
Homestyle Chicken Filet- "Chicken breast with Rib meat and 17% of a solution"(no joke, this is really what it says)
Crispy Chicken- "Chicken breast with Rib meat, breaded"
Buffalo Chicken- "Chicken breast with Rib meat coated with spice"
The beef is just cow and grease.
Chili- Made with tomatoes, onions, beef, pinto beans, chili flavoring powder, and other mysterious ingredients I haven't figured out yet. Of course they don't tell you that the tomatoes and onions they use are the ones that have expired and can no longer be put on sandwiches. The beef is also old; any beef that was not sold during the day or was dropped on the floor or could not be sold on a burger any other way is drained, counted, put in the -10 degree freezer and then put in this huge vat with all the other ingredients. Yum. Also, the chili flavoring is what gives the chili it's flavor. One day, during work, before were coming back because they felt that their chili tasted old. Well, what had happened is that no one had put the chili flavoring in the chili. Of course it would taste old, because everything in it is old and should have been thrown out.
Frostys- "milk, cream, sugar, water, frosty flavoring"
Cheese Sauce- "Hot water and cheese powder"
The bacon is worse than before, it's 80% fat (like the white fat you see on pork) and when it gets old it leaves this white gel substance.
Salads are pretty safe, although they are high in calories.
Stay away from the chicken salad frescata. Only the managers are allowed to make the chicken salad which raises serious suspicions in my mind....why only them?
The other frescatas are okay because it is deli meat that is used not Wendy's made meat with 17% of a solution. gross....what the heck is 17% of a solution?

That's all I can remember right now.....just wanted to warn you. If you saw what my brother and I had to clean yesterday you would NEVER eat there again.....I wanted to never eat again because of it. Well, I'm exaggerating but it was sick.
But I have some fun times at work, such as last night. My brother, Carolyn (whose is this mexican that can say like 10 words in english but laughs when i make faces at her or make fun of other people....now that I think about it she laughs at almost everything I do...like when I dropped a spicy chicken filet on the ground and picked up and put on a sandwhich.....then she did the same thing. Hey, don't judge, we were in a rush and those were the last two chicken's for about 5 min.) and I closed last night and were getting out at record time (2:35) until I had dropped the chili meat which caused my brother and carolyn in a laughing fest. So I cleaned that up and we're about to clock out and the manager does a run through and finds chicken in the draws, which I had forgotten, so I was like "CRAP"! which set my brother and carolyn laughing again.....i guess you just had to be there. It was very funny. But yeah, watch what you eat. Later yo.

To care or not to care.......

So what's been going on in my life, let's see....... I've been working non-stop, went to a wedding and had an awesome weekend, planning a beach trip with some track buds in July, went to Peter's lake house, finished Praise Habit, started swimming everyday and trying to get better at the butterfly stroke, played some volleyball, haven't gone to the quarry yet, and other stuff I can't remember. But I've been "battling" more like thinking, a lot about some stuff; specifically caring. The weekly quote is one of many that I have received while being home, mainly from family saying I care too much, or I'm too personal, or I shouldn't care so on and so forth. Over the year I've heard things like, "you'll be a better small group leader because you care for people", or "you can change this and that because you care" which was really encouraging and got me pumped for next year but now, being here, I'm starting to think the opposite. Quite frankly, these past few weeks I have been done with caring for people.....why? because it is unfruitful, it produces nothing, and just drains me. I think I need to stop caring so much, even if that means stop caring in general. I look at my friends and some family member's lives, which are void of caring, and see how happy they are, how fulfilling their lives seem(whether that be the case or not, I don't know, may be it's for show).

So I started to rethink what it means to care, what it looks like, and when it is appropriate to care if you can limit it to specific times, or people in your life. I came to the conclusion to take a step back, to withdraw some ( not all the way where I never talk to you or anyone else again), to not care as much. I don't know, I feel cheesy saying all of this but somethings got to change and this is something that I can change so I'm going for it. And yet it feels so wrong to think this way, it is like I'm stuck in the middle of a fence not knowing where to fall.......well, I think it's time for me to look out for me only. Something that I barely do, and I need to start doing more often. I think that will benefit everyone a little more.

Summer......What Summer?

I really suck at this updating thing but at least late then never. This picture was taken around this time last year at the Quarry in B-burg. You don't know how amazing it is until you have been there and actually jumped off the 40 ft. cliff that I am standing on. The water is clear blue which makes jumping a little daunting because you can see straight to the bottom. But man, you have to try it at least once. It's the main attraction other than Tech in these parts. Sadly, I haven't been able to go all but once since I have been. It's not really a big deal but it is just one activity that I had planned for this summer that I have been unable to pursue. That's been happening a lot lately.
To give you a background about what's been happening this summer I must start on day I got back from Rockbridge. Well, that was my first day of work at the wonderful restaurant of Wendy's. I work the night shift from 5pm-2am and I don't get out of work till around 3:00-3:30am. I also have a another job that starts at 8am till around 3pm watching my baby niece. Thankfully, I have weekends off where I try to hang out with some friends here that I haven't seen in awhile. Talk about a shock. I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was for this kind of work schedule. I now know the how valuable sleep is. The first few weeks I was running on about 4 hours of sleep each night except on weekends which does not help while watching a 3 month old baby. She's the funniest baby I have ever seen; making faces that I make and that my sister make just cracks me up which then makes her laugh which then makes me laugh and it becomes one big laughing fest. But man, she can cry very loud. I mean that's how she tells you that she crapped her pants or she's hungry, but with no sleep, that crying seems to multiply a lot.
So that was my week life: work, 2-hour break where I loaded up on coffee and food, then work again, then sleep, then work........ So this hard schedule was not something I was prepared for this summer. One thing that I looked forward too this summer was going back to my old church and the new college bible study that they were offering. Well, talk about two let downs. This church is awesome and extremely active but I just don't connect to it anymore, which was very unexpected. This "bible study" which is more like sunday school, and the teaching method is more of "let me tell you what the bible says instead of you figuring it out for yourself and applying it to your life". I understand the concept that you get out of it what you put into it but you must understand that I was pretty excited about it and had a great attitude going into it. I don't believe I had high expectations for it, just that I thought it would be a great time to get to know my fellow methodist peers that are in college, living life as a Christian. It was more like the same old cliquish youth group back in high school which I disliked then and dislike now. So basically, I'm trying to say is that I feel like I've lost my spiritual community when leaving Old Dominion which isn't right. Why can't I find that sense of spiritual community here in Blacksburg? Where is that sense of support that I once had?
Anyways, it sounds like I'm whining (give me credit, if you had to do this you would be complaining too, for a little bit) and I wanted to give you a background of what has been going on so that you may understand why I have not been myself lately.
I was talking to my amazing friend recently about all this and she gave some awesome advice: count your blessings.
Count my blessings? What blessings? oh wait.. haha...dang. Man have I been being dumb recently complaining. What good comes out of complaining and comparing your life to others and wishing that you could go to the beach everyday or hang out with anyone you like whenever you like or having a better job or wishing that your life was someone else's? One, that is an insult to God. Two, it produces nothing but pity parties and bad moods. Yeah, it is easy to say wow, they have it made. But something I've come to realize is that there is always someone there saying that about you. That there is always someone worse off than you are and instead of complaining I should be thanking...thanking God for giving me this life no matter how difficult it is. Thanking God for giving the best friends a guy could ask for even when they don't call when they say they would or hanging out with you when they said they could. Thanking God for giving me a church I can go to when there are thousands of people in the world who don't have a church to go to. Thanking God for giving me a job when there are millions of people in poverty, struggling just to survive. I mean, here I am complaining about working at a Wendy's to pay for college when there are people working there to just get food on the table. How messed up is that? That is not right. That is not godly. Instead of complaining and comparing I should be thanking. And quite frankly, these past few days have been the best this summer. Not because I did anything exciting or hung out with some cool people or I went to the beach or Busch Gardens, etc. but because I have been counting the blessings that God has given me, being ever so thankful for the life he has given me and being grateful my best friends, two of which are in the top right hand corner.
So if you're ever in a tight spot or feeling incredibly down about random crap or just feeling like no cares for you( which is a bad habit I get into, but more on that in a different blog) think about your blessings, the wonderful life that God has given you no matter how difficult it is, and ultimately think about the best gift/blessing that has been given to you: JESUS. Just thinking about what Jesus has done for me just blows my mind. Every life is a great life with Jesus.

The Here and Now

Hello peeps of the online world. This is my first entry in my first blog. You're reading this because you're interested in reading my thoughts and opinions about some stuff or you're just bored and have nothing to do so you read random people's blogs.
I called my blog the Here and Now because while I was creating it my brother Jonathan, Andrew, and I were playing monopoly (I lost terribly) and on the side of the box said, "The Here and Now" and that fits with my train of thought: I try to concentrate on the present while remembering the past and looking forward to the future, which is a hard thing to do.
Being stressed about the future has never been an issue with me because I rarely think about the future. I try to avoid talking about it as well. Which is a good thing, to an extent. It is a good thing because it gives me time to focus on the here and now and not miss out on the present. I have less worries because I spend less time worrying about the future. I have to give a shout out to Jesus on that one, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:34. Actually verses 25-34 all relate about how we shouldn't worry about our lives.
But this can be a problem if mis- interrupted. Yes, we are called to be dependent on God but that doesn't mean that we are lazy and just sit on the couch all day saying, "God will do everything for me and I don't have to do a thing". Uh, no, not at all. If that was the case then we would all be puppets, having no free will; thus, no love. But I'm jumping around.
I believe that we are to be dependent on God but that requires us to act and to move toward God and his calling for us. He will do what we can't do ourselves, like save our souls. He will not give us an A on a test because we can do that ourselves. But recently I have been thinking about the future and am pretty excited about it. This may seem weird but I have this bad tendency to regret the past which causes me to fear the future. But recently, well the past few months, I have been more excited about it and more importantly, excited about how God is shaping my life and is going to use me to do His will. But the one thing I am kind of struggling with is trying to determine what God has in store for me, specifically what my "career" should be. Yeah, I've been stressing about that a lot recently because I don't want to pursue something that comes into conflict with what God has planned for me, but it is hard to determine what He does have planned for me. So I kind of feel stuck of not knowing what to do, what to pursue. I guess I should just pursue what God has placed in my heart, but is it what God has placed there or what I have placed there? Man, this is tough. I guess I need to go back to Matthew 6:25-34 and just depend on God. Yeah, easier said than done.