Todays post will be another quickie, but something a little more substantial than my last post! today i had to turn my english essay on christianity vs. fate. i think it turned out pretty well, and i thought itd make a nice change of pace blog entry. its pretty in depth stuff, and probably a little boring, but hopefully still something interesting to at least skim over...haha! and also, tonight is the big north surry v. mount airy home soccer game! so your fav. captain will be starting tonight in hopes of a shutout! so cheer us on! well, enjoy the paper and by the way...congrats kristen with the big news! adios!

Christianity vs. Fate

“I don’t have to listen to you. I can make my own decisions!” Almost every parent or older sibling has heard this line before. Many young kids, myself included, have chafed under the authority of parents and older siblings. I believe that in a small way, this aspect of the parent/child relationship help explains the idea of God influencing our lives, as well as our free agency to make our own decisions. I believe that God tries to help us, his children, by directing us to do things that help us grow. However, equally important is the free agency that all mankind has.
Free agency is the universal trait that all people have. Free agency is the ability to choose. Many argue today between the idea that everyone is controlled by fate, and the view that people are free to make their own choices. I believe that I can make my own decisions, however the flipside to choosing is that although I can make my own decisions, I cannot choose the consequences that come from a decision. For example, if I choose to smoke, then I cannot choose the consequences of that action. I could be grounded by my parents; I could become addicted, or even develop a smoking related illness. Integral to this debate is God. Personally, I think that God guides everyone in the choices that they face everyday. Another example comes from the tragedy of 9/11. Several people had ominous feelings about reporting to work or going on a plane that day. These feelings or promptings undoubtedly saved the lives of the people of who listened to them. The people whose lives were saved still had a choice whether to listen to that prompting or to ignore it and continue on with the routine of their lives. The point I’m trying to make is that mankind is not ruled by some inescapable notion of fate. Everyone is free to act according to their desires. No one can choose the consequences of their actions. The key then is to make the best decisions possible in order to live life to the fullest. By making decisions that benefit ourselves, and those around us, we can make the most out of the agency that we have.
In conclusion, I would like to indulge on personal note. In my own life, I've adopted the philosophy that I can’t control everything in life. Just as I have my ability to choose, so do those around me, and I can’t control the decisions they make, and especially the consequences of their decisions. Accidents will happen, but I remind myself that I can control my own actions and reactions to events around me. I know that in my own life, God has guided me in making wise decisions beyond my own wisdom. Fate doesn’t exist to me; fate is an excuse for those who can’t accept the mistakes of their own foolish decisions.

Quick update today! I know everybody has been getting pretty bored with the incessant soccer reports! unfortunately heres another one! lst night starmount beat my team, the MA bears 9-2. it was a heartbreaker of a game. anyway, tommorow night we play north surry again, which many of you know is the first team we beat 3-1! it should be a nice way to end the soccer week. anyway, a few other random thigns that are going on: the infamous "grit day" is this friday, which means the north surry, mount airy football game is this friday! its a tradition, and it should be good, especially since a pep rally on friday shouldnt shorten the school day! and finally, as far as cool updates go, it is exaclty 3 days until i get to see kim! adn let me just tell you, im sooo pumped! i just cant wait to see u! anyway thats all for today! see u soon!

it's day number 7 of the week, meaning sunday has come around again. well, last night i stayed up kind late...lol....like around 12 before i started gettign ready for bed! anyway i took a shower and was getting ready for bed, when i remembered my lesson that i had to prepare for priesthood (which meant i had roughly 9 hours until id have to give it! thankfully kim asked me if i was ready for church the next day, when i suddenly remembered the lesson i had to give! i said a prayer and began some spiritual preperation. the lesson was on temple endowments, probably one gospel topic that i know the least about! my knowledge on the topic basically consisted of the fact that it was a sacred temple ordinance. i read the lesson and started preperation. i found some neat things and i felt like i really had a pretty good lesson. while i was making notes, i noticed the lesson went from why we have temples to worthiness. i was wondering why the lesson hadnt even mentioned endowments. i flipped the page and realized somebody had copied the lesson out of order! it wasnt a big deal, but then my lesson notes were all out of order! i just groaned and finished making some notes on important scriptures and such. i made it into bed about 130 (mission accomplished). i remembered to bring my lesson to church when phillip informed me that my lesson was postponed! pres. cozzeans was teaching the lesson today which meant my lesson was postponed until next sunday! oh i couldnt believe it! the one time i remember my lesson, i dont even have to give it! i told phillip and he just cracked up...but on the plus side at least now i have more time to prepare plus ive gotten most of the lesson preperation finished! anyway the moral of the story is if someone prepares for their lesson, then chances are you wont have to give it! so prepare those lessons everybody...:)

Me and Steven (Postgame) 

Lucky Number 7 

For all you avid soccer fans out there, everyone knows what the above score means...MA soccer beat the North Surry soccer team! the game went down last night (8/24) as the much anticipated season opener for the young MA soccer team. the predominantly freshmen team took to the field with no real high school athletic experience under their collective belts. anyway enough with the news story reporting, it was one awesome night! i was named speaking team captain (as the only senior on the team) sporting the number 7 jersey. anyway the game started out a bit rocky. for the first 10 minutes they greyhounds (north surry mascot) controlled the ball down on our side of the field. it looked inevitable that they would score, however some solid goal keeping and defense kept them from a clear shot. after our team got it together, we pushed the ball out to their side of the field. in almost no time we scored an excellent goal from vang. later on a penalty kick from 45 yards out, sophomore alex wright (and fellow co-captain) nailed a shot into the far corner of the goal! let me just tell you, that shot was unbelievable! anyway, the greyhounds scored late by a high ball that our goalie tried to punch out, but just cleared the top post and fell in for their first goal. i played the entire time, but i got my second wind in the second half and finally was able to help contribute some to the offensive production. alex cleared the ball on a high goal kick, which i head flicked to oswaldo who tipped in it for goal number 3. the last 20 minutes of the second half went back and forth, with neither team really putting in any major offensive production. overall it was one awesome night!! i cant describe how awesome it feels to be part of a winning team, a young team that has worked hard for their right to take to the field and prove what they're made of. it felt awesome to be underdogs, underdogs that didnt quit, and gave what they had for the team, with no thought of what they would get out of a win. more than anything it felt good to be part of a winning team, not one individual, but 11 players that won together.

Strike 3 

98 MPH fastball 

Yeah...maybe someday! thats my dream at least, pitching game 7 of the world series, pitching a perfect game and winning 1-0! todays post is something slightly different, id thought id post about a personal dream of mine, to be a pitcher (even on the high school level). ever since about 2-3 years ago, ive been addicted to throwing a baseball. I remember I wasn’t very interested in baseball, but one day Logan suggested we go throw a baseball. for about a week we probably threw for hours at a time. at first my control was terrible, and me and Logan just enjoyed goofing off and spending some time together. however, I stayed addicted to pitching, while Logan soon gave up the pitching craze. I was thinking, its always interesting to find out the one thing that everyone loves. everybody has the one thing (or sometimes several) that they just really enjoy doing. the one thing, one hobby that sticks. I think for me thats probably pitching. one of the funniest things was when my 15 year old cousin came out here and gave me a few pitching pointers. interestingly enough my cousin throws 90+ mph! .......... thats what I said! he helped me some with my control and velocity, so now my current plans are to at least try out for the school team in the spring. we will see how that goes though! and just for the fun of it, I thought I would include a few pictures of me and my dad throwing out in the yard! so in conclusion, id like to end with adams fortune cookie advice of the day...the wise man reaches to catch his dreams while the timid man waits for his dreams to fall into his hands. lucky numbers: 2, 6, 14, 97, 102

Quick post today everybody! KIMS BACK FROM VACATION! its been exactly a week since she left! just wanted to welcome you home baby! hopefully SC was fun...lol! but as for a few other things, we had a Book of Mormon activity today which was pretty cool, and now that i'm back home, its time for a few chores so i must be off! adios!

Todays update should be pretty quick, since not a ton has happened since tue. ill start with the beggininning of the day at seminary. man i love the first day or two of the year, as far as waking up because i seem to be able to wake up and stay awake the whole day without feeling any fatigue! however that wears off fast! for example, this morning i barely made it out of bed after hearing my alarm. i almost went down for the count, but fortunately i maintained conciousness long enough to get out of bed and stumble into the kitchen for a quick breakfast...lol. anyway in AP cal this mroning, i was sooo bored! my AP cal teacher seems nice and semi easy, but she has trouble with math. even on basic problems, she doesn't explain them well, i just hope she teachers AP cal better than the algebra review better! but its been good so far...a 7.5 out of 10. drafting is about the same as always, its neat to work on houses, and out of my class, i happen to be one of the more advanced students (not to brag, ive just been around drafting the longest and am familiar with the software). its pretty cool being to help everybody else out, and i think zack is glad since ive been helping him out alot. but id give drafting an 8 out of 10, because i got a really slow computer this year! its about to drive me crazy! but oh well! next is lunch, which is a really awesome lunch, alot of my friends are in there. the downside is that next week the rumor is that lunch will split from 2 lunches into 3 lunch periods. thatll be fine, itll just be tough readjusting to another lunch! next, intro to TV is awesome! its great to be able to realx in there, it gets a 9 out of 10. honors english with mrs. ridolfi gets an 8.5 out of 10, sicne i dont really like english, but she is such a nice teacher. her enthusiasim makes the class more enjoyable. and the greatest news is that (unofficially) im the captain of the soccer team and the ONLY senior on the team!! thats kinda sad, but on the upside, i could rename senior night, "Adam night!" but so far the year is going well! but thats been my week so far, a few surprises, a few old memories, thats about it. see u guys later!

First Day Outfit 

Well, the big day has finally come and gone! school has started and now i'm enrolled in a hectic senior school year. overall my first day went much smoother than previous years! however, i was not pleased with the extreme amount of homework with which i was forced into...lol. a quick update on scheduling, i now have AP CAL first, Honors Arch. Drafting 2nd, Honors Bio 3rd, and Honors Eng. 4th. but tomorrow im dropping the Bio for intro to TV production. ill give a quick rundown of how everything played out. seminary was cool, as we continued studying the plan of salvation. i rode to school with Zack and got a parking pass (ironically i have yet to get a car to go with that parking pass). i went to AP Cal, and it was better than planned. i know its going to be a hard class, but the teacher seemed nice, but the only thing im worried about is how much advanced math she knows. but ive got a feeling it should turn out ok! but we'll just see! second period with drafting was easily my favorite class of the day. most people know im interested in architecture, so it'll be really cool to have some hands on experience. plus zack is in that class with me, along with Ed, who ive been with in drafting all 3 years, along with several other crazy math and science classes! so that class gets an A+. and whats even better, even though its Honors, i dont have to do more work, i just need to do a little higher on the final exam to get honors credit! its a pretty sweet deal! next i botched some schedule changes and wound up in Honors Bio (aka anatomy and physiology). it was a little too intense for me, especially since i have (as of right now) 1 AP and 3 honors classes. one quick little inside tip...theres no way im doing that my senior year. so anyway intro to TV should be a wonderful change! and lastly Hon. English IV was really cool. ive got mrs. ridolfi, and she seems very cool. i think i'll enjoy English this year, well, at least more than i have in the past. i had some work, but it seems like a pretty cool class. after school i went to soccer practice. well, that was crazy, we have about 13 players, which means lots of playing time, however, the chances of us having a good season...well, just arent that great. however ive been unofficially been named team captain. so i think im going to stick with it. it was a tough practice, but a good one, and i really enjoy soccer anyway, so itll be cool. anyway, thats been my day, if anybody has any memorable "first day" experiences, itd be cool to hear them! see you guys tomorrow!

I'm posting a little bit late today, since the last few days have been very hectic! anyway, i wanted to post about my first Youth Committee meeting (held on the 14th). the YC is basically a small group of youth who help the stake leadership plan youth activities and help provide youth leadership in the stake. the YC meetings are usually the 2nd sunday of every month at 430 at the stake center. it was quite a long day at the stake center. me and meredith car pooled (i drove this sunday) and made it 10 min. early to the meeting. the meeting was really cool! as a side note, i got a new cd player so i can finally play cd's in the car! it def. helps being able to listen to music and such in the car, especially if im driving. anyway the meeting was cool and i got "in the know" about all the upcoming stake activities, including church ball, the fall stake dance, and other such stuff. after the meeting was a fireside, which was all about reading the Book of Mormon before Dec. one class was about motivation to read it, another was about helping us understand the sometimes complex language of the Book of Mormon, and the last was about good scripture study. overall it was really cool, but it was nice to get back home as well! i know how mom and dad feel, being at church all day! but ive really enjoyed the experience so far. today was the first day of seminary, however tomorrow is the first day of school! i cant believe its already here! im really kind of dreading it, but i know things will smooth out after a day or two. the only final steps are getting my final schedule changes, packing my book bag, and then waking up bright and early tomorrow! thats about all the news for now! of course stay tuned tomorrow for the big report on how everything goes down! see everyone tomorrow! p.s. cant wait to see u soon kim...lol!

Better Haircut Shot 

Haircutting Horror! 

I'm sure everybody can guess what this post is about from the fairly obvious title! but there are just a few quick things about my blog that ive updated. no offense to those random blog readers out there that randomly comment on blogs, but i kinda like to keep my blog exclusive to only people i know in real life (how computer nerdy does that sound?) but anyway, since my last post got a couple of semi-weird random posters, ive decided to close the blog to only registered blog users. all that means is u have to have a blogger ID to comment. i might reopen to allow anonymous comments in a few days, but for right now, thats about where things stand. anyway, back to haircuts. that was quite an exciting adventure, at least by my standards. i haven't cut my hair since school let out, just kind of to see what my hair would look like long. its not really even that long, except by my standards, in which case, its the longest ive ever had my hair in my entire life! needless to say, i never really like haircuts, because it always freaks me out to loose that much hair in just a half an hour! kinda weird, but i think most people understand where im coming from. u know how it is, when u first look in the mirror after a haircut! so this time i was especially worried, since i had a ton of hair, i had quite a bit more to lose! fortunately my mom was very awesome, and only used scissors on my hair. she cut and trimmed up, and when she was done (my mom likes my hair short by the way, at least shorter than what i like it) when she finished she said something like "*sigh* well, it doesn't even look like you've had a haircut." Sweet SUCCESS! my goal has been accomplished...haha! im just kidding, i could tell a difference, it was shorter and neater, but i really liked it! and also, thanks mom for the awesome haircut! its def. the best haircut ive gotten. i was really pleased though, and it is nice to have my hair a little shorter! anyway, ill include a few pictures of my hair later today, when i can get a camera to use. im sure most people wont notice that ive had a haircut, but ill leave that for the cameras to decide...lol!

Well, its been an exciting day! I put in a few more job applications, bringing my total around at least 10-15! at least that's what it feels like! anyway, after my exciting adventures into the world of the employed and prosperous, i decided to take another crack at my old running spot between Grace Moravian Church and the end of Main Street. That's about a good 3 mile run, counting back and forth! I'll start off my story with when i ran about 3 to 4 days ago (which happened to be one of my first times running in about a month, with my ankle injury). let's just say, that was a fiasco! i was thinking in my head, "hmmm, this should be nice, i'll just pick up right where i left off, at running 3 miles without stopping." bad idea. a precautionary note to any would-be joggers out there...do not attempt running 3 miles before building up to it! the first 1.5 miles were bearable, i wasn't doing terrific, but i was running. after that magical halfway point, i soon realized i was silently hoping the traffic lights would turn red...ironically, forcing me to take a quick breather. unfortunately the traffic lights didn't read my mind, and i was forced to stop running without any reasonable excuses except for my wussiness. i felt tempted to explain to people that this was my first time running in over a month...lol. however, on a more positive note, i felt a lot better knowing that i had at least done all i could do! the last 1/8 or possibly 1/16 of a mile, i usually try to run at close to a dead sprint. this time was no exception, i finished my run at a breathtaking full out sprint. i nearly threw up on the sidewalk (nearly, it didnt actually happen), but i was proud for at least finishing. This time when i ran, it was some better, i finished my 1.5 mile at a pretty fast pace, a pace worthy of a cross country runner. i didn't stop until around the 2 mile mark, but i'd at least beaten my previous mark. and what made me feel even better, was i happened to notice a kid from school who was also running, about .5 miles in front of me! i actually passed him and finished my run in another dead out sprint! This time i was simply reduced to collapsing into the side of my car (i did remain standing though) and chilling for a few seconds before i stretched and headed for home! overall, i'm feeling a lot better, and hopefully i can maybe even finish 3 miles without stopping!

Well, its finally here. Almost that is! The school year officially starts in a week and one day, yes the 16th of August is almost here. There's really not too many things that i look forward to about the school year, actually almost none that i can think about. however the one big plus this year is that sooner i start school, the sooner the 3rd of september will come! and everybody knows what that means! but with school starting, and this being my senior year, ive got a pretty crazy schedule, alot different than my other three years of high school. i thought id just post on here what my schedule is for this year. ive got some really easy classes, and then some really tough classes, whereas my other years have been sort of a mix, nothing real tough but nothing real easy. so anyways, heres my schedule with ratings of all of my classes!

1st Semester
1-AP CAL (Mrs. Layno) this class is by far the toughest class i will ever take at MAHS.
2-Honors Arch. Drafting (Mrs. Nichols) a difficult class, but at least doing something i enjoy, designing houses!
3-Honors English 4 (Mrs. Ridolfi) this class should be another toughie, since english isnt my strongest class, but hopefully at least a good teacher
4-(The class i schedulded didnt go through, so i still need to add a class here)

2nd Semester
1-AP CAL (Mrs. Lanyo) yes, this class isnt just one semester...its two!
2-Business Managment (Mrs. Brookshire) another easy, although the teacher is extremely annoying, i might switch classes just beacuse of that
3-Internship (Mrs. Davis) ahh...a breath of fresh air! ultra easy class, plus doing something i enjoy, interning with a real architect/engineer.
4-AP Stats (Mrs. Boaz) a hard class, but an AP math that is probably the easiest AP class. it should be pretty good, especially since i enjoy math. p.s. Mrs. Boaz i think, formerly used to be Ms. Gammons.

anyway there it is! my schedule for 2005-2006 school year. i think i may switch bus. management if i can, because of all the teachers ive ever had, ive never.....disliked....a teacher as much as Mrs. Brookshire. also i need to schedule a 4th class for first semester..i might do drama, just because its an easy A, but if that doesn't work out, then i might do Spanish 4, if not that then ill just have to see what other classes look good. but thats about all for today! adios hombres!

Well, its another sunday, and today marks the big 2-0 for my blog, since this is the twentieth post! it may be tough, but everyone please try and control your excitement...lol. although before i start, i would like to say welcome home kim! since this is her first day back from good ole' youth conference! Welcome BACK!! Anyway, yesterday was a pretty exciting day, since we celebrated cory's bday (and my grandma J's)! to celebrate, we all went innertubing down the Dan River. It was a pretty fun trip, i mean who wouldnt enjoy spending two hours just floating down the river? one of the funniest parts of the trip was Ian! he went to sleep in the car, so when we got there, kristen and cory didnt want to wake him up. Ian got put into a life jacket and an innertube and still didnt wake up! ian looked soo hilarious just laying on an innertube with his legs crossed and a life jacket on...just sleeping! it was about an hour before he finally woke up! he looked pretty surprised to be floating in the middle of a river, considering he went to sleep in his car seat! elise was probably a little more worried about floating down a river than ian. anytime she saw a rock she would yell "DADDY, DADDY, a rock!" it was defintitely cute though! logan and cory both had fun, since they each had a defective tube...lol! logan got the "kiddy sized" innertube, which started going flat! fotunately logan enjoyed spending more time swimming than actually innertubing! cory on the other hand, had a regualr tube, but it soon turned into a submersible! he was fine with floating underwater, until ian wanted to sit on his lap! kinda hard when cory was underwater!...lol. fortuantely we brought a spare, and brought the trip to a succesful and enjoyable close! everybody really enjoyed getting some son, and working on their tans. the downside to this is now its kidna hard to see dad in the dark, since he finally lost his "glow in the dark" status! i think my favorite part of the trip though was, just about everything! well im out for now, i hope everybody has a great fast sunday! this is adam signing off from mayberry!

Well, today i just got back from the branch pool party! it was def. an awesome time! it was actually a ton of fun! i came a little bit late, and somebody offered to pitch with me, which eveyrbody knows im a sucker for!...haha! but i got kind of carried away and missed the cook out portion of the party...lol. but i realyl didn't mind since the swimming part was so much fun! we went to homeplace (for those of you who know where that is) and phillip even did a backflip off the rope swing. i tried the backflip, but i mostly did an amazing back flop! the waterslide was fun of course, but i enjoyed the diving boards more. me and phillip decided to start trying crazy flips and stuff off the boards, which was pretty fun, except that i dont think ive ever had that much water in my ears (not to mention some very close calls on belly flops...lol)! i was proud since i finally mastered the front flip off the diving boards, as well as a new invention of mine, a cartwheel off the boards. probably one of the funniest dive was when i crashed off trying a one hadned cartwheel! another funny dive was when phillip tried a flip that id done, and fortunately he missed the belly flop, but instead, he smacked the water on his head!...as bad as i feel for him, it was soo funny to see how red his forehead got, it looked like a bad sunburn! so let me not recommend overrotating ur flips! overall it was a great night though, alot of fun! oh yeah, adn as a side note for ethan and dad, i won the 'holding ur breath contest'...carrying on the fine jarrell family tradition! as soon as i can beat dad, then ill be happy! until next time, this is adam signing off, remember....dont play with matches!

Well, yesterday was my first day of soccer practice since last year. Needless to say my soccer playing skills had gotten a bit rusty! Fortunately, i had the excuse of a recently broken ankle! however my first day back didn't go as smoothly as i had planned. we did a few warmup excerices, and my ankle felt pretty good. i also felt some major seniority, since i was one of three returning players from last year, and the only senior. There were six of us total, and we mostly played some passing games and a few other basic games. Lastly we did a scrimmage (with a very shortened field of course). It was pretty even, we traded a few goals and were going good, until one time i went to fight the goalie for the ball. he ended up getting it anyway, plus rolling over my ankle! it was at that point that i decided to take myself out of the game...lol. It wasn't so bad though, as ive decided to mainly just try some conditioning for a week or two before i really try some serious soccer playing!

Well, today has been pretty exciting, wait, just kidding, its still summer! it is beggining to feel like summer is finally drawing to an end, since mom went back to work today, leaving me and logan to lazily lay around the house all day. its not too bad, one downside is not having a car to go anywhere, but its nice to sit back from all the hectic summer activities and take a few hours off. Anyway, thats all really just an update on how summer is going. with school starting the 16th of august, im definitely not ready to go back! one minor interesting detail about summer is the fact that i havent cut my hair since school let out for the summer (back in may). this is fine with me, as i kind of like my hair a little bit longer anyway. however the moment of truth has come, it looks like i may be getting a haircut, tommorow in fact! even i must admit my hair is getting long, even by my standards. as my parents put it..."shaggy"...lol. but of course everybody has interesting stories about haircuts gone wrong, and the like. one of the most memorable haircut episodes was when logan thought that his hair had been cut "too short." ironically mom and dad threatened to take him to the barber, which calmed logan down quite a bit. the only other funny story i have about hair was the time (i was about 6 to 7 yrs old) when i held my hair over a candle, and was amazed as this burnt looking hair would fall on the table when i ran my hands through my hair! Amazed, i decided to show my dad. he didn't find it nearly as entertaining as i did! i remember something like him grabbing me away from the candle as explaining what "singed hair" meant! fortuantely my parents (and me) have learned quite a bit about haircutting over the years, and i trust my parents to cut my hair, as long as they don't mess up...haha!