Bunny Hop 

Hamlet Style 

Prince and Princess 

 

This should be a quick post today, but i wanted to see what everyones favorite quote is. I've included some of my favorite quotes below. Some are scriptures and others quotations, so hopefully there are some good ones in the mix! Enjoy the quotes!


“The heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.”
-Alma 48:17

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
-2 Nephi 25:26

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
-Ether 12:27

“Love is when one person loves the qualities that the other person hates about themselves”
-Kim W.

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
- David Viscott

“Never live in the past but always learn from it.”
- unknown

“And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” - Abraham Lincoln

“The bravest are the tenderest. The loving are the daring.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“We live by admiration, hope and love.”
-William Wordsworth

Better late than never, that my attitude toward posting! my blog has slowly transformed from an constantly updated journal to a picture book journal updated fairly randomly. anyway, i just wanted to give a quick update on my SATs this morning. ive officially decided i...strongly dislike standardized testing! how boring is it to sit in a room for 5 hours taking just a dumb old test! i actually think i liked the ACT better. i had less time on the ACT, but the SAT had some of the most retarded questions ever! the bad thing about the SAT was that some of the problems were just random thinking questions. you know, who really cares how many one and two pound bread loaves your carying in a truck if it weighs forty pounds and the bread loaves weigh a combind total of 24lbs. that should come in pretty handy, wait, ive got a solution....COUNT THEM. cant tell the difference? well...my guess is that the 2lbs. loaves are bigger than the 1lb. loaves. dude, im seriously a math revolutionary! some would argue that these problems teach important solving skills that are applicable in other situations, but it's still a dumb problem! the essay was pretty good, and again i think i nailed that part. on my last SAT i didnt do really well on my essay, i didnt finish it and plus i totally zoned out during that part and couldnt concentrate for some reason. this time i think my only mistake was writing too much, i shouldve left out my second body paragraph, but i finished out with a banging conclusion, so im hoping that will boost my score! thats about all thats going on right now, ive got church meetings tommorow, so it could be a long day, but hopefully ill be able to keep the posts coming! sinara everyone, and remember, stay away from those standardized tests!

East Surry Game 

Court of Honor 

Those in the blogger world may have noticed my recent abscence from the land of blogs and what not. Not to make excuses, but so much has happened over the past (nearly) week! Between school, dates, soccer, and family, i'm still trying to schedule some breathing time on my calendar! anyway, ill start with some of the events of the past week and give a brief synopsis of "whats up." i cant remember exactly where i posted last, but ill tell a quick story about my last soccer game. it stunk and i dont like loosing. story over. thats about how i felt last thursday when we lost to bishop mcguiness (a private catholic school) 5-0. i consoled myself by quietly reminding myself that theyll get their just reward in the afterlife! im just kidding around...but still, i was just depressed after such a terrible loss! it stunk since last time we played them, we tied them before loosing in overtime. this game was just a shutout! however, probably what everyone is dying to hear about is this weekend! (well, at the veyr least, im excited about telling it). i went up to kims for a weekend and got to hang out with her...plus gen. conf. with her dad, which was cool of course! i had a really aweosme time, and me and kim mostly played around at a park, while pitching some, playing soccer (which kims knuckle ball is just aweosme) and of course good ole' basketball! kim def. showed me up in soccer, while i beat her in basketball (complete luck...im not exactly sure how i won that game), and of course pitching is just fun. after we did that we got to play on the play ground! it brought back the great memories of the crazy days of recess and such! overall, i had one awesome weekend! i wish i could type more...but ive got hw to do, as well as a game tonight vs. east surry! to sum up, i just cant wait to see kim again...which in case anyone wants to mark their calendar...it should be towards the end of october...and as much as i miss her...i guess ill just have to wait a month...lol! anyway...eveyrone have a great night, take it easy, and enjoy yourselves!

Before the Game 

its getting pretty late here, and im not in the mood to write a huge big thing about the game...suffice it to say, the 8-3 win was much needed!! trevor scored 4 goals, while alex contributed with 2. for the game i had one assist...lol...but it was quite possibly the most important assist ever...i mean come on! seriously though, it was aweosme to finally win! i think the whole team is ready for the next big matchup against bishop mcguiness this thursday...at bishop! thats about all for tonight, stay tuned tommorow for some new pics and such from the game, and some other random odds and ends! have a great night everybody, and thank goodness for North Stokes Soccer! (as a sidenote, we play north stokes for senior night on 10/20/05, so you better be there)!

It's that time of the year again, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and high school seniors are taking 4 hour tests in order to go to college! yep, i just completed the ACT test plus a 30 minute essay question. i went to sleep last night kinda late (somewhere past hour number 11) so i was fairly exhausted when i woke up bright and early at 7. AM that is. anyway, i got ready, the picture i posted below is AFTER the ACT...haha...not actually...but thats definitely how i felt! i made it to the school about 750. i checked in and seated myself in room 12. the test went fairly well, i felt confident about most of the answers, although i felt like i didnt quite have enough time to finish each section. on almost each section, i had to guess on the last 2-5 questions because i didnt have enough time to figure them out before time ran was up. anyway, there were some crazy grammar questions, and the science part was totally foreign to me, since im used to the old SAT way of doing things. finally i got to the essay part. the essay was on whether or not social skills should be taught in school. that essay was the one part that i think i really did well! mom and dad thought i took too serious of a standpoint on the issue, but i still think i did a good job. i made an intermediate score on the SAT essay, which i knew i did bad on, since i had a bad intro, a slight better body, and then i stopped in midsentence before i reached my conclusion! on this one, i only wrote about a page and a half, but i covered the point completely and finished with a really strong conclusion, which i think will give me some extra points, since a conclusion can make or break an essay. probably the funniest part of the essay section was in the instruction page. the intructions were "to write an essay in 30 minutes in English." WELL....duh! i mean come on...whoops...i almost wrote a spanish essay! whew, close call there! anyway, i think i did well, since my essay was legible and in the correct language! i should get several points just for doing that! to finish up, it wasnt as terrible as i made it out to be, although it is alot different from the SAT. the SAT requires a lot more logic and reasoning, whereas the ACT seems to be more a measure of what a person knows. personally, i think the SAT does a better job of measuring student performance, but im not complaining if i get a really high score on my ACT. plus, a high ACT score can even count toward giving someone credit in certain classes (mainly in utah though). overall it was an exciting morning, and im glad to be done with it! the only bad news, is that in two weeks, its back to the grind, with SAT number 2 on oct 8! so for all u standarized test takers out there...take it easy and make sure u always use a soft, lead number 2 pencil.

ACT Terror 

It's been quite awhile since my last post; i'm sure my public is clamoring for some new insight into the life and times of your truly...lol! im not one to keep the public waiting, so i will proceed with a quick update of whats been happening since last sunday. a major low point of the week was the scheduled tuesday game vs. south stokes. south stokes is around 30 minutes from MAHS and im not a big fan of the long drives on a bus to get to away games. anyway, the match was scheduled for 7, and we beagn warming up at 6. it was fine, except for a short, minor downpour halfway through our warm up. we stopped about 650 to give everyone time to put on their jerseys and finish final preperations for the game. the refs came on the field, saw a distant flash of lightning, then told everyone there would be at least a 30 min delay until the game started. it wasnt a big deal, the soccer team and i went into a nearby health classroom to wait for the storm to stop. the refs waited until 800 before (finally) calling the game. how frustrating?! i really didnt enjoy all the waiting just to be told that the game was going to be rescheduled! anyway, that means that next week i have 3 away games! we play south stokes monday, north stokes tuesday (this game should be a joke, last year we won 8-0), and then bishop mcguiness thursday! the bishop mcg. game is probably the biggest of the week, since last time we lost in OT to them 6-3. we also have a day of rest inbetween, which should be nice to give everyone a chance to recuperate. to finalize things up, the first 6 weeks ends this friday, and it will probably be one of the most crucial grading periods! but i will keep eveyrone updated on soccer, school, and any other important events that may come up! thats all for tonight folks!

Last night was the historic event of...my first stake dance! actually thats not entirely true, its not my first stake dance, but it felt like it, sicne that was my first stake dance in over 2 years! it was pretty interesting, since my last memories of a dance were when i was 14 or maybe just turned 15. i remeber feeling soo young! oh man it was too crazy! now at this dance, i felt like one of the oldest ones there, ranking in at the big 1-7! anyway, shaylon wasnt there, and none of the dobson crowd showed up, so i mostly hung out with zack and the mt airy crowd. i also have to say that last night was probably the most fun ive ever had at a stake dance! i think thats mostly beacuse i used to be soo uptight about if girls liked me or not, u know, the usual stuff! this time i felt way more at ease, which made the dance 10 times better. so, on to the "juicy details" as kristen would say. i got to the stake center about 4pm to help decorate for the dance. some people began moving chairs and tables to clear the gym floor, while others hung up brooms to show off our "big sweep" dance theme. i left about 430 with sister gage to go help get refreshments for the dance. it was hilarious since we bought out sams club of all their freezy pops (we got 330 total). this mother and son were trying to pick out which kind of freeze pop to get, so me and sister gage go in a rake out a shelf full of them! then we picked up 2 boxes of the 24 packs of popcorn and finally three enormous bags of chex mix. we mad it back to the stake center and i helped unload all the refreshments and stuff. fastforward to the supper at 6. we ordered 80 papa johns pizzas, so there was PLENTY to go around. i only ate a couple of slices, but sister gage gave me a whole box to take home to help keep me awake (since ive got the longest drive). that was really nice of her, and it was cool being on the "inside" of the stake leadership circle...haha! finally, the dance started. i goofed off, just being my crazy self. there was some comedy, especially these two dances i had. i danced with this one girl who looked like she was 16...nope...14! just perfect!...wait...for ethan that is! (just kidding ethan...well partially :) she was nice, and it was still cool, just it felt funny to be sooo old! then another dance was with this one girl who it was her 2nd dance...ever! she was only 14! and she looked 14 too! i think she mustve been really nervous, because she was like afraid to look at me...idk...maybe im just that scary?! anyway, the only question she asked was my name! it was tough just trying to make conversation!

adam: so where are you from
girl: kernersville
adam: cool place, do u like it there?
girl: yes
adam: excellent, so have u lived there your whole life?
girl: yes
(awkward pause)
adam: are u a freshmen this year?
girl: yes
adam: do u enjoy it?
girl: yes
adam: do u like middle school or high school better?
girl: not sure
(awkward pause, song not even halfway over)

well...u get the idea! but it was...interesting! that was about my dance night! oh yeah, one other minor detail, was that after the dance and people were cleaning up and leaving, me, kelsey, daniel, david riska, and i think zack were standing around in the gym. if anyones seen the matrix, i always try to do the "run on walls" thing on the soft padded mats underneath the bball hoops at the stake center (and at dobson). anyway, daniel was bragging about how well he could do it, so i was just getting bored, so i decided to make a fool of myself and try it. however, the cool part was that i actually did it! i ran all the way up the wall and touched my should to the backboard! it was sweet! everybody was just like "woah...that was soo cool!" then daniel tried it and fell halfway though...lol...i felt bad for the kid, but it was still an aweosme feeling! now...if only i had a picture!

Thats right, last night was tuesday night soccer! Wow, that was quite possibly one of the most intense games i've played in my last two years with MA soccer! starting off, i really didnt know what to expect out of east wilkes. i didnt really remember playing them from the previous year, and no one had seen them play this year. this game started off like many others, a rush of nervousness, followed by the intensity soccer brings. we scored in the first 15 minutes off a nice assist from oswaldo and goal from michael. the details get kind of hazy from here, since i cant really remember the order of the rest of the goals. i think wilkes tied it 1-1 and we scored making it 2-1. i think they scored two more, making it 3-2, until we tied it up at 3-3. wilkes scored again making it 4-3 with about 15 minutes left in the second half. we scored for the final time, tying the game at 4-4. the second half is where we let the game get away from us, and we played one of the worst halves i can remember. however, even though it was a tie, it felt awesome to play that hard, and maintain an intensity ive never played at for that long before. overall, i think that was one of my personal best games ever. The REALLY big news is that i got my first ever yellowcard in a game! i couldnt believe it! there were about 4 minutes left in the last half of overtime, and i did a slide tackle on the captain of the other team. i touched the ball and turned it into a slow roller that we cleared. however, the ref. ran up and pulled out his yellowcard, not even talking to me! i couldnt believe it! he said i slid for the legs, but i knew the only way i could touch the ball was with a hard, fast tackle! oh well, thinking about it reminds me how much i dont like that ref! oh well, it was still a really fun game! i faked a few people out, which felt so aweseome, since its something i dont get a chance to do very often, and plus i think i impressed coach, which is always a bonus! one of my favorite moments was when i was dribbling up the field and one of the opposing players tried to slide tackle me. it was awesome because i was able to perfectly cut to my left around him! he was left on the ground and i was able to make a good pass upfield! it was just awesome to see him on the ground as i ran by, plus that look of "how did he get around me?" on his face was priceless! anyway, thats all for today guys, stay cool and remember, always play nice with the other kids at school! adieu!

One Painful Header 

Soccer Cap-I-tan 

Last night was the night of the first annual branch talent show! and what an exciting event it was. it was a smaller production than some talent shows ive seen, since around 10-15 people performed. the branch pres. started the program with a poetic recitation (or however you spell it). there were of course the traditional piano pieces as well as a trumpet piece by taylor. a few people told funny stories or showed off clothe making abilities. logan and i went on stage probably about half way through the show. we started off with a bang by doing a combat roll onto the stage. we did a skit (which happens to be from a monty python skit) called "The Argument." if you want to read the text for it, it can be found here. overall the talent show was a pretty big success i think, eventhough it wasnt largely attended. but to wrap up, ill put some pictures on below, as well as a perhaps a video later if i can figure out how to post it...so no promises! but anyway, enjoy everyone, and have a great sunday!

"The Argument" 

Well it's been an exciting week. thankfully a short week, with labor day on monday. anyway, classes are going well, although AP cal is pretty crazy! derivatives are...well....lets just put it this way...calculus isnt math...its an entirely different language! we got progress reports, and i scraped by is ap cal and english, but tv production and drafting are looking very good! but finally, to the game last night. east surry is a team that beat us 2-1 on their senior night last year. they take their soccer VERY seriously! they almost fill the stands! which is pretty rare for most teams around here. the game started off, and we wanted to win. i moved back to left fullback, since our left fullback had moved to goalie. it was a really good game, as we jumped off to a 1-0 lead. mostly i cleared the ball and kept the offense from getting a good shot. most of the time, the stopper or sweeper would force his player to dribble a little too far out, and id just run up and nail the ball. one time, i was running up, and the opposing teams captain was sprinting like crazy toward the ball! i pulled it high right over his head and into the feet of our midfield! the look of surpirse on his face like "oh, i didnt think that number 7 kid was going to beat me to it, much less kick it over me!" oh that was the highlight of my game! anyway, we scored two more in the second half and finished out to a solid win! now our record is 3-2 overall with a 1-1 conference record! finally, our next game is this tuesday vs. west wilkes! it should be a good game! well, im out for tonight, everyone have a great night and a wonderful friday tommorow! see ya!

Well, labor day weekend has come and gone! i wont go into too much detail...nevermind, i will...lol! labor day weekend may not have been the best weekend of my life...but it was close! it was finally the end of my two month grounding from the fateful beach trip. ill give a quick run down of how everything went down! my weekend started with lots of cleaning up around the house (kristen would be proud!) and then a late night when i finally got in the bed around 1. the next morning i met kim in danville and let her follow me to martinsville where we dropped her car off. after getting lost about 3 times...haha...we finally made in and out of the city! man it was sooo great to get to see kim! i dont think i really realized how much i missed her...until now! but anyway, we hung out for the morning, doing some bow and arrow shooting as well as some other random activites, basically just relaxing around the house. that night we went out to chile verde which was really good. kim got cheese enchiladas, while i stuck with the classic steak fajita! after we left there, we went to the drive in movie theatre and watched transporter 2, and oh man...it was sooo good! i highly recommend that movie to anyone who likes action movies, or even anyone who just likes suspense...it was really good! plus some crazy fight scenes! there was a transporter 1, but it wasnt as good...theres no real important plot carryovers, mainly just a sidesotry type thing. next day was church and i gave a lesson in priesthood about temple endowments! whew! it was tough, but i felt really good about it! we had sunday lunch and then goofed off for the rest of the day. kim beat me twice at racing, however i def. beat her when it counted! haha...but its all good, i dont mind loosing to kim...since it happens so rarely! (just kidding with ya kim!) anyway, that night i (with the help of my parents..lol) made a surprise dinner for kim on the deck in candlelight! it was really sweet...at least i enjoyed it! lastly, we went to bed and then woke up this morning for a quick pancake breakfast and then off we went to martinsville to pick up kims car! and kim...im really sorry about the whole directions thing! but anyway, we got lost a few more times, but managed to weave our way out of martinsville! just retelling the story is so sad...corny that it may be...i just plain miss u kim! we said our goodbyes and that brings me to the present...the only thing i can really say about the weekend is that it was too short! thats my weekend! i just wish every weekedn could be that good! i wouldnt even mind going to school....well...maybe just a litte :). p.s. ive posted most of the pictures from my labor day weekend below...so enjoy!

Looking goo-ood! 

Sad goodbyes 

Lovin' Labor day 

Beeauutfiul! 

Night out 

Craziness 

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!

Well, today being sunday, i thought i might make a slightly more spiritually oriented post. church was interesting today, since it was combined priesthood and relief society (which didnt affect me, since im not old enough to be part of that class). anyway, the lesson today in priesthood was really good, and was taught by drentz (for those of u who know him). he mostly taught about the book of mormon and spoke a little bit about the challenge to read it by the end of the year. we read several really cool scriptures and went through the story of Joseph in Egypt, as well as the story of the prophet Joseph of this dispensation. to sum up, it got me thinking about some of my favorite scriptures, and i thought itd be neat to see what everybody's favorite scripture, or scriptures, are. i guess since this is my post, i should start first (ahh the burdens of blogging...lol). i cant really pick a favorite scripture, because i have so many that i really really like. but one of my all time favorites is Alma 48:17, which talks about how if all men had been like moroni, then satan would no longer have power of the hearts of the children of men. this scripture has always been kind of a goal for me, that maybe someday, if i work at it enough, i can be like moroni. haha...however, if that scripture was written about me right now, it might go something like this:..."if all men had been like adam, then we'd be in trouble!" im just kidding around, but i really do like that scripture. anyway, i hope this blog isnt too serious of a post, but hopefully something interesting or at least something to think about...lol.