Tag: life

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, I’m in the education library here and just finished studying for my supply chain exam I have in a bit. I’m not quite sure how ready I am…but I guess I’ll find out! My laptop battery is almost dead, but I thought I might as well write a quick entry(and hope my laptop doesn’t die in the middle of it). After my exam today, I have a bunch of random errands to run…and then tonight, I’m heading to Tampa! I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here before, but I will very soon have my own means of transportation(…a car!!!) It will be very very awesome, mostly because it will be my first car. Ever. It’s my grandma’s car, so me and my dad are flying up to the midwest to pick it up and then driving all the way back here over the weekend! So while this means I’ll get absolutely no schoolwork done over the weekend…I’ll have an awesome time driving with my dad!!

Hmm, apparently my battery has 10 minutes left. Eh, I’ll keep writing. This past week has been crazy busy, just because I’ve been attempting to get everything done before I leave tonight(like my simulations homework which is due tomorrow, but I already finished it to turn in today). Last night was great at the Christian Study Center(that really has been my home lately…) with Creekside Wednesday night. I got to enjoy singing one of my favorite hymns(Holy, Holy, Holy), go over one of my favorite verses(1 Peter 1:13), and(ok, my battery just died…my computer lied. I did NOT have 10 minutes left! Well, at least when I plugged it in – and don’t even ask why I didn’t plug it in sooner..shhhh – it brought back this page so I don’t have retype everything) Anywayss…where was I? Oh yeah, I was talking about how awesome last night was…besides the singing and the study, I had some great times talking with Betsy and Dan. So encouraging to talk with them!!!

And speaking of Dan, it’s time for lunch with Rob and Dan. I think we’re hitting up Larry’s Subs…which means it’s the second day in a row I’ll eat there. I am terrible!

Farewell, all! Hope you enjoyed this somewhat scattered post!

James HoganLeave a comment

Hmm, I just upgraded to new Firefox and now livejournal looks really weird. I don’t know what to do. This shall require some research. And further on the livejournal front…I’ve been thinking it may be time I get a new theme. Any ideas??? If anyone does have any ideas and also has pictures/background that would be cool, let me know. Because I am the least artistically capable person ever!! Well, maybe not quite. But pretty close.

And right now(in case you can’t tell), I’m running a deficiency of sleep. You may all be wondering, “But why? The weekend just happened; you should have gotten plenty of sleep!” But noo…I am not always that smart about things as important as sleep. Or in other words, I just had way too much fun doing things when I was awake to remember my body likes sleep. Hence my body is quite upset with me right now.

And soon I’ll be getting ready to leave for the first Prayer and Praise of the year!!! I can’t wait because Prayer and Praise is awesome. And yeah. It’s pretty much just awesome. I probably shouldn’t go because I need to get homework done and also get SLEEEP but ah well. I know I won’t regret going…because I never do!

But as of this weekend…what all happened that kept me from sleeping, you ask?(Ok, maybe you didn’t ask, but let’s say you did for the sake of this entry) I’m trying to remember what all I did Friday night, but my memory is failing me. Aha, I remember now. We were just going to hang out and relax here at our place…so we started the night watching Galan playing God of War(it’s amazing how fun it can be just to WATCH someone play video games…) But eventually Bekah, Holly, and Melinda came over to chill with us so we got some pizza and all watched “The Village”. I thought it was going to be a pretty creepy movie, but it wasn’t really. Thankfully. After the movie, went over to Shari, Deanna and Amy’s house to drop Bekah over and I indulged in a bit of her Dove mint chocolate chip ice cream, which though delicious, has not unseated Breyers as the king of ice cream. We came back to our place and Holly wanted to go back to her place to pick up her roommate from a party. Rob, Galan and I went with her for “protection” and we had some interesting times finding her roommate. After that we chilled at Holly’s place for a while and played some Guitar Hero(at which I dominated at first…as long as it was set on Easy). By the time we got home, it was about 3am. That still wasn’t too late, until I remembered that me and Rob were going with Laurie and a friend to watch the sunrise at Cedar Key. And that we were leaving at 5.

Rob fell asleep while me, Galan and Holly watched a bunch of episodes from The Office and talked about random stuff that I’m sure made no sense since we were extremely sleep deprived. Finally around 5:30 or so, Rob, Laurie, her friend Marianne and I left for Cedar Key. Somehow I was still awake…somehow. The next few hours were just amazing. Stopping by the side of the road…staring at the stars in wonder at the awesomeness of God’s creation. Luxuriating in the cool morning air sitting on a pier watching the sun peek out at us as the earth slowly turned…walking around the sleepy little town of Cedar Key and eventually eating a massive breakfast…just talking and talking and enjoying quiet fellowship with each other and God. How good is our Lord!!!

Eventually we came back to Gainesville. And at long last..around 11:00am…I slept. And indeed it was glorious!!! I actually only got around 3 hours of sleep(because for some reason my body does not like sleeping when there’s sunshine outside!) but it felt so delicious. Before we headed over to the game, Rob and Galan and I played some disc golf with George and Mr. Lebo. And then…the Miami game!!! It was tense for a while, but we pulled it out in a 26-3 victory. Go Gators! Other stuff happened after that, but we finally made it back to Stoneridge around 1 or 2am. I can’t quite remember.

This morning was a nice early one…accompanied by my classic Sunday breakfast of bacon and coffee, yeah! Church was, as always, supremely refreshing. Afterward, we had a big lunch at Moe’s and now…I’m here. And Amy just called so it is time to prayer and praise it up! Farewell all!! Major props for reading all of this!

And if anyone has livejournal theme ideas, tell me please!!!

James HoganLeave a comment

I just realized that I never said on here that yes, I am back in Gainesville. Even though it should have been inferred from my earlier posts. Anyways, for one more year. One final year. One last year at the University of Florida. It’s shocking to realize that four years ago I was finishing high school. And here I am finishing college. I want to write a more profound post later(but will I?), but not now. Mostly because my rice has finished cooking and I want to eat it. Yes, I realize it’s almost midnight. I’m still hungry. Food time now – farewell!!

James HoganLeave a comment

Wow, today has been a LONG day! I actually woke up today around 4:45(AM!!). Ridiculous, huh? It was because my sunday school class at my church(Bethel) was helping put a garage sale on. Anyway, I was pretty tired when I first woke up, but after my shower and some awesome bacon and coffee, I was raring to go. Well, mostly! The garage sale was lots of fun, partly because it’s always fun to help someone else out and partly because it was fun hanging out with the people here…whom I’m finally getting to know now, so it’s good times! A lot of the time, when nothing was happening with the sale, I would just be talking to one person or another…and I really enjoyed that. It’s been a while since I’ve had Christian fellowship like that. After the sale was over, I was pretty exhausted but Sibi(my co-intern) and I had planned to go to “The Galleria”, a huge mall here in Houston. I was wondering how big a mall could be, but this mall definitely was the biggest mall I’ve ever been in. It had 3 levels and multiple huge buildings…and an ice skating rink in the middle of the food court. Yeah, pretty awesome. It was so fun walking through the mall and exploring all the stores and having no idea where anything was and seeing so many people!!! And I actually “shopped” at the mall…i.e., I bought clothes there, which I never do, so I was a little shocked at myself. After some harrowing moments trying to get back to our hotel, finally got back here and now I am ready to crash. Been doing laundry and just took a shower and I am ready for a good night’s sleep!!! Hope everyone is having great times wherever you are…and I am going, going, gone. G’night, all!

James HoganLeave a comment

I have an announcement to make: James is now in Houston!!

And in case any of you wonder WHY I’m in Houston right now(even though you should know, because I’ve written it here before), it’s because my internship starts this week!! Orientation starts on Wednesday, but since I got here last night(on a completely unremarkable flight, which is a GOOD thing) I have a couple days to just chill in Houston! Before my real work begins…

Anyways, don’t worry – even though I don’t have anything to do, I’ve still not been just lying around in bed all day. I got up around 8 or so this morning to get the continental breakfast downstairs(which was quite good, so I was happy!) After breakfast, I relaxed for a while in my room, talking to various people via phone and internet. As the day went on, I realized I really didn’t want to spend my whole day in the hotel room, so I decided I was going to find a park. And play disc golf. And it would be awesome.

Thus begins the Great Disc Golf Adventure of today! I looked up the locations of several parks and found one that was right down the road from my hotel. Now, since it was “right down the road”, I thought I could get there quickly. Let me tell you something though…6.5 miles takes longer to walk than you think. As I set out on my adventure, I felt like a hobbit…walking down an unknown road…with the sun beating down on me…and dangers at every corner. But the analogy breaks down because I don’t think the hobbits carried Gatorade. And I don’t have hairy feet. Anyway, let me continue. As I got to about the halfway point of my journey, I stopped at Burger King for lunch(Hmmm, I don’t think Middle Earth had BKs, either…). After lunch, slightly refreshed and fighting the temptation to take a nap, I kept walking. And walking. Finally, I got to the intersection that I knew the park was at!! I saw a park off to my left, so I went towards it victoriously..only to find there was no disc golf course. Quite disheartened, I walked across the street to see if there was another park…and then in the distance, I saw the glint of the sun on the chains of a basket. Victory was mine!!!

The only problem with walking so far is that by the time I was at the park, I was a bit weary, so I rested for a while before I tried out my sweet new Star-Orc disc Rob had given me. The disc was up to the challenge. I however, was not in my top form. Still, it was great fun trying out a new disc golf course! As I finished the course, I realized a terrible truth. I had come a long way to play. And now I would have to go back that same way. As I walked(and walked and walked) back to my hotel, I felt even more like a hobbit. But if before I was setting off on a journey in the peace of the Shire, now I felt like I was Frodo trudging up the slopes of Mt. Doom, my legs leaden and my spirit weakening. Thankfully, I had something Frodo did not. The Bus. I rode the bus a couple miles before it turned off, but I had never so much appreciated a bus before. And I have never had a dollar so well spent.

As I finally approached my hotel, it was with a weary exultation! I collapsed on my bed and rested for a while before taking a shower(hot showers are AWESOME) and eventually grabbing dinner at McDonalds…

And thus ends the Great Disc Golf Adventure! I have to say, I have a much increased admiration for marathon runners…Walking 11 miles or so tired me out…I can’t imagine running a marathon. Well, at least not now in my current state of fitness.

And now, I am still tired. Well, at least my legs are. So I must call it a day. G’night all!!! And hope you didn’t mind reading this long(AGAIN) post. I really should try to shorten my writing…ah well. Farewell!

Good times in T-town!

James HoganLeave a comment

Wow, just realized I haven’t posted in a while…and I’ve had such an awesome past couple weeks too!! Well, I guess I should write about some of it now, because a few days from now I won’t have too much time to write…because I’ll be in Houston, YEAH! Rocking out in my [hopefully] sweet intern position and getting used to the Texas air…which apparently isn’t too different from Florida air. I’ll let you all know.

Anyways…a little more than a week ago I turned 21. Whoa. I have to say, that’s just a scary age to turn – awesome. But scary. I realized a few days later walking past the liquor store…”Wait, I can actually go in there and buy whatever I want now.” Not that I’m going to anytime soon(on a side-note…I’m still not sure what my first actual “purchase” will be, hmm..)…but still, just knowing it’s possible! But yeah, weird.

Ok, back to my birthday though. It was definitely different from most people’s 21sts. And definitely awesome. On Saturday me and my family went to our church conference where we had great fun hanging out with all the people from our church, singing, listening to good messages and just relaxin’. On that night, as me and my mom and sisters were chilling at our little villa, they all sang to me as the clock turned to 12. And then we ate popcorn and watched some Fresh Prince. I love my family so much…

The next day was more church conference and it was so much fun just being with all the people from church. After that me and my family went back home and we had a great relaxing afternoon as I saw my multitudes of facebook notes and got some cool voicemails from people. I got to say, I have some pretty good friends. That night we had Pizza Hut pizza and salad and again…enjoying being with the fam. God is good!!

Ok, now let’s skip a few days…partly because if I don’t, I’ll have the most massive entry of all time!! Anyways, on Thursday of last week, I got my license. And please, don’t look at me with those shocked faces…I know, I know. I’m 21 and I didn’t have my license yet. But hey, it’s a free country, right? Anyways, I rocked the driving test and now I can officially drive on my own. And it’s awesome. I’m taking full advantage of this freedom to borrow the parents’ car and take my sisters places, pick people up…etc. I love it! Now I just need a car…again, suggestions/free cars welcome!

Wow, this is going to be a humongous entry. Well, on Friday, I had some fancy company coming in to town, and by fancy, I mean Deanna, Amy, and Shari! They wanted to come the weekend of my birthday, but the church conference was on, so they came by this past weekend instead. So much fun because they got to all meet my family! Well, Amy already had, but Shari and Deanna didn’t, so yeah. We had my birthday lasagna dinner at home, played games(Pass the Pigs, anyone?) and ate ice cream and cake with Dave and Dream who had come over at this point. I got some sweet Seattle coffee(which I’m extremely tempted to try) from them and a sweet Star Orc disc from Rob(which I’m also extremely tempted to try and can’t believe I haven’t yet!). Anyways, after that, we just talked until about 2 or 2:30 or so…until we were too exhausted. They all slept in the girls’ room and the next morning we had an awesome pancake/bacon breakfast courtesy of Dad! And that morning we played some ping-pong and then went to Five Guys(YES) for lunch. Oh yeah, and I drove Deanna’s Accord, which is one sweet ride.

Wow, why am I writing so much??? Anyways, after lunch, we went over to the movie theatre to see Indy 4!! Dream and Dave joined us there and we partook of…well…Indy 4. I want to say it was awesome, but I can’t quite…it was interesting. I’ll say that much. I just don’t think it’s as good as the first three. But, I will say this. It was AWESOME seeing Indiana Jones on the big screen for the first time in my life.

After the movie, me and Shari grabbed the other Indy movies at Target and then we went back to my house and had dinner…and then watched National Treasure 2 with the rest of the fam! Fun times indeed…and then they had to leave. Most sad…because I probably won’t see ’em for the rest of the summer..but the times we had was so great…the friends that God’s given me are indeed most amazing blessings!!

Anyways…wow. This post is still going. This week has been sweet thus far, and I’ll end this post by saying tonight was awesome because Dream and her brother John came over and me and Maryanne and Laura watched Indy 3(Last Crusade) with them. Great times!!! I’m gonna miss these times when I’m in Houston…

And now, I really do need to close this post. If anyone read all of this post…You win my eternal adoration. Ok, not really. But you get major props.

To all of you, g’night!!

James HoganLeave a comment

Ok, so I keep wanting to write an awesomely long entry about all the things that have been going on lately…but I never do because I know I have too much to write about. But really now…if I keep that up, I’m never going to write anything down. Because you know what? The awesomeness just never ends.

I’m really sad about this semester almost being over just because I feel it’s been such a great one!! I still can’t believe I’m almost at the end of my sixth semester at UF. Wow. And I’m also sad because I’ve gotten to know so many cool people this semester…and I’ve started to realized there is limited time left here! But enough of that…I don’t want to think about leaving UF yet!

Anyway, before I get too sentimental, let’s get down to details…I’m not sure how much I’ll write because I am rather tired tonight and tomorrow a bunch of us are going tubing down the Ichatucknee River tomorrow. And I’m not quite sure if I spelled that right…anyone that knows, feel free to correct. But yeah, today was our end-of-the-year Lake Wauburg bash with the Creekside crew…fun times!!! Played some sweet sand volleyball early on, where the guys beat the girls(of course…) and then we enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. After that was my favorite part though, because I grabbed a kayak and Dream, Laura and Bek got a canoe and we went out on the lake to just enjoy the beautiful day!! It was raining a little, but that just felt great. Sailing on the lake, enjoying the water, the clouds, the alligators(which we saw so many of!) just felt…amazing. So relaxing – makes me want to praise God even more at times like these!

So yeah, Wauburg was pretty awesome. I should write more about this past week, but I’m actually quite exhausted now. All else I’ll say was that we also had our last Creekside Wednesday last night and it was quite sad saying goodbye to the seniors…and imagining myself as one next year. Oh boy. Anyway, I’m tired. So to all, g’night!!

James HoganLeave a comment

I really should be studying right now, as this week is crazy busy.

BUT, I just had to write something real quick…that God is AWESOME. And of course that’s always true, but now I’m so grateful and thankful to Him because I found out I got the internship I interviewed for last week!!!! I can’t wait!! I definitely did a little dance after getting off the phone! I’m so looking forward to this summer…and I just have to praise God for his grace to me!! And I have to thank Him for giving me strength and wisdom during the whole interview process…indeed, we serve an awesome Father!!!! And just thinking about my family and all my friends that were praying for me this whole time…and seeing how powerful prayer is…is just incredible to think about! I am so blessed. Hallelujah to the Lamb! Amen and Amen!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, in a few minutes I will be leaving for Jacksonville and from there I will be flying to Houston! I’ll be in Houston for a day interviewing for an internship position this summer; it should be a pretty awesome time. It’s definitely amazing though, thinking back to all the time I spent applying for internships and interviewing, and I never thought I’d be flying to Houston at this time. This will be my second interview with them(Cameron International) and while I certainly would like the position, if I don’t get it, I know God has something better for me! It was pretty neat last night at Creekside college group – so many people knew about this interview coming up and I have so many people praying for me…it’s just ridiculous. I feel so undeserving and blessed, all at the same time. I just can’t wait to see God’s plans for me…

And now, need to do my last check to make sure I have everything I need for the trip. Farewell!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, the Great Spring Break of ’08 is drawing to a close. And what a week it’s been! I’m absolutely exhausted right now though. A few minutes ago I was lying down, ready to fall asleep before 9:30! I wish I was more coherent now so that I could write more, but I promise a longer post later. And you probably think that’s an empty promise but I actually do have some thoughts written down on paper(from one of the first nights of our Sarasota trip). So eventually(hopefully soon!), I’ll transcribe that onto here. But before I get too far ahead of myself, I think I’ll give a brief overview of this break. On Friday afternoon(a week ago), me, Rob, Bek Cobb and Amy all went to Sarasota for sweet times with Rob’s grandparents. I’ll talk more about that later, but I can summarize it in a few brief words: three days and three disc golf courses. Awesome times.

After the Sarasota trip, we came back to Tampa on Monday and I hung out with my family for a few days. So great seeing ’em all again after so long away…sad because Katharyn’s still out in California at college, but I got to see the parents and Maryanne and Laura at least! So blessed to just be able to be with them and relax at home!!

Alas, I did not have long at home. On Wednesday, my mom and I left for the Ligonier Conference in Orlando! And since most of you will probably not know what that is, feel free to look it up at ligonier.org online. It’d take too long to explain their ministry now! Anyway, it’s basically an awesome Bible conference that’s held yearly. I’ve never been able to go before because of school. But finally this year, I had spring break at the same time! So me and my mom got to our hotel on Wednesday, met my aunt Linda there, and the conference commenced on Thursday and ran through Saturday.

My comments on the conference would run forever if I were to simply open up my heart and let it flow, so I will spare you all. Let it be said that it was indeed a time of great joy! You may think that going to a “Bible conference” sounds exceedingly boring and that listening to multiple sermons a day would be dreadful…but being around so many like-minded people(around 4500, I believe) and being fed by such great preachers…amazing. It’s really hard to describe if you haven’t been there…just suffice it to say I loved it. And ending today singing the Hallelujah chorus in front of thousands of people…a little slice of heaven.

Now though, I feel that my body is crashing and I need sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be back in Gainesville and back to the school routine. But indeed, the Great Spring Break of ’08 has been a rousing success! Thanks be to God! G’night, one and all!