Tag: life

LOVE

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, I almost got stuck reading all my old entries here, but then I remembered I did actually want to write something here! And maybe I won’t actually post this, so I could just write nonsense and delete it and no one would know how crazy I am. Um…wait, everyone already knows.

ANYWAY, I’ve been thinking lately(yes, it’s not as much a rarity as some of you may think) about lots of things and you’re all waiting to hear WHY in particular I wanted to talk about love. Ok, maybe you’re not all wondering that, but if you read my last entry(posted mere minutes ago!), you’ll know that I promised to talk about love sometime in the near future. Hmm, what could James possibly say about love? Well, it’s not as scandalous as you may think. And for some reason, I’m feeling really awake right now, so I may actually get through this after all! And I’m just typing my thoughts here, direct from the brain to the keyboard, so pardon any weirdness.

But yeah, love. What do I mean by this? And why again do I want to talk about it? Well, I think it’s partly due to my attending RUF a few times this semester and hearing some of the messages there(the series was entitled “Sex, Dating, and the Bible”). Anyway, got me thinking about marriage and what that crazy business entails. And no, I’m not thinking about marrying anyone anytime soon, no worries! But love in marriage is something really interesting, mostly because it’s so different from what most people in the world think it is. Most people hear the world “love” and think about that magic moment, that spark between two people, those special times alone, that feeling that will last forever because “we’re meant for each other”. And quite honestly, I do not like hearing any of that. I do think that there’s going to be one person I’m going to marry and that we will have just what God intended for us and that it’s going to be awesome. But I also know that neither of us are perfect. We’ll both be flawed human beings living solely by the grace of God. And that’s just fine.

Where we go wrong is when we expect marriage to be some magical institution that will make our lives so much better and that will fill a hole in our hearts. You know what, there’s Someone that can fill that hole so much better than anyone else…and that’s Jesus Christ. I don’t want to say marriage is bad, because obviously, I want to get married someday and it’s going to be sweeet. But it’s also going to be difficult. We’re going to have times where we don’t like each other and times when we really don’t want to be with that other person. And you know those feelings and butterflies you get when you see your special someone? Well, those won’t last forever. But by God’s grace, those two people will persevere in their covenant before God. And that’s what is so awesome about marriage – two people committing to live their lives as one, joining their disparate lives by a promise to love each other forever, by the grace of God.

So what is love? Well I think I’ve basically answered that question, but love isn’t some feeling or emotion…it’s ACTION. Love is how you treat your husband or wife when you’re tired and don’t want to talk with them or don’t want to hear about their problem…yet you do. Love is when you two are arguing and are so mad at each other…yet pray before God for grace to work out the problem and put aside your selfish pride and desires. Love is when you just KNOW(because you’re obviously always right) your way is the right way, yet humbly put her before yourself because the issue really isn’t that important.

Love is not some emotional outpouring of affirmation for the other, but showing her your commitment to serving God by putting her before yourself. Love is wanting to live your lives together for God, no matter what the price. Love is knowing that you in yourself have no power and humbling yourself before God to ask for his grace and power to love your husband or wife. This is what love is.

It felt good to share all that…I’d appreciate any comments and now I think I shall get some sleep…I am feeling rather tired now!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, these last few days have just been utterly awesome. What can I say? I’m just blessed…

Ok, I guess I’ll start by just talking about today and then going backwards. Actually I was pretty exhausted this morning because I only got about four/five hours of sleep last night(finishing up my facilities report – LAST school thing this semester!!). So we went to church and I had a little trouble staying fully alert all the time, but it was a great service. We got to sing some sweet Christmas songs and hear a little more Genesis(chapter 47 – almost done!) Afterwards, talked for a while to various people…I have to say, I stay so much later at church now than I used to, it’s just ridiculous. Today it was partly because it was my last time at Creekside for the year! So I won’t see most of these people until next semester…so many goodbyes were said. We planned to go out to lunch at a Chinese buffet, but me and Rob sort of didn’t leave right away and were outside in the parking lot talking to Deanna, Shari, Amy, Jessica, etc…so yeah, we got held up. Eventually we made it over the restaurant and had fun times there with people…and afterwards me and Rob had some quality parking lot time AGAIN talking with Mary and Rebekah for quite a while…good times, good times.

So finally me and Rob came back to our place where I called my house and talked to the fam for a while…and then I was so tired I fell asleep for about a half hour. Then me and Rob went out on Flavet for some sweet football with Chris, Javier, etc(tackle again, so I’m sore again…my knee’s quite out-of-whack right now). That was awesome, just because football is always awesome. Me and Rob made a pizza when we got back and just chilled talking for a few hours…I gotta say, it’s great having a friend like him. We’re trying to decide where we want to live next year…we sort of want to move off campus, but we also really like the convenience of being on campus…we’re definitely undecided as of yet. We were also talking about our pasts and just what we’ve been going through these past few years…made me really nostalgic(and want to write/read in this!) One quote I shall share from him(and the context will not be provided!)…”We said this semester we’re going down…next semester, we’re REALLY going down!” We shall see..

Wow, and if I wrote that much just for today…this entry may prove to be rather long.

Ok, now for yesterday…you may think that on a Saturday(with no exams in front of me) I’d sleep in. That’d be natural and normal, right? Well of course, that’s not what I did. Cindy was in a Brain Bowl competition here at the Union, so me and Rob got up around 8 to watch her and her team compete. That was pretty fun and I got to feel sort of smart occasionally when I knew an answer. Me and Rob decided we were going to make up a school and enter the next competition and dominate on those high-schoolers… Feel free to apply within to be on th dream team of Jackson County Prep.

After we left that and went to the store, me and Rob went over to Deanna, Amy and Shari’s for an awesome movie afternoon watching – what better – Braveheart. Most of the girls there hadn’t seen it, so we had fun introducing them to brutal medieval violence. I always forget how bad it is until I see it again! Still, never bad watching people’s faces smashed in or seeing beast Scots decapitate the English. “…playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes…” It was just an awesome time hanging out with fun people…wish I could do things like that all the time.

After that epic adventure, me and Rob had to scoot on over to Dream and Laura’s party(which we were late to, oops..). I brought my expertly crafted salad(which seemed to be received pretty well!) and we got to enjoy all the other awesome food there. But the food was the least of it…we got to hang with other awesome people! I say, I have too many good friends. We watched the Heismann Trophy presentation, which, of course, Timmy Tebow won. It was so great to see that, because he deserved it so much more than any of the other finalists. It was funny though…he was so nervous, he talked super-fast in his speech. But he gave glory to God first and foremost, and that was good to hear. After that, we all had fun singing and dancing…probably everyone outside the apartment thought we were drunk. Hey, we were drunk on life! My favorite part was when we sang Christmas carols together though…so amazing singing praise to God with friends. Me and Rob finally had to leave that to try to get sleep(which unfortunately I didn’t because I had that facilities report).

Now we move to Friday…hmm, maybe I’ll eventually finish this entry! I finally got to sleep in a little bit(well, maybe a lot – 11am!) after all my exams/presentations. After that, I hung out with Dream and Laura for a while, walking with them on their errands around campus, then relaxing at the pond behind the Union and taking crazy pictures. Eventually, I made it back to Keys and got ready for the first event of the night, Deanna and Jessica’s grad party! They’re graduating this next Saturday(craziness! I can’t believe some of my friends are already graduating…at least Deanna will stay at UF for another year for grad work). It was a sweet time at the party there, again seeing multitudes of friends and just enjoying being with people and having good fellowship. Rob and I had to leave that eventually to hit our next party of the night, Katie and Lindsey’s party! Great times playing the Wii(which I’m terrible at! Except Wii baseball – which I got a home run…amazing!), Apples to Apples, eating so much sugar and again, just enjoying being around friends. We stayed there until about two or three o’clock, at which time we decided we should probably leave. Yes we were the last ones to leave…

Ok, so I don’t make this an entry TOO epic, I’ll try to speed through the next few days…Thursday I worked all morning for the IPPD presentations at the Union and that night me and Rob and Galan got to hang out with the Lebos! Great time seeing them, since I feel we haven’t been able to be with them as much this semester…so sad! Wednesday night was the last Creekside study and was totally awesome, and Tuesday night was RUF worship night and my first ever time playing ultimate frisbee! It’s pretty sweet, I must admit. It was freezing cold and since I’m out of shape, I was tired after 30 minutes, but I enjoyed it so much…running all over the field, trying to make a play…great game.

Ok, I’ve gone through all the past five days or so…I should probably stop now. But if you’ve actually read all that, you’re either 1)crazy, 2)bored, or 3)way too interested in my life. I just had to write down all the awesome times I’ve had…parties with friends, dinners with friends, talks with friends…can’t go wrong. Side-note, I saw the RUF ladies(Deanna, Shari, Amy, Jessica) five out of the past six days(only missed Thursday)…I just thought that was random and awesome.

And now I really will end this…I want to write some of my recent thoughts on love in another entry…but I may fall asleep before that. So sorry if this ends being an empty promise!

I’ll be in Tampa by Thursday…happy…and sad at the same time! Can’t wait, yet will miss so many people here.

For real, farewell. If you read all this, you must comment so I can give you a cookie for being a masochist…goodnight!

James HoganLeave a comment

EXAMS ARE DONE!!!

Ok, I know probably everyone hates me now, since I’m done so early this semester. But I just had to say it!! I’ve been wanting to write in here lately, but just never got around to it since I had so much work to do…but finally, I’m almost done with this semester! All I have left is two project reports to finish writing up and one project presentation on Wednesday. So yes, I’m sitting pretty right now! I have NO IDEA how my grades are going to pan out right now, but I honestly don’t want to think about that right now. It’s just a great feeling not to have to stress over exams anymore! Thank you, Lord, that I’ve survived.

In other news…hmm, well most of my recent days have been spent studying(I missed the Creekside Christmas party yesterday to study for my two exams today). Today I had my OR2 final and then just now my Marketing final. I think I dominated the marketing exam. OR2…who knows?

Ok, no more exam talk, I promise! Switching subjects…the Gators are going to the Capitol One Bowl! Not quite the title game, but it’ll suffice. We’re playing Michigan, so that will be a pretty fun game(and yes, they’re going dowwwwwn!) Last week was the FSU game – so much fun! We were 7 rows from the field, which was pretty awesome(except when the teams were at the other end of the field). After we pounded them 45-12, we went down and high-fived the players, including Tebow(who Dream got a great picture of).

That night, instead of staying in Gainesville like most people, I went back to Tampa with Chris’ parents…because the next day, I was going to the Bucs/Redskins game!!!! Man, I was so excited to find that out. And now I remember I already wrote about this, but anyway, it was a great game, finally being able to watch my Redskins in person!! It was fun wearing my Darrell Green jersey and talking with the other Skins fans. Sadly, we lost, but I’ll always remember my first Redskins game! In other Redskins news, Sean Taylor was shot and killed on Sunday night. Sometimes you hear about players dying, but it hits you a lot more when it’s your own team. It’s weird thinking about it, knowing that Taylor was one of the best players in the NFL, one of the best athletes in America…and someone could come into his bedroom and shoot him. Really reminds you of the brevity of life…

Ok, getting off that sad topic, it’s now Christmas season!! It’s so hard to enjoy the holiday season until I’m done with school, but since I practically am done now, I can enjoy looking forward to Christmas and all the parties that come along with that… Speaking of Christmas, I really need to start my Christmas shopping…

And now, I’m going to go hunt for something to eat, since all I had to eat for dinner earlier was a salad. Not bad, but not a full meal by any means…

Before I sign off, one more thing I wanted to mention – I became a member at Creekside yesterday! It’s been a good three years going there and I wanted to show my commitment to the church…so great being up at the front of the church with the other new members, being affirmed by the congregation and the elders…I really do love that church. Thanks be to God who enabled me to find it!

And now I really am off. Farewell all!

James HoganLeave a comment

Been having a sweet weekend so far…even though it’s about to get ugly as I start doing some massive studying for my two exams this week. Oh well. Friday, Rob, Laura, Galan, and I hung out, since Laura tore her ACL and couldn’t go swing dancing with Dream- she’s going to have surgery soon, which hopefully will help her get back to running soon. Anyways, Friday night was awesome – we went and saw Harry Potter 5 at the Reitz…great movie. Very fast-paced and crazy, but I enjoyed it, despite the moody Harry parts. After that, we came back to our place and ate ice cream, made a pizza, and played some cards, after which I went to Galan’s place and played Halo 3 for hours(since his roommate was gone for the weekend). I eventually got some sleep(not saying what time!) and then woke up about 12 on Saturday…I needed to catch up on sleep! Courtney came in from Tally, and we all went to the Creekside college football party at the Fregly’s…great time! A lot of volleyball(and I mean A LOT!) was played by all…the game doesn’t warrant mentioning further though. Anyways, it was great being with everyone. After the game, we went to Southwest Rec and played beach volleyball for a while(Told ya we played a lot of volleyball!)

Anyway, thought I should start a new paragraph, since I’m not done yet…after those volleyball games, me, Rob, Galan, and Courtney went to Galan’s house and watched “The Prestige”, a really sweet movie(really messes with your mind). Today was equally awesome, with a good time at church, and then more hanging out with Galan and Courtney(even though we were all super-exhausted – hmm, I wonder why…)

Tonight was prayer and praise, which was super awesome…I so much enjoy the fellowship with everyone there…so grateful for all the friends God’s given me there…Dream, Rob, Galan, Mecca, David, etc, etc, I could go on and on! Indeed, God is good. And that is all. Wow, I’m feeling quite joyful now, despite knowing I’ll probably be studying all night. Farewell, all!

James HoganLeave a comment

You may ask while I’m still up…well, there’s an easy answer to that: Web DSS homework. It’s some of the most ridiculous homework ever; we’re going through the material so fast that I’m not fully understanding what we’re doing. So with this homework, I just have to try to figure it out by trial-and-error, which is no fun, let me tell you that. Anyway, I just took a shower and am taking a short break before going back to work.

I can’t wait for this weekend, I can tell you that – this week has been so crazy with homework and project work and lab work…I’ve gotten little sleep, yet I’m still going. This weekend will be just as busy with studying(for two exams next week) and homework…but just to have one Friday night to relax will be most beneficial to my health.

Before I go off and do(i.e. attempt) more homework, I have to talk a little about our football game tonight…tonight was our flag football intramural playoff game! This has been a really weird season, because we were supposed to have four games, yet 3 of them were canceled due to rain, so we only got to play one other game, sadly. And strangely enough, our playoff game tonight was against the one other team we played(who beat us 10-9 in a hard-fought game). Anyway, this morning dawned bright and clear, around sixty degrees..perfect football weather!! After a lot of classes and project work(and a sweet lunch with Ryan), we finally started our football game at 7pm.

Anyway, it was such a defensive struggle…Neither of us could really move the ball the whole game. I made a few awesome plays, though. Near the end of the game, the other team threw it deep and their receiver caught it, running for the end zone with no one to stop him…I came across the field and dived, grabbing his flag about ten yards short of the endzone(very surprising to me, since I’m not that fast!) And on that same drive(I think 2nd down), they threw the ball, one of my teammates tipped it, and I dived for it, grabbing it with outstretched arms before falling to the ground. Such an awesome interception!! And now you’re probably thinking, “Wow, James is really bragging it up…what a arrogant guy…” Don’t worry, my ego will be brought low in a few minutes…after that interception, the game ended with the score 0-0(crazy!) Overtime started and they got the ball on our 10 and scored on 4th down. Oh well. We went in on offense, and on 2nd or 3rd down, after snapping the ball I rolled out to the right, WIDE OPEN. Lauren(our QB) threw the ball up to me…the ball was in the air for so long, that I had time to think, “Wow, this is the game-winning touchdown right here…” Yep, I let me mind wander(the ball was hanging in the air for at least 5 seconds!) and I lost the ball in the field lights….and it missed my hands, hitting my chest! So, yes, I dropped the game-winning touchdown. Happy now? We almost scored after that, but Lauren was a yard short of the endzone. So we lost. But what a game!

Ok, I bet a lot of you didn’t really care to read about all that football, but I wanted to write it. And it was a good break from DSS homework. Good night all(hope the rest of you are in bed, where I wish I could be!)

James HoganLeave a comment

I really do like Tuesdays. It seems weird, but my favorite classes seem to be my 7:30 ones. Last semester, I always enjoyed my 7:30 Friday accounting lab. And now that I have my two hour 7:30 Microprocessor class, I’m loving that too – the material is pretty sweet stuff. Gotta love that Boolean algebra. Maybe it’s just the fact that in all my early classes, I have coffee. Yep, that’s gotta be it. Coffee just makes class more fun. Proven fact. Well, in my head at least. And I need to find a buy a good coffee machine and buy some awesome coffee – I’ve come to the conclusion that it will be cheaper in the long run to do that than buy coffee from Java City twice a week.

And to more serious matters…today is September 11th, 2007. So odd to think that six years ago today, I was in my freshman year of high school while four airliners were hijacked by terrorists. While I was in my microprocessor class today, around 9:00 or so, I remembered how six years ago, I had just found out about the attacks while in my second period computers class…how strange it is to think a moment like that is frozen in my memory forever. That day is still clear in my memory, but not as vivid as it used to be. I wish I’d taken the advice of my history teacher in sophomore year to write a detailed account. He told us that we had witnessed history and should record our impressions. I thought of it as schoolwork(thus didn’t do it) but now wish I had. I did write something for a messageboard(BZPower) back in 2002, so thought I’d post that here now(unedited).


Written 9/11/2002

I can still remember that day as if it happened yesterday…

I went to school as normal, my 1st period English progressed like it always did, and then I went to 2nd period Computer and Business Skills; we were pounding away in the typing program when, sort of subconsciously, I saw a teacher come into the room and whisper to my teacher.(This is around 9:00 Eastern Time) Then my teacher told us that a plane had crashed into the WTC and she turned on the TV.
To tell you the truth, I didn’t really think it was that big at first. I thought that it wasn’t that big of a deal, some small plane had accidentally crashed into the WTC, and I thought, Well, that is really sad and probably a few people died, but at least, probably, not too many people were hurt.
For the rest of the period, we watched the TV, but I didn’t really get what was happening. The next period, Team Sports, was outside, so no TV, but in that class, people were saying how the Pentagon had been hit, the White House exploded, and the Capitol had collapsed.
That was when I began to realize it was much more serious. I could not fathom all those landmarks going up in smoke, and I knew this would be a turning point for America.
The next class, Spanish II, was in a portable classroom, so there was no TV, and I still did not totally know what was going on. After lunch, I arrived in 5th period Physical Science and I asked my teacher, “WHAT happened?”
She then told me how both towers had collapsed, the Pentagon had been hit, and a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. For the rest of the day, I was in shock.
I went to my last class, geometry and for the first time(but not the last) I saw the video of the towers collapsing. Finally, I got to go home. I walked home, like I usually do and saw my family around the TV. We had planned to have a big turkey dinner with one of our friends, an Air Force Reservist, but no one was hungry. Our friend was crying over what had happened, so we tried to comfort her.
I will never forget that day.
And I know how most of us hate Osama bin Ladin and wish he were dead, but I say we follow the the words of Jesus and “Love our enemies” and pray for him.
I will never be the same and I know most of us never will be either.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!
-James Hogan
Sophmore, Gaither High School
Tampa, Florida, USA

And on that somber note, I am off to get ready for Arredondo Room…mmm, beef stew. Haven’t eaten breakfast today, so I’m starving. Hope everyone has a great day!

Stolen from Becca!

James HoganLeave a comment

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
“…and was used to indicate the legal repayment or cancellation of a debt or the…”
(Ephesians commentary)…my facilities textbook was about equally close, but I like this one better.

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
I can’t touch anything…I’d fall out of my chair. But my blue curtains/window are that way.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Um…probably one of the US Open matches. I think it was Serena Williams getting whipped…

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
10:15?

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
10:00…eh, I was sorta close.

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My roommate and friend talking and one of them strumming a guitar.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Last time I went outside, I went to a two hour class, then straight to Wednesday night Bible study…just got back a few minutes ago.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Something on Facebook, probably(besides Becca’s blog, of course)

9. What are you wearing?
blue jeans and a Michigan State shirt

10. Did you dream last night?
Probably…I remember it was weird, but don’t remember the details.

11. When did you last laugh?
Walking into the apartment and commenting on the random smell…and discovering it was my roommate’s 2 week-old leftovers…

12. What are on the walls you are in?
Actually nothing right now…I haven’t put up my posters yet. So my walls are nice and clean…

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Not particularly…besides my Microprocessor notes I’m trying to study for a quiz tomorrow!

14. What do you think of this quiz?
It’s weird and has no logic…but it’s fun!

15. What is the last film you saw?
Um…last night I was watching Attack of the Clones while doing homework…last new film would be Shrek 3 though.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Give a lot of it to my church and family and friends, buy lots of books and then put the rest in savings so I wouldn’t have to work and could devote my life to ministry…

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.
I’m not Jewish…despite my many user names with “Israeli” in them…

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would remove people’s desire for power…but I don’t think I could do that.

19. Do you like to dance?
Do I like to? Yes. Can I? Well…that’s a different question…

20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Well, that decision isn’t all mine…but I like the name Alex/Alexandria.

21. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
John.

22. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes, definitely.

Posted this on BZP first…thought I might as well post it here too! Feel free to steal..

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, I really should be doing homework now, but I don’t have class tomorrow and I figure I can get some of that work done then. Yeah, not the greatest plan of attack, but I want to write about this weekend while it’s still fresh in my mind. Let’s just say that my sweet weekend was definitely worth all the homework I’ll be doing these next couple days.

Rob has a family reunion down in Plant City every Labor Day(not sure if I talked about it last year), and I went last year too. So Friday night after his class finished, we drove down to Plant City and listened to some of his music and then a great Relient K/Switchfoot/Skillet CD I’d just mixed. We got there after ten because we took all the back roads to get there, through all the little towns(his car is an ’87 civic and doesn’t do so well at high speeds). Anyway, we got to his uncle’s place eventually and hung out with his extended family for a while…it’s so cool that even though I’m not part of his family, they all love having me there and we’re all able to just be ourselves. Later that night, me and Rob and his younger cousin Nolan went over to his older cousin Andy’s apartment, where we were going to stay. We played some video games(Mario tennis, anyone?) before going to bed.

Saturday morning, we all had to get up early because Rob and his dad and uncles were going golfing. We had a yummy breakfast of sausage and biscuits at the uncle’s house and after that me and Andy and Nolan went back to the apartment and did more gaming…for the rest of the morning. We then went back to the house for lunch, where the rest of the guys had returned after golf. Unfortunately, Rob didn’t win. Anyways, after that, we watched some tennis(Maria Sharapova got beat in the third round sadly) and then played around in the pool. For maybe four hours. I don’t remember exactly, but we were in there for quite a while! I actually wasn’t going to go in at first because I didn’t have a suit, but I got splashed by Cindy(Rob’s sis), so just went in anyway.

That night, me and Rob, Andy and Nolan went to the USF game! It was great because I’d never been to an USF game before OR been in the Raymond James before. We had great seats…unfortunately, the game wasn’t that great, even though they did win pretty handily. USF needs to get better if they want to have a good year. On the way back to Plant City, listened to Beatles music almost the whole way…nothing better than just chilling in a car listening to “Hey Jude”…

That night at Andy’s apartment…well, let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep. We played MORE video games(honestly, I don’t usually game this much!). We played James Bond: Nightfire the most, which was awesome. Guiding rockets in at enemies…doesn’t get much better than that. Due to the extreme lack of sleep which the gaming induced, me and Rob were pretty tired in church the next morning – I felt really bad about that. It reminded me of why I always want to get a good night’s sleep before church.

Anyway, as soon as we got back to Uncle Rob’s, we collapsed in the living room. Rob slept on the floor for about seven hours or so…we didn’t wake up until dinner. I didn’t get quite as much sleep…I woke up for a small lunch and was trying to sleep on the couch, but Cindy was there so we just chilled and talked for a while(i.e., all afternoon). We had a great meatloaf dinner(at which Rob was finally awake) and then we all played cards(Scum, woo!) That night back at Andy’s place, after a little gaming, I fell asleep at eleven while they were still playing. I didn’t wake up until nine the next morning!

That morning, we went back to the house for breakfast, but then me and Rob got on the road again, to Tampa! Stopped in and saw my family for a little while and had a spaghetti lunch. So glad I got to see them again, at least for a little bit! Also called Katharyn and talked to her for a while…she’s really enjoying herself at The Master’s College – she just loves California.

Me and Rob then drove back to Gainesville because there was a Creekside college event going on at four(Lake party at the Moninger’s house!) And it was a sweet house indeed…they had a great dock complete with jetski and boat and tubes and an awesome yard and treehouse and volleyball net…pretty much everything one needs to have fun! We played football for a little while, which was great fun despite having so many people playing. The only touchdown scored was a defensive pick returned for a TD. Well, at least my team won. It was so much fun playing games and hanging out with the people there…and enjoying the awesome spaghetti dinner and ice cream, mmmm.

And that was this afternoon. Just got back a couple hours ago and have been cleaning my room and getting ready for the week. Now, I’m probably going to do some more homework, but just wanted to write all this down. I wish all weekends could be as sweet…

Goodnight, all!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, today was the first day of school. Woo! Or..not really. But still, it wasn’t that bad. Only had one class(Microprocessors), BUT it was two hours. And started at 7:25 in the morning. I have got to find a place to get coffee before I go there, otherwise I’m not going to be able to pay attention. But after that class, I was free for the rest of the day! I stopped by work to check in and see what I needed to start on and after that, went to the BCM noonday with Dream and Rob for some sweet food and fellowship with people I haven’t seen all summer. It was weird remembering my freshman year and the first time I went to the BCM for a lunch and how I didn’t know anyone but Dream. Now I feel so old!

Anyways, after that, we walked in the incredibly hot sun to get some books for Dream. After that and my lack of sleep, I had to take a nap back at Keys. When I got up, me, Rob, Rach, Laura and Dream all went to Publix to do some shopping since we all needed to stock up on food. It was sort of cool, my first time doing all the real shopping for myself, now that I have a kitchen and a will to cook(and eat, haha). Me and Rob made spaghetti and I made the inaugural salad of the year. Truly a glorious event!

And tonight, Danika and Devin came over and the four of us played Lord of the Rings Risk…been so long since I played it, took a while to acclimate to the map again. We also watched Return of the King(Extended) on Rob’s laptop while we were playing, so we kept getting distracted by the marauding Orcs and glorious Rohirrim(Forth Eorlingas!) So we never did finish it(I think Danika was winning), and now I probably should get to bed. Thus was my first day of school. Farewell, all!

James HoganLeave a comment

Ok, posting an entry I actually wrote a few days ago, on the 18th. But the Internet wasn’t working then. It is now, FINALLY. I don’t really feel like writing much now, but tomorrow’s the first day of school…and I wish it wasn’t here quite yet. Here’s the entry:

I am writing this on Word right now because for some reason the Internet in here is being stupid and refusing to work. And where am I right now, you might ask? Well, I’m in Gainesville, YEAH! That’s right, the boys are back in town. And today has been such a long day; I really should be sleeping now. Nah.

So I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM. Yep, a little early. Katharyn had a 6 AM flight to California(she’s going to The Master’s College there), so me and my mom had to take her there. Her suitcases were ridiculously heavy, but we got them(and her) to the airport all in one piece. After getting home, I collapsed for a couple hours before getting up around eight to finish packing.

Said goodbye to my family and drove up with David to Gainesville! It was so great seeing the city and campus again – every year I’m here, I just love it more. I got to my room at Keys(which is an awesome apartment style dorm; we have our own kitchen/living room and two bathrooms and private bedrooms) and relaxed for a couple hours as I unloaded what I brought with me. Dad’s actually bringing most of my belongings on Tuesday, so I have to survive until then with my two bags of stuff.

I called people(like Dream and Rob) but no one answered until finally Rob got in town! It was so sweet seeing him again. We unloaded his car and then went and played disc golf with his dad and Liz. I haven’t played all summer, so I was pretty rusty, but it was still great fun. After that, me and Rob stopped by Taco Bell for some sustenance and then just chilled in our awesome pad(where he gave my birthday present – just a little late – Return of the King extended edition..so awesome!) This is going to be such an amazing year – I can already feel it. Our third year at UF…a great adventure is continuing! Hope everyone is doing well…I can’t post this now(stupid Internet), but I will probably post this as soon as it’s restored.