You Found It!

Welcome!

Well, this is it, folks. How do you like it?

First off, I'd like to apologize for my inexcusable negligence the past two weeks. Actually, I have excuses, but I should have made time for this... no, I should have made time for you.

But to make it up to you, I've completely changed everything! Haha, like it or not, I figured the time was ripe for some modifications. Additionally, I felt pressured to appear more technically savvy and "virtually hip" in order to maintain the interest of my readers. I know you all have very high standards when it comes to reading blogs -- you don't read just any old thing!

Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of time right now to write a lengthy update, but I will try to skim over some recent developments in the ever-exciting life of me.

Two weekends ago, my swimming season culminated to a grand finale. It was bittersweet, to say the least. I had a blast, only swimming one event on Friday morning and spending the rest of the weekend cheering and becoming better friends with all my teammates. It's sort of funny, I realized, that after an entire season, I still didn't really know my teammates very well. Ha I guess that's the inevitable consequence of a sport that requires you to spend all your time with your face in the water. But we all had a ton of fun bonding and it was surprisingly painful to wish the season farewell.

The Men's team placed 5th out of 10 teams -- an excellent finish for a first-year team! My race was pretty awful, but I was just really grateful that I could go. I definitely missed a lot at Messiah, but the change of scenery was great. That said, coming back to school I was actually sad to the point of considering swimming next year too. Sure, the practices are painful and pervasive, but it's just so fun to be a part of a team. However, I waited a few days to let the sentimentality dissolve and now I've decided that I won't be rejoining the team. Part of my reasoning is that I am planning on going to Philadelphia campus next spring... and then there's the fact that I want my time back. It was a great experience, but I never planned on being a varsity athlete for four years at college. Moving on...

Four very busy days later, I woke up on a sunny Friday with a huge smile on my face and a bounce in my step. Why, you ask? Well... because Katrina arrived at Harrisburg International Airport at 2 pm! Wooohooo!! Although she was sorely separated from her luggage, it was so nice to have her here! The weekend that followed was better than I even imagined it would be! We spent two and a half days meeting/hanging out with all my friends, eating a lot, doing all campus had to offer (on-campus movies, museum, mini-concerts, etc), talking, eating tons of cheap and delicious ice cream, shopping, enjoying the Central PA sun, an awesome church service at CLA, a wonderful afternoon of playing/praying in a practice room, and the list goes on!

You want to hear a joke?
Q: What do you get when you cross Josh's favorite place with his favorite person?
A: More fun than any weekend can handle!

ha.. I guess that wasn't very funny.. or even a joke at all...sorry...
Anyways, you probably get the picture. It was pretty crummy to say goodbye again, but I'm so happy she could come! As expected, everyone here loved her and can't wait for her to come back! :]

Ahem.. moving on.
All the freshmen recently completed their Created and Called for Community (that mandatory course) Creation Projects. It was really fascinating to see how everybody has a different way of expressing what God's glory and the vastness of creation means to them. Chris Dodds and I did an "instrumental reflection" on the Creation story. It's just this messy ambient song with a bunch of different layers, added with each of the seven days. Ha we were pretty proud of it. I'm going to put it on a site for you to listen to if you want.

Last thing: I got a 98% on my final Theology paper, with a raving accolade along the lines of "theology needs you!" Suffice it to say I was surprised, but I'm not complaining! :] I'll find a way to get that to you if you care to read it.

Alright, I'm off to work.
I'll probably write another post to fill in all the gaps this weekend.
Thanks for... everything!

Love love love,
jmb

The Start of Something New

Que Pasa?

This might seem odd, but the only way I could aptly title this blog was to borrow from one of the great musical classics of our time -- High School Musical. No shame.

Anyways, my reasoning is two-fold. Firstly, this week was a tough one to get through at times with all the major changes taking place, and secondly, your favourite website, yes, the one and only "Just Joshin'" will most likely be going through some significant changes. We at "Just Joshin" headquarters are just getting a little weary of the juvenile moniker and simplistic layout, so we're looking to revamp the image. After all, what's an internet persona without some 'cutting edge' personality?

But don't worry, I'll keep it all very easy to find and user-friendly... that is, if I can figure out what to do. (We're still at the drawing-board.)

So. How was this week, you ask? Well, like I said before, it was tough. I find myself to be partial to routines, so adjusting to an entirely new one can take some getting used to. I'm pretty excited about most of my classes, but the workload is going to be much greater than last semester. For every Mon-Wed-Fri, I have a Spanish textbook assignment, a Philosophy reading, and a Created and Called for Community reading/reflection. And then there are all of my magazine writing major projects (which will inevitably seem a little overwhelming) and my Computers assignments. But, I guess that's college for you. Last semester was a walk in the park -- a smooth, gentle introduction to college. We aren't messing around any longer.

My Philosophy class should be a good one. My professor is your typical absent-minded genius. He shows up to class in a T-shirt and sneakers everyday, and, like clockwork, walks into class huffing and puffing five minutes late. He's always in need of a shave (and maybe a little less coffee) giving the impression that he was up all night wrestling with the Problem of Evil. But all idiosyncrasies aside, he's actually a really good teacher with a brilliant mind and a great sense of humour. I'm looking forward to this one.

My other classes are nothing special in themselves. The Magazine Writing class is composed of English majors and upperclassmen, of which I am neither. It's a good thing I like a good challenge, because I've found one in this class. But I know I'm going to learn a lot. Although these blog entries are not exactly magazine feature articles, I'll try to incorporate what I learn. Let me know if you notice!

Spanish is a LOT better than last semester. My teacher is an American lady, which makes her a lot easier to understand. We have way more homework, but I guess that's a much better way to learn than cramming for tests. Pretty soon I'll be writing entire blog entries in Spanish for my Costa Rican grandparents! (haha.. not any day soon, though)

So those were my classes. But this week was busy because of much more than new academic obligations. I was asked last-minute to play acoustic guitar for Common Chapel on Tuesday morning -- something I'd never done before. So Monday night I had practice for chapel, then I went to bed, then I woke up, ate breakfast, and went to chapel, then I went to Mag. class, then from Mag to Computers (all with a guitar and a backpack on my shoulders), then from Comp to the lunch to the room where I did homework for 30 mins, then I went to swimming, to dinner, then finally back to the room to finish homework and, at long last, relax. Thursday was more of the same... except that I overslept and ran to chapel in a tizzy -- not a good way to start a very long day.

I hope you like run-on sentences as much as I do.

This will be the last time I talk about swimming for a while (except to mention results next week), because we have our big Conference meet this weekend. We leave very early Friday morning and then swim all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The funny thing about that, however, is that I'll only be swimming for a total of 24 seconds in a 3-day meet. Oh well. We don't arrive back on campus until late Sunday night with a few hours to sleep before classes on Monday. So I regretfully must inform you that there will not be a blog entry next weekend, although if I get a chance to type it up and then post it later in the week, I will. Stay tuned!

There's only two more things I wanted to mention, and I'll do so briefly. I met for lunch on Friday with an acquaintance of mine (he's a senior); we've chatted briefly around campus a few times, so he suggested that we meet up for lunch sometime. He's a really nice guy and when I first met him back in October he said he'd be happy to help me out as I got connected around campus, recalling how hard it was for him to adjust to college life when he was a freshman. Anyways, so we finally got to sit down and talk, and it was one of the best lunch conversations I've ever had. Seriously... I'm starting to think that my ideal career would be one where I just sit down and talk with people, preferably over food. Journalism? PR? That could work... Anyways, I learned a lot from this guy, and I can tell you more if you're interested (just email me) but let's just say that he really gave me a new perspective on certain theological doctrines.

The last thing is that Katrina and I celebrated our BIG two-year anniversary on Thursday. I sent her a little something, and she's bringing me a little something when she visits (in less than two weeks!!). I also recorded a couple songs and I felt like posting them for you to enjoy. There's no simple way to do this, so I've posted a link to all the songs I've recorded with people. The first two "Hallelujah" and "Open Eyes" I just recorded, but the others are all with lovely friends and family of mine. Feel free to check it out!

Well, I guess that's all! It's currently 50 degrees outside (er... 12 or 13?) and wonderfully sunny. People are outside in shorts! Ha.. but here I sit, loyal to those who are so loyal to me. Thanks again!

I'll be back with more soon!
jmb

(CLICK ON THE LINK TO THIS BLOG "THE START OF SOMETHING NEW" TO FIND THOSE SONGS)

Happy Groundhog Day... Eve

You came back! Thank you!

I really do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to peer through this window to my life. Without you, I'd just be spewing nonsense into cyberspace, blindly assuming that it will be received. So thanks for giving my keyboard-happy fingers some direction and purpose. I'll try to keep the view exciting.

Well, I write to you now at the conclusion of J-Term break. Four days ago, I watched a mass exodus of my peers departing these hallowed halls of education for home-cooked meals, a few days of rest and recuperation, and an enviable change of scenery. BUT, a part of me was actually looking forward to some solitude and rest, and in hindsight I can see why. They say time flies when you're having fun (who are "they" anyways?), so the fact that the return of the masses came way sooner than expected probably means I was having fun. In fact, a few of my stranded comrades and I were remarking that we aren't really too eager for everybody to get back.

I'm sure you're dying to discover how 4 days of virtual isolation and time to kill were spent, so I'll tell you. First off, I got to know myself a little better over this break: one, I really do love time to myself, free of distractions and noise, and two, I'm better organized than I thought I was. Within a few hours of everyone's departure, I had already made a list of things I wanted to get done, mentally mapping out how much time I would actually have to accomplish these tasks. As it turned out, I didn't really have very much free time. Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same: swimming practice from 10-12, a few free hours in the afternoon, dinner and team party/hang-outs in the evening. (In case you forgot, the reason I stayed here was for the swim meet on Saturday.)

The remainder of my time was spent talking to my lovely lady, recording/listening to music, reading a little, writing a little, studying a little Spanish. I hadn't really given much thought to the meet on Saturday until dinner on Friday, when the assistant coach's personal pep-talk got me thinking that I really could qualify for the regional meet in two weeks -- Mid Atlantic Conference (MACs). So, a slight body shave and tons of nerves later, I was ready for the meet. And wouldn't ya know it!? I made the cut! Ha! I shaved (literally) 1.5 seconds off my 50-yard freestyle time to a lean 24.1 seconds, making the qualifying time by 0.3 seconds.

So there you have it! Though I'm a long shot from winning anything at MACs, at least I can say that I was good enough to go. It will, unfortunately, extend my season another two weeks and continue to absorb lots of time and energy, but I'm actually okay with that. Work doesn't start up again for a couple more weeks, so aside from a whole new batch of classes, things will carry on as normal.

Speaking of classes, I'm pretty excited to start fresh. This might sound sort of dumb, but I almost don't even remember how I balanced work from 5 classes last semester after focusing so intently on just one for the past three weeks. But I'm sure I'll figure it out again. I'm taking:

Mon, Wed, Friday: start @ 9, end @ 12:30 (amaazing!)
- Spanish 102 (yikes!! :| )
- Intro to Philosophy (*strokes no-longer-existent beard..)
- Created and Called for Community (a mandatory Messiah course)
Tues, Thurs
- Magazine Writing (challenging but rewarding!)
- Problem Solving with Computers (get my math credit, and finally learn how to use Excel!)

So that is that. People are trickling in now, and the noise is already starting to bug me. Ha.. I feel like a grouchy old hermit; maybe I should open the door and welcome people home now. Yeah.. I'll go do that.

Oh! But before I do, I wanted to give some mention to church this morning. Two friends of mine still here for break (Andrew and Tyler) decided to drag our weary bodies out of bed for church after a foolishly late night watching Shawshank Redemption. But I'm really glad we did! We weren't sure if the church buses would be coming, seeing as the school was out of session and everything, but we figured it was worth a try. Shortly after 10, and just before we lost hope, the CLA bus pulled up. The service was excellent, as expected, and the message was one of the best I've heard there. To put it bluntly (as Pastor Wayde did not hesitate to do) the new series is all about sex -- defending virginity, sexual sins, sexual predators, etc.

At first there was plenty of awkward laughter rippling throughout the 1,000+ person congregation, but that gradually subsided as the subject matter got a little heavier. Ha but there was an elderly lady behind me who clucked her way through the service with plenty of "Oh!"s and "Ha!"s. The message, entitled In Defense of Virginity, was compelling to say the least. The service ended on a more subdued note as we were reminded of God's forgiveness around Communion and the hope that we can find even when we must live forever with the consequences of our actions.

Reasons for staying pure (emotional bondage, diseases, quality of future marriage) were coupled with powerful anecdotes like this one:
Said the girl being harassed for her virginity, "I can become like you whenever I want, but you can never become like me."

Tip of the Day: Save sex for marriage.

Anyways, thanks again for your prayers. There will be a lot of major changes in the next few days, so I really appreciate all your continued support.

Love squared,
jmb

Galatians 6: 9-10