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