Say Cheese!

My good friend Christy filled out a photo survey earlier today and it's late, I'm bored, so why not?


1. Favorite Hobby?



I love music. Listening, playing, searching, dancing. It keeps me occupied and I enjoy finding new bands.

2. Favorite T.V. Show?

It's Always Sunny In Philidelphia. It makes me laugh everytime. Dexter is also right up there.

3. Favorite Restaurant Food?

I love a good steak or filet mignon but usually I just end up getting......

Chicken Strips.

4. Favorite thing to shop for?

Gap jeans or Gap clothes in general. Gap authentic jeans, slim/straight, 35/30. Bam.

Apple products always make me happy too.


5. Favorite Animal?

A moose. Or meece if it's a group.

However, Tigers will always be a close second.

6. Favorite Song?

The popular pick is Awake My Soul by Mumford And Sons this week. Also, January Wedding by The Avett Brothers always makes me happy.

7. Favorite word?

Love inspires so many feelings and thoughts that it's a hard word to beat.

8. Favorite recent youtube video?

I love watching the video of the Phillies fan who runs out on the field and ends up getting tased in the back. He totally deserved it.....in the face!

9. Favorite Movie?

Green Street Hooligans is one of my all time favorites. It's wonderful and not a lot of people have ever seen it.

10. Favorite childhood memory?

I will be the first to admit that I hated this car when I was growing up. Of course, my dad's didn't look anything like this one when I could remember it. It was loud and ugly. I've grown to admire it and I still wish my dad hadn't sold it. He wanted to bury it in the yard and I thought that was a wonderful idea.

The Greek System Part 1

I believe

in Sigma Pi, a fellowship of

kindred minds, united in

brotherhood to advance truth

and justice, to promote

scholarship, to encourage

Chivalry, to diffuse culture, and

to develop character, in the

service of God and man; and

I will strive to make real, the

fraternity's ideals in my own

daily life

A big part of my life at Emporia revolved around my fraternity, Sigma Pi. I took great pride in being apart of the greek system on campus and wore my letters with pride. I never thought I would be apart of that culture when I left home but something about it just drew me in. I had great friends who weren't involved in the fraternity and I'm closer to them today than most of my brothers but at the time there was just something about that brotherhood that called out to me. I joined and knew I wanted to be a leader in my house. After becoming an active member I was elected to be our Alumni Coordinator, or First Counselor on our Executive Council.

This is all happened right after our chapter was put on social probation by the university for allowing underage drinking in our house during a social event, or a party. We took our probation with a grain of salt and got through the year without any problems. In all honesty it probably brought us closer as a group. However, before our problems our alumni base was hardly helpful and after we got in trouble our help was gone. The job of an alumni board and group is to support the chapter and give advice and direction. They should work with the Executive Council to help lead the chapter. We didn't have that because our previous First Counselors failed to do their jobs and keep our wide base of graduates involved with the chapter.

After I left my position after one semester because of a combination of factors, and after I left the active chapter after another semester, things got chaotic and eventually we sold our fraternity house and barely kept any members. It was the choice of the alumni board without consulting our active chapter to move in these directions and cause a lot of turmoil within our group.

There are currently 5 active members of the Epsilon-Epsilon chapter of Sigma Pi on the campus at Emporia State with another 5 pledges and 2 neophytes. I'm very proud of the job our guys have done in the last two years saving our charter from being taken away. No chapter wants that. Last week our alumni board voted to purchase a property in Emporia. However, unlike the proposal I voted for and felt most strongly about, they decided to buy a new house for the men. I was in favor of purchasing a commercial property to use in a clubhouse sort of way. No one would live there but it would be a place for social gatherings and chapter meetings.

It would be something very new and different for the greek system at ESU. I think that would have given us an upper hand in getting new recruits because they wouldn't have to live in a big, gross house. I understand the frustration the current active members are feeling because I've been through it before. However, the decision has been made and that's all that can be done. I'm still thrilled for the men to have a property to put our letters on.

I have written all of this because my next entry will take a look at whether or not I think the greek system as a whole can grow at Emporia State. Our house is not the only house struggling on campus and I'm not sure that the future will bring growth or the demise of more charters.

Right On Time

Life is full of crazy sayings, crazy feelings and crazy thoughts. Here are two thoughts that keep playing in my mind (maybe because they are somehow connected): What would you do if you had 2 months to live? What would you do if you won $150 million? Most likely your answers will very a little between the two but with both most people will answer this way: you will give to those you love and spend time with them. You will have fun in life and not worry about the little things. Some days I think we forget just how lucky we are to be alive and full of thoughts and feelings. Some people aren't nearly so lucky as I am, when I wake up every day in a big bed and go to work and earn a living, albeit a small living.

Life can speed by and seem like a whirlwind. I'm usually spending my days trying to forget about work and I'm spending my nights trying to forget about problems. I always need to take time and relax and enjoy my time. Tonight was one of those nights. I spent a great deal of time talking with Brock about things that had been bugging me or things that I felt I needed to get off my chest. And he shared his thoughts as well. I feel like life needs to slow down. It seems like I moved home ages ago but it was just a year and a half. It's insane how fast time flies.

Listening to music as much as I do I will usually get stuck on certain songs or certain verses of songs and repeat them in my head and on my iPod. Here's the first one that I've been repeating: "They say that love is for the patient, Gotta plan for being restless for now." I think we, and especially me, get caught up in emotions and feelings. It's hard to step back and contemplate things when you are getting swept up in texts and chats and you can lose sight of what you really feel. However, I tend to do that and then I tend to go overboard with analyzing things. Blah. That's a ramble for another day.

"I wish that you would show me that you'll be right on my time" On my drive home tonight I popped in an old cd of O.A.R. that always used to get me through my drives from Emporia to home on those long nights. I listened to my usual songs first and then this one came on, and "Right On Time" is a song I always forget about, but it always reminds me that, no matter what, everything will always be right on time. You may not realize it now but in the end everything will happen when it should. So if you are waiting for that person to text you or waiting for a date or waiting to meet someone, just remember that it will all happen right on your time.

A Beautiful Girl

So I haven't made an entry in quite awhile. 2 months to be exact. Sorry. No one reads this anyway. A lot has happened in the last two months of my life and I'm sure most of you know the details so I won't bore you with them. Lots of good with some bad. However, that's life. I'm usually an optimist. That may change when I go in tomorrow to pay taxes and tags on Riley. Boo. Today while at work I listened to a mix of Taking Back Sunday, Alkaline Trio, Brand New and some other stuff because Craig made it sound like a good thing, and it was. One particular song by Taking Back Sunday caught my attention, or at least the intro to their song Great Romances of the 20th Century. I've been meaning to post this spoken introduction for months. Seriously, it's been on my iPod list of blog ideas since Jan. 29th. So finally I will type it out for you. Think about it. It's a very true thing.

"A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you've been drinking Jack and Coke all morning. She can make you feel high, full of the single greatest commodity known to man: promise. Promise of a better day, promise of a greater hope, promise of a new tomorrow. This particular aura can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl. In her smile and in her soul, in the way she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like it's going to be okay."

P90X: Day 2

The X in P90X. That's how they describe Plyometrics X. For those of you who don't know what plyometrics is, let me enlighten you. Plyo is jump training. So Plyo X is an hour of squat jumps, tire tire Heisman and jumping the creek looking quite gay. I woke up actually looking forward to doing this workout. I have a very strong lower body and my upper body is, well, let's just say I've earned the nickname Peter Griffin. Day 1 killed me. I felt good though all day yesterday. However, today is a new day. I woke up feeling like I had sandbags on my arms. And at well past midnight my arms still hurt. So 11 am came around, all the furniture was moved and guess what? My Plyo X dvd did. not. work. The old me would have given up on the day and just said it was meant to be a rest day. The somewhat determined me decided I needed to get Christy's copy and do it after work. So that's what I did. And I'm one hurting man.

My diet is going well I think. I cut back more food again today because I just felt like yesterday I had way too much to eat. I need to make sure I keep my eating schedule the same because today I wasn't as good with that. Other than that the first two days have gone well. Tomorrow is Chest and Arms or something like that. Boo.

P90X: Day 1

So here we go again. It's time for me to start P90x. The last time I tried it I failed because I had back problems. Day 1 was today and it sucked. Badly. Give me lower body workouts any day of the week over upper body. I hadn't done a push up in 7 months. Now I have done more than I care for. I do feel good though. It will be difficult to get through 90 days but I am determined....right now anyway. I'm also attempting the diet, which isn't so bad actually. It's a lot of protein and then a little of everything else. Here's my meal list for today. During phase 1 all my meals will generally look the same, with my snacks the same thing every day.

Breakfast: 6 ounces of Ham, 1 Banana, 8 ounces of Skim Milk
Snack: Small Gatorade, 2 tablespoons of Peanut Butter and 1 Cup of Celery
Lunch: 9 ounces of baked Chicken, 2 cups of Carrots, 1 Apple, 8 ounces of Skim Milk
Snack: 8 ounces of Chocolate Milk, 10 ounces of Cottage Cheese
Supper: 6 ounces of Pork Chop, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 medium potato, 4 tbsp of BBQ sauce

It's quite a bit healthier than what I've been eating and it's still a decent portion of food. Once I hit phase 2 my protein will drop a little and my dairy will as well. I'm pretty excited to start this "diet" and so we'll see how this progresses.

Random thoughts on relationships

Most of you who read this, if not all of you, know my current situation in my personal life. I'm not sure what it's classified as but, whatever "it" is, you know where I stand. So during the past couple of months I've thought a lot about relationships and everything that goes along with them. It has been quite a long time since I've dated anyone and for the longest time I didn't want to. I wasn't ready to let anyone else in. I've been ready for awhile now but there just wasn't anyone I felt comfortable enough around. I'm not sure if this will all work out but it's got the wheels put in motion and so I wanted to just write a few things that are spinning around up in my head.

I've heard it many times before but there's an old saying and it states "Distance makes the heart grow fonder." I'm not sure if this always holds true but if two people in a relationship care for each other then yes, I think that can happen. Being in a relationship with someone over a distance of significance, which I think is over 30 minutes, is hard work. It's honestly like another job. I've been in one before and that relationship grew leaps and bounds while we were away from each other and even more so when we were together. But some people aren't willing to put in the work.

Being away from each other is the reason it's hard work. There are more obstacles in being away from each other. When you have a hard day that person isn't there. When you need a hug you can't get one. When you want to give a hug, there's no one there to receive it. It's hard to fulfill what you need out of a relationship emotionally if you aren't willing to work. It's hard to fulfill your needs physically without that person around on a regular basis. There's no words to describe what a simple look can do for a person when you're having a terrible day.

However, just because that void may be there, that doesn't mean you cannot build a solid relationship. It is my belief that it is easier to find out if a relationship will work out in the long run if you can stay together while you are apart. You can foster a better communication because there is so much to convey every day. You have to be able to talk to each other in order for a relationship to work. You must also have trust. Nothing builds trust or ruins trust like being apart.

Those are just a few of my thoughts that were running through my mind. "Brick walls are not put up to keep us from something, Brick walls are put up to show us how much we want something"