my trip back has been well worth it.

enough said?

today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday..

i must say that im feeling a mix of emotions right now. on the one hand, it feels very nice being back home again. but on the other hand, i feel a bit like a foreigner here. maybe it's just the jetlag of the 3 hour trip, but it seems like i havent been back here in months..

lately, ive been spending some time thinking about my past. what does it mean to truly live a life of no regrets? and is it even possible?

i mean, i know for a fact and without a doubt in my mind that everything happens for a reason. i know that through all our experiences, God allows us to not only learn more about Him, but also learn more about ourselves. i know all this.

but still, i found it nearly impossible not to wonder about all the "what if's" of my past. so many different scenarios with so many different outcomes clouded my thoughts..

..until today. on the way home from austin, carolyn popped in a switchfoot cd, and this song played..

This Is Your Life
by Switchfoot

yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
yesterday is a promise that you've broken
don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
this is your life and today is all you've got now
yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes

this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose

yesterday is a kid in the corner
yesterday is dead and over

this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose

don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes

this is your life are you who you want to be
this is your life are you who you want to be

this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose

and you had everything to lose

i gotta focus on TODAY. not YESTERDAY. today is all i'll ever have..

say hello to your new chump guru

so it seems hard work really does pay off. breezed through all 4 of my midterms this week. i can already see that 4.0 coming closer. can you believe it's only been a month since we officially became "college kids"?! dang..craziness..

well, im heading home to the sweet land of sugar in about 15 minutes. planning to go on a mad shopping spree at the mall or something. i needa go to HEB to restock my food supply up here too. haha the refigerator that peter and i share is now completely empty. well, except for a bloated, chunky carton of milk that expired a week ago..yay..

anyways, to my buddies staying here at UT, study hard this weekend! to my pals back at home, i'll see ya guys soon! to my friends anywhere else, have fun wherever you are!

curious george

peter and i were just talking yesterday about which of the JPGS would get married first..

..so now, im just wondering what everyone else thinks =P

a moving poll..there's something you don't see everyday ;)

1 down, 3 to go

self-explanatory, isn't it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!

so today, the older guy in the old guy room turns 19. can you believe it?? peter? 19? i can't.

i still find it amazing how close i've grown to this old guy. i didn't really get to know him until the summer before our senior year in high school, at camp challenge. my first memory with him? on the last night of camp, i went over to his bed with a marker in hand and mischief on my mind. i started to write "Jesus loves you" on his arm, when all of a sudden, his eyes popped open, his body jolted forward, and he growled "THAT'S IT MOK. I'M GONNA GET YOU!" my natural, manly reaction? i shrieked and jumped into my bed, into the safety of my sleeping bag.

thank God He accepted Christ at camp because it was during the school year, when he became a JPG, when i really got to know him. i'll never forget that one night at a discipleship group meeting when we were discussing roommate assignments for UT. it just so happened that everyone was paired up except me and peter. so johnny basically assigned us as roommates. at that moment, i was pretty mad, cuz truth be told, peter was just a bit too flammable for me =P but it's amazing how things change with time, isn't it? he sure has matured..spiritually speaking, of course.

so here i am, sitting just a few feet away from peter, wondering how the heck he could possibly be older than me.

peter's final picture as an 18-year-old:


peter's 1st picture as a 19-year-old:


here's to you, bro. *raises glass*

not for me, not for me
call it torture, call it university
arts and crafts is all i need
i'll take calligraphy and then i'll make a fake degree
- relient k

one of the coolest feelings in the world: doing a lot of crap, then realizing that you didn't have to do any of it.

so tonight i spent about 2-3 hours typing up 9 pages of sociology notes. i finally finish, type it out, then realize that my sociology professor had provided the class with a review sheet. YAY. GREAT.

AWESOME

ahh can't wait til saturday, when all this will be over..

it's harvest time!

so it's early wednesday evening, which can only mean one thing. im studying my butt off for the next 2 days. tomorrow is my MIS exam, and i must say, it's time to reap the benefits of all this chumping i've been doing.

anyways, just a bit of praise for today: i finally have definite ride home! hehe thanks carolyn! (and carolyn's friend, who's filling in for her at work again)

so on friday night, i will once again be spending the night in my own room. it seems like so long ago. maan, college sure has a way of messing up my concept of time. seems like an eternity since ive seen some people back home..

oh and some good news! im almost all better!! just a few coughs every once in a while, and a monstrous sneeze here and there, but other than that, im as good as new :) unfortunately, i think i got peter and annie sick..

well, ya win some ya lose some. right guys? =P

what's..going..on..??

this is annie - i have taken over mok's blog, muahahahaha!!!!!!



go see my ofoto!

ofoto photos

e-mail: anniedai@mail.utexas.edu
password: annie

I Stand Amazed
- GlassByrd

I bring You my heart
I bring You my praise
I bring You my broken dreams
I've lost along the way

I lift up my voice
I lift up my hands
I lift up the moments in my life
that I don't understand

and I lay it at the cross
where I'm surrounded by Your grace
and I marvel at the wonder of Your love

and I stand amazed
I stand in awe
I stand forgiven
in the midst of it all
before You I bow
before You I fall
blessed Redeemer
sweet Savior of all
I stand amazed

I offer You things
I offer my life
I offer a sacrifice of praise
when I'm scattered by the night

You are my shelter
You are my king
You are the risen Son of God
Lord of everything

now I'm standing at the cross
where I'm surrounded by Your grace
and I marvel at the wonder of Your love

what an amazing song. every time i listen to it, it just brings tears to my eyes. for a perfect God like Him to humble himself to LOVE and DIE for a sinner like me, how can i not stand amazed?

when the going gets tough, the tough get going

so today i woke up to the sound of my own coughing. not too pleasant, might i add. tried to go back to sleep, but i ended up just coughing for nearly 30 straight minutes. iono, for some reason, i just assumed i would be all better by today, but hey, im sure there's a reason for everything, right? if i only knew...

..anyways, today marks the 1st day of 3 vigorous days devoted solely to chumping. today im gonna finish studying for my economics and MIS exams, then tomorrow i will concentrate on learning everything i needa know for my sociology exam, and finally, on thursday, i will study philosophy like a crazy man.

ok im gonna go get some more cough drops now. just a couple more, so don't worry, i ain't gonna OD.

superjlike WHOA: man seems like just yesterday we all said "mok's turning 18?!?!"

Auto response from %s: ok i think im hungry now.

superjlike WHOA: not that you could really tell :P
bam warrior: hehe scary huh..
bam warrior: im turning 19
superjlike WHOA: i thought your birthday was in the summer
bam warrior: ...
superjlike WHOA: or maybe that was just when you were getting your license that one year
bam warrior: *shaking head*
superjlike WHOA: hey cmon man gimme a break
superjlike WHOA: when's my birthday huh???
superjlike WHOA: yeah that's what i thought
bam warrior: psh
bam warrior: thats easy
superjlike WHOA: stop going around asking people what it is
superjlike WHOA: haha
superjlike WHOA: and i don't think peter knows
superjlike WHOA: so :P
bam warrior: im not asking anyone
bam warrior: i know it
superjlike WHOA: yet you haven't said it
superjlike WHOA: are you looking at your blog archives or something?
bam warrior: lol
bam warrior: hahahahha
bam warrior: alrite, you got me
superjlike WHOA: hahaha
superjlike WHOA: booyah!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER!!

bam warrior: happy birthday!
BAYBEx o x oJENN: haha THANKS!
BAYBEx o x oJENN: youre sick?
BAYBEx o x oJENN: youre gonna send me down some money right?
BAYBEx o x oJENN: around... 50 or so?
BAYBEx o x oJENN: okay thnaks!
bam warrior: em..
bam warrior: i'll give you some SARS

this week is gonna make me or break me...

if i screw up this week, im screwed. 4 midterms?! insanity!

but while my mind is constantly trying to cram information in, my body seems to be doing everything it can to prevent it. i think my fever may be disappearing, but im still coughing and sneezing all over the place. by now, my entire room should be covered with my germs; it amazes me that peter isn't sick yet.

but i guess all in all, things are ok. i mean, i still have a half-FULL box of kleenex (and an extra one just in case ;) thanks ophelia) and some very delicious cough drops (thanks annie), so life is good.

but then again, if all else fails, i'll just drink water til i drop. people keep telling me that works quite effectively..

double wammy

ok, mr. fever, you win. alrite? now just let my immune system score a few points.

so here i am, sitting here in front of my computer, sniffling like crazy, nose stuffed up, coughing like an old man, semi-deaf in both ears, voice sounding like a weirdo, burning up, tired as heck, weak as a mofo, and with nothing to my aid except half a box of kleenex.

to make things even worse, since i can't SMELL anything, i can barely TASTE anything either. now that is just about the worst case scenario right now. i salvaged a small box of fruit loops from ekg, and now im stuffing them down my throat, and for all i know, they could taste like mothballs. i can't even tell if im hungry or not cuz my brain is too busy dealing with all these other problems with my body.

man, the timing could not be any worse. i got 4 midterms coming up this week.

pooh. maybe IM football will help me feel better. im gonna go give it a try. chumping will have to take a bit of a break.