I Think I Blinked

2007-08-21T00:32:00.000-04:00

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=16324257

my buddy

i did it too,,,,

just not so high

Back Home

2007-07-27T20:38:00.000-04:00

Another sunny day in Californ-i-a

I'm sure back home they'd love to see it

But they don't know that what you love is ripped away

Before you get a chance, before you get a chance to feel it

Everybody here is living life in fear of falling out of line

Tearing lives apart and breaking lots of hearts just to pass the time

And the eyes get red in the back of your head, this place will make you blind

Put it all behind me and I'll be just fine

Another sunny day beneath this cloudless sky

Sometimes I wish that it would rain here

And wash away the west coast dreaming from my eyes

There's nothing real for them to see here

car buying

2007-04-21T12:58:00.000-04:00

well concider yourself blessed. you just got lucky enough to stumble on my blog, after so many months of scilence only to find a new post! i hope youre smiling right now cause indeed this is a rare ocassion and i wouldnt expect it to happen again in awhile.

the reason ive decided to post is to warn everybody about the horrors of buying a car. well,, it stinks. picture this, youre walking to work every day. its about a mile, not too bad, as long as youre not late. and then a mile to chow. and a mile back. adds up right? now imagine youre only an hour away from a place with so much going on, its impossible to not be able to find something to do. (i know for those of you in Lafayette this could be a problem,, but imagine hard) the beaches, the musiums and zooz, waterparks, theme parks. san diego an hour away, los angeles a couple hours away, the beach, skiing a few hours away, fishing, hiking, boating, did i mention the beach? so you get the picture, california is a fun place to be. now imagine for a moment that you had to walk everywhere. that kinda limits the areas you can get. alot. i cant even walk to the beach. so i think you get it,, i need a car.

how do you go about buying a car anyway? well first thing everyones told me is, "well, what do you want?" .... bad start. if you know much about me you may know that as far as cars go,, im less than,, knowlegeable. i think im better at spelling. so when im asked that, i dont have an answer. well,, next logical step is do some research right? get online and go to reviews and classifides and everything and get a idea of what you want. well,, i can go to the library,, but thats a pain in and of itself. with time limits and having to walk even there a ways. and when i finally do get there, im so distracted by things like facebooks and blogs that its hard to concentrate. but once i get buckled down and start searching i relise something right quick. there are alot of cars out there. i know nothing about them. and to go online and go through reports of them all can understandibly be a little agrivating. maybe i could go to someone who knows about cars and get some ideas from them right? well no one here that i know (and keep in mind im still the new guy who no one knows) no one has really given me any usefull info. i could go to a dealership and have them tell me a bit about there product. but then again,,, its a really long walk outside of base. i feel like im in quite a rut. amazing how much you need a car to buy a car.

but theres a glimmer of hope in the future. my graduation gift that has been on hold for the extent of my training has been called to my aid. my brilliant father is setting the wheels in motion to getting me a laptop. this will help. hopefully ill be able to get internet, or find a way to get it. not to mention my postings will slowly multiply, i think. it'll be good. anyway so im gonna keep plugging away tryiong to work on this, im gonna walk over to a used car lot on base. just a parking lot that rents out spaces for people to park and advertise thier privatly selling cars all in one space. maybe i'll gert lucky if i keep my eye on that. we'll see. thats my marine corps motto for everyone back home. its hard for most people to understand how little i actually know about whats going on in the future. and when everyone asks me my asnwer is always "we'll see." it applys to most everything. this too. so in the meantime, wish me luck, hopefully ill post again soon,, you can get my phone # from someone and call me if you'd like. and maybe ill let you in on what im actually doing out here. it can be kinda stressfull,, but to quote my beautiful grandmother, im not gonna "get my panties in a bundle" :) there wasnt it worth reading this entire post?

friends o'mine

2007-02-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

my friends rock.

if youre my friend, comment.

Jared's new address

2007-01-15T11:50:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
If anyone would like Jared's mailing address and did not receive an email from me, please contact Greg or I and we will be happy to share it with you. He is in MO for three months (or so) of job training and will be assigned a permanent post after that. Thanks for your continued prayers.

next steps.

2006-12-25T12:32:00.000-05:00

okay i think socially my blog has died but i think it'll stay up for updates on my military career.

i just finished my 3 1/2 week cambat training up at camp pendleton and im now on recruiters assistance untill jan 10th. basically i have to come in unill about 4 everyday and help recruit people. so far in the two days ive been there ive watched four movies and drove around in a convertable. (yes the top was down and yes it was december) basically they just babysit me while they wait to send me to my MOS (millitary ocupational specialty) school which wont pick up new students till after the holidays. so its a good way for them to keep tabs on me but let me go home at the same time. my MOS got changed on me however, from combat engineer to engineering equiptment operator. i think that just means ill be in construction field and operating the bulldozers and whatnot. at first i was a little hesitant that they changed my MOS but it woulda been my second choice anyway, so im fine with it. BEcause it got switched my school will now be in fort lennardwood MO, instead of camp legune NC. which is very cool because a certain someone goes to school in springfield MO about an hour and a half away. (my lovely girlfriend adrienne for all you who dont know) so i was happy to hear that. anyway like i said, ill go to MO on the 10th of jan, and ill be there for about 72 days. from there i'll go on to wherever they assign me for a perminent duity station. so there.

ps, i got a facebook. im so ashamed. i have a link up in case you want to check it out.

catching up

2006-11-23T19:17:00.000-05:00

hey guys, well im back. its pritty good to be home. doing lotsa stuff with lotsa friends and everything. keeping pritty busy. the night i got home tirzah jordan cameron and lillian were waiting for me with a decorated house and lotsa candies and goodies. that was a pritty good suprise. so we talked for about an hour or two. (i didnt get home till 2 so it was already late) but then we drove around town till about 5:30-6. i dont know how much fun they had, tirzah fell asleep, but i had a great time talking to them and listening to my favorite songs. eventually tirzah and cameron went home, and jordan left about 630. and lillian and i talked till about 7. after they all left i went downstairs and read blogs and stuff, then ate breakfast with my parents. joe called around lunch and i had to go over and see him. good times. i finally got home around 3 and fell asleep instantly on the arm of the coutch. i slept till 9 the next morning. they couldnt even wake me up for dinner. great times.

since then ive done a few things with everybody. just whatever really. went to joes, hung out at starbucks and the levee, got a family portrat done. adrienne got home yesterday so it was a welcome reunion. she had flown to CA for my graduation cerimonies, and that was a great suprise. it was so good to see her, but we didnt really get to talk a ton cause i was talking with my family and everyone on the 5 hours liberty thursaday, and friday she had to leave immediatly after the cerimony. but im so happy she could be there at least. i have to say that shes shuch a wonderful girlfriend. she wrote me everyday the entire time i was at bootcamp. and you have no idea how special letters are to get. it was really good to see her yesterday and catch up and everything.

so yeah, thought id update, catch you up on what ive been doing while home. if you wanna hear about bootcamp,, well im not gonna write anymore about it, but call me or maybe we can get together and ill let you know whatever you want to hear about.

heres some pictures of my eagle globe and anchor cerimony (thurs was when i became a marine) and graduation. you can tell wich ones wich cause i wore different hats.
http://www.abednegobeads.com/jared_grad/

the return

2006-11-18T07:43:00.000-05:00

the boys are back in town.
-pvt jared walsh

heck yes.

Letter dated 11-2-06

2006-11-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

Dear family,
I guess the time is drawing near. Two weeks and I'll see you guys. It finally is starting to seem close. If you have any Halloween candy left over feel free to bring it along. Its pretty insane what some guys families will be bringing them. I know they'll probably get sick and puke. I think a lot of people are planning on McDonalds. I think a vanilla coke and snickers (along with anything else you want to bring) should be sufficient.
I'm still here at medical. This morning I have a followup after phys. therapy. Its still not all better but it is better. I want to go back on full duty (cause its back to be on light duty a lot) but full duty means I run and everything and I'm not positive its healed enough for that, so a day or two of LD would be ideal. But I'm missing our uniform fitting this morning which means I'll have to make it up sometime. Medical definitely has its drawbacks. Its real depressing talking to some of the guys. One guy was initially from our platoon, he got dropped and was in medical hold the whole time we were up north. Lots of people are there longer. I've been pretty luck so far, I haven't gotten any stress fractures or anything.
Other than that theres not a whole lot to tell. I've been sitting around a lot as gear guard when the platoon goes off to march. Yesterday, I was gear guard for another platoon house (as part of team week) and got to talking to a guy named Stocktill. I had a good time listening to some of his stories, and it turns out he's from Springfield, MO, so he was giving me a list of all the good restaurants to send to Adrienne. I doubt she goes out to eat much, but its still was fun for him, I think. Then a DI came in and yelled at us for "smoking and joking" at our post. Whoops. Its cool. You can tell you've come a ways when you're not afraid of the DIs anymore. You still avoid them as much as you can, its no fun, but you just put up with it. Anyway the DIs can't IT me while I'm light duty. :-) They can add me to a list though. Well, I think I've run out of things to talk about. I'll write later. Love you. Jared

Letter dated 10-30-06

2006-11-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

Hey family,
Guess where I am. I made my way back to medical. The good things is that its not because I'm sick, I just pulled my groin. Yeah..ouch. It seems the DI's have taken a liking to tearing up the house or rather, having us do it. Yesterday we had about an hour before church where we had nothing to do, so the DI's decided to play. First it was "2 sheets and a blanket" on line. Thats pretty much how we always start playing. Then we threw them in a pile. Then came the call to "put our locks in our pockets," then we lift our footlockers up, and flip them over. Then we're told to run back and forth dragging our feet. Then we got our matresses on line and threw them in the middle. Then we do some other stuff and then we're told to get our matresses and put them back on the rack, then off, then on, and so on and so forth. It was about then I guess. My rack is the top bunk, so it was pretty awkward to get the heavy, floppy matress on and off. I guess I was lifting it some pretty creative ways or something. It wasn't bad at first, I thought it was just a cramp, but after lunch I could barely walk. We were scheduled to have about 4 hours of drill, and even an hour of drill is tiring. Luckily, the DI saw me and had me be gear guard at the house. Four hours of standing at front post was no picnic either, but was certainly the lesser of evils. Anyway, I can walk with a pretty good limp today after sleep, but I'll probably get some Tylenol and light duty today, maybe tomorrow, cause theres no way I can PT. Its okay though. I got to eat breakfast without a DI (early chow) which was good. We had gotten condiment priviledges taken away about a week ago. Someone took peanut butter into the house. So no more condiments. Now, we get unlimited bread here, so most people get the majority of their food from that. I got to the point where I'd have 15 packs a day (like the size of catsup packs) but all that got taken away. It was pretty devestating for most of us. But anyway, I got PBJ sandwhiches this morning. I was happy. So going to medical has its benefits, definitely.
In other news, letsee, we had the time change Sunday morning which was awesome. We get an extra hour of sleep Sat. nights for Sunday, actually the extra hour is in the morning. And on top of that we got an extra hour from the time change. So we got 10 hours that night. That's probably why the DI was tearing the house apart. It was nice, though.
Well, I just got back from a checkup thing. Still at medical. They said I threw my hip bones out of alignment and thats stressing the muscle. So I got to lay down for 20 min. and take a nap while icing my let. Twas a good deal, I think. Now I'm on light duty for a couple days and will go back for "therapuedic" sessions tomorrow and Thursday. I should be good by tomorrow though, judging from how much better I felt after sleeping last night. Their giving me Tylenol just in case, though. Its actually gonna be the 2nd medication I'm taking now. Apparently theres been a strep throat outbreak here, and any sickness like that gets mutated and supersized in rec. training. So they actually just handed out antibiotics to everyone in 3rd phase so we won't get sick and bring it back home. I've never seen a prescription bottle so big. But two a day for the rest of bootcamp. Its good cause I was starting to cough a little just before we got it. I think this is one medication I'm gonna keep taking. I've learned its nice to be healthy.
Just about the only other thing I can think of to report is that we had a "driver's safety" class. It was just like drivers ed. We slept just as much, too. I'm sure Rachel knows the feeling well.
So today everyone else is gonna PT. I'm probably gonna stand front post. I don't know what else will happen in the near future. Its team week so we get odd jobs around the base. Its probably real good I got light duty this week. We'll see. Love you, keep writing! I'll see you in not too much longer. Jared

Letter dated 10-28-06

2006-11-03T07:03:00.000-05:00

Hey family,
Well, an interesting series of events took place in the past couple days regarding swim qualifications. I think I wrote you right before swim qual 2. You might be able to tell in that letter that it was gonna be hard, but I think I was still a little too overconfident in my abilities. I got about halfway and learned that its a bad thing not to be able to keep your head above water. I was close to the side so I quickly got to it and clung to it for awhile till I was told to get out. I felt pretty miserable. Not only was I supposed to pass the qual for my MOS, but I swam to the side instead of getting rescued, therefore I quit. It wasn't a good day. I had spent a bit of time swimming with Jordan too, so I was also thinking, "Man, now I have to go back and tell him I couldn't make it across the pool." It sucked for a few different reasons. So I pretty much resigned myself to the idea of being a combat engineer and figured I was even more at the mercy of the Marine Corps to decide what I do. I knew I'd get another chance the next day, but if I couldn't make it halfway through the first one (event) I knew there was no hope for getting that done, and the second event on top of it. But I'd try. I figured this time I'd either make it across, or get drug out by a swim instructor. I wasn't gonna quit. So the next day rolled in and as I waited to get in the water I was doing some praying. Then they got us together and gave us about a 2 min. class on how to do it on our backs and stuff. Well, I gotta tell you it was a whole lot easier the second time around and I passed...fairly easily. It was a good day. The rest of the day was pretty cool cause we had Ssgt. Massy. He's a bit more relaxed than the other DI's and can be pretty funny. During hygiene inspection he cracked the whole platoon up (muffled laughter) by yelling at a recruit who didn't have his flipflops on saying he'd get "foot fungus" over and over, each time bending over getting in the recruit's face. The recruit got scared stupid, but the rest of us (including Ssgt. Massy) could barely contain themselves. It was that kind of rare, lighthearted night. Later during prayer time the Ssgt had to say something and swore, so he paused and stated he wouldn't swear cause we were in the middle of praying. The 2nd word he said he swore, so he paused and tried to say it over, using a different swear word. He stumbled over himself for the rest of the time, getting himself confused over what he was saying and accidently swearing about 15 more times. Everyone was laughing by the end and I don't think he ever finished what he was saying. Life is slowly getting more relaxed now that we're 3rd phase.

I've been sorta trying to think about what I'm gonna do when I get home, how I'll divide my time up. I know I'll probably spend one night/evening at Joe's and probably and evening at Adrienne's, but I'll try to have friends over to our house as much as possible. I also figured that depending on Dad's work schedule and if its allowed, I'd like to go to work with him for a little bit at least. An I'll spend as many meals at home as possible (maybe take Adrienne out though). Oh yeah, and if you're looking for food suggestions, bug bread. That would definitely be good. Dorito's and grapes, too. Well, time to go. I'll write you later. Love and miss you. Jared
P.S. Dad, I've never been much of a coffee drinker, but almost everyday (especially up north) I wish for a cup, so yes, I can't wait to try your stuff.

Letter dated 10-24-06

2006-10-28T16:17:00.000-04:00

Hey family,
Things are still chugging along here. Actually, time goes on, but we're not doing a ton. Its said that in 3rd phase it can get dull, and I guess its true. Right now we/I just finihsed my (what seems like) 100th practice test this week. We do that and clean the house a lot. Its not so stressful, though, so its okay.
We finally got mail last night but only got through 2/3 of it. There were two huge mailbags full of stuff and we didn't have time for both. Hopefully the rest will come tonight. I read all the letters from home I got but I figure some were skipped. Its okay tho. I still love reading whatever I get. I'm gonna read the other letters I got tonight so I won't be writing any letters. So I only have whatever time is left for this test. So it might get cut short anytime.
Swim week started today. I already made 4th class, and I passed 3rd class tonday. 2nd class will be tomorrow I guess, and you can't get 1st class in bootcamp. Today we swam with flakjackets, helmets, a weapon, and a pack. The pack floats, though, so it was a lot easier than you'd think. The hard stuff is tomorrow. I heard we swim 50 yards/meters with no pack, but all the rest. (I forgot to mention the camies and boots too). You only need 4th class to pass bootcamp, but it'd be nice to get 2nd.
Also today we got issued our service uniforms. The dressy ones we wear for graduation. Half the things will be getting tailored or dry cleaned (we don't have to press our clothes anymore) for the next few weeks, but it was cool to see what we'd be getting. They measured us in this machine that used lasers to copy our bodies onto the computer and we got our measurements from that. It was pretty cool, but didn't really save too much time (there being only one.). Then it took the whole morning for us to get all our stuff. Just one of those instances where it feels like we're wasting time here.
But one thing that has given me joy ever since the crucible is chow. Food makes me happy. And its been real good too. Actually, we all know in our brains that its crap, but everyone has been so hungry that it tastes great. Its a big part of our lives here so I just thought I'd share. Anyway, time to go. Keep writing. Love, Jared

Post-Crucible letter...Finally!

2006-10-26T19:34:00.000-04:00

Letter dated 10-22-06
Hey family,
Well crucibles over. I made it. And despite my own serious doubt, I made it up the reaper without falling behind. Which meant I got to eat the warriors breakfast. They basically made up this real good food (flavored stuff) and left us alone for an hour to eat as much as we wanted. They had cake, cinnamon rolls, steaks (sorta), fried rice, and all other normal breakfast foods. They gave us an hour, but we found out that we’ve forgotten how to sit back and enjoy food. It was a little easier after the first 15 min. of gluttony though. About 1/3 of the platoon went and threw up afterwards. After getting 4 MREs for 2 1/2 days of nonstop moving it was easy to overdo it I guess.

The crucible started Wed. morning after camping in the freezing weather. Luckily we missed the wet nights. I can’t imagine how miserable that would be. As soon as we woke up we started moving. For those two days we nonstop “humped” from stations spread all throughout the hills. Probably about a 6 mile radius. The stations varied from obstacles you might do at camp to running ammo cans up and down hills. We never had time set aside to eat. Whenever we had a minute we ate a cracker or whatever, which was okay, cause that spread our meals out more. We were responsible for rationing them and I’m pretty proud of how I did it. I was never so hungry it made me weak, and I had a whole MRE left over for the night before the reaper hike. I probably had the most food left. Some guys had food stolen (I put mine in my sleeping bag at night) but most ate all theirs by then. I wanted to save the cookies and dried cranberries for the morning before the hike, but we were made to eat it all.

The next morning we took off immediately after waking up. We carried all our stuff and rifle. Not an easy load. The hike was 10 miles with the reaper in between. We got a break at 2 ½ miles and right before the reaper. On that break they gave us a cup of Gatorade and an apple. (BTW, I’ve gotten used to eating apple cores and orange peels.) Then we ascended. The reaper was ½ mile up and was sorta graduated. When we got up top we could see the Pacific and the latter part of the sunrise. We were all in a good mood. Everyone was feeling like we were done, and in a sense we were done with the reaper at least, but we had 5 mi. left. We didn’t get any breaks on the 2^nd half. But no one dropped out and only a couple didn’t make it to the breakfast. So our Sr. DI was pretty happy. Oh yeah, the first half of the hike was in the dark and one of the coolest things about it was there was a meteor shower. So when we weren’t looking at the ground for loose rocks and potholes we’d see how many shooting stars we could see. It was kinda comforting. I’m sure that morning everyone had the same wishes. But we all made it. Now I’m not too worried about anything that’s left. We have swim week, the physical test, final drill, and knowledge test left. And I’m feeling confident about all of them. So in my mind Nov. 17^th isn’t questionable anymore. It’s a good feeling. Anyway, now that we’re back down south, we’re in the doghouse. We figure it was a setup. The Sr. DI snuck in and no one saw him to call attention on deck, so now we’re dressed like first phasers (we’re 3^rd ((seniors of the bunch))) and have to be extra good. I guess its just to let us know we’re not done yet and they still have us in their clutches. The only thing that I’m upset about is we haven’t gotten mail yet. Its been about a week and a half I think. So I’m expecting boatloads of letters. J It still might be a couple of days depending on how long the DIs keep it up

But in the meantime I’m realizing I’m thankful for a lot of things I wasn’t before, mainly the food. Nothings changed down south, but today’s breakfast, though rushed, was very good. Food makes me happy. I think there’s still a chance of getting double rations here, cause during a nighttime inspection the Sr. DI asked if I was a double rat (I had asked about it earlier and was denied it before anything was considered). I’ve lost bout 20-25 lbs., and some people got it for losing 10 lbs. when they were built like me. So I’m hoping for it. Honestly I don’t need it, but it’s a luxury I’m working to get.

Letsee, my health is back to 99.5%, minus soreness from the hikes, moral is real good, I’m able to ignore the DI’s power…whatever (we had our stuff dumped yesterday) and I’m in a good mood so it’s a good report home.

Have you guys bought tickets yet? I still haven’t gotten my orders yet so I don’t know when I’ll need to be back. I’m also not sure about recruiting assistance. I’m not sure how to get it to begin with, and after the things I’ve heard about a possible Christmas break, I don’t know if I want it anyway. But if you could talk more with the recruiter about it that’d be nice. I don’t know how much info they’d have, but any little bit would be good. I guess I’ll just have to buy a ticket back when I know. I do know MCT will be at Pendleton, and they have free shuttles from the airport, so that much is certain. Hopefully we’ll get a class in not too long. We’ll keep each other posted I guess. Well, that’s all for now I can think of to report. Hope things are going well there. Can’t wait to be home. Love, Jared

Platoon Video

2006-10-24T14:37:00.000-04:00

If you would like to see Jared's platoon click here. Unfortunately the link does not work correctly with Firefox, so you must use Internet Explorer.

Jared is in the second row from the back, 12th person from the right.

Recent Letter

2006-10-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

Hi all,
The delay in communication with Jared is proving to be frusterating. We got the following letters when we knew that the Crucible week was nearing its end, but haven't heard from him since. Continuing on the theme that no news is good news, we believe that he passed with no injuries, but hope to hear something more definite about how it went this week.

This next week they begin water training. Continued prayers are always appreciated! Thanks.

Letter dated Oct. 14, 2006
Hey family,
I got home from field week yesterday. It was an experience. I didn't know CA got so cold. But it gets cold. We slept in tents every night (cept the last one--slept under the stars) and we had to sleep in skivvies (undies and t-shirt). Luckily the sleeping bags were nice and warm, but any air inside and...it was uncomfortable. Probably the most intersting thing we did was the gas chamber. Its just like you hear it described. They give you masks to show you how you should be able to breathe, then you learn whats not supposed to happen. It got painful. Its cool to think back and know I did it, though. Other than that, we did tactical rifle range and a lot of hiking. I'm not so good at the hikes. I'm pretty worried about the "reaper" hike during the crucible (next week). I'm trying to keep a positive outlook. Fingers are crossed.

Anyway, I got a real good sleep last night. The plastic mattress is far superior to the dirt. It was good to eat something besides MRE's for breakfast. Although I do really like MREs. Its just weird to have chicken enchiladas at 5 am. Another thing we can be thankful for, the night we got back to sleep inside, it rained. Everything was mud and puddles this morning. We just missed it. It rained for a couple minutes during MCMAP training too. Thats the first time its rained here. It was weird to feel it on my shaved head.

As far as my health, I'm getting pretty much back to normal. I'll cough a little after a run or something, but other than that I'm pretty good. Finally. BTW, I'm doing firewatch now, its about 3 am. So I got a chance to read letters from field week. I only got 1 from Mom, and all of a sudden she was in MN! Kinda threw me for a loop. I guess she has a sale or something. It was weird to start reading the letter and she says, "I'm writing this while Gma is in the shower." Twas humorous.

I've definitely decided that since my first meal won't be at home but at a restaurant, I want to go for pizza. Just FYI. We're all still dreaming of food here. When we got our MRE's ready for the field, we took the extra stuff out. Candy and stuff included. I got M&M's in mine. We were supposed to give them up, but I hid them away. I'm gonna eat them tonight with my rackmate Thatcher. He's a good guy. While I was sick he'd get up and do stuff for me so I could sleep at night. Anyway he deserves some. Don't worry, I'll be careful eating and disposing of the package. Just be happy I get a little treat, and we'll never speak of it again. :-) Miss you, love you, can't wait to be home. Jared

Undated letter, probably written the 15th or 16th
Hey family,
Its the night before the crucible. I figured I'd write quickly cuz there won't be any mail after tonight till Sat., I think. And I like writing home anyway. It makes me feel like I'm there. So far since Sunday its been real slow. We haven't really done anything to speak of. I think they were saving us/our energy for the crucible, but a ton of people got caught with food and two people got caught with forged double rations tags. So we're in the doghouse pretty much. We haven't had a full meal...cept for breakfast, for a couple days. Oh well, I guess that prepares us for the crucible, right? I'm not sure the exact count but we have 4 MRE's for a little over 4 mealtimes. {I think he may have meant 4 days, from other things I've read} So we have to decide waht and when we're gonna eat. I'm real nervous about the reaper hike. If you fall out/behind your platoon, you don't go to the warriors breakfast. And if you fall out/can't go on, you get dropped. I should be able to make it. I'm just paranoid I guess. Well, I need to go. I won't be getting much sleep these next days. Love you, miss you. Jared

Letter dated 10-8-06, Received 10-14-06

2006-10-16T08:04:00.000-04:00

This delay in receiving info from Jared is getting really old! By the time we received the following letter, field week was over and done with, and he's on to the Crucible. Nevertheless, any letter in his handwriting is treasured! Please continue to pray for his health, especially during this very intensive and critical week. Thanks. Lisa

Hey family,
Well, next week is field week and I doubt I'll be able to send or receive mail. I don't know a ton about whats gonna happen, but we'll be living outside, in the dirt, and cold. It will be cold. I'm not really looking forward to it. It will be hard. I'm pretty tired to start out with anyway. We had the 8 mile hike yesterday. It was unpleasant. It was hard. I'm real sore today and my legs feel shot. Luckily my cough got a little better just in time, and after the hike (it was in the morning) I got my appetite back finally. We had a good lunch too. Hamburgers. I ladeled on the ketchup, and piled about 6" of pickles, tomatoes, and onions. It was great. It'll be MRE's for the rest of the week. Ugg. I guess I'm getting a little tired of this "summer camp".

Rifle qualification was Friday. The ranks are marksman, sharpshooter, and expert. Most people get marksman or expert cause they can shoot or can't. Well, I made sharpshooter and was VERY happy when I heard it. First of all, you get a better looking medal, and secondly, it looks better on your record for promotions. I wasn't expecting it cause I wasn't doing real well on the range. I think its cause I was always daydreaming about Adrienne, home, or food. I can't wait to go home, and I expect to have a good cinnamon roll breakfast at least once. Theres a ton of other things I'll eat too--spaced off thinking of food and the meat dad smoked the other day--Well, I guess I'm at/past the halfway point. They say it goes fast. I hope they're right. I'm ready for a game of hearts or something. I miss you guys.
Love, Jared

Letter dated 10-1-06, Received 10-10-06

2006-10-11T18:05:00.000-04:00

Hey family,
Just so you know I wasn't taking you up on your offer "not to worry" about not writing you. Its been crazy. I got some time to read letters here and there, and I have a little free time this Sunday morning to write. I'm still sick which stinks cause its hard for me to catch my breath. But somehow I got through the 5 mile hike yesterday so I still can keep going. I had a fever for a while, but its gone. That was real fun. But its gone.

Yes, I got to try out my M16. It was pretty cool. I didn't do so good the first time (only time till tomorrow) but I was just getting used to it I think. I'll do better. The rifle classes this week were fairly relaxed, which was good, cause the rest of the time, isn't. Twice so far we've taken everything, warbags, shoes, sheets, mattresses, warbelts, everything, all to different ends of the room, and last night right before bed, we had to chug 2 canteens. Again, not an easy feat. It was painful.

Well, its Monday and life goes on, maybe. I'm pretty sick. I can't seem to get this stuff in the lungs out. Tonight I'm gonna decide if I'm going to medical. And here, with pneumonia, its likely a death sentence. My problem is clear. But I guess I'll just have to trust the best will happen. I'm pretty worried.

On a lighter note, my rifle skills improved since last. I'll only get better at it, I'm sure.

Today we got my absolute favorite [unreadable]: a sack lunch with a meat sub, koolaid, apple, cheese crackers, teddy grahams, and cool ranch fritoes. I've been dreaming about that since processing. Well, we got about a minute into it, I got the sandwhich, koolaid, and some chips down, then a kid looks at a DI, then when the DI asked, he argued. Well, we threw the rest away and ran in U-turns for about 30 min. I was a little sad.

A few days later:
Okay, I'm gonna write this tonight. All other times get cut short. Tonights the 1st night without missions, or already being dead, so I'll write and finally get this to you. I've been dreaming of candy all day. When I get home Mom I'm taking that box of change and going to Walmart. Whimper. Well, as far as getting to medical, I was in line to sign up (right before) but I jumped out the last second. The next day after PT someone told the senior DI I was sick, so he called me over and asked how I was. I sugarcoated it a lot. And he's like, "Why don't you shower and lay down the rest of the evening." So I did. It was nice. So today I am getting better, again. Hopefully it will keep getting better. Rifle pre-qual is tomorrow. I plan on doing mediocre. I'm not great but I can hit the target. I miss you guys and am dreaming of the day you can feed me!! Love, Jared

Undated Letter, Received 9-28-06

2006-09-28T18:12:00.000-04:00

Finally got another letter from Jared today. His health continues to be a problem. Please pray for health and strength for him. Thank you.

Hey guys,
It's been a while, I know. Sorry. We've been keeping pretty busy at night with different missions (homework stuff like fixing our packs). I'm on firewatch now. Its 12:30 am. I've gotten about 15 min. of sleep and we wake up at 4:30 am tomorrow. I decided I could write you safely during firewatch because there are many people still up writing definitions for homework. I blend right in.
The move up north has been better than I was imagining. It's the same style of barracks and everything so its not too rustic. The only difference is we wash our clothes by hand here. We've done that a couple times with our camies down south, but we have yet to do it up here. Next week we start rifles. I'm a little apprehensive cause I don't have any rifle experience. But the DI says that means we'll probably get the best scores. No bad habits yet.
It's real cold right now. It's pretty cool during the day out of the sun. In the sun, it's extremely hot still. But in case you were wondering, I still prefer being hot to cold.
I haven't gotten any mail for about a week now. Our Sr. DI doesn't really stay here so there's been no one kind enough to hand it out. It was said we'd get it the 1st day we got here, but I guess not. I expect it soon.
Like I think I mentioned on the phone, my health is very off and on. Right now I think my pneumonia is back. Oh well. At this point I just gotta deal with it.
There's been a couple rough times up here of note. About a week ago our foot lockers got dumped. They get dumped a lot, but this time we were all made to get in a line and walk through it all. Then we had to "set up the mini grinder" (used so we can drill inside) where we move all the starboard side beds to port side right over top. Luckily my personal things were found quick and intact. Another thing they do is make us chug both canteens. That'll make you throw up quicker than anything I've ever seen. Luckily, both mine were half full.
I'm so hungry right now. It's very different eating only 3 times a day. I've lost 10 pounds so far. Hopefully, I'm getting more muscle too, so figure that in and I guess I'm losing fat. I still don't think I've changed that much. I think thats coming up. When I get home, I'm gonna eat a ton, mostly junk. I don't think I'll stop.
Love you. It was good to talk to you guys. I think I get one more phonecall during 3rd phase. We'll see. TTYL Jared
BTW, As far as the wrong address and pictures and all that, nothings gotten me in trouble. So far they've been really relaxed about mail.

Phone call!

2006-09-23T08:37:00.000-04:00

We got our very first phone call from Jared last night. It was exactly 9 minutes long, so not a lot of time to talk about anything, but it was wonderful to hear his voice. He said again he is doing great, but expects this next several weeks to be much tougher than the first four. They will move to Camp Pendleton, and step up training several notches. This is also where the "Crucible" takes place. For more info about his training schedule and training details, please check out this website:
http://www.mcrdsd.usmc.mil/RTR/RTR_matrix.htm
He also said again that so many of the recruits are sick, although he is doing ok at the moment. Please pray for the health of this platoon, and especially Jared as he continues his training. We were all emotional, including Jared. He DOES miss us, after all! He said he hasn't had time to write lately, and probably won't for another week or so, but appreciates receiving letters very much. If you haven't written for a while, this would be a great time to do so, as he is concerned about keeping up with things as training intensifies. Thank you all so much for your prayers, letters, and friendship! We all appreciate it. Lisa

Undated Letter, Received 9/20/06

2006-09-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

Hey family,

I feel like most of my letters have been pretty much the same and noninformative. So I'm gonna try to explain some things. I have 4 DIs and a senior DI. The senior DI is pretty nice, he's the one to hand out mail and ask if we have problems. Then there's Ssgt. Patino, he's short and focuses mainly on drill. He's usually laid back, and he's funny as anyone I know. It's hard not to laugh at some things he says. Then Ssgt. Massy. He's kinda in the middle. He can be cool or crazy, depends on us. Then Ssgts Brown and Trancotti. They're the ones who ensure we're miserable. The DIs rotate, so there's always about two around.
Food here was okay, but it gets old quick. It's always the same things, especially breakfast. Luckily they have cereal there. I usually get frosted flakes. Most of the cereal is sugar, oddly enough. During the night there's four people always up. "Fire watch" takes hour shifts every night. They just stand guard and clean. I managed to get scheduled for 2:30-3:30 tonight. It's everyone's favorite, as you can imagine. Sleep is a rare thing pretty much. Tomorrow we have confidence course and our first swim session. It should be fun.
Well, the tiredness has set in. I just sent you a letter today, so I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight. Jared

Letter dated 9-16-06

2006-09-20T18:27:00.000-04:00

Hey family,
I just got another batch of letters dating till about the 11th. We finally got some square away time, so I decided to write you now. I feel bad that I can't write you more, I know you are just as excited to get letters as I am. I write you every chance I get.
Yesterday was pretty neat. I ran 3 miles in 23:35. I've never run that far in my life. But I made the minimum time for the final test, so I'm set. Today we had our initial drill. Our platoon stunk it up. But we weren't the worst, so the "Booger Platoon" title goes to someone else. Other than that, we are gearing up mentally at least for Camp Pendleton. I'm kinda nervous about it. So far "Summer camp" hasn't been too bad, but once we go "up north", things gear up a level. The DIs don't have as much supervision, either. Pendleton is where people get in shape.

Sunday Morning
Okay, I'm writing this while waiting for church to start. We're not supposed to, but I'll stop during the service. This morning was interesting. We get 1/2 hour more sleep on Sundays. Then in chow line, a DI saw something on the ground and told me to pick it up (like trash), so I did and it was a $5 bill. I looked at him wondering what to do with it, and he looked at me like, "Well, take care of it, dummy!" So I slowly pocketed it, then he walked away. Cool beans. Then when I was getting chow, the DI stands at the end of the line by the dessert. We're allowed to eat dessert, but we get some guilt for it. Today I walked past it and the sr. DI told me I should go back and get some. He was being nice. It was weird. Anyway, today we're gonna do more to get ready for Pendleton. Other than that, I have no clue. Tomorrow we'll be doing our first water stuff. I'm looking forward to that, although I don't know what to expect. We never do. I've gotta go. Love you all, Jared
P. S. My health is back to normal. I feel bad about worrying you. I'm fine now.

Undated Letter, Received 9-18-06

2006-09-18T18:51:00.000-04:00

Hey family,

Sorry for the writing delay. I’m back on full duty (in the nick of time) and I’ve been working hard enough that I haven’t been able to keep my eyes open the past few nights. My cough is about a day from being totally gone and I feel good.

Today we ran two miles for PT. It was pretty rough. But tomorrow we’ll run three miles. So if all of a sudden in the afternoon you decided I needed prayer, that’s why. Also tomorrow we have our initial drill, where we march in front of drillmasters. I’m a little worried cause I’m on the left side, which is 1^st squad, which is pretty much who everyone sees. I hope I don’t goof it up.

Today we brought our camis in to get our names sewn on them. Just like Marines. Yesterday was our first inspection. We got our guns, uniform, and knowledge checked. Everyone failed. It was a learning experience.

I’m starting to make some friends now. Like Westman, the one who looks like Vindeisel. He’s from Charleston, S.C. We talked a little during cleaning.

Other than that, I don’t have a ton to report. Today was a cheerful day (after dinner at least) and I hummed (and sang a little) some of the songs I remember (while waiting at attention for about 20 min.). I haven’t gotten mail for about four days (no one has), so I’m looking forward to that. I hope everything’s okay. Last I heard Mom wasn’t feeling well. I hope you’re better, Mom, and no one else is sick. I miss you guys. Talk to you later. Jared

News

2006-09-15T08:06:00.000-04:00

Hi all,
We received two letters from Jared yesterday, and the postings follow. If anyone feels inclined to send a "treat", a book of stamps would be greatly appreciated, not food. Thanks for keeping him in your prayers!

Letter-undated
Hey family,
I finally got letters the other day. It was a very happy time. I ended up getting about 18. Pretty cool. I still haven't read them all, so if I seem to be missing something you wrote about, that’s why. I spent about 2 hours that night reading. Last night I had to sleep, and tonight I decided to write a letter. So I'll get to them soon. I had mentioned a small cough in an earlier letter, it got worse. I went to medical today and it turns out I have pneumonia. So I got bed rest today and I’ll have a follow-up tomorrow. Now don’t worry too much. It’s not really a huge thing. It’s just a lot of coughing. Other than that I’m fine. In fact, I’m so fine that yesterday when we did the obstacle course, I completed it. Twice. And that’s quite a feat because at the end you have to climb this 25-30 ft. rope. I tried a rope earlier but couldn’t make it, but yesterday I did it twice, right after all that running and pull-ups and jumping over logs and stuff. I was pretty happy. We also did pugal sticks yesterday. We only got to do it once but I won. J I was pretty upbeat after those things. Anyway I did all that while I was sick, so I don’t think it will affect me much. You wouldn’t believe how many people are sick here though. Everyone’s coughing, some worse than others. Anyway, apparently it is pretty normal to get sick in the first few weeks. Anyway, its well past my bedtime so I need to go. Keep sending letters. I’ll catch up on them soon. By the way, we don’t have free time yet but it looks like we might soon. Keep praying for me and I love you lots. Jared

Letter from Sunday, September 10, 2006

Hey there family,

I just got done reading all your letters. Man there was a ton. They kinda built up over those two weeks. This letter is gonna be a Q/A letter. I wrote down most the questions you had, so I’ll answer them. First of all, I’ll address my sickness. I went to medical two days ago and slept the rest of the day (couldn’t write). Yesterday I went back feeling a tone better with a cough. So they gave me light duty (no PT or anything physical really). But I still drilled. Today Medical wasn’t open so I stayed on light duty. But not a lot of PT is done on Sunday anyway. Tomorrow I’m going in for a follow up and plan on going back to full duty and continue taking my meds. Really, I stress that I’m okay. Somehow I can see my caring mother real worried. I think it peaked before I went to medical.

Now, time for Q/A.

-Yes, I got glasses. Here they’re called “Birth control glasses”. They aren’t too attractive. I don’t wear them even though its supposedly required. I’ll wait till the rifle range.

-They checked my teeth here but I don’t need any work. Some people have to get their molars out. But I guess I avoided that.

-Not many friends yet. No time to socialize. A couple people I’ve seemed to click with though. Westman, my 1^st rackmate and I get along. He reminds me of Joe, and with a shaved head, looks just like VinDesiel! Then Thatcher, my rackmate now-he’s short and cross-eyed. He’s quiet and is sure to work hard. That’s good, cause rackmates help each other with making racks and stuff a ton!

-Church is awesome. Worship especially. My favorite songs are “Lord, I lift Your Name on high” and I forget the other one. Songs that get to everyone though are “Days of Elijah” and “I can only imagine”.

-Eating here is rapid and….rapid. If you have time to talk and look around you must be done, so there’s no talking, eyes on your plate. At first the food wasn’t so bad, but its very repetitive and I’m getting tired of it. So when I read the letter about the State Fair food...I was in a dream world. I get cravings for different stuff. The most common thing is cotton candy. Weird, I never eat that anyway.

-If you want to print off my emails, you can, but at this point I’m not too worried about it. I still have plenty to read at this point.

-Thanks for the stamps, letters, phone card, your help with Adrienne and everything. It does mean a lot. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out how to use the phone card if I get the chance. Happy B-day Dad! I don’t remember if I addressed that the last time. Miss you all. Love, Jared

Letter dated 9-4

2006-09-10T09:50:00.000-04:00

Hey guys,

Things are going pretty good. My cough has taken a turn for the worse now though. So far it’s only a cough, so I’m not going to medical. If I do end up going to medical and they think its bad enough, they could put me on bed rest and I could get dropped back a week. That’s pretty much my worst fear, so I [don’t] want to go to medical unless it gets unbearable. Other than that, my biggest complaint is that I haven’t gotten any letters yet. Not a ton of people have, but it’s pretty depressing. Also, I REALLY need A’s new address some how. It’s frustrating not being able to send her anything either. Other than that, send stamps and a picture, and I’m good. Today was a fairly relaxed day. Till the end at least. We got to shower on our own. But during hygiene check I didn’t say something loud enough, so the DI made me yell it over and over, top of my lungs. The guy next to me said he counted about 215 times I repeated it. So…my voice is little screwy. Today we had a couple of classes, first aid, terrorism, and MC History II. Classes can be the best time of the day. Other than that we drilled, cleaned our guns, exercised a little, and cleaned. Tomorrow we’ll mess around with those padded sticks.

Yesterday was church. It was real good again. And of course drill. We’re not allowed to PT (phys train) on Sundays, so we did some IT (Intensive training) instead. (FYI, IT is harder.) So far I’ve lost 5 lbs, and I’m not ripped just yet. I still have blue eyes and some brown hair, so I plan on being recognizable come graduation.

Oh yeah. The DI just told us that Steve Irwin died. That came as a shock. You know how it happened? If there’s any news, you can keep me posted. We’re very sheltered as far as that goes. I need to go. Maybe this will come on dads bday, so happy bday dad. Love you all.

-Jared

P.S. When you send letters, ask questions too, I don’t know what to talk about sometimes.

P.P.S. Easy does it with my room mom.

Letter dated 8-31-2006

2006-09-06T09:12:00.001-04:00

Hey family,
How are things going there? Again, happy B-days to Mom and Rachel, and pretty soon Dad. Things are going pretty well here. Today was probably the hardest day yet. Our platoon doesn't seem to get it, we can't march, yell, or shut up when we're supposed to. So the DI's gave us a reminder. Not the most fun in the world. I'm sure people will be up for at least another two hours sorting our shoes. Most of our time here is focused on drill, marching and whatnot. Two days ago we actually got our rifles. We won't be able to shoot them for at least 4-5 weeks when we move to Camp Pendleton. We had our first few PT (phys training) sessions now and a session of MCMATS (Marine Corps Martial Arts Training). We just went over punching so far. Most of it was exercise. Our PT sessions are in a big field of sand and dirt. Real messy and not too great for allergies. I'm not sure if I just had a few bad days of allergies or if I had a cold, but for awhile it was pretty uncomfortable on top of everything else. I'm getting better, just a little leftover cough.

Everyday there are more and more people getting weeded out. Mostly its people who can't compete the PT. They get moved back to graduate on a later date. I worry the most about that. I'm keeping up physically so far, but I hope I can stay on the ball. Today a kid told the DI he didn't want to go on and he'd kill himself. But a quick trip to the psychologist and a day of sitting in front of a mirror changed his mind, so he's rejoining the platoon now. Two days ago a kid spit in the DI's face. He got arrested in front of the whole company. He'll just have to be pushed back too. I guess its not a cheerful thing to talk about, but its whats been going on.

Besides PT and drill, we take classes and eat. Thats about it. Tonight we had ribs. They were actually pretty good. One thing I'm relieved to find out is that the recruits don't have kitchen duty. There seems to be an assortment of people hired there. They kinda seem like people sentenced to community service, or somehow in trouble with the law but I really don't know.

Today was family day for the graduates, so a bunch of civilians were here. Made me really excited to graduate. FYI, I've asked the senior DI about travel and everything, and he says there will be a class on it in a bit. So I don't know much else, cept I'll probably be coming back to San Diego. But I don't know when either. In the meantime, write me. I need to get some sleep now. I'll write you again soon. Love, Jared

News from Jared

2006-09-03T17:18:00.000-04:00

Hi to all of Jared's friends..this is Jared's Mom. We got a letter from him on Friday, and he asked us to post it. We are guessing he means on his blog, since he sent his password! Anyway, this is pretty much his letter to us verbatim. Again, I know he would really enjoy letters from anyone who would care to write--just please don't send any food, photos larger than wallet size, colored envelopes or anything else that would get him into trouble. Thanks from us, and from Jared, for all your prayers and support. And now, in Jared's own words:

Saturday, 8/26/06 Happy b-day Mom!

Hey family,

To start out with, I’m doing fine. No need to worry. (I wasn’t told to say that) So far nothing’s been a huge shock. And they say the two worst days are over, so I’m feeling confident. To begin with, I got window seats on both planes, so I was happy about that. Then when we got to San Diego airport, we waited for the buses (Jared Bushman had already gotten there so we’re in different platoons, and I haven’t seen him since). We all waited in line for about an hour. I’ve never stood for so long. Three people passed out right there. Finally we got to the camp and it was like they all say. You’re told to get on the footprints, and you get yelled at. I wasn’t real scared, I was shivering a little but I really think it was just cold. (It was.) We all eventually filed in and got our heads shaved. Then we stayed up until about 11 pm the next day. We got four hours of sleep, we’ve been processing until yesterday. Lots of waiting, and learning basic military rules. We got everything issued too, but I think that will be about it for waiting around. Black Friday was yesterday. The drill instructors…introduced themselves. Again, I kept in mind it was a head game, and eventually we got through it unphased. I know not to screw up now or else, but I’m not afraid of everything. Today we’ve not been doing much. I’m writing this now ‘cause the senior DI is taking care of other people, paperwork and such. I’m a little sore today; yesterday we had an initial strength test. I did 10 pull-ups, 66 sit ups in two minutes, and 1 ½ miles in 10:50. That’s only the second time I’ve run that far. Let’s see, random stuff about here. We are by an airport, and planes go by, (not overhead) about every 5 minutes. So close you can’t hear anything. We have to sit cross-legged everywhere we sit down (‘cept for chow), but even at chow, we have to sit forward so the only back support I ever have is at night. I miss you guys a lot and I’ll be thinking of you, Mom on your bday today. It’s slowly sinking in that this is more than summer camp. It’s a lifestyle. I have mixed feelings about that, but generally I’m fine with it. It’ll be different outside boot camp. Meals here last about 10 minutes, but the way we file in a recruit only has about 5 minutes to eat. That’s ok. I like eating fast anyway. Sorry, I know this letter isn’t very collected, but maybe you can understand that things are still a blur. I’m sure future letters will be better. (I’m periodically to answer the DI’s questions too.) If one of you has the time, could you post this letter or info in the letter? I don’t know when I can send this. A few days ago I tried to call you guys on a pay phone collect, but I guess I screwed something up and it wouldn’t let me. I think that’s been my lowest point so far. I was pretty frustrated, but other than that I’m doing well. Yesterday and the 21^st were supposed to be the hardest, so I think I’m set. It’s still a stressful surrounding, but I don’t think I’ll flip out at all. I’ll write you more when I get to gather my thoughts, and I’ll send you the address as soon as I can. In the meantime, check with the recruiters. I love you guys.

Letter 2

Hey guys. Sorry it’s taken so long for me to write, but this is the first official time I’ve gotten. I don’t know what the date is. I know it’s Monday, but not the date. At any rate, I hope you had a good bday Mom, and happy bday Rachel and Dad. I was sorry to miss your bdays, and I was thinking of you, Mom a lot on the 26^th. Anyway, yesterday we went to church, and the service was a Pentecostal mix. It was surprisingly one of the best services I have ever been to. They sang all my favorite songs. Then afterwards, I went to a sort of Bible study thing. I’m surprised to find out that boot camp has a lot of religious times. There’s even time set aside to pray every night with others. Anyway, Sunday was probably the best day here. Let’s see, about my life. I know I’ve said some stuff in the other note, but I’ll try and think of some more. Hygiene – shower for maybe 7 minutes, 3 guys to a head. And we are told when to go pee. That’s about 1 minute, three guys to a head. Schedule – We get up (now) around 5am and go to bed at about 11 pm. Or later. We have no idea (now) what will happen in 2 minutes from now. We aren’t told any schedules. They say it’s part of the disorientation and mounting of stress. Right now we’re in our beds at about 11:30pm. We’re unofficially allowed to write now, but that could change. Depends on the DI. Eventually, we’ll have daytime free time, but no one knows when. So for now, I have no idea when I’ll write again. And I don’t know when I’ll receive any letters that get sent to me. I haven’t made any friends really. No time. And I never see Jared B. But still most guys can be pretty friendly. Oh yeah, of course you want to know about the hair. Yeah, it’s short. I’d run my fingers through it 24/7 if I didn’t get yelled at for it. And yes, I have gotten yelled at. The DIs like to spit when they yell at your face, so it’s not too pleasant. It’s a lot like the stories. But you kinda just deal with it. Although 12 weeks of it…I try not to dwell on that. Well, if you guys decide you want to write me after all, you can. Things I might appreciate getting is letters, a fam picture, stamps, and if you could make a special effort to get me A’s new address and give her mine, that’d be good. I’m going to try and get a letter to her through you. It’d probably be faster. So if you can do that for me, I’d appreciate it. Mail me more questions, and I’ll try to answer them.

Love you all,

Jared (I mean, "This Recruit") J

p.s. if you guys are thinking about spending time up here, you should. I can see some San Diego houses on a hill, some skyscrapers, and always blue skies and palm trees so far. Who knows,,, under the right circumstances, it could be real nice. Love you.

I'm off

2006-08-20T01:55:00.000-04:00

hey there guys. im kinda in a solemn mood tonight. ive already said almost all my goodbyes to everyone. and to those of you i havent said goodbye too, ill be coming to church early tomorrow to talk to a few friends. but that'll be your last chance. cause ill be leaving church early and coming home. then after that i'll go to the recruiters at 1 pm and then at 1:30 my recruiter will take me off to indy, where i'll spend sundayafternoon signing papers, getting checkups, and swearing in. then on monday, ill be flown to san diego to boot camp for thirteen weeks. i'll graduate the day after thanksgiving. ill come home for ten days, maybe more if i can get a job at the recruiters for awhile. then ill go off to combat training then engineering school cause im gonna be a combat engineer.

im going to get my adress the first or second day of boot camp and ill send it back to my mother. she will then email it to everyone in my adress book. if you dont get the email, ask someone who would be in my adress book.

i would ove to get letters from anyone and everyone. if you do end up sending me something, please try and make it as plain as possible. no scented paper or anything real fancy. also, only send me letters. if you send something else you run the risk of getting me in trouble. once there was a guy whose mother sent him a pan of fudge. the drill instructer made him eat the whole pan then and there and then had him go out and run. please dont make my life any harder, but please send me letters. if you decide to be funny and send me something that would get me in trouble,,, know this,,, after boot camp, my career will be war. i'll try to write as many people back as i can, but i really cant promise anything at all. i dont know how much time i'll have.

anyway, thanks everyone, and anyone who made me smarter, tougher, funnier or wiser. i feel like highschool was all about relationships, and ive certainly learned alot. anyway lets just pertend i said something heartwarming and comforting.

thanks guys. best wishes to all.

same as last post only different.

2006-08-17T23:46:00.000-04:00

this morning i was awoken by a ringing telephone. i actually had one right by my bed, but i was so insanely tired, i didnt answer it. and just so you know,, that would never happen normally. but after a while i got up and showered. i still had smoke and dirt and marshmellow all over me. then i called my ladyfriend and we went out for lunch. we went to subway. that is my all time favorite restaurant. while we were there, adrienne dropped her ring and it rolled under a couple gay guys' table. i went and got it cause she wouldnt. i felt violated just walking over there. anyway after awhile of playing in my coke, we decided to go over to best buy. that is my all time favorite store. i get a 3 song cd from "bright eyes" then we went and found meg at the mall. after that we picked up adriennes brother and sister from thier first day of school. while we were there we went and got our yearbooks. then i droped them off at home and i went back to watch the soccer guys practice. talked with andy n. a bunch about how the schools changing (guys can wear tesnnis shoes now) i left for home. ate dinner with my mother and sister. then i went to the park with natasha and her nieces and nefew. cute kids, but man,,, they'll make you think twice about wanting to be a parent. then i came home. and talked to tirzah for a bit. im glad i did. that was my day, for anyone who cares.

and same as last time. get me your new adresses.

rebel without a clue

2006-08-17T18:13:00.000-04:00

i got up at 8 to babysit my uncles dogs. a doberman and a mutt. i hope you dont think less of me for this,, but i like one better than the other. the doberman is like a horse with an attention span of a 4 year old with ADHD on mountain dew. its crazy. then i spent a long time cleaning my room. then adrienne came came over and we watched a movie. then i went to purdue with joe and lillian and we visited hannah. it kinda was an awakening to me about how close these changes are coming and have already come for many. it was good to see her. she seemed a bit preocupied as anyone who just moved in would be im sure. maybe it was the green and pink paint. then after that i went to the recruiters and did a little more paperwork. then i said goodbye to joe. it was really not how i pictured it at all. it was just kind of "goodbye, good luck, thanks for everything" and then we parted ways. i guess we knew it wasnt a final goodbye by any strech. then i came home and natasha called me. i went over to her house for about an hour and we talked. she was going through a rough time and i guess i didnt really adress it too much but rather tried to take her mind off it i guess. it was good to see her too. then i went to jordans for a bonfire. it was normal for the first part but twords the end it got pritty crazy. good times. all trough that day i hadnt eaten a real meal at all. its probly not too good for me. anyway i have to go eat a real meal right now.

if you want me to potentialy write you or keep in touch with you,,, i can bring an adress book to the marines so email me your new adresses. or call me. or tell me in person. but the things i need from you guys are email adresses and living adresses. get them to me it would be apritiated. cya.

that son of a gun

2006-08-12T10:26:00.000-04:00

andy has a girlfriend. more info to come.

I am away right now.

2006-08-11T08:22:00.000-04:00

Ill be back.

end of a paperboys era

2006-08-08T13:14:00.000-04:00

well yesterday was my last day as a paperboy. i musta had that job for about 6 years. thats longer than i'll be in the marines. it was nice to know that i'll never have to do it anymore. it was a pain. i had to get up early in the morning to pick them up and then deliver them in the afternoon. yesterday i was so tired. i hadnt gotten much sleep that day or the night before that, so i was beat to begin with. i got up at 7am and picked them up. normally id go back to sleep once i got home but i worked on the roof with my dad that morning. i had picked up krispy cremes for my family on my way home and i had eaten about three. and sugar isnt really good when youre doing hard work like that. i had had about three or four cans of pop the day before and it was just a nasty feeling. then i tried to take a nap that afternoon but i couldnt get to sleep. after dinner i did the route. then jordan called me and asked if i wanted to work out with him at the y. i told him no thank you.

i did go out with adrienne though. it was a little more along the relaxed lines than working out. we drove around went to starbucks and watched a movie. for my birthday she gave a a photo album with pictures of us in it, and the cover said "good times" it was pritty cool.

letsee, sunday i went to church after little sleep and played soccer afterwards. then i went out for ice cream with jordan and lillian. twas pritty interesting to see some of the text messages lillian sent jordan. anyway after that i went home showered again and picked up adrienne and she came over for my birthday dinner and her first dinner with my family. went well. we had crab legs so occasionally there were peices of shell flying through the air. it was an interesting first meal to have since you eat with your hands and everything and theres butter all over. twas fun.

saturday i went over to joes with hannah and lillian. we watched bourne identity and supremicy with aaron. and then we sat around and talked till late. really late actually. twas alot of fun.

friday was a joined birthday party of mine and tirzahs. we ate at her house then went to adriennes to swim. that was fun to see everyone again. that was the day adrienne got home from OH so i guess that brings me back to my last post.

story of a lonely guy

2006-08-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

man,, i havent blogged in so long. ive let america down. im so sorry. i just dont have much to post. ive been doing some fun stuff. bout broke both my wrists on the skating ramp at faith. watched "v for vendetta." twas a decent movie i guess. besides for an underlying pro-homo message to it. its kinda different than most movies you watch cause america plays no huge part but is no longer a superpower. i liked it just because i sat down and enjoyed it. i didnt really do much movie critisizing. probly cause we put it in rather late. hmm,, thats all i have to say.

because i felt like it.

2006-07-27T02:11:00.000-04:00

really,, who didnt know?

2006-07-26T17:24:00.000-04:00

lance bass is gay. no really... he said so himself. i dont know where to begin. this makes me chuckle. im gonna tell my sister.

all i have to say is, i knew it all along. thats all i have to say about that. so, bye bye bye. hehehehe

the fallen interlude

2006-07-21T09:01:00.000-04:00

hey kids. well my time at prelock blueberry farm is coming to a close. they only need me for this saturday then im done. im kinda glad if you can imagine. over these past two weeks ive learned how dumb people can be. anyone who works at a job where they come into frequent contact with people can testify to that im sure. but after saturday im done. so im gonna be filling my time by helping my dad reshingle the roof. its not a very comfortable job. it gets really hot and youre in constant fear of dying. my shoes arent very good for that job. so ive figured different ways i should land to cause minimal damage should i fall.

other than work ive been hanging out with adrienne a bit. mostly we just eat out somewhere and watch a movie. theres not a whole ton else to do in this town. i also have been doing stuff with joe after work. wed hang out and play videogames or whatever. he let me try out his shotgun the other day. we killed some birds. first time ive ever really shot a gun other than a 22. now everytime i see i bird i jump a little and wish i had a shotgun. certain persons i know arent too impressed by that though.

well ive run out of things to say real quick here. so if you guys want me to talk about anything, let me know. i'll be back.
'
'
'

reckless abandon

2006-07-15T18:14:00.000-04:00

well i made it to the end of my first week of working at prelock blueberry farm. and dispite the increas4ed discomfort (its a little more difficult than sitting on the coutch ((my feet are blistered pritty good)) ) it went really well id say. cept for this morning. i overslept. i woke up to my mother coming up the stairs. immediatly i realised that it too light out to be 6:30 and i knew i overslept. poop. i felt really bad about it. i know it probly isnt thier favorite thing for employees to be late, but they were quite nice about it. i felt a little better. anyway next week i'll set two alarm clocks.

joe was there today. he just got back and it was good to see him. he got me a present. i like it alot. we talked a bit and then i went to the frankfurt pool with him and his family. good times. i got burnt again though. anyway ive decided hes definatly one of the people im gonna miss alot this next year.

the end

Dead Man's Chest

2006-07-11T14:36:00.000-04:00

If you havent seen this movie, and dont want to know the ending, its okay, i wont give anything about the story away. but this post will be a derrogatory one, and if you dont want to hear my opinions, then dont read this.

for everyone else, listen up.

i went to see dead mans chest last night with adrienne. i told her we'd either see that, or devil wears pradda, whichever movie was next when we got there. unfortunatly the pirates of the caribbean was the next movie. it was awful. i'd tried to ignore all the bad reviews i had heard about it. after all the first pirates movie had very mixed reviews. so i decided that id see it for myself before i formed an opinion. it was awful. it was way too long. this one was mostly dialoge and computer graphics. the "bad guys" looked absolutly rediculous and werent really interesting at all. the worst part about this movie, compared to the last one, was there was only one sword fight. i guess they made up for it cause it dragged on for about 20 min. but the rest of the movie was running.

but forgetting all about the directing aspect of the movie, scenes and graphics and all, the story sucked. the initial confict could have been resolved very early on, the characters in the movie werent very exciting at all. jack sparrow wasnt the same cunning pirate i was looking forward too. and the ending was extreemly unsatisfactry. adrienne would agree. it wasnt a good suspence that left you feeling like you had to see the next one, it was an ending that was stupid and made the movie feel like a waste.

of course now that ive seen it, im going to have to see the next one, which im not looking forward too really. my advise, dont ruin the movie for yourself. dont see this movie. certainly dont waste your money on theaters. keep the origianl movie in your mind as a good movie. but this sequel ruined it for me.

man overboard

2006-07-10T17:42:00.000-04:00

oh yeah, i have a blog.

umm,, i dont know what to say.

im working at prelock blueberry farm this week and next.

the end.

P.S. congradulations hannah. sorry i couldnt be there. i was rooting for you the whole time.

IM HOME

2006-07-09T16:34:00.000-04:00

2006-06-30T08:51:00.000-04:00

so much ado

2006-06-28T13:19:00.000-04:00

saturday i celebrated fathers day with my family.

sunday i went to church, and rollerbladed in family video with jordan. then i watched a jackie chan movie.

monday i did the route and i dont think i did much else.

tuesday i went and hung out with adrienne.

wednesday i got a haircut and plan to go out to dinner with my girlfriend.

thursday im going to start laundry and packing. friday i leave for north carolina.

saturday- friday i lay on the beach and rest from my hecktic summer.

saturday i leave for home.

fathers day

2006-06-24T20:53:00.000-04:00

we celebrated fathers day today. or were supposed to. this afternoon i walked downstairs to find my mother father, and both sisters asleep. what a party. to be honest it was kinda neat cause the computer was free but i couldnt do anything in the livingroom cause my mom and sister were sprawled across the coutch and floor. so i went to my room and listened to a new cd and read some marine stuff. dont worry, things picked up after a bit. we went to olive garden for dinner. i had three bowls of soup and stuffed mushrooms. i swear those are the only two things good in that restaurant. its all so oily. then we came back home and dad opened presents. now theyre upstairs watching moulan rouge. they knew i wasnt gonna watch it but they had twizzlers. so i stayed untill the end of the beginning credits. now im down here and theres no one on AIM and im debating if im gonna go sit outside again. mabe i should run. well i'll leave it to fate. if im supposed to go excersize, it'll just happen right?

i'll leave you with a picture of me and my uncles. doing what i do best.
,
,

andy

2006-06-20T21:09:00.000-04:00

kay i just got ahold of andy and talked to him for about a half hour. so this post will be along the lines of james's but it'll be better.

first of all hes unwraping cd's for his job. he's getting paid enough that by the end of the year he wont have any debt. he has two roomates that he gets along with at least. the rooms and bathrooms are nice. one of the recreational things he does is play basketball. his team wins alot. the ladies are few and far between but theres some hope this fall. he's an hour behind there (when its 10 here its 9 there) and he says a good time to call would be around 10 our time. he says he doesnt have much free time. he says that hes one of the youngest people there. hes still doing a law enforcement degree for two years and he still sounds about the same. he says there are some super concervative people there and he says that they dont give demerits during the summer. thats about it. you should call him. i have his number if you ask me.
.
.

anbobop

2006-06-20T17:06:00.000-04:00

well the air conditioning is back up at our house.

ive been watching alot of soccer. USA sucks.

last night i got home late cause i watched dumb and dumber at jordans and we lost track of time and i still had to take adrienne home.

i got the cd with "not now" on it. its actually blink's greatest hits so i already have all but three songs.

i feel restless. i feel like i need to play some football. too bad andy's not here. he'd always be up for that.

and a special hello to my mother who i just caught looking at my blog.

not now

2006-06-17T00:32:00.000-04:00

i have a new favorite song. "not now" by blink 182. i dont have it on cd, but i would like to get it. the lyrics are on "my music" link to my music xanga. its a kewl music video too. im gonna go listen to it.

oatandoat

2006-06-12T21:20:00.000-04:00

im all alone. theres no one here beside me.

to all you who arent familiar with that line in shrek,,, that was a line in the movie shrek. aplicable to my night tonight. it seems there arent many people available to do anything or talk on the phone on this night. at least no one id think to hang out with. thus, im sitting here writting on this thing you all call my blog.

probly the most outstanding thing that has happened today, is my little squirt of a sister, got pink eye. again. the last three times at least,, she had pink eye,, she gave it to me. so i know its only a matter of time before i get it. my dad called us out this evening to set the dinner table. she washed her hands of course. shed let you know that shes not stupid, she knows to wash her hands before doing something like that. but right after she did, she wiped her bottem eyelid with her knuckle. so i sent her back to the sink. sigh. these letters im typing right now are probly covered in puss. im doomed.

another occurence of note is i have sucessfuly made contact with andy's answering mashine in florida. if you want his number call me. i havent talked to him yet, but i heard his voice on the machine. tehehee! im so excited.

ishpiddly

2006-06-11T00:20:00.000-04:00

well now that ive lost all my readers i,,,, wait,,, what am i talking about? i bet no ones really read this for a long time. so why are you making me feel bad about not posting something you wont read? well stop!

(again i dont have much to say)

scales of the blog

2006-06-04T23:20:00.000-04:00

well,, some really good things have hapened, and some really sucky things have happened. they pritty much cancel eachother out. thus,, i have nothing to post.

my condition

2006-05-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

its 89 degrees in my house right now. its 10:30 at night right now. twas a warm day for me. i dont know if its the heat or all the open house foods,, but right now it seems that if i never eat again i think id be happy. indeed i am in a bad way. pitty me.

but come to think about it,, at 10:30 365 days ago,, i had a temp of 102,, and was covered in rashes and was on the verge of death.

i guess these are good times.

andy

2006-05-29T00:32:00.000-04:00

well, this saturday, will be a day of mourning. because on this day, a dear friend will be leaving. our great friend andy has taken up a job in florida, working at his college. and though i know that this move was a wise one, being that college costs money, and his move was also a responcible one, i cant help but feel slightly betrayed. you see, i chose to postpone my leaving till after the summer so i could socialise with friends. if he needs to pay for college so bad he should just join the millitary.
hmm,, i think i got sidetracked. at any rate, i'll miss my dear friend dearly. thanks for countless times of laughter buddy.

here's to you.

thoughtfullness

charm

beastly strength

did i mention charm?

and just for you,,,,

good times.

open house

2006-05-24T23:02:00.000-04:00

hey, everyone is invited to my open house.

5-8pm sunday 28th.

my house.

even if you didnt get an official invite, please come. my mother use most the invitations up on long distance family that everyone knew couldnt come. but its okay. she paid for them.

oh yeah, there'll be food.

accounting

2006-05-21T07:49:00.000-04:00

wanna know something interesting? i went to jordans to work on the accounting project. we started at 5pm. we finished it 11 hours and fifteen minutes later. stopping only for food and short sanity breaks. i got two hours of sleep last night. good times.

best friend

2006-05-18T19:11:00.000-04:00

Well i dont usually do tribute blogs. in my opinion its not great to do all the time and then have people start commenting "do one for me" and all that. But today im gonna do one. Its fer my best buddy.

In case you didnt guess (or havent already looked at the pictures) my best buddy is joe. i met him in 7th grade. and i hated him. i guess he was just a spaz. anyway it doesnt matter because come 8th grade we were having a blast together.

to be honest, id have to say that joe has been the most influential friend ive ever had. and its a good thing. weather joe taught me how to do something, or taught me how not to do something, ive learned an incredible amount from him. from how to play with fire, to how to deal with girls. (some would say those two are pritty close) But weather it was from words of wisdom, or things i learned indirectly, i would be in a much worse place without him.

i guess he's learned a thing or two from me. honestly i think i've logged more phone hours with him than i have anyone else. after all that listening he does im sure hes picked up one or two things. anyway i talked to joe a bit last night. he listened while i sorted some things out over the phone. hes a good listener when you need to talk. anyway after he helped me with that i got to thinking about what a good friend he is and i decided i'd let everyone know. i havent come close to saying everything, but ive said enough for now. so here's to joe.

good times.

sr trip

2006-05-16T16:12:00.000-04:00

To begin with, the bus was a madhouse. the dirt, the noise, the smells, and it wasnt just joe either.

adrienne and meg

One of my favorite things about the trip was every resaurant had coke, not pepsi. i hate pepsi.

Food was an important part of the trip. here are two partakers. you can see they were happy to pay $22.50 for thier meal.

No complaints from meg though

Best part of the baseball game. (sunflower seeds)

Joe liked them too.
.

.
.

This picture is for adrienne.

Good times.

jr sr

2006-05-14T20:36:00.000-04:00

I had a real good time this year. i mean, look,,, how could i not?

thay all looked very nice. (im kinda partial to the one in purple myself)

Rebecca tried to stab me,,, i mean she litterally ran the knife across the back of my hand. not just once, but she sawed at me. for me, laugh at this picture.

I thought this was a great picture of meg and tyler.

Just look at them. in all thier splendor. im glad he had a good time this year too. man,, who could be more studly than joe?

i guess that answers my question.

good times

senior trip

2006-05-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

senior trip was everything i expected.

senior trip

2006-04-29T10:17:00.000-04:00

ADIOS

i apologise ahead of time.

2006-04-17T19:58:00.000-04:00

my sisters on the phone. to be honest thats about the only reason im here. if you guys are looking for the culpret that stole your precious julio from his blog, thats it. that and good weather i guess. i was outside a minute ago. kicking the soccerball contemplating my decision to not try out for the soccer team. i think it would have been fun, but i still stand by my decision. even if by some miricle i made the team id slow everyone down. i usually like to be one of the best as far as extra curricular activities go. i dont like to lose and i hate making others lose. man,, i wish i had that phone. actually i might have to wait a bit. it cant hold much of a charge. ive began to regularily grab both cordless phones before i start to talk. its dumb. anyway im rambling pritty good here. letsee what else i can come up with. school was wierd today. nothing major that stood out above all others, but everyone was acting a little different i think. to the untrained eye it'd be hard to pick up on. dont feel bad if you didnt catch that. anyway, one happy friend was really mellow today, and one mellow friend was giddy today. i donno. must be the stars. (j/k) okay so if youre still reading this, good for you. i'll reward your patience with a juicy piece of news. something ive been heasetent to tell everyone, but decided i would. now if youre a faithful reader, you can be one of the first ones to hear it. should make you happy.... okay i was just kidding. bad joke i know. i have to have that phone. my impatience is making you all suffer. im sorry. really. maybe im acting wierd today too. or maybe im just not used to posting. actually i know what it is. this is my brain prosess before i write something. normally my thoughts are like this till i find something that i should post about. only today ive brought you all along for the ride. but thats what you get for yelling at me to post. as if you actually would comment or anything anyway. hypocrites. ive done 10x my blogger duity. ive posted almost everday for like a year. now when im taking a break you guys get on my case for doing something you do everyday. gosh. no wonder i dont post here anymore. okayokay,, im sorry. didnt mean any of that. some of you do a good job posting. and i do get comments. my thoughts are just not in this post. in case you havent noticed. password: "professor" okay, if you give me that password tomorrow ill know you read it, and ill give you a treat. okay, maybe im kidding this time too. maybe not. do it and find out tomorrow. hey jessi just started talking to me. now were talking about blogs. figures. but in all fairness to her it was me that brought it up... and there goes the daylight. i wanted to talk on the phone outside. its not windy or rainy. its sunny and fairly warm. i like the weather that weve been having. storms, then sunny. my two favorite things. i got in trouble for saying that yesterday. appearently some peoples houses didnt fare too well. sorry guys. but you can still be happy for me. oop,, my sisters off the phone. hasta lavista.

where am i?

2006-04-15T15:27:00.000-04:00

whoa! i have a website? thats neat i guess. from the looks of things i havent been here in awhile. ive actually been out doing stuff instead of surfing the web. lets blame it on the weather.

enough time has passed that im not going to try and bring you up to date on everything thats happened. maybe i will later, but not today. i have things to do today too. but maybe i'll see some of you tomorrow and i'll probly see the rest of you on monday.

the dunes

2006-04-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

thursday i worked at joes. had some more sticks to clear out of the rows and then we burned them. i worked from 8-8 that day (minus a couple breaks) probly the longest ive worked at a time. like the times before, my posterior was rather sore. its still a little sore now. actually i have a few bruises and scrapes,, from sticks. some from just picking up and moving the piles,, but mostly from joe and i having stickfights with long, flexible sapling like sticks. naturally, joe aimed for the head, and now my ear is bruised. go figure. but afterwards i hate a good steak dinner. right before adrienne called me there to my excitement, but we didnt get to talk. i called her back after i got home.

friday i got up rather early for having worked so hard. i went out to lunch with my mother and sisters. then i got my airsoft guns. i took them with me when joe and i went to see andy. he had all four wisdom teeth taken out on thursday. he looked real pritty, i was suprised he wasnt hurting. i sat around and talked to him awhile. then i stayed home and made arrangements over a cell phone for saturday. i hate cell phones. everyone says that theyre so handy and useful in todays culture, but i think theyre a waste of time when you spend 3/4 of your convo just trying to hear what the other person said,,,, anyway i dont like them.

saturday i got up and adrienne and hilary came over and they, little sister, mother, and i went to the sand dunes.

heres adrienne braving the chilling winds.

she criticised me for complaining about the cold, (it was about 36 by the water, plus all the wind off the water made it chilly) and told me she wasnt cold at all. but heres a picture one of the sisters took while i was away. tells a little different story.

the dunes, or this dune is pritty big. you cant really tell in the other pictures but this might help you see. if you look really close,, right in the center,, theres two girls walking on the shore (our little sisters) you can barely see them, but it shows how far away they are.

i dont know how many of you have seen the ring 2,, but these pictures reminded me of that scene in the bathroom.

anyway, after we were done playing in the sand, we stopped for coffee and in the car adrienne and i sampled eachothers music. mines way better. we ended up lsitening to bright eyes most the time. good times. alltogether the trip to the dunes was fun, but it would have been alot better if it were about 15 degrees warmer at least. i had fun anyway.

social happenings

2006-03-29T18:41:00.000-05:00

last night was pritty strange. i got a call from natasha around 8-830 that i was going to get a "package." then before i could say anything else, she hung up. so immediatly (and naturally) i got my airsoft stuff together. i had just trown all my clothes in the wash, so i had nothing to wear. i stayed in my pj pants. my father answered the door about 830 to james standing on the step. adrienne natasha and mari soon showed up as well. my mother was laying ill in the livingroom so we couldnt do anything inside, so we stayed out there and talked. i ended up going out with them and we had a good time.

when i got home i started talking to rebecca around 12. we got into a discussion that required no confusion, so she called me and we talked on the phone where we could hear inflection in eachothers voices and everything. we ended up talking about everything. theres alot of stuff going on to talk about. i guess i could tell rebecca everything i did because shes a nutral party sort of. she wasnt really directly involved in any of these issues, thus i didnt really feel hindered or feel like i had to be careful what i told her. we talked untill 3. she decided she should go to bed.

this morning i got up at ten and natasha and i hun out from 12-4. good times, we went to the park, wandered around there. talked for a bit. then went to the mall. i saw an awsome butterfly knife. it was just like a harpoon tip. no blade but it had this double sided tip on a rod. i wanted it. but i wasnt 18 and she wouldnt buy it for me. so i bought some cd's instead. should occupy me for the spring break.

to top it off, i just got a new high score in pinball. 8,260,250.

and on the other hand...

2006-03-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

this weekend has already been good. i dont know how most of you decide if your weekend is good or not, maybe its good if you get to hang out with friends, or its good if you get lots of sleep, or its good if you dont have homework. these are all good things i guess, but how i decide if my weekend is good or not is by seeing if it relieved stress and got me ready for school the next week. it doesnt matter what you do exactly as long as it relaxes you. this was a good weekend.

friday i hung out with joe a bit. weve been doing stuff recently but i was glad to just go and hang out with him for a bit. after school i was feeling pritty,, tense,, is a good word. joe wanted to do something and i was about ready to do anything else besides go home and stew. so i changed and we drove to Von's at purdue. on the way we talked about some things and laughed a bit. at a guy wiping out on his scooter and doing a belly flop in the grass, and at stupid college people and stuff they do, and had some pritty creative ideas about what to get jordan for his birthday. after that we made a brief stop, then both went in on some flowers for erin for her sergury recovery.

that night i went to school when the play got over, and then went to jordans with some people. we hung out and ate and talked for awhile, then put in braveheart. i dont understand why people (i guess its mainly women in upper 30's-40's) say that mel gibson is atractive. i think hes one ugly son of a gun. i suppose thats a good thing though. anyway, then i fell asleep looking at a posessed tree in jordans yard that was lit up all white. no other trees were like that. it was just, white,, and all the other trees were black. it wasnt just me who saw it. i have witnesses too. they just didnt seem to think it was a big deal.

this morning i woke up much too early and then listened to my mp3 player while others woke up. took a shower, had breakfast, then we played airsoft in the cold morning air till about 12. good stuff. there were some pritty awsome performances there at the end. we all got and gave it pritty good,, but in the end,, i got the last kill. (right in jordans temple) then when we came in it began to snow,, then the whole sleet thing im sure you all were aware of.

i drove home, then went to the play with adrienne today. looking back on it, i think it was a good perfomance, at least by the actors. spicifically joels character i sympathised with. to have my daughters go angainst me to marry these guys would leave me,,, upset. rebecca's character i had to groan at, cause she played a very good nagger. reminded me of all those proverbs about "better to live on the corner of a housetop than with a cornersome wife." maybe thats what that dang fiddler was doing, i dont know. and joes character i hated. despised. he was a bad bad man. so im pritty sure thats how they all were supposed to come across, so good job guys.

now im wishing for someone to talk to online. im bored. but it was a good relaxing weekend already.

no news = good news

2006-03-23T22:07:00.000-05:00

well, nothing new to report on the homefront today.

cept my econ beatings have stopped. as well as the verbal assalt. thats pritty good i guess.

happy day in julios world

2006-03-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

my nipples hurt. (hows that for an interest catcher?) i ran out in the cold and played football, and my shirt is rough. ill get there i guess.

besides my sore chest, i think i had a good day today. sorta. this time school kinda stank and afterwards rocked. at school, classes were normal (cept for i only missed one answer on my gov test) ((and i took it all by myself)) (((maybe studing is a good thing))) nothing out of the ordinary. i think a few of my friends are pritty far in the dumps today. i almost feel bad about having a good day, but they wouldnt want that. good friends as they are. hope you all feel better. anything i can do...

after school mr b came up and yelled at me to get downstairs cause my parents cant seem to understand that i want them to come late enough so i can talk after school. (i got to school late, why cant they do the same?) but i got home and cashed a bunch of checks. i think im very close to getting that sniper rifle. now i just have to convince my mother to allow it. then i went to best buy and got new headphones. (i blew my other ones out) but i use them so much, they were well worth the money spent. my new ones wrap around the back of my head, i dont know if i like them or not. im trying them out now.

after best buy i went to the marine recruiting place for thier little get-togethers they have every wed. i should start going to them every week. we all went to the jeff field (the new one) and ran a mile and a half. i astounded myself by getting like 10 min 40 something. i also never stopped running. it was quite a first for me. then we did crunches and played football. it was a nice balence of mice plays and horrible misteaks for me. many fumbles, couple of touchdowns and good returns. i got some pritty good burns on my legs from that grass stuff. then i went and did pull ups and then talked to this marine there on recuiting duty for a little while. i think im getting more and more comfortable with everything. wich is good. then i walked home in the cold in a tshirt and shorts. was fine at first, but the cold got to me. hence the,, well,, you know... i havent eaten dinner yet and im not hungry. doing laundry, listening to music. uhh,,, tty tomorrow.

music videos

2006-03-20T18:27:00.000-05:00

well i was over at joes house yesterday. again. seems to be the place to be. lillian and hannah were there too. hannah joe and i listened to music pritty much the whole time we were there. then once she left joe and i went downstairs and played airsoft. i have about 8 welts on my knuckles from the past few days ive played. one red spot right in my pinky fingernail. then lillian came back and we sat around downstairs. when she left again joe and i played football on his 64. i not one to talk about sports, especially on blogs, so i wont. cept to say our last few plays were pritty impressive.

i guess we can back up to the beginning of sunday. i went to adriennes church but i didnt have a car of my own. so that morning my sisters dropped me off at starbucks and then i got picked up by adrienne. ive decided i like her church alot. its good worship even though i dont know the songs really, and the sermon was extreemly good. good enough i could even tell you today what it was about. after that we went back to my church to eat lunch there. but no one was there and the food looked fairly nasty. so we decided to drive around looking for someplace to eat. we ended up at happy hollow park. (in the end i guess there wasnt much food there) then went downtown to eat at mcords (or someplace like that) but it was closed. so we went to rolly poly and ate on the pedestrian bridge. then we went to columbian park and walked around. i think i got her sick on the tire swing and she was only on it for about 10 seconds. so i took advantage of her confusion and asked her to jr sr. (she said YES!!!) then she left.

today i actually worked on stuff. did stuff for the route and cleaned up the kitchen. between the two, took all afternoon. now im watching new music videos they just put on yahoo music of "bright eyes" they must be getting more popular. but let the records indicate when they hit superstardom,, i found them before they got really popular. so its okay for me to listen to them. same with brand new. "easy/lucky/free" is a good one by them if youre interested.

well. i just saw another one and i thought id throw this little tidbit into my post. sorry for the length.

this video is a wierd one. its called "at the bottem of everything" its about this girl who's on a plane, and then the plane crashes. throughout the video it show these peoples reaction when they know theyre gonna die. normally you would think of everybody going into a panic and crying, but in this video, everyone starts smiling and laughing and having a good time. theyre all enjoying thier last seconds alive. at first i thought it was really wierd. and i suppose it is. but its really cool too, because i know when i die, there will be reason to celebrate. when i face my last seconds, ill be able to smile. thats pritty cool. honestly i dont think thats the message meant for this band, but its a good one anyway.

night out

2006-03-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

last night i was up till 330 talking to joe online. thats the longest ive talked to him,, maybe ever. twas interesting. earlier that day i went to his house and played airsoft. gave him a couple broken guns to tinker with,, he did a good job on the one, and will probly fix the other one. then adrienne came and we watched corpse bride. we wanted to watch history of violence because both joe and i saw previews of it and it looked like a really good movie. story, action, actors,, everything. but it had a well earned "r" rating as my dad let me know. was disappointing. anyway the other movie was visually impressive,, but it wasnt exactly the most creative story,, i donno. it held my attention. after that joe tinkered with the gun, andy and i played 64, and adrienne fell asleep. it was a real action packed night. i had alot of fun anyway.

heres my buddies.

this and that

2006-03-16T19:23:00.000-05:00

i dont really like chocolate that much. sugar has its place but sometimes candies arent really that satisfying. pasta is good for energy but its not really that good. bread doesnt have enough flavor and vegetables have a bad flavor. fruit can be good but you can usually get too much fruit after awhile. the only thing i really like 100% foodwise is beef jerky. i wish i saved some for today. it woulda helped the dullness. i just need something to chew. (gums too soft and you cant eat it)

today ended up being kinda wierd. i was late to school cause i was trying to find a matching sock. normally i wouldnt care but today i just didnt feel like going to school so i took my time.
i got there late so i skipped homeroom and went right up to accounting. i dont think anyone missed me, i just wonder what anouncements i missed. id venture a guess that there wasnt anything important though. accounting was wierd. maybe cause i wasnt sitting between kelsy and jenni.
sr sem i got a talking to about how i should work and not goof around. im not really disruptive, i just dont like doing work in that class. its just busywork. i dont have any motivation to get it done on time either cause she doesnt really care if its late.
bible,, usually i like bible, and i still think its my favorite class this year, but its getting silly. class is being taken up by elementary questions of a few people and it seems rediculous to have to sit through "drinking is bad" "dont do drugs" i want more than that. im beyond that stuff. thats why i was looking forward to his class, but it seems to have halted. its frusterating.
english was fun. we graded a test and talked a bit.
we didnt do anything in government.
lunch was a little lacking. a few of our people were gone. but it was fun to have my carrots dipped in my chocolate pudding by natasha.
study hall was just a time filler.
i played hockey in the PE class today. that was fun
i skipped the 5 min of chemestry i would have had because i left early to get shots.

and thats a day in the life of me. probly alot of other seniors too. 8 periods and nothing to tell.

jerky

2006-03-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

today joe gave me the best gift anyone could ever give me. deer jerky. its good stuff. actually its some of the best jerky ive ever had. good flavor and a nice burn left in your mouth, nothing extreem, but enough to make it good. if you were one of the lucky ones to get some of this kerky from me, be happy cause you are loved. i dont let many people have my jerky. specially that stuff. anyway, thanks joe. you made my day. we'll see if your t-shirt holds true.

wheres andy?

2006-03-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

andy wasnt at school today.

poor guy, i hope hes not sick.

if hes not,, then i guess forget about the "poor guy" comment

weekend work.

2006-03-11T23:47:00.000-05:00

okay my butt hurts. picked up sticks at joes house this weekend. im not gonna explain it to you cept to say that you should respect those people who have labor jobs. working a cash regester isnt exactly the same. i got something in my eye too. pity me. my knees pritty bad too.

anyway i dont know what to post. i had a good weekend and school was pritty kewl today.

thats all i have to say about that.

tell me this isnt a good picture.

i lie and wait

2006-03-09T20:58:00.000-05:00

im going to bed. 9:04,,, this is ridiculous.

the little news i have.

2006-03-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

im bored. with everything. things are dumb. nothing has been happening. guess thats what i get for wishing for drama to go away. i dont think i meant for this though. i was thinking about how to describe things and the word "doldrums" im not sure if thats the correct spelling, but thats a sailing term. its when theres no wind or currect for a ship to ride on. everything is quiet, nothings happening, they just have to sit there in the sun and wait for wind to pick up. it seems like it should be plenty windy, maybe my sails have a hole in it, i donno. but im just sitting here.

as a cure to some of my bordem i decided to go out (quickly in my moms van cause everyone else had the cars) and pick up a new cd. went out in search of a good soundtrack for my life. i ended up getting two, "bowling for soup goes to the movies" - bowling for soup, and "digital ash in a digital urn" - bright eyes. the first was alright, but the bright eyes one is really good. im happy with my purchice.

i havent posted regularily, i guess i felt like id just be talking about illness more, and i didnt have much to say anyway. ive been going to bed around 10 recently, so thats screwed up alot of my computer time. i havent been able to talk to some people for awhile it seems. its probly good. ive felt very impersonable recently. maybe its because i havent talked for awhile i donno. but ive just been a little grumpy or something. anyway to jumpstart (or overload) my blogging habits, im gonna post a pic.

this ones of pritty much my three guy friends. its not a good pic of any of them, but it had all three of em. came across it and it hit me that that was the extent of my guyfriends. all the rest seem like aquaintances. (if youre offended cuz youre a guy and youre not in this pic,, sorry,,, i guess.... but i dont care. be a better friend)

heres the studs.

rants of a ill person

2006-03-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

well i think i got through this thing without barfing. (just wait, famous last words) i feel like my weekend was pritty much a waste, and it was. if im abnormally high strung this week like i just need a break, i think that'll be why. i dont plan on it but it would just figure. to ad insult to injury, it snowed. i didnt even know it till about 2oclock today. i wasnt outside and all the windows were shut. i guess i figured it was a grey day. i guess i was right. last night i actually got to sleep, that was good. it mighta been the little dose of niquil, but whatever it was it did the trick.

today in my slumber i watched COPS new orleans special. i dont know if the hurricane was a judgement from god, but i would think that this year hes glad to not have to deal with it. pritty moronic stuff. everyone who got arrested had no idea that what they were doing was even wrong. they figured it was a party, anything goes. and legally, thats how alot of it is treated, but personally and moraly its pritty bad to have no idea about the wrong.

well i think my sleep habits are all thrown off now. i feel like going to bed right now and its only a little after 8. im sure i wont, but i know i will go to bed early tonight. im planning on going to school. i cant picture things getting any worse, but who knows. anyway, pray for warm dry weather for tomorrow. i cant stand this stuff.

sickie

2006-03-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

im not having fun.

andy

2006-02-27T22:27:00.000-05:00

heres to andy.

he beat me at slime vollyball.

ships sails and ceiling wax

2006-02-27T21:20:00.000-05:00

yesterday was a pritty kewl day. i went to church late and got my parents really mad, but that was just a foul start to the day. i got home and cleaned after a brief talk with my parents, and then joe came over. immediatly we went over to murdock park to scope it out for airsoft. its perfect. good woods with plenty of hills and fallen trees and boulders and cover and certain sniping spots im keeping my eyes on. the only err,, flaw, is that youre sorta,, err,, looking over your shoulder for,, err,,, certain uniformed personell. we managed to shoot around a bit before we left (certain other people were spectating, so we figured we'd just better go. but we got back to my house and shot around there a bit. joe really stank it up for a good while. but after he got ahold of some decent guns it was fairly evenly matched. then we watched road to perdition. it was a charachter movie so it felt a little slow, but it was a real good movie. even the second time. go see it if you arent effected by cussing. (1920's gangsters) ((the REAL gangsters))

after that i went to pizza hut with a bunch of people i didnt know. cept my family. it was a wierd, quiet dinner.

then i got back home to a strange purple van parked in front of the house. we got in and no one appeared to be home. so i picked up the first object i could find,, then slowly walked up the stairs clutching the cold metal of my blunt insterment. then i got up there, and took a picture of lillian with my camera. we messed around for a little bit taking bad pictures. and then sat in the dark hallway for awhile talking. they broke the light or something and i guess we didnt feel like turning on any lights in different rooms. eventually my dad came up and about stepped on lillian cause he couldnt see anything. anyway we had a good long think with some good talk in the middle. it was good. then she left.

today i went to school, found some awsome pics of adrienne on,, umm,,, some other website,,, and then went home to do the route. the end.

fun facts

2006-02-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

More Monopoly money is printed yearly than real money throughout the world.

People photocopying their buttocks are the cause of 23% of all photocopier errors worldwide.

A dentist invented the Electric Chair.

Rudolf the Red-nosed reindeer was actually created as a promotional figure for Montgommery Wards department stores.

Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

A whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.

Walt Disney got the idea for Mickey Mouse from watching mice play in a garage, where he was forced to work, because he could not afford to rent an art studio.

About 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens each year.

About a third of all Americans flush the toilet while they're still sitting on it.

Alexander Graham Bell's wife and mother were both deaf .

Alfred Hitchcock did not have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.

Cockroaches break wind every 15 minutes.

Fish scales are an ingredient in most lipsticks.

Frank Baum, the writer of "The Wizrd of OZ", looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z,
hence "Oz."

The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (a variety of the marijuana plant) paper

On average, every chocolate bar contains at least three insect legs.

Sherlock Holmes NEVER said "Elementary, my dear Watson", Humphrey Bogart NEVER said "Play it again, Sam" in Casablanca, and they NEVER said "Beam me up, Scotty" on Star Trek.

slime vball

2006-02-25T21:04:00.000-05:00

i just beat the first level in 17 seconds.

upsides to everything

2006-02-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

yesterday i went to indy to go watch my sisters dance recital. my sister does irish stepdancing. for all ye hoosiers ill make it simpler. shes one of them riverdancers with the irish music and stiff arms. and i guess thats all great. good for her. shes been doing it ever since we moved to indianna. the thing about it though, is they have a recital every year. okay, whatever, thats fine. but every year its on a tuesday so right after i get home from school i have to go to this thing. every year its in indiannapolis so its a long drive. every year my mom invites three too many people to come ride with us because were the only people with a minivan. (my parents hang out with the "singles' group from church.) letsee,, i suppose i could find about a billion other rasons why i hate going, but the biggest one is that its all accordian music. all 3 hours of it. okay, so thats not fun, but you get over these things right? well every year its the same songs. they probly use the same songs about 4 times over in every performance. they have all the same dances too. different people (they just move up to a harder dance every year) but same dances. with the same accordion music. every year i sit up on the balcony i wonder if its high enough to kill me if i jumped off or if id just break something.

this year was the same. cept for one thing, the weather was nice. every year it seems like theres an ice storm we have to drive through. if not that, something else goes wrong. one year it seemed glitchless till we got home, our neighbors garage was on fire. its just a bad day. well this day it seemed like it'd be pritty good. good driving weather, they did all the tank you's at the beginning (which took out about half an hour of the program) and you could see in the seats. i usually like to sit by my dad, cause he the only one who shows any concideration for me through this time of pain, but this year i sat down, and everyone was sitting one seat to the left,, so when people came to thier seat, i was sitting in it, so instead of everyone mooving over, i just went to the other side of the row to sit by someone i dont even know. i figured it was another thing on the list of misery. but good came of it. when i sat down i realised i was on the end. this was good. i remember thinking spacifically that it might be good if i had to go to the bathroom or talk a walk. or if i got so sick of the program i could go and throw up real quick. and i figured that that was the only nice thing to happen to me throughout all of this. but there was a better upside for sitting where i was. i was one of the few from our group, who did not get thrown up on.

thats right, thrown up on. some little stinker kid who was sitting and talking and kicking chairs behind up decided he'd blow some chunks on my row. green (yes green) chunks landed on my sister and mother and on her friend. it was disgusting.

oh well. at least it wasnt me. i went home clean.

camp-T memories

2006-02-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

well i suppose for this im gonna get alot of stupid comments about this post, but thats okay. i think the whole reason im gonna post about this is to give you all some opening to comment. you know, give the readers what they really want. well im sure alot of you might enjoy reading this. its something that i dont think i would tell anyone about, ever, but i dont think im really in a sane state of mind today, so ill let you guys benifit from it.

for some strange reason i started thinking back to a time of the carefree, joyus days of summer day camp. its gonna be pathetic to tell you how old i was, but it musta been in 5th or 6th grade. it was my first real camp expirience so i was pritty excited about it, but i was very nervous. i remember being dropped off and having to go to this desk (in the middle of some pincnic area) and tell them my name and they'd tell me what group i went to. they pointed to some group and i walked over there. there were two councelors per group, and this one had two guy councelors. they sorta said high but pritty much ignored me. i settled in for a lonely day. (i used to get horrible homesickness) things were made even worse because once they finally checked their list, they couldnt find me on it. so i was in the wrong place and no one knew where i was supposed to be. so not only was i friendless, i was unwanted, unwelcome. i wanted to go home.

finally when everything was sorted out i was walked over to another group. this one i knew was a friendly group, there was something special about this one. you know how i knew? if you payed close attention you might be able to figure it out. the two councelors in this group were two girls. yeah,, they were both the prittiest, nicest councelors in the whole entire world. made me kinda grin and get a funny grin on my face im sure. and when i walked over there, they both smiled and welcomed me (probly just cause i was late and they needed to meet me) but it made me feel not homesick at all. i suppose i was willin to stick around a little longer. see if i could make a new friend.

i quickly learned something about myself that day. i can be very jelous. you see,, half the people on our group were guys. and most of them were of "higher rank" than me socially. (now i see that they were arrogant and bullyish little putzes) but to me (remember, short fat kid with big glasses and funny haircut) they were big competition and they were all the cool ones. all the guys new that these were pritty councelors and they all knew that they'd need some sort of edge on everyone else. it was a compettition thing. sounds really wierd, but id never seen such underhandedness and such a display of cunningness we all showed just to get these councelors to notice us.

and there were two things we could do to make ourselves feel special, we could carry thier backpacks, or we could hold thier hands. and that was pritty much all the goals we had for the week. because of that i vividly remember carrying the 1st councelors backpack. she was very grateful and it made me feel special. she was blonde and skinny, of the two, a little less pritty, but i think that made the other guys focus more on the other girl. so i took advantage of that and made a new friend. i forget her name. i also remember walking up and grabbing onto the 1st councelors hand before another guy could get it. in a situation with multiple guys and minimal targets, its good to be agressive and go for it. makes me laugh, and it probly makes you laugh or better yet cringe to think about it. if we were a year older it woulda been wierd, but then it was acceptable, the councelors knew there wasnt really any harm in it, and im sure we used that to our advantage.

over that week i think i made alot of progress with the councelor. she started remembering my name. i remember during one of the campfires i got to sit next to her. that was the first email adress id ever gotten from a girl. i emailed her for a few months, and when she went to college (that fall) i only got one or two responces. then eventually, i heard nothing more from her. wimper.

you know, now that i look back on this post, i realise that i was (if not still am) one of the wierdest little people in the world. i mean i guess we've all had crushes on people way older than you as a kid. at the basketballe game there was this girl that everyone said had a crush on me. (i knew it) but she was like 5, not 5th grade. shudder. but like i said in my last post, i wouldnt change anything, but its silly to look back and think about it. and im sure ill get that lesson taught to me a couple times in the near future.

sigh. so there you have it. ammunition. id better leave before i say anything else.

survey

2006-02-19T18:28:00.000-05:00

**Yesterday did you?**
1. Talk to someone you liked: Yes
2. Buy something: a sandwhich
3. Get sick: not physically
4. Sing: absolutly
5. Thought about someone you cared about: Yes.
6. Cried: i teared up
7. Got in trouble: no
8. Talk to an ex: no
9. Miss someone: yeah

***Last person who...***
10. Slept in your bed: Me, before that, was my uncle about 2 years ago
11. Saw you cry: i have no clue
12. Made you cry: i dont know
13. Went to the movies with: i watched a movie with adrienne yesterday
14. You went to the mall with? natasha and jenny
15. Said "I Love You" and meant it: probly one of my parents

16. Ever been in a fight with your pet: fight with my sisters rabbit
17. Been to California: Nope
18. Been to Mexico: No
19. Been to Canada: yes
20. Been to Europe:no

**Random**
21. Do you have a crush on someone: yes
22. What book are you reading now? none
23. Best feeling in the world: being loved
24. Future kids names: joy, brooke, i donno any guys names. doesnt matter cause im not having any boys. at least not the first few.
25. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal: nope
26. What's under your bed: dust, trash, broken models that are half put together, boxes
27. Favorite sports to watch: soccer,
28. Location:Lafayette, IN
29. Piercing/Tattoos: not yet
30. What are you most scared of right now: going upstairs and having to make conversation with a dinner guest tonight.
31. Where do you want to get married? outside.
32. Who do you really hate? good charolette
33. Do you have a job: weekly paper route
34. Do you like being around people: nope. i hate people. i like being around friends and possibly individuals.
35. Have you ever liked someone you didn't have a chance with: no, i could have anyone i want. (yeah right)
36. Have you ever cried: yeah
37. Are you lonely right now: yeah
38. Song that's stuck in your head right now: im listening to "Ohio" by bowling for soup
39. Played strip poker: no
40. Gotten beaten up: yes. my back just healed from rebecca punching me awhile ago. it knotted up and i couldnt sit up. it hurt
42. Been on radio/TV: yeah that news guy interview me about shoveling snow during that one really bad snowstorm about 5-6 years ago
43. Been in a mosh-pit: heck yes.
44. Wishin you were with someone right now? sure

why look back?

2006-02-17T23:34:00.000-05:00

okay i read megs post (go read it ((at least the first part)) to understand mine) and it got me thinking about my own life and i was trying to relate it to my life, and heres what ive found.

i dont regret much about my early highschool years. there are things that if i had to live through again, i wouldnt want to, like wearing stupid things and being short and having big glasses, but if i were to go back and change those things, i dont think i'd be where i am now. im pritty comfortable where i am now. i have lots of friends and a good life. i have use of a car and no technical curfew. i have good hobbies and a good social life and ive even got a girlfriend. thats all much better than i could ever hope for in 7th grade. if i were to go back and change my past, theres no telling what i would screw up. (anyone who's seen back to the future knows what im talking about) im not really one of those seniors who looks back (yet at least) and dwells too much in the past. if theres something worth remembering i might store it away for when i need to remember it,, but if theres something i dont want to remember, usually im pritty good at just not thinking about it. and jr high is just something that i dont want to remember too well. im too busy getting thrown into my future. the days dragg on longer than they ever have, but the weeks go by so fast and im just waiting to wake up in boot camp and go "what happened?" i am not thinking about my past at all. just my future. mainly what im thinking about the future is that i gotta make the most of the summer socially. i mean, if it comes down to not sleeping in in the mornings, ill get up just to be able to do stuff and stregnthen friendships so they can withstand the future. i dont really want to waste my time and effort into something i cant change. im only concerned with the present and future. no looking back.

the end

2006-02-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

i dont know what to post about. there's been stuff thats happened lately, but i dont feel like talking about it. its not that it would be embarassing or hard for me to talk about, i just dont want to talk about anything.

well,, breaks over. its been nice.

halfway

2006-02-08T15:42:00.000-05:00

these past couple days have been pritty fun. and just for you people who dont really like reading every little thing that happened, ill keep it short.

monday i got jordan to scream. and sure everyones heard jordan scream,, but this was a real scream. ive never heard anything like it. if you want ill try and recreate it for you in person, but i know i wont be able to do it justice. ive never heard a guy really scream before that. hehe.

yesterday i went to andys with chris. i beat them both at airsoft and wrestling.

breaks only halfway over.

steelers

2006-02-05T22:02:00.000-05:00

okay, im gonna do something incredibly against my nature and post about sports.

im glad the steelers won. not cause they played better. not cause i have any affilliation to thier team. not cause i had any big bets going for them. im glad they won just for this shallow reason, they looked better. now i dont mean they gave an impressive performance. they didnt like gladiators win the crouds love and applause. they just looked better. two reasons. first, the coach. now, who would you picture as a good football coach? one who looks like hes been going to hardies one too many times. one of them big sweaty soft fellows who jiggles whenever he takes a step? or a real manly lookin man who takes care of himself and his appearance? you just know that if any of his players gave him lip, he'd take em out. not just throw some fine on him or something, but he could take em out. hes a coach you respect for if no other reason than hes just a man beast. not a fat old geezer. secondly, and more importantly, the steelers have a quarterback with an awsome beard. enough said.

beginning of the week.

2006-02-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

well i guess i should probly post. i havent for a little while. yesterday was miserable. well school at the very least. i didnt really know if i was depressed or angry or even sick. i know i felt like all those at some point. i just wanted to go home. i drove myself that day so i seriously concidered it. but i stuck it out i guess. i was glad that natasha was back and i talked with her a bit. adrienne was gone leaving for vaccation, and even though she was missed, i was glad she got out. it really wasnt a fun day. after school i was gonna go to jordans house and play his computer game. so in the parking lot i was in the van getting ready to pull out and jordan comes up to my window. and in his "meek/pathetic" voice he goes, "jared? my truck wont start." i laughed. we messed with it a little bit and had no idea really what we were doing. then i took jordan home. we walked around in his woods by the creek. planned all these things we could do with airsoft. then came back, and as we waited for his sister to get off the computer, he watched news, and i played with those little green army men with his brother. then once we got on i showed jordan a thing or two about that game.

so thats what i did.

im eager to make this break the slowest i possibly can. its already started out well. i slept till 10:30 this morning. i know i can do better than that. im thinking 2:30, 2:45 will be a new goal for me.

right now my sisters sleeping on the coutch. i hate it when people do that. her room's like 12 feet away. now i cant really do anything in the livingroom cause shed get all ticked if i woke her. so im down here.

i have alot of good music, but im ready for something new and different. my music's getting old. right now im listening to sheryl crow. help me.

i think im gonna do something today. i dont know what, but i wanna do something.

oops

2006-01-31T21:04:00.000-05:00

got grounded from the comp.

untitled

2006-01-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

well today i slept, not much more to it. and even though today i just kinda hung around and did nothing, i think this week will seem like it fused with last week cause i didnt really have much of a break. but thanks to everyone who wished me well and encouraged me about it. i think its kewl that two of my teachers i havent had in so long comented too. i guess i'll see everyone at school tomorrow, and hopefully this monday will be a nice one to everyone. (chuckles to self) we'll see.

semper fi

2006-01-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

okay, so the big day has come and gone. well, one of em. im gonna spare you all the details, but in the end, after getting up at 4am and essentially waiting on my rear till 4:30pm, i became eliigible to enlist, signed the papers, and swore into the u.s. marines. my occupation is combat engineer. the day i leave for bootcamp is aug 21. i am extreemly tired and am amazed that im up this late. ask me all the questions you want. i'll be happy to answer them. my dad tried asking me all about it during dinner. i sat there rambling while he sat there eating. as soon as i'd stop to take a bite of food my dad would be like "and,,,, go on" so id have to keep talking. the point is, im rambling now, so i have plenty of time to answer your questions if you indeed have any.

my problem

2006-01-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

i'm thinking so much into the future that its consuming my present.

timeout.

2006-01-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

tensions are running really high at home. even though today i got a great beak from normal activity, as soon as i came home i felt exausted emotionally. i donno, im not gonna expand on that, i dont know why im posting that, but its just whats going on.

had a fun time nonetheless today. ill probly post about it later.

the beginning is about to start

2006-01-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

well today i went to school. even though the day dragged on, in a little bit i was out. i cant honestly remeber much of anything that happened in school today offhand. cept for mr lambeth was trying to show us how an acid jar, when broken, would remain intact by a coating of rubber. he dropped it on a matal plate,,, a couple tries later, the jar broke the metal into about four peices. i guess i'll have to take his word for it.

when i got home i played video games, improving my driving skills. i decided i can drive a maclaren f1, 200mph on a coastal road for about 9 seconds before scratching the paint, after that i have no idea how long it would take to total. just incase some wants to buy me one of those cars and take me to the coast. after a little spat with my father, i dinned on some smoked ribs. good stuff. im not gonna go into it, cept to say they were the best ribs ive ever eaten.

my uncle came over a bit before that, and during, and after i got back home. we played around with eachothers music. me with his ipod, him with my mp3 player. we like alot of the same stuff suprisingly. i guess i can understand that. hes my closest uncle and hes the only one who lives anywhere near here. my dad works with him everyday, but i rarely see him. he talked with me and my sis about future jobs and whatnot, its what he always talks about but im always up to at least hearing it. then he stayed for dinner, then me and my parents went to the marines.

we got there and it was reiterated that in order for me to get the job i want (combat engineer) id basically have to go through MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) and take my physical and test soon. so its been scheduled for sat morning. there i'd get my physical exams done and id take the asvab test. then if everything went as planned, id swear in and set up a date to leave for bootcamp. id leave friday night and come back on sat around 3-4. any questions comments, or concerns, please see the little "comments" icon at the bottom of this post.

im sure the near future will arouse some heartfelt posts about how life will change and how it will be hard to say goodbye to friends. right now my post has no room for such a topic. stay tuned for some of those im sure.

its only monday

2006-01-23T20:36:00.000-05:00

okay, so we all know that people are all moping around. myself included. and im not blaming anyone nor saying that its wrong, but its all getting old. now i cant say that i have a brilliant plan to cure this seemingly, "social infection," but im ready to put everything aside if at least for a day and just screw around. i donno about you, but dang it, im ready to have some fun.

Comment on the "personalitys" post two down.

a river of occurences

2006-01-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

well i think the comments are possibly straying from the topic in my last post. id still encourage anyone and everyone to comment. but its time for a new post.

honestly i have a ton that went on today. but not alot im gonna share with the general public. today i went to church late. stayed late talking to people. went to the mall and learned how to "browse". we drove around for a bit till we found some park id never been too. after that someone you all may or may not know, fell in a river but youll all be happy to know that it wasnt me. that anonymous person is alright too. to frosen toes or anything. hurt pride for them, and alot of ammo for me, for our little arguments, was all that resulted. we found a random bonfire on the side of the road. no one was around and it was a really nice, really hot fire. we hung around that for awhile and a certain someone dried off. we went to the wickerts. played foosball and watched too much "dance revolution." we went to tirzahs house. talked for a little while. i had to come home early cause my dad wanted to spend time with me today. i got home and he was on the computer till he went to bed.

seriously, comment on the last post.

personality

2006-01-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

i have a question for all you faithfull viewers out there. i got into a discussion with someone last night about personalities. i was wondering how i would be classified as far as high school personalities. you know, like punk, goth, jock, loner, junkie, geek, etc. it doesnt have to be those generic personalities either, it can be whatever you think best describes me. im really curious about this so any and all imput would be well apritiated. (you can leave it anonymous if you have to)

sleep and deals

2006-01-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

today i slept in way too late. im not geonna tell you how late but it was technically before shcool would have gotten out anyway, so its not like i wasted anymore time than a normal friday. the sleep was nice but i woke up with an awful headache. it was the worst non-migrane headache ive ever had. my heads been hurting for awhile now, over two weeks at the very least, but today was incredible. i took three ibuprofin and i ferget what i did right afterwards, i think i watched shrek. its a pritty good movie still even though ive seen it probly a good 35 times. then i went downstairs and messed with my pictures on my computer. played a tad with photoshop and whatnot. right before dinner i saw a knife that my sister found in the park laying around. i offered her 5 bucks for it, she said 7, so we naturally settled on 6. later i looked it up and found it was an $85 knife. (whoops) it was a great buy. im smilling now. i dont think im gonna tell her. tonight im going to sacrid grounds to hear jeremy's (kelsys boyfriend's) band play.

thats all i have to say about that.

adrienne

2006-01-20T00:03:00.000-05:00

as youre probly all aware, this is adrienne appreciation week here in the blogworld. so this post is deadicated to adreinne and all her intruiging characteristics.

#1. attentiveness- she'll listen to whatever you have to say.

#2. style- the manikens wondering how much adriennes outfit costs

#3. seriousness- always right there when you need to let something off your chest.

#4. professionalism- she remailns cool and collected giving her a professional aura as soon as she enters a room.

#5. insightfulness- she just looks at you and its like she knows what youre thinking.

and lastly- adriennes a sweetheart. as anyone could see.

adreinne apritiation week

2006-01-19T09:43:00.000-05:00

well ive been informed its adrienne apritiation week. a joyus time where we all get together and find everything we possibly can to post about embarresing things adrienne has done. ill get some pictures up i think and ill spend some time thinking about stuff i know about her. so stay tuned for some adrienne posts.

a harmless joke.

2006-01-17T16:21:00.000-05:00

go to Mr. harmless's blog and read the post titled "teaching math"