i still have a blog?

i don't really blog anymore. i think it was really popular around may or june. EVERYONE was getting one. but now, no one really writes anything. no one has the time anymore. i feel like i don't have any time. and because i don't have time i will make it short.

i visited bing this past weekend. i went to IV LG, the tonics' show, uccc, and koinonia's show. it was awesome. i had such a good time that i really didn't want to leave. IV, tonics, and koinonia make me proud. these groups impacted me greatly in college. i really really REALLY miss binghamton. i miss the people, the fellowship, the singing. i think i miss a cappella the most. you have no idea. i extracted the audio from the videos i took at both shows and it's all i listen to on my way to work in the mornings and when i get home at night (mostly koinonia...sorry mike...i still love you). now i want to go to grad school at bing so i can rejoin koinonia. how awesome would that be? haha, again...sorry mike, i will still always love tonics. but he's probably not reading this anyways. anyways, just thought i'd share how much binghamton means to me.

82 Madison St.

it's been a while since i've posted in my blog. i guess i don't have the time anymore to do it. but, now that i'm home (rockland) for the weekend, i have some time to relax and rest.

so, if you didn't know already, i moved into chinatown. 82 madison st. to be exact. i moved in about 3 weeks ago. it's a lot easier to commute to work and a lot less tiring. but, there is a downside. i have to pay rent and pay for my own food. i guess it's about time to grow up. i am 22. i just hope i don't become a chinatown boy. i'll always be a rocklander at heart.

work is good. (i'm an asst. teacher for kindergarten at ps 59 in manhattan). it can be tiring at times, especially when we're spoiled with 3 and 4-day weeks and then given a full 5-day week. haha. the kids try my patience and test my frustrations. but, i love my class. i would never want to teach lower grades...but for now it's good. i'll stick to kids that i can have a real converstation with. that's why i'm going for secondary ed. i applied to hunter for the spring to teach biology. am i crazy? maybe. but we'll see.

"WHO WANTS THE BEER?!"

so, as promised, here are pictures from our roadtrip to VA/DC/baltimore. i know some of you kids are probably shaking your head at the title of the post, but let me explain. we were packing up the cars and had left over beer. so we were going to bring it home. karen packs it up and walks outside to the cars and screams out, "WHO WANTS THE BEER?!" meanwhile, eric's neighbors were outside and it was quite embarrassing. more hilarious than anything else, though. anyways, the pictures: (all these and more are on my facebook).

let's get a house together

it was an AWESOME weekend. i had so much fun on our roadtrip to VA/DC/Baltimore. everything from convincing vinny to come with us when he had nothing but the clothes he was wearing to the homemade sangria to the HUGE bucket of seafood. i wish every weekend could be like that. anyways, i forgot my camera in pam's bag...so pictures won't come for another week. i'll put a few up here and then the rest on facebook. make sure you check it out. :D and when i put pictures up i'll give a little more story to the weekend. deal? deal.

why me?!?!

i don't know if the following situation has happened to any of you, but it's happened to me twice in my lifetime. and let me warn you, it will probably be hilarious to you. but to me, not so much. i'll start with today...i got out of work early again because the project i'm working with is over. i'm going in for my last day tomorrow as a formality. on my way home, i stopped at the mall to do some browsing at modell's. i've been wanting to get some heatgear (or something like it) for when i play softball and other outdoor sports in the summer. as i'm deciding on which size to get (medium or small) some guy stands next to me (and i mean next to me...he was practically on me). and when i tried to move away, he moved with me! in my head, i'm thinking, "what the heck! this guy needs to go away!" so, i'm holding up a small and a medium side by side and this guy says to me, "i think you should get the small, you'll look better if it's tight." OH MY GOSH!!!! WHY!?! WHY!!? GET AWAY FROM ME!!! I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND! ok, so i didn't exactly scream that out, but i was thinking it and quickly walked away without saying anything to him or looking at him. WHY?!?! aiya...

on another note... i can't believe the summer's almost over. it's crazy! although, it's not like i have anything to do in the fall! haha. it's weird thinking that i don't have to pack up to move back to school. i'm sad, though. life was easier when i was in school. i didn't have to worry about what was coming next. i have to find something to do between september and march-ish. maybe i'll start taking classes somewhere. who knows. who wants to give me a job? anyone? anyone?

OH YEAH! my mom and i are doing a major overhaul of my room. my closet is filled with toys from when i was younger. we're going to donate some stuff, throw away some stuff, and make some room for stuff that actually belongs in a closet...like clothes. i found a box with my yo-yos, pogs, and marbles. it's awesome. it's time to bring them back. watch out...it'll be the new/old cool thing to do. :D

here's some pictures of the summer...

6.28: team AWESOME! - ocm's amazing race. we won 1st place!


7.4: eating lobster with dan (brother-in-law) - maine/boston roadtrip.


7.19 - johna, jill, and me - coney island - AVP brooklyn open.


7.19: we ran into garrick, annie, and joe at the beach. garrick and i attempted to win a prize by playing against 2 pros. all 3 attempts were over in about 5 seconds.


7.19: phil dalhausser (and todd rogers) won 1st place - anyone notice his waist is at the top of the net? that would be 8 ft. in the air! (kerri walsh and misty may won the women's on sunday, which we also watched). both teams will be at the olympics. i think our chances of gold for men's and women's are very good. :D


7.22: ballgame with pam - twins @ yankees. (annoying kid in the back that wouldn't stop talking). we won 8-2.

i can't stop the bleeding!

i finally got my diploma! they said 6-8 weeks...and of course they used the full 8 weeks to get it here. but it's here! i'm officially a college graduate. it was anti-climactic because it doesn't even have my major on it. i could have a bachelor of arts in women's studies for all i care. LAME! plus, it's incredibly small. i was looking at my sisters' diplomas and they're HUGE! ok, i get it...state schools are poor. AND they didn't give a nice cardboard-like folder. man, i got jipped big time. $60,000 for a piece of paper that i could have made myself.

as for the blood, i was so excited when i came home to see the big envelope in the door, that i rushed to get it and cut my pinky toe on the screen door. now it won't stop bleeding. aiya. i hope i don't bleed all over my sheets tonight.

clearly, poland spring is the superior water.

i can't believe that i've been working for 3 weeks now. it's crazy that people do this for 40 years of their lives. and by "this," i mean research, lab work, etc. i can officially say that i'm glad that i'm not interested in research anymore. i think anyone that does research really has to love it. me? i don't love it. working with rats last summer was fun, but only because i worked with rats. haha. now, i don't interact with anyone. i sit there for 8 hours and do the same thing. i wake up at 6 to be at work at 7 and leave at 4. it's not fun. maybe i'm looking for fun. or maybe i'm just looking for variety. i'm not the type to be happy with idleness. i guess that also translates to my spiritual life as well.

it's so easy to be comfortable, especially when you're in college. but now that i'm out, i really want to see God use me. there's always room for growth and change, not only for me, but for the church. that's why i joined worship team. i really want to see that ministry change. they're at the forefront of the church. and often times, they are what newcomers see first. it's time to step up to the plate and go for it. we need to strive for excellence. it's plain and simple, and yet it's complicated and complex. all i know is that God has something more in store for us, and i'm really excited.

i don't really know how this post came about. i got to sleep in on a saturday...aka 9am haha...and just started typing. the weekends are always fun. i love softball. period.

it's been a while since i've blogged. maybe i'm tired of it. maybe it was a fad. maybe i need a real journal that no one else can read. i think this prevents me from really expressing myself. all this stuff if for you guys to read. i think i need something else. see what i mean? idleness...NG. HA! that's me! jk...NO GOOD!

peace out, a-town. A-E. A-F. (p.s. if you know what that is, you win a prize.)

welcome to the working world. would you like fries with that?

i don't know why i included the line about fries. i just think it's funny. anyways, i started work yesterday. maybe i didn't tell everyone, so here it goes: i'm working as a temp for avon products as a lab tech. i work in the packaging evaluation and testing department. i was hired for this one project that will take 2-3 weeks. i may get offered another temp position after this project is up, but we'll have to wait until then. i can't go into great detail because i'm under some kind of confidentiality agreement. apparently, everything i see is not on the market yet!

anyways, my project team is made up of 3 people, including me. they're all recent college grads trying to get some work experience and make a few bucks. not that this is news to me, but i don't work well in groups, at least not with incompetent people. i always end having to either do the work myself or fix their mistakes. either way, i get frustrated. without getting into detail, here's what happened today: the other 2 guys don't know what they're doing. yeah, it may be a bit harsh. but i spend more time fixing their work and asking them what they did than doing my own part of the project. they're nice guys, don't get me wrong, but they don't have good work ethics. i guess i'll just have to suck it up and keep going. if there's a flaw in the project, it's not my fault. the problem with that, though, is that i'm grouped with them and the flaw in the project. aiya. it's a no win situation. granted, it's only the second day, so we'll see what happens for the remainder of the project.

twice in one night?! unheard of!

so, i think i made history tonight.

it was a typical sunday night driving home from the city after taking my sister back home. as we were on the west side highway, we realized that our right headlight on the accord was out. we decided to change it tomorrow since we really couldn't do anything about it at 10pm. on the way home, we stopped for gas on the palisades, since it's cheaper in jersey. and as we stopped, my dad had to use the bathroom, so i moved into the driver seat as we waited for a pump to open up. i ended up driving home from there because it was easier since i was in the driver seat already. so, we're on our way home on Rt. 303, about 5 minutes from my house. when i see a car in my mirror pull really close behind me. and wouldn't you know it, it's a cop. the flashing lights and spot light go on. i'm thinking. "oh crap, was i speeding?" and it didn't help that my parents were in the car with me. but when he asked for license and registration, he said, "are you aware that you have a headlight out?" i said, "yes, i did. we just discovered it tonight on our way home." i guess he saw from my license that we weren't far from home. so, he let us go without a ticket saying, "make sure you take care of it." just when we thought we were home free, we drive maybe 1000 feet and i see another cop car coming out of one of the side streets. as soon as we saw it, my parents and i said, "oh boy, stay 40 (mph). is he coming? oh man, he's gonna stop us. oh boy. oh boy." i was looking in my mirror constantly to see if he was going to pull out behind me. and sure enough, he pulls out follows me a little and then the flashing lights and spot light go on. meanwhile, my mom is hysterically laughing. i'm glad she was laughing. cause getting pulled over is no fun, especially when you have to explain to your parents why you were pulled over. but in this case, i wasn't speeding. long story short, i got away without a ticket from either cop. it's just a great story to tell that we can always laugh about. man, getting pulled over twice in a matter of seconds is crazy.

all you need is love.

i'm 22 now. inconceivable! it's crazy how fast a year has gone by. a lot of good this has happened in the past year. man, God is so good. i'm really thankful for everyone that called, texted, and facebooked me yesterday. it's nice to know people have remembered your birthday. ok, not so much the facebook people...you kind of cheated. haha. just kidding, i know it's hard to remember a lot of people's birthdays, i'm the same way when it comes to wishing people happy birthday. but i appreciate all of you.

i'm glad i got to keep my birthday low-key this year. i had dinner with my parents and then went to see the hulk. it was really nice to hang out with them, which i haven't done in a while. i feel like celebrating my birthday each year is really celebrating my parents in raising me. it probably wasn't easy raising 4 kids. every year that passes by, it just goes to show that they are awesome parents. sorry guys, i have the best parents in the world. :D

rain feels so nice on my face.

look at my new toy!


pam gave me my birthday present today when we went to the park, to the transit museum, and to the park again. :) although, she tricked me into thinking that she got me a french cuff shirt so i can wear my TNX cuff links. but no, she got me a camera. A CAMERA! oh man, i'm so blessed to have her. :D




playing around with some pictures with my new toy.





on that note, crazy softball games today. we got soaked in the rain. i almost got a concussion. we won one and lost one. but it was all awesome. man, i could've been a star. it really makes me want to play professional baseball now. sighh. that's what i get for a late growth spurt. it's ok. there would've probably been a lot of things different with my life right now if i pursued sports. and as i think about what would be different, i realize that i wouldn't want anything in my life right now to be different. i wouldn't trade anything for pro ball. and you know that includes all of you people who are reading this right now. :D

"what's with the tank tops?!"

it's been incredibly hot the last couple of days (although today and the rest of the week are going to be pleasant). i was wearing a beater under my t-shirt yesterday, and decided to take it off cause it was really hot.
my dad says to me as i sit on the couch, "what is that? (pointing at my beater) is that the new thing?"
i turned to him and said, "um, i guess so? it's hot?"
dad: "where'd you get it? did mom buy that for you? or did you buy it yourself?"
me: "i bought it myself."
dad: "oh, you look so cool, it's hot."
me: ::puzzled look::

today, i did the same thing because we were doing yard work and i was getting hot.
dad: "what's with the tank tops?"
me: "i don't know, it was hot. it's an undershirt."
dad: "no no no. you're trying to be cool."
me: "ok, dad. whatever you say."

i thought my dad thought i was cool. but i guess i overdid it. 2 days in a row is too much. haha.

maybe it's time to find a job. maybe is the key word, here.

my parents finally came home late sunday night, early monday morning. they were due in at newark at 12:23 am. so i thought, i'll plan to be there at 1am. i left battery park at around 12:30 and wouldn't you know, there's traffic at the holland tunnel! why is there traffic so late! why are there so many cars! this is crazy. well, it turned out that it took my parents longer to de-plane and get their luggage, so it all worked out. but still, traffic at 1am is insane.

and now that they're home, i can actually talk to people. it's been really weird and borderline awkward home alone. i had to talk to myself when i was cheering for the yankees or trash talking when i played the wii. SOOO lame. haha. but now that they're home, i have human interaction again. it's nice having them home.

i told them about my change in career. and they were very supportive (not surprising). actually, after i told them i wanted to do teaching, my dad said that he and my mom were talking when they were in california about how God was probably closing the door on the research track, which is why i haven't had any job offers. and they thought, "maybe he should teach. he'd be good at that." and sure enough, when they returned home, that's what i decided! it's totally something that God convicted all of us about. i'm happy about it. now all i have to do if finish my applications. HA! yeah, i should get on that.

in the mean time, i'm looking for a temp job. i thought i could ride on the wave of the "just graduated" mentality and bum around for a while. but no. my parents will not allow that. so, i may be working this summer after all. oh well, my wii will get a chance to cool down now. :D ok, so i don't play that much. enough to get my money's worth.

other than that, here's the run down: beach, six flags, softball, picnics, more softball, arrange a few songs, even more softball.

time really DOES fly when you're having fun

i can't believe it's june already! that means i'm very close to being 1 year older, which sounds funny, but you know what i mean.

i think i've finally decided what i want to do with my life. getting there is another story. i've realized that research and lab work really isn't me. i'm the type of person that likes to be social. i like having people around me to talk to. lab work wouldn't do it. i mean, i really enjoy the science behind it all, but i wouldn't enjoy it. you know what i mean?

i've decided to go into teaching. i'm looking into different options of schooling or different programs to teach and get my degree at the same time. i think it's more practical and more suited for me. i want to teach secondary ed science; most likely biology. i started applying to this program for inner-city schools in new york that gets you teaching right away, training, and your master's degree. i really hope i can get into this program or a program like it because it would save a lot of time and money.

i haven't talked to my parents yet because they've been away for 2 weeks now. man, it's really been lonely at home without them. as much as i complain about some of the things they do, it's just not the same without them. i actually get a little nervous and scared when i lock up for the night. all the lights are off and there's not a sound! i'm always afraid that i'm going to turn the corner of the hallway into my room and someone's going to be there with a bat ready to knock me out. i'm getting the shivers just thinking about it. anyways, i'm pretty sure my parents will be supportive. they've always known that i've been the teacher-type. i just hope that my wishy-washy thinking won't be an issue. (because it has been in the past).

in other news, i'm addicted to my new wii. i can't stop playing. i play A LOT! i just bought a new game: mario & sonic at the olympics. it's so much fun! it really gives you an arm work out. it's my excuse for not being very active. haha. when my parents get home, i won't be able to play as much. so, i'll have to find other things to do while i'm home.

i guess there's not much left to write

i was told that it's time for part 3 of my post-college post. but i realized that there really isn't much left to write that i haven't already written or told people. and those people are probably the same people that will read this. SO, the moral of the story is this: bing has been good to me. God is amazing. i will miss everyone at bing, but don't worry, i'll be back to visit! :D

part 2!

if you haven't read part 1 yet, please do so (scroll down).

i suppose enough time has passed since my last post. and since i'm home alone for 2 1/2 weeks, i'll have plenty of time to write more; especially since i have no one to talk to at home. haha. so i shall continue my after college thoughts now.

speaking of senior year, one of the highlights was tonics. you may know us better as the binghamtonics. either way, it was definitely a great experience for me this year. a cappella was my life in college. not 1 semester went by where i wasn't involved in a cappella. 8 semester shows, 7 dollar shows, 3 semesters as MD, 1 semester as AMD, and the memories are endless. now, don't get me wrong, tonics wasn't the only a cappella highlight. i could never forget koinonia. i had an amazing 6 semsters with that ministry. i learned a lot musically and spiritually from my brothers and sisters over those 3 years of service. it's funny, though. this past year, A LOT of freshmen joined the group. and these freshies were AMAZING. part of me wishes i could have stayed in the group knowing that they were going to join. but, i knew that God had wanted me to leave the group. i have no regrets about leaving. i'm glad all these new people have joined and that they are all passionate about the group. steve did an amazing job moving everything forward and now i think the group can grow to its full potential. you know things have changed and are a lot better when the other a cappella groups comment that koinonia sounds good at dollar show. usually, that's not the case...but now, they're definitely up there to being one of the best groups. now that i think of it, no one ever said that when i was in the group. haha. maybe it was me. HA! anyways, i'm proud of koinonia. i love you guys!

now, back to tonics. these are some amazing people. i met some of the most genuine people here. even though they can go a little crazy sometimes, they really care about each other like family. and, it helped that mike was in the group with me. i think we both needed each other to keep ourselves sane...and in check. sometimes it's hard to live differently with so many temptations and distractions. but, having mike along side me was definitely a great help and encouragement. i wonder...as alumni of both groups, can i sing with both at the dollar show? haha. that would be awesome!

time for the BIG ONE! intervarsity. oh how this fellowship has changed since i was a freshman. going in freshman year, i thought that the fellowship was awesome. large group was great, small group was awesome. i couldn't ask for a more welcoming group of people to usher me into college. and then as i get more involved, i realize that there's a lot of things that need changing. and as i got more involved, things got harder. i got frustrated with leadership, or lack there of. but as i continued to talk with people, and pray about a lot of my feelings, things got better. and look at us now! we're more diverse, we're growing in number, and people are coming to Christ. of course, we're not perfect, but it's a start for change. i also realize that it was never my job to make change and see change. it was my job to lay a foundation where change could start. even if i don't see the change right away, God will use my efforts to make those changes in the future. being a small group leader was one of my favorite experiences in college. i led 3 different small groups and they were all awesome. the first time i led was sophomore year with dan chan. it was so weird because he was my small group leader the semester before. but it worked out really well. we led a group of really great freshmen guys. i learned a lot about being a brother and how important it is to encourage others. i didn't lead again until fall semester senior year. i lead with mike in CIW/newing. it was pretty much like a freshman guys small group. this time, it was very different. these guys really had a lot of insight into the Word and about their faith. they asked a lot of questions and really got me thinking about different things about my faith. and because i saw mike about 6 days a week, our relationship continued to grow. he's such an awesome guy and a humble servant. i hope that i can continue to get to know him even though i'm not at bing anymore. now, my last semester, i led an upperclassmen small group with boaz. it started out pretty well because we had a lot of interest and a lot of good things planned. and wouldn't you know it, only 1 of the 9 or 10 that signed up came to the first small group. after that, only 1 or 2 came consistently. bo and i got pretty discouraged and hoped that more of the upperclassmen would come. but God pulled through and brought 3 people consistently the last month and a half. we had a lot of good discussions and prayer times. the greatest thing i learned is waiting on God. we had plans and expectations, but God changed everything. it's not about what we want, but what He wants. boaz really was a big influence for me in college. being on praise team, leading SG, playing every kind of ball possible, and so many other things with bo created a friendship and brotherhood that will last forever. i'm so glad i got to know bo the way i did this year.

ok, there's more...but this post is too long already. i guess there will have to be a part 3.

fine...i'll make a blog

it's funny how quickly sites like this spread. since everyone uses blogger, i may as well make one for myself. ok, so now that i sound like one of those lame-o's who does something because EVERYONE else is doing it, i shall allow you to read my mind.

and now for the "after-college post"
it's weird to think that 4 years of my life flew by like it was 4 months. it really hasn't sunk in that i won't be moving back to bing in 3 months. it feels like another one of those years where i move all my stuff back home and don't really have to unpack it all because i know i'll just pack it again at the end of the summer. but, that's not exactly true anymore. graduation was definitely one of those anti-climactic moments in life for me. it was strange because the last month or so leading up to graduation had all the signs of the end of college. i went to my own senior banquet (which was incredibly weird. i'll discuss that later), i started to hang out with people more, i had no real work to do, people kept on asking me, "so, what are you doing after graduation?", i began to try to do as many things as possible in bing that i never did, i attended my last large group, i went all out at denny's...twice, and the list could go on. but, despite all of that, i refused to accept the fact that i'd be leaving this place and never coming back (ok, not never, but not for school...maybe). bing has been good to me. there's so many friendships that i've made that will last forever. there are things i've learned that have changed me forever. everything happens for a reason, right? i guess i was meant to be at bing and went through a lot of crap and a lot of good for a reason. i probably don't know that reason or reasons right now, but i will. and i trust that God will show me in His time.

so, what did i learn these past 4 years? thanks for asking. that's a good question. whenever i think about what i learned, the first thing that comes to mind is my pride. wow, i was a brat when i was little. and when i say "little" i mean life up until freshman year of college. i look back on how i interacted with people and i realize that i thought i was all that and a bag of chips. now i know why tiff didn't like me when i we were in 5th grade. it makes sense. the truth is, i'm totally not at all as special as i thought i was. God really broke me down and told me that i need to learn how to be humble and modest. i'm nothing...really. what makes me something is Jesus. i've grown closer to Christ these past 4 year more than i can remember. what's funny is this: i don't deserve anything God gives me. i'm unworthy of His grace. but, He gives it to me anyway. it boggles my mind. i mean, i know why he gives it: His love. but i don't know why he loves me like He does. HA! i just realized that i referenced 2 praise songs that bing's IV praise team loves: unashamed and love me like you do. haha. anyways, despite all of the up and downs of college, God brought me through. there were more ups than downs. so, if there's one thing that i can encourage you with, it's this: know that no matter how low you think you've hit, you'll be back higher than you ever thought because of the hope that Christ gives us. His love is bigger and greater than anything we can imagine. and when you experience that hope and that love, you'll want to love others just as much. (maybe that was 2 things...but they're tied together)

as much as i'm going to tie everything together, it's probably not going to work. but i'll try anyways. hang in there! there's only a little more i want to say in this post.

senior year was probably my favorite out of all 4 years. now, don't get me wrong, alumni, you guys are great. you cared for me in so many ways and couldn't even begin to tell you how thankful i am. but, the truth is, being an upperclassman and caring for underclassmen is infinitely times better than being the underclassman that's being cared for. i met so many underclassmen that had a lot of energy, passion, fire, and flat out awesome-ness. a lot of people talked about how awesome the seniors are, how we're leaving a legacy, and all that jazz. i really do appreciate all this and i'm glad that we've impacted you guys so much, but know that it's not really us that are the ones to thank and build up. it's all about God. it's through His love that we do what we do. we all serve one purpose: to glorify God.

ok, i'm tired. i think i will tell you part 2 later.