Wind

Have you ever felt the wind shift? Wind can carry in clouds or take them away. A shift in the wind pattern either means that a storm is coming or it is being blown away. Do we have any influence over the wind? If we try really hard can we make the storms go away? Storms come and go in our lifetime. Usually while they are around the seem miserable and terrifying, but after they leave we tend to forget about them. Then when the next storm comes we go back into our gloomy hideout thinking it will never end... but somehow, it always does. 

In the hog business a storm means one thing; mud. Pigs love mud as many people may know. Pigs are stereotyped as dirty smelly animals that roll around in the mud all day. Well it time to quash that belief. Pigs cannot sweat so they use the mud to keep themselves cool. Pigs are actually one of the cleanliest farm animals because they don't dispel waste where they eat and sleep. Anyway after a storm the pigs will go crazy running around in the mud till they are covered snout to tail and you can't tell one from the other. 

Storms do the same thing they smear the truth. One of my favorite sayings is "someone will believe a lie because they want it to be true or because they are scared that it is true".  Storms bring out our greatest fear and sometimes we believe these fear to be truth simple because we don't want them to be true.

After the mud is washed away from the pigs it is easy to see which pig is which, and you wonder how you ever got a white pig confused with a black one. 

After the storm clears away you look outside. See the sun beginning to shine through warming the earth with its soft supple glow. Or maybe you even see a rainbow, Gods promise to the earth. As you see the light and the good you wonder why you ever doubted that things weren't under control. You think that wasn't so bad.

The storms are actually good for the pigs it gives them a chance to have fun exercise and to cool off from the brutal heat pounding down on the day after day.

 Seek strength to make it through the next storm. You may or may not know when it is coming, you watch the weather but even that is a guessing game. Storms aren't all bad take hope in this fact, "Consider pure joy my brothers whenever you face trial of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith that develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

The wind is shifting all around us. Don't let it blow you away, weather the storms. 

Farming Pigs Isn't all Glamours

Well not much special has been going on with me. I have been going to school and track practice for the last two months and it has been pretty chill. I have been looking into my schedule for next semester and have put together a few classes that are alright. I am only taking 13 credits but it seems like I am in class a lot. Compared to my other suite mates I have a really hard schedule. I guess thats what happen when I choose one of the hardest majors offered. Overall it should be better next semester because I have practice at 2:30 so I will be done by 5:30 instead of 7. This will be awesome because it will give me more time to work on homework eat dinner and chill at night.

All of this picking classes really makes me think about what I want to get a degree in and what I want to do for my career. I am not really sure what kind of job I would be able to do with a degree in biochemical engineering. I am really interested in getting a chance to get an internship and some experience in the field. I guess I will just have to see how it goes, but I really don't want to work all summer.

Oh yeah I almost forgot my pig died. It was pretty hard to take but I now have more experience raising pigs and next time hopefully a pig will not die. Thus goes my life as  a pig farmer. There are highs and low just like like any other persons life. I feel like I am searching for something but I am not sure what. All I can do is wait and keep my eyes open.

Times Change

I took the opportunity tonight to review my past blogs. What I noticed was that many times I what I wrote was not very clear. I seemed to struggle putting my ideas and thoughts into written format. I also noticed that I have tended to stray away from my writing of perspective and other ideas that I have on my mind. I originally went looking through my post because I wanted to read an earlier post where I talked about "You never know what you got till it's gone." I still agree with this statement. I don't know why I have changed my style but I think I would like to go back to my old ways of writing, but this time in an easier to read and comprehend format.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! If you must-but never quit. 
Life is queer, with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might of won if he'd stuck it out;
Stick to your task, though the pace seems slows-
You may succeed with one more blow.

Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt-
And you may never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worse that YOU MUSN'T QUIT.

Ok I found this poem on line. This was the start of my "Inspiration Wall" and probably one of my favorite poems. How important is it to not give up just because things may look dreary. Like the poem says you may be closer to your goal than you realize. You can't let one disappointment set you back because you need to be ready for the next opportunity that comes. I am hoping that this will spark some fresh idea's that I can write about. Anyway there is a new post for me Later.

New Car! At Last!

Wow the search is over, I just got the confirmation call from emma telling me that there is a car for me in my drive way!!

 I got a call from my mom last Sunday telling me that there was an Acura for sell in the park and ride off of 27 in Mt. Airy. I told her I was watching the Redskins game and would look at it during halftime. Well with the skins down 14 nothing after the first quarter i figured I might as well go look now. Thinking they might be playing better when I get back. Well I got to the park and ride and there it was a silver Acura. When I went up for closer inspection I saw that it wasn't an integra which was what I had been looking for, but a CL. I had never really looked into a CL but I liked what I saw. It was a coupe with black leather and what looked like a manual transmission (I now Know it has a sports shifter which is manual automatic hybrid). I checked out the info and saw that it was a 2001 Acura CL type s. It had all options including a navigation system, pretty fancy. The asking price was $4,500, which was within my $5,000 limit. The only thing that almost scared me away was there were 194,000 miles already on the car. After going home and checking the blue book value I found that even with the high mileage the car still blue booked at $6,500. After seeing that the car was listed at $2000 below blue book I couldn't resist. I gave my Dad the all go to try and set up a test drive. He called me Monday night and told be that he got to see the car it looked nice and the fellow who owned it had kept really good care of it. There was a little rust on the front hood but other than that it was pretty well kept. My Dad was able to work the price down to $4200. I am going home this weekend as soon as possible so I can drive the car. Hopefully I will be able to take it back to school with me but it needs new plates and to pass inspection. The tint has to be taken off and one of the headlights needs a bulb replaced in order to pass inspection hopefully that won't take to long.

This is about what the care looks like, this one is probably a little nicer but almost the same.

It took a while, but I finally have a new car. I am happy and I am sure that Emma is happy. I can't wait to try out this sweet machine. Ask nicely and I may even take you for a spin!!

Back In Track

I am officially back and track mode and actually have been for about two weeks. It feels good to be back into a routine of regular strength training and conditioning. I am still somewhat limited due to my still recovering thumb but anything is better than nothing. I am continuing physical therapy and should be cleared by the end of October.

I am very impressed with college track so far I definitely feel like it is a big step up from high school but I relish the challenge. Since I started lifting again I have been sore almost everyday. We start throwing the weight next week, I am excited and a little nervous to be learning an entirely new event. The weight, for those who don't know, is similar to the hammer except it weights 35 lbs. and I believe is a little shorter. I am already guaranteed to be in the top two because there are only two throwers, this takes a little pressure off me because I know I will already be competing and don't have to fight for a spot. Also though it means that I will need to try and help the team score points once the big meets start coming up. 

Well gotta go therapy beckons.

College Boy

It is official I am in college. The third week is underway, no turning back now. It has been unorthodox compared to the life that I am used to. I am separated from family and friend that I have had as support. I don't have parents to ask advice from, there are no sisters for me to be a brother to, and I have no one to tuck me in at night. I have been spoiled throughout my life with two loving parents and two awesome sisters. I have been privileged with a core groups of friends who love me. The one constant I have in my life is God. He is always with me and will never forsake me. It is comforting to know that I have the ultimate shepherd watching over me. I have been exposed to a lot of the dirt that college has to offer, and I don't think I've seen it all. I am praying that I can be a light on the UMBC campus. 

Class has gone great so far. I have taken one quiz which I aced, 100%. Taking notes has been very tedious with my thumb still recovering from surgery. I have pushed through and believe that I am doing an adequate job. Todays class was a little boring but hopefully that was a one day thing. 

Track is starting on Thursday. I will not be able to do everything right away it will probably be mid October before I am 100%. 

Well that is all I have for now. Can't promise I will be faithful to the blog but maybe I will.

The Worst Morning Ever

Today has been great but it didn't start out so hot. I woke up this morning with 15 minutes to get ready for my orientation down at UMBC. As I climbed into the shower at 6:45 I was exhausted -I never even got up that early at city reach- even the water couldn't wake me up. I came out of the shower to see my mom heading down the stairs. I asked her why she woke me up so late. She said that she was a little frazzled because "Xavier (my goat) had died overnight" his collar had gotten stuck on a loose bungee cord. This stopped me in my tracks as my hear dropped to my stomach. I never realized that I had developed such a deep connection to my goat. Goats are funny animals, they are similar to sheep but at the same time nothing like them. Sheep are stupid (excuse my harsh words) no other word better describes a sheep. Goats have distinct personality similar to pigs. I haven't been down to the goat pen since I heard that one of mine had died. I am scared to face it. 

The rest of my day went 100 times better.

I went down to orientation where I met up with Tim and Roy Jones, and Colorado who I am still hoping will be my roommate. It was cool getting to meet fellow UMBC freshman. I also got to pick out my classes for the fall. I don't really know what to think about my schedule. I did what they academic advisers told me not to do by having a math and a science at the same time. I have 14 credits for my first semester of college. I have a healthy behaviors class that is required for all athletes, I am going to retake calculus 2 to make sure I have a firm understanding on everything, Chemistry, and sociology round out my classes.

I got a pleasant surprise before I left. I went to the bookstore to buy some UMBC gear and check out the deals they had on Macs. When I got there I see my Mom and Dad in line with a 15" MacBook Pro, Epsom printer, an 8G ipod touch, an extra two year apple care protection plan, and a blue tooth mighty mouse. They were having a deal where all of that stuff came for like $1932. I was pleasantly surprised, I knew I was going to get a computer but I thought it was going to take forever. It is sweet. I am still trying to get the hang of everything. I am really digging the sweet track pad it is awesome. 

Right now it is 12 and I am blogging while I play around on my new mac. The day started off horrible but the rest of the day has been awesome. I have left some other exciting parts out because I am getting tired. I will never forget my goat Xavier.