Category: Current Stuff

I’m doing the classic “is this what I want to be doing with my life?” thing. Academically, professionally, musically.

There are definitely parts where I am completely dispassionate. Obviously I’m better doing things that interest me, but realistically everything has elements that aren’t fun, so I need to figure out if the big things in my life (my major at school, my work, the amount of work I put in or don’t put in to my music) are: a) Things I enjoy that make the occasional hassle involved a worthwhile effort, or b) Things that I don’t enjoy overall.

I’ve been praying a lot about it, and I have a few ideas of where it would go. At this moment though, I’m clueless of where it will end up. One thing is for sure, though, I’m going to approach 2008 very differently.

Today was our first day out snorkeling. We went on a three-hour tour (no Gilligan jokes, please) on the barrier reef outside Caye Caulker. The first stop was in shallow waters on stingray feeding grounds. I was on guard at first since I haven’t been around them before and had thoughts of Steve Irwin running through my mind, but later it was a pretty calm “I’m cool with you, but come too close, I will mess you up” experience.

Next we went pretty far out… Lots of impressive, deep coral. And two manatees – they were a trip.

Overall, it was really fun… I’ve been snorkeling twice before, once in the Yucatan at Isla Mujeres, and once on a quick dip in Hanauma Bay in Hawaii on the band tour. Both weren’t the greatest experiences, mainly due to the $5 rental equipment that I was using. I could only put up with 10 or 15 minutes because of the salt water that kept coming down my snorkel. But before this trip, my mom bought me my own snorkel, mask and fins, and it makes all the difference; I don’t have to worry about my gear crapping out on me and I can go out for extended amounts of time.

I am hoping that I can work up enough of a tan to upgrade me from “pasty whiteboy” status to a shade of tan that says, “doesn’t work in a computer lab.”

Still no photos. Gotta go to a different internet café for that.

*tumbleweeds*

…Yeah, it’s been pretty quiet ’round these parts recently. But for good reason: I’m in the middle of a 2-week vacation.

The first week, I went to Cape May, New Jersey. My mom’s family goes there pretty much every year, and we have a big family. I hadn’t been to Cape May in about five years, so it was really great going back and seeing almost the whole family. But I’ll talk about that later.

Today, I got into Belize with my mom and stepdad. So far, it’s awesome… Caribbean weather, high humidity…. But sooooo relaxed. Pretty much everyone so far is very nice and outgoing…. Not packed at all. Kind of hard to put into words at the moment.

Hammocks. Beach bars. Sand roads, golf carts, and bicycles.

Oh, and drinking age is 18.

I’m in a nice internet café right now, but there’s a big “NO uploading of pictures during happy hour” sign so I guess I’ll have to do that bit later. I have a ton of pictures to post, and I will probably write something more descriptive about Belize later. In the meantime, I have a lot of snorkeling and beach bumming to do.

Last Friday I moved out of my Corbett dorm and into a house less than a mile south of campus. There’s a lot of different stuff to get used to, both good and bad.

Bad:

• It’s still kind of a shock to walk across campus, see my wing of Corbett, and not think “that’s home”.
• It’s weird to think that I can’t run down the hall and freak out over the latest development in Lost or The Office with the guys.
• I can’t roll out of bed and be at work/class four minutes later.
• People don’t cook meals for me 3 or more times daily.

Good:

• No sharing a room (If you have access to my protected posts, you’ll understand just how important that is!)
• Nowhere near as much noise – 45 less people to wake me up
• I don’t have to fit my belongings in one shared room. I keep forgetting about this one, and have to remind myself when I start thinking, “Where in my room will the fridge fit?”
• My bike isn’t exposed to the elements. (Nice since it’s pouring outside)
• I get to start cooking again, which I actually enjoy.

I’m also transitioning into my summer mode… I still work on campus, and I’m taking Calculus for four weeks. This will be my fourth summer at CSU, since I spent a lot of time there when mom was at work, or when I was at band camp. It’s kind of a shame- Colorado State is definitely the nicest in the summer, right when everyone takes off. Half of the normal school year was under snow. But the summer is nice because everything is more laid-back, and there are so few people around.  Then again, most of my friends are from Littleton, Castle Rock, or Arvada, so not having a car is definitely hurting. Oh, well.

Overall, I’m happy to be where I am. I’ve got some good stuff in store for this summer, and more might unfold if I’m lucky.