Well folks, today marks the end of the first fourth of our college extravaganza! It was quite interesting seeing our room get transformed in a day's time back to what it was the day we arrived - craziness! It was not a highly emotional experience for me, so I guess that means I'm a man and can take the change. I'm quite happy to be home, except that I am going to miss those friends Will mentioned - the ones God has blessed us with and that we both thank Him for every day. Luckily I'll be traveling up to Hendersonville a few times to visit with them, and maybe (I'm crossing my fingers here!) it won't even be one at a time! Hopefully all of us Chattanooga boys can carpool up there once or twice this summer so we can all reunite again....the chance may be rare but I think with prayer it could happen. Anyway, that is all for this entry. Stay tuned, because I'll be sure to at least update this again by the start of next semester!

~JD (formerly known as Gravy...I'm not kidding)

Eight hours till they judge whether I've learned to account or not.....

I'm not gonna pour my heart into this thing at the moment because I really need some sleep.....but yeah I have about a dozen mini-crises going on right now, all of which have the potential to blow up in my face and most of which are counting down inexorably until that happy moment of combustion.  This is in no way a call for sympathy of any sort, but rather sort of a heads-up I guess even though the 3 of you who read this are all going through similar mini-crises and know what's up.

This semester's left me completely mentally, emotionally and physically drained, but for some reason also fulfilled.  So many aspects of my life have changed, equally for better or for worse, and it seems as though I'm equally let down and lifted up from these changes.  If there is one thing that God has truly blessed me with, however, it's my friends, some old and some new, but most appearing in ways I'd have never expected, and all for purposes that lifted me up in some way, and for that I can only be incredibly thankful for every day they're still in my life.

So anyways, that's all I've got for now, kids.  Time for a snooze and then it's off to enjoy another incredible God-given day.  And as long as they keep coming, I'm gonna keep enjoying them.

~Will

Well it sure has been a while since one of us has posted on this thing. So I guess I'll go ahead and do that, seeing as how I'm sure the masses of people out there who consistently read this are waiting for a new entry! Well, feast yourself upon it, because here it is! Basically I just wanted to say that college has been quite an interesting experience. Since it’s about over for the first year and I’m not really sure how much I’ll ever post on this site again, I just figured I’d sit down and write a good one now.

For starters, I just have to say that college is one heck of a crazy experience. I’ve gone through a lot of things that I will never forget for the rest of my life - most good, but some bad. Classes have gone pretty good both semesters, except for the Calculus teacher I was unlucky enough to receive first semester. Luckily I’m retaking the class with a much better teacher and I’ve got a good grade in there so far. I’ve become pretty involved with the Presbyterian Center up here and it’s proven to be a good move. I couldn’t be happier with most of the people who go there, and I’ve made a lot of friends there, not to mention meeting Kathleen, who in more ways than one has changed me for the better and together I feel we have grown a vast amount in spirituality. Dating her has been, still is, and hopefully will be for a long time to come one of the greatest experiences of my entire life! Up until I have never had anyone close enough I could discuss ANYTHING with, and she has truly been a blessing from God.

And with that said, I must add that there are parts to college life that aren’t as happy-go-lucky as others. Kathleen may be the single best person to come into my life up here at UT, but my relationship with her didn’t come without its costs. That isn’t to say she isn’t more than worth it, but you might find sometimes that the people around you don’t support the decisions you make or even believe you’re smart enough to make them for yourself - my advice to anyone is, as cliché as it sounds, to be yourself. Don’t feel like anyone else should have ANY jurisdiction over the way you live your life and the choices you make. I thank God almost every day that I went ahead with some of the decisions I have unfortunately been forced to make up here, because I don’t regret following what I believed and it has turned out for the best!

Don’t get me wrong, college itself has been one of the greatest times of my life (if not THE greatest), but I’ve found that it really changes people. Be forewarned, kids - there are people who you feel close to who, once they get into college, will do things you never thought they would ever do, and probably that they never thought they’d do. I have to be honest, it has come as a shock to me how sometimes people can absolutely throw away their morals to achieve some sort of false and temporary pleasures - the number of people up here all over campus who do things I would be ashamed to do is shocking. I’m just a sheltered conservative kid, but it still gets to me even though I realize that’s exactly what I am.

Anyway, that’s probably my last post for a long while. So until I talk to whoever you are reading this later, keep it real.

~JD

P.S. Molly Buns, the entire Presbyterian Center is going to miss you - I really hate to see an awesome girl like you go!

Best not to celebrate the anniversary of yesterday....that was the worst I've felt in about a decade.  Thankfully it was one of those 24-hour bugs and JD and I are both fine now!  Anyways I thought I'd update this before the Xanga management decides it needs to be thrown out.

~Will

In keeping with the new tradition of well-wishing on holidays, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~WILLnJD