Joys of Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone. It left equally as fast as it came which makes appreciating every moment of it hard to do but very worth it. Most of the same traditions that we did remained the same, such as candle light service at church, a large dinner on Christmas eve, and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Never mind the fact that "candle light" service is now with electric lights, our Christmas eve feast was an assortment of 6 different Costco appetizers, and the rolls were made Christmas morning with the help of instant roll makers from the Pilsbury Dough Boy. Please don't think I had a problem with any of this (except for the church candles; really? electric candles? way to drop the ball on that one, ehh?) but I did find it funny the way our family improvised on traditions. Adapt and overcome is what the Army always says and I think that is clearly upheld in this family.

Onto Christmas morning; the day that every child's calendar revolves around. It was probably around 9:30 before everyone stumbled out of bed. Dad made the coffee while mom salvaged what turned out to be some delicious cinnamon rolls. Santa brought us all iPod armbands, with wireless blue-tooth earbuds. Santa knows his technology. I also received the Micheal Buble Christmas cd, which has been playing non-stop since its been opened.
Other presents from the year included: an Under Armor sweat suit, banana republic shirts, Vibram running shoes from New Balance, and some new BOXERS!!

Just trying to get into the spirit of Christmas

Jessie's Reign of Terror

Ever since Jessie was a young'n, she has found it her personal responsibility to terrorize anything that moved. Her form of "torture" comes from pinning you to the ground and tickling you until you admit her superiority. This method worked when she was the oldest, tallest, and out weighed all of us. I was the first to experience this reign of terror simply because I was the only one around, but after Jocelyn and Austin came she quickly picked up the extra workload in stride and harassed all of us equally, proving that she was the oldest and "most dominate". Fortunately, that reign of terror only worked from the ages of 2-13 in which she was the biggest, but from 14 till present she has yet to realize that she is no longer the tallest, strongest, and most dominate...even though she is 5'6" and about 130lbs. Meanwhile, Austin is currently benching 130lbs around 20 times, Jocelyn is almost 3 inches taller than Jess, and I not only outweigh her by 40 lbs, but also have almost a foot of height on her. But that does not deter Jessie from still trying to prove that she is the oldest and most dominate. The pinning and tickling method no longer works like it did before and she is usually left on the bottom of the pile. This does not stop her from initiating contact, and for that matter, admitting that she has ever lost a wrestling match against one of her "littler" siblings. According to her, she is still undefeated and the most dominate even when she is the one looking like she got her butt handed to her. Jessies favorite response in that situation is, "come back here...I ain't done with ya yet", even though it is clear that she was not on the winning side nor capable of coming up with a victory.

My research leaves me to believe that my sister has an Identity Crisis where she is left thinking that she sumo like attribute that make her impervious to mere infidel wrestlers like her younger sister. Until this complex is restored, please be alert and do not underestimate her persistence.

Tee's / Toughest Mudder (Equally Awful)

The first semester of West Point officially ended Last Friday with a 9 page history paper. Awful. I am still scared to check my grades in each class in fear of ruining the Christmas spirit. I felt pretty good in Math and decent in English, but for PL100, Math, and Chemistry I did not feel confident. I am just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best. At this point there is nothing else to do.

Toughest Mudder:
The WTM was a huge let down for me. We were getting so hyped to run it and had so many supporters that I feel like I let a lot of people down for such an early exit. I ended up doing 1 lap with Brian Gerardi, but after 4 hours of being in the cold, mud, and water, we both decided that it just wasn't safe for us to keep going. We were both shivering so bad at the end that we were splashing the broth all over ourselves. The race started out warm for Jersey (36* but sunny) so we decided to head out in shorts and save the warmer stuff for later. The sun ended up dropping within the first hour and a half and with it went the temperature. It dropped down to about 31* and windy. The worst part came at the end when there were 4 water obstacles in a row, 2 of which required you to be fully submerged in the mid December water and then swimming 100 yards in it to the other side of the bank. It was incredible how much your lungs shrank. We made it back to the recovery tent from the first lap and saw close to 35 people laying on cots wrapped up in space blankets and heaters. According to the numbers, 800 people showed up to the start line, 300 people didn't even make an entire lap, and only 103 people stayed for the entire 24 hours. Again, I feel like a wimp not trying to go out for one more, but the thought of jumping back in the water from a 20 ft tower gave me the hebadee-jebadee's. We came into the Toughest trained more as an ultra race, but really it was a battle for warmth. We brought thin running tights when the keys for success was thick wet suits. I fully expect to try it again my senior year. I want to come in better trained and equipped. The crazy part was, the leader finished 7 laps on the stupid course.... the fact that its 70 miles alone is incredible!!
So after feeling a little bummed about the out come of the race, I decided to go out for a long run yesterday. Unfortunately I forgot my running shoes at Tarmargos house when we went and took a shower there, so i dug up an old pair of Costco's trainers. . . They worked! Kinda. I ended up doing between 26-27 miles and only had one blister to show for it. I would be curious to try and do another 3 or 4 and see how I feel but want the right shoes first.

Jocelyn's Birthday Advice

So it started out as a joke a few years ago that I would write some stupid and completely useless advice to Jocelyn for her birthday. I think it started at the house when after a bsaketball game and I couldn't fall asleep, so I stayed up till 12:30 writing 10 dumb things down on her Facebook wall. Just as kicks and giggles, I did it again last year while at the prepschool. Both of them turned out pretty funny and I am left to continue the tradition tonight. I'll admit, I am kind of at a loss for some new good ones, but with some of Austins help I'm sure we can get a few more. That being said, this is an early shout out to my Lil Sis and a Happy Birthday! just because I prolly wont have time tomorrow to write it up here. Here is a look of the past two years. Still make me kinda chuckle. lol

(16th Bday)

I have waited this extra day after your birthday to invite you into the fraternity of being 16 .... bad part is... you get kicked out next year. anyways... seeing as I am the older more smarter brother, I will give you advice that i never got when I was 16. these are things I still carry with me through life today. I now give them to you. enjoy..........

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1. always check for toilet paper before sitting down.. that is the biggest one.

2. don't bother checking the expiration dates... a few days or a few years- its all the same.

3. home work is less important then facebook. always get your 3 hours min in first.

4. mountain dew tastes the best at 43 degrees. anything lower and you get a brain freeze.

5. if you aint cheating, you aint try'n

6. dont eat the yellow snow.. as tempting as it may be.

7. the grass is always greener on the other side...unless the other side is also suffering from the same drought you are.

8. captain crunch is proven to cut the top of your mouth no matter how you eat it.

9. never take candy from a stranger unless they are giving out king size... then take it.

10. free is always good, unless its a free ride at a truck stop at 3 in the morning..

hope these wonderful words of wisdom stay with you for the rest of your life... hehe

love from, -al

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(17th Bday)

So yes, it is your bday today. And i know you have been waiting for this moment since last year. . . yes, this is where i engulf you in the vast knowledge I have gained over my veteran years. This wont be as prolific as last year because, quite frankly, your only 17. Nothing big really happens at 17. Sorry to burst that lil bubble of yours but it’s the sad truth. Unless you go to Mexico, then I'm sure you can a lot of fun things… but legally… nothing. On that cheery note, just realize this; there are only 26,280 more hours till you turn 21. That is almost the same amount of time we spent in WWII… Any ways. Here are your top 10 rules for your big 1-7

1. If you see a fork in the road, don’t run it over…simple enough, right?
2. When the cats are away, the mice are a play… but to keep them from having fun, use laser triggered C4.
3. Barking dogs seldom bite, and also make great target practice
4. There’s no smoke without a fire, unless you are getting your teeth drilled at the dentists
5. All good things must come to an end, unless your pie, in which case its delicious and repeats on for eternity.
6. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, although I’ve heard that they are more intimidated by a shot gun then someone throwing an apple.
7. Where there’s a will there’s a way, except when trying to dribble a football.
8. A penny saved is a penny earned… but someone who saves theirs pennies has no friends.
9. The saying “you bit off more than you can chew” should be taken as a challenge.
10. And finally, realize that there is no right side of the bed to get out of. The only way it can be avoided is to stay in bed for as long as needed

Army vs. Navy AAR

Its Monday morning and Im about an hour away from my first end-of-the-semester-giant-lotso-point test, which is why I'm writing a blog rather then studying. Ha! No, but have been studying for the past 3 hours, including 4 hours last night so I've gotten to the point that if I don't know it by now, it prolly wont happen.

So the Crossfit competition on Friday might have been added to the most painful category list of 2011. Its funny because every stupid even I do that is painful and some sort of health danger has involved mom or dad or both. This includes but is not limited to: First half marathon, first marathon, 13 miles at 2am through the ocean, a crossfit competition, and soon a 24 hour run. They should rest assured that I am really a boring guy when they aren't around. That being said, the competition was a team lift of three different WOD's. Because our van showed up late we got assigned the 2nd WOD which was 3 rounds of 500m row, 25 strict pushups, and 25 kettle bell swings at 55lbs. I actually finished the row first and then proceeded to die out after that. I ended up dead last and was so oxygen deprived that I couldnt walk around or even keep my eyes open. Ended up going outside and throwing up for a little before just laying on the ground outside. It was one of those cases where you get up to fast and your head starts spinning... then add that all over your body. I was a mess but had a great support team there to help me out. Def am glad to have Dad, Jess, and Mom take care of me when I look so pathetic. This picture sums up the mood perfectly.

After that we went and hung out in a hotel lobby talking with some of Dad's friends. It was really fun but we didn't get back till 01:45. by the time we got in bed it was 2 and we had to set the alarm for 6. pretty brutal. The next morning consisted of almost 9 hours of standing which was awesome... ouch. It wasn't bad after the game started because we were jumping and cheering but it was brutal during the march on. We got to catch up to the Lanagans and ended spending the whole 2nd half with them. I must admit a flaw in my older post brought to my attention thanks to Gerald and Jimbo. During the 2am run before Thanksgiving, they had actually drank closer to 18-20 beers rather than the 8 that I had assumed. . . which is even more impressive. After the game we ended up going to a tailgate with the family and enjoying some time around the little fire. It all came to an end way to fast. The next day was nothing more then driving back to West Point which is never a fun story.
The best part about it all is that there is only 7 days till I am my way home. It will be the first tine in almost 7 months! Can't wait! just gotta make it though a toughest mudder first. . . oh goodness.

Army Navy Weekend

Till the season to be jolly. Well kinda. In the spirit of "All for the Corps", CBS decided to make Army vs. Navy the only football game on for the weekend of Dec 10-11th. That means waiting an extra two weeks so that there are no other games to compete against. That also means we have the game the weekend before the biggest tests of our life, or TEE's. Instead of studying all weekend like most college kids are doing, we are watching football games... see the irony in that little twist? Cuz usually its the other way around- never mind. The point is, the weekend is going to be crazy fun yet super stressful.

On that note. I did get selected to go down for the Army Navy crossfit. I'm terrified. I got skunked in practice, Im not really sure how I am going to keep up with them this week. If anything it will be a fun experience. Plus, mom and dad might be coming to cheer me on. Or in this case, dry my sobbing eyes. hah. Kind of ironic that Jessie is running the ball down with the marathon team and I'm going down to lift... and neither of us are doing well in school. See a similar trait here? hah


Now onto the real essence of the weekend. Army Navy Football. The most famous rival of all college football. Two academies clashing for bragging rights.... unfortunately, Navy has had those for the past 9 years. But this is it! I feel it. This is the year that Army beats those stupid goats and defend the Army name. I sure hope so at least because I have Kenneth Jenkins dogging me out already. I am just hoping that they can help back up my trash talking. . . please? This is the winning spirit video for this year. Pretty funny actually.

Lil Johnny

In context to the title, I just finished my first season of handball at the academy-and probably my last. We had a 4 game tournament this weekend where we played two teams. We ended up going 4-0 so that was a good way to finish the season. Unfortunetly we played bad teams, which meant I had to play some minutes in order to keep the score close; almost like handicapping ourselves. That being said, let me explain the title of the post.

Every team has a Lil Johnny. He is found on any sports team between 7th grade and 9th grade. He is the one that only goes in for that one game of the season when the score is 75-10 and there are 3 mins left in the game. The only reason Lil Johnny is going in is because he has not scored a point in the 5 years he has been on the team and his one goal is to get a single point. Everyone watching knows it. Even the grandparents know that Lil Johnny probably still doesn't stand a chance, but at least there is no possible way he can blow a 65 point lead. The crowd all goes crazy when they see Lil Johnny getting ready to enter into the game. He is thinking that they are actually rooting for him as he goes for his first career points, but everyone is cheering for the same reason; expect anything except for some athletic ability. By now, the other team knows about Lil Johnny, the ref just lets him play his own way, and both coach's have drawn up plays to let Lil Johnny score. Everyone knows that the last two minutes of this blowout is devoted to Lil Johnny scoring- no matter how much acting, fake calls, or play calls that needed to be run- Johnny needed to score. Of course, Johnny airballs a shot, or dribbles it out of bounds, or blows a layup, but the coach doesn't take him out and every move he makes has the crowd applauding, laughing, or a mixture of both. In the end, the horn sounds, and Lil Johnny still hasn't scored. He waits patiently for the next blow out where he can have the opportunity to score. Johnny is still unaware that both teams and the refs had actually tried to let him score the entire time he was in. . . . . . . . . . . at this weekends handball tournament, I was Lil Johnny. It was awful. lol

Turkey Wrap Up

So its been a minute since I last posted. My bad on that. I never got around to the Thanksgiving post mainly because I was eating...and eating...and eating. It was a beautiful thing. Grandma and the rest of the cooking crew really outdid themselves this year. We had two, count it 2, 18lbs birds, a tub of mash potatoes, and 7 pies. It was incredible. Of course there was the always enjoyable apple sauce that never ceases to amaze me. Even when I physically couldn't eat anything more I still had an overwhelming urge to have a spoonful of grandma's magical apple blend. Gets me every time.

The best part of the weekend was the 10.5 mile run at 2am. Now that doesn't seem enjoyable until you hear the company that it brought. While Dad and I were waiting for 1am to hit, the Lanagans call up dad wondering if he wants to stop by real fast. I hope in the car to say hello and the next thing you know we recruited two more 40 year old men for this little adventure. Jimbo was a little more apprehensive towards the idea but Gerald was stoke for it. He was ready to run through the water and everything. I think it had something to do with the 8 beers that both of them had had during the party earlier, but hey! Misery loves company. Gerald was a champ, he was just running and talking with me for the first 6-7 miles. He ran in part of the water with me and offered to run down eel creek with me if I hadn't shouted how much pain my...lower half was in. Good times. Dad finished the millage with me on his bike. It helped a lot having someone there for support though. I think he enjoyed the whole "Drill Sergeant" role to much though; he finished it all of with a 200m fireman's carry on the beach... just the worst!

We went into Boston as well. Dad had a brilliant idea where he gave all the kids $20 dollars to bring back as much vary of food as possible. It was essentially a deep-fried thanksgiving all over again. I found some great Asian food, philly cheese-steak and some dark chocolate coffee beans. Just the best combo for heart burn! Ill try to pull some pictures off of facebook to add on here. We also celebrated Jess and Brandon's Bday the day before. Worked out good because we got to eat more food! Awesome! We went out for dinner at the chowder house and just ate lobster and told funny stories. Great combo. I'll wrap this up before it turns into a book, but only 15 more days until I start eating some home cooking again!!!! Can't wait to be in my own bed again!

Almost.....ALMOST!!

This has been the longest past few days of my life! The countdown for Turkey Day is the only thing that is going through my head right now. So much food to eat in so little time! I'm really just looking forward to relaxing and being around the family. And of course, eating till I can't move, then trying to cram one more slice of pie in me. Just the best way to honor the pilgrims. I think on Thursday I'm going to try and write about the pilgrims and how they are the one to blame for American obesity today. Try to have my little brother as a guest writer to add a little more comic humor to it.

Speaking of comic humor, I get to try my onesie running suit tomorrow night around 2am. Really looking forward to it because I will get to see how I function in the middle of the night, how warm the suit is, and most importantly, makes me starving for dinner the next day. Lets be honest, thats the only reason we run anyways; so we can eat more and not feel so guilty.

On that note, I did actually get the millage in that i wanted for the weekend. I think I ended at 18.5 and felt decent for not running that far since May 1st 2011 (an event that we do not talk about). Funny thing about the run was ending up outside of Jocelyn's dorms in Newburg. I just ran along the railroad tracks and popped out only a mile away from her. She was baby sitting but still got to say hi for a few mins before heading back. Had a few close encounters with a train running there and on the way back, but it was still worth it. Might have to keep my options open for the winter when Im bored and want to eat all my lil sis's food.

Oh! on a closing note, I took the APFT yesterday and got a 340. Don't ask me how I got it because I'm not sure yet either. Managed to get 81 pushups, 106 situps, and a 12:52 two-mile run. Got pretty lucky because that run was so close to a 13:00. Either way, pretty happy and very surprised.

Until Turkey Day, so long.

Goodness Gracious

So its been a very long week; actually two weeks. I am very grateful for this Friday night because it is a much needed break. Another great thing is that I'm alone in my room for the weekend because both my roommates went to the temple game. That being said, I am taking every moment of quite time to myself and enjoying my personal freedoms, for example, sitting and writing my blog in my santa hat boxers and handball hoodie and not get judged for it.

School is kicking my butt. I'm so sick of it its not even funny. Call me a meat head but I've gotten to the point where I rather workout than try and understand some of these impossible questions. I know that's not the right approach to it, but I feel myself slipping towards that "beyond frustrated" stage. I got my Chem test back and I got a 101 out of 200 on it . . . a fat F. Then, my history instructor passed back the WPR's and I got a 79 out of 120. . . another fat F. I only got 3 of his 12 fill in the blanks. On top of that, he gave me a D for participation points. piss...

The toughest mudder is only 4 weeks away. I'm so scared and still don't feel ready for it. I am trying for an 18 miler tomorrow but highly doubt that i will make it. I still might try to get the distance and forget about the time. Mom got me all this high speed endurance stuff that I need to try to. I will be curious to see how much of an effect it has during a run. Everything starts after an hour of doing, so its hard to experiment with it.

Catching Up

I apologize for the long break between posts. Its been pretty crazy lately with traveling and school work. Last weekend the handball team and many other clubs went out to Colorado to play Air Force. It was a great experience not only to travel to the other side of the country, but also to compare academies. I guess I often take West Point for granted because the Air Force academy isn't everything I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, the food was incredible, the view was breath taking, and the dorms looked like 70's architecture with the cement and glass, but it just wasn't the Mecca I had heard it was. First, Plebe year, or freshman year, sucks for them. I will never complain again after hearing what they have to do. They aren't allowed to visit other cadets unless its at the library or gym. The freshman have to stop and greet every upperclassman with the upperclassman's name, rank, position in the company, and then their slogan. This means if there is a group of 6 people, you have to say somthing to each of them before you can keep walking. When I say walking, I mean running because they aren't allowed to walk to class. Plus, their gym, library and rooms are much smaller then ours.
On that note, it was still pretty fun. We flew out on Thursday afternoon in a C-17. pretty awesome. I would fly mil-air any day. Just throw on the Bose, start up the computer and watch a movie. Or in my case, try and get some homework done.
Both varsity and JV beat Air Force. It was frustrating because I played so bad, but at least I got to talk smack to one of the Air Force Cadets that was hosting us for the weekend. Stout, pretty cool kid.
Then on Saturday I woke up at 6 (8am body time) and watch the Crossfit games between Black & Gold vs. Air Force. It was pretty sick watching them tear it up. Def set a mark of where I want to be in the near future. My company commander during Beast 2 and a SL from my current platoon were both in it (CPT Zhang and SGT Smith). I got some pictures that I will upload later, but the gym they used screamed Crossfit all over it. Dirty, unglamorous, and straight raw testosterone. They had 4 racquetball courts that they put rubber mats down and just threw some weights in. Some had rowers, other had squat racks, but for the most part there was nothing traditional about it. More to follow later.
Heading into the city this weekend with Jose Colon and a few of his buddies from G3. Should be fun, except that I got a few papers to write when I get back. Can't Wait For Thanksgiving!!!

Air Force Week

Its Air Force week here at West Point. The best part about that is getting to wear ACU's all week. Can never pass that offer up. Its pretty funny watching all the cadets mess with the transfer Air Force students. For some reason, they are all in DC this week or are just heading back to Colorado for the week. Regardless, this means that all of their stuff is wide open. This usually results in the entire room being flipped (as in everything from the printer to the books on the shelf are flipped upside down), hiding their uniforms, or the best, taking all of their stuff into the central of campus. Gotta love the spirit.
The other part that is pretty awesome about Air Force week, is that West Point usually sends out most of their club teams to Colorado for a weekend jammed packed with sporting events. The awesome part is that handball plays Friday night which of course means we need to fly out Thursday morning sometime. It sounds like they are loading us on a giant 747 cargo plane type deal. I could really care less, just as long as I have my Bose head set and my computer, I will be fine where ever you put me.

Living the Good Life

You know a SAMI couldn't avoid making the blog. Saturday Morning (AM) Inspections are the dread of any cadet at West Point. Not only does the inspection totally ruin a Friday night, it also tests the limits of what a young adult can do between the hours of 7:00pm and 05:00am. This includes staying up way to late (thus the 12:45 post) trying to frantically clean every inch of his or her room before the morning. The fate of all the nights hard work is in the hands of whoever is inspecting the room. That is why I usually great the inspector with a giant hug and a Hersey bar. I like to compare SAMI's to most of my English papers and/or other graded homework assignment; the night before you are staying up late trying to do as much possible and no matter how well you think you are prepared, the grade is all subjective upon the teacher. You'd think that with the same results for both, I would change my strategy a little bit. But I like to treat every one like a challenge. I'm going to try and break my PR next SAMI and start cleaning at midnight. I think that I will just do a monster power hour starting at 11 and then see what happens. I couldn't help but add this hilarious video. Seemed pretty fitting for the occasion. (click the picture)

Tomorrow is the last football home game. Its suposta be 31 and rainy, or snowy, whichever one it chooses to be. I don't know if I'm lucky or not, but I got stuck working the concession stand for handball again. At least I will be slightly warmer then the other guys outside.
The parents are up this weekend to! Got a good workout with Aust today at Arvin. Did a Tabata workout that left us both pretty wrecked. Off to bed. Long day tomorrow

Boxing Day 3

The enitre purpose of boxing class is to teach fundamental concepts about boixng. That includes form, movements, fakes, and currently, jabs. For yesterday's class, it was only the 3rd day covering the jab and proper techniques to use and block it. Just happens to be my luck that I get a guy who can barely speak english, 10lb heavier then me, and forgets any uniformed technique that we have learned from the previous lessons. He was so sporadic at times that he would litterally drop both of his gloves to parry my little jab, only to qucikly follow up with a left hook (his idea of a jab). To add to his frantic punches, he would go at complete random times. Now I know that the whole purpose of boxing is to confuse the other guy with as many random and unexpected hits as possible, but this guy wsa throwing them while the teacher was talking! After my nose caught 3 left hooks, blood started pouring out. It pretty much continued all through class. The worst feeling was looking like a girly-man becuase this dude was wrecking my face when really he had resorted to gorrila warfare, with gloves. Needless to say, at the end of the day, as long as it looks like your trying hard, the instructors don't care how much blood is spilling into your mouth peice. .... ADRAIN!!!!

Crossfit Fail

The title is fairly fitting for a number of different reasons. Today's work out of the day (WOD) was 10 rounds of: 225lbs dead lift, 3 handstand push ups, 12 pull-up and 15 GHD sit ups. The time to beat was 11:45. Kevin Shuel and I decided to try it. The fail part came when we did the ten round in about 28-30 mins. Pretty pathetic in comparison.

The second fail (during the same workout) came from me trying to do duoble underunders. I was rocking, actually got two in a row and then -snap. The rope broke and all the beads went flying across the gym. Not like a little scattering of the parts, this was more like an explosion of plastic that erupted on everyone. Its really hard to hide from that when you have two handles in each hand and a rope thats only attached to one side. Over all it was a good lift and a funny experience.

Now its time to do homework, somthing I told myself I was going to finish on friday. opps.

Start Anew

So it's been a fairly long time since I have last updated anything on this website. It is no longer the 'Daily Chuckler', although I hope to keep the laughs coming. Couldn't really tell you why its the Point of Impact. I guess I could do somthing fancy and say (West) Point of Impact (in my life) but that kind of sounds to long to be cool. Until I can think of somthing better, thats what it is going to be.

I hope to do a blog fairly consistantly. If anything, to keep my writing and recording any memories here at West Point. I have been pretty good about doing so in the summers with a journal, but as soon as school comes around I don't have time to take out a pen and paper and write down my thoughts. Hopfully typing it will make it easier to keep up to date. One thing I would like openly apologize about is my spelling, grammer, and word usage; essentially my writing. I am no Shakespeare and my english teacher will more than happily agree with me.
I am not sure how to structure a blog yet so please excuse the jumping around. I might have a workout section at the bottom, for nothing more then my own sake to be able to look back and compare times and weights. These will probably come from my favorite website, Crossfit.com, and include somthing about how much pain I am in.

On that note, Im continueing training for the Toughest Mudder. Im doing that sucker in December with Brian Gerardi and am fully expecting it to be the single most awful experience of my life up to this moment. There is really nothing else I could think back on that will compare to the suck that this will be. I have said this multiple times though, I just can't wait for that 12 hour car ride back. Going to be warm, dry, and on my way home to my own bed! It will have been almost 7 months since I have been home. People ask why Im doing the Toughest Mudder, and there is no real good anwser for it. Its the same reason people want to jump out of a plane or do triathalons. Part of it is to say that they have done it. The other reason is to see if one can do it. I like to think of it as if you practice 10x harder than the game. Then, when the game comes around, there is always that mental edge you have of being able to compare it back to the suck and pain you already put in at practice. In my case, my dream is to go Special Forces. I know, I know, every one who joins the Army wants to go special forces just so they dont have to shave, but its more then just the look, its the attitude. Their attitude is of pure confidence. Like they are here to kick butt and take names, and then go do 10,000 pushups becuase its fun. So, coming back from that little detour, I am doing the Toughest mudder so that I will have confidence knowing that there is very few other things that will be as painful as that...for the first 24 hours.

Thats all for now. Just kind of babbleing for this first post. More to follow though with links and other fun stuff.