Ski Trip

Last weekend I got to escape West Point and go skiing in Smuggler's Notch, VT. It was a lot of fun and fairly inexpensive considering we got a condo, ski ticket, and pool access for only $130. Another awesome part of it was I got to stay in the same condo as Jessie and Brandon. We ended up having the more relaxed room compared to others, but we still had plenty of fun. The entire condo bought separate meals and snacks before arriving so when we unloaded everything we had enough food to last us a week. It was incredible. There was a point I actually got sick of eating because It never seemed to dent the inventory.

The skiing itself wasn't the greatest but anytime I can get out on the snow I am happy. I swear the entire mountain was once a giant water fall that froze over for the winter. There was pure, bullet-proof ice everywhere! Nothing like a little East Coast packed powder for ya. Here are some pictures of the trip. They are from my phone so excuse the quality.

(This is what the first and last day looked like. Got pretty luck)

(Thomas Wilson and I. He was my ski partner for most of the weekend)

This is Jessie and Brandon cooking the first night. It was awesome because we orchestrated
a sit-down dinner with salad, rolls, meat, pasta, and even some fruit.
Its pretty sad when we all got excited over playing house for a weekend.

This is the very last run of the first day. If you listen closely, you can hear the skating rink that Wilson is try turn on. We accidentally found a double - triple black diamond glade that was just a mess. It really wasn't fun because there were points my skis were to long to fit through the trees. In this clip, we got stuck on a one-way-down path that was completely ice, but also had a rock in the middle of it. So instead of sliding down the ice, you had to go straight to get past the rock and then stop on a little mogal, and then do the same thing off the mogal. The video doesn't do justic to how steep it actually was. In fact, to the right of us there was a 30ft drop off from a frozen water fall. Kinda intimidating

By the last day, this is how we all felt. A few late nights, plus a lot of food leaves you begging for a nap regardless of where you are.

To Much Tech

I don't want to sound like an old man but there are some things that just don't need to be automatic. Especially in our society, the last thing that the young American population needs is a machine that makes the most simple tasks automatic. I have found this trend to be taking over bathrooms across the country and it is kind of annoying. I will start with the toilet.



Automatic toilets have skyrocketed to the top of my Piss'n Me Off list; not an easy task to do. All I want to do is sit and enjoy a little quiet as I take care of my business. The sensors have slightly different plans. If I so much as lean over and tie my shoes then the thing starts flushing on me. After the third time of random, sporadic flushes I have built up some courage to move around freely and expect the water works to happen. By the the time I leave the stall, the guy next to me is wondering what I ate to cause a backup that needed 50 flushes to go down. Seeing as I am already looked upon as a freak, I figure why not mess with them a little more - so I come out grasping my stomach and moaning with a pained look on my face. I usually do not have to wait in line for the sinks after the little charade.

Which brings me to the next annoying automatic feature in the bathrooms. Automatic sinks and automatic soap dispensers. Really? Are we that hard up that we though motion sensors would be better then a 2" handle? I swear that the janitors always leave one broken sink unmarked just so they can have an easy laugh. I am standing in front of the sink doing the hand jive just trying to get the thing to work. It finally squirts out 3 seconds worth of water which is just enough to force you to use the automatic hand dryers.

Why they switched from paper towels to hand dryers is beyond me, but they might as well just put up a sign that says "Just Use Your Pants", because that's usually what ends up happening. I think the hand dryers are meant to just move the soapy water around on your hands not actually dry them.


I am done ranting about the electronic bathroom but I am sure some of you will agree that some things just don't need to change. Why reinvent the wheel if it doesn't flush on you as you adjust your stance. . . . something like that

Pride < Brownies

So Happy late Valentines Day! Or as some like to refer to it, singles awareness day. Having seen both sides of Feb 14th, single and in a relationship, I have found that there perks to both arguments. When you are single, you do not have to worry about spending tons of money on corney cards and mysterious chocolates, plus it is half-off-candy on the 15th for just yourself! The perks of being in a relationship is that you are guaranteed chocolate! I mean, you can argue about the romantic part of it and all, but when it comes down to it, the chocolate is the part that everyone is looking forward to.

On that note, I got package the other day from Mamma C. I honestly can't be entirely certain if she did this on purpose, but she sent out a box covered in pink hearts, baby blue streamers, and a few lightly covered smiley faces. The best part was I got the box right as all the classes were being released so I walked all the way back to my room carrying this brightly colored box under my arms. No offense to my dear mother, but I was not about to admit that I received such a lovely box on Valentines day, from my mom.... so, thanks Jessica Alba for the care package. Well, that is what everyone in my company thinks; they are so silly. Anyways, part of mom's other cruel joke is to give a starving teenage boy a small package that rattles and smells like chocolate, yet seal it tight with clear tape and hide which side opens. I looked like an addict trying to open that stupid little care package: arms shaking, eyes wide, brow sweating, I was a mess. I finally gave up with trying to be cute about it and reached for my Swiss Army knife and started slashing. About 5 minutes later I was to the point of hysteria but had just managed to open it. The care package was incredible, the entire thing was chocolate; Austin would have sneezed if he looked at it. Chocolate brownies, chocolate cookies, chocolate cookies with Carmel, chocolate cookies with more chocolate!! It was awesome! By that time everyone had left for practice so I just sat in the middle of my room and stuffed my face. I realized I had a problem when I opened my desk drawer a few days ago and found my Swiss Army knife still open after I abandoned it when the box opened.


There is really no moral to this story other then my confession towards chocolate. I am willing to look like a complete idiot for a few grams of chocolate brownies....addicted much? Yeah, I'd say so.

"1.3 Seconds Left?.... Put ___ in"

This Saturday was the Army vs. Navy home basketball game. I won't get into to many details about it because I hope to find pictures of the game surface on Google later on through the week. Anyways, after double over time, army was up by 6points and only 2 seconds left on the clock; just enough time for that poor Senior who never plays to get it.
I know first hand how this feels. Last year I had two names: the water boy (for obvious reasons), or Mr. 1.7 . The 1.7 might not be as obvious as the water boy part, but that was actually the seconds I averaged per game. There are some people, like Derick Fisher who have a name similar to this. His is actually Mr. 0.7 and that was because he made a buzzer beater during the play-offs with 0.7 seconds left..... he also makes 15Million a year, two things I never have or will do.
There was nothing I hated more last year then a blow out during one of our away games. There comes a point in the game where you actually start hoping the other team will score, just so they don't make you go in. Of course, there are those games where your wish does not come true and your team is up by 15 with 30 seconds left. After sitting on my but for almost 3 hours (2 hour car ride, 45min first half, most of the second half) there was nothing I hated more then undressing from my nice comfy warmups to stand in the game for the last 30 seconds while the other team attempted to shoot as many threes as possible. On top of that, coach is basically affirming what everyone in the crowd is think: "this kid must suck so bad they are scared to play him with more time left". I could often understand 30seconds because at least then you got a mild sweat and a chance to shoot, but with 1.1 seconds left.... why bother?

So this is a tribute to all those 1.1ers out there.... keep praying the game stays close, always wear comfy boxers, and keep that water coming.

"That Awkward Moment..." - West Point Edition

Facebook has had its waves of trends. Sometimes it is pictures, other times its about a certain topic; recently it has been every one putting "that awkward moment when...." and then something that just happened. Of course I have no better way to procrastinate so I read every single one. I have decided to come up with a few of my own awkward moments that happens here specifically at West Point. I will try to relate it to those outside of these gray walls, but no promises.

That awkward moment when you sneeze and a giant loogie comes out on your arm:
I am not admitting this to be an actual event, but I will say I may or may not have had to change my shirt at some point today. Usually I make it a point to get ready for a giant sneeze: clear the throat, swallow the mucus, and then assume a good athletic position. Well today I had a sneak attack come up and get me. The worst part was, the t-shirts we wear are nice and dark, so any wet, sticky, or otherwise wet mark stands out like a sore thumb. Good thing it was the last 5 minutes of class

That awkward moment when your "I Love Bacon" boxers are riding up past your bellybutton during formation.
There is really nothing more frustrating then trying to figure out how to discretely remove the boxers that had moved half way up your crack and slowly continue taking over the rest of your waist. I found that it is literally impossible to do at attention, parade rest, or any position other then pants completely dropped.








That awkward moment when yogurt gets all over your black jacket at breakfast
The best part about laundry around here is that it takes almost two weeks to have it sent, boiled (they don't use soap, just hot water), and then returned to the rightful owner - if, in fact, they can deliver it back to the right person. That being said, jackets that we wear every day cannot afford to go through the washer because I need it back to soon. Thanks to almost 4 months of designing, I now have a beautiful pattern of foods and drinks that have collected on my coat.




That awkward moment when you doze off in class and jump so hard that you look like you just got electrocuted
I actually have not had this misfortune ...yet. But I have seen it. I tend to go for the left-eye-closed-right-eye-half-open-but-almost-fully-asleep technique. That way, half of me can sleep while the other half of me is "awake"... and by awake I mean he can see my one eyeball.



That is all for now. Stay tuned for more. I can't think of many right now but I am sure I will add to the idea later. Have a great rest of the week

Facebook Status

There are some things that make a person swell with pride. Maybe it is a beautiful painting or creating a lovely melody on a piano. It could be winning a race or even setting a new personal record in an event. In any case, my great sense of joy comes from seeing a well written Facebook post. It could be a status or even a comment to a picture, but the more "likes" there are the better I feel. Just so happens that I set a new 'PR' in "likes" for a status. I am already up to 55 people and 2 people have reposted it. I don't like to blow my own horn to often but that def means a lot. Specially when one of the other guys already has an additional 22 "likes" lol. It really is the simple things in life that lifts our spirits; its just sad that it sometimes revolves around a social media website. Its a challenge though, all about finding that "perfect status" that just reaches out to every one.... I feel like that is why Facebook is so addicting.