Matt's World

U.S.S. Alabama

2006-10-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

I recently made a trip to the U.S.S. Alabama historical park in Mobile, Alabama. It was pretty cool. I thought I'd share a few pictures from the trip...some are pretty goofy I have to admit. Hey I had fun, and that's what counts.

I'm still here!

2006-09-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

I know you guys don't hear a lot from me lately, but I'm still alive. I just thought you might want to know that. I'm really tied up with school because the classes are especially hard this year. I just bought Anberlin's Blueprints for the Black Market. I encourage you guys to check it out. Anberlin is a very talented band, with very good music. By the way, I just got a Pillar shirt! Woohoo. I'll try to get some pics up on here soon.

God bless
Peace out
Matt

Not Much to Say

2006-08-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to find this thing called a blog to be pointless. I rarely get on here and update it anymore because I'm spending less and less time on the internet. More and more of my time is going towards working on homework. I'm taking an AP English class this year...and I'm finding it to be challenging. With God's help though, I'll know I'll survive. So, I guess I'll post sometime in the near future.

Matthew signing off...

Summer is drawing to a close...

2006-08-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

My last day at Western Auto was Saturday. I received my last paycheck which was somewhere around $200. While I'm glad to be able to sleep in again in the mornings, I'm unhappy that I won't be drawing a paycheck again until next summer. I guess I'll just have to make that money stretch...

Speaking of making money stretch, I'm not doing a very good job of it! Saturday night I went and bought ALL of the Star Wars movies. I bought the trilogy set of episodes IV-VI, and then bought episodes I-III individually (there isn't a trilogy set for the newer ones). That was about $105. lol

School starts next Monday on the 14th, so I'm not too happy about that. This week I really have to try to live up my last week of summer. I'll be writing for the newspaper high school column this year, so I have to turn in my first column on Wednesday. Today I will try to type that up.

Until the next post, enjoy summer, and God bless!

Oh...that's why.

2006-07-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

"Why is the rum always gone? Oh...that's why."

That was a quote from the world's greatest pirate. Go watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest while it's still in theatres! Believe me, you won't be disappointed.

Argh

2006-07-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

No I'm not a pirate, I just couldn't think of a title! Anyway, just though I'd share a random pic with you...

Fishing in Lake Pontchartrain

2006-07-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

The digital cam

2006-07-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

I just recently bought a cool Kodak 6.1 megapixel camera. I'm having a lot of fun with this gadget. Stay tuned for lots of pictures!

I Found a Pic!

2006-07-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

You guys remember that girl that I was telling you that I liked? Well, I was able to find a picture of her on the web. So...here she is.

She's a really nice girl, and she's a Christian (which is even better!). So what do you guys think?

Orange Beach...

2006-06-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful place the beach is. Last week me and my family had the privilege of going to Orange Beach, Alabama. We also at this restaurant named Lambert's where they come out and throw rolls to you! It was great. I hope to go back to the beach soon...

Vacation!

2006-06-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

I'm going on vacation with my family through Thursday to Orange Beach, Alabama! Yeah, I get to get off work for 3 days and go have some fun in the sun. Don't worry, there will be plenty of pictures to put up on the blog when I get back. Well, hope you guys have a great week. Visit the blog Thursday or Friday and I should have updated by then.

The Silver Lining

2006-06-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

Well guys, after receiving my first paycheck, I think I have the renewed strength to keep working my job. I didn't enjoy working at Western Auto up until 5pm today, but I think I will get over that. The silver lining to working 40 hours a week is you guessed...the money!

Well, It's been a Week

2006-06-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

So far I've survived the first week on the job. Tomorrow is pay day...woohoo! I'm looking forward to my first 40 hour week paycheck. Other than my job, nothing much is going on in my life right now. I'm still interested in that Christian girl that I was telling you guys about like 6 months ago. However, I'm pretty much just leaving that alone and in God's hands. Also, I'm discouraged because I'm looking for some strong Christian friends, and I can't find any. So, please be in prayer with me that I'll find some Christian peeps to hang out with. Well, that's pretty much all. Oh wait, you guys have to see Hoodwinked. It is a movie parody on Little Red Riding Hood and it is pretty funny. You won't be disappointed. God bless and have a great weekend!

My 1st Day on the Job

2006-06-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I got off work about an hour ago. I'm working at Alexander's Western Auto here in Pearl River. I found today to be rather boring, but I think it's because I really haven't been giving a lot of training. All I did today was price items, stock, and casheir a little bit. I hope to earn some money this summer, and I surely will because they plan on working me 40 hours a week. Next week they are working me 40 hours. Well, now I won't be able to live a lazy lifestyle anymore because I'll have a job for the summer. I used to just waste my summers away by lying around the house doing nothing, but no not this summer! Now I will learn responsibility. lol

How to get tourists back in New Orleans...

2006-05-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Summer is here!

2006-05-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah! School let out for the summer Wednesday! So far my summer vacation is pretty laid back. I remember telling a good friend of mine that I planned to most importantly, catch up on sleep this summer. Well, last night I went to a Halo party at my friend, Justin's house, and I got absolutely NO SLEEP. So, I guess I'm not getting the summer off to a good start am I? Oh that's alright, I've got 2 and a half months to catch up on sleep. However, the summer will be over before I know it.

Right now I still am hunting for a job. I will probably have to apply at some fast food places because Winn-Dixie and Western Auto are not responding to me. Hey, as much as I would hate to work fast food, it's a job and I will get money. Please be in prayer with me about what job the Lord wants me to have and that I will be able to get it. This week I plan on sending out a lot of applications. I want to start working ASAP, even though I am somewhat nervous because I've never had a job before.

I will leave you now, as I need to get some sleep for church tomorrow. Until the next blog post, so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good night!

Job Hunting

2006-05-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, there's only a few more days of school left, and then I'm out for the summer! With the summer comes vacation, Halo parties, and other fun stuff. However, summer is also the time to find a job and make some money! I just started the job hunting process yesterday when I sent in an online application to the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain. This week I plan on applying at several other places, but I'm not sure at what other places I should send in applications. This will be the first summer that I have ever gotten a job. I just turned 16, so now I can work for most supermarkets, fast food chains, etc.

My friend, Justin, is also having a Halo 2 party Friday! We will connect 5 Xboxs together and have huge 10 to 15 player battles. It will undoubtedly be a blast.

Now the time has come for me to get ready for church, so God bless and have a wonderful day!

GEE scores

2006-05-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Praise be to God! I did very well on the GEE (Graduate Exit Exam). This is a test that you must pass in Louisiana in order to graduate from high school. As a sophomore you take the English and Mathematics portion of the test, and as a junior you take the Science and Social Studies portion. This year I took the Math and English since I am a Sophomore. In English I scored in the Advanced category (the highest category), and in Math I scored in the Mastery category (the 2nd highest category). Because I scored very well, I will be exempt from both my English and Geometry final exams. This is awesome, there are only 6 days of school left, and now I did well on the GEE.

The summer is just around the corner...things cannot get worse they can only get better!

Mother's Day

2006-05-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is for all of those kind and loving mothers out there! We wish you a Happy Mother's Day...and may God bless you.

For the rest of you fellow bloggers out there, don't forget to give your Mom something special...if nothing else, at least a hug!

Busy, busy, busy!

2006-05-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, the last 2 and a half weeks of school are always a pain...but especially this year. Tomorrow afternoon I have a doctors appointment at 4pm. and then an athletic awards ceremony at my school at 7pm. Wednesday night I have church from about 7pm to 9pm. During this week I have to have both a leaf and insect project for Biology done for Friday. I have all 25 leaves and 25 bugs , but I am having to go through the painstaking process of identifying them all. Hopefully I won't have a lot of homework this week on top of that! Saturday, I am helping my brother Josh move out of his dorm at LSU because his last exam is Saturday, and he will be coming home for the summer.

Today I volunteered to be president of the Fellowship of Christian Students organization at my school for next year. I believe that I was supposed to volunteer because we need to really get the organization back on its feet. Me and one of my best friends, Ryan Branson (who will be vice president), really want to see the organization come back to life. The hurricane really put a damper on what we were able to do as a ministry to our school. Next year we desperately want to have an on-campus outreach. My brother Josh and his Chi-Alpha organization are supposed to come in and help us with this outreach in the fall of next school year. Just please pray for me and the organization. I know that God will require more of me now because I am charged with leading the students in the organization. I'm praying that God will begin to show me and others in the club what He wants to do next year. We need to be lead by the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit isn't involved, I need to not be president and someone else who has God's vision for the Fellowship of Christian Students needs to step up to the plate. Lord, help us to know your will and stay submitted to you!

God bless,
Matt

I'm speechless...for the most part.

2006-04-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, guys, nothing much is going on in this life of mine. The only thing interesting going on at this moment in my house in Pearl River is broken air conditioning and the song Poparazzi (Switchfoot) playing through my head phones. Last night I couldn't get to sleep for a while because it was rather warm and stuffy in my room. I didn't sleep very well. However, I may actually sleep well tonight because it rained today and the temperature has dropped considerably with the rain. It's only like 69 or 70 right now. I hope we get the A/C fixed before summer rolls around or it's going to be unbearable in here!

Now I must go and study for a oral Spanish grade tomorrow in class. We are pretending that we are taking a trip to a Hispanic country and I have to "go through customs" tomorrow. My teacher told me to stick some scissors in my bookbag so I could get busted for carrying a weapon. That is pretty hilarious, me bringing a "weapon" into a foreign country! Anyway, good night to all you wonderful friends.

Another crazy video...

2006-04-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

I keep finding these crazy videos on myspace's website. Here's one that will make you cringe!

Train video

Lightsaber Duel

2006-04-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

I found this really cool video of two guys out in California that did their own home-made lightsaber fight video. They're not using the plastic fake lightsabers either, this is the real deal. You gotta see this!

Lightsaber Duel

Pensacola Beach

2006-04-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of going with my brother Josh and some of his college buddies to Pensacola Beach in Florida on Friday. We had a blast. It may appear in the following pictures that we were acting goofy...know this, that is the truth. Thanks to my brother Josh and his Sony digital camera, I am able to bring you these astounding images today. ENJOY!

Darth has a new apprentice...

2006-04-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

2006-04-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

My friend, Sean, doing some old fashion rock climbing.

NO!

2006-04-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, LSU was overmatched by UCLA's great defense and offensive gameplay. LSU lost 59-45. Here is an excerpt from a news article by WWL's website:

"Echoes of dominant UCLA teams of the past raced through Indianapolis Saturday as the Bruins dominated LSU from start to finish, ending the Tigers’ dream run in the NCAA Tournament with a crushing 59-45 victory. All of the vices LSU had avoided during its four-game postseason run came back to haunt the Tigers Saturday. LSU turned the ball over, was beaten to the offensive glass and certainly were outshot. The Bruins defense was the intimidator in the Final Four game where LSU’s defense had been the intimidator in wins over Duke and Texas. The Tigers were held to a season-low first half total of 24 points and then scored even fewer (19) in the second half. Glen Davis led LSU in scoring with 14 points, but he hit only 5 of 17 shots."

Well, as I am very disappointed that LSU came so close to a national championship and lost that chance tonight, I am still very impressed that LSU made it so far in the tournament when they should have been eliminated much earlier on. So, good job, and GEAUX TIGERS!

Tomorrow, the LSU women go up against Duke for a shot at being in the championship game if they win. So perhaps all is not lost!

LSU vs. UCLA

2006-04-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

LSU has entered the Final Four for the first time in 20 years. Tonight at 7:47 (CST), the game will kick off on CBS. Just a message for all you UCLA fans, LSU IS KNOCKING UCLA DEAD!

Aladdin

2006-03-31T19:30:00.000-08:00

I just saw one of the greatest performances put on by high school students. For our school's senior play, the seniors performed a production of Aladdin. From the parrot up to the genie, the acting was astounding. I wish I had a ticket so I could see it again tomorrow night. One of my good friends, Justin Christian, played the part of Prince Baba and as one of the guards. The guards and the genie were probably the most hilarious actors. Justin was playing one of the guards (and he is rather thin), and the guard he was next to named Josh Evans is a massive dude that plays defensive tackle for our football team. I couldn't help but bust out laughing at the sight of that! Anyway, I'll see if I can scrape up some pictures from somewhere of the play and post them on here.

Until we meet again, God bless and eat your veggies.

Here's to the Lime

2006-03-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Cody AKA Lime, you have made it to my list of "buddy blogs." There is now a link to you on my blog. So how does it feel being famous on Matt's World?

Ok, I couldn't think of anything else to post about so...uh, that's all for now!

Birthday

2006-03-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

I have an announcement, today is my 16th birthday! Woohoo. So far I've been given nothing but money. Hey, I don't have any problem with that (wink). Tonight my family and I are having Crawfish Eutoffee and chocolate cake. Yummy.

Chop your head off I will!

2006-03-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

You do not want to mess with this guy...

Literary Rally

2006-03-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

Today I went to the "2006 District Literary Rally" at Southeastern Universtiy in Hammond, LA. It is basically a competition including around 500 students from regional high schools that go to take a challenging test in the subject they are sent in. One person is picked by a teacher from their school to represent their school at the rally. This person can only take one test in one subject. Subjects include fields of study in science, math, English, foreign languages, social studies, etc. This year I went in Civics. I did surprisingly well, seeing as I didn't study for the test very much at all. I got 5th place in my division, which included 22 students. If I had placed 4th, I would have qualified for the 2006 State Rally that takes place in April at Louisiana State University. However, I missed like one or two questions, and I blew my chances of going to state. Oh well, there's always next year.

Beautiful Tennessee

2006-03-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

I know it's been what...6 months? But I'm finally putting the pictures of my family's evacuation to Tennessee during the hurricane and for a week or so afterwards. It turned into more of a vacation that an evacuation!

I think there are some other pics laying around the house, but I don't know where they are so that is all for now!

Delirious

2006-02-27T23:21:00.000-08:00

This is how you start acting when you don't get enough sleep...

Crazy

2006-02-26T16:54:00.000-08:00

Guys I am so bored, it isn't funny. When I should be doing things with friends this weekend and during the Mardi Gras break Monday and Tuesday, I can't do anything. Why? My sister is recovering from a sickness, and she is in the hospital. My Mom has to stay with her, so I am needed around the house to help my Dad watch the other siblings and so on and so forth. Hopefully my sister will be able to come home tomorrow so I can do something with my friends. For right now though, I guess I'll just have to become a telephone bum until I can hang out with my friends in person.

Patiently Waiting...

2006-02-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

Guys, for the time being I have decided to stop hanging out around Gabby. I'm not doing this to be mean, but I believe it is the best thing for me to do right now. I'll continue to be kind and say "hello" or something to her every once and a while, but I am basically going to stop spending time around her. She isn't really talking to me when I talk to her, so I just assume that she doesn't want to talk to me or be my friend. If she is really my friend, or wants to be my friend, she will come to me I won't have to go to her.

Please pray for me on this issue. I don't want to offend Gabby in any way. If she doesn't want to be my friend, I want it to not be because of anything I've done.

Thanks!

Lonely People

2006-02-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the lyrics to a Jars of Clay song entitled "Lonely People":

This is for all the lonely people
Thinkin' that life has passed them by
Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup
Ride that highway in the sky

This is for all the single people
Thinkin' life has left them dry
Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup
You'll never know until you try

'Cause, I'm on my way, yes, I'm on my way
Yeah, I'm on my way back home

This is for all the lonely people
Thinkin' that life has passed them by
Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup
She'll never take you down or give you up
You'll never know until you try
--------------------------------------------

I really don't know what's come over me. I feel so alone. You would think with 4 siblings that I would never be lonely, especially since 3 of them are younger than you are and they are always saying, "Matt I need..." or "Matt I want..." Also, with all of the friends that I have, you would think that I wouldn't be lonely. However my friends, for the past few days my feeling of lonelinessness has only gotten more pronounced. The problem could be as simple as this: I don't date girls. As much as I want to, I really believe that a girlfriend would be a distraction from relationship with God, and I really don't think that it would be a necessary thing, seeing as I will only be turning 16 on March 22nd. It seems like I'm the Lone Ranger, everyone else has got a companion from the opposite gender, except for me. Anyway, there's no girl a my school that holds the same conservative Christian beliefs and morals that I hold. Well, there is this one girl, but she is almost 2 years younger than me. This girl and I used to talk a lot and we were really becoming good friends, until she started ingoring me. For some reason that I can't figure out, she pays attention to everyone else when she is talking to people, but she just doesn't pay as much attention to me. I feel kind of hurt by this. I know it isn't right to be offended, but I am. When I ask her a question, like "So, how's your day going?" It seems like all the time lately, she has just stood there and shrugged her shoulders every single time. I can't stand it when someone won't answer my questions. I would rather that she answer, "I don't feel like talking right now" than just sitting there while I make myself look stupid because she won't answer me. I'm extremely upset. Never will the chance come again in high school for me to find a girl that follows the same Christian beliefs as I do. And you know what, that only chance is starting to fade into the setting sun...

Myspace

2006-02-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to inform you guys that I now have a Myspace profile. **Everyone goes wild**

If you have any suggestions on how I can make my profile better, please let me know. You can access my profile by clicking on the Myspace link under the Recommended Sites on the right of this screen.

THANK YOU!

Wouldn't it be Great?

2006-02-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

A strong cold front is supposed to move through Louisiana tonight and drop our temperatures into the 40s for tomorrow (during the day), and give us nighttime temperatures of 22 or 23 both Saturday and Sunday nights. With this cold front there is some frozen precipitation (snow, sleet) as close as Northern Mississippi, as I speak. The weathermen have said that there is the slightest chance that my area of the state could see a few snow flurries tomorrow afternoon, if it is cold enough. Wouldn't it be great if we saw flurries tomorrow, I mean that is a big event in Louisiana, where it only snows or sleets like once or twice every 10 years. Last year we had a lot of sleet, and a tiny bit of snow...maybe it could happen again???

It probably won't snow, but hey, winter's not over yet! :)

I Remember...

2006-02-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

As I was looking through some pictures on my Facebook account, I saw these two pictures and said, "I've got to post those on my blog!" One is a picture of me (turned away from the camera) and the other pic is one of my friend Justin (guy waving a hammer) working on my roof after Hurricane Katrina. This would have been about 2 1/2 weeks after the storm. We didn't know what we were doing, and at points we got kinda mad! ;)

Is Global Warming a Reality?

2006-01-28T14:09:00.001-08:00

Guys, I used to think that this Global Warming thing was nothing but another way for the conservationists to voice their crazy opinions and beliefs about the Earth. But now I'm starting to think that for once these insane people are actually telling the truth about Global Warming. This winter has been one of the warmest, if not the warmest, winter that I have ever been through. You can say, "Well you live in Louisiana, it's always warm down there!" That statement is true, but it has been WAY TO WARM. Usually in the winter time, we get down into the 20s at night usually 10 to 20 times. Our daytime temps are usually around 60 or lower. However recently, our daytime temps have consistently been in the upper 60s to low 70s, and our nightime temps have been in the 40s or 50s. Last fall was colder than this!!!

Besides the Southern USA beeing warmer than average, the midwest and northeast are experiencing above average temperatures. They are usually well below freezing for weeks at a time, and that is not happening...

Maybe the polar ice caps are melting, maybe we'll be as warm as the Caribbean is YEAR ROUND in a few years down the road.

Just something to ponder, and think about. Now if next week is very cold, I'm going to have to knock some Global Warming scientists' heads together! ;)

Napoleon Dynamite Meets Halo

2006-01-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that most of you guys have heard of Microsoft's Halo video game for the Xbox gaming system. It is arguably one of the best video games ever made...known for it's awesome gameplay and graphics. Well, I found this funny video where a scene from Napoleon Dynamite is inserted into a video clip from the video game Halo. In order to understand the humor in the video, I suggest you play Halo for a few minutes, or at least watch a friend play it on their Xbox. There is a link to the video on the right of this screen in the "Recommended Sites" area.

ENJOY!

Revenge of the Sith

2006-01-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

Wow...what can I say to this movie? Yeah, I know, sad thing that I just watch Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith for the first time tonight. As a matter of fact, I just finished watching the movie about 20 minutes ago. This is what I have to say about the movie, "WHAT A TRAGEDY!" The movie was made very well, but Anakin switches over to the dark side (becoming Darth Vader), Padame dies in child birth, nearly all of the Jedi are killed, etc. In the past 2 weeks, I have watched all of the Star Wars movies for the first time. I watched them in this order: Episode IV, V, VI, I, II, and III. Actually, I had seen the oldest ones a few years ago when I was like 5, but I didn't remember them, so I watched them again. George Lucas receives my approval on an impressing Sci Fi movie series. Since I just finished watching the newer trilogy, I feel like I have to watch the older trilogy. However, the lightsaber fights would be so boring, since they go at a snails pace in Episodes IV through VI.

Tomorrow I have semester exams for 1st and 5th periods at school. That means for me: Honors Civics in 1st period, and Spanish I in 5th period. With God's grace, I will ace them. Anyway, I need to go study for a few minutes before I turn in for the night.

May the Lord be with you!

20 Minutes to go!

2005-12-31T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well fellow bloggers, 2005 is about to come to a close on Central Standard Time here in the southeastern USA. This year has been a very historical year. Several natural disasters have occurred, but God has been merciful to us. Thanks be to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that has gotten me safely through another year. May we live our lives for Christ fully in this coming year. May God's blessings be upon you all in 2006!

Facebook

2005-12-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah. I am so cool now! I made a facebook account for myself just a few minutes ago. My facebook account is lacking friends so, please if you have a facebook account, add me to your 'friends' list and I will do the same for you! My facebook profile link is on the side of this page in the 'recommended sites'!

One of the Most Terrible Losses Ever!

2005-12-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

You know what? LSU stunk really bad tonight in their SEC Championship game versus Georgia. I am very disappointed with my favorite college football team. Their regular season record was (10,1), thus they should have beat a (9,2) team. Or they should have at least not lost by so much...34 to 14!!! I spent 5p.m. to about 8:30 p.m. today watching a game that was so terrible that I would compare with a game that my high school football team would have played. However, LSU did really put forth a lot of effort, yet they were penalized literally 10 to 20 times. In addition to that, LSU made lots of mistakes. For instance...getting sacked like 5 times, losing yardage when you are in scoring position like 10 times...and allowing 2 interceptions that lead to the opposing team making 2 touchdowns. What was really bad was when Georgia made a 50 yard field goal!

Even though LSU really made a mess out of their big game, they still get to go to the "Peach Bowl." I believe that is of course a BCS game (Bowl Championship Series). Even though LSU lost, they are a great team and did an excellent job considering they have been through a hurricane and have a new head coach!

Now, let me go deal with those pile of dishes in the sink before I go fold some clothes and go to bed. Can't fall asleep in church tomorrow!

Introduction to College Life (sort of!)

2005-12-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

My three days with my brother, Josh, at Louisiana State University over the Thanksgiving break was quite fun and quite an experience, if I do say so myself.

Thursday evening, after spending some time at my Aunt Ginny's house on Thanksgiving Day eating turkey and all that good stuff, Josh took me back to college with him. When I got into his dorm room I said to myself, "How could two people live their lives in this tiny room for 9 months out of the year?!" Josh told me, however, that he usually spends only the time that he is sleeping in his dorm room. Most of his time is spent studying in somewhere else, or with his friends.

Friday afternoon, we went to LSU's football game versus Arkansas. It was very intense. Arkansas got within 2 points of LSU in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. Everyone in the student's section and throughout the stadium was screaming and cheering like you wouldn't believe. Somehow LSU held on and won 19-17 over Arkansas. Saturday, LSU will play Georgia in the SEC championship game...WOOHOO!

After the game Friday, Josh took me over to a couple of his friends' apartments where we watched movies and played video games off of N64 and X Box gaming systems. Quite fun! We didn't get back to his dorm until 4:30 in the morning.

Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., we finally woke up! We went and ate "breakfast" at an excellent Chinese buffet called the "Great Wall." After that, we came back and watched Rush Hour, the Matrix, Galaxy Quest, and we played a little Nintendo. The next morning we went to Josh's church where the pastor gave an excellent message on the love of God, and what it truly means.

Thanks to my bro' Josh for an awesome time...I'm already booking reservations for next Thanksgiving break. ;)

I've Got a PURPLE & GOLD Ticket!

2005-11-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

Yes! My bro' Josh has found me a ticket to the game at LSU vs. Arkansas! At least I think LSU is playing Arkansas. Nevertheless, it is an LSU (Louisiana State University) game, which I've heard is quite an experience to go to one. Sometimes there has been a crowd of 90,000 people at LSU games! That is almost to hard to imagine...

The fun will start with Josh coming home from LSU on Wednesday to spend the day with the family on Thursday. I will then go back with with Josh to LSU Thursday night in order to be in place for the big game the next day. After we have a blast that Friday at the game, the next Saturday I guess we will do whatever (including some homework which I have to do over the break). After we go to Josh's church on Sunday, my family will come and pick me up. It sounds like we will have a blast...cramming 3 guys (Josh, his roomate John, and me) into that small dorm room!

Even if I have to do a little Civics project and a little hexagon drawing project for Geometry on Saturday, I will make time to have fun!!!

End of the Season and Veterans Day Dispute

2005-11-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

The cross-country season officially ended yesterday for Pearl River High School. We won our district meet because we were the only team in our district that was at the meet (there were other districts there besides ours)! Correction, we had one guy from our district that was from Loranger High School that was there. So it was our 9 man member team versus a 1 man team!!! I got 9th place out of 10 because I didn't feel well during the race because I had to go to the bathroom...So I ran a 24:08 (kind of pitiful compared to last week's 22:26). I am both glad that the season is over and I won't have to run those hard practices after school, but I will also miss our bond as a team. Don't worry about me, we will get that bond back next year when the 2006 fall season starts...I will have pictures of this meet once my friend get's doubles made of the photos that he took.

On a different note, my English teacher (who is helping to organize the Veterans Day program for tomorrow) asked me to give the opening and closing prayers for the program. I was greatly encouraged, seeing this as an opportunity to bring glory to the Name of Jesus. However, that encouragement was kind of crushed after the events of today. Another faculty member who is in charge of the program read my prayer and did not like the 3 occurences of "Jesus" in my prayers. She told me that "just couldn't" say "Jesus" in my prayers, which kind of made me mad. But what really made me mad was the fact that I did not stand up courageously and tell her respectfully that I would not deliver the prayers if I could speak the Name of Jesus. I chickened out, waiting to tell my Mom about my predicament until I got home from school today. My Mom called the school and talked to the assistant principal, telling them that I would not give the prayers if I could not say "Jesus." She told my Mom that I there would be no prayers at the Veterans Day program anyway because of the ruling made in a neighboring county that outlawed prayer at public school functions. Apparently, I was not supposed to be able to give any prayers anyway...So we will have a stinkin' "moment of silence" instead!!!!!

Guys, I am mad with myself that I didn't stand up for Jesus for myself. I'm even madder that there won't be any form of prayer tomorrow at the program. In the past there has been a benediction and invocation at every Veterans Day program. My brother Josh gave the prayers a couple of years in a row when he was in school, and he said the name of Jesus several times without any scandal of any kind...

Now I am praying that I won't make the same mistake again, but I am praying for a second chance to stand up for Jesus publicly. Prayerfully, good will even come out of this...

Record-Breaking Run...

2005-11-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

Not only was I shocked with my performance, but I was also shocked with the performance of my team as a whole...I broke my 3 mile race record today at our "Metro meet" that was held in Hammond, LA. My time was 22:26, which shattered my old record from last year of 23:50!!! I give praise and honor to Jesus Christ. This race I expected to not run at my best, but I was rather shocked when I saw on my Coach's time sheet what my time was.

Also, my friend, Justin, pulled his time down from a 26:18 last week down to a 21:54 today!!! I was extremely surprised when I saw Justin ahead of me...speeding up and not slowing down. Four of my team members and myself ended up finishing between 21:54 and 22:26. It was so crazy, 'cause we are usually spread out all over the place. The four other members of my team had times of...25:07, 20:19, 18:21, and 18:19. My coach is pretty confused right now, because all of us have dropped our times a lot in the past 2 weeks. Originally, he said we weren't going to the state meet, but now he is reconsidering!!!

I'm just happy and filled with joy unspeakable. Next week we race at the same place, and the race will be the district meet. Hopefully, I plan to get my time below the 22:00 mark!

Dashing through the Field...

2005-10-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

...with an 8-man member team, over the levee we go...vomitting all the way! (Barf, barf, barf!)

Okay, enough of that!!! In case you're wondering if I have lost all sanity, I am not sure whether I have or not. I was referring to the cross-country race of 3 miles that I ran in today. There were approximately 75 to 80 runners in this race, and I was pretty nervous before the race while waiting at the starting line. However, I had nothing to worry about, I had my second best time ever for a 3 mile race= 24 minutes and 7 seconds. My best time ever was last year at the district race= 23 minutes and 50 seconds. So if I hadn't walked the little bit that I did near the end, I would have shattered that record by at least 30 seconds. STUPID ME, I got through 2 and 1/4 miles before I started my walking-and-running routine. I should have at least jogged in and beaten my best time ever. Oh well, we still have 2 or 3 more races for us to run in, and I believe I will break that 23:50 in the next race known as "Metro Meet." A week after that is district, and a week after that is the state meet, which I am working hard now to try and qualify for state.

Whatever happens, I will finish the season out with a bang...to the glory of God!

Aerial Photo

2005-10-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

I was shocked to find this photo when I put in a search on google (images) entitled "hurricane katrina." It is a picture of part of the tiny coastal community of Grand Isle, Louisiana. Last year, in the summer, I fished at the foot of the bridge you see there. There is a parking lot there at the foot of the bridge that used to contain mobile homes in, one of which I stayed in when I was down there. Total devastation...

The whole island looks basically like this. You can view many other images of the island at this link. (http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/090E29A_KATRINA.HTM)

New Recommendation...

2005-09-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have just added a new recommended blog address off to your right. The new blog addition is my church's! Feel free to visit the church's blog. It is still being updated, but it is coming along nicely, if I do say so myself. ;)

Oh yes, I just got back to my house Tuesday evening to find a great blessing! Only a few of our small trees blew over, and we only lost a few shingles! We also had to clean up a messy refrigerator and freezer (yuck!). But my family and I are so blessed that we did so well. The neighborhoods around us had a lot of damage, but our neighborhood suffered very minor damage! Praise God for His mercy and His kindness!

One other thing, I never thought that I would be eating the military's MRE's, but I am now! We have 3 boxes of those ready-to-eat meals in our house. This hurricane has definitely altered my life a little...

GOOD NEWS!!!

2005-09-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

I found out yesterday that my house and my whole neighborhood suffered NO DAMAGE from Katrina! This is a miracle because the eye wall went right through or right to the east of my neighborhood. Our neighborhood should have been flattened by those 145 mph winds, but God had mercy and spared us! I am just rejoicing in the Lord! :)

Tomorrow morning, my family will be leaving for Nashville, Tennessee. We will be staying with some friends, and we will possibly stay in the Nashville area until we can re-enter St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. I do not know how long this will be, seeing the power still needs to be restored, and the damage to the parish as a whole was great.

I hope to find access to a computer in Nashville in order to keep updating my blog, checking e-mail, etc.

Praise God for His mercy and blessings in the hardest of times!!!

High and Dry...in Memphis

2005-08-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

Praise God, my family and I got out of Katrina's way! Right now, we are staying at a hotel in Memphis, TN. I probably will not have access to a computer for a very long time because this is my Dad's friend's computer, and this is probably the only time I will be able to use it.

My house, which is near Slidell, LA, probably weathered the storm well. We have heard that the Slidell area, north of Interstate 12, suffered far less damage than New Orleans and the rest of Slidell did. I am just thankful to God for His mercy, and that He has blessed us even though we have had to evacuate and even though our house may have taken damage. The honest truth is, it may be weeks before we can return to Louisiana, and even though we think our house is ok, we can't be sure.

My life and my families' lives have changed forever. I don't know where we will go from here. Please keep us lifted up in prayer. Even if our home is ok, my Dad relies on most of his business from clients that are from New Orleans. So, how will we make money from his law practice? Just please, pray for us! God will make a way where there seems to be no way!

Matt

Rain Down...

2005-08-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

As I was sitting in 7th period today, listening to my English teacher give another boring disortation on literature or some related junk, I was watching a thunderstorm build up outside the window. Immediately I think, "WOOHOO, maybe cross-country practice will get rained out!" So when school let out, it suddenly started raining and thundering and lightning. Well, I look over at my friend Justin and say, "YES, no cross-country practice!!!"

On the way to Justin's car, I see our cross-country coach, Mr. Bowman, and ask,"Our will still having practice, Coach?" Mr. Bowman then goes,"Oh yeah, this'll blow over in no time!" I start thinking to myself, "Is this man crazy? There's lightning and it's pouring down rain, and he's telling me that we still have practice?!" So Justin and I head over to the running track, and we sit there in his car for about five minutes. After 5 minutes, it's still pouring and the lightning is getting ever closer.

Well, Justin kicks me out the car 'cause he has to make an important phone call. So, I go wait in the bathroom by the track field, as I don't want to get struck by lightning (BTW, this bathroom is in horrible condition...). While he leaves for about 5 minutes, I stand there wondering why Justin left me here while he makes a phone call...And then the next thing I know, a bolt of lightning strikes something right next to the bathrooms and the whole building shook! By this time, I'm thinking, "JUSTIN, I SO HATE YOU!" Fortunately, Justin came back before I got electrocuted!

I think we didn't have practice 'cause we left at that moment. I guess Coach was wrong about the storm "blowing" over! ;)

No Turning Back...

2005-08-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

Folks, school has started for me, and there is no way of getting out of it! So far school hasn't been to bad, and the homework load has been manageable. However, I'm only 2 days into my Sophomore year and there are 174 days left! Sheesh...

Tomorrow I must remember to bring my $10 locker fee...these books are getting outrageously heavy. No kidding, my backpack probably weighs like 20 pounds! I was going to bring in the money today, but I forgot. This time, I'm going to remember to bring the money or my back is going to break...

Cross-country practice went well for me today, even though I felt terrible for most of the day. Right before practice, my stomach cleared up so I had the best practice so far this year! I ran 3 miles in like 26 minutes, which is a terrible time, but is 2 minutes better than my last 3 mile run! By the end of the year, I want to get my time down to 20 minutes or less for 3 miles. It is highly possible for me to do that, the question is "WILL I PUSH THROUGH THE PAIN?!"

Right now, I am going back and forth between the computer watching "Because of Winn-Dixie." It's a nice little kid movie...

Well, I will go ahead and publish this thing 'cause it's getting near bedtime!

23 Hours and 21 Minutes...

2005-08-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

The amount of time listed above is unfortunately the amount of time until school starts for me again! While I am looking forward to school, I also know that once I start school there will be no turning back. There will be homework, tests, projects, cross-country until November and so on and so forth. There is a bright side to this school year! No longer will I have to endure the ridicule of being a Freshman, this year I go in as a Sophomore! :)

Overall my summer was probably the best summer that I have had in the past 5 or so years. I thank the Lord that I had a couple of friends that I really could hang out with and do stuff with this summer. Last year, and the years before that (especially when I was home-schooled from 4th through 7th grade), I had virtually no friends. But I thank God that He has blessed me with just 2 close friends. Hey, that's a lot more than I had during home-school, which was zero for the most part! I just thank Him in all things.

This summer, I can truly say that I have mastered Super Mario Bros. 3 (For the most part...)! I remember when I couldn't get past the first castle on World 1, and now I can go through and beat the whole game. My summer has truly been one full of Mario...

Well, I will depart now and go enjoy the last day of summer!

Soaking It Up...

2005-08-01T11:23:00.001-07:00

Now that I'm back from my aunt and uncle's, I have only 12 days before school starts! :( So now I am frantically trying to soak up what summer I have left. This week I plan to do as much as I can do funwise with my friends. So far, I have already been over to my friend, Justin's house to play on his X Box some more. There is this cool game he rented called 'Midnight Club 3'. Basically you buy cars, customize them and what not, and then drive around your choice of 3 cities terrorizing everybody and yourself! Of course there was the usual Medal of Honor game that I just love and always play when I go over to his house. ;)

This morning I had to wake up at 6:35 to go to Cross-Country practice. What fun, NOT! As usual Matt had to walk a whole bunch because he is out of shape. We ran 25 minutes and I only did like 2.75 miles. I should be doing like 3 miles in that time, and not walking!!!

Oh yes, I got my schedule for this school year! Here are my classes:

[1st Semester]

1. Civics (H)
2. Business Computer Applications
3. Geometry (H)
4. Biology (H)
5. Spanish I
6. P.E. (Physical Education II)
7. English II (H)

[2nd Semester]

1. Free Enterprise (H)
2. Business Computer Applications
3. Geometry (H)
4. Biology (H)
5. Spanish I
6. English II (H)
7. Health ED

The numbers (1-7) are 1st through 7th periods. The (H) stands for an Honors course. For some reason English II for the 2nd semester and the physical education area (includes Health ED) swap periods! Really makes no sense to me at all. By the way, I will be a Sophomore (high school that is). The only thing really disappointing about this school year coming up is the fact that my Physical Science teacher from last year took over Honors Biology! Although she is a good teacher and several of the students like her because she is kind and warmhearted towards her students, she goes overboard when it comes to projects and related material. Oh well, I guess life isn't perfect...

Back to the City-Life!

2005-07-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Whew! I am glad to be back after spending Sunday night through Thursday afternoon in the country! Sorry bloggers, I haven't been able to post because I was up at my aunt and uncle's farm in southwest Mississippi. While they have a computer, it was dial up, and I had no time to post anyway.

After church on Sunday, my Dad took my little brother and I up to my Aunt Missy and Uncle Dewitt's place up in Summitt, MS. My Dad wanted us to get a taste of the 'country life.' He said that while John and I were going up there to have fun, we needed to work a little for our aunt and uncle just as well... Well, I kind of dismissed the statement about 'work' because I knew that my aunt and uncle have a pond that is stocked with fish! And if any of you know me well, I am crazy about fishing!

As we arrived that evening, my aunt was at another relatives' house in their swimming pool, but my uncle was there, so we talked to him for about an hour until our aunt came back to the house. Just as she came back my Dad was getting ready to leave, but he stayed to talk to my aunt for a few minutes. She said that we were 'going to have fun.' But then my Dad came in with the statement, "Make them work some, too." I also stated aloud my agreement with the work part because I said something about "I would feel bad if I took up space around here without earning my stay somewhat." People, I believe that those 2 statements, one by my Dad, and one by me, ruined the whole trip.

For the next few days I had fun fishing, going to a cattle auction, and swimming in my 2nd cousin's pool down the road. But somehow, Aunt Missy was able to find a job for me whenever I was around the house! My aunt is a sweet middle-aged lady, but she has this character [we'll call it a flaw just because I hate a lot of work ;)] where she grabs anybody that walks through the room and tells them "here, unload the dishwasher" or "hear, peel some figs that we grew in the garden." I tell you, she heard me and my Dad say the word 'work', and unfortunately, she took us up on it!!!

Here are some funny things about my 'country adventure'...

My aunt and uncle have a garden in which they grow a whole bunch of things, such as: squash, canteloupe, figs, tomatoes, green beans, apples, and other things. Well, I never cared much for canteloupe, squash, or figs. The thing about it is, that is basically all they ever eat except when it comes to an official meal!!! And even then, Aunt Missy still breaks out the canteloupe, and figs, and the squash! Of course, I have to be polite and eat some of each, and then I have to act like it is the best tasting food to me in the whole wide world...;) Come on, all you guys who have aunts, uncles, and grandparents; you know exactly what I am talking about!

Back to the word 'work'... Aunt Missy had me unload the dishwasher, vacuum and mop the whole house, spray a whole bunch of 'Round Up', peel figs, and other little odd and end jobs that she thought of. Believe me, there were a lot of odd and end jobs!

The two funniest things about this experience were when I knocked over the container full of canteloupe when I was trying to get a pot of roast out the refrigerator. BTW, the canteloupe went all over the floor, and I had to endure a wonderful little short lecture from Aunt Missy. ;)

The other funny thing was when my aunt told me to core and cut apples! I slaughtered one apple before she told me to get away and go do some other chore!

Even though I had some trouble adjusting to the 'country-life', I survived it and wouldn't trade the experience for anything else in the world. Although, I am content to be back to Super Mario Bros. 3, and all my other 'technological' machines! (i.e. the TV, computer, and all) Please remember to not make the same mistake I did and mention the word 'work' to your relatives... YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!!! ;)

Hannah's New Blog!

2005-07-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for my sister Hannah...She has gotten a new blog!!! She hasn't been able to update it on account of her forgetting her password. ;) But I helped her create a new, and better blog, which was just finished a few minutes ago. Her new address is http://www.bookloverworld.blogspot.com. We are still trying to work out the bugs, so bear with us!

I also am trying to update my blog. I just changed my template settings to allow comments to appear in a separate window, so let's see how that works. Also, I will be working to get Haloscan to allow smileys to appear in the comment window on both my blog and Hannah's.

I Feel It Commin' On!

2005-07-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, Lord, I am in some deep trouble. Yesterday, I found out from my friend Justin that our school's cross-country team will start 'summer workouts' in the next few days! You may ask, "Ok, so what's the big deal?" Well, the main reason is that I haven't been running much. Usually our coach starts our workouts in late June, but this year we didn't start in late June. I had heard nothing from coach that indicated that summer workouts were starting, so me and the rest of my team pretty much assumed that we weren't having summer workouts. Well, I guess we were dreadfully wrong!

A few of my team members and myself are now frantically trying to get in shape for the workouts, which will start any day now. Today at 5 p.m., we are going to get together and run as much as we can before we crash! I can just feel the pain comming on right now...

Well, my Dad told me to run a few days every week, and I haven't been consistent with that. So Matt is about to pay for not listening to wisdom. Believe me guys, running hurts, and I will be hurting later this evening!

New Editions to the Blog, etc.

2005-07-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have added some new recommended web sites to my list on the right side of this screen. Aren't you people just thrilled!!! I bet you just can't wait to see what they are, so here they are:

1) Passion4Purity- This is the website of an organization that I belong to that deals with remaining pure sexually while remaining pure in our spiritual lives, too. For if we do not have a strong relationship with God, how can we effectively resist sexual temptation, in all forms? The organization has impacted many young people for Christ and is run by a strong Christian married couple that love God and are dedicated to seeing His will performed in this generation!

2) Time Attack Mario- This is an incredible online video of some guy, from Japan I think, beating Super Mario Bros. 3 in 11 minutes!!! You be the judge of whether this is possible or not by watching the video.

3) Currency Converter- This is a website that can come in very useful if you need to convert a certain amount of currency into another form of currency. I found this to be very useful when I had to convert 79 U.K. pounds into U.S. dollars. Any of you that are on the d:forums, and who read the JonoBury section on The Music section of the forum know what I am talking about, I think! ;)

Anyway, I hope that you will check out these new sites, and I hope that they help you in some way and don't waste your time!!!

Give me some water!!!

2005-07-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Guys, I haven't much to say, and I won't get on here and act like everything's all 'peachy.' Instead I feel like being candid and just expressing my feelings and thoughts. NO MORE PUTTING ON FRONTS!!! I feel so dry...

I am very disappointed with my spiritual life, and I want the Lord to light my fire again. Just 3 or 4 years ago, I really loved the Lord and found Him to be my 1st priority. But in the past couple of years, my relationship with Jesus has just been 'blah.' What concerns me is my lukewarm attitude. For Jesus said in Revelation that he would spit those that were lukewarm out of His mouth. While I have been spending more time with God in the past week or so, and feel a little better spiritually, I still find myself not desiring God like I used to. My concern is that I have allowed the things of this world to choke God out of my life. I am a living account of the parable of the sower where he threw the seeds and the weeds choked them.

Why do I feel this way? Why is God not the center of my life? I need the Lord to come down and make himself real to me once again...

London Terror Attacks

2005-07-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is a separate post is a tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives in the London terror attacks earlier today. I pray that the Lord Jesus will comfort and bring peace to everyone who was involved in today's attacks. Also, I am praying for God's wisdom on why these attacks occurred. God has a purpose in everything, whether that thing is good or bad.

Please continue to agree with me in prayer that God will show us the reason for these attacks occurring.

Hurricane Dennis

2005-07-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

As you people may remember, I posted Tuesday on my being in the path of Tropical Storm Cindy. You would think that there would be some 'recovery' time after Cindy, but no way!!!
There is a major hurricane in the Caribbean, and it is forcasted to be in the gulf by Saturday...

Meet Dennis! Dennis is a hurricane with 105 mph max sustained winds, and is currently wacking Jamaica and the Caribbean islands. Since this thing is still several days from making landfall on the Gulf Coast, no one knows which state or states will be affected. Right now, the thing to do is to pray that this monster doesn't come your way!

If you want to check on Dennis, you can go to click on the Weather Channel link at the side of the screen. New coordinates and updates are given every 3 hours. The new coordinates were posted at 10 a.m. CST.

I guess you can say that I informally run the Weather Channel hurricane alert system for Gulf Coast bloggers now!!!

May God bless you, and may you have a wonderful day!

Meet Cindy

2005-07-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days when you're glued to the Weather Channel. Well you might ask, "What is so great about the Weather Channel? I'd be watching War of the Worlds or Batman Begins at the movie theater!" Well, the reason that the Weather Channel has become my 'favorite' TV channel is because I am monitoring a tropical storm that is just off my state's coastline!

Tropical Depression #3 changed to Tropical Storm Cindy earlier this morning, and has been gaining strength ever since. Her winds are up to 70 mph out over the Gulf of Mexico as I speak. In addition to wind, a lot of rain is headed my way. However, I'm not to concerned. This happens as much as 5 times every year!

The storm makes landfall around midnight, and the storm's center will pass close to my house around 5 a.m. So, I'm kind of excited, yet I don't want this thing to cause any damage to anyone or any property!

Anyway, my day has basically centered around this storm, and probably will for the rest of the night. We stocked up on batteries, just in case the power goes out and we have to break out the flashlights...

I think I'll sign into the MSN messenger now, since I haven't chatted to anyone in a while. Also, I better visit my friends on the delirious? message boards.

So TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!!!

Batman Begins!!!

2005-07-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Dude, I just went and saw the new batman movie, Batman Begins, and I just thought that it was totally awesome!

I was never really interested in the Batman movies or the character himself, but this movie gave me a totally new outlook on Batman. My view of Batman before I saw the movie just a few hours ago was the 1970's style Batman, which was just totally boring. But the new Batman movie really does a great job of portraying the action figure Batman and the story behind it all. The movie makes it clear why Batman is wearing the 'Bat suit.' In previous Batman movies I don't think that the reason for him wearing the 'Bat suit' is explained. Also, I love the new 'Bat Mobile.' What that police officer said surely states my opinion on the new 'Bat Mobile', "I gotta get me one of those!" I encourage you to see the movie!!!

Currently I am very tired, and need to get a good night's sleep for church tomorrow. As a matter of fact, my older brother, Josh, which many of you know, is preaching the message in church tomorrow! So, I definitely want to be awake for that, since the message is going to be geared towards the youth in my church.

Well, I got some things to do in preparation for tomorrow's service, and for the 4th of July, so God bless and sleep well!

The Dog Days of Summer...

2005-06-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Whew is it hot inside my house, I shudder to think of how hot it is outside!

As I sit here at 2:30 in the afternoon, CST, I have nothing really to say but have to keep up my blog so I better manufacture another 'wonderful' and 'exciting' journal entry for you to read! ;)

Summer is almost half way over and that makes me want to cry, BOO HOO! School starts August 12th down here, and that is not very far away. Today I have had fun so far tearing up the abortion issue!!! Also I have made $10 polishing my a couple pairs of my Dad's shoes (what fun!). Oh and yes, the most exciting part of my day so far has been watching fishing shows on OLN.

Sounds like a very eventful day doesn't it? Well, there's still several more hours left in my day so I haven't lost all hope!

Before I close, please keep my grandmother lifted up in prayer; she just had some surgery and is still in the hospital, she has had some side effects to the surgery recently...so please pray for her.

Tomorrow is my church's prison ministry. We travel to the local juvenile detention center and minister to kids anywhere from age 13 to 18. I am looking forward to it, because God always moves mightily when we go in there! So please keep me and my church lifted up in prayer regarding the prison ministry.

Hope that you guys have a fun day, and God Bless!

Quick Update

2005-06-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

As I was supposed to be in bed 5 minutes ago, here is a quick update on my boring life!

Last night Josh and I stayed up until 3:30 A.m. beating Super Mario Bros. 3 on the original Nintendo. It was very fun, but it was a very tiresome task, seeing that it took 4 hours to beat! I guess it was my fault, dying every half an hour. ;)

Today I played a little more of Mario, cut the grass (what fun!), and ran 1.5 miles. Tomorrow night is church night, and my best friend is coming to church with me and then to my house afterwords. It is truly amazing that my Dad has given me permission to stay up as late as we want tomorrow night! This is a first! (You would have to know my parents)

Anyway, I will now go get some shuteye! Until next time, keep blogging, and vote 4 me!

HEY!!!

2005-06-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, guys, it has been so long since I have posted on this blog!!! Sorry that I let it fall into the state that it is in! Anyway, I'm glad to be back, and hope that you guys will start looking at my blog again since I am actually posting on it now! ;)

My first year of high school went great, and I am already looking forward to next year as a Sophomore...YES! This summer has been awesome so far. Since my brother Josh got his Nintendo off eBay, the summer has been even greater. I hope to do plenty of fishing this summer. But most importantly, I want to draw very close to God this summer!

Matt is back in the house, so "Bow to your sensei!"

Haloscan...NOT WORKING!!!

2005-01-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Guys, I need your help. I copied the codes that haloscan gave me on their website onto my template. Still it does not work. As you may have noticed, I am not very happy about this...

Does anyone have any suggestions?!

By the way, this is today's blot post..."Matt and his troubles with haloscan!!!"

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

2005-01-29T21:55:00.000-08:00

PRAISE GOD!!! Campus Jam '05 was a major success! This is how it all occurred...

The time is 2 p.m., Saturday, January 29th, 2005. Josh, John(my other brother), and I have arrived at school to start setting up for the Campus Jam, which will start at 6:30 p.m. Some of our crew is already there (Fellowship of Christian Students members). We first set up the chairs in the cafetorium, and then gather for an awesome prayer. We then precede to set up, and have prayer walks around the school.

The time is now around 5:00 p.m., we are practicing one last time on our 2 skits. We are also making final preparations for the Jam in an hour and a half.

The time is 6:45 p.m., we are a few minutes off schedule, but God is having His way, none the less. People are trickling in and signing up. However, the people start to flood in between 6:45 and 7!

Somewhere between 6:45 and 7, we open up CAMPUS JAM '05!!! Our MCs are Tiffany Harper and Lee Cormier. Some door prizes were given out by this really goofy, but funny guy named Sean! It was so hillarious!!! He put on this fake country accent, and handed out door prizes as the numbers were drawn from the box. The Christian band soon opened up, and there was an awesome time of Praise and Worship. The first skit was soon after. It was a restaurant scene, that had a message about being a servant. We then had an excellent guest speaker named Sarah Desalvo.

Around 8 p.m., we had what you call the 'breakout session.' You have to 2 leaders over a group of around 10 or so people. Next, you guide them to a classroom (with 2 boxes of pizza and some drinks also), and have some '1 on 1' interaction with them. The breakout message was on "If Jesus were to come back today, would you be ready?" It was very powerful!!! Only thing was, I came off my fast just then, and I ate too much! I am still having a tiny bit of queasiness in my esophagus!

Next, we came back and had MORE door prizes. We had 2 other great guest speakers named Brian Davis and Joe Badon, a youth pastor at a local church. Both had very powerfull messages. The band then came to lead us in a final worship segment that was just totally awe-inspiring because you could feel God's presence so heavily on a public high school campus! PRAISE GOD!
We then had closing prayer.

The time is around 10 p.m., we are now cleaning up in the cafetorium. This is the way to build unity among other Christian youths I think. NO, just kidding! ;P

PRAISE GOD!!! I CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR CAMPUS JAM '06!!!

18.5 and Counting!!!

2005-01-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

It is now 18.5 hours before the start of Campus Jam '05! Wow, the things that God has done to help us organize it over the past weeks. It's just hard to believe that the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be lifted up in a big way in young people's lives on a high school campus!!!

We have now cut the number of skits down to 3. This is a better arrangement than was originally conceived. There will also be just 1 band playing instead of 2. Personally, I was concerned that we were trying to crowd to much into a 3.5 hour time period, but it's okay 'cause God's taking care of it all. I'm praying for our club president, Brandon Penton, who plays a major role in the Campus Jam. He's been sick the past couple of days, and we are praying for a good night's sleep for him and a miraculous healing! Please be sure to include Brandon in your prayers. THANKS! :)

Tomorrow is a big day. I have to be at school to set up at 2 in the afternoon, 4.5 hours before the start of the Campus Jam. So please, pray hard for the Campus Jam; that lives will be saved, and all ungodliness in these students will be destroyed!

Oh yes, P.E. is still a blast. The newest thing on the block is wiffle ball! CEWL! Only thing is, we have to substitute the bat with a tennis racket! This makes wiffle ball exceptionallly fun!

Well, keep posted for the AWESOME results of CAMPUS JAM '05!

SPIKE!!!

2005-01-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

I can't re-emphasize enough that the 2nd semester has been a blast! I don't know what it is, maybe it's 'cause I'm finally loosening up to the high school routine. Most of you who read my blog are probably already finished with high school and are about to go to college or uni, but for me, high school is the best thing around!

P.E. is especially the bomb! I guess you're probably thinking, "Here comes the unending saga of "Matt and His Career in the Field of Sports", but here it comes anyway! In P.E. we are playing basketball or volleyball; you get your own pick. I was just recently working on my basketball skills, but I finally decided that it was time to put that down for a while and go to work on volleyball. I'm not really that great: all around, I'm just kind your average come-in-off-the-street volleyball player. I often mess up a great play thanks to my stupiditiy, and much to the dismay of my teammates! (wink) However, there are those plays that occur maybe 3 to 5 times a game where I actually am on the front row spiking the ball over like crazy!!! I'll spike it, and then the ball will come back to me, and I'll spike again. They almost will get it over, and then someone on their team will mess the play up! HURRAH!!!

Stay tuned for the unending story of "Matt and His Career in the Field of Sports."

I'm going to a sleepover Friday at my friend Ryan's house. That should be a blast. The following day I have a Campus Jam meeting at Tiffany's house and also have Prison Ministry with my church. They will both be outstanding!

My bed awaits me. Tonight will be the first time that I get 8 hours of sleep on a week night in maybe the whole school year! :)

Matt's Fish Tales

2005-01-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm not as excited as 9 hours ago! The fishing trip didn't go as I had thought it would.

While I had fun, all we did was catch seaweed, and get snagged on rocks in Bayou Terre Aux Bouefs. I was kind of upset near the end when the gnats came out and tried to make a nest in my hair! The only fish that was caught was by my Dad. Talk about a whopper, a 4 inch bass! Actually, that was quite small if you had not figured out my sarcasm.

The reason that we didn't catch anything is because the tide was not moving. Thus, the fish were not moving that much. That adds up to not much action at all!

Well, praise be to God that I had fun and got out of the house for a day. You never know, in the spring or summer when I go saltwater fishing, I could catch a world record redfish!!! :)

GOT A BIG ONE! Well, Not Yet!

2005-01-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

I'm on the hyper side of hyper this morning because I'm going fishing! This is one of my favorite outdoor activities. I'm going fishing in some bayou, but I here the fishing is awesome. So in just a couple of hours I'll be casting my line in!

This is part one of today's blog post. So stay tuned for more fish tales later!

Michael Jordan

2005-01-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

Well, my friends, here is the 2 minute condensed form of my life over the past 2 days!

So far there is nothing going on, no action-packed adventures or anything noteworthy of speaking of. I guess I can say that I have a Campus Jam meeting to run over our skits Tuesday and Wednesday. However, there is confusion about when we are having the meeting, so I am lost as a goose in a snow storm!

The Top News ticker item of today is, “MATT WINS GAME OF 21!!!” Very exciting huh?! NO, not really, but for me it is. I usually make myself look stupid while playing the game of basketball, but today was a different story! J Much progress has been made as far as shooting baskets is concerned. I think that I am making half of my shots now! (sticks tongue out)

Well, I hope you guys have a great night, and please remember to kick your computer in the head if it won’t respond!!!

Campus Jam Fun

2005-01-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today has surely been a great day in Matt's book of world whatever records. I woke up at 11 this morning (wink), and I had only a minimal amount of work before going to what me and my friends call a Campus Jam meeting!

Ok, my Christian club at school is called the Fellowship of Christian Students, and we are planning a worship service at my school!!! Sounds too good to be true for a Christian school right? Well I'm not lying to you!!! Today, me and a few other friends in the club, plus Josh, went to our good friend Tiffany's house at 6P.M. to do some planning for it. We worked on posters, skits, discussed who would be leading worship, and so on. I am only in one skit, but I am a blind man!!! (don't laugh) So far we have made good progress for the January 29th event. Jesus will move mightily on a public high school campus. HALLELUJAH!!!

After that we played CatchPhrase! I thought that was fun, I had never played before. Only thing that I disliked about it is that my team lost by one point! Anyway, we had fun. As a matter of fact, I just got home around 45 minutes ago. So I'll go now so that I may do my dishes, read the Bible, and go to bed. After all, don't want to sleep in church tomorrow!!!

Out of the Stone Age!

2005-01-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say it, I got my own e-mail address and my own messenger account for MSN!!! YEEEHAAA!

You guys are probably thinking,"Ok, that's pretty sad!" But believe it or not, I have been using my family's e-mail address and the family's Msn messenger account. Now, though, I've got my own! :-D

I am having quite a blast in school! I got good grades on my report card for last semester, and I'm actually having fun in my classes. In Art 1, we did a greeting card by indenting a greeting into a piece of styrofoam backwards, and when you print it, it comes out the right way! It is so cewl! P.E. is a blast too cause one of my best friends is in it, even though he's a senior! He's a 'student-aid.' He doens't really do much anyway though! :-P

As I was reading my friend Tina's blog, I saw that she had a picture of herself playing in the snow! I said, "WHAT'S THIS?!" See, Tina lives only 30 or 40 miles north of Los Angeles, and it doesn't snow very often. So, I was kinda surprised and kinda upset! I want it to snow here! Instead while they get all the good stuff, it feels like spring with temps in the 70s! AAAAARGGGHHH!

Oh well, I need to calm down about the weather. God is in control!!!

HAIR, and so on...

2005-01-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, the beginning of a new year! Doesn't it just make you want to jump and whatever because you have left the past behind?! Maybe not, but it does make your head spin because you it's almost as if you are starting a new chapter of your life, and you have no idea what this new chapter has for you on the coming pages.

The reason I have the word "hair" in the title of this post is no, not because I want to discuss my hair, as my brother Josh thought when he looked over my shoulder a minute ago as I was typing the title! We don't want to discuss the composition of my hair, and what it contains! (:-P)
I was addressing the comment that my good friend Rae made to my last post. She had added at the end that, "MARTIN'S HAIR IS SO COOL!" Of course she was referring to Martin Smith of the Christian band delirious? This is my proposed question, "Why is everyone obsessed with Martin's hair?" There is even a topic on the Delirious? message boards dedicated totally to this peculiar obsession. Please give your opinion on this matter in the comment section of this post!

YOUR TESTIMONY IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

FAREWELL 2004

2004-12-31T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well buddies, we are about to leave one eventful year. Truly this has been a year for the recordbooks!

The 3 major things that dominated the U.S and world news had to be:

1) The conflict in Iraq

2) The U.S. Presidential Election

and 3) The recent catastrophic tsunami disaster in Asia.

For all you Christian music fans, it was an awesome year!

1) Delirious? created another smash hit with World Service.

2) Third Day came out with the new album, Live Wire.

3) MercyMe came out with a new album, Undone.

and 4) and so on are for you to fill in!

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done so much in my life this year, too! He's spoken to my life in so many ways through my pastor Charles Morton, through personal devotions, through my family, and through my church!

I also made the big transition from Junior high to High School! At first, it was a shell shock, but I got over it!

My older brother also went to college! N longer did I see him every day, but I saw him every couple of months. ;-)

Tonight I have an awesome New Year's Eve Service at church to welcome in the New Year, God's way!

BORED...

2004-12-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

You guys got to admit that it's fun to have 2 weeks off before the second semester, but it can get kind of boring sometimes! I'm sitting here right now at the computer with nothing to do pretty much, with the exception of typing this post and chatting to another internet buddy, Sophie. Many of you peeps have probably Sophie (AKA AudioLessonStarted) before from the delirious? message boards.

She wanted to be called an "internet buddy" because she was jealous of my last post concerning another "buddy." ;-) If any of you want to become part of the buddy association, just let me know and you get free recognition on my next blog post. AREN'T YOU GUYS JUST THRILLED?! Ok, now that I got that off of my chest!

Well, it's 3 hours and 7 minutes before Thursday night service at my church, and I have to leave at 6P.M. So you buddies have a great Thursday afternoon!

TEA TIME

2004-12-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

As I sit here drinking my tea-wait, I drank it all! Oh well...I'll just forget all the dramatic sentences and get straight to the point!

I am about to go on a bone-chilling bike ride with my older brother Josh. It's in the 40s outside and it will feel even colder with the wind. But I am just updating you on my life...again.

Me and Josh went to Wal*Mart yesterday, and he just about killed me! (just kidding) I was nervous that he would drive off the road or something. But he is a lot better at driving than I thought. He bought some posters, and we stopped at Wendy's afterward...yum! HE PAID TOO!
That always brightens my day!

At this very moment, I am talking to my very good friend Shasha. It always brightens my day to talk to such wonderful MSN people.

Well, that's it for now. CHEERIO!!!

Hot Cocoa

2004-12-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah! I'm on vacation up here in the hills of Mississippi, and I don't have school on my mind. (I just contradicted myself)

Anyway... I am sitting in the study of my aunt and uncle's house about to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate! It's pretty cold, and the temperature continues to fall. It could snow, but I'm not believeing the weather men on this one! They are always wrong anyhow!

We (me and my family) are actually staying at a cabin at a nearby state park, but we are spending a fair amount of time at my aunt and uncle's. ;-)

Well, let me go! This is the only computer that I have access to, and JOSH would like to use it too!!!

Midterm Chaos

2004-12-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

WOW! Am I glad to be home for the weekend!!!

So far, 4 of my 7 exams have been taken, I have 3 more before getting out at 11:17 A.M. on Tuesday. After that it's vacation time! (But I have to get there first!)

Yesterday, I took a P.E. and World Geography exam. The both of them were considerably easy. The 100th question on the World Georgraphy sticks in my mind.

"Did you study for this test, and what did you make?"

A) Yes, I think I made an A
B)Yes, I think I made a B
C) Yes, I think I made a C
D) No, but I think I passed

I chose answer 'A'. I sure do hope that I picked the right one!

Today I took a Career Orientation and a Physical Science exam. I know that I got a 95 on the Career Orientation, and I think that I aced the second one... but how can I be sure?

Well, I'll just forget exams for now, and have a relaxing weekend!!! [and try to get some more sleep ;-)]

Just arrived from the bus stop!

2004-12-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

Well it's great to be home again after being in school from 7:30 to 2:41! I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening, after I do a little homework that is. I'm not always the good kid about doing my homework first before play!

In my high school, everybody is preparing for our midterm exams. I'm not really looking at exams at the light at the end of the semester! It's what comes after them. VACATION!!!!!!!

I just had some awesome frito pie. I took some chili, cheese, and fritos; I then proceeded to melt them in the microwave.

Hopefully I'll make a fire in the fireplace tonight. It's going to be quite cold. They said in the weather, "moderate freeze, low 24"! I think that I'm not going to have fun leaving for school early to make up some work on account of that forecast!

I'm BACK!!!

2004-12-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hey you fellow fine feathered friends! Sorry I haven't posted an update on my life in the past week and a half; I have been very busy!!

About 3 hours ago, I got back from an amazing basketball game with my friend Justin. The Junior Vasrsity and Varsity basketball teams for our school played Loranger High School at 6 and 7 P.M. We lost our JV game by 2 points (WHAT A BUMMER!). But we beat their V by 20 points! This guy who is over 6.5 feet tall dunked the ball like three times, and even did a backwards dunk! It was AWESOME!!

Unfortunately, I made myself look like the stupid freshman that I am, and slip in the mud outside after the game!!!

Well, I'm kinda busy, so I'll post soon!

Tiredness

2004-11-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

WOW!!! The events of the past few days have been very......eventful!

THANKSGIVING DAY

I went over to spend the day with family members and had a blast playing the Medal of Honor game on PS2! It was the one were you start off in Pearl Harbor. The food was fantastic, and so was the trampoline. ;-) If that wasn't fun, I then went to spend the night at my friend's house. We stayed up all night and played computer and video games! That was a bad mistake!!!

FRIDAY, 11/26/04

I then proceded to see the sun come up at 6am. About 9am while my friend was playing Madden 2005, I crashed on his bean bag!! I was then woken up at 11:53am to answer a phone call from my mother. We were going to the zoo, so I had to be picked up within the hour. I grabbed a quick brunch and a shower, and then my dad was there to pick me up. Me and my family had a great time seeing the monkeys eat an apple, and dig in a shopping bag from a grocery store! Plus, we road a little excursion train through the zoo. We then ate at IHOP! It was incredibly delicious! I had a Country Omelet, and it came with 3 buttermilk pancakes!
YUM!!! We then went home, and I posted some before bedtime.

SATURDAY, 11/27/04

I woke up today to another delicious breakfast containing EGGS! Me, and my bro then loaded up the car and headed to the juvenile prison 45 minutes from my house to do some prison ministry with other men in my church. It was awesome, and many young people were saved!!! PRAISE JESUS!!! Afterwards, we went to Burlington Coat Factory to get a couple of belts. Josh and I also tried on a few hats, LOL! The next thing we did before taking a ride on the ferry was get 3 large shakes from Burger King. I then came home, did a few knicknacks, and must go now in order to earn $15 polishing some shoes!!! (YEAH!!!)

Pointless Post

2004-11-25T07:14:00.001-08:00

This Post was a mistake!!! You can blame the computer for adding this blank post to my blog! ;-)

GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!!

2004-11-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

YES! The big day has arrived! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I just felt like greeting my fellow bloggers on this cold Thanksgiving Day. Don't eat too much, and bundle up!!!! BRRRRRRR!!!

Waiting

2004-11-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

Right now I am in the process of waiting for a delicious hotdog. YUM! I am also sort of puzzled. My older brother, Josh, is coming home from Lousiana State (LSU) for a few days and was scheduled to get home by 1:30 P.M. Now my mom tells me that his ride overslept, and has to go see the doctor! So now he won't be home until 4:30 or 5:00! Well, I haven't seen him for a month and a half so I am very eager to see him (he only lives an hour and a half away). Hopefully, he will arrive at some point and time in history! Perhaps some of you peeps can understand how i feel...............?

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

2004-11-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

Hey you guys! This is my first post as a blogger, and I think this is awesome! I have just spent the past hour creating my blog, and it has finally become reality! Well, if you wanted to know anything about my day, I had chores and watched a little TV. Not much is happening since i have off from school so, have fun and i'll talk tomorrow!