If at first you dont succeed dust yourself off and TRY AGAIN

This is a quote that most of us has heard before or have seen something similar to in the past. It is a quote I strongly believe in and usually think about it a lot when: I recieve a bad test grade, have a poor performance during a soccer game, or anything that involves getting better at. Well this coming Friday we have a huge event at our school called MGN(My Generation Night). It is where many people throughtout the campus audition for a chance to perform one of there favorite songs on a big stage in front of the whole school. Well, Im a sophomore now in college, and last year I auditioned and did not get selected to perform in the show. I did not let rejection bring me down so I "TRIED AGAIN" this year. I auditioned along with 40+ plus acts and like last year I did not get selected. I acted like I didnt care that much, but I actually really did did because number one I tried again and failed and two I did so much better than last year. Well, a good friend of mine once told me "a pride becomes before a fall". It was also brought to my attention that "The Good Book" tells us that. That really stuck out to me just because I was so confident I would get the spot this year, and just knew rejection would not come my way twice for the same event. However, it did, but the good news is the judges saw and noticed that I worked really hard and recently asked me to be in the show but to rap/sing a song that they had previously selected. Of course I said yes. So, I encourage all of you not to get DISCOURAGED in anything you do, and dont be afriad to fail because we all fail, fail more than once. Dont give up with God's love you'll survive! TRY AGAIN! If you don't your not hurint anyone besides yourself.

It always feels good to be home. Home free's the mind

I went home this past weekend w/ a friend and it was a great trip. The main reason I went home was to bring some things home so I wouldnt have to fill my car w/ all my belongings and also to get off campus, because I really needed it at this point in my life. There has been a lot on my mind lately, and I new going home would be the remedy. A remedy it was. Over the weekend I filled my days with activities to do so I wouldnt have to worry about a thing. Some of my bestfriends were home so it was really nice to chill with them all weekend. I felt so comfortable at home and wanted to stay home till the fall semester. I cant wait to be back at home in a week in a half to start working, doing some summer classes, hanging with all my friends, and just be free again! There are a lot of times I dont feel free at Geneva due to its rules as a Christian College. You think it would be the other way around, but I feel more free at home than college. Summer will be here in about a week in a half for me and with that time Im going spend it with the books, my best friends, and enjoying the nice weather off or on campus somewhere! While I was at home I was free. Home free's the mind......

Don't be to quick to judge, Don't judge a book by its cover

Everyone is guilty of this, and I am REALLY guilty. I try my hardest not to judge to quick, but it never works that way. I judge to quick just by peoples actions, what I hear, or what people may wear. All of us do this from time to time. When I actually get to know that person that I am judging and they turn out to be really nice, and someone cool to hang out that is when we feel bad all along. It has happened to me plenty of times this school year, and I feel sorry for myself at sometimes for doing so. The goods news is though, and am improving and getting better! So, I encourage all of you readers not to step so far into my footsteps. Get to know someone, and don't judge. I don't know where in the Bible where it says this, but it says " Only God can judge me". I believe in that 100%. Only God can jugde me(Bruce Fox) so I really don't care what others think of me when they are judging me. However, I should not be the judge of people only God.

NO STRESS.LOVE.LIVE LIFE.PROCEED.PROGRESS

A lot of you know that my "heading" is my favorite quote in the world. I live by it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second. I have it surrounded by me so I will never forget aka right by my bed. What a lot of people dont know is why it means so much to me so I am going to tell you all.

First, Im going to start with the background of the quote. The quote comes from a song called "Comfortable" by my favorite all time rapper Lil Wayne. It is a great song and I suggest you download it.

In this world ther are 5 things, and no more than 5 things that I truely truely love and hold in my heart at all time no matter what. In this order they are:

1) God
2) Family
3) Best friends/friends
4) Soccer
5) Music

Yea, thats right. That is what I love in life the most in that order. All of them relate to my favorite quote "No Stress.Love.Live life.Proceed.Progress. Im not going to tell you how it relates to each and every single one. You can ask me for that, but I will give you one example and that is God.

God teaches to have no stress, he is the author of love and we are to love him and everyone else. Also, in the Bible it tells us to live life to the fullest. Lastly, In our relationship with God we are to proceed with it, and then progress.

I hope that all makes sense to you all. Lastly, I wanted to leave you with some of my other quotes I love and live by.

"Dont you ever get to comfortable" - Lil Wayne
"It is what it is, It's not always fair" Lauren Conrad
"We are preordained, and filled with purpose"- My Bishop said that one sermon, it might be int he bible?
"Nobody can make you feel inferior unless you let them"- Head Womens Coach of Rutgers
"Take me as I am or have nothing at all"- Mary J. Blige
"Just be yourself, and let that be your guide" Janet Jackson
"I am who I am"- The Bible.
"Friends come and friends may go, My friend your real I know, True self you have shown, Your alright with me"- Janet Jackson

There you go. There are plenty others, but those stick out to me the most right now.

You make mistakes and learn from them

Tonight, I went to a SAAC event that was really good. They hosted a speaker, his name was Aaron Cooksey. He told his story to all of the athletes at Geneva, but there were also some non-athletes there aka they took up a few seats that I could have sat in. Im still bitter about that. However, he spoke on Drunk driving and his experiences while drinking and driving. He said a lot of things that stuck out to me during the course of his speech, but one thing that really struck me is when he said "You make mistakes and learn from them". Yes, I have heard that quote plenty of times, but not coming from someones testimony. I think that is why it struck me so much than anyone else that just has randomly told me so.

I have made a lot of mistakes in the past and Im currently still making mistakes. All the mistakes that I have made in the past have made me the person who I am today. Although mistakes are not a good thing I think it is imperative we as individuals make mistakes on a regular basis even though we do not want to. It's always good to make BIG MISTAKES too sometimes. We make the mistake, we learn from them and we can take that experience and share it to others so that they dont make the same mistake you once did. So, mistakes will come upon you at somepoint. Make the mistake, but at the same time please please I encourage all of you to learn, and take something away from it!

Please visit Aaron Cooksey site and spread the word about him. His story is really good, and if you want to hear his story just ask me and I would be glad to share his story with you.

www.aaroncooksey.com

Dont forget to turn off the lights

Well, last week on Tuesday I believe it was I drove down to campus due to the inclement weather. It was snowing and windy and if you know me well enough you know I dont walk in those conditions. So, I park my car and go about my day with classes and all. It's toward the end of the day to leave campus so I go out to my car and can not get into. My lock/unlock button on my key was not working and for a second I thought I was not going to get into my car and would have to call a locksmith. I stood outside of my car for a second and thought and realized I can get into my car with just my key. It has been so long I have never used my key to get into my car that I just forgot. Well I got into my car and realized that my battery was dead. " DONT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE LIGHTS ". Umm thank God Chris was only a phone call away, and he was able to come down to use him car to jump-start it. Well a week and a day later I drove to campus due to the cold weather and I just dont walk in cold weather. We had soccer practice so I drove to campus because I didnt wanna have to walk back up with the tired legs. If your an athlete you know what I mean. After soccer practice I get to my car and once again my battery is dead. " DONT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE LIGHTS". Thank God once again Chris was there to rescue you me. I was really bitter at myself, because that was the second time time in two weeks and I was kind of frustrated because I did kind of bad at practice. So, next week or better yet this week I hope this same event does not occur again.

If you have the same issue as me then remember to turn off your lights before you turn off your engine and if you dont then check while you walk to your destination. You live and learn and maybe one day somebody wont be there to help me which would really suck so I need to always remember "TO TURN OFF MY LIGHTS"

Shout out to Kate Entz!

Sometimes you just have to say "NO" to things

Usually anything going on with my friends for me the answer is always "YES" I want to do this or I want to do that. That has changed a lot since Christmas Break and Im getting really really good at it. My parents have always told me "sometime you just have to say no to things" and since then it has really stucked to me, just because I have been in tight situations where I had to say no. For example, the cash flow wasnt right, environment wasnt right(Alchohol), etc..For me it used to be I just HAD to do something. Yes or no was never even an option. So, I thank my parents for stressing to me over the years that I have to say no to things!

If are in the same boat as I was once I encourage you to do the same thing for your own good. Yes, it may take some time. It took me along time. Dont feel pressured all the time, and at the end of the day make sure whatever your doing is pleasing and making you happy, and something that you wont regret later down the road. I know I have a lot of those and def. have cut back.
"You live and learn". I hope that is some helpful advice to all!

Give a dog your heart, and he'll give you his

Well last night around 2 something in the morning did I ever think I would be ballin in tears. One, I have only cried aka balling in tears prolly 5/6 occasions in my life and Two, Idk lol. Well, I got home for the night and decided to watch Marley and Me. It was an alright movie overall I thought it was going to be a lot better. I almost fell asleep but forced myself to stay awake cause I wanted to see the end. Well, if you havent seen the movie before you might want to stop reading here because im going to ruin the end for you in the next couple lines. If you have seen it know you Marley's stomach was reversed/twisted or w/e upside down due to him eating/drinking to fast. Most dogs dont survive from this the vetenerian said. We'll eventually Marley would lay down and would not get up just because he physically couldnt and was to comfortable laying down, and at the very end the doctor put him to sleep.

Well, something like this happened to my first and favorite dog Raymond. He was a boxer and boxers have real bad stomach issues. He got really sick one week, and he got surgery to see what was wrong with him. The results were going to be in on Mon. However, Raymond went down on Saturday and would/coudlnt get up. I wont get into much detail, but we took him to the clinic and we had found out he had went into shock. He got out of shock eventually, but was still really doing bad. I left the clinic because I had work, but did not want to because I knew Raymond was really really sick and he was my brother and I wanted to be there for him like a brother. I went to work and on my break and called my Mom and asked her "Wheres Raymond? How is he doing?. She responds " We had him put to sleep". My response was "What"????. She told me " We brought him home and (Raymond did somethings that werent right so I wont say it on this) we decided we werent going to let him suffer to we took him back to the clinic and put him to sleep. I kind of hung up the phone and continued to drive to my HS and just cried my eyes out. It was a sad day. Raymond was a smart, cute, fun dog to be around at all times. So Marley's story reminded me of Raymonds a lot alot and I dont think I could ever watch that movie again.
"Give a dog your heart, and he'll give you his"

R.I.P Raymond 9-2-06

Best Friends

I actually dont know what to write about, because there was no life lessons or nething today mainly because I am still sick aka in bed all day ughh. So, I guess I'll give a shout out to all my best friends and say something nice/positive about each one and I hope your still keeping up on my blog.

Chris Morschl- Chris is the first person that stuck out to me at Geneva during Preview Weekend. Same birthday and all. We ended up living across from each other Freshman year and got real close and even closer this year. He is sweet and someone I can always count on!

Courtney Marcum- Courtney is my oldest friend. We have been best friends since the 6th grade. It is great to see a friendship last that long, and for it to keep on going as of today. Anytime I need to laugh I can always count on her to make me laugh.

Kara Hamilton- Kara haha. We have been friends since the 9th grade. Kara is also someone I can always count on to make me laugh.

Zac Buffalini- Zac is sweet. I just met him this past year, and we got real close during soccer season. He is someone I can call up anytime to talk to if im feeling down or something is bothering me.

Leah Bingamin- Ahh Leah. Im still a little bitter she is not at Geneva, but you must go where you see the light for yourself. Leah is someone I can also always count on and call up anytime. Always makes me smile

Lauren Ashley Londino the First- Lauren and I have big dreams that hopefully one day we can reach. Phi 4:13 is a verse that sticks out to me. Lauren is great. She can always make me laugh and when it comes down it I can get serious with her.

Kate Entz- Kate and I are always the minorities usually hahah. Anywho Kate and I just recently became biffs as she says second semester. She can make laughs, and gives good advice when I need it.

Friends come and friends may go
My friend your real I know
True self you have shown
Your alright with me!

What is the remedy?

Remedy, Remedy, Oh what is the remedy. So, last night I had a soar throat. I dont really know what for Im assuming its from singing/rapping in the car on the way home :). My voice is getting really good. Practice makes perfect. So, anywho i went to bed early cause my soar throat and I was tired from the drive. In the middle of the night I woke up really really really sick. My body was physically was weak and I could barely walk. It was really bad. I went back to sleep and woke up in the morning even sicker. I did not get out of bed till like 3:30 because I needed motivation to get up and I felt like I couldnt physically get up. I was right. A couple of times I almost fell over. It was awful. Im glad noone saw me today, because it was like death. The worst part was I had to drive to my job which is about 25 mins. I HAD TOO. It was awful the whole time I was there I felt sooo bad. On my way home driving I was a complete mess I drove sooo slow and just wanted to get home but I could not drive fast cause my reaction time was so slow. Well I have been in bed for the majority of the day besides prolly 2 hours. I hope to be better by tomorrow because me and my friends are suppose to go to the Red's game. I havent felt this way in a long time and I dont know why God chose this for me? What is the remedy?

You always miss a best/good friend

Well, first let me start off by telling you that I am new to this and Im just trying it out. So, it could be temporary thing or I may follow up with it for a long time. Who knows? I guess we'll see soon enough. Secondly, I want to thank one of my best friends Lauren Ashley Londino the First for inspiring me to become a blogger! Well let me get started on my first posting.

"You always miss a best/good friend". I'll start with this because it has been on my mind the most the past week or so.

I have 5 or 6 best friends and a lot of good friends. However, in the past i'd say year or so I lost both a best and a really good friend of mine. I'd say that is something huge in someones life, and had me thinking and pondering about it from now still till this day. I have a good friend back. It's kind of like we are still good friends after about of severaly months prolly around a year or so of not speaking for certain reasons. As of now, we are working on the friendship, and working together to build it back to where it was and maybe it can grow from there. Im not scared to admitt while we werent speaking, I really did miss the good 'ol times at the beginning of our freshmen year and glad to have him back in my life. You always miss a good friend

I think you can only miss a best friend for so long then everything kind of fades away atleast from my experience. Im the kind of person where I can not forgive someone very easily at all, and that part about me will never change. I have changed a lot over the past year and it has been for the good and for the bad. The bad, because I lost a best friend and good because I am closer to God and I have open my eyes to a lot of new things aka the world. With my change it brings new people and things into my life, that I cant bring some friends and things into. At the end of the day I am content with that. I have some of the best friends in the world right now and hope to keep my relationship with them as long as possible aka lifetime.

Well, this post is out of order, doesnt make sense, and whatever but I did not want to go into depth of everything within my friendships. Online, I just dont do that. It's immature and not the right way. So, at the end of the day if I could tell you ALL one quote about friendships to leave you with it is this.

"It is what it is, It's not always fair".