It's almost thanksgiving!

The past few weeks have been pretty darn great. Can't complain

My boys played in the state tournament last weekend in Decatur, AL. We won 1 and lost 1. Here's the thing, why did we have to drive 4 hours to play just two games? It's a tournament! Shouldn't we be guaranteed at least 3 games? Oh Alabama... why do you not know how to organize a statewide tournament!? ugh. I was proud of my boys though. It was the best they have played all season.

Brent and I, once again, have a glorious road trip. We stayed at his parents' place in Birmingham on the Friday night before the tournament so that we could be absolutely and utterly spoiled by incredible hospitality. We went to a venue in downtown Birmingham called Work Play. Parachute was playing! They were great live. They have some awesome new stuff that is hopefully coming out soon. Hurry up Parachute! Please do not delay :)

This past weekend was great. I spent my whole Saturday hanging out with people at tailgates before the Auburn v. Georgia game. The best part of it was that I was given the amazing opportunity to see my buddy Logan. He and I were kanakuk counselors together in the same cabin for nearly 2 months. He went to UGA, so naturally he felt the inclination to come to Auburn to watch his dogs play the tigers. He is such a great guy. One of those peeps who you wish you could see everyday. We had a great conversation and got to catch up. The rest of the day was spent watching the game at my place with some friends and then hanging out with Tori. We ordered some pizza from Marco's (which is delicioso) and watched "How to Tame a Dragon". It was good, not as funny as i thought, but still a great movie.

Sunday was a beautiful day. We went to church with friends and then went out to eat afterwards. To my delight, we formed a little soccer pick-up game out at the fields. Then had Bible study after.

This week has been overcome by rain and wind. For the first couple of days this week I seriously felt mislead. I began to wonder if I really was in the south, because naturally when I think of rain and windy weather, I think of Kansas. Oh Kansas, I will see you soon...

So, I took full advantage and embraced the climate by sitting in my place and reading books and playing video games. Aaaah, I am convinced that there is nothing better.

I am currently reading two books: Radical by David Platte, and the 4th Harry Potter book The Goblet of Fire. I just finished reading 3 books of the Eragon series and am waiting with eager anticipation for the 4th book to come out. Get a move on Mr. Paolini!!

This weekend I will be accompanying some of my friends to Birmingham to stay at Brent's parents place. Apparently his parents came up with 4 free tickets to the Needtobreathe show! Yes. That will do. I don't know what else is in store for this weekend, but I will have you know that I in no way, shape, or form plan on doing any exercise whatsoever! Oh! and a bonus, Buns is bringing his puppy Rylee (a.k.a cutest puppy you'll ever see) with us. Maybe I'll get to do some cuddling (Tori is that ok? Just this once?).

I'm going to the Harry Potter midnight showing tonight with a bunch of folks. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited, however; not so excited for having to work the next morning after only receiving an abated amount of sleep :(. Tori has come up with an astounding idea of going to Starbucks to get some coffee before hand. I gladly excepted this invitation for 2 reasons: 1. Because my girlfriend is beautiful and I love her 2. Because usually by 9 p.m. I am ready to go to bed so obviously I will be needing some sort of caffeinated beverage to get through to movie without dozing off ha.

Well! Hope you all are doing well. Maybe I'll get to blog a little bit this weekend. If not then, most likely next week when I'm in Manhappenin' kickin' it by the fire in the 66503.

Flyin' in on the 24th!

With His Grace and Love,

Mocha

Mellow Mushroom

pizza is ok. Yes, I said it. OK. It isn't worth $30, that's for sure.

It was really nice of Mrs. Scaife to get me some pizza though. I interpreted for her and some other teachers earlier this week for a parent/teacher conference. Man, my Spanish was rusty. I forgot a couple of words, but I think that I did well overall. I'm just glad I got to help out. Anyway, she said that she owed me lunch and bought some pizza from Mellow Mushroom today. It was quite funny to see the look on all the kids' faces when they saw my delicious looking pizza. They all were so jealous. haha suckers.

Last weekend was fun. I went tailgating with some friends before the Auburn/Arkansas game (sorry Pastor Pat). I didn't really feel like going to the game so I didn't waste my time looking for a ticket. Instead, I just stayed at a tailgate with Buns and some other friends and watched the game. It was perfect. Flat screen tv, eating food every 30 min, and beautiful weather. Plus, I didn't have to stand up the whole time!

It was good to go to church finally. It had been 2 weeks since I'd been. My boys had a game on Sunday. We lost 4-1 but the score doesn't reflect how we played. We played the hardest team we will ever play this year, so I was proud of my boys. Bible study has been awesome. I am really getting interested in Bible history and researching things. Right now my bible study is going through Luke. We have such great conversations about things. I love my friends, they are so encouraging and supportive. I know that I could confide in any of them.

Tori and I and some friends went to a Ben Rector concert last Friday. Ben always gives a good show, however it was sad to only hear like 5 songs out of him. You're better than that Ben!! The venue was cool though. It was out at some house/farm out in the middle of nowhere (which was hard to find btw). It was nice and cool. Had to sit on a blanket and keep warm. Hot chocolate. Clear sky with beautiful stars in the sky. As a matter of fact, there was a giant shooting star during the concert, during which everyone cheered. The poor band didn't notice it at the time, so they thought everyone was cheering for them haha.

The guy from Ecuador emailed back last week. He said that he would love to have me and my friends down there for a summer. Supposedly they just built a new soccer field and want to start some summer soccer camps and a league, but they would need people to help out and coach. So, that's where we would come in. I want to do this soooo bad!! For two whole months in Ecuador? Are you kidding me? That would be amazing!

I'm excited to go back home for Thanksgiving. I might have already mentioned this, but it's just that I'm so ready to see Manhattan again. It's been too long!!

Had the opportunity to play against the Auburn men's club soccer team. It was pretty fun. We lost like 3-0 but it was 11 old guys who have never played with each other against a team of guys who have been training for 2 months straight. You can imagine how out of shape I was, having not trained or run for the past 3 weeks haha. It was funny to get the ball (I played center mid) and turn to find all of my forwards to be standing huffing and puffing. We were all spent after the first 10 min of the game!

My favorite song right now is "Background" by Lecrae. It's sooo sick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHnZRZiCYHE

Hope you all are doing well! Give me a call sometime so we can catch up!

Mocha :)

Man... this week flew by!

I can't believe it's already Friday!

I've had a normal week.

Monday was a normal day. Nobody wants to be back at school. Extra dose of coffee. Worked out after school with my buddy Buns and then went grocery shopping. I spent way too much!! I needed the food though... man my cabinets resembled a barren wasteland.

Same routine on Tuesday, as usual. I picked Tori up from work after I got off, then went home to take a quick nap. Then awoken and got ready for practice, which always consists of watching an episode of King Of Queens and Seinfeld ha. Then went to practice.

Wednesdays are the always the same as Mondays. Work, work out, hang out with peeps.

Thursdays are the same as Tuesdays except for a couple of little twists. I decided to make my week crazy by having my boys scrimmage the u-17 girls team for practice!! I know... I like to live on the edge. And those stinkin' girls are good!! I wanted my boys to lose so we could work on our mistakes, because apparently there are a lot of mistakes to be corrected considering we've tied 3 of our last 4 matches!! ugh...

Oh... and I got a flu shot. I didn't cry.

Then... the dreaded K-state vs. Nebraska game. I've never felt so embarrassed while watching a K-State game. I mean, giving up 48 points?? I'm surprised Bill didn't have a heart attack... I almost grabbed the remains of my whopper junior and aggravatingly threw it at my buddy's tv I was so disgusted. But, instead i controlled my anger and held it in so that it would take me 30 minutes to fall asleep later in the evening (which option would you choose?). Poor Manhappenin, probably wasn't so happenin last night (or happy, for Manhattan is also known as Manhappyness). I bet the bars in Aggieville had nothing to complain about, they've probably never "harvested" such great business from Cornhusker fans. Oh well, it's just a game right?? Besides, at least Barcelona won't disappoint me any time soon. Viva la Azulgrana!!

Today (Friday) has been great. FCA at the crack of dawn. Eating donuts after singing some worship songs? I'm not complaining. Paul and Mikiela have been great today. Gotta love those kids. Gonna work out here at the school afterwards. Then Brent and I are traveling to Birmingham to stay with his parents tonight so we don't have to drive 4 hours in the morning to get to our game in Huntsville tomorrow. My boys play at 1 p.m. After that Brent and I will make yet another pit stop at his parents place on the return journey to Auburn, where the next day we will play another game at 9:30 a.m. Following the game, we may go to the Auburn women's soccer game for "kick's" and giggles. Then, as always, we will proceed to Bible study :).

There you have it!

Big shout out to the MNU boys for tying Baker, good job with Culver, and good luck on Tuesday.

Peace and Love

Mocha

Is that cool weather that i feel???

Fall has finally come to Auburn! Yay! I definitely would rather be warm than cold, but I have to admit, I'm ready for some change in weather. It is beautiful! 70's... you kiddin' me? you can't get much better than that. At least I'm not sweating in the mornings anymore ha.

I went to Huntsville, AL this weekend to coach my boys. It is supposedly a 4 1/2 hour drive to Huntsville from Auburn, but my buddy Brent did a wonderful job of driving at a comfortable speed of 90 mph so we could get there in a whopping 3 1/2 hours. The game went alright. We ended up tying 1-1 though. I'd rather tie than lose, considering it was an away game. It would have been terrible to drive all the way there to lose. I was proud of my boys though. It was a God awful field so obviously our possession style of play would not do as well. But, they fought through it and came up with a decent result.

The rest of the weekend was the shiznit. My friend Brent and I stayed in Birmingham at his parents' place and just chillaxed hardcore. We ate pizza and lisaugna (spell check) and drank about 8 cans of Dr. Pepper a piece while we watched football. Finally, a relaxing weekend!! We spent some time walking on the campus of Samford University. It was a beautiful campus. We also went to a really nice church, Brook Hill's. It was great.

Picture day!!!

And oh it was joyous!! Haven't taken a school picture since high school. Boy oh boy was i excited. Paul and Mikiela looked great too. They were quite stylish. Apparently I get free copies of my pictures and a free yearbook. Could life get any better? I mean, forget the full-time benefits like medical and dental insurance haha.

So let me tell you how awesome this friday has been so far. TGIF... miss those shows (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper). First, i arrived at work to find free donuts. I had 3. Then I went to the pop machine to get a Dr. Pepper and lo and behold 3 delicious soft drinks came tumbling down. 3 for the price of 1!! Then I got my picture taken. THEN Paul and I watched Lord of the Rings, specifically the part where Gandalf fights the Balrog. "YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS!!" Paul really gets into the movies, more than i do, which is surprising. He even almost started crying when Gandalf fell off the bridge, which is funny because Paul even knows the fate of Gandalf. He knows that Gandalf comes back in the second movie. Why does he get sad you ask? The answer is simple. Paul and Gandalf carry a special connection, but shhhh, it's supposed to be a secret. Anyway, it was precious.

Tonight should be fun. Tori and I are going out to eat at some nice restaurant called Hamilton's. After that there is supposed to be some block party downtown with a band so maybe we'll go walk around a lil.

My team has a game this weekend. I hope that goes well!

Well... gotta help with some math problems!

Hasta Pronto,

Mocha

New life

full of work and living for some free time during the weekends!!

Sorry to you all about not updating :(. I'm terrible at this, ugh.

I'm going to do my best to get you all caught up.

For those you who don't know, I am currently working at Drake Middle School in Auburn, Alabama as a special education aide.

I love it.

I get to help two kids in need everyday. One boy and one girl. Th

ey are two sweet kids that have to get around by wheelchairs and since they are physica

lly incapable of a lot of different things I have to - get to- assist them. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it can get frustrating, but then I think...

How selfish am I?

I mean, two kids who do not get to have a "normal" childhood due to misfortune and I lose my patience because i begin to think about my own agenda. So, immediately I redirect my thinking and try to be more compassionate. For the most part, I get to spend the majority of my day and time laughing with two free-spirited and loving individuals while being cautious and keeping my feet out of the path of speedy wheelchairs (I have decided to call Paul's the Black Mamba due to it's unpredictable and deadly movements). I am surrounded by multip

le kids everyday! it can get tiring.

Paul is originally from Taiwan. He has lived in the states for about six years. Mikiela is the other little angel. She is from Auburn. Paul has cerebral palsy and I'm not quite sure if Mikiela has the same. Paul comes from a complete family that takes care of him very well. And... it shows. Unfortunately, on the other hand, Mikiela comes across as a neglected child. Her parents are separated and her mom works to support a family of six children, which includes Mikiela. My heart breaks. If I had the means, I would adopt her. She is such a sweet girl.

So, that's my main occupation at the moment. I definitely enjoy it. I feel that God has

been teaching me more about how to be compassionate and less self absorbed. I wake up every morning with motivation for a worthy objective. I feel like I have a greater purpose.

My second job is coaching. Coaching soccer, that is, if th

ere is anyone reading this that doesn't know me at all. I have a U-15 boys team. It's through the Auburn Thunder Soccer Club. It is a traveling team which requires commitment. We have practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Almost every weekend we have a game. They're a good group of kids. Many a time they have tried my patience and made me angry. I

try not to yell too often, but sometimes that is what it takes to get them motivated. One day, we lost to a team that I thought was not as skilled as us, but we were thoroughly outplayed and we ended up losing. If any of you have seen the movie Miracle you can imagine how much I made my team run after the game ha.

Patience Seth.

That is what i have to remind my self. Patience. I can't treat this team like MNU. They aren't some soccer power. They are from Auburn, Alabama. They probably care more about college football than their own team. I'm trying my hardest to adjust. Soccer doesn't have near the value or significance down here like it did in Kansas. Yes... that means very, ver

y small significance. But, my team is thought to be one of the best out of all the teams in the club. So i take pride in that.

So you are all probably wondering how The relationship is going. :)

Last time I checked, she is still beautiful and I love her (because that is all that matters right? haha). It is going well! Tori and I just got done visiting her mom in ATL. We are both just continuing to learn how to live our different lives and still connect and grow together. One day at a time. At times it can be rough because I'm living in the 'profess

ional world' while she is still in her college years. It seems like there is a new challenge or change every month. So, we're trying to figure out how to get through things with support from each other. Most of the time I'm pretty drained from work, coaching, and just good old fashion busyness. I am learning how to spend time with her in the midst of all that. It may seem like a sacrifice sometimes, but I need to understand that is what love is and that is how things are going to be in the future.

We are both in our own bible studies. She has found an amazing group of ladies that she

meets with every Sunday. And I have the same on my end. We are both going to Cornerstone Church, but we aren't involved much. But, we have expressed interest in helping ou

t with youth. The only problem is that they haven't had a youth pastor for a while and are just now getting a new one. So, we are just waiting to see what the Lord opens up once the dude arrives.

I guess I just can't get enough of kids :)

Last thing.

Ecuador.

Yep.

I want to go soooo bad!

My friend Buns and I are trying to plan our own sort of mission trip to Ecuador this summer. We want to be there for like 2 months. We would love to teach English or coach soccer (the only two things that I know how to do). So, we have had a blessing of 2 or 3 connections down there so hopefully, God willing, we can figure something out. Gotta be honest, it has been on my mind like crazy as of late! That a

nd the Wheel of Times Series. I'm on book nine! Aaaaaand Universal Studios is supposed to be making a movie about it :) :) :). yeah... I'm a fantasy junky, I'm not ashamed!

Well friends, I leave you with a couple of videos and pics. Love you all!! Don't hesitate to give me a quick call or email!

Peace, Love, and God above

Mocha

Pictures include College Gameday on ESPN, the Manchester United game, a Lord of The Rings cake that a friend made for me for my birthday, Paul playing putt-putt, Mikiela and Paul before the pep rally, and Auburn football tailgating.

One of these videos shows you the contagious laughter of Paul Liu as he walks on the treadmill and the adorable smile of Mikiela as she fails to do any sort of workout during P.E. How can you punish such a sweet girl?? If you have an answer then you need to tell me right away or she will be getting away with everything this year.

The other video shows you how deprived I was as a seventh grader. Why didn't we ever have pep rallies????

Thank you God for the World Cup.

So here's what has been going on.

I have to admit, the Lord's time is pretty ridiculous. He always has everything planned out, and it's so unfair because we don't have insight. Couldn't we just have a sneak peek of what He's doing!?

But, on the other hand, It makes life exciting. I have learned how awfully difficult is for me to trust and remain faithful when things aren't going my way. I get stressed, doubtful, and quite honestly just afraid of what the future holds. Yet, like a sucker punch to the side of the face He surprises you (but should it be a surprise?).

Having said this, I'm so excited to tell you that God has been putting pieces together in my life.

I got a job at the Middle School as a special education teaching assistant.

I am also going to be a full time soccer coach for the Auburn Thunder Soccer Club.

God is faithful... again.
He provided again.
Why am I always so surprised when He provides?
Why are you?
Why are we?

Right now I am working full time at Dick's Sporting Goods as the customer service specialist. It's stressful, but I have to remind myself that it is a blessing from the Lord. It's a way of making a little money before I transition to my next job.

I have made so many AMAZING friends that after playing two hours of soccer on the tennis courts, sweaty and painfully tired, will sit down their fatigued bodies on the hot concrete and converse with me about life and its struggles. As I write about this, it has come to my attention that this is obviously the work on the Lord. I have done nothing to receive these blessings, It's just by HIS grace and mercy. Despite my lack of faith and my doubt, He has given my so much.

So much.

As of a couple of weeks ago, I have been thinking more about missions. I don't know if this is just a temporary thought, but I have been praying that God would provide me a way to pay my school loans. They are pretty hefty, but there is no telling what God is capable of.

I would love to just travel the world or South America or just really anywhere for a year and use soccer as a ministry. My idea derives from the film Pelada. If you haven't heard of it you can check it out at pelada-movie.com. Or maybe have a soccer camp of some sort.

I'll be leaving Dick's Sporting Goods in late July. The job at the Middle School starts during the first week of August. I figure it would be nice to give myself maybe a week of no work between the transition to just enjoy being jobless ha.

Love you all. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.

In His abundance of Blessings,

Mocha



Pictures!

Home Sweet Home

To whom this may concern,

Tori and I will be arriving in KC Wednesday night. We are going to my buddies David and Kim's wedding this weekend. I'm super pumped to see my family!!

I don't know if I will have much time to hang with people, but I would love to receive a text from ya in case there is a chance to maybe swing by or give a lil shout out.

Love you all,

Mocha

Dega Baby!

Hey, so my b for not keeping up with this blog stuff lately.

I've been having to work a lot and quite honestly my thoughts have been elsewhere.

My roommate Glen invited me to go to Talledega with him and his dad and uncle.

For Free.

Because, frankly being surrounded by thousands of drunk rednecks doesn't sound all that appealing.

But, I thought it would be quite the experience, and it was in fact quite that.
For instance, I was given the blessing of seeing what seemed a 55 year old woman wearing a confederate flag bikini. Life doesn't get much better than that.
It was a lot of fun though. I got a lot of sun and am now darker and am left thanking the hot sun of Alabama. And I found more respect for car drivers. Can't be easy controlling a car that is driving 200 mph.

Here are some pics!

So... unfortunately I did not take a picture of the confederate flag bikini, but I did take other pics. Hope you all enjoy.
I'll give another update soon. Love you all!

Oh and by the way, our Men's league team just won the championship today! And we only had 1 sub :). It went into pk's.

Peace and Love,

Mocha

Just shaved my face.

So, to get you all caught up to speed.

Things have been emotionally better i would say.

I've been watching pastor's Revolution series online. He speaks about the concept of self-talk and core beliefs. I have finally come to a conspicuous realization that my self-talk has been misbehaving. I have done nothing to cure my small doubts and reoccurring frustrations as of late. Working at Dick's and Gap has given me very little confidence and thus provoked feelings of fear and inadequacy. My attention was averted from the blessings and Love of my God. I can honestly say that my thoughts were more linked to malignity and disdain than to that of love and compassion.

So, I've been spending more time focusing on the love that God has for me. Befitting that it is almost Easter to recognize this amazing love. Love from both a vile and, yet, beautiful cross.

for me.

For you too of course, but this is my blog ha.

Anyway, thinking of this has lifted my spirits and confidence. Trust. Faith. You name it.

Everything.

And, not just self-talking every-once-and-a-while. Doing so would merely be dilatory. But trying to this every hour of the day. Try it!
--------------------------------------------
The weather has been incredible lately...
Not everyday of course. but one can dream.

Averaging mid 60's. Today it is prolly mid 70's and sunny. Might go outside and lay out to work my tan. Not really.

We've won our first two men's league games. Really brings back memories. I really miss playing with the guys. Last wed night we had a game. We won 3-1. I hate giving up goals. But it just reminded me of my prime days when playing center back. Barking out orders. And them not always been accomplished ha. Tori and one of her friends came to watch. It was the first time that she had seen me play, which was pretty cool. Aftewards, four of us sweaty dudes gave tori a coercive group hug to which she accepted with much delight :). We're playing a 4-5-1 because we are all out of shape.

I'm still working on getting into grad school. But more like waiting. The committee meets on the 9th of April to decide who gets the graduate assistantship scholarship. I think I'm going to see if I can get involved with a Spanish church here to hopefully practice my speaking and maybe influence the committee in a positive way.

I just had my phone interview with Brewton-Parker College. It went well I think. I tried to establish a higher level of professionalism while maintaining an eloquent and down to earth personality. I just hope they don't think I'm too young and unprofessional. The more I think about it the more positive I feel about the position. I think I would actually like it and that I would thrive doing the related work. So, just be praying. They are making their final decision in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully I'll get asked for a visit in the future.

We had our second soccer game on Sunday. It was a pretty nice day. Church was good before hand. Tori and a couple of friends came to watch. We won 2-0. She got mugged again by sweaty teammates. Thinking about making it a tradition.

After the game I went to... well, it was essentially a concert. Toby Mac and Skillet. The "main attraction" was Will Graham. Which is Billy Graham's grandson. He was the headline speaker. He wasn't very good. Well, let's just say it wasn't what I expected. Then again my expectations have been known to misinterpreted. Any how, the sermon seemed dry. Not once did he mention grace, love, or Jesus Christ, but it was more of an outreach. And I've never seen Toby Mac in concert, but man do i miss DC Talk. Toby Mac was like a watered down version of the Black Eye Peas. Figures, that right when we were leaving they started playing Jesus Freak. Oh well, the whole thing was free and I was able to hang out with a bunch of friends. Good friends, free event, and Taco Bell afterward. It was brilliant.

I continue to wait on the Lord. I just want an opportunity.

In His Love,

Mocha

P.S. - The Cats gave it a good run. Much props. Wish they would've played better against Butler though. They weren't really impressive to be honest, Butler that is.

Without Further Ado

Here ya go.

All thanks to my man Corey W. for reminding me of my responsibilities!

And yes, there is a lil shout out to all you MNU soccer fans out there.

Vivan los Pioneers originales!






















Great... it looks like I need to go clean now...

Peace and Love,

Mochalicious

Spring break? nope.

This week has been ok. Actually, the beginning was pretty rockin'. By rockin' i mean that I didn't have to do anything and I had the opportunity to sleep in.

Sunday...

Watched tv with Jordan... a lot of soccer and march madness selection.

Then. played futsal on the tennis courts. Had 3 megs :)

Monday...

Slept til like 12. Then watched a ton of tv and read.

Then. went to work at dicks.

Shout out to Cam Cundiff: How did Chelsea do in the Champions League? That's right :)

I heart Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

Tuesday...

I was castigated by not having to work. What a punishment right?

Slept in and watched Goal 1 and 2 with Glen. Then watched a soccer game

Then we played soccer again at night.

We had great numbers. 7v7

Wednesday...

Worked at Gap in the morning. Then had to work at Dick's at night.

Not the best Spring break at this point. Let the turmoil begin.

Thursday...

Had to wake up at 5:15 and work until 10:30a.m. at Gap

Took a 2 hour nap. Then had to go work at Dick's for six hours

Friday...

The weather was gorgeous!!! 70+ degrees. Not too shabby.

Worked at Gap from 9-3. Then chilled outside and read.

**** Right now I'm reading The Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. Mainly because I feel ill-equipped when it comes to trusting in the Lord. In the chapter I'm reading right now the author says that the first sign of trust is gratitude. This convicted me because I can honestly say that I don't wake up every morning with my first thought being thankful. It's more like augmented sullen thoughts and feelings. Soooo... if I am talking with any of you peeps on the phone or texting... don't hesitate to ask me if I have been thankful k? :)

After reading I played this fantastic Star Wars video game on PS3. (no comment)

I'm hooked.

Then Jordan and I attempted to play soccer with a bunch of foreign dudes.

Worthless. Barely broke a sweat.

Took showers. Then went to a buddy's place for some BBQ and March Madness.

Presently, I am sitting on the couch pleasantly observing flamboyant dudes playing rock band. Only one way to play.

1. Lights off

2. Shirts off

3. Sanity released

Supposedly have a possible interview for the admissions counselor job at Brewton-Parker College coming up. Mike Dye being my source. So we'll see.

To be honest. I really want to stay here, but when it come to finances, I would be obviously pick the admissions counselor job.

So, it's in the Lord's hands. Everything depends on Him.

I have to work from 4-8:30 at Gap tomorrow. yay! that means...

I get to sleep in.

Plus, Tori will be returning from here Spring Break getaway! Can't wait to see her and that breathtaking pulchritude!

Anyway... I don't really know who all reads this... but I would really love to hear from you all via text or email. Whatevs.

I've been getting a smidgen of the Kansas sickness. Hope you all are doing well. My love goes out to you. Know that Lord is always in control. If that is consoling at all. Be filled with peace and sanguinity.

In the zealous love of Jesus,

Blessings,

Mocha

P.S. - Sorry I haven't posted pictures of my place yet... I promise I'll do it shortly. bye's. :)

Blah...

Hey all!

This week has been ok. Just been working and hanging out. I'm still trying my hardest to get into Grad school. I met with the Spanish Grad School Director on Friday to express my desire to get in. I told her how hard I would work. She said that she likes me and wants to give me the chance, but it just depends on what the committee thinks.

I called the financial aid office to see how much one 3 credit hour graduate level course would be for out of state and it was ....

$4,200

Wow... really?

I could go to Mexico this summer for 5 weeks and take 2 courses for less than that!!

The director realized that too and thought it ridiculous for me to pay that amount when I would learn more in Mexico.
So... she is gonna see what she can do by talking to them.

praying.
I also told her that I would be polishing my spanish by working on my grammar and literature reading.

Ordered some more books that she recommended.

Supposedly there are some people that teach English to hispanics at some church here. Gonna try to get involved in that. Figure the more i get involved in, the better my chances.

I don't know guys. I feel at peace with this. I had a good feeling. It wasn't a good feeling based on the hope that God will get me into grad school, but it was based on the fact that my God will bless me in some way. I'm learning how to not be afraid, but to put my hope and trust in God.

Focusing on the cross.

Also, I'm trying to focus on righteousness. I suck at it. Read in psalm 85 that righteousness and peace are in relationship with each other.

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Last night I arrived at home just in time to find my roommates and friends jamming to Rock Band. I've never played it before. I guess Glen and Jordan got the urge or something and decided to go out and buy it haha. Nothin' more funny than experiencing Jordan sing "Don't stop believing" by Journey.

H i l a r i o u s.

Dude, the drums are hard.

I applied for the admissions counselor job at Brewton-Parker College in Georgia. Might be able to coach with Mike Dye.

By the way, it's been raining a ton here. Turns out that i have a leak in my car. Makes my car smell like mildew.
I made burgers for Tori and I one night. And it was the bomb.com

That's for you Dougy-D

I felt so manly. Tori said that it was the best burger that she'd had in a long time :D.

It's been raining so much that our first men's league soccer game got canceled on Wed. night :(. It's alright. Now i get more time to get in shape, which consists of me watching Fox Soccer Channel.

Thought this video was interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhX7m3rF20c

New favorite song! - Jesus Culture: "Your Love Never Fails"

Well, off to bed.

Much love.

In His Unfailing and Powerful Love,

Mocha

Weekend of firsts

This weekend was fun.

NEW ORLEANS WOO!

Friday morning Tori's family and I departed from Auburn and began our 5 hour long
drive to New Orleans.

I drove the first half of the journey. We got to our hotel in downtown New Or. in the early afternoon.

First I met more of Tori's extended family. Cousins, aunts, uncles.

Hotel was fancy. Pretty nice. The hot water in the shower was a lil askew... but no biggie. Only took one shower during the weekend anyway.

Had my first bowl of gumbo soup...

Wasn't my fave.

Turns out there was a surprise in it.

A whole crab.?

Tori and her mom also chose to get gumbo soup, but how come they didn't have a secret crab in theirs? Just got lucky i guess. I accidentally chewed on some of the crab's legs.

Not delectable.

After that meal, Tori's brother Merrick and I walked through Bourbon Street and the rest of the downtown area of New Orleans, including the much more appealing French Quarter.

Bourbon Street was nothing more than a scum bucket that's only purpose is to feed the appetite of a corrupt and tainted society that has regrettably liberated itself from anything remotely close to decency.

It made me sick.

Even more so, it made me sad. When I was talking to Tor about the things I saw on Bourbon Street I began to get tears in my eyes. I was wondering, what does God think when He sees His beloveds like this?

Let's move to something more sanguine shall we?

Here are some pics of the more historic and beautiful sites-----------

A certain cathedral that I forgot the name of, Joan of Arc, and Jackson Square.

The wedding rehearsal was fun I suppose. I didn't really know anyone except for Tori and her brothers. So, I became the antisocial Seth and just hung out with them exclusively.

The food was good. Fancy. 6 pieces of silverware.

Is that really necessary?

Whatever, I felt cool.

Reminds me of that episode of Spongebob Squarepants when Patrick tells Spongebob that it's fancy to drink with your pinky up. (Random)

Anyway, the rehearsal dinner was on top of a nice restaurant in the French Quarter, right next to the cathedral. There was a lot of drinking, laughing, and fellowship. Wasn't too bad. Had a good time hanging out with Tori of course. In conclusion, beautiful girl + tasty food = good night.

In the middle of the night I was awakened to the sound of a yelling drunk man who was locked out of his hotel room.

In the morning a bunch of Tori's family and I went to get some brunch. Fortunately the Argentina and Germany replay was on. Glad Germany lost.

It was a beautiful day. Tori and I were to meet up with our buddy Cory Williams who is going to Seminary in New Orleans. Cory and I met at Kanakuk this past summer and have remained great friends throughout this year. He's stellar.

To kill time, Tori and I walked around for a little bit. Went to Urban Outfitters and watched random street acts. It wasn't the easiest thing - meeting up with Cory- but eventually we were able to hop into his car as he stopped in the middle of the busy street.

He took us to a couple of sweet spots.

Camp du Monde was superb.

Although, I did think they would offer more than just simply coffee and binet... oh well they were delicious.

The setting of the wedding ceremony. The tree was majestically massive.

At a fork in the road...

This past week has been pretty rough.

What is going on!?

As I said in my last post, I took the GRE.

bombed it.

It's been a long time since I've been so disappointed in myself, distraught, and frustrated. I've never been good at tests like this though. I didn't do very well on the ACT either... but as proved in college and high school, I am able to retain an above average gpa. So, some of you are probably inquisitive, wondering what my score was. I'll just say it was nowhere close to where I needed it to be.

The Spanish department director said that the GRE really isn't that big of a deal. They look more at my previous Spanish work. She said that the committee felt that i wasn't advanced enough to qualify for the graduate assistantship. They didn't want to take the risk in paying for all of my graduate studies and paying me on top of that and then I just fail out.

That would not happen.

I know that once I get into something, I never fail.

So, the only other option that they left me was to take a class during minimester this summer, for 4 weeks. If I get a good grade in the class... they will consider me. Overall, they don't think I'll be able to handle it.

How would they know!?

I would never be able to improve with Spanish unless I'm challenged. I don't know if I should take this class.
It'll cost me.

I'm thinkin' at least $1,500. Is it worth it?

I'm thinkin' yes... Until another option randomly appeared just recently.

For those of you who don't know me at all, I love soccer.
Not as much as I love my girlfriend... but it's up there ha.

Mike Dye, an old college teammate of mine, offered me a job coaching jv at a small NAIA school in Mount Vernon Georgia. He said that I could possibly get an admissions counselor job too.

AH! That'd be awesome.... buuutttt it's missing two things.

Tori. Friends.

I've met a lot of cool guys here and I have thoroughly enjoyed being with my beautiful girl.
God has blessed me in so many ways. So many things have fallen into place to get down here, it's confusing to think that I would leave here already after being around for a little over two months. Nonetheless, it's an option. And for once I would enjoy the work.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention... it's a lil over 4 hours from here. Long distance... no bueno.

If anyone has any insight or ideas... don't hesitate to give me a shout. Oooor just a simple prayer would be sublime.

The Gap I work at downtown.

Hung out with some friends and ate some amazing home-cooked food :). Blake is above. Roommate Glenn and buddy Mark on the right.

P.S. I apologize to all of you friends out there. I have been horrible with keeping in touch with you. Know that I love you and miss you all. I hope you can understand that this past week has been a roller coaster ride. I hope to do better this week. You all are special to me.

Blessings,

Mocha

GRE Time...

Well... here goes nothin'! Tomorrow I am taking the GRE at approximately noon. I am nervous, but I am really trying with vigor to focus on my favor with the Lord. He has fully provided me with the capabilities to take this test and do well. Still, there is this underlying feeling or conception that assails me. Since I've been out of school for nearly 8 months, perpetual thoughts of incompetence berate my confidence. It's a battle between trusting my God and thinking that I must create my own way and develop my own prudence. Even as I am writing this, I ponder... What is God thinking right now? "Seth, are you kidding me? Was the miracle of putting the puzzle pieces together to get you down to Alabama not enough? Do you still not trust me?" Is my mind and heart so feeble? I wish with all of my heart that my faith was not based on my circumstances. God, mollify my heart! Make me malleable to your will.

I leave you with this:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Wish me luck!

In His satiable Love,

Mocha

This will be a blog of TWO days worth... can ya dig it?

Yesterday was just another slow and boring day at work

I swear I only saw 10 stinkin' customers in one hour...

However, since it was so slow I found time to study my GRE vocabulary flash cards that I bring with me everywhere i go. I keep like a stack of 40 cards in my pocket at all times to try to boost my less than impressive vocab. I also had time to text my roomie Jordan to see when the High school team was playing that night. "5:30... perfect... I get off at 4" After work, I went to the bank and found out that the unexpected had indeed occurred. My direct deposit from Gap actually went through on time! After going to the bank (I now bank at Regions, for you curious people) I went to Northcutt Realty to pay my rent. After doing that i returned to my residence to pick up Glen (my other roomie). Off to the game we went

aaaannnnd it was cold.

Auburn got the victory though. 2-1.

Then Tori and I went back to my place. I made some chili for dinner :). Love me some chili. Tori had a test the next day to study for, so with alacrity I assisted her. I then took her home and returned to my humble abode for sleep.

Day 2 Woke up early this morning. 7:25 to be exact. I've been waking up like an hour earlier everyday so that I can have time to get into the Word and talk to my Savior. I read Romans 5&6 today. I worked in the footwear department today from 9-4. Wasn't very fun. Didn't get to study my flash cards much. After work I went home to just chill. Glen arrived shortly after and we both decided that it was time for me to experience my first southern BBQ. So we ventured our way to a lil place called Mike and Ed's. Twas magnifico. Speaking of Spanish, I ran into the Spanish Department Director of AU. I had a really good conversation with her. She was so nice. She told me I had a lot of work to do with my Spanish but she thinks that I have a lot of potential. She said she could tell that I was someone that would work really hard. I tried to be articulate with my words and expressed to her how important it was for me to get in to the program. I don't think it was a coincidence that I ran into her. Considering that we had made such an arbitrary decision on impulse to go get BBQ.

Anyway, here I am. Glen and I are chillin' on the couch watchin Chelsea play Inter Milan. I need to get back to studying before I go to the 'backyard' with Tor. The backyard is a lil college ministry thing. If you all could be praying for me about the GRE I would be very grateful. I really want to do well. Blessings to you all!


P.S. - Next blog will be a tour of my place :)

Love,

Mocha

Vocab Flash Cards

... have been my life lately. Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. For those of you who don't know, I am trying to get into grad school at Auburn University. I am in pursuit of a Masters in Hispanic Studies or something involving or pertaining to Spanish (considering my degree was in Spanish). I have submitted nearly all of the requirements for admission... except for my GRE scores. I have registered for the GRE this coming Monday the 1st of March. I am extremely nervous. I really want to get in grad school. It would really just assuage things for me right now. I can't stand working retail. God has definitely blessed me with 2 jobs right now... especially considering how hard it is to get a job these days. But. I hate thinking that I could be doing this retail stuff for another year...

Anyway! So here i am... I've been studying everyday for at least 3 hours at a time. The math hasn't been too bad. It's the verbal that's been sent my mind through a maelstrom. I work nearly everyday, then arrive home late afternoon or about at dinner time. Then it's up to my cozy isolated room for my study period. Tori has been coming over to study as well. and YES... we do study for those of you who find it hard to believe. So, to summarize my routine... work and studying. I can't wait to get this test over with!

Oh! and one of my buddies, Chris Hawkins, and I are reading through Romans together. We both kind of just needed some motivation to read the Word more. I've been involved with a super fantastic Bible study with some guys. It's more like an accountability group where we discuss our struggles and growths, along with questions that we may have over some passages in the Bible. It's awesome. And just a little added bonus... we play soccer afterward. Que una bendición!

I need to go to bed, hopefully this got some of you a lil caught up! Miss you all :) Chau!

Unto The Lord Immortal,

Mocha

Greetings de el Sur

"Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart..." - Joel 2:12

Greetings de el Sur. Doesn't seem all that different down here... well... weather wise anyway. I thought I had cleverly escaped this wretched cold weather, but how foolish was I!? Everything else is quite different...

1. Seeing Tori pretty much everyday (she IS the main attraction)



2. Southern accent (I'm still clueless as to what they are saying...or trying to say)
3. My new roommates (Glen and Jordan) and friends - They are amazing

Jordan (left), Glen (right)

4. New church (Church of the Highlands)
5. Dreadful basketball


6. Every type of food under the sun... fried.

Off to bed. Working 9-2 at Dick's and 3-6:30 at Gap. Not very excited about that, but at least I get to use my new coffee maker that my gf got me for V-day. Stoked!



Unto the King Eternal,

Mocha