A nasty stomach virus/food poisioning is hitting the corps right now. Alyson is sick with it right now, and over the course of the day four other people in the company alone have become sick. Alyson said that sick call was crammed with people suffering from it this morning. Right now I feel fine, so I'm praying that it doesn't hit me.

Busy and stressful week. I'll be glad when COB Friday roles around.

This evening I was thinking about a big entry that I wanted to write, but now all I want to do is go to bed. Sorry.

A snowstorm is passing through right now. Predictions in cadet land range from one to four feet, meaning we'll probably get about 5 or inches. The nice thing is that my coach canceled practice tomorrow morning due to the snow, and the corps is in BDUs tomorrow.

Happy 100th night weekend. I get to see my parents tomorrow. Yay:)

Today I have seen God in action. He is amazing. Through everything that has been happening I have been trying to surrender it all to God, praise Him in all circumstances, and not feel sorry for myself, but today was a real struggle. My weekly meeting with Mrs. D helped cheer me up, and tonight has been amazing.

I went into today without a definite decision of where I wanted to post, so throughout the day I was praying about it. It seemed to come down to Fort Hood and Fort Drum, although previously I wanted Fort Carson, Fort Lewis, or Alaska. As the day wore on the desire to go to Fort Hood grew stronger, but I thought the chances of my actually getting one of the slots to go there was small, since I was 59th out of 71 and there were only 10 slots for it. I prayed that if it was where God wanted me that I'd get the last slot.

Right before we started picking posts my branch rep told us about a few changes in the rankings, and I actually moved up to 57th. The first posts to go out were both in Hawaii. I don't rememeber when Hood opened up, but the whole time I was praying "God, not my will but yours be done." As the Hood slots started to go I started to pray that the next person would pick Korea, and sure enough they did. That happened three or four times with different posts. Finally the 50th person got to pick, and there were 4 Hood slots left. There was a small debacle with someone trying to post with thier fiancee, and all of a sudden two Hood slots were gone, and there were still two people in front of me. The next person picked some other post and so I knew right then I had a Hood because there were two slots left, and then the next person picked Hood. I thanked God and picked the last Hood slot.

Other answered prayers:
- Annah had her biopsy yesterday and they think it was just a cyst.
- I really wanted to go on the OCF spring retreat, but had the NCUR conference at VMI as well as a crew regatta that weekend, so going was not even an option. Then, this morning I found out that only one person in my team has to go to the conference, and it most likely will be Mike. After crew practice I found out that the crew regatta for that weekend was taken off our schedule due to lack of funds. It looks like I'll be on the spring OCF retreat after all. Praise God! (Please pray that it stays that way.)

I got the last slot for my future post.

In just a few hours I'll find out where I'll be stationed for the next 3 years. Please pray for all of the firsties as we pick our first post tonight.

Please pray for my cousins Christian and Matthew who are both in the hospital right now.

I am a mess right now. My friend Annah is in the hospital today to get a lump removed that may be cancerous. My friend Anne told me that she was going to go visit her after crew practice, and I was welcome to come along, but it'd probably mean missing the first half of OCF. I really want to go to the first part of OCF, but I also feel like I should go visit Annah. I know that I would welcome visits from friends if I were in her situation. My emotions are so wacko right now that trying to decide what to do is actually making me cry.

The OCF retreat was really good, and I am extremely glad I went on it, strenthend friendships, met new people, grew in my relationship with God, but it was, as expected, also an emotionaly draining weekend. This coming week is a rather major week, with post night on Wednesday and 100th night weekend this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to all of it, but I'm guessing my emotions will be rather rollercoastery (I think I made up that word). It's weeks like this where I am so glad that I can turn to God and know that He is there in and through everything.

Today I went and got my hair trimmed, and the lady who was trimming it told me that I have baby-fine hair. Why is my hair so thine? Am I mistaken when I remember having a rather thick head of hair a few years ago? I don't know why I'm only just noticing it now, but recently I have been noticing how thin my hair is. I don't know if it looks that way, but there is a huge difference when i brush it and when I occiasionally blow-dry it. I jokingly say that I should be the one going through chemo so that I can get a new head of hair when it's done.

How short is the First Class?

The First Class is so short that we have fewer weeks at the academy than the Cows have months. WOOHOO!

Happy 100th Day :)

Betsy, make those white blood cells mutliply. That's an order.

Today was a beautiful day here. The sky was blue, it was very warm out (for February), and just a nice day overall. A little spring in the middle of winter is always an uplifitng touch.

My law teacher not showing up to class on Friday was God answering my prayer. My teacher was sick, and even though the law class is normally redirected to another classroom, due to my teacher being the one who is the re-director for the department, my class didn't get redirected. Therefore, none of us were unexcused. Thank you Jesus :)

Tomorrow is the real 100th night. The weekend after next is just when it is observed. Today I reflected on my time at west point and my time leading up to coming here. I thanked God, was amazed at everything that has transpired, and felt extremely blessed for the opportunities I've had.

No crew practice tomorrow. YAY!!!!!

Thank you thank you thank you Mom and Dad :) Woohoo! I got something for valentines day from them.

Actually, once I got to crew practice my day brightned alot, even though it was crew practice. I decided to ask some of the girls on the team to go to dinner at Grant with me, my treat, to celebrate the day. Anne, Jackie, Abigail, and I are going to go soon. Anne gave everyone on the team bags of candy, Danielle handed out valentines day cards, and so did Abigail. Thank you ladies :)

I've been doing my best to try and not feel sorry for myself today, but right now my resolve is failing. I should think of how blessed I am and focus on that, but right now I'm coming up with a million excuses about why I have a right to feel sorry for myself. Inside I know I know that each excuse is garbage.

Alyson and I both got things in the mail today from our parents. She got a big teddy bear holding chocolates, and I got a form for my taxes.

Happy Valentines Day.

Betsy, happy second round of chemo day...or something like that.

"Once a source of shame, divorce has become its own peculiar rite of passage, so commonplace that more people are looking to commemorate the occasion..." NYTimes Article "O.K., It's Over. So Now Let's Party."

Sad. We need to start looking past ourselves.

This week, if it hasn't been obvious, I've felt rather stressed. On the way to law class this morning I was pouring out my frustration to God and crying out to Him for help. I feel exhausted physically, emotionally, and mentally, and while I was walking to class I asked God to help me make it through somehow. When I got to class the rest of my section was waiting outside the classroom because the door was locked. I had never had a class where the instruction failed to show up, although I have heard of it happening to other people and wished it would happen to me soemtime. It finally did. We waited outside the room for 10 minutes and then left. Although the section marcher took a headcount to make sure we were all present, we did not send a runner up to our instructor's office, so I hope that no disciplianary action follows for not doing that and all of us leaving. In any case, I hope this was God giving me a little break.

The first cadets just reported to the new National Afghan Miltiary Academy. Instead of a 5-year commitment after they graduate they have a 25-year commitment.

So much for not having a heavy load this semester. This week I've been busy from the time I get up (anywhere from 5am to 6:20am) to the time when I finally can crash on my bed for the night (midnight or later). How is this different from normal? It's mostly due to group project meetings and working on the projects during the day, crew practice in the afternoon, and then dealing with problems in the platoon at night. In there I try and get some prayer time and Bible study, and if I'm lucky I can sit down for about 5 minutes before the next thing on my schedule. I suppose it's good prep for life outside of West Point.

Long day...

The reason I wrote the last post is because I really do need help on what to do. I don't want to continue being angry about the situation. I've tried talking to the person, praying about it, trying to ignore it, trying to look at the situation from their perspective, but I the anger still boiled.

I also need to work on my pride. I just spend about 10 minutes explaining/arguing with Jason about Ash Wednesday and the meaning of the ashes, and the significance of Lent. My not wanting to be wrong was a significant factor in there, which was probably a good sign that I should've just walked away and not tried to enter in on the discussion.

How do I deal with a person(s) who Infuriates me? I don't like how angry I get, and I'm trying to not blow up at the person(s), yet sometimes, like today in class, it was taking almost every bit of self-restraint that I had in me. I am ashamed to say that after one comment was made at the end of class about the project we're working on I gave a death look to the person(s). I explained to the person how I felt they were not contributing to their share of the workload, but I ended up more angry then when I started, and they did not seem to care a bit about what I had to say. I can't wait till I'm out of CS394. The course leaves me in a very bad mood.

Can it be the afternoon of May 28th today?

Eddie: "Kate there is a preponderance of these little things called tracks in this room. I can feel you forcefully converting me.

Me: wave my arms towards him.

Eddie: "Ahhhh!"

I went from being 608 in my class at the beginning of last semester to being number 574 now. I wonder if I moved up in my branch at all.

This evening Sean came over and we talked about Christianity, spiritual gifts, works of the Holy Spirit, and our Christian backgrounds for about 1.5 hours. It was a good discussion, although I am still a bit uncomfertable sharing my backgroud, but the more I share the easier it becomes. I'm always a bit worried that if I share stuff people will think I am just trying to get attention for myself, but that's not it. I'd rather remain silent than share for my own glory. I guess I am glad in a way that it is something that I am not very comfertable sharing about with everybody, because it acts as kind of a check to make sure that when I do speak about it, I am doing it to serve God and not myself.

"All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;
my sighing ins not hidden from you."
Psalm 38:9

When God says 'Wait' or 'No' to a prayer it is heard to hear, but keep in mind that He does hear all prayers and knows the longings of you heart. He says No or Wait because he has something better in store for those who seek Him. He has something better in store for you. Are we to seek what is second best? No, we are to run as if to get hte prize (I Cor 9:24). Trust in the Lord and seek after Him.

"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him."
1 Cor 2:9/ Isaiah 64:4

Please pray for the saftey of the citizens of Iraq and the soldiers over there today during the elections.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowldege him, and he will make your paths straight."
~Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord - Have faith in the Lord that He Loves you and cares for you.
And lean not on your own understanding - Do not let your worries or doubts direct you.
In all your ways acknoldege Him - give thanks, honor, and praise to God in everything all the time
And He will make your paths straight - God will direct you and lead you to Him to fullfil His plan and purpose.

It's not a very good explanation of each part, but I felt the need to jot something down about the verse.

Oh good. It's up to 7 degrees F outside. Perhaps we won't freeze during lunch formation.

God bless West Point because right now I sure don't want to.

We had been having indoor formations for the past week or so due to the snow and cold weather, but that ended yesterday when, in the middle of a cold snap, higher ordered us to start outdoor formations once again. This morning when I woke up the temperture outside was -11 F with a windchill of -25 F. Formation was still outdoors. We are not allowed to wear any ear protection. We can layer all we want and have the rest of our bodies relatively safe, but our ears are fully exposed to the elements for 10-15 minutes. That may not sound that bad, but I challenge you to stand in one place without moving, without being able to reach up and cover your ears at all, with the wind blowing sub-zero temperture air mercilessly against your ears and see how long you can stand it. It is quite painful, and dangerous. My company is fortunate in that we are the closest ones to the door and are the first ones into the mess hall, but there are other companies, such as A3, and 1st Battalion 1st Regiment who first must wait while all the other companies march into the messhall before they have a chance to get out of the elements, and also have a farther distance to march than anyone else.

I"M DONE WITH THE IOCT FOREVER!!!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!! And thank you everone else for your prayers.

I'm taking the IOCT this afternoon around 4:30 or 5. Please say a prayer for me and everyone else taking it at that time.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
-Philippians 4:13

The most recent Joe Bear episode, The IOCT, is now online. Thanks Mom :)

Nice wedding, good weekend, and I was able to be with my family for a little longer than I had planned due to the snowstorm :) I'll hopefully write about the highlights of the weekend later.

I'll be home in less than 12 hours (I hope).

Happy Inaguration Day!

Two of the people in my platoon, a plebe and a yearling, tried out and were choosen to march in the Inaguration Parade.

Stress seems to go in waves around here. Everything is calm for a little while, and then a big wave hits, then it calms down, then another wave hits. The cycle just keeps repeating itself. Stuff pops up, like an IPR that my teacher just told us about, or the IOCT, that makes the wave all that much bigger.

In a little Bible Study that I'm doing it said to write about some areas of my life that I long to be free. I came up with three areas right away: worship, thinking, and free from worry.

Freedom in worship. I live in a free society and am free to worship however I want to, but that doesn't keep me from being self-concious about some stuff. I want to be free to worship God however I feel called, be it on my knees, or dancing around a room singing at the top of my lungs, or perhaps silently, or speaking in tounges.

Freedom in thinking. I want to be free to let my mind wander knowing that whatever I start thinking about glorifies God. I want to be free from thinking about the latest gossip, or whatever else my mind wanders to.

Freedom from worry. I want to be free from the usless worry that makes me stress out over things. I want to be able to give everything over to God and rest assured that He is in control.

Sunny 5°F
Feels Like
-11°F

Happy MLK Day.

On Friday I had last hour MS class, so I wasn't done with school until 1600. After class I went over to the IOCT to work on it for a little while. The horizontal bars make me a little nervous, so I practice them a lot. On Friday on the second time across them I slipped on them, but was saved because I was holding onto one of the perpendicular bars at the time. I had to start back at the very begining after that trying to get over my fear of the bars.

After the IOCT practice Anne, Heather, Jordan C., Rachel, Abigail, Beth, and I went to Uno's for dinner, and then I went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. When I got back Anne and I watched Miracle until Taps.

Saturday morning I woke up around 9:30 or 10 and sat around the room until 2pm when Heather and I went over to the D's house. We baked cookies, did laundry, and played with the kids. I left around 5pm because Chris had invited me out to a movie with him and Chad. Before the movie we went to eat at a chinese buffett. While we were eating I noticed that all we talked about was West Point, and asked if that was sad. Chad said he thought it wasn't a sad fact, because it was something we all shared in common.

When I got back from the movie I went over to Anne's room and watched another movie with her and Heather. We started another movie when that one was done, but I left after about 5 minutes of it.

Sunday morning I got up around 9:30 and went to Church. After Church I went to brunch and then decided that I felt like snowboarding. I got Mot's and Anne to come along with me. Mot's didnt spend too much time out on the slope, but Anne and I had fun. She's been skiing since she was in kindergarten, but it was only my fourth or fifth time snowboarding, and my first time since yuck year. I fell a lot, but not nearly as much or as badly as I did when I was first learning yuck year.

We left the slope around 4:30pm and when I got back to the barracks I found Charlie and Jason back in their room after a trip to the city. Jason went off camping Sunday night, but Charlie invited me out with him, Chris, Jordan B., a cow, and a yearling. We went to Arby's and then saw In Good Company. It was a good movie, and we all left the theater smiling.

Monday morning I woke up at 9:30am and found an IM from Charlie inviting me out to Andy's for breakfast at 10. I got ready to go and went by Charlie's room only to find him still asleep. He woke up when I knocked and gave Jordan B. a call, but he was still asleep as well. Charlie decided to push the breakfast time to 11:30. At 11:30 Jordan, Chris, Charlie, and I went out and had a delicious meal at Andy's. Good food, good price. It was only the second time I've been there. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and sitting around my room doing nothing much at all.

The weekend was a pretty good weekend, although I didn't really get away from West Point. Anne had invited me to go to the Met with her and Mot's, but I declined because I didn't want to have to get up around 8:30am. The best part is that this week has only 4 days of class :)

I feel like I'm in a zoo. This morning my TAC NCO showed a bunch of air force officers around the barracks and I felt like I was on exhibit. The rest of the battalion was in PMI today, but my company had to be in AMI till noon, which, among other things, means no sleeping and doors open. When the officers came by they all peeked into the room as they passed. Thankfully I have an hour off after lunch before my last two classes and can get in a quick nap. This week has left me exhausted.

I am so glad this weekend is a three day weekend. Heather has CDO all weekend, so a few of us are staying around to keep her company. I also need to practice the IOCT a lot. On Saturday Heather and I are going over to the D's house to do laundry, bake cookies, and relax. Charlie and Jason invited me to go camping with them and Chris and Amber, so I'm thinking about joining them either Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. The main things that I want to accomplish this weekend are sleep an relaxation.

The gloom period has most definetly hit. It's grey, rainy, and cold. Why can't it be snowing instead?

So glad it's Friday...

Tired.

This week is dragging by. I haven't really felt like writing much. Crew practice and IOCT practice are wearing me out. I feel like I'm spending a lot of time complaining to God and asking why. Where has my smile gone?

My sister isn't supposed to be talking about when to get engaged and married. To me she's still only 7! (even though she is older than me).

Speaking of engagments, I've been seeing more and more diamond rings on the hands of women cadets. I can name 7 or 8 right off the top of my head, and there are many many more who's names and faces I don't rememeber, but have heard that so and so got engaged. My guess is that there are at least 32 who are engaged, since in past years I've noticed there is usually at least one woman, if not more, in each company who is engaged. That's over a quarter of the girls in my class. Wow.

Today's my last first day of classes for awhile...I hope. My morning classes went well. I only have two in the morning and two in the afternoon on day one's. On day two's I have two classes, but they are both two hour blocks.

I made a new Joe Bear epsisode last night with the help of Annah. I don't know when it will be posted online.

Awesome poem by Russell Kelfer:

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"

"'Wait?', you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"And Lord, you promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting. . .for what?"

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--but, you wouldn't know ME.

"You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save. . .(for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! if I lost what I'm doing in you!

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."

This poem has had a real impact on me recently.

The asking for money from West Point has started. This evening we had a meeting about giving money to our class fund for our 10th year reunion gift to West Point. Tomorrow night we have a briefing from the Association of Graduates (AOG) that most likely is them trying to get us to start giving money to them as well.

My PSG just told me to not work so hard. I need to learn what I should leave to him since I am the PL.

143 Days left :)

I'm back at school now in the same room and phone number as last semester. I love the view I have. Big news, Alyson (my roommate of 3 years) got engaged over break! Congratulations Alyson :)

Happy New Year!

Woohoo, it's finally 2005 :)

I've turned my thinking ability off over break. I hope that next week I am able to turn it on again.

All break I've been trying to think up a new Joe Bear episode, but nothing seems to really grab me. Perhaps the lack of good ideas is that I am not knee deep in work and under a lot of pressure. Maybe next week one will come.

I haven't written much over break not because of a lack of things to write about, but more of a lack of feeling like writting.

Last week there was a day it snowed and we ended up with 7 inches. That night I went over to Misha's house and Misha, Steve, and I went for a run in the snow. It is pretty difficult, and much slower, to run on snow covered streets. The whole time I felt like I was about to fall on my face. After the run we went to a golf course and went sledding. Misha was determined to get some air time with his sled. We then went back to his house and watched I Robot, for my second-and-a-half time in 2 days.

Christmas was nice with the family. After opening presents at home we went over to my Uncle's house for Christmas with my dad's side of the family. It was nice seeing all of them again. On Thursday this week we're having my mom's side of the family over to celebrate Christmas.

This week I've been helping my dad paint around the house, and being paid for it. My project has been the front closet. The painting is rather enjoyable, for the most part.

Monday night John H. invited people from our class in middle school and the Trinidad trip over to his house. I hadn't seen a few of them in years. I found out that John H. and Pat T. are both engaged.

Last night I finally checked my email and found out that my senior capstone project was accepted to the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research in April. This year it's being held at VMI. One of my partners mentioned to me that we're going to stick out like sore thumbs in our West Point uniforms there. Fun times...or something.

Merry Christmas!

Right now I'm sitting at the computer while listening to my oldest sister talk to my other sister about radiation and what to expect. It's a bonding experiance that I hope I don't have to go through anytime in my life.

Today was yet another uneventfull day at home. I woke up around 11:30, the latest I've slept in as of yet, ate breakfast, read for awhile, went for a run, and then went to the battery store with my dad. He helped me get a new battery for my car, and I also picked up batteries for my camera, and a new watch battery. When we got home he installed the car battery, and then we watched I Robot. After my mom came home we all went to Church and watched the Christmas Pagent. The kids were cute as always, especially the little angels. After Church my family watched I Robot, but I didn't feel like seeing it again, so I played with Asher and talked on the phone for awhile. After the movie I played a few games of mancala with Betsy, and then Betsy and Heidi started talking about cancer and radiation, so after listening for awhile I decided to see who was online, and here I am.

A snow storm is supposed to hit tonight and dump 5-9 inches, but my prediction is that it'll only leave around 1cm of snow, if that. I think Ohio is getting the brunt of the storm right now.

Tomorrow I should do some Christmas shopping. I still don't know what to get two members of my family.

Last night my parents gave each of my sisters and I a digital camera. Mine is as Kodak CX7330. It'll come in handy for making future Joe Bear episodes. Thank you Mom and Dad :)

2 things I forgot to mention:

1. I have another ear infection. Although I am home right now, it actually started two days ago when I was still at school.

2. Betsy got the test results back today about what type of cancer she has. We're all really thankful that it's Hodgkins disease, and not non-hodgkins lymphoma. It's the same type of cancer that my mom and Heidi both had. I have my getting it tentativly marked on my calendar for some time in the next 3-8 years or so.

I'm back home for the holidays. Anne and I caravaned to her house in Ohio yesterday and I spent the night there before driving the rest of the way home this morning. The drive went pretty well, good weather, no car problems, and no traffic jams.

This afternoon I went over to Grandma's house in Full Dress under Arms. She seemed to really enjoy seeing me in the uniform.

It's good to be home, but I'll have to figure out something to keep me busy. I don't want to end up in front of the TV very much.

I'm still waiting on one grade, CS401, but my other grades are:
IT485 = A
IT460 = B
MS401 = B+
CS484 = A-
IT305 = A

And then a B- for my military grade. This past semester has been so much better than last year. I'm so glad that I'm not a CS major anymore. I actually enjoy life.

1 more TEE and then I'm done
1 more TEE and then it's time for fun
CS484 here I come.

My room is a mess right now because I am trying to organize and move my stuff out of it. We have to completely empty out our rooms over the break. Usually we get to at least store stuff in the closet, but they changed the regulation this time. Having a car here makes it a little easier, because I can clear out stuff and take it home, leaving more room for stuff in the trunk room.

One thing I like about West Point is how safe it feels, and how trustworthy most peple are here. For example, on Friday I accidently left my bag of crew gear in the entrance to the C-store. I didn't realize I'd forgotten it until Saturday night when I was looking for my running shoes. The C-store wasn't going to be open again until Monday morning around 8am, although it had been open on Saturday due to TEEs. My concern was not that somebody would steal my bag, in fact, that thought never even entered my mind. I was more concered about whether the C-store personal had left it in the C-store, or taken it down to Central Guard Room. I didn't want to walk all the way to C-store and then be told it was at CGR. I didn't bother going for my bag until Monday afternoon after lunch, and found it just where I'd left it in the C-store entrance. It made me think of how lucky I am to go here.

The Christmas Eve Leave service is tonight up at the Cadet Chapel. Yay! I really like that service.

The latest Joe Bear episode, Branching, is online now. Thanks Mom! :)

Something has to be wrong. I must be reading something wrong, calculating wrong, or looking at the wrong thing. On CIS it says for CS484 I got a 121/130 for Project 2. That's an A. An A! Why did my teacher give me an A? I my first submission was horrible, my part of the presentation was horrible. I tried to do better on my second and third submissions, but compared to another presentation, my work was no where near A level. I think my teacher was just really really really nice, and since he's retiring soon he was even more nice.

Classes are over. Tee week begins. Yay! Today I have IT305 in the afternoon, and then I don't have anything until Wednesday afternoon when I have CS484. Then I"m done.

The First Class is so short that we have fewer lessons until graduation than the plebes have months left at the academy.

The Family Cold strikes again.

Betsy came up with that name a while ago.

The trials are what purify us.
The tough times show us how weak we are and how much we need God.
When sickness, persecution, or the demands of life overwhelm us, we should rejoice and praise God, for it is then that God can work in and through us.

How short is the First Class?

The First Class is so short that we have few days left at the academy than the plebes have weeks.

Firstie Year Rules!

I can't believe this is lesson 40 of my firstie year first semester. Time sure flies when you're having fun, or when you're too busy from before sunup to after sundown to look at the calendar (as is my case).

Josh is back from the hospital and hobbling around on a cane. I saw him in the mess hall today and talked to him for a few minutes. He didn't have to get surgery, but says his blood looks like water right now due to all of the blood thinners. I guess he won't be giving blood this week at the blood drive.

Today I received the flu mist vaccination, (aka: the Flu Snort). I'd heard from people that it was worse than a shot because it was uncomfortable and tasted terrible, but I thought it was much better than a shot. I didn't notice any taste at all, and it wasn't all that uncomfortable. Although, the fact that I had a runny nose before hand and so was used to the sensation of the flu snort may have helped me. In any case, I've been vaccinated.

Currently I'm sitting in TH212 working on my CS484 project; the one that was due last Friday, and that I felt like I was a horrible project parter for it. I handed in a revised version of my part first thing Monday morning, after going in for AI on Friday afternoon. This morning in class he handed back the reports, and my report had a "See Me" message on it and no grade. He then proceeded to put on a red and green santa clause hat with a bell on top and tell our class that he was going to be a santa clause and allow us to resubmit our projects, with the resubmissions due Thursday morning.

Although LTC W. still seems to scare me for some reason, I must say that he is a very very very genreous man and has gone far beyond what he probably ever should do for our class. I always expect him to start yelling at us, since we do deserve it, or I do at least, but he hasn't. I'm not quite sure how he manages to keep his cool, but then again, I haven't been in the Army for 20 years and dealing with far worse situations than just stupid cadets.

In any case, I think I have a much better idea of how to do the project, and am going to try really hard to get it right this time.

I think tonight was God's way of telling met that I've studied the topic of modesty, dating, courtship, the role of women, God's design of stuff, and other related stuff enough for the moment, and that it is time to focus on something else. That is not to say that I have studied it enough at all, but only that it would soon be at the point where I focus too much on it.. Enough for now, take a break, come back later. It's a cycle. I just wish I could manage to gather all of what I've learned into one spot, perhaps in writing, for myself as well as to share with friends.

I wonder what topic will be next.

Originally the Thayer week was supposed to be over tomorrow morning, but my CS401 teacher has so kindly extended it to Friday. He somehow forgot, although he claims he mentioned it in class, to tell our class about a major paper due on Friday. We all thought it was due next semester, especually since we have a different research paper due in the class on Friday as well. Somehow the claim that he told us about it in class doesn't seem quite true, since no one, not a single one of the 18 cadets in the class, recall him mentioning anything about it being due this week. He's a LTC, I'm a CDT, what can I do but conclude I missed hearing him assign it and get it done.

The good news is that it is snowing outside and sticking to the ground. Fresh snow makes eveyrthing look better in winter.

Army lost to Navy this weekend in Philly. It was rather depressing, but we'll get them next year. My parents came for the game, and they came to the OCF banquet on Saturday after the game. I wish I had done the OCF Army Navy retreat previous years instead of waiting until this year to try it out. I really enjoyed it, although the fact that I had a lot of work hanging over my head put a damper on the weekend.

I wouldn't be suprised if my CS484 partner hates me and is cursing me right now. I think I just caused both of us to fail a project, becuase I don't understand my part of it and can't get it to work. Therefore I have nothing to show tomorrow during the presentation. Yes, I feel like a huge dirtbag.

Josh Howard, a guy in my OCF group, needs prayers right now. He was addmitted to Keller 2 days ago with a blood clot in his leg. Yesterday his situation got worse and he was moved to another hospital and is in the ICU. That's all I know.

Good Article: http://www.kevinsites.net/

It's a rainy day here.

The email servers for cadets and the server for CIS crashed last night leaving everyone with an inability to send, recieve, or read any email, as well as not finish CPRs and MD grades. It just happened that for CS484 our teacher planned on taking us over to DOIM to look at the servers over there and the set up of the network. Supposedly one of the technicians who talked to us explained the problem that occured last night, but we're all still in a state of confusion about it.

Projects due in the next few days:
Thursday - IT305 IS project
Friday - CS484 project and presentation
Monday - CS401 part of paper due to partners; IT460 paper due
Tuesday - MS401 capstone paper due

What I have almost complete so far:
IT305 IS project.

It's going to be a rough next few days, especially with Army-Navy in there taking up the whole weekend. However, after Tuesday I'll be golden. I have one TEE Saturday, which is IT305 and shouldn't be too bad. Then I don't have any TEEs until Wednesday, where I have CS484 in the afternoon. Easiest TEE schedule ever. This semester's been awesome.


Were there enough acronyms in there?
CIS -Cadet Information System (where grades and other information is stored)
DOIM - not sure what it stands for, but they are the network people
CPR - cadet performance report
MD - military development
IT - information technology
CS- computer science
MS- military science
TEE- term end exam (final exam)

I feel like I'm in a maze of phone numbers and I don't know how to get out.

Last night my ear was still hurting, and then kept me from sleeping very well during the night, so I went into sick call this morning to get it looked at. Turns out I have a rather nasty ear infection, so now I'm on motrin, ear drops, and amoxicillin. (The doctor did tell me that most ear infections are viral, not bacterial, but he still felt antibiotics were worth it in my case.) The doctor also told me to go see an ear, nose, and throat doctor due to the strange reoccurance of ear pain when I go home.

At the clinic this morning they told me to go online and make an appointment with the doctor, and also gave me two numbers I could call in order to make an appointment. I looked online and didn't find any appointment making places, so I called the numbers. The first one didn't work, and the person who answered the second one told me that I had to make an appointment through TriCare. He gave me a number to call, which I called. After some automated voices telling me to make different selections, I reached a real person who told me that I had to call someplace else, and she gave me the number. I called that number and another machine answered. It asked me to select my former TriCare region, which I had no clue about so I had to go online and figure that out. After I made the correct selection I reached a real person who proceeded to tell me that I needed a referral to make an appointment, and he gave me a name of a person who has to provide the referral, and a number for them to fax the referral to. I then tried to look up the name so that I could email her, but couldn't find it in the global address list for West Point. I decided to look up the doctor who had seen me earlier today so that I could email him and explain the situation, but he wasn't listed either.

Right now I'm wondering whether it's worth all the trouble of continuing my search of how to make an appointment. I may just say forget it and hope that since I'm driving home for Christmas, and any time from then on, I won't have any more ear trouble.

Back at school, back to the grind. The good news is that tomorrow I only have one class and it's last hour. First hour I'm meeting with Amanda for coffee at Grant.

Anyone want to trade ears? Mine work fine as long as I don't fly home to Michigan. They're still hurting. Grrr...

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's great to be home :)

For anyone going to the Joe Bear site and not finding the latest episode, it hasn't been posted yet. Last night I sent it out on the Joe Bear Distro. I'll post a message when it's online. If you are interested in being on the distro feel free to let me know. Usually the episodes are 4 or 5 MB in size.

The reaction over the new Joe Bear episode has been mixed. The guys who usually send emails saying Joe Bear is stupid, in a nice way, are the ones who like the new episode the most. However, the reaction from the girls has not been so good. They don' t like the branch that was choosen. I personally would have liked to have him branch Armor, but there's a decided lack of tanks around the barracks, and I couldn't think of any other way of depicting it.

Right now I'm feeling rather alone in my beliefs about women regarding modesty, courtship vs dating, marriage, roles of men and roles of women, and God's design for things.

I sent out a new Joe Bear episode tonight and at the bottom of the email I put Psalm 91:11. The embarrasing thing is that instead of the word "concerning" I accidently wrote "concerting."

Right now I should be studying for a WPR that I have tomorrow in IT460, Information Warfare, but I keep getting distracted. Can it be Tuesday right now instead of Sunday? That way I'd be going home tomorrow, instead of taking a test tomorrow.

Today I woke up around 8:30 even though my alarm was set to go off at 9:30. I read for a bit, and then got ready for Church. After Church Jason invited me to go out to lunch with the group, but I had a project meeting, so I turned down the invitation and ate in the mess hall instead. Right before my project meeting Dave stopped by my room and asked if I could drive him out to Buckner to get his car. He convinced me to push back the meeting by about 15 minutes, and I ended up driving him out there. My project group met at 1 for about 10 minutes and divided up the next portion of the IT305 project. Then I worked on it a bit and read while waiting for my cousing Isaac to call. He called around 2:30 to interview me for a class project. It was really cute. Then I went with Anne to the PX to try and get some subduded MI insignia, but they were still all out. Anne and I met again at 5 and walked up to the Cadet Chapel to go to Genesis. During the fellowship times we watched Veggie Tales videos. The title of the Genesis talk was "It's Not All About You." It was a really good message. After that I went and hung out in Jason and Charlie's room for a bit and talked about courtship and relationships. Now I'm back in my room half studying for a test.

I've been spending a lot of time with Jason and Charlie, and their group of friends this semester. They are both involved in a lot of the Christian activities I'm involved with, and togther we lead a weekly company Bible study on Romans. It's been awesome finding good Christian friends in the company, as well as the fact that they introduce me to other Christians that I didn't know before. Plus, since they only live two doors down, it's really easy to go over and talk to them and get a guy's perspective on stuff, or just joke around and make faces in the mirror with them.

I hear Michigan lost to Ohio State :( We'll beat them again next year.

Today marked the last home football game of my cadet career. It was cold, raining, and we lost. I don't think I'm going to miss mandatory football games very much.

This morning we had meetings with our branch reps. We talked about posting, MIOBC dates, and MI in general. Afterwords I came back to the room and read a tiny bit. I then decided to visit Jason and Charlie. They were playing Smash Brothers on Jason's computer and after a few minutes of watching that I felll asleep on their couch for about half an hour. When I woke up I went down the company BBQ, and then came back to my room and read for a bit. Then it was time to form up to march up to the stadium. As I said before, it was cold, raining, and we lost. After the game I went out to dinner with Abigail at Palisades. Now I'm here writing this and wondering why I am putting off going to bed when what I really want to do right now is go to bed. I think I shall go to bed now.

Yesterday as I was waiting at Mac Statue for Mrs. D to pick me up for our weekly Bible study a car drove around the corner and I saw a red one star license plate on the front of it. My first thought was to turn and duck inside, but not wanting to seem cowardly, and not wanting to keep Mrs D waiting when she showed up, I stayed where I was on the sidewalk. Military etiquette states that we're supposed to salute the vehicales with General's flags on them, so I saluted the car, but felt like I looked rather stupid out there all alone saluting a car. I was hoping the car would drive right on by to the Supe's house without stopping, but it of course stopped right in front of me. Not sure if my first salute had counted, I saluted again. Then the General's aid, a Major, got out of the car, so I saluted him. Finally the Brigadere General stepped out of the car, so I then saluted him. I was very relieved once they walked away and the car drove off.

Then this morning after I recieved my polio shot I decided to go to Grant to get some hot chocolate to drink. As I was walking down the sidewalk I saw the General and the Major headed my direction. Once again I hoped that either I'd be inside Grant before they passed, or that they would pass right on by and I could salute and greet and be over with the interation. Of course, it didn't work out that way. Right as I reached Grant they turned to walk up to Grant as well. I saluted and greeted, but instead of saying "Good Morning gentlemen," it came out "Good Afternoon, gentlemen." The time was 8:45 am. The general asked me if Grant was open, and I told him I thought so, and opened the door. I think I was supposed to open the door for both of them and let them pass through first, but I opened the door and the Major then held it while I walked through and then the General. There wasn't any room to move to the side to let him through first. I hope it wasn't too much of a military etiquette blunder.

I really hope that was my last encounter with him. I don't know who it was, and was too busy trying not to make a fool of myself to look at his nametape (I failed in the not looking like a fool part.) I'll be happy if Generals stay out of my vicinity for awhile.

Sunday night was branch night. I haven't posted my branch results up until now due to the fact that I couldn't access blogger on Sunday, and then I left for FL on Monday. Anyway, I got my first choice, Military Intelligence :) I may not get the post I want, but I'm happy having the branch I want.

Eric Mbog-hob, USMA class of 2004, may he rest in peace.

Currently I'm at a resort in Disney World due to a conference that is going on here. My group presented today and it went fairly well. Afterwords we recieved a lot of compliments. Although I'm at Disney World, I don't actually get to visit any of the parks, but I don't mind.

The time away from school has given me more time to read and listen to Focus on the Family shows. I've done a lot of thinking and stuff. I just wish that I had someone to talk to about it right now. Unfortunatly, my laptop won't connect to the internet, and my cell phone won't complete any calls.

I'll be back at school tomorrow afternoon.

I have all new tires on my jeep :)

It's snowing! Realy snowing, not just flurrying, with big flakes that stick to the ground. Yay :)

This morning I woke up at 6 to go volunteer at the Salvation Army a few towns away. Jim, Chris, Jay(?), and I shoveled gravel on a driveway for four hours. It was a good workout, and the driveway looked much better once we were done. I made it back to West Point just in time to be picked up by Mrs D., my ocf group leader, to eat lunch at her house with her and the kids. It was delicous, and I enjoyed meeting the kids again. After that I had about an hour to relax/get ready to go to the Passion concert in NYC with Jim and Joey. The concert was really good, except I have an Africa in my life that I'm having trouble with.
Plus, my mind was wandering a lot. It's been doing that more recently when I pray, and I don't like it. I want to be focused on God, not on anything else. So frustrating.

An Africa is something that you are worried God will ask you to do if you give your whole life to him. It comes from people being worried that God will tell them that he wants them to give up everything and go be a missionary in Africa.

I'm the founding member of CFBG(IF), Cadets For Black Gloves (In Formation). So far there is a membership of about five or six. Everyone I've told about it has agreed to join.

What is wrong with wearing black gloves at lunch formation? Is it against the law? It's 37 degrees out (26 degrees this morning, but we got to wear black gloves). I don't mind cold weather...if my hands and feet are warm. When I was little I could go out and run around in the snow in shorts and a t-shirt because my hands were warm. I naturally have cold hands and feet, but if they are warm, I am warm. Now, when it is cold out and I have a choice of what to wear, I know how to wear clothes that don't let the cold and the wind seep right through them. The As For Class uniform, however, is not made that way, and even the slightest bit of wind or cold air zips right on through.

CONGRATULATIONS ANNE!

Anne, one of my best friends, won a Marshall Scholarship. I'm so happy for her. She's worked extremely hard for it, and I am so proud of her. YAY ANNE!

During Beast I thought my dream job would be sitting in an air conditioned office at a desk all day, but now I think that would be a nightmare unless it was a job that I really really loved, and understand. Perhaps that is my biggest problem. Most of my experiance with having to sit at a desk all day, or at least for long stretches at a time, has been while doing things I don't understand and feel frustrated and clueless as to how to go about understanding/accomplishing them. Thus, I can't wait for the end of the day when I can leave that desk behind and get outside into the fresh air.

This all relates to my senior capstone project. I feel a little like a useless third wheel, that is a square, not a circle. I just sit there.

And on that note, I leave Monday with my project partners to go to a conference on PKI in Orlando and present our project to the NSA, DOD, and whoever else wants to listen in.

Happy 200th night :)

Forgiveness, what an amazing gift.

1) release from bondage or imprisonment

2) forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty

(Strongs)