Longest week of my life!

This semester at Minot State University will undoubtedly be the biggest test I will face as a college student. Last semester, I was enrolled in my first, and probably last law course. Communication Law might have been a valuable piece to my overall Broadcasting education, but when the teacher walked in to class on the first day she said, "This is the hardest class in the Broadcast department." That statement was the highlight of that class. Any who I survived it and I now realize that Comm. Law was a piece of cake (chocolate) compared to what lies a head. Math 103.

There is no secret that I am a complete bone head at Math. God just wanted me to carry a calculator wherever I go. I had to take Math 102 spring semester of 2008 and worked my butt off to get a 'C'. I have put off this class as long as I could believing that MSU will change their math requirement to graduate, but alas that has not come to fruition. I am taking the class with my girlfriend and another RA. Also I have my best friend up here, who is a Computer Science major tutor me in exchange for a streak dinner at the end of the year. It seems like I have a whole team of people who are supporting me and helping me along the journey.

I didn't sleep very well Monday night.. or Tuesday night or that matter. I was not looking forward to getting up Tuesday morning trudging across campus for my 8:00 am class. I kept tossing and turning, talking to my self, wondering how I will pass this class. Than I thought two things to my self that calmed me down and finally let me get some much needed rest.

First, take it one day at a time. Don't think about everything I have to do this semester and try and keep a positive attitude when trying to better my self.
Second, I am in my nice warm bed in my 71 degree room, in Minot, North Dakota. I could be in an even worse situation. I could be fighting a war half-way around the world. Separated from my family, friends and everything that I have known for the past 20 years of my life.

So, do I really have it that bad? No. Will I succeed? Please.. I am DVD! Just kidding, yes, with lots of hard work and focus I will pass with flying colors. Also I believe with prayer comes added strength.

This week has been dragging on but I could be working out side in -40 degree weather.

They put this on TV?

Bromance, Big Brother 1-11, The Real World, Survivor are just a few of the prime time shows now being showed in prime time on network television. For some of my followers they may not know what some of these shows are about. I went to http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/bromance/series.jhtml to see what they about their "hit" show and it said "bromance is an intense brotherly bond that makes two buddies become virtually inseparable...the pool of potential bros gets smaller as Brody Jenner kicks sub par compadres to the curb one by one. It sure is hard to find the right guy! But when he does find that special someone to join his inner circle, it's destined to be true bromance." That sounds pretty sketchy to me. If you put a camera in front of a turd and give it false hope it may become relevant.. it is still a turd.

It blows my mind that people would willingly put their pride and self confidence on display for the whole world to critique. What happens if one of these guys who is already having troubles is the first to get kicked off of bromance? That would be a tough pill to swallow. He can't even be the best friend of a C-List celebrity.

Another ridiculous, short lived show was Hole in the Wall. This is when a wall with a cut out figure comes barreling towards the contestant and they need to get through it. If not they lose and fall in a pool of water. Really? The shows intro said it is a big hit in China. I think fox officials should leave Chinese television over seas and bring King of the Hill back.

There are some decent programs on now, 30 Rock, Lost and The Office and are few that come to my mind. My heart still urns for another Seinfeld, King of the Hill and Family Matters.

If it wasn't for sports and the occasional re-run of The King of Queens I would need to find another way to find another way to relax and have a few laughs after a long day.

WOW, That's disappointing.

It seems to be a Christmas break tradition that my good buddy Nate Kroh and I go skiing at the local ski resort, Huff Hills, south of Mandan. Hills, really?? That should be my first red flag, but nevertheless Nate and I seem to enjoy one solid day of hitting the slopes.

We made plans to go when most of the kids were in school so it wouldn't be that busy. Also with all of the snow the Man/Bis area has received in December it would be a perfect thing to do before we both head back to school at the end of the week.

Today we met up at 9:30 am and we got all of our snow gear on and we piled in my car, plus I brought along a jug of water so I didn't need to spend more money than I absolutely needed.

9:40 am: I filled up my dodge neon up with gas and Nate bought breakfast (corn dog and .25 Peach tea.

9:50 am: Nate Kroh and I stop buy Butcher Block and purchase sandwiches for lunch for 2.75 a piece.

10:00 am: We head out on the road for a quick 20 minute safari toward huff hills.

10:23 am: Our car pulls in to the parking lot and we are the only car there. So we get out of the car and make our way to the ski house. All of the doors are open, but there is no one there. We decide to wait around for about 10 minutes before I found their phone number. I call it and the phone that was ringing was 3 feet away and no body was around to answer. There were Huff Hills shirts, sweatshirts everywhere and if I wasn't a church going man I would have snagged one. We went down stairs to where they rent ski's, snowboards, and boots, again NOBODY there. We could have taken anything and everything.

10:45 am: Nate and I reluctantly got back in our car and drove the long 2o miles back to Mandan.

There was nobody out there, they were making snow( I guess having record snow in December is not enough for them) and there was no reason they should have been closed on this beautiful Wednesday. Needless to say we were mad,sad and disappointed about our ski trip.

Nate and I plan on going sledding instead this afternoon. We were all pumped for snow activities and snow activities we shall participate in.

Take that HUFF HILLS!!!!!

1st Down and three strikes and you're out

As a sports fan January should be a great time of the year. Football playoffs are just heating up, Basketball season is in full swing and College football is about to play for their national championship. However, my Chicago Bears didn't make the playoffs this year also the Vikings lost already so I can't spent my days rooting against them. I keep a loose eye on the Chicago Bulls, but ever since MJ retired, came back won three more championships and than retired again I have not been a big basketball fan, and the last time I checked the Minot State University Beaver's were not playing for the National Championship.

After the Super Bowl there is a void in my life that I commonly refer to as the black hole. It seems I just float for two months between end football season and the beginning of baseball season. I have been dating my girlfriend for a little over four months now and ever since we have been dating I would come over to her dorm and turn on the TV to ESPN to catch up on what I have missed.

She too knows about "the black hole" and can't wait until I actually pay attention to her. I have tried to include her in my sports addiction, but she says she can't stand football. Than she turns off the TV and than we proceed to watch High School Musical 3.

Each year, my kryptonite comes and I actually have time to do things like: go to a movie, play cards, see old friends, buy my mom/girlfriend flowers, take Nibby for a walk, and if all of those things are done... study.

To all of my fellow sport fan enjoy this time of year in a couple of months if you say hi to my on the street I will probably not say hi, as I will be floating along until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

14 free days

Today I received a phone call from a lady up in Minot that informed me that I had won a 14 day free trial at Anytime Fitness. With new years resolutions still fresh on my mind, I figured that these 14 days could really be a sign that I should really make a statement. I haven't nailed down a specific resolution for 2009 and everybody could use 2 weeks in a gym.

I have never been a really big fan of working out and always found it to by a chore. I can't always find the time or motivation to get fit. When I am in Minot the college has a fitness center and the only time I have been in there is to take pictures for the school newspaper.

I am at about 165 pounds and unfortunately I'm starting getting a little dink tire around my middle. Normally I wait until summer to play tennis and go golfing. That is how I like to get my exercise, outside and playing a great fun physical activity usually with friends and family.

These next next 2 weeks should be interesting. I will try and keep everyone updated on my progress.

It's been a fun trip!

Wow! Where does the time go? It seems like just last week I was writing about the spring time and how I was looking forward to the warm summer months. Well summer has come and almost gone.

These past few months I have been interning at Odney Advertising and loving it! I started in the Minot office, but this summer I transferred down to work full time in Bismarck. I am doing pretty much the same thing I do at college only they are paying me :) I have heard people say "I don't work at my job, I enjoy what I do." I didn't really think it was possible.. but I enjoyed every minute "working" this summer.

Some of my duties were to travel to Minot every Wednesday and take pictures for the website www.minotbroadway.com. My co-worker Emily and I keep the website maintained and up-to-date. I also got the chance to show off my writing skills by writing a couple letter to the editors for different clients, also I did some writing for the North Dakota Tourism Department. Being the low man on the totem pole I was also assigned various tasks that no one else wanted, which was fine.

My first major job experience was a complete success. I've done a lot a important work this summer, learned a lot new information and most importantly worked extremely well with my co-workers and met a lot of really knowledgeable and fun people.

It will be hard leaving the good friends I have gotten to know in Bismarck, but I will be back with more stories and adventures. My awesome PR department (3 women) has taken it upon them selves to live vicariously through me. I keep them updated on my female situation and other various topics.

Yes, it has been a fun summer down in the Man/Bis area, but now I am going back to Minot. Where it all began. I will be starting my junior year of college and I will still be working at part-time out of the Minot office.

Spring is finally here!

It has been a while since I could walk outside with out putting on my winter coat, mittens, hat, scarf, eye goggles, snow pants and boots. Finally, spring has arrived.

There are so many things I can do now that the temperature has risen above 32 degrees and the sun stays out later than 5pm. My passion for golf has only increased this winter. Now when I go back home I can finally scratch my nasty itch, which has plagued me these past 6 months.

Another thing I like to is play catch in with my old man and my brother. We go out in to the street and toss a baseball around. The only thing that bugs me is when the ball gets past one of us and rolls three blocks away. That gets annoying fast.

Just getting out of the house, going to the park, watching the MSU girls softball team, going for a run(well maybe not that) is a good time.

I know these last couple of weeks, I will be heading out doors to spend time with my closest friends who will be graduating from college. It is an exciting time, however it is also a sad time. It seems like I always become great friends with people two or three years older than me. When they graduate and move on I have a hard time finding some one to bond with.

Spring has always been my favorite time of the year, everything is blooming and growing. I love knowing that green grass is going to sprout from the ugly brown stuff that I have been looking at all winter.

P.S. Spring is the time where I get to bust out my infamous plaid shorts :) A great time will be had by all when people catch a glimpse at those babies!