Alas, the summer is over!!!!

So I have been completely awful at updating this thing, I am truly sorry for that. It's very hard for me to believe that it is already August and our new class starts moving in in just 2 days!!! Where did the summer go? This was a very interesting summer, but a good one. I was approached at the very beginning of the summer about taking a job in Kansas City, which was very intriguing. A step up the ladder and a bigger paycheck was extremely inticing. But in the end, it just didn't feel right. I felt like leaving SU and the Austin area was not what I was supposed to do.
I took a great class this summer on Servant Leadership. I did the most writing I've had to do for one of my grad school classes, but it was great. I learned a lot about what it means to be a servant and a leader, and a servant leader. Also, after finishing that class I am officially halfway through with my degree.
The rain washed out a lot of the fun things I had planned to do this summer, but it was still good. I spent some time with my family, traveled to Indiana, took a roud trip to Florida, saw the Counting Crows with Live & Collective Soul, and refueled my realtionship with God. All in all it was a good summer. I feel like a bad friend because I did not see many of my friends in the area, and I am truly sorry for that. I wish I had a few more weeks of summer to make that happen. Hopefully this semester will not be as difficult as the last, but only He knows that. I hope to be better at updating this thing, but we will see.

It's been a while

Well, since it has been a while since I updated, here are a few of the exciting things/ intriguing things from my life recently:

• Last weekend, my whole family was in town including my older brother, my sister-in-law and my nephew Maxwell. It was great to see them and it was so neat to see how much Max had grown in just a few months. He is a crazy little kid and we had a lot of fun hanging out.
• I went to San Antonio with my family last week, minus Craig, and I have to say it was weird being back. I hadn't been back for 3 years and it was neat to see how things have really grown around town. It was a little sad to see our old house, but it brought back some great memories.
• While I was there I got to see my friend Shannon and spend some quality time with her. Shannon was probably my best friend in high school and I am so glad we re-connected a few years ago. She is amazing, and I look forward to seeing her again this Summer.
• I have seen two phenomenal movies in the past few weeks, Pride and Blades of Glory. I was really impressed with both of them, but for different reasons. Pride was a great story with some great acting performances, while Blades of Glory was just hilarious. I highly recommend both of the them and hope to see Reign Over Me very soon.
• Saturday night, one of my favorites movies was on tv, The Rookie. I don't know what it is about that movie, but every time I see it, it just gets to me. Two parts in particular, the scene where Jim calls home to tell his wife and kid that he made it to the majors, and after his first game where he meets up with his father. Great movie.
• Today is Opening Day of Major League Baseball. The Astros start their season tonight and I am optimistic about this season. I think they made some major upgrades on offense with the addition of Carlos Lee and with Chris Burke starting everyday. Their pitching may not be a strong as the past few years, but I think Chris Sampson will be great as their fifth starter and I am curious to see how Jason Jennings performs. I hope it will be a good year, and am looking forward to my first visit to Minute Maid Park this weekend.

'Tis the Season

Well, it's soccer season again! I am very excited about the new season starting, I can't really explain it. Some people think I am crazy for still playing soccer despite the numerous injuries I have had, and that I am still willing to throw myself on the ground repeatedly to keep the ball from going in the goal. But there is something about the game that makes me happy. When I am on the field, I am a different person. I am not thinking about work, or worrying about bills, I am playing soccer, and that is a great feeling.
The season started last Thursday night with quite a thrashing. I chalk it up to our team getting used to playing together again, and a terrible referee. But the highlight of the season so far was the Southwestern University Alumni game, which pitted the Alums versus the current players. We had a pretty decent squad and ended up winning the game 3-2. I was just excited that I didn't get scored on in 45 minutes of play. It was fun to see old teammates and meet some of the guys that played before me. It was a fun afternoon. The season runs through the middle of May, so I will get to play in quite a few games, and that makes me happy.

The Little Things

This past Saturday was a strange, but good day. It was the last day of my first class this semester, "Organizational Theory," which was a great class. Anyway, I had to finish a 25-30 page paper reviewing an organization I had been a part of using the four frames of organizational theory. I worked on it all day and finished about 6:00pm. I then went to the Wal-Mart to get some bread and milk and such. On the way home I was feeling very sad for no real reason. I remember feeling like I didn't have anyone to hang out with, and I was basically feeling sorry for myself. I hate when I start to feel that way and know that I really have reason to feel that way. Anyway, I had to stop to get gas and when I turned my truck back on the cd that was in popped out and the radio came on. It was set on the local Christian station 92.1, and Chris Tomlin's song, "How Great is Our God," came on. At that point in time, my mindset completely changed and I was in a great mood again because I realized we do have an amazing God. I remembered that I am not ever alone, because He is always with me. I stopped to get some dinner and kept listening to the radio and heard 2 more great songs before I got home, including "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe. Sometimes it just takes a little reminder of how good things really are to get me out of a funk.
It's been a nice week with the students on Spring Break. I have gotten a lot of stuff done and it is so quiet. Although I do have to take defensive driving this week. Also, the spring soccer season starts this week and I am very excited to be playing again. Hopefully Thursday night will go well.

Birthday time!

So it was my 26th birthday last week, and as someone told me that means I am officially closer to 30 than 20 now. That makes me feel a little old, but I'm okay with that. I had a great birthday and I am so thankful to all my friends who sent me messages that day, it made me feel very loved. My actual birthday was on a Friday, so we didn't do anything super special, I had to work that night and then I went home to finish a paper for my class. On Saturday, I woke up early and drove to Austin to watch my little brother swim. I hung out with him for most of the day and my parents came in town later that afternoon. That night we went to Craig's meet again and watched him swim a career best, which was awesome. Then we went out to eat as a family plus Craig's housemate and his family. After that we went to Pete's to cap off the night. Several of my friends met me there and I had a great time singing along, being goofy, and watching my brother work it on a girl there. Overall, it was great birthday and I am so thankful for all of my friends.
On another note, my little brother is officially a professional swimmer. This past weekend was the American Short Course Championship, and Craig did very well there. He won the 500 freestlye the first night and on the third night got third in the 200 backstroke. Placing in both of those events won him some money, so he is official now. It's been such a treat watching him grow in to the great swimmer he is these days and I am so very proud of him. He works extremely hard so it was great for his confidence for him to do well this weekend. Now we're just looking forward to Olympic Trials in 2008. If you want to check him out, he has his own website now, he's big time! Check it out: http://www.conciergechappy.com/ Some girls made it for him and it looks really good.

Update

Wow, I can't believe that it has been a month since I last updated this thing. Well here is a quick list of some of the highlights, lowlights and in-betweens of the past month. By the way, time is going by way too fast, I can't believe it is already February. Anyway, on to the updates:

• I always love this time of year because it is so beautiful in Central Texas. I love driving around town with the windows down marvelling at the beauty of this place and what God has created.
• We had a few ice-days (2 and 1/2 to be exact), but unfortunately, I still had to work. I guess that's what I get for living on campus. It wasn't too bad actually, I got quite a but accomplished those days.
• As an office, we decided to try and make it the semester with one less staff person that last semester. I think we can do it, even if it means more work for us.
• The Cots won the Super Bowl and I couldn't be happier for them and Peyton Manning & Tony Dungy. They are a classy organization who do things they way they out to be done. I am impressed every time that I hear their owner speak, he's a great man.
• Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away on 2/3. It was sudden and unexpected and I actually just returned to Georgetown following the funeral services. She was a wonderful woman and a great grandmother and I will miss her tremendously. I plan on posting more about this, but I have to get all my thoughts together first. Rest In Peace Ruth Rebecca Strom, you meant more to us than you know.

The Last 24 Hours

So I had a completely different topic that I wanted to post about, but it will have to wait because two amazing things have happened over the last 24 hours.
1) Last night I went to see "We Are Marshall" at the new City Lights Theatre in Georgetown. First of all, it is so exciting to have a movie theatre in Georgetown, although I still think the drive down to the Round Rock 8 is worth saving $3 on a ticket. Anyway, the theatre is very nice, I was worried it was going to look bad, but they did a great job with it. So after purchasing the biggest Mr. Pibb that they had and a box of Hot Tamales (a movie must), we went in to the theatre. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this movie, like most people I knew the story behind it, but I was very interested to see how they told the story. Let me just say that they greatly exceeded my expectations. This movie was incredible! The emotion of the whole story was portrayed so well by the actors. In short, I highly recommend you see this movie, even if you aren't a sports fan.
2) For lunch today we went to the newly built Bush's Chicken. My friend Aaron had been bragging about this place since we heard they were opening one in Georgetown. Usually I don't like Chicken places very much (with the exception of KFC because of their bowls), but this place was awesome. They not only had great chicken, but crinkle fries and great rolls. I am always excited when new places open in Georgetown, especially one that has good food and excellent customer service.
Lastly, tomorrow the Cowboys play the Seahawks in the NFC Wildcard game. It's been 10 years since the Cowboys won a playoff game, 10 years! So let's just hope they play better than they have the last few weeks. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Holiday Update!

Since my parents' internet is painstakingly slow, I was not able to update while I was at home. So here is another list of highs and lows of the holiday season.
Highs

• Getting to spend some quality time with my entire family, espcially my nephew Max. He was so much fun and already has a fun personality.
• My parents' new dog Abby is awesome! She is definitely a puppy and has a ton of energy. She likes to bite and chew things up, but is very sweet. I had fun playing with her and teaching her some new tricks.
• New Year's fireworks! In what has become a Chapman family tradition, the fireworks spectacular was awesome. I don't mean to brag, but I'm getting pretty good at fireworks shows.
• Goign to see "Rocky Balboa" with my brothers. Not so much for the quality of the movie (although it was better than I thought it was), but for the fun times with my brothers.
• Getting to visit my grandma, and her looking so much better than she did last Christmas. Even though she still gets confused and I'm not sure if she knew who I was, she looked great.
• Going to a Houston Aero's game with my dad, older brother and Max. He loved it and it was so fun to see him at his first hockey game.

Lows

• Catching a stomach virus that put me in bed for two days and keeping me from eating pizza at Chuck-E-Cheese.
• Having to visit my Uncle in the hospital.
• Everyone in my family catching the illness bug, putting a damper on the last few days.
• Realizing that it will be a while until the whole family is back together.
• Being around the family constantly for almost two weeks. I guess I am spoiled living alone, but I enjoy my "Jason time."

So that is all for now. I hope you all had a great Holiday season.