Queen City Reunion

It's already fall in Ohio. It's been in the mid to upper 60's almost all week. Kind of chilly at times, but overall it just feels great. I've been doing a lot of cleaning and settling into my house down here. We got a new central air system so our place was quite a mess for awhile. It looks and feels great now, though. This place is starting to lose it's "slum house" title.

I am SO HAPPY to be back home. I absolutely love Cincinnati and UC. It feels so good to be back around people my own age. I loved the people I met in Texas, really, but most everyone I became friends with was older than me....and it's just different. They are all in different places in there life than I am....places I'm not quite at yet. I have so many incredible friends here, and there are so many incredible things that are about to happen this year on campus with Navs. It feels good to live back near campus again. In Texas, I was in an apartment and not really living near any friends. Here, I can just walk to a number of friends' houses if I get bored or want to hang out. I dunno...I guess these are just some things that I took for granted that I'm not going to anymore.

It's been great getting to see my family again. And, if you haven't heard, I am an UNCLE! My new nephew, Elijah Blaise Grissom, was born last Sunday night. I was the first one (besides his parents) to hold him in my family....he was only 15 hours old!!!! He's pretty awesome!!

I think the best part of being home, for me, is getting back involved in Navs. Being actively involved in something way bigger than myself or my own life. I feel such a sense of purpose and excitement thinking about all the students we will influence this year and hopefully lead toward Christ. These last four years at UC have been incredible for me...without a doubt the best years of my life and I honestly believe that I've had as good a time at UC as anyone has ever had. And so far, I can't really look back and see any big regrets. Sure, I've made mistakes, but I wouldn't change the way anything has happened here. Now I've got one more year left. One of our Navs leaders, Evan Griffin, asked me what my legacy was going to be this year. He likes to challenge people like that. Well I know without a doubt that God called me to UC. I wanted to go to OSU, but I thought God wanted me here. So I swallowed my pride, bit my tongue, and decided on UC. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I had gone to Ohio State...I guess it's not really worth thinking about now, just happy I am where I am. But I've got one more year left here. And I don't intend on leaving this place without leaving my mark, without having an impact. I plan on leaving a legacy.

Austin City Limits

Well I'm rolling out tomorrow...bright and early. I went to church one last time here in Texas. A friend and I played special music, and it went really well! It marked my first time finger picking in front of 150 or so people! We had a picnic afterwards, and then I took the long way back down to South Austin. I wanted to take one last stroll through hill country on the 360 loop. We don't have hills like that in Ohio....at least not really near Cincinnati.

Austin has been good, great actually. This last week has been excellent. I've been staying in an actual house, and they've been feeding me and everything! Free food really makes me happy, in case you didn't know.

I just can't get over the fact that I've been here for 5 1/2 months, and I'm just gonna up and leave tomorrow morning. I will be supplanted from the life I've been living, the people I've been friends with, and will resume "normal" life where I left off 6 months ago. But I know things will be different. Things are always different when you leave for so long...but hopefully for the better!

I'm excited for this year. School will be school. But what I'm really excited for is to see what God is gonna do this year at UC, b/c I know it's gonna be huge. I'm excited to be a part of it. I'll be leading Tuesday night smallgroup this year with Nate, Sapp, and Saylor. I'm pumped because I've never led with any of those guys, and they are all great guys.

Our house is gonna be sweet too. It's under a lot of construction right now, I guess, because we are getting a new furnace and central air system. Can you imagine Bosley with heat and/or a/c?? Yeah, it's gonna be sweeeeet. Plus, we got a new HD tv coming in......ohhhhh yeah. I can't wait to watch the Bengals games...WHODEY!!!!

God has been good to me here in Austin, better than good, really. I never would have fathomed living outside of Ohio, so far from my friends and family. But God has shown me that He will provide friends and family wherever He sends me.

Peace out Austin.

I love you all.

Rounding Third

It is officially September! This is exciting to me for numerous reasons, and not just because my birthday is this month. I'm not really looking forward to turning 22...I think it's more weird than anything else. How did I get to be 22 years old and a fifth year college student?!? Anyway, back to September. September is obviously the best month of the year. First of all, it is the beginning of fall, my favorite season of the year! Instead of hot muggy walks back and forth to campus, you have sharp blue skies, colorful trees, brisk Autumn temperatures, and the surprisingly fresh smell of dying leaves. Ahhhhh. And obviously, fall is the start of all things football. College football, NFL football, and even intramural football! I don't need to talk about this because you already know how excited I am about football. Going back to school in September is pretty awesome too. Fall is the most exciting time on campus because everything is new again and there are so many new people!

In other news, this marks my last Sunday in Texas. Which brings me to another stark realization. How have I been here for over 5 months?!? These last few weeks have been pretty crazy. Work has been really busy. It's been non-stop stuff coming in to do. I really don't mind it too much, and actually probably prefer it over the antithesis. It definitely makes the days go by much quicker...it can just get to be overwhelming at times, though. But on top of that, I've been studying for the GRE (which I took on Tuesday), and packing and cleaning up my apartment with any other free time. I moved out on Friday and am living at my smallgroup leaders' house: Greg and Jan Riggs. They are pretty awesome! It's nice to live in a real house for a few days. The GRE went pretty good, though. I'm not planning on taking it again. So now I can start applying to schools and what not. Exciting times!

This week should be crazy too, but hopefully in a fun way. It's a short work week with only 4 days of work. And thankfully, I have all the stressful "crazy" stuff done, so I'll be spending each day hopefully hanging out with different friends one last time before heading home.

One more week. And then the epic journey back to the great state of Ohio begins!