NEVER backing down, NEVER quitting

So far I have had a great time just relaxing during my spring break. I left AZ on the 14th, got stuck in traffic, so my LA trip ended up taking longer than usual. The first 1 hour 30 minutes of the drive was like hell. Having only a couple hours of sleep and no one to talk to was pretty killer for me. It wasn’t until my friend caught up w/ me on the I-10, when things started getting interesting. Having another person around me (even though they were in another car) sped things up a bit. The 5 – 6 hour drive felt like 1 or 2 hours becuase I was busy texting and talking about nonsense while I controlled the wheel w/ my knee. No lie, that was probably the funnest drive I have ever had without speeding.

Soo far I haven’t been doing anything too exciting here in LA. Had lunch w/ my cousin and her other cousins (from her dad’s side), and I have been eating pretty good food. None of the usual korean bbq or chinese food stuff, but like.. stuff I don’t normally eat. Tasted THE best tasting almonds EVER today, annnnnnnnd worked out with cindy, john, ,and sherman for the first time in awhile. So far so good… hopefully things will get better for me when I have to go back to AZ wednesday….

this winter break, I was asked the question “what are you grateful/thankful for,” and at first by bitter heart could not think of anything to say… Fast forward to present day, I find myself laying in bed being able to blog via my new phone (the Treo 800w).

Laying in bed armed with only my ipod and my cell phone I started thinking about if my answer would be any different if I were asked the same question right now.

so here we go…
“Jon! what are you grateful/thankful for?”

and my answer would be:

“well, I am very grateful for having a handful of friends that are willing to go to the distance for me. I am very lucky to have both my mom and dad supporting me in every little thing I do. I am blessed the life that I have. if you catch me on a sad day, I would probably say my life is a curse. on happy days I would probably say that I have it alright… but after giving it a good amount of thinking, I never realized that I have it good. I have almost everything I can ask for.

thank you God for blessing me with the things I have taken for granted.”

i realize i’ve been runnign in circles over and over and over again.

fuuuunnnaaayyyy

There is none like You,
No one else can touch my heart like You do,
I can search for all eternity Lord
And find, there is none like You.

There is none like You.
No one else can touch my heart like You do,
I can search for all eternity Lord
And find, there is none like You.

Your mercy flows like a river wide,
And healing comes from Your hand.
Suffering children are safe in Your arms,
There is none like You.

There is none like You, ( There is none like You, Lord)
There is none like You.

I can search for all eternity Lord,
There is none like You.
I can search for all eternity Lord,
There is none,( there is none,)
There is none Lord,
There is none like You.

The day that I have to make the decision comes closer, and everything keeps changing to a point where I don’t know what to do anymore. hrm.

After all these years of going through or just dealing with crap, I thought it would only get easier after each one…. I never expected it to hurt more and get harder…

So recently I’ve been talking to people that come to me about their problems and what not, and I’ve realized why I’ve been acting the way I act, or say the words that I say. Even though I’m 21 years old about to turn 22 in December, I still act like i’m 10 years old. The reason why I believe I act this way is because I’m a firm believer in what the Joker said in the Dark Knight, “Why so serious?”

Now you guys might think I’m retarded for living my life according to the Joker’s quote, but honestly I’ve been doing this way before this movie came out. Some of my friends go through crap, and sometimes I know about it, and sometimes I don’t. To be able to bring a smile to their face, a small chuckle, or even a good ol’ fashion laugh, means that for those couple of seconds, I turn their attention away from their problems. And for those couple of seconds, their mind isn’t thinking about their problems or whatever they are going through, but are relaxed. When I know that they are going through those problems, and knowing that I just got their mind off of the situation, means the world to me. I used to wonder why I acted so goofy and stupid around people, but I’ve slowly realized why I do the things that I do.

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m never serious. I’m only serious when I have to be, and when I am, I am dead serious. But honestly I am never serious unless I have to be. In most situations in life, I choose to be goofy or act stupid just cause I’m not in any situation where it calls me to be serious.

_off topic_
I thank God for bringing me here in Arizona, and putting me through everything I’ve been through or everything I’m going through right now. I’m really excited to see what His plans for me are. Our God is so merciful and full of grace… what can we ask more of?

“I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST
AND I NO LONGER LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES
IN ME. THE LIFE I LIVE IN THE BODY, I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME
AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.”
GALATIANS 2:20

praise Him.

So finally I made some time so I can blog up some certain events that happened since I moved back to AZ.
Paul, Tim, and I moved into a new house that is SO much better than our old apt. I never realized that our apt smelled SO bad until I moved into the new house. I’ve organized my room so that it is still the same setup as my apt room, but for some reason it is more comfy than it was when I was living at the apt. I also picked up a pair of starbury’s from Steve & Barry’s all the way in northern phx. I have two friends that have been talking about starbury’s so I decided I would pick up a pair and see for myself whats so great about these shoes. It turns out, these shoes are just as comfortable as Jordans, but for a banging 10 dollars/pair! Holy moly 10 dollars for a pair of shoes?! Craaaaazyness!

Due to my hectic scheduling and some problems that need to be taken care of, I will be staying in cali until late July.  Keep my folks in your prayers please, bcause that would be greatly appreciated.

On another note;
I went to Barnes & Nobles yesterday and the book 21: Bringing down the house caught my eye. Someone told me this book was 10x better than the movie, so I decided to buy it and start reading. After a couple chapters I could easily tell this book was by far better than the movie. The whole storyline is pretty much similar, but told by an outsider’s point of view. Overall I think it was a pretty good book. As for today, Thiem and I hung out at Oakridge mall and I bumped into an old friend from back in the day at AE. It’s crazy how people change over the years isn’t it? I ended up getting a 20% discount? 15%? I don’t remember but I ended up getting a discount for a polo from AE just cause we were friends. How cool is that?

Watched Meet Dave after all that excitement, and the movie was funnier than I imagined. But the story and plot was just as bad as I imagined. Overall, watch it if you like Eddie Murphy and his werid ass facial expressions. :p
I’m really looking forward to this sunday cause it is going to be my last day leading worship for the summer. One more week at ROL and i’m off to AZ in the land of hotness. oh joy.