Delayed

Hello Reader,

I do seem to have a lot on my mind! When did I write last... ? Unfortunately, not recently enough.

As we all are certainly aware, when school starts back up, life gets busy. Yes, it is indeed 11:30 in the late evening and I just made a statement which was hardly philosophical.

"School makes people busy." ~ Jacob Hartges

Yes, you may quote me on that. ;)

Anyway, lately my thoughts have been consumed by my day-to-day schedule. "How on earth am I going to find time to study for this subject or read this material and still have time to make soccer practice, maintain a social life, get a full night's rest, AND write the occasional blog post?" The answer, it is impossible to do all these things without proper planning and substantial structure.

One of my friends once comically put it like this:

Pick two:

1.) Good grades

2.) A full night's rest

3.) A social life

Haha, I do seem to be rambling now... Here's my point: In the midst of all my worrying , I sometimes forget that God is in control. I begin worrying that all this overwhelming pressure will distract me from completing my work on time. I begin worrying that because I'm so busy, I might not be able to make an important event. I begin worrying that I don't measure up.

It's not about me, I don't need to worry. Why? Because God is in control.

1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxieties on Him because he cares for you.

It's as simple as that. Summed up in a single sentence. If I ever feel worried or pressured by my agenda, the best option is to take a breather and remind myself that I'm not in this alone. Each week I pray a basic prayer inside my mind, that God would give me the strength to go throughout the day, and to also do my best. I don't think I could make it through a week without the support of my heavenly Father! Just say'n.

As long as I:

1.) Formulate a substantial work schedule for the week.

2.) Follow that schedule.

(And)

3.) Give up my worries/anxieties to God.

Then I will have confidence to make it through the week... In one piece.

Something I'm sure most of you have heard before, but nevertheless, a helpful reminder I'd hope. :)

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OKAY, for those of you whom I informed that I would be having my wisdom teeth removed today, let me quickly inform you further... I had my surgery rescheduled (delayed) until October 14th. So... Thank you for all the prayers! Even though it didn't happen today...

The reason my surgery was delayed was because I wanted to play my game this evening against Kalamazoo in Kalamazoo. If I had my teeth pulled, I wouldn't have been able to play. My mother was very gracious in rescheduling the date for the 14th so I could play.

I apologize for not informing you all sooner! Thank you again for the prayers (they would be much appreciated once more on the 14th. Haha... :))!

ALRIGHT, something interesting that happened the other day.

During Government and Economics at TeenWorks I could not resist the urge to cough (I am currently getting over a cold...), so my teacher (and soccer coach), Mr. Mailand, suggested I take a "Fisherman's Friend", which was a stronger, more potent version of "Halls." At first I thought he was kidding because the little cough drop looked more like a doggy biscuit with powder on the exterior. Unfortunately, he was serious. I decided not to take the icky looking pill until after class.

Oh my word, was it strong... Yes, it cleared my nasal passages, and yes, it relieved my itchy throat, but within half an hour of taking the Fisherman's Friend, my face broke out.

You heard me correctly, my face had an allergic reaction, to a cough drop.

Later that afternoon I came home and took a shower, which didn't help.

The next morning, not only did the rash get worse, but it spread to my stomach, arms, nose, and knees. Thankfully, my mother took me into RediCare so this awful problem could be treated. The doctor quickly decided to get me on steroids... I had one shot, and she gave me a subscription to numerous steroid pills.

In the past 24 hours my rash has significantly disappeared!

One of the side effects was that I would get extremely hungry... Tonight I consumed 2,600 calories at McDonald's and was still hungry. I will not list what all I ordered, for fear of being perceived as gluttonous (though I will admit to feeling like a glutton [oh McDonald's... How you influence America...]).

ANYWAY, aside from that, school is going well! I'm keeping up in all of my subjects, and I find myself enjoying them as well. I think most will agree that school can be enjoyable when one completes the assigned homework on time. Staying on top of things generates more optimism in everyday life. That's my second philosophical comment of the night, folks:

"Getting your homework done feels good." ~ Jacob Hartges

Yes, you can quote me on that one too. ;) Jk Jk

I do believe it is time for me to go to bed. 12:19 at the moment, and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Good luck with all of YOUR personal studies!

Thank you for reading,

~Jacob

Hello Hurricane

Yep. School's here.

This is basically what's going on at the moment:

1.) I still have soccer five days a week, with the exception of games.

2.) Since TeenWorks just started up last Tuesday, I'm getting into the swing of things again. Classes such as British Literature, Precalculus, and Government/Economics have my complete attention.

3.) HPA starts this Friday. *_* I think my excitement scale just might explode.

4.) I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled soon... Not exactly sure when, but HOPEFULLY soon.

5.) At the moment, I have a horrid and awful illness... Though I have no idea what it may be. It's just awful.

6.) Today, we're going to a close friend of mine's sixteenth birthday party. :) Way fun.

OH! Old news: Last weekend, our family attended our church's "Family Camp" up in Hastings. It was probably the best weekend up there I've ever had. A major positive contributing factor would be Mr. Cole and Clay coming up to be the Callers' for the Hoedown on Sunday. VERY awesome.

OH! OH! And next weekend, my three brothers and I will be going up north again for the weekend. We get to visit one of my good buddies, Sam S. I'll be recording spontaneous videos about our adventures and such, though they probably won't be very exciting. Haha...

So this upcoming week doesn't seem so bad after all, considering there are numerous things to look forward to. :)

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13

Thank you for reading!

~Jacob

It's Called a Kilt

Hello Reader!

As many of you are most likely aware, the 2010/2011 cast list for Homeschool Performing Arts most definitely was released on Monday. Some of you may have heard that many members of Coach Mailand's soccer team auditioned to be a part of the musical masterpiece known as "Brigadoon" (16 in all). Because all 16 of us men who auditioned got casted, there wasn't a single melancholy face to be seen.

Haha, I tried to cram in too many "M" words. I'll stop now.

Basically what happed was this...

Two days ago, the four of us Hartges kids were comfortably asleep at 8:00 A.M... Until Mom came bursting into the room cheering, "THE CAST LIST IS OUT!"

She might as well have said, "SANTA CAME, SANTA CAME!" because the second we heard the news, we all sprung from our beds and sprinted out of the bedroom... To the computer.

I'm quite positive that if we captured the moment on tape, we could have easily won the $10,000 prize on America's Funniest Home Videos. Cheers from one Hartges kid after the next of "I GOT IN!" soon filled the room.

It couldn't have been considered "A Kodak Moment"... It was far too loud.

I was pretty much the face of optimism that day. While in an overjoyed and somewhat "dreamy haze" I stubbed my toe on the way back down the stairs, which strangely... Didn't seem to bother me. Life was good, despite my momentary lack of attention.

Later in the afternoon we had soccer practice; the members of our teem who got casted were joyfully conversing about their parts and the exciting year to come.

Let me just say, it's going to be another fantastic year. Enhancing our skills, performing on stage, coming together as a cast... Unforgettable memories and countless inside jokes... Smiles, laughs, old friends, new friends... I can't wait.

Oh, yes! In case you were wondering; Rebekah was casted as a Goose (Aristocats), Nathan was casted as a lad/soloist (Brigadoon), Justin was casted as McGregor/Townsman (Brigadoon), and I was casted as Archie Beaton/Townsman (Brigadoon).

I'm especially excited because Zach Doerr, Andrew Stine, and myself are all casted as elderly fathers! Caleb O. achieved the role of Mr. Lundie, so he gets to dress old with us as well, and also sport a kilt.

To wrap this up, I am very excited for another year of HPA (if you haven't already caught on to that). If you'd like to see the cast list for yourself, here's the link!

http://www.hpami.org/index.php?pr=2010-11_Cast_Lists

Thank you for reading,

~Jacob

Unfortunate Dilemma

Hmm, just this afternoon I posted my unimaginably lengthy blog post. For whatever the reason, blogger has decided to shift my most recent post below my most recently posted post.

...

So if you, Reader, would like to view my unthinkably long and detailed post, scroll down past "I Made This For You" to "Forever and a Year."

Best regards,

~Jacob

I Made This For You

Hello Reader!

This is mostly directly at a certain Ferguson. So yeah.

I'm just ensuring you, my faithful readers, that I haven't forgotten about you.

It's true, at this very moment, I am working diligently on an unthinkably lengthy blog post for you to read (but based upon my recent 'poll', I'm guessing not a lot of people will read it in its entirety. Hahaha).

So if you'd rather hear what I've been up to in the past month and a half, here's a summarized version for you to read!

Forever ago in July, I traveled to Washington D.C. and Fort A.P. Hill in West Virginia for the National Scout Jamboree. It was lots of fun.

Blah, blah, blah, hurricane...

Blah, blah, blah, French women...

Blah, blah, blah, white water rafting...

Justin, Nathan, and I got home from Jambo and spent 1 day recovering, 1 day at a family event, and 1 day in preparation for HPA auditions (HOORAH!).

HPA auditions came and went (*joy*) and now we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of the cast list.

Two days after auditions, me and my family took a wonderful vacation together with another family. The Hartges family + the Witzke family spent a week in Tennessee!

Blah, blah, blah, spelunking...

Blah, blah, blah, amusement park-ing...

Blah, blah, blah, southern baptist church potluck...

My cousin from Colorado spent a week with us. Always fun.

Then came last Monday. Yep, the beginning of soccer conditioning. It's great to be a Senior on the team though! Gonna be a great year with coach Lenny... Tehe, he'd probably get frazzled if he read that... Oh well. It's funny because he's also going to be my gov/econ teacher! WIN! I think he's pretty cool... :)

Unfortunately many of our starting players overworked their bodies the first couple nights and either injured themselves, or took a night off as to NOT injure themselves. Crazy.

So for the past two weeks we've been doing intense conditioning from 6:00 to 8:30 P.M. On Thursday is our first game! If anyone reading this would like to come, leave me a comment or send me an email! Our first game of the season will be against Quincy at Kenneth Hope Soccer Complex in *thinks* Lansing. Though the time slips my mind...

So yeah.

Blah, blah, blah, cheering...

Blah, blah, blah, soccer...

Blah, blah, blah, winning...

And that's pretty much been my life the past month and a half! If you want, you can read my extremely long post (which should be finished in a few days) about the Jamboree. :)

Forgive me for this very zany, wacky, and strange post. It's late, I'm tired, and I've had three glasses of milk, so cut me a little slack.

ALSO, I found this guy on YouTube named Jillian Smith. He cracks me up. Here's one of his latest videos! Watch the kid's face at the beginning of the video and then watch his face at the end of the video. Hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQOeA2738jU

Then you'll understand why I named my title what I did. It's his signature line.

Adios mi amigo!

~Jacob