Interests:playing video games, drinking coffee, eating food, going to the theater to see new movies every weekend Expertise:PC video games and food consumption Occupation:Student, gamer, Mafia boss Industry:pwning other gamers
Wednesday night the youth group at my church did one of the most fun things you can possibly do on a rainy Summer night. I helped the youth leader set out four 25 foot tarps, making an almost 100 foot slip 'n slide. We added soap and water, and had two guys pulling a ski rope. We called it redneck skiing night. It was too much fun. At first the night was just dark and gloomy, but soon the rain started pouring, making it that much more awesome. The kids loved it, very rarely do you get an excuse to play in the rain in your clothes like that. I'm sure there were a bunch of less-than-happy parents later though... haha. I came prepared in a bathing suit, so the night was a blast for me.
Watching the youth slide around, and then jumping in and sliding around myself was one of the highlights of my Summer so far. I haven't played in the rain since I was a little kid.... I forgot how much fun a simple act like that can be. So often we get all concerned that our clothes and hair will get wet, but how often do we just stop and let the rain soak us, and enjoy what God is sending our way? I just stood outside and let the rain pour down on me... and let my cares fall off with the water running down my face. I was the most relaxed I've felt in a while... and after I had dried off, I felt peaceful and chilled out. I recommend a walk in the rain to anyone who has stress in their life. Anyway, here's a video I made of Wednesday night.
Ever had a dream you wanted to pursue, but had people putting that dream down? Yeah... that's been happening to me lately. I'm not getting constant put downs, but when I mention that I really feel like I should be opening my own business, people have been acting like I'm just joking, and it will never happen. If you've been keeping up, you have probably read about how I don't have a job and yada yada yada.... Well, one of my solutions to generate income as of late has been to build PCs and sell them on eBay and to people I know. It's nothing big at the moment, just a hundred or two hundred here and there, helping me pay for stuff I need while I'm still living at home, thankful for parents who are patient. The thing is, for the last few years, it's been my dream to make it big. When I think of Drew's PCs, I see a business- turning into a corporation- turning into a worldwide name. Sure I see starting off small, but I've never been one to keep things small. I believe if you're going to do something, go all out, you never gain if you don't take risks. My question right now is where to start.
I was watching Cake Boss on TLC with my family Monday night, and the boss mentioned something that struck home with me. He was decorating a cake, and he said that when he decorates a cake, all of his worries fall off him, he clears his mind, and for that short period of time, everything around him stops. That is what he loves to do, and that is what keeps him in the business. He loves what he does, so his job doesn't seem like work. I realized yesterday that that was exactly why I want to run my own PC business. When I'm building a computer, it's like an art to me. I'm taking a raw case and parts and putting the pieces together to create something that did not exist before. Finding the perfect combination of parts and seeing what the result will be in the end. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way I want, but most often that is because I did something to mess it up. I love that feeling, and I assume it's the same feeling that carpenters, mechanics, masons, artists, and anyone else who creates or fixes things gets. To know you've made something with your hands. Every computer I build has love and pride put into it, and I enjoy helping others find good deals on computers.
So I've got the dream. I've been reading books on money lately, and the best book I've read has got to be Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. The book talks about concepts for income and the mindset you need if you want to be secure financially. If you notice, the rich seem to play by a different set of rules, so what makes them different? The main thing that sets wealthy people apart from those of us trapped in the "rat race" is their mindset. We are taught that it's the norm to go to school, get a good job, and work the rest of our lives to pay off bills and taxes. People who make the big money have broken away from that mindset. Why use your mind to make money for a business, when you could own that business? If you are not your own boss, you are making someone else money. You are also working almost 5 months out of the year just to pay off taxes. Kiyosaki explains principals in the book that are necessary to change the mindset that we are supposed to grow up to be just another cog in the machine. We've got to stop working for our money, and start making our money work for us. It has really helped me see that I should do my best to follow my dream of owning my own business. I think it was also a little nudge from God, because I had been really feeling strongly about opening a business for myself, and then reading the book at that key moment in my life helped me see what I need to do.
My problem is that whenever someone asks me if I have a job yet, and I mention that I want to build computers in my own business, most people tell me not to bother, and to "go get a real job." Wait, if Bill Gates hadn't dropped out of college and sought after his dreams, would he have made billions? Possibly, but probably not. If Thomas Edison had said "Oh I think I'll just be a factory worker," would we have even half the stuff we have today? Telling someone who has a dream to get a "real" job is the worst thing you can do. I love my parents, but I'm disappointed in them sometimes. My mom was the one who got me to read Rich Dad Poor Dad in the first place, but sometimes when I mention that I want to start a business, she will tell me it's too hard for someone like me, or that I should work a "real" job somewhere first. My dad seems to be keeping his mouth shut, but I can see him holding back the fact that he's not too keen on the idea. I see the point in working for someone for a while, to get the money up to start a business, but once you have the money, you have to start investing in assets to make a better living with. Otherwise you'll be stuck in a job, working the rest of your life to pay off debts, thinking that you are living the American dream.
So to close my rant, I just want to mention that if you see someone trying to make their own way in the world, don't be quick to criticize. We need to turn away from the thought pattern that tells us it is our duty to go to college, get a degree, and start working for the rest of our lives. We need to realize that this is only getting us further into debt. People need to see that building assets through investments and making their money work for them is what will help them to get rid of debt. I can feel that traditional mindset falling off of me like chains, slowly (because it's been ingrained in my head for 22 years), but surely. I'm opening my eyes to a new world. One in which I will not have to worry that my next paycheck might not go far enough to cover my bills, and that I know I will have the money and time to be able to go on mission trips and help people in need.
P.S. Another good book to read is The Treasure Principal by Randy Alcorn. You learn more about how to give back to God the money you make, and how to accumulate Heavenly treasures instead of Earthly rust.
I hope everyone had a good Independence Day weekend. Mine was OK, not exciting, a little on the boring side, but I got over it. My Dad and I played golf Friday, I was 4 points from beating him, and it was fun. We love to play golf together, even though both of us are not that great. Saturday the rest of my family came up to my grandparent's house. I will say this, my extended family is nice, but a little on the odd side. My grandparents are awesome, but my uncles chose some.... how should I put this.... different women. (I won't go into details) I don't have a large family, my Mom only had two brothers, and my Dad has one brother, who he has lost contact with, so we usually only have a small get-together with Mom's family during holidays.
Needless to say, the 4th was pretty par for the course with my family. We ate lunch together and talked around the table for a while. The talking lasted a bit too long (in my opinion), I wanted to go into Brevard for their town's festival and classic car show, but by the time my uncle's families had left it was too late. Dad and I went to the fireworks show at Brevard College, Mom stayed home with my grandparents because it was late and they didn't feel like seeing a live show.
Yesterday I watched the Wimbledon men's final game between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. I was really pulling for both, because I would have loved to have seen Roddick win his first Wimbledon, and he's American, so I wanted to pull for him there. However, Federer is at the top of his game, ranked number 2 in the world, and he was pretty much expected to win. We can't fault people for expecting that of him, it comes with being one of the greatest. I do love the fact that history was made, and that Federer has 15 Grand Slam titles, beating out Pete Sampras. The match was so long though, over 4 hours, and 77 games played. I thought it was never going to end. Congrats to Federer.
Oh busy lazy week.... I really wish I could say I was too busy to write this week, but in reality I've been not very busy at all. But I've done enough that it counts for something I guess. Soooo... here's a little recap/looking forward post.
The big news was last Saturday's graduation party, thrown a little late, but a party nonetheless. So Saturday came and we had a huge bash, with so much food that it took 2 days to cook it all. We had about 40 people there, and I felt honored that people would care enough to celebrate my graduation with me. (Actually people will just take any excuse for a party) We swam, ate, played volleyball, ate some more, and swam some more. The volleyball was the most fun to me, we had a 5 on 5 game that grew to a 7 on 7, but we were all playing really well, so we played to the best of 3 games. I have video of some of it, I might post it, but I played with no shirt on, and I wouldn't want to make anyone jealous gross anyone out. I would also show pictures, but my Dad, always the bright cameraman, took almost all of them blurry. Hopefully my sisters have some better ones. We also have video of the belly flop competition and the part where we all did "trust falls" into the water, which really hurt your back if you do them right. My back was sore and red for two days.
I finally got my diploma in the mail, just before my party Saturday afternoon. Of course it's very official, and I love it. Yesterday I looked at it, and I thought of my last four years in college. And then I thought, "I just dedicated four years of my life to pursuing this piece of paper with my name on it, but what about what I've done for the Lord?" I don't think I've put as much effort into serving Him as I have to earn that degree. That makes me sad. I don't know how to explain it, I just think I really need to work harder to be a witness for Christ, not just seeking after things of this world. Anyway.... here's a picture of the diploma!
Also, news that you have asked me to keep you all in the loop about has been about the job I was so hopeful to get. Well, Saturday I got a letter from them thanking me for my interest, but I was apparently not what they were looking for in an applicant. I didn't even make it to the interview stage! I want to know how that worked out. I have a 4 year degree, I was trained in almost everything the ad for the job mentioned, and I had references recommending me who were high up in the school system. I even met the chairman of the school board, who told me he would recommend me for the position. The problem with Laurinburg is politics, it's all about who you know, and someone close to the boss probably got the job. I'm not super worried though, the man who hired me last year asked me if I would like to work on a semi-permanent basis for Pilkington again. I would be hired on there to work on what I worked on last year, and I would keep working there until something happened that dictated that I couldn't work there anymore (i.e. they ran out of money to keep my position). So I have an opportunity to make some money and work for as long as possible. This was actually a standing offer, the man offered it to me in case the school thing didn't work out. So God closed one door, and I'll probably walk through the door that's been open the whole time... haha. Granted, I do not want to be programming.... everything in me hates it.... but I'm thinking that if I approach it differently, take the time to get acquainted with the environment, and work hard at what I'll be doing, I may come to like it more than I thought I would. The best part is that the guy is extremely flexible, and he's not going to be around much in July, so that gives me time to go to Canada on the mission trip, and to the beach with the youth as a chaperon. I'll probably start up in August. Until then, I'm going to enjoy my summer.
And last but not least.... I'll be going up to my grandparents house for a family get-together for 4th of July this weekend. Not really looking forward to it... I love my family, but let's just say these gatherings are on the boring and odd side. My grandparents are awesome, so I'm excited to see them again. But all of my friends are going to be gone for the 4th anyway, so home would be pretty much just as boring.
Ok, one more last thing. Please pray for my friends who are leaving today for a mission trip to Brazil. They will be taking the same trip I've made twice, to Salvador, to work with the military school kids doing "English Week." It's a week in which they will be helping the students in the school with their English, while witnessing through testimonies and drama. They will also be working with local IMB missionaries, who have been there for like 20 years. The team will be working in the school in the morning, and with the kids in the afternoon on a more personal level. The afternoon is the most important time, because they aren't allowed to directly witness to the kids in the morning at school, but they are allowed to do so in the afternoon when the kids are out. Speaking as someone who has been there, I can say it is an awesome experience. I wish I were going back with them, but I didn't know what I would be doing after I graduated, so I couldn't commit to paying that much money and taking two weeks to go. Prayers for their team would be greatly appreciated, and you can also follow them at www.thoughts.com/EnglishWeek09/blog. They'll be posting pictures and blogs about what they've been doing along the way for the next couple of weeks.
I feel honored. My best friend Seth drove all the way back to our home town just for my graduation party this weekend. I really didn't plan on him being there, I thought he would be working in Greenville still, but he actually came back when he found out I was going to have my party. I really don't know what else to say about it, because it makes me feel awesome to know that he would take time out of his life to do that. I came home from a baseball game tonight to find him hanging out with my family. I hung out with him last weekend because he came home for Father's Day, but I wasn't expecting this weekend too. I'm happy!
About the whole graduation party thing, if you've kept up with my blog you know I graduated from college in May. So why a graduation party in June? Schedules colliding mostly. May was bad for me because I was on the cruise to Alaska. My parents left for their aniversary cruise in early June, and with Father's day last weekend, my party was pushed to this Saturday. This is my official party. It will be at a friend's house (who has a pool), so that also pushed the party to a time when they could host it. I'm thankful they wanted to host it, because my house is pretty boring. My parents have bought all kinds of food over the last month or so in preparation. The last time I counted, we had 8 racks of ribs, 6 packs of chicken, 5 packs of steaks, 5 pork tenderloins, and 2 10lb Boston Butts. The meat is going to be massive, and the side dishes are almost as awesome sounding. Mac n' cheese, baked beans, corn, chips, and more. Dessert will be cake and ice cream, and probably some watermelon for later when the people get out of the pool and are chilling out. Hopefully we'll get up a good game of volleyball in the side yard too, those are always fun because we end up with a ton of people playing... like 10 on 10. I've got about 40 people on the guest list, it had to be invite only because I know so many people who have asked to come, my parents told me I had to put a limit on it. I limited it to families and friends who have supported me the most throughout my life and college career. I'm preparing myself to answer the one question that everyone seems to ask a graduate over and over: "So what are you doing now?" Honestly, I've answered that at least 300 times now in the last two months, so what's a few more times right? I just tell them I'm looking for a job, got some prospects, yada yada yada. I may throw in a couple of "Looking at getting my Masters" answers just for fun, because those always get the biggest reactions out of people... haha. So Saturday is going to be crazy, I'm hoping to squeeze a game of airsoft in before the party though. Pray that the weather stays nice too... no one likes a rainy pool party.
As a side note, tonight I watched a man take a baseball to the head and shake it off like it was nothing. I was watching my youth pastor's son play ball, when one of the boys hit a foul ball over the fence right where we were sitting. Rick, the youth pastor, had just set up his camping chair and was in the process of standing up when the ball collided with the top of his head. We all saw it coming but him. We all warned "heads up," like any good baseball fan knows to do when a foul is tipped into the crowd, but he was in his own world, not paying us attention. He was a little dazed, but he didn't want us to worry about him, he said he was fine. He took his hat off, and the ball had physically scraped a chunk of skin off his head. He put a bandage and ice on it, but he'll have a lump there for a while. Maybe I'm a horrible person, but my first reaction was laughter, then concern. I don't know why I chuckled when he got hit, maybe it was from watching too much America's Funniest Home Videos, maybe it was a nervous reaction. We were all stunned it hit him, but I seemed to be the only one who laughed a little, and I still laugh at the thought of seeing him get hit. It was mostly his reaction to being hit that made me laugh, he was more in disbelief that it hit him out of all people than anything else. Weird.
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