Air softing

Last night has to be the funnest night I've had all year, and here is how it all begun. My roommates had previously explored a awesome park called Alt Park up in the Hyde Park area of Cincinnati, and said how it would be perfect for an air soft war. So we made plans to have a little air soft war up there in the middle of the night. We needed some more guns and ammo, so we started out by going to Wal-Mart at 2 in the morning. On the way there, Jeff was speeding and sure enough we got pulled over by a cop, who asked what the h*** we were doing at that time at night. Jeff looked like he was sweating; i was just about to bust out laughing, but thought better of it considering the situation. The cop ended up letting us go without giving us a ticket much to Jeff's amazement! Nothing exciting happened in Wal-Mart, although i felt like we were getting a lot of weird looks considering we were all wearing all black. Most likely thought we were Satanist or something of the sort. As we entered the Alt Park area we pretended not to see the signs that said park closed from 10 pm to 6 am.....(it was already like 3 in the morning). That kinda freaked me out because i didnt really wanna get in trouble, but figured the risk was worth it. We had an incredible time while at the park, and we finally left at like 5:30 am. On the way back from the park i spotted some deer wandering through peoples yards, so one of us got the bright...or not so bright idea to start shooting the deer with our air soft guns! It was pretty incredible!! I spotted some pretty large bucks and wished that i had brought more then just the air soft guns! =( After i encouraged the guys that we prolly out get outa that area before the cops got there, they finally conceded and we headed to McDonald's......the inside was closed so we went through the drive through and then went to a different park that overlooks the city and watched the sunrise. It was a pretty incredible night and i didn't get to sleep until 7 this morning. So if this post is written a little sloppy give me a break....I've only had a couple hours of sleep. ha! What a STUD!!!!!!! HA
Def not a team player! lol
Tyler in his last moments
What's your game plan????
Check out the rack on that farthest deer

The road named after me in Cincy

Bad Guys
Tyler had enough and we didnt really care
A little fun before the game Some of the deer we were shooting at
Jeff doing the speed limit after we got caught by the cops=)

Youth Camp, etc.....

Since i last blogged so much stuff as gone on, but nothing really extremely exciting or dramatic, which could be a good thing. I guess getting attacked by bees, and having encounters with snakes at work is about it. I did have one other thing that was kinda scary happen to me. I was on Main Street in downtown Cincinnati where i was just about getting ready to get out of my truck when i felt like i shouldn't, so i looked around and seen a black guy approaching my truck. He came to the passenger side window and indicated for me to roll down the windows, so i rolled it down just about an inch....just enough for me to talk to him. He asked what i was doing down in the hood, and i refused to answer him. After him repeatedly asking me what i was doing down there, i told him i was working at a church. He then proceeded to ask me to take him somewhere in town, and i told him no for fear of him stealing my truck. Finally he asked me if i had any money on me and i said no, so he eventually left. I think i was sweating when he finally left! =( Thankfully nothing came of the ordeal! This last week has been one of the busiest weeks I've had this summer. I took 6 six kids from the inner city church i attend to Heartland Youth Camp. It was a blast, and God really helped some of the teens, as well as me. I was disappointed that i didnt get to play a lot of sports, because I was a sponser, but i had fun connecting with old friends, and meeting new friends as well! The night is getting late, and i must work tomorrow............

Main Street Giveaway

Here are some pictures from our clothes give away last Sunday. We also fed the people that came in off the streets. We served somewhere around 300 hundred hot dogs and 600 cookies. Most of the people where from right there in the local area but we also picked them up from a homeless shelter here in Cincinnati and brought them over to our church for clothes and food. It was alot of fun and i enjoyed helping all the needy people.

MySpaceTV Videos: Matt Video Channel

MySpaceTV Videos: Matt Video Channel


Here is a link to some videos Matt Hallam my pastor took while at our church. Go to this link and check out my video called Gangsta Wanna Be

This is a picture from this past week of some of us at Main Street Chapel getting ready for a giveaway were having this Sunday

hey! just thought i would provide a quick update to some of the things that have been going on in my life lately. I finished school in May and because their wasn't very many good possibilities for a job back in NC i decided to spend the summer here in Cincy with some of my friends. An apartment worked out for us and there are five us living here. I also was able to get a job doing contracting which i had already had two years experience in, and it has turned out to be really awesome and i love it! Some other things I am currently involved in.......I'm am still involved pretty heavily in my church here in Cincy, doing such things as playing the piano, guitar, and drums, picking up people for church as well as being an assistant kids Sunday School teacher. So my life is not at all boring right now. I was also appointed as a basketball team captain for a church team here, so my Saturdays are usually spent playing basketball and working with the inner city kids. I'm sorry i haven't updated my blog in a while but I've just been so busy and tired.....i will try to update it more often in the future.

Joseph

P.S. Living here in Cincy can be quite interesting at times, especially living in this part of town. In the last several weeks i have seen several drug deals take place on the street i live on and have also had several people on this street try to stop me and buy drugs from me because they think I'm a drug dealer because I'm a white kid living in a black neighborhood.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry i haven't updated my blog in a while, but I've been extremely busy. I really don't have time now to update you on everything so I'll give a condensed recap of the last little while. Lets see...... one day was spent in the emergency room with a friend of mine. I was really busy during IHC week but I was able to see my Mom, sister and one of my brothers there at IHC and VIP day! My brother and I sang in the mass choir together so that was cool! I've been really busy with finals week coming up, as well as other things going on, such as our spring picnic, lock in, choir weekend, etc. Last night was spent studying for a math test instead of sleeping.....so you kinda get the picture of my life right now. anyways ill update it more thoroughly hopefully sometime soon.

Joseph

Random

Well I'm finally back at school now, and extremely busy. I usually work 15 hours a week but I'm scheduled to work 30 hours this week, and on top of that I have tons of school.....but i digress. I have something i would like to for.....Looooonnnnnngggg story so hang on. Coming back to GBS this past weekend I had a very interesting encounter with the law enforcement in West Virginians. Yeah you think I'm just gonna make some racial slur against people from West Virginia, and I wouldn't put it past myself, but maybe i have reason to say something about people from West Virginia. Now if your from West Virginia, just chill b/c my family originated in the neighboring state of Virginia, so its not like I'm outa touch with you guys. Ok, back to the story. Ok, I've always hated driving through West Virginia, for one their roads are crappy, two their people are creepy, and three they drive like Mexicans......(ok don't get offended by that statement, I lived in Mexico for a number of years.....so yes I'm in touch with their culture as well) So normally I put the pedal to the metal and get through that state as quickly as possible. Ok, so here i am in the middle of West Virginia, trucking along....minding my own business. I start to merge onto another interstate when suddenly this blue Dodge Durango SUV appears in my rear view mirror, and is approaching my vehicle at a high rate of speed. As the driver quickly approached my rear bumper, i quickly decided that i was going plenty fast enough and there was no reason he should have any need to go faster then me. So i quickly boxed him in with the other traffic and wouldn't let him pass. I soon decided that once we merged on the interstate that there was no way I would be able to keep him behind me, so i decided i would show this big shot off and keep ahead of him by racing him. What seemed like forever(which was prolly only a couple minutes) I raced through the traffic, keeping this West Virginian behind me. I was doing well above the speed limit on the interstate(sorry im not going to disclose any numbers) and was a little afraid of being pulled over by the cops, but i quickly shoved that outa my mind and continued racing him. After we were on the interstate for awhile he pulled right up on my back bumper again, and i remember this as though it were yesterday.....a pair of blue lights starting flashing in my mirrors. Suddenly realizing my awful mistake, i started pulling my truck off onto the shoulder of the road. The totally unmarked patrolman pulled up beside me, and quickly motioned to me that it would be to my best interest if i slowed my rate of speed, and at least acknowledge the laws of the land. To think that this whole time i had been racing the police was almost unthinkable, and i quickly begin thanking God for keeping me from getting a ticket as he knew i wouldnt have the money to pay it. I was quite humbled by this experience, and instead of showing this big shot off, i was put in my place. I still don't think the policeman should have been exceeding the speed limit in the first place, but it is the state of West Virginia....what more can i say. I am grateful that I didn't get a ticket......most likely it was because this police officer went to school in West Virginia and didn't know how to speak and write in English. Ok, enough said.....you get the point. Thank God for his mercy to me, and for helping me to escape the wrath of the hillbillies.

GBS Weekend....etc

The past few days have gone by so quickly it's hardly even felt like a break. Sunday morning the GBS wind and string ensemble was here at my home church for service and Sunday evening we had Lucas Shrout in concert. Last night GBS was back in the area for a service and some of the guys stayed here at my house. It was awesome being back with my colleagues, we had an awesome time. Today was pretty much uneventful until tonight.....yeah, it happened again for the second time in six months, an accident involving a basketball goal. Thankfully the injuries for not near as serious as the first time this happened back in November. Ok, here's how it happened. I was outside playing basketball at my house, and my step-dad walked by and curiously asked me if i could dunk the basketball, and i replied ya and proceeded to show him how it was done! Ten seconds later i was laying, quite painfully on the ground; the backboard and hoop lay on the ground beside me. Apparently the basketball was not sturdy enough to sustain a powerful dunker such as me, and it busted off the pole when i went up to dunk.....i fell backwards onto the asphalt and the backboard and hoop came crashing down on top of me....and yeah you got the picture. My Mom was freaking out and my sister proceeded to run over to the neighbors and tell them all about it. What was the big deal???.....a faulty basketball goal gave me a bloody elbow and arm and scratched my face a little. No big deal! Nothing unusual from my daily routine at GBS. Obviously my family was used to such graphic excitement. This is normal occurrence for me at GBS.....ok not quite but there's got to be some reason my nickname at school is "accident prone" lol! Anyways thankfully I'm fine and my Mom didn't suffer a heart attack over it!

Home

I'm so excited about being back at my house over spring break! I traveled the 8 hours from school to my house last night and I'm enjoying being with my family!.....and my Mom's cooking and the extra sleep of course! =) Tomorrow morning GBS's wind and string ensemble will be at my church and some of my colleagues will be staying overnight at my house......and that's exciting!! I am disappointed that its raining and a little cold here because i was wishing for sunshine, but my Mom told me it will be in the 70's all next week!! I know this week is going to go by way to fast, but I'm not really dreading going back for the last six weeks of school because of all the fun i have with my awesome friends! =) Well, thats all i have for now...............................

Joseph

Boring weekend

The last couple days have been somewhat uneventful, so I've actually been a little bored. I had planned on going home or to my brothers but neither worked out so i was stuck here at GBS for easter weekend. =( One of my best friends was also stuck here as well so it wasn't to bad. We hung out together, went to two different malls, stayed up half the night doing stupid things....and yeah it was actually pretty fun! Today i played the piano for congregational singing at the church I'm attending here in Cincinnati. Tonight i was also able to use my musical talents for God....I played the bass guitar and one of my friends played the guitar for service which was really cool b/c i seldom get to play my guitar in a church. Oh, and one other thing.....I have been praying about something for quite some time now, and God has really answered that prayer and i just want to thank him for that and for everything he is doing in my life! =)

Joseph

Hey! Just thought i would write some more about whats been going on in my life lately. First of all I've been extremely busy with work. For you that don't know where i work, i work on campus here at GBS. Anyways I'm usually scheduled for fifteen hours a week but the last couple weeks I've been working up to 25 hours. School has also been really hectic with many of my mid term tests the last few weeks. In fact today i had one of my mid terms in piano. Speaking of piano....i was able to play for the one of the GBS quartets today as they were practicing. I enjoyed it so much and learned a lot of new things from the regular pianist which was kind of tutoring me. He thinks that ill get a position playing for one of the groups next year and that really excites me. That would be like a dream to me. I'm also getting excited about my upcoming break. I most likely will be going to my house at least for most the time. Due to my schedule I will get to be on break a little longer then all the other college students which is really awesome! Well I am getting extremely tired, since i've worked double shifts the last to days and i was only able to get 4 hours of sleep last night, so i gotta get off here
Joe

New Blog

Hey everyone!! I've finally started a blog....due to the constant bugging from Renee about it! just joking! Ok anyways, i probably wont be updating it that often due to the lack of free time, but feel free to check it out and leave me comments.
Joseph