NEW YEARS!

Benjamin Franklin - "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

New year.... brand new start.

2011-
There were so many great things that happened in my life... Was blessed enough to follow my dreams of playing college football and college golf; developed some great friendships; found out who I really was during hard times; met someone amazing; volunteered service hours; helped lead YMCA campers closer to God; brought myself closer to God; became mentally and physically stronger; increased my GPA significantly; and remained the same person I wanted to be.

2012- New Year's Resolutions:
1.) Trust my friends and family more.......... I have a horrible habbit of not trusting the people dearest to me; I need to let go of all the fear and uncertainty, give it all to God, and live life worry-free.
2.) I need to always get stronger in my faith.......... There is always room for improvement.
3.) Get in GOOD shape......... I have never really been embarrassed by the way I look, but I have never been fully satisfied either. Already started my workout routine, diet, and supplement routine so this is the year to turn it up.
4.) Develope better study habbits............ If I'm going to transfer to a 4-year university, I can't afford to stay static with my habbits.
5.) Start playing the guitar and piano again.......... I use this blog as something to channel my feelings into because it helps calm me down. Music is something that calms me down as well, and I miss being good at the guitar and piano.
6.) Be slow to anger............. I need help to remain calm in tough situations. Most of the things that anger me just aren't worth getting angry over.
7.) Branch out and meet new people............... self explanitory
8.) Develope a morning running routine............. If I'm going to stay in shape for the rest of my life, I need to start running daily.
9.) HAVE FUN WITH LIFE



-GP

Feliz Navidad!

Eric Sevareid - "Christmas is a necessity.  There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something besides ourselves."

CHRISTMAS WAS AWESOME......and I'm not even talking about the gifts.

The whole family came home for Christmas as usual and the good times started....
BELL RINGER:
I had to have 12 hours of volunteer service to pass my business class this semester, and it was down to the last weekend.  We called the Salvation Army haha and they said I could be a bell ringer.  At first I was so pumped, but when I got to the mall (Galleria in front of Belk), I'll admit I was embarrassed out of my mind.  Something about ringing a little bell, asking for money doesn't really excite me in a great way, but I'm happy I did it (even though I've never seen so many people trying to ignore me before haha)!
DECEMBER 22ND:
Found out suddenly that I needed a gift for the girl I'm talking to (girlfriend? yeah, haha whatever), so I search Francesca's and find something, but did not see anything good... so then headed to Private Gallery and after an hour of indecisiveness (real word?) and one of the girls there helping me, I found something legit! So now it's off to the Hoover chick's house to exchange gifts! The gifts were cool, but I was just happy to chill with her....we haven't since (not sure why) but hopefully we will soon; no reason to stress about it.
DECEMBER 24TH:
Christmas eve service with family and friends....WAS AWESOME.
CHRISTMAS DAY:
WAS AWESOME.  It was one of the first Christmas's in years that my family had been financially stable, so we all were able to go hard on the gifts we got for each other this year... I hate to be cheesy, but it really felt great.
DECEMBER 26TH - 28TH:
The fam dipped over to my mom's hometown of Tunica, Mississippi to visit the fam and so the guys could go hunting!  We were full of anticipation about hunting, but WE. SAW. NOTHING.  Ever since the tornados last April, the deer population on our land have been extremely low because the Mississippi River flooded, but give it 3 or so years and things will be back to normal!



-GP

Struggles

Anonymous - "Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.  If we were to go through life without any obstacles, we would be crippled.  We would not be as strong as we could have been.  Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets."

This is going to be a short and sweet post so get ready..

I have been focusing WAY too much on strengthening my body instead of my mind and my faith.  My body has gotten stronger, but with that has come a lot of anger and a lot of stress.  I have been getting SO upset at the smallest things...... golf, family, friends......  It's horrible and it's not who I want to be.

Aside from my recent anger problems my faith is in trouble.  I have not prayed outside of church in what feels like forever, I do not touch my Bible anymore, and at times I feel so lazy with my faith.

The solution I see is to involve myself in a better group of friends, become more involved in church and prayer (I have been slacking a ton on the latter), get a good night's sleep every night, try to stay calm, and just have fun again.



-GP

NovOctEmber

George Eliot - "Delicious autumn!  My soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns."

I love this time of the year..

Tonight was Halloween.  YESSSSSSSS!  I had so many ideas on what to dress up as, but I ended up going with the retro basketball player look (high tops, high tube socks, SHORT shorts, jersey, afro, head and wrist bands)........ I do not regret it.

Now that October is over with, I turn my focus to what November brings. 

1)  I am one of the biggest nerds anyone will ever meet..... so this explains why I'm PUMPED about the new Call of Duty coming out on the 8th!  This is a big deal because I went to the midnight releasing of the game last year at South, and there were almost 400 people in line.... like half of them were dressed in Army uniforms haha it was amazing.  So guess what?  Homeboy's going again this year!

2)  Again I'll admit I am one of the biggest nerds anyone will ever meet..... aka why I'm dressing up as Edward Cullen when I go see the Breaking Dawn premier on the 18th! 

One last note.... autumn is my. favorite. season.  I LOVE it.  There is nothing more peaceful or beautiful than driving on a overcast, cold, and windy autumn day with the orange, yellow, and red trees off in the distance.  Nature is God's canvas, and there is nothing that complements God's creation like autumn.  I hope I have many years left to experience its beauty.

 

 

-GP

Acts of Indecision

Simone de Beauvoir - "Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay."

The past few months have been pprrrreeettttyyyyy confusing for me..

Soooo the thing with me and the Hoover girl (last post) had been going off and on for a while.  I found that some weekends she'd appear tired of me, and other weekends I'd seem tired of her....so I just haven't been sure on what to do.  It's apparent we've both thought about dating, but that might not be in the best view for us.  I start talking to her for a little bit and my feelings start swaying in a different direction..

I obviously still have feelings for the Hoover girl, but I can see myself in a better situation talking with the other girl... and of course there's always been something deep down that's liked this girl as well.  So we started talking for a little while, and it was great for a couple of days... but I still don't know.  I'm not a believer that God will point out who he wants you to date or talk to, but that He will provide you the opportunity or situation.  So right now, it's on me and I need to decide who I want to pursue....

_________________

The other indecision in my life is this golf thing.  Yeah, I was thinking about the possibility of enrolling at Mississippi State University to basically major in golf, it would be coool, but I don't think that's what I want to do...

I love golf obviously... but some days I just get so tired of it.  I want it to always be something I can escape to in a rough tim in my life.  I just don't want to invest in a career in something I love, only to get sick of doing it down the road.

And then there's Auburn...

Ever since I was little I've ALWAYS wanted to go to Auburn.  I love the campus, how classy the students are (in comparison to Bama especially), all of my friends go there, AU athletics.... I just love Auburn.  I've prayed about it before, and I'm still not sure what to do.  My career choice might be at Mississippi State, but my happiness points towards going to Auburn.

I of course don't have to make any decision soon, but time is running out...





-GP

UPDATEEEE (Part 2)

Leo Rosten - "Happiness comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable."

There is someone new in my life at this moment :)

This past spring break I met (kind of) this girl... We were eating at Applebees at the beach with some of my friends when like twelve high school girls walked in and sat down at my brother's table (apparently he invited them).  Well, there was this blonde girl that was in the group.  She was BY FAR the cutest one there, so I automatically assumed that was the girl Austin was talking to.  That night, she and two of her friends came over to the house we were staying at, and while she hung out down stairs, me and another one of my buddies were upstairs playing some NCAA on Xbox (I know, real ladies' man).  I wanted to go down and meet her, but no matter how cute she was, the fact was that she was in high school.  So I never gave it a chance. 

Fast-forward to Julyish that summer.  I hear that Austin has invited three girls over to my friend's house to hang out.... and the blonde-headed girl was one of them.  I get excited cause, I mean, she was really attractive; no matter if I wanted to date her or not, it would be fun getting to know her.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks.  The girls (blondie included) are coming over to my friend's house while my brother and I am there becomes a regular thing now.  I am constantly talking to her, laughing at her amazing sense of humor, and admiring her unexpected maturity.  So I get her number and we slowly start talking up a storm. 

Fast-forward to present day.  Me and Sarah have been talking for just over two months now, and things couldn't be better.  I have met her amazing family, and I love spending time with them whenever I go over to visit.  Her beauty, maturity, witty personality, great family, confidence, and selfless attitude make me realize how lucky I am to have her at this point in my life....

......and I almost missed-out on it.



-GP

UPDATEEEE (Part 1)

A LOT has happened since my last post (I do apologize for the long wait)....so I'm going to make this into two posts.
Jeremiah 21:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
SO much good has happened to me in the past couple of months...

First off, as you all may know I was NOT happy at the University of South Alabama.  I felt bored with the daily routine, hated football, and didn't have a good college experience there.  But what hardly any of you know, was that my grades were so bad (2.55 GPA), that I had lost all financial aid priveledges.  Being caught up in what seems like an endless recession, this was not good news for me and my family.  Meaning whether I wanted to or not it was time to transfer.

The next idea was to apply to some cheap school for a semester (we were thinking Jeff State), so I could boost my grades and earn back my financial aid before heading to Mississippi State or Auburn...... Somewhere along the way though, I got the crazy idea that I wanted to play college golf...... As fate would have it, this was a blessing in disguise.

For a month I called a myriad of schools hoping they could magically have just ONE spot available on their team, so I could walk-on.  One by one they all turned me down. I was beginning to lose faith when I had two schools left: Central Alabama Community College and Wallace State Community College.  Called CACC and met Coach Jennings, who was a nice man, but unfortunately had no spots left.  Before I hung the phone up he had told me that he didn't think Wallace State had any spots left open either.. Honestly, I didn't  care what he said.  I figured, "What the hell, I'll give them a call anyway."  I call and there is no response, so I left a message..

Two weeks later, a Coach Dan York calls me back saying he DOES have one spot available.  We get to talking, and he somehow gives me a chance to come try out.  That Monday, I drove the 45 minute journey to Cullman Municipal Golf Course for my try out.  I WAS SO NERVOUS.  On the first tee he tells me he's not interested in my score but just wants to see if my swing's workable, and if I have a good personality.  Of course the whole day i try my best to not get angry and to almost advertise myself the best I can.  It paid off.  I shot a 36 (1 under par), and earned a walk-on spot!

Three days later I get arguably one of the best calls in my life.  That Thursday night, I hear my Creed ringtone singing in the other room, I pick it up, and it reads, "Calling: Coach York."  I am both nervous and confused because I have no clue why he is calling..... I gather up my voice and answer.

"Garrett."
"Hey Coach, how ya doing?"
"Just fine Garrett, how 'bout yourself?"
"Good."
"Good.  Well I got some news for you..." (this is when my heart dropped expecting some bad news)
"Yessir?"
"I believe I have found you a scholarship.  So when you can, we need to get you up here to sign, and we need to give you a campus tour." (this is when I threw the biggest fist pump of my life)
"............"
"Garrett, you there?"
"Ha, sorry....yes, I'm.....yeah, I'm here!  Thank you so much Coach York!"
"No problem Garrett, you deserve it.  I will call you tomorrow with all the details.  Talk to you then."
"See you later, Coach!"
(hang up)

That was the call that has changed my life.  I proceeded to call Pam and Ray and the fam and we all flipped out haha.  I love being at this school, and I love having the opportunity to wake up and do something I love every day.  After my broken leg in high school (the low incident that I believe led me to where I am today), I can honestly say with complete confidence that EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. 

Never let something get you down because the next day everything could change.



-GP