Hey guys and gals! I am really sorry it has been about a week since I wrote, I have been kind of swamped as of late. I hear though that that sort of thing can happen in college. And now I can say first hand that it does happen.

So I may not be extremely intelligent, but I thought it would be advantageous for maybe a few of you if I share some of my life knowledge. The more knowledge you have, the better off, even if it is Zach Gray’s. Let me start by saying that when it comes to studying I have the mindset of œdo it when you feel like it. Now at first that may sound stupid, but listen. What I mean by that is that if you are sitting at your computer freaking out about homework and you are really stressed out, take a half-hour break, play some N64 or whatever floats your boat and come back to work when you are in the mood for working. If you like to sleep from 5-10 every afternoon and work from 10p.m. til 2a.m. then do it.

O.K. now I can get to my real lesson for today. DO NOT begin a 7 page paper at midnight the night before it is due!!! Yes, I said work when you feel like it, but do not just put stuff off. I can firsthand say that last night was a LONG NIGHT. Yea, I didn’t get to bed until 5:30 in the a.m. No one wants to be typing a paper at those hours of the night, and trust me I don’t have tons of energy right now. So I guess what I am saying is work when you feel comfortable, but give yourself some time to work.Phew! at least I am done with it.

I hope you all take my advice, but in reality I understand that many of you will not, shoot I don’t even know if I will take my own advice, but I told you I was going to share the knowledge that I had, and I did. Maybe some other time I will share something more useful.

Thanks for reading this.

Good luck (and start working on that paper that’s due in a week)

I feel like I don’t need words for this entry… I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (with slight commentary):

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(that’s my car)

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(the mountain in our parking lot)

(another mountain…notice Tyler in his shorts. my friends are nuts.)

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(late night snow volleyball)

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(warming up in Mocha Joe’s!)

Good times. Great friends. I love this place.

I tell you what this is pure crazy!!! I heard that yesterday was the first time in like 30 years that AU has been canceled for snow (don’t hold me to that stat). And then we have another day off today!! What is going on… I’ll tell you… the weather is crazy. You know what they say, “when the winds blow from the northeast, the weather’s a beast.” I don’t know what I am going to do today! Yesterday I went out sledding and playing in the snow like a little kid. Today, I have no idea what’s in store.

Hey you all! Quit reading my blog and get outside and play in the snow!!!

But be careful!

Zach

Well, good thing I went to get those groceries! That soup sure tasted good during our snow day today! All classes were canceled, and we got to be lazy the whole day. I could have been doing homework and such, but instead I got my laundry done, made soup for lunch, cleaned my room, hung out with my roomies, etc. It was wonderful.

Now… let’s just hope that it keeps snowing long enough that we have another snow day tomorrow! Maybe then I’ll get some work done…

This last weekend was Lil Sibs weekend. If you don’t know, Lil Sibs weekend is a time for AU students to bring their younger siblings to come experience AU. Fortunately, I have two awesome little sisters whom I was so excited about bringing to AU. Addie, my 11 year old sister, was sick and wasn’t able to come, but Hannah who is 15 did come hang out with her super cool bro, well her brother at least.

On Friday afternoon we first went to the Marketplace for dinner. Luckily for Hannah the MP was serving mac and cheese, her favorite food! I swear she eats a box of the stuff a day. So we spent some time just chowin’ down on some good food, and then we had some spare time just to hang out. We came back to the dorm and played some video games (as college kids so often do). We then made a run to the grocery store to get some eggs and pancake mix for breakfast the next morning for 12:12 brunch. Then, we headed down to Mocha Joe’s for some much needed coffee. We then watched a movie until midnight and then we headed to the Roller Arena. We skated for about an hour, and it was tons of fun. I’m pretty sure I really embarrassed my sister by doing my act-like-your-rowing-a-boat skate. Oh well! we had tons of fun!

The next morning we got up and prepared 12:12 brunch (if you have no idea what 12:12 brunch is, it is breakfast that my friend Josh and I prepare for other students on random Saturdays. I think I wrote a blog about it way back if you want to research it) and then we just hung out for a while. I had to take her home that afternoon, but it really was great just spending some quality time with my sister whom I don’t see too often. I am having a lot of fun here at AU and I think all the lil sibs who came up last weekend did too!

I know you all may be surprised that I wrote a blog entry about something relevant for a change, but try not to get used to it!

Hooray for family!!!

Smiles, please!

Zach

Today is Monday, the most hectic day of the week for me. My first class is at 8 a.m., and my last class doesn’t end until 7 p.m. Then I have my social club meeting from 10 to 11 p.m. So, it’s already crazy busy. And today there was an added level of stress……….. supposedly the winter storm to end all winter storms is supposed to start tonight with the possibility of being snowed in for a while. As I was thinking about this today, I started to think about my pantry here in the apartment. Gone are the snow days full of hot chocolate and steamy soup made by mom. I’m on my own now, and my pantry was looking pretty pitiful. I had half a loaf of bread, a little bit of pasta, the nasty crumbs in the bottom of the cereal box, and some random odds and ends like flour, baking soda, and teriyaki sauce. Not too appetizing.

So, I headed to the grocery store. TERRIBLE IDEA. I think every citizen from Anderson and nearby towns were crammed into this one store. There were only a couple loaves of bread left, most of the milk was gone, and the lines were all several people deep.

But I guess it was worth it, because now if we get snowed in tomorrow, I have plenty of amenities to make myself, my roommates, and pretty much everyone in the building a nice hot cup of soup. Bring on the snow! (and please cancel classes…)

One may wonder what new, sleek, innovative product I am wearing around my head. Let me tell you… earlier today I was walking back from class and it was Antarctica cold. So I had my winter headband and gloves on like most other people who don’t like to freeze. I got inside and was still freezing so I kept all the warm stuff on. Then I began to make a phone call and realized it would be pretty cool if I could talk on my phone hands-free. So I carefully situated my phone between my headband and my right ear. I went on for 20 minutes talking on the phone…but not just talking on the phone, I could do anything I wanted to. I surfed the web, ate a snack, made my bed (yea right), looked at what homework I had, and even went to the bathroom. There are many other things this “college kids bluetooth” will allow you to do. Most importantly I found that I can play NBA Hangtime for N64 while I am on the phone. I really think now that my college life is complete. I mean who honestly doesn’t like multi-tasking? Because of this invention people can free up more time to study. Its the key to time management.

WARNING: Multi-tasking while you are on the phone often draws the speaker’s attention away from the conversation. Mothers, fathers, friends, and especially girlfriends do not like this. I take no legal responsibility for anyone that abuses you due to you ignoring them while on the phone.

Have fun…and be careful!!!