So I've decided to not cut and paste the exact blog from my xanga just in case there are any people like me that have more than one (I doubt it but...)  Hey.  A Rod does so this is for variety's sake:  Um.... Life is going really well right now.  I'm gonna be workin at DQ and with my mom (I'm doing that today and making about 95 dollars for 5 or 6 hours) and might also be doing some clarical work for her boss if she needs it.  Steph got home yesterday which was AWESOME!  I love getting to see that girl.  It was good to see everyone at FWC last night.  Everyone seems to be doing really well.  God is good.  He's showing me new stuff all the time which is exciting!  Now leave me some remarks.  

So I got a new phone today.  It's actually the same one as my old one
except that it works.  So when she tried to transfer the numbers, they
wouldn't go.  So I apologize if I don't have your number.  I would
actually appreciate it if you guys would call me or text me so that I
could have your number.  Please. 

Well, I just got home and I already have a lot to do.  Here's what my agenda is lookin like.


Thursday

-Clean out van and make it look pimpin

-Clean garage for the folks

-Maybe clean up the room if I have time

-Go to OHS's talent show


Friday

-Go jobhunting


If anyone knows of any good jobs or anything, let me know cuz that
would be awesome.  Also if anyone wants to hang out and do something
that doesn't cost a lot, I would be more than happy to join in.  Maybe
watch a movie, or play the animal game or something.  Peace!

So I called the car place today, and they had to order a hub from the Dodge place, so my van won't be ready until tomorrow!  How cool is that?  I'm afraid I'm overstaying my welcome here.  I don't know exactly what I'll do, but I'll figure something out.  I really need my phone to start working again.  

So a lot has happened to me this past week.  I went and visited Steph
this Wednesday through Friday, and when I got back to Lee on Friday, my
tire was smoking really badly.  I had it towed to a shop and they
looked at it today, while I attended Lee's Graduation, and saw the
coolest RA, Josh Rice, graduate and then take off to go back home for a
month, and then to move on to Mexico to follow God's will.  I got a
call from the repair place telling me that they were sent the wrong
part, so it won't be fixed until Monday, so I'll be all alone here
until Monday.  I wish my cell phone was working.  It's all good though,
because God kept me safe driving when my tire was barely hanging on.  A
back wheel bearing malfunctioned and my tire started slanting inward. 
The axil ended up grinding through the tire and barely hanging on.  I
have a lot to be thankful for.  If anyone wants to talk online about
anything, I'll have plenty of time, so just let me know.  Otherwise
I'll just have to entertain myself with movies and videogames.  God is
always good no matter what you think in your head.  Pray for my car and
me this weekend.  

So this weekend was AMAZING! 

Friday immediately after my voice lab, I got in my car and drove to Fayetteville, GA, and met Steph, and Brittany, and Brittany's front door of her house.  Steph's hair was SHORT!  It looks so amazing though, and I love it.  So that night we settled in and ate tacos.

The next morning we went to Six Flags over Georgia!  It was amazing!  First we tried out the new ride Goliath, which wasn't at all liked SF cracked it up to be, but then we made a better decision and went to a couple of other rides, that made up for it.  A few very memorable ones were my #1 favorite, the epitomy of greatness, the LOG FLUME!  I think that I shall have one built in my backyard when I can afford it.  ;)  The second coolest one had to be Superman, where you actually laid on your stomach and flew around!  That was another amazing ride.  Then at the end of the night we rode this roller coaster called the Scorcher,
where you stood on your feet and rode it, and it had some incredible
loops and cork screws that made it a rush!   Then we went home and had some luscious lasagna.   Then we went outside and made a fire, made some smores, and sang some songs around the camp fire.  Jake and I stayed on the living rooms couches that seemed to swallow you with comfortability. 

Sunday we went to B's church where the praise and worship was awesome and the message was really good.   We went home, ate some barbecue chicken and watched some Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and then we had to part.  I was very sad, because it seemed to short, but all good things must come to an end.

Special thanks to Brittany's parents for putting up with us, and her mom for making some delicious food, and to the inventor of the Log Flume and all of it's splendor.

You may now call me Music Major Russell Rodden.

So just last Saturday I auditioned not only for the school of music, but also for the VOICES OF LEE!  It was pretty crazy.  You can learn about what happened here.  I am confident about the school of music, but not so much about the Voices.  My audition went well, and I even got a song stuck in their heads, but they are just so good.  I just have been praying and wouldn't mind you guys praying about the situation.  If I made it I would be travelling with them all summer, but they would take quite a financial burden off of my back for the next year.  It's been a dream of mine to be on the Voices of Lee, but I am trying to keep humble and not get my hopes up.  That's all I've got for now.  Later folks!

So I haven't become a pro at it yet, but I have been messing with pictures with a program called GIMP.  I enjoy it but I think that it takes me longer than it's supposed to.  ;)

Well a lot has happened the past couple of weeks.  I went back home and saw Steph two weekends ago and had a good time just hanging out with her and her broham.  

We had lot's of fun watching movies and hangin out with the home folk.  Last weekend I went camping with my entire family and had lots of fun there too.  My family is lots of fun and we had some good meals too.  This week is the beginning of Cinderella!  Everyone should come see it.  It's this Thurs. Fri. and Sat. at 7:30, and the next week on the same days but at 7:00.  You guys should come see it if you get a chance.  I'll be one of the chorus members, so you could come see me.  Anyway yeah!  I love you guys.  Sorry I haven't updated in a while.  The spring break trip was a blast.  You can read more about that if you're interested on my xanga or go to Jonathan's site and click on pics to check out all that we did.  Good times.  Later guys!  Um....you guys could comment if you want to. Make me feel loved.  I know I don't update often, and this is no way to encourage me to.  Where are my readers?

So tomorrow me and my friends set sail for Samford (to see STEPH!) and then we head to the northeast on Saturday for the most exhilirating road trip ever imagined.  So just pray for our traveling and stuff would ya?

    Well guys.  A week from today, I will be taking a pretty super sweet roadtrip to stay at my friend Thorne's house in Delaware, and visit the sweet spots around there.  The main goal is just gonna be to have fun, take it easy, relax, and make some memories on camera or off.   I haven't really done anything too interesting lately, but Steph and I will be dating for a year in a week and five days.  Pretty exciting huh?  I thought so too!  Well I added some new pictures that speak for themselves so enjoy!  

Hey guys.  Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I guess if you wanna see most of my life you'll have to check out my xanga.  I know, I know.  Phusebox is better, but I guess I'd just be faithful to my xanga since it came first.  Please forgive me.  On receiving Linda's comment, I figured that I would add my status on here.  I started taking voice lessons this semester and I told my voice teacher (she's awesome) that I was gonna audition, and she asked me to show her what I had.  Now the pieces that I chose were merely for entry into the music program and not really to impress a whole lot, but she wanted more so she picked a German song for me to sing, and I'm gonna also sing a song that I did in the musical of Guys and Dolls.  She suggested that I wait a until a later date to audition, and since the actual title of music major wouldn't help me after I've signed up for classes already, then I decided to wait.  I'm excited about this song in German, just because it's more challenging and fun to pronounce.  But yeah.  That's what happened.  I'm going to Murfreesboro this weekend to see STEPH, and I am also gonna see the musical that my broham is in called The Boyfriend, and I can't wait.  Everybody should come out this Friday at Oakland at 7:00.  It only costs 5 bucks.  Oh well.  I gotta go.  Leave me some comments!

Well.  It's class time again for me ladies and gentlemen and i am really excited about my classes.  I am taking some music classes and getting into the program slowly but surely.  You guys pray for me because I'm auditioning for the music program on February the 3rd.  It seems to me that participating in a lot of singing groups there at church has given me quite a big head as far as whether or not I truly have musical talent.  I think that I have a lot of work to do and that makes me sorta nervous about these auditions.  One thing that I don't get though.  Isn't the purpose of the music program to make you better at singing?  Why do you need to audition if you know you need to improve?  I guess they're looking for people who "look"  like they need to improve.  I dunno.  I hope that you understand what I mean.

Yeah.  So I've been doing well so far.  How is everyone else?  My grandparents have been happily married for 56 years and that is amazing.  I can't wait to have a great marriage like that.  I realize that there will be bumps and things but with God's help and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I know that I will have a great marriage.  So enough of that mushy stuff.  I seem to be good at spending money and I'm just about ready to get a job.  It sucks when your money doesn't replenish itself.  What do you guys think?

Well then.  I'm home finally and astonishingly bored.  I wanna hang out with people but I'm finding that noone is really available to do anything.  Everyone has to work.  So I guess we'll just have to do stuff when everyone is available.  Give me a call guys!  I'm bored.

Wow.  I think that I just found the most addicting sport in the world.  My hallmates and I played racquetball yesterday and today for about 4 hours a day.  It's kinda funny that we didn't discover this glorious sport until the end of the semester, but there is always next semester.  But anyway today me and Jonathan just played by ourselves for at least a couple of hours.  It's so much fun!  I hope that we can find a spot in Murfreesboro that has some good courts or something.  That would be cool.  Anyways, that is all.  I'm doing good in school.  So far the only grade that I've finalized is a B in a 2nd year English class called Rhetoric and Research.  I just wish that it was just as easy for me to write about a specific given topic than it is for me to write about my thoughts and random concerns.  Oh well.  I guess I'll just have to suck at research papers.  I believe that that was my last English class though so boo yah.  Alright guys.  Leave me some remarks!  

Well.  I was just thinking today how that God works.  I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I wonder why I did stupid things in the past (no I never did any terrible thing, and even if I did I don't think it's appropriate to post it on blogs and such).  Today I realized that there might be another reason besides just testing your faith or making you more patient.   It seems more recently that guys have come to me with certain issues and I have been able to help them because of my previous experience handling such things.   I'm not saying that people should experience a lot of sin in order to become super affective counselers, but I am saying that it's funny how God can take a mistake in your life and make it a tool to build a fellow Christian up.  Just a thought.  Am I making sense?  Do you guys get what I am talking about?

It seems like it's more fun to think on blogs and post questions.  Like.....
I think that I've had a big struggle for a long time in my life, and it only took one friend to say, "Hey, I've been noticing that............." and I seemed to just immediately try harder to not do that thing and it became less and less of a problem.  Funny how that works huh?  Sometimes a constructive criticism given in love is the best gift that a friend can give someone.  Food for thought.  Don't think that you are hurting someone by pointing out what they need to change. 

Well guys.  It has once again been a while.   I think that it is a funny concept in the movie What Women Want.  If you haven't seen it, it is where a guy inherits the ability to hear women's thoughts as if they were talking to him.  A lot of the time I think that this tool would come in handy an awful lot.  Most of the time I just wish I knew what someone was thinking or whether or not what I say is being taken the way I want it to.  I guess that will never happen though.  Just a thought.  What do you guys think about that?  I mean reading people's thoughts would be beneficial, but I guess not when everyone could.  Then there would be no reason for talking.