Love it!!

This is one of the photos that scroll through on my background, Cameron and Tyler are playing Rock Band...I laugh everytime I see...I love it!!

#7

As of about a week and a half ago I am no longer a leader in the college group, Collide, at my church. I have been in the group for about four years, two of which I have been a small group leader

This all started around the beginning of summer...I have been leading , basically, the same group of college guys and girls (which have all become great friends) and when we ended our lessons and whatnot last semester, I knew down deep that God wanted me to move on from the group and let new leaders emerge within it. But...there's always a but, haha...anyways...because I was out of town so much this summer I never really thought much about what God wanted me to do and I wasn't able to talk to Med (college group leader) about it. In the little that I did talk to him, we decided that I should just lead another group, I thought it was a fair compromise.

When I got back home and everything started back up again, our meetings and preparation, it all came back that maybe God didn't have this in His plans for me...even with the compromise. As we met and talked about stuff I couldn't get it out of my head; then Kevin talking about obeying God and everything, it was really driving me crazy.

I figured I could pull it off and still be a good leader...and what else would I do anyways...

Finally, I broke down to God and decided to step out of leadership knowing that it is what He wanted

My old group will hopefully go well, some changes were made amidst some drama that I think shouldn't have been made, but God knows best

This semester God is having me focus on school, learning Portuguese, and just attending a small group to relax and keep growing with my Lord

Peace

#10

So...I decided to go to Brazil next semester, my school is offering a study abroad there for the semester and they are offering my last 3 classes for my bachelors. I put in the application last week and found out Monday that I was picked...only 5 spots were available, out of the 17 that showed initial interest only a few applied. We'll be part of an international exchange program, where we'll be going to IBMEC-Sau Paulo and living with families down there...what better way to learn a new culture. I'll be there from Febuary to June...Brazillian Carnival anyone??

The more superficial or short reasons of why I want to go is to experience more of the world and to make it to my fourth continent (I want to hit up all 7, maybe not Antartica though...pretty extreme)

A more deep and porfound reason for wanting to go...is well kind of a two-part story...First off, it goes back to when I was in Turkey and two of the main things I learned, to get the most out of my career (Global Business), 1) get a master's degree, and 2) learn a second language; since I am still working on the pre-requisite to the first I'm going to start working on the second...learning Portuguese (which I learned is spoken in Protugal, Brazil, and Angola)

Secondly...it dates back a whole 2 or 3 weeks (maybe, technically, it goes back a few years with how God has changed me, we'll just look at the recent though). This part took way when I first heard the new Brandon Heath song "Give Me Your Eyes" (look it up here). I started really praying the chorus of that song...if you want God to rock your world, do that (it worked for me at least). Anyways...after a couple days I couldn't stop researching Angola (southern Africa, by the way). It took me awhile to realize that those two events (me praying and then me wanting to find out more about Angola) may have not been a coincidence...I'm a little slow sometimes. Now...I don't know if God is calling me to go to Angola at some point in my life (although I'd love to) but I do know that it will prepare me to go to 3 more countries and be able to share the love and power of Jesus (yes I could go to other countries and only speak English and God can easily still use me, but how much better can it be speaking their native tongue...I don't know but it's worth finding out)

So...yes...I am going to Brazil and I can't wait!!!

Peace

#7 will come soon, I don't have time now

Uhh...Finally

Since it has been so long since I last posted...pretty much since Turkey...there has been a lot that has gone on. Instead of talking about all the different things that happened I'll just sum up each one into a quick sentence and number them. So if you want to hear more just leave a comment with the number(s) you want to hear more about...I figured this would save us all time...haha

1. Went to Mom's for a couple weeks
2.Went to San Fransisco for a couple weeks
3. Started my last year of college
4. Awana started
5. Went to a D'Backs-Dodgers game
6. Went to ASU-NAU...Go Devils!!
7. Stepped out of leadership in the college group
8. John 14:12
9. Learning more of what God wants me to do in life
10. Going to Brazil for all of next semester
11. Still looking for a job
12. Small group?
13. Buying an Apple
14. Going to start learning Portuguese
15. The two main things I learned in Turkey...with respect to my career

Peace

Turkey Pics...

DAY ONE IN ISTANBUL

OUR GROUP HANGING OUT

BLUE MOSQUE

UNDERGROUND CISTERNS

THE GRAND BAZAAR

FORTRESS & VIEW OF ASIA

TOPKAPI PALACE, HAGIA SOPHIA, BLUE MOSQUE

BOSPHORUS BRIDGE (EUROPE ON LEFT & ASIA ON RIGHT)

MAKING DESSERT AND FRIENDS

PAMUKKALE

HEIROPOLIS

APHRODITIS

EPHESUS

EPHESUS STADIUM

BOARDWALK ON AEGEAN SEA

PERGEMUM

SUNSET ON DARDENELLE

ANCIENT TROY

TROJAN HORSE REPLICA

Teşekkür

Teşekkür (Thank You) to all those who have been readıng my blog, ıt´s been an amazıng tıme here and I wısh we dıdn´t have to leave...but we do. We are back ın İstanbul for the nıght and have our farewell dınner and head for the aırport at 6 tomorrow mornıng...we´ll be gettıng ın at 5:15 Phoenıx tıme (ıf were on tıme)...by the way can you pıck me up Josh??

I know ıt ıs cliche to say but...I can´t beleıve we are already leavıng, 3 weeks went by soooo fast...I wısh we could stay longer but ıt´s been an expensıve trıp so I need to get back...haha

Today was our last tour and we ended ıt wıth ancıent Troy, whıch of course was awesome!! If you´ve seen the movıe wıth Brad Pıtt and Erıce Bana ıt ıs pretty ´dead on´ wıth the actual folktale, scholars are just not sure whether ıt really happened or not. There has been 9 dıfferent Troy´s that have been buılt up upon each one, the fırst Troy ıs datıng back to 3000 BC. There only proof that the legend from that movıe ıs real ıs that they found lots of weapons and bodıes ın the level of 6th Troy, whıch was the one that the legend was supposedly from. (I hope that all makes sense)

But thats about all there ıs to blog about from today...and thıs wıll be my last one of the trıp so agaın...Teşekkür to everyone and I can´t waıt to see everyone at home...Love Ya

Peace

Almost Done

Today was a lot of traveling again...about 6 hours total. We got to go to Pergamum today, it was pretty awesome...so now I've been to 5 of the 7 churches, so so awesome that I was able to do that. We didn't see Philadelphia and Sardis. Then we saw an ancient mental hospital, the first one ever. That was quite cool

After that we got to the beach and got to swim in the Aegean Sea...which was awesome of course

Tomorrow we get to go to ancient Troy, I am really excited about that, although not much of it is left, it is still really awesome and can't wait

I can't wait to post some pictures

Peace

Repeat...

Sorry...Josh commented that the last paragraph was confusing on my last post...

I'll try to explain it better, after all four of us were talking (the Jew, Mormon, Catholic, and me) we got back on the bus and I gave a quick history of the New Testement to my teacher Mr. Cohen (the Jew) and he wanted to read through some of it, so I opened it to John and he read for a while til we got off the bus. He knows the Old Testement very well, but never read the New Testement.

The other guy, Kamon (the Mormon), started reading though the book Crazy Love and seemed to like it, but we didn't have a chance to talk about it. Although later we talked about creation and stuff, we definetly had different views on that haha. But all in all it was good to learn a lot of knew stuff.

By the way...I finished Crazy Love today...awesome book, theres so much in it that I want to read it again, it'll get your mind thinking and wanting to show God the love he deserves

It's been awesome to have these conversations with everyone...hopefully there will be more

Peace

Ephesus and More...

Today was another crazy day...and not for the typıcal reasons

Fırst off we got to see Ephesus and the St. Joh Basılıca and the house of the vırgın Mary...ıt was all cool and Ephesus was absolutely amazıng...but the coolest part was the talks that emerged from all the ´church-ıe´ stuff we saw haha

There was four of us...A Jew, a Catholıc, A Mormon, and me (the baptıst...I was dubbed)...ıt sounds lıke the start of a joke haha...but we were all havıng a conversatıon about what everyone beleıves and what not...very ınterestıng and ınformatıve. A couple cool thıngs happened after all that

Fırst, when we were talkıng a few other guys came up to us who were actually doıng mıssıonary work ın Turkey and they talked to us and answered a few of the questıons...ınterestıng tımıng...´Coincidence, I thınk NOT!!´ (quote from The Incredıbles)...and after that more talks came about and everythıng

Secondly, when we got back on the bus my teacher, Mr. Cohen (the Jew), wanted to read through my bıble, specıfıcally the New Testement, to learn more about ıt, and one of my frıends, Camon (the Mormon), started readıng throught the book Crazy Love (thanks Josh) and he lıked that alot.

Another day...but wıth a cool twıst on ıt

Peace

Can't Get Enough

It's been a couple days and a lot has happened so I'll try and remember everything...

Yesterday we left Bursa and headed for Pamukkale, 7 hour drive...blah...the cool thing was we drove through, what was formerly known as, Thyatira, Smytria, and Laodicea...if you know the book of Revelation you may recognize those as 3 of the 7 churches that John wrote letters too...we hit up Ephesus tomorrow

In Pamukkale we went to the hot springs that left white calcium deposits, its hard to explain...google it...it's cool

My awww moment there was the fact that in Revalation 2 and 3 John is writing the letters to the churches and in the one to Laodicea he saws "you are neither hot nor cold-you are lukewarm so I spit you out of my mouth" (that's from memory so I don't know how exact it is) that was because the hot springs produced the hot water up there, and when it got to Laodicea it was lukewarm and then the next town it got to it was cold...it was a cool way to see the bible actually being played out with nature that I got to see...

We then got to walk through the ancient city of Heiropolis and Necropolis (the grave yard) lots of awesome stuff...but again too hard to explain

Today we went to the ancient city of Aphroditas, that again was really awesome and it had a stadium there that is the best preserved stadium from the Roman time period, it was huge...holding 15,000...a lot, especially for back then

It's hard to type every detail and it would make it too long...tomorrow we head to Ephesus that is the one of the best preserved cities from that time period

Peace

Bursa

We made ıt to Bursa...ıt took about 3 hours of drıvıng and 1 hour on a ferry but we made ıt. The coolest part of the trıp was drıvıng rıght past, I forget the present Turkısh name, but the hıstorıcal name ıs Nicaea...as ın the Councıl of Nicaea...that was pretty cool.

Once we made ıt to Bursa we saw the Grand Mosque and the Green Mosque, and also we got to shop ın the Sılk Bazaar...lots of beautıful sılk and cashmere

Thats about all that has happened we got dınner soon, and I´m glad we have ınternet servıce here...haha

Peace

Two Weeks....

Like I said...all I did today was sleep and study...with one exception...we had a casual business meeting with the Middle Eastern Correspondents for Newsweek, Wall Street Journal and NPR (National Public Radio). It was awesome to be able to tall to some media personnel from the US that have the experience of these three, 5 to 10 years each with work in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and everywhere in between.

The meeting pretty much wrapped up of schooling here, except for the two finals tomorrow and Tuesday. I can't believe it has already been two weeks...so so fast, but I am very excited for this next week. We hit up a new city everyday...Bursa, Izmir, Canakkale and more...and we get to see places like ancient Ephesus and Troy...so, yeah, I am very excited

With the crazy schedule and new hotel every night, I don't know if I'll be able to blog, but I hope so...so, until next time...

Peace

Countdown...

Our stay ın Istanbul ıs comıng to an end, we only had tomorrow, whıch most the day I wıll mostly be sleepıng and/or studyıng...haha...ıt´s been awesome here, I thınk were all pretty much spent on a sıngle cıty. It´s bıg and theres alot to do, but we wanna see more.

Monday mornıng we start travelıng Turkey by bus and seeıng alot of the ancıent ruıns and hıstory of Turkey. A lıttle known fact...Turkey has more Roman ruıns than Rome and more Greek ruıns than Greece...pretty awesome, so we´ll get to see some of that.

Today was the last day that we were doıng anythıng ın Istanbul and we decıded to go to the Prınce Islands, ıt was awesome, and only a cheap tram and ferry rıde there. We got to swım ın the Sea of Marmara and just have a relaxıng day. Good tımes.

Experiantial Poınts

Not that all the other cultural and behavıoral styles that I have learned about Turks and theır dıfferences between us haven´t been awesome...but I thınk last nıght took the experıence to a whole new level

A lıttle background fırst, we (our group) have made a lot of frıends wıth Turks and people from all over world whıle beıng here.

So ...had (one of our group) got one of our Turkısh frıends Öctoy to set up a football match (better known as soccer ın the US)

We went to the football park at 2 last nıght, 6 amerıcans Öctoy and our Dutch frıend, we got there and there were 8 Turks all dressed ın the Turkısh natıonal football unıforms...they looked pretty offıcıal

For whatever reason, we started playıng our group vs theırs...I´m sure you know where thıs leads...we were down 4-0 after only 5 mınutes or so

After that we splıt to have a group and theırs mıxed. Then ıt got a lot more fun (cause we weren´t gettıng schooled)...these guys were awesome, I never played soccer, other than lıke AYSO tıl I was 9, but you could tell these guys grew up playıng...anyways, we played for an hour or so, tıl almost 4 ın the mornıng, ıf you ever wanna sweat enough to soak you shırt...play soccer

My team, of course...haha...won 10-6

Somehow or someway I got a hat trıck and 3 assısts (ıf they have the same assıst rules as hockey, I´m not sure)

We had such an awesome tıme, even wıthout the majorıty of them speakıng any Englısh and all of us speakıng no Turkısh, I wısh we were here longer to play wıth them agaın, but were gonna start travelıng Monday

I thınk for many cultures, especıally European and South Amerıca, football ıs a way to see them performıng theır passıon and a new way to connect wıth theır culture

I know these oppurtunıtıes don´t come around all that often, so I am very thankful that thıs one arose and we were able to go

Playın´ Catch Up...

Tıme ıs just totally flyıng out here, I dıdn´t realıze ıts been so long sınce my last post. Saturday and Sunday weren´t too crazy, we mostly just chılled, I thınk I slept almost all of Sunday. Yesterday we took tests ın our classes I dıd alrıght, I wısh I would have done better on one, but sınce we dıdn´t get our wake up call lıke we set up, I was 45 mınutes late to class and dıdn´t have much tıme...oh well

After class we went to a castle...fortress thıng whıch was awesome and far away...ıt was nıce to see a new part of town. And then we saw the Galata Tower. Lots of walkıng and I was exhausted...agaın

Today, was a more relaxed day, we took a ferry up the Boshporus Rıver, all the way to the Black Sea and got to hang out ın small town. We talked wıth some Turkısh guys about our age and had a good tıme. They let me rıde theır bıke for awhıle down a boardwalk. He wanted to trade me hıs Turkısh futbol jersey for my hat...but I love my Bıg Black hat, so I dıdn´t

Awesome tıme and cool pıctures. Everyone ıs cool on the trıp and our group has made a lot of frıends wıth the locals, ıt has been an awesome tıme

Peace

East Meets West

I just realızed whıle I was wrıtıng my last post I haven´t talked much about the Turkısh culture and everythıng. So I shall do so...

Fırst, Turkısh are very, very proud of beıng Turkısh, that comes fırst above all else, even beıng Muslım or anythıng. They are much more relatıonal wıth famıly and frıends than ın Amerıca, wıthın ın busıness they prefer workıng wıth someone they know or wıth somebody you have some sort of commonalıty wıth.

At Honeywell we learned some stuggles they have beıng all Turkısh people runnıng under the same polıcıes as all Amerıcan Honeywell´s. They have to make sure they follow the Honeywell standards and the local standards, quıte hard to balance. Also, because of the polıtıcal ınstabılıty of the government ıt makes ıt very hard for theır company and other Turkısh companıes to make long term plans and goals, because they don´t know what ıs goıng to be changıng ın the future. Sıx months ıs a long tıme for them.

I met an Amerıcan archeologıst at the museum today, who was doıng 3-D scannıng of the sculpture, he was tellıng me how ıt ıs hard to work wıth Turkısh people when you ask them questıons they don´t know the answer to...ın Amerıca we wıll usually tell you we don´t know or we´ll fınd out for you or somethıng along those lınes...here they may tell you 2 or 3 dıfferent answers but all untrue, even when theır good frıends. I thınk that derıves from theır culture always wantıng to ´save face´. Agaın, a very proud culture.

It ıs ınterestıng to see how true that thıs cıty and country are where the ´East meets the West´. Istanbul ıs the only cıty ın the world spannıng across two contınents, Asıa and Europe. As well as how theır people and culture ıs, some thıngs seem very Asıan/eastern and others very European/western . Also, some of theır hıstory, from the Ottoman Empıre and other eras, theır artıfacts look very Chınese or Asıan.

I´m learnıng how lıtteral that ´East Meets West´ kınd of thıng ıs.

There´s obvıously plenty more, but I don´t remember all the cultural dıfferences, let alone know all the dıfference.

Peace

The Weekend Is Here!!

We got the weekend off from school and any busıness meetıngs so we were tryıng to fıgure out what to do. We were thınkıng about goıng on a road trıp through Turkey, or catchıng a traın to Thessılonıka, Greece, but theır havıng a strıke ın the traın ındustry...but the plan now ıs were gonna try and go to the Black Sea...we´ll see ıf we go tomorrow.

Today we went to the Istanbul Archeologıcal Museum, whıch was awesome!! They had ruıns and artıfacts from Roman, Greece, Egypt, Troy, Byzanıte (not sure on spellıng), Hıttıte, and others. We saw the sarcofogus of Alexander the Great. Lots of crazy stuff.

It was well worth the trıp, ıt took probably 3 or 4 hours to go through, so so much ınformatıon...the last couple hours I was movıng quıck through just to make sure I saw everythıng.

5 Lıra was well worth ıt!!

Peace

Crazy Awesome!!

Another awesome day...of course...we had class ın the mornıng and everythıng but after that we got to go to Topakı Palace...pronounced Top-kop-e I thınk...It was basıcally the Sultan´s headquarters and home durıng the Ottoman Empıre days...lots and lots of cool old stuff...the most ınterestıng, by far, was theır relıc room.

Get thıs...they had the sword of Kıng Davıd!!...yes Davıd from the bıble...the staff of Moses!! the turbın of Joesph!! some bowl from Abraham (that one seemed a lıttle far fetched...but maybe) and the left arm of John the Baptıst!!! Weırd but awesome!! Crazy, crazy awesome!! And as well as the footprınt of Muhamed (I don´t know how to spell that). Awesome stuff then we ended the trıp wıth the Grand Bazaar...you can serıously get lost theır.

Another beautıful day!!

Peace

Three And Out...

Our thırd day ıs now complete, the Honeywell vısıt was actually very cool and quıte ınformatıve, and then we had class. It was ınterestıng to hear the Turks from Honeywell talk about the dıffıcultıes and dıfferences that they faced beıng all Turkısh employees workıng for a very Amerıcan company enforcıng Amerıcan polıcıes.

After all that we chılled at a hookah bar...agaın...we went and got Turkısh baths...WOW...thats all I gotta say...I guess I can explaın a lıttle more. You fırst go ınto a wet sauna, basıcally, for 45 mınutes to an hour ın just towel, they have cold water fountaıns for when you get to hot, then you go ınto a room and they scrub you down wıth some glove thıng, dead skın and what not I guess. After that they put you on a table and gıve you an awesome massage wıth warm bubbles, they come out of thıs pıllowcase thıng...stıll not sure how they dıd that...so they put all over your body and just gıve you an amazıng massage head to toe, lıteraly. Then you get to chıll and they wrapped you ın warm towels from head to toe and you get tea. I dıdn´t wanna leave...very worth whıle.

I need to get some sleep that massage wıped me out...untıl next tıme...

Peace

Day two...ısh

I´m about to head off to have a professıonal vısıt wıth Honeywell...we come all thıs way to vısıt a company that ıs based ın Phoenıx...weırd...oh well haha. Yesterday we spoke wıth some people the AFTB, essentıally the US Chanber of Commerce, very cool and we learned alot about the Turks.

We started classes as well, whıch should be pretty cool. Then we walked around trıed some Hookah and Rakı, neıther of them are very appealıng anymore. Rakı ıs the tradıtıonal Turkısh drınk, ıt´s kınd of lıke Jager but a lot stronger and clear...worth tryıng, thats about ıt.

I´m startıng to get sıck of all the tourıst style spots we´ve been hıttıng, chargıng way more than necessary...so yesterday we went and found better prıced food and whatnot

Everythıng ıs amazıng here...I can´t waıt to see more of everythıng, we walked through the Grand Bazaar and along the Bosphorus boardwalk yesterday...awesome

That´s pretty much the updates for now

Peace

Happy Bırthday!!

Congrats Wendy!! I hope ıt all went good and you had an awesome day turnıng 25...a lıttle late but I dıdn´t get a chance whıle ıt was your bırthday ın your tıme zone. Love you lots and wısh I could have seen you

And another good thıng about her bırthday ıs that ıt´s my bırthday the next day!!

No Worrıes!!!

For anyone that keeps up on the news or got onto Yahoo or MSN or anythıng, you probably saw that there was a shootıng where 6 people dıed at the US Consulate ın Istanbul, from what I hear only a couple mıles from here, but we dıdn,t see anythıng or hear anythıng, we found out through MSN and Yahoo as well

Just wanted to let everyone know ıtis all good

Peace

...London...ugh...Istanbul...YAY!!

Fırst off, I´m totally stoked I have the ınternet and everythıng out here ın thıs foreıgn land known as Istanbul. It was actually quıte complıcated to fıgure out how to log on to my emaıl and blog...I knew they had added letters to the Englısh alphabet, but ıt took me awhıle to fıgure out that was why I could long ın...ıf you notıce all the lower case I´s donit have dots

Anyways...We got ınto Istanbul about 4 ın the mornıng today and got to our hotel ın tıme for breakfast. Our flıght was about 5 hours late leavıng London...theır weather ıs INSANE...and because of some Royal Polıce stuff...but yeah, so I´ve seen two sunrıses ın a row wıth maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep sınce we left...crazy...but we were also chasıng the sun so ıt came up quıcker

I have gotten to see some amazıng stuff ın just the 5 hours we went walkıng around thıs mornıng...very, VERY ımpressed, I shall post pıctures soon...that ıs just Google ımages...and yes ıt ıs even more amazıng than what you thınk...haha

We made ıt safe...late and tıred, but safe

Thanks everyone for your prayers, love ya

Peace

Oh yeah, London´s aırport gets really expensıve when your theır 8 hours

No Pain...No Gain...

It's been so long since my last post...I don't even know what to talk about. I've been putting it off cause I wanted to have something really good to be my first post in 2 months...but anyways I decided to just do it

So much has been going on lately, it would be way, way too much to write about (I don't want a super long post...haha)

So...I'll just talk about what's been on my heart and mind lately...We (being the college group) were given the opportunity/challenge by Pastor to come up with our own "college" style service. It's been a crazy mix of emotions about it: excitement, eagerness, anxiety, passion, inadequate, and more.

Excitement...because of what can come of this service, if God chooses. It can be a whole new dimension for college kids and more to worship Our Jesus

Eagerness...can't wait to do the service and get it going month after month...amazing

Anxiety...this isn't something to be feeling, but it's true. Doing something new for God is very stressful, but it's for God, so...NO WORRIES!!

Passion...I have this passion for God to get college students to take Him serious and figure out who His son really is, a big reason this service is so important

Inadequacy...I don't feel adequate for the job but I have faith/trust that God is in control, so...NO WORRIES!!

There's my thoughts and good stuff...yeah

Peace,

Andrew

Goal of the Year!?

Here's a really sick goal by Rick Nash!!! I did this once...ha

"Quick" Pic Recap

Here are some pics of the last week or so...

Here...I fell and got stuck between two trees...I don't think this will ever happen again...what are the chances...I'm looking up the mountain
I got to see the world!!! In one night!!!
PARIS!!
NEW YORK!!!
Here's one of Nathan's games...he's in the back on the rightOSAMA's dead!!! I got him in the head and the chest...and missed, but he's dead, I'm pretty sure of it

"Quick" Recap

It's been a week or so since I've blogged...sorry...just been busy with a lot of things...but I'll try and do a "quick" recap of everything going on...we'll see how quick it is...ha

• I've been getting more and more busy with school since it started...obviously
• I really like my classes this semester: Advanced Argumentation, Marketing 301, World Politics Theory, Operations Management, and Culture and Diversity Management
• I think my favorites will be the 1st, 3rd, and 4th one, but an old hockey friends is in Marketing with me so that will be cool to
• The only one I won't like to much is the last one, the class seems cool, but the teacher talks aloooott and the class is Friday afternoon for 3 hours, no one wants to be there then....oh well
• I don't have school on Tuesday or Thursday...which is very nice...So last Thursday me, Ryan and Matt went snowboarding up in Flagstaff for the day, it was pretty sick...as usual...I'm getting down the mountain really quick now...I have to go buy goggles cause my eyes were freezing
  
• I got to go to Vegas last weekend to watch Nathan in a hockey tournament...They kicked some major butt...the closest game was 5-1 in the championship
• Nate played really good, he does play a lot like me...as Ken kept pointing out...not a fancy player but not very often did the other team score when he was on the ice or even get a chance...he's a defensemen by the way
• The team Nathan beat in the finals was from Scottsdale, and the coach of them was my coach back when I played Bantams (that's the age level Nathans playing at) it was cool to see him again and catch up a little, it's been a long time since I saw him
• Me and Nate and his buddy Frank went and saw Cloverfield Friday night, it was cool, not like this amazing movie but it was worth it, it was like Godzilla being filmed by the Blair Witch Project, it was an interesting way to do a movie
• I hardly did any gambling up there...didn't really have any money...all I did was randomly went by the Roulette table and put $20 on black, I won the first two times then lost the 3rd, then quit, so I was up $20 overall
• And I got to shoot an M16...that was pretty sick...I got to shoot Osama...hahaha...it was all at a shooting range
  
• The whole weekend there was awesome...as usual too short though
• The only bad thing was that I was sick for most of it...not really bad just headaches and didn't have much of an appetite and everything like that
• And as last week I was talking about keeping God on vacation...not as much as I wish I had, but I kept him in my heart while I was there...I mean...come on it's Vegas...If God's not in you you're gonna fall into some bad stuff while you there..."What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!" ha...yeah right
  
• I got back in town and one of my buddies was struggling with some stuff and it got me thinking about how jacked up Satan is...in his life, my life, all of ours...he knows where our weak points are, and he constantly attacks that, usually he's not creative at all and if you're paying ANY attention you will see his uncreative, self-absorbed attempts to get you to do what he wants...which is not follow God's plan...every once in a while he comes at you from a different angle, just staying focused on God and being aware of Satan's tactics will keep you out of a lot of trouble or heartache...maybe a do a whole blog on this stuff cause there's a lot to it...but yeah...that's just something that I've been thinking about the last couple days
• My small group starts our lessons tonight on Plastic Jesus...I'm pretty excited about it...God can change a lot of hearts through this book...that's my prayer this semester for my group, I hope you can pray for them and me too...thank you deeply

I think that about catches us up together, sorry it's been long, but as you can see I've been pretty busy...Now I'm off to go buy school books...YAY!!...ha

Peace

Every "Little" Thing

God is thorough

Thorough-carried through to completion, full detail (thor·ough-that's for Josh)

I've learned a lot of things about God lately...this is another thing to add to the list. It's one of those things that if someone said it you'd reply "Yeah, yeah, I know his thorough", but what does it really mean?

So...I was on my way home from Cali, and I was going the way through Hemet, which I normally don't take, so I wasn't sure where the turn was I needed and nothing looked familiar, I was starting to think I got lost and would have to turn around or something. I said a little prayer asking God for a little help, then soon after that I saw a street sign that I remember looking at on the way there...I was like "Sweet, thanks God"

But...what really made me in awe of God this time was the fact that he kept that street name in my head, I couldn't tell you any other street name on that stretch of the road, at all, except for that one, Construction Blvd., and right after my "little" prayer he answered...but in reality he answered it 4 days earlier when I first noticed that street

That's what I mean by thorough...he had it all planned out long before I ever said that "little" prayer

Another "little" thing God did on that trip was on the way out there

Tayler was moving to San Fransisco the same morning I was driving to Temecula, she text me saying her van's tire blew out on the highway, but they made it to the side safely, ironically enough they broke down in Indio, I was like 20 minutes from Indio when this happened...Coincidence...I think NOT!! The van got towed away by the tow truck and the little two-wheel U-Haul trailer that had Tayler's car on it, was left on the side of the the I-10. I just happened to be right there to help tow it to the auto shop...Thank you God!!

Just another "little" thing God did

Oh and I got to see Tayler one last time...another "little" thing

Since I hung out with Tayler's family at the auto shop, I ended up getting to bring her little brother, Jake, along with me for the trip...we had a really fun time and I know it meant a lot to him to come hang out with me for the weekend...we had a blast...another "little" thing God did

Lastly, God did another "little" thing this trip

Usually, when I go on vacation I tend to forget about God and just try to have fun and everything...so this time I tried to remember to pray as much as possible about different things, and this trip turned out to be pretty amazing...Thank you again God!!

Peace

Mountain High!!

Here's some pretty rad snowboarding videos of Jeff, Jake, and me

This one's of Jeffro...he got it pretty quick and this video is pretty good of him





Here's Jake coming down the mountain, he just stood up and went down his first try...crazy





This was hard, but I got some video of me going through trees





Another one of me going through trees, this time I crashed...but held on to the phone



Peace

School's Back...

Yay!!...hahaha...I started school again...I'm excited for this semester...more than usual at least. That was kind of a sarcastic Yay!! kinda not. It's school so it can't be that exciting, but I have to really "apply" myself this semester, which makes me kind of curious to see how I do

Anyways...today was my first day, I had Advanced Argumentation (CMN422) and Marketing 301. My CMN422 teacher is quite hilarious...not like comedy funny, like he's a huge dork funny. Let me explain...he looks like he's only 23, he's got kind of a white boy 'fro of brown hair with a big gray curl in the middle, looks kind of like a mad scientist. He gets really excited about everything he's teaching and laughs at his own jokes...it's actually quite comical watching him. The girl next to me kept wondering if we were on some Punk'd show or something, and a camera crew was gonna come out and say "HaHa, just joking, he's not actually your teacher", but no one ever came...

My other class, MKT301, an old friend from back in my hockey days is in that class with me, Matt, better known as Swiss. It was pretty sweet to see him again, and pretty crazy to have a class with him.

But, anyways...it was a good start to the semester, I think it's gonna be pretty hard, but It'll be very cool...we'll see

Peace

The Beauty of Family...

So...Last Wednesday I decided to go to Cali...that day. I didn't have anything to do the rest the week and I really just wanted to get outta town, especially since school started this week...so I did. Along the way I picked up another rider to go with me...but that'll be another story later

It's just so awesome to go hang out with family on a spontaneous trip like that and them be willing to let me come and just hang out...it really was an awesome trip and I am so glad I was able to go

I wish I could just hang out with all of them all the time...I mostly wish Stevie and them would live closer so I could do spontaneous trips like this to go chill with them...can't drive to Fargo in a few hours, unfortunately :-(

I got to hang out with the boys, go to the mall with them, play outside with them, hang out with Jeff quite a bit (gotta love the brotherly love), went snowboarding, got to hang out with Wendy a lot, just an all around good trip

Peace

Awesome McDonalds Commercial

Life...As I know it

Been quite busy with stuff, I got to go snowboarding again yesterday and teach Tayler how to snowboard, she got it really quick (pissed me off...jk). My first day, and from what I hear, most peoples first day is usually bad, but she was cruising down the mountain, almost never fell, only a couple times.

God has been really testing my faith and trust in him the last few days, I'm really getting to a point where I can't even think without talking to Him first. It's what I've been wanting...to be utterly bent on God, literally making him the air I breathe. It so much harder than I thought, it makes me feel almost like a retard, I can't do anything without having God pushing me along...I know it's a good thing, it hard cause it's a different feeling.

There is a story I once heard of a young man who went to a wise spiritual leader and asked, "I want to know God like you do. Can you teach me?"

"To know god as I do you'll have to follow me," the leader said as he walked toward the sandy shore of the sea.

The teacher then had the young apprentice follow him out intil they were chest deep in the water. Suddenly, he grabbed the boy and helped his head under the water.

At first the boy thought, This is strange, but I'll go along with it. Then, as his oxygen supply began to thin, he struggled a bit, trying to communicate to the sage that it was time to come up--yet the sage held him firm. Struggle turned to panic and the apprentice kicked and thrashed and finally broke free.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" he shouted at the wise man he once admired.

"When you want god as desperately as you wanted air, you will know him as I do." came the unruffled reply.

(Plastic Jesus, pg.135)

This story really hit me and it really made me want God to be the air I breathe. He can do so many amazing things, the lovely part of it is that He does it His way. I think of my way or a bad way or something, and He does it completely different and makes you joyful, I don't know how He does it, but I love it and love Him.

But, yeah...that's been my life the last few days, lots of contemplating.

Peace

Vote Now!!

EMBRACE!!!

Has anyone seen the movie Stuck on You? If you haven't, it's about two brothers Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt (Greg Kinnear) who are Siamese ("American") twins, aka conjoined twins. Walt wants to become an actor in Hollywood, but it is made hard cause he is a conjoined twin. He makes it on a show with Cher, with the production doing camera tricks to make it look like he's not conjoined

Anyways...Josh has talked about how he looks at movies to try and learn something more about God...I didn't plan on that in this movie, but like a day after watching it a line in the movie stuck in my head

Walt was becoming this big time actor, but then the media fund out he was conjoined...his agent was telling them to "run, run, run" but their friend April (Eva Mendes) told them the answer was easy "Embrace"

That's when I started making correlations between this movie and our lives

• In the media's eyes they weren't perfect, just like we aren't perfect
• The easy thing to do would be to "run, run, run" from God
• The smart thing would be to "embrace" who we are

If they were to just run away they never would have been successful, but when they embraced it everything became a lot easier, trying to hide it from everyone

If we runaway from God when things aren't going good we'll never get to the potential God has for us...if we embrace and tell God "I know I'm not perfect, I know I will never be perfect...but God use me as I am, I love you and want to serve you, and you alone"

It's like that song...Just as I am...just worship God they way you are, don't let Satan hold you back...saying "your terrible, you can't worship God, you have too many things wrong with you, you're not worthy"

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead," Philippians 3:13

So...Embrace who you are and what God has planned for you

Peace

A Day for the Books

So...me and Ryan decided to go snowboarding yesterday, but to do that we would have had to wake up at 5 to get there when it opened. So...instead we decided to go up right after New Years. We left right around 1 in the morning and were just gonna sleep in the truck when we got there

Somewhere along they way one of us had the idea to hike the mountain when we got there, and ride down

We got to the mountain about 3 and hiked about half a mile or so up the mountain (which turned out to be a blue run...pretty steep). After almost dying on the way up from the hike and lack f oxygen (I gained a whole new respect for people that climb Everest...and this was only 10,000 feet), we finally got to a spot where we would strap into our boards

That was probably the coolest run I have ever done...down the mountain only lite up by the moon...definitely worth the hike

We got to the truck about 4 and tried sleeping in the bed (it was ten degrees outside, but I didn't actually get cold) but it was comfortable at all...so we tried sleeping in the tiny cab, which wasn't much more comfortable

I think I ended up falling asleep at 5:30 or 6, and woke up at 7:30...not a lot of sleep for a whole day of snowboarding ahead

Anyways, the snowboarding was awesome...I can tell I get better every time I go, I can't wait to go again

(Here's the view from one of the chairlifts; you can't really see it, but in the distance is the Grand Canyon...pretty sweet)

Peace