Saturday, January 3, 2009

IdaHome

Welp, Chad and I made it back home from Idaho, where we visited Justin Williams, one of our closest associates in life. Chad took some pictures, so he might post some later on, and perhaps I will steal a few to put on here. Here are some quick highlights of the trip:

-Driving 15.5 hours in Rose Bud, the Saturn
(video clips to come, maybe)


-Staying a night at the Ashley Inn

-Tubing with the whole Williams Family!

-Running into my high school Bible teacher at the Tube run.

-Getting to play soccer with and against Justin's team in his city league.

-Reunion with Kelly Robinson

-Breakfast made by Chelsea Williams

-Various meals made by Wendy Williams

-Visiting Boise

-New Year's Eve with Cliff and Wendy (Justin's parents), Chelsea, Anna, and Dallas and Co.

-My first time playing Bunco

Kobe, Kosmo, and Fritz.

-Mr. Magorium and Mahoney

-NHL Winter Classic!

-Rose Bowl

-Photo Booth (Chad and I had trouble getting into the photos thanks to the selfishness of Justin and his sister, Chelsea)






This trip was pretty ultimate. Oh yes....it was.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Boxing Day/Beginning of Kwanza update...

A few updates from the field:

-I'm house-sitting for my brother and sister(-in-law) in Valencia, so I took some time to record some old songs I had never recorded. One, written three years ago, is about trusting God, and the other, written two years ago, is about the phenomenon of falling asleep in class. You can listen to them here: www.purevolume.com/olre


-Caleb and I watched a movie from 1999 that was pretty hyped up as being scary, but we weren't impressed. There were some creepy moments, but we felt cheated when it ended. I think we were slightly relieved, too.

-Christmas with the family was fun. I forgot to bring my camera, but maybe my brother will post some photos later on. We played Rock Band, ate food, sang songs, then slept over at Paul and Jess' place. We talked about life 'til 3 a.m. Christmas day featured recording drum tracks for this Sunday's service at my brother's church. Then we ate Thai food at President Thai.

-Chad and I decided that we're driving to Idaho on Monday. We're going to visit the third amigo, Justin Williams.


We also hope to visit another Idaho friend, Kelly "good grief" Robinson


Anyway, we're driving up Monday, returning Friday, so that's where I'll be.

I hope everyone had a great day celebrating the Incarnation. What a baffling thing. God is Love, and Love is real.

Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, Happy New Year. (If I don't 'talk' to you before then)

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

One More Sleep 'Til Christmas.




I just had to. It's so appropriate!

By the way, if I had to choose to be best friends with either Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Charlie Brown, or Kermit the Frog, I would choose Kermit....hands down.

I'm a big Muppet fan. However, sadly, not a lot of people get the Muppets these days.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Today is my half birthday

Things I've learned since I last posted:

-Students are very generous, and Christmas time means lots of students bringing gifts for teachers, even P.E. teachers! Hooray for gift cards, cookies, fudge, blankets, and other forms of Christmas presents from SGCS students. Thanks!!

-Rain and a recovering field make it difficult to hold soccer practice.

-Ice skates are very sharp, and sometimes you can cut your own quad open with your own skate! Poor Teemu Selanne.

-If the Jonas Brothers were swiss, it would be pronounced "Yo-nas Brothers." Jonas Hiller is a great backup goalie for the Ducks. (He is Swiss). My name is Jonas is a great song. Jonas is the name of my friends' son.

-Further Seems Forever was a very, very good band. I think I enjoy the record, "Hide Nothing" the best.

-Disneyland is a jolly, jolly place for friends.

-Apartment hunting is exciting.

-Christmas carols are joyous.

-Predestination is often confusing, especially when trying to discuss it with jr. highers.

-Sunday afternoon naps are some of the best kind of naps.

-There are many characters at the mall during the Christmas season.

-Chai tea from Coffee bean is pretty delicious.

-Some areas have A LOT of christmas lights.

-Elf is pretty comical, no matter how many times or where you watch it.

-Rock Band is pretty fun.

-Christmas break allows one to sleep in plentiful amounts.

-The Incarnation is a wonderful, baffling thing. Let's celebrate the day Jesus was born to die.


Merry Christmas.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Reading Material

It seems to me like anything close to me that has words on it suddenly becomes good reading material during times like breakfast.

I start eating my Strawberry Frosted Mini-Wheats, and for some reason, it becomes a good idea to look through the Vons ad. Or, perhaps I'll get caught up on "back-of-box" literature, and learn how Mini-Wheats could help my colon. Or even today, I looked at Good Housekeeping, learning how to drop 5 sizes.

Funny to me.


Oh, know what else was funny to me? Last night in class, a classmate was giving a presentation, and he said, "Any thoughts that this lesson plan was watered-down were washed away." I laughed out loud, looked around, and no one else laughed. I mean, come on! "Watered-down," and "washed away" in the same sentence? Hello, pun.

That's all.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Chew on this...

-Life and logic don't always match up.


-Tostada party AND Turkey Tamale party today.


-Hide nothing. (FSF)


-Change is coming. No, it's nothing personal. (FSF)


-You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. (Wayne Gretzky)


-If you don't TAKE a chance, you MISS a chance.


-'Tis the season for those big buckets of popcorn with some festive print on it.


-What's the REAL origin of Christmas trees?


-Be.....sure...to drink..your.....ovaltine. Ovaltine? A crummy commercial.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Show and Tell...

Here are some things for show and tell:

I made my soccer team run to my house and back to school on Wednesday. I told them, "Ok guys, I left my watch and chapstick at home, so we've got to go get them." So, we ran 2.14 miles to my house, I made them wait outside on the lawn, and we ran 2.14 miles back to school. Here they are in the front yard as I was inside.




Next for show and tell, here is the new Thrice dvd, which is a complete 25-song set they performed at the House of Blues, Anaheim on May 28th of this year. It was the night after some friends and I saw them. It is the dvd, and two cd's of the whole live show, for only $14.99 at Best Buy! (last minute gift idea for the Thrice fan in your family) Fans will appreciate the diverse set list containing songs from The Illusion of Safety, The Artist in the Ambulance, Vheissu, and Alchemy Indexes. (Sorry, no Identity Crisis or First Impressions)



Next, these are my first batch of "Thank You" cards I received from students at my school. I went to Catalina with them as a counselor, and I got these from them after the weekend was over. It was a really rough and confusing weekend, so to get these was very nice.



Next, I may have mentioned this before, but I was finally able to read the short story/writing/account that inspired Thrice's "The Artist in the Ambulance." It comes from Al Burian's Burn Collector, and is quite an interesting read. One definitely must use discernment in reading any of Burian's works, but this one was very intriguing, looking at how society needs different sorts of people. That is, an ambulance driver has a very clear cut job: to drive people to the hospital. He goes, picks up, drives, delivers. Done. An artist, however, has a unique calling to create some kind of beauty or thought-provoking 'things' (whatever medium of art you choose), that will lift up and inspire those who see or encounter it. Maybe one sounds better than the other, but the fact of the matter is that society needs both.


Finally, here is something I have compiled over the past 8 years or so. You see, I prefer to buy cd's. I like going to the store, picking it up, paying for it, going home, opening it, putting it in my cd player, and looking through the liner notes as I listen to it. I like to look at the artwork they include with it, and appreciating the packaging. I just like having the tangible. So anyways, I like saving the little label that goes on the top of it, and I put them on this one notebook I have. So here's what those look like. Keep in mind, these aren't all of the labels, as sometimes I forget, or the cd won't come with it. But I like this little collection I have going.




In other news, we have one week of school left before Christmas break, I watched Elf and Muppet Christmas Carol in the past two days, and I will be joining my brother to play with his church worship team this Sunday.

What's up with you?