Wow, now things are rockin'. I wish the exciting new additions to the blogger somehow infiltrated my life in a way that would prevent tonight for occurring again. Well, it was more a social faux paux than anything else. My neighbors below me, one of whom I do know and have spoken to barely more than once, walked directly past me as I was waiting to go see a cheap movie tonight. Ironically enough, I was speaking to Robert Severson on my cell phone as they passed by, giving my claim a near legal infalibility. Carey (maybe she spells her name some other way -none of us care, right) and her blonde roommate sauntered past me with two young fellows, looked directly at me, and continued on their merry way. How is one supposed to feel in such a situation?
So who else celebrated IID (Iraqi Independence Day) yesterday? I was ready to get out in the streets and dance, but since my neighbors are already keen on ignoring me in public, I'd rather not give them more reason to ignore me in our shared residential abode.
Jessie, it's good to hear about your job. Just a quick question: Any tips on nabbin' the job, because I'm back on the beat and wanting to get snatched up as quickly as possible. I feel I have little to offer an employer. Should I let them know that right away, or let it sink in over the ensuing months of unpleasurable work? I really am glad that you have a job.
Jolene, don't worry about soaking your blogs in depth; you'll always come out deeper than me since I'm on here way too much saying way too little. And I'm not gay. I wish I could so emphatically say I'm not lonely, but check the amount of blogs I've tossed up and see if I'm living socially through this thing (and a good amount of phone calls). I can't buy the young ladies beer because I'm positive that they are not of age, and I shall not contribute willingly to their criminal delinquency. What about cookies, or a pie. That's sounding terribly gay again, isn't it? Look, I refuse to get them drunk, so can't I simply try to get them fat?
Kurbis, thanks for the sweet words and the sympathy. Life isn't as bad as I can make it sound on here, and I thought in a lot of ways I was pointing out the good, but I'll try harder to talk about watching the deer graze behind my apartment, or the calves in the valley play, or something of an upper. I bought kitchen knives. I guess that's good. Oh, and those stir fry pans are great for cooking eggs, as well. Just in case you were ever in the mood for eggs instead of teriyaki chicken. I think I perfected my jumbalaya receipe, so if you're wantin' some good cajun cookin', just say the word.
Question for all: Can one really be a hypochondriac and know it? I'm nearly being serious. Wouldn't a hypochondriac always be freaked out about being a hypochondriac? Talk about a Catch 22. I hope all is well where you are, and your neighbors don't willfully and publically ignore you. It's not so bad when they do, though.

This is actually Jessie Muske. I wanted to share my good news with everyone. I GOT A JOB!!! I am now a ninth grade English teacher at North Branch High School. I am also the head dance team coach there! Say hello to Ms. Muske!!!

So I had a new, brilliant idea. Since this whole communicating via the web thing seems to have caught on (at least for now), I have decided to take it one more step: How would you like to have a link on the web that you could go to in order to access everyone's addresses at once? This particularly appeals to me because I have a tendency to lose any sort of address book that I attempt to record addresses in; you can't lose a webpage, or at least I haven't found a way yet. Despite the benefit of the quickness of e-mail, I am an old-fashioned girl and enjoy communication through the faithful postal service as well. So to your right you will find a link which will take you to an address page (you can print it out and post it somewhere or just use the link when you please). I have several addresses on it so far but would like more, so e-mail me your address and I will post it ASAP. Enjoy!

Habaneros, Campers, and Jazz: A week in the life of Lynnea

Who knew that a bunch of peppers could start a riot? Another week of camp brought many unexpected events including the loss of a staff member due to an incident with peppers. In what can only be determined to have been a loss of common sense, one of the male counselors at camp (We'll call him "Mitch") decided that it would be a good idea to buy a bag of Habaneros (what I have been told is the hottest pepper in the world) and to feed them to his campers raw at dinner. The results: over a dozen sick campers throwing up in the grass, their cabins, and trash cans. The children were sweating bullets and complaining that their skin was burning while violently convulsing and writhing on the ground. The campers were sent to get medical attention while Mitch ran crying to his cabin, apparently feeling responsible considering it was he who gave the deadly peppers to the campers in an effort to be funny. Before he could be fired, he quit, packed his bags and left. This bizarre story should end there, but no, not at Silver Lake Camp. Everything must go one step further...that night as word got out to the campers that Mitch had left, they became enraged with the remaining camp staff for "making Mitch leave." What can only be described as a riot ensued as the campers began chanting "we want Mitch!" They ran screaming through the camp, pulling up the stakes that hold up a big (circus-type) tent, pulling out wooden signs placed in the ground and throwing such objects at the staff members. All I could think was "What is wrong with you kids who are chanting for the return of this guy who made your friends ingest something so terrible that they are still in the health station recovering?" But when you put 150 teenagers together in one camp, they will do anything to create drama. And drama there was.

So that was my week. In an effort to redeem a week that had been particularly trying in many ways, Matt and I attended the annual Hot Summer Jazz festival downtown tonight. For those of you who have not been to this festival, it consists of several stages set up on Nicollet Mall, each playing a different type of music. We heard some Brazilian Jazz, Salsa, and Swing. We were even able to take Swing dance lessons right there on the streets of Minneapolis and then practice while listening to a 30-piece Big Band. I write about this to encourage anyone who lives in this area to attend the festival this weekend: it goes until Tuesday, is completely free, and completely worth your time. While eating on the patio of The Local Irish Pub and listening to the final songs playing from the nearby stages, the pepper/vomit/riot episode seemed less like reality and more like a distant nightmare.

So, it sounds like life has came right up and bit hubka in the ass with a bit of fury. Sorry about all that crizzznap you have been goin through. Bosses that demand too much the first day really suck, so at least you arent forcing yourself to go through that every day.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying and i agree even more with the process that we all must go through and realize that maybe, just maybe, we will not be the super-hero that we thought we could be and that maybe, just maybe, our parents were wrong when they told us we could do anything if we put our minds to it. It means that we have to swallow the cold hard pill of mediocrity and realize that maybe God desires us to follow Him with everything and that that too is mediocrity. Anyways...

So life in denver is good. I joined the Old Chicago world beer tour last week and i am considering getting a job there. Meeting people for a church plant is hard when you live in a society of socially inept families (thats all there is in this suburb of thornton) so i figure the local always busy old chicago just might be the place to hang out and meet people my age.

Harry potter and the chamber of secrets is playing at the Red Rocks Ampitheater on monday night at dusk and i totally think i am going...i saw the first movie and DANG! it was good.

Hey Duerkop, i picked up "The Prince" by Machiavelli and i think i am starting to get to the point where i understand how the republican party works. Just kidding...all parties act the same way...speaking of, who is going to see Farenheit 9/11?

Lynnea, its good to see that you are facing hard times and good times. i am learning sign language to talk with the deaf guy at work...i figure its the least i can do since he isnt fully a person without his ability to hear. anywho, how is, uhm, well...uhhh...yeah...

Marty: Djarum Cherry = absolute bliss. trust me.

to the rest of you i bid adieu...i am going to wash my car, shave, and cook on this lovely warm saturday in the state of unpredictable weather.

if you are coming through, then call me and we will hang out.

kurbiskurbiskurbiskurbiskurbis

Yeah! People are writing stuff. The only way I could sound more uneducated is to put an is in place of the are. Hey, speaking of education, did everybody recently receive a picture from graduation from Dr. B, or am I just now receiving what everybody else got long ago because I might actually be graduated? If you received it more than two weeks ago, let me know, because it'd be a clearer message about my graduation status than I have received from Crown itself.
Oh, news, yes. I am once again unemployed. My week and two day stint with Warnoth Custom Homes came to an abrupt halt this morning when I declaired my intention to... well, be unemployed again. I had a very terrible day yesterday, to the point of which I think I had heat stroke, had my ladder fall out from under me, had a power drill bind on me several times while drilling through a steel beam (the start of my troubles), and I was told that if I didn't work faster, I should hit the road. Well, I worked faster and hit the road, so I hope they're happy. I'm not mad that they gave me a terrible job that was nearly impossible to complete with the equipment (I drilled for nearly three hours, and the job should have taken half an hour, but it took two hours to figure out I had a dull bit), so in my frustration, and sickening nausea, I told myself I needed a line of work that I felt in which I could actually acomplish something. Yesterday was bad enough that I came home and sat on my lunch cooler for possibly half an hour with my hands in my face, wondering if I am a complete failure at living on my own. I couldn't even keep my first job two weeks. But (for all you positive people out there, this may make you smile, but don't think this is a trend or anything), all this was a startling point of despair that led me to a book by Andrew Murray called Abide in Christ, and it has been a refreshing taste of spiritual depth of which I have been missing for sure since I've been here. We'll see what comes of that.
Lynnea, I don't know if it is wise for anyone to pull the "you'll never understand" stance, because it's true, but it works both ways. We're to have sympathy when we can, and empathy when we can't, but for a person to believe that you must understand (and really, what does that mean except to put a loaded phrase into an emotional situation) to help, to care about them, well, that person is expecting you to be God himself, because I think only God can relate to us, understand us in a way that we understand ourselves. Can I relate to people who have never worried about money, who live what seems like a rich life, in the same way that I can relate to someone that grew up across the street from me? I would say I can't, but that doesn't change things. Can I relate to someone that grew up in homeless shelters or in a war-torn country? I would say no. Sympathy, empathy, and caring are things that must be received, and I don't think you had any way to break through this woman's bitterness for her to receive anything. We do have one ability that gives us must understanding -imagination. Use it. Imagine life as she has lived it. See how you feel. Spend a day thinking about life very different, and see if you can relate better. If nothing changes, I'd say you're no worse (I'm guessing with your experiences you can relate much better than me without even knowing it), but who knows?
Kyle, I'm gonna call you sometime here. Let me know what times work for you. I don't think I'm gonna dribble a basketball (I don't have one anyway- who do you think you're talking to), but I have two new opportunities to come off on the right foot. Two new neighbors just moved in. This is a question for all: What is a nice way to say high and not seem creepy, cheap, or just plain lonely (Which, for all I know, I'm all three)?
Marty, wow on the bike ride. That's sweet. I used to do that, and I miss it quite a bit. Maybe I'll buy a bike and be a paperboy. Have fun tempin'.
Duerk, tell me about this punk something or other thing. All you do is sit in an air-conditioned office all day long; do you really do work? =)
Brad, I could easily echo your very sentiments, for it has been on my mind much lately as well. It seems that life is now a shadow of what it was, that I live now through phone conversations and blogger check-ups, hoping that my little potted flower gestures would get so much as a hi, dissappointing my boss and quiting a job that I should have been able to do, sitting alone in a big empty apartment, forgetting about dinner until nearly ten o'clock, then not really wanting to go to any trouble to make anything- yeah, life seems to ask it's own question. What's plagued me more here than the question of meeting that special someone (the thought of two roommates in two weeks getting married and me being, well, me really hit over the weekend) is the question of whether or not I'll have close friends here, or ever again. I begin to picture myself at 40 in a tiny house with a little dog and a lot of free time, the sort that becomes the stuff of eight-year-old neighboorhood stories and such. I you guys think I'm someone worthwhile (Kurbis, I realize you're discluded from the comment), but who's to say anyone around here will think that -and why on earth would they? Am I ready for my life to fade into the background of great college memories? Maybe I should've went somewhere crappy so that everything else seemed just great. At least it makes me ask a question like "What's my life gonna be all about in the end?" Many people never ask such questions. There are days when I think I'll be one of those stalwart Christians that you read about in inspirational stories, and then there are days that I think I may not see heaven's dear light. We win either way we go with Christ, don't we? Either that ever increasing joy dominates our personality and emotions, or "blessed are the poor in spirit." Jesus doesn't say we need a good job or a good spouse or even a good attitude -he points out that we need him. I've asked myself a lot in the last few days whether or not I think I will ever have him. Not born-again I'm-saved salvation sort of have him. The sort that suprises you in the middle of the day like some new ridge on the horizon that was always there but you never noticed. The sort that lives in those feelings of being saved and new all at once (and I do remember those feelings, and they were good). Will I be a person that has faith in Jesus because I need to be pardoned of my sinful heart, or will I have faith in Jesus because I know him like I know you guys?
Molly says hi.
That should probably be the gist of it all. Sorry as always for the blathering style and the ranting length, but take heart -I may have a job to consume my time once again.

As the clouds streak past my window in yet another night of severe weather I have decided that I shall write in this blog. Though my life doesn't consist of much excitement as of late, I'll fill you all in, but first a message for Steve about the plant thing: I don't know if the plant is creepy or not, but I will tell you what one of my good friends and I at Iowa State would do when we would desire to see the cute girls that lived below us. We would incessently dribble a basketball until first they would call, to which we would play dumb. They would usually call again, and we would still play dumb. Finally we would hear a knock on the door. We quickly would hide the basketball and invite the girl/girls in for a beverage. Give it a shot, it might work (or it will really piss them off...)

We had an interesting Sunday...about 25 visitors which was very cool. We are still working through questions about what the church should be and how our community is going to work. It is all interesting and a little scary, but exciting nevertheless. Well I must go, thanks for the encouragement to blog from you all...I have been very frightened about taking part in this new medium, but I will soon conquer this fear and write books on this blogger like hubka...
peace

To the dulcet tones of Ben Gibbard I begin to recall the days of old....Geez, I miss you guys.

I can probably echo the words of Hubka when I ask, "What's it take for you guys to talk." I just love to see some updates of how things are going with ya'll. I'll be the first on here (I think) to say congrats to Luke and Ali on the marriage. Like they got time to read this though. I can also be the first to say congrats to Bubna and Renee (although what I just said was redundant seeing as Renee is now Bubna). Hope all went well out there.

Anyways, I've been decent. Gonna start doing some temp work here soon, which makes a guy decent money, believe it or not. I also biked about 25-30 miles on Saturday (Anoka to Minneapolis) on a whim. It was fun and painful. I'm never doing it again. Sooooo, I don't have too much to say, I just want to hear from you guys.

Hey, we should get everyones non Crown e mails seeing as I'm sure most of us don't want to be receiving emails from Ellen Steele and Matt Swenson for all of time. Also, if you got time- START YOUR OWN BLOG! It's pretty fun, and extremely easy to start up, I would encourage anyone to do that. OK, bye.

Highlights from the first official week of camp at Silver Lake 2004:

1. No drownings. As the waterfront director, this is quite important.
2. Friday's weather: because it was a bit cold, we had a total of ten swimmers on the beach over the course of two hours. This meant I relaxed on the pontoon boat with Matt (Evans, yes, he's lifeguarding at camp this summer), Jonah (our fourth lifeguard, a nineteen year old who declares that he has never done drugs yet "is always stoned"), and Krista (my sister) as she read to us two chapters from Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Nathan Miller's words echoed in my head "this is what ministry is all about").
3. Hmmm....I seem to be having trouble finding a third highlight, but my neurotic writing habits compel me to write my thoughts in groups of three for the sake of organization. Well...here's one more: Last night at Kareoke night I witnessed my older brother and Tyler (my sister's long-term Canadian boyfriend) belt out an original song "Billy Corgan's Goat" to the tune of "Bill Grogan's Goat." Let's just say there were many confused children after such an escapade: "But...but I thought the song went like this..." "Never mind little boy, Bryan and Tyler are just crazy."

And now for the lowlights:

1. I really only have one. In trying to help a frantic and angered mom work out her difficulties with her son (this was a family camp), she angrily informed me: "You'll never understand, so just back off. You come here from your perfect life and think you understand me, but you don't know anything about what life is really like." She continued to tell me that my beach was unsafe and that my lifeguards are incompetent (none of which, I assure you , is true). I literally was blinking back tears as I tried to calm her and escort her off of the beach, but I didn't hear anything further of what she had to say because I couldn't shake her words: "You'll never understand." I've dedicated five years working with the Salvation Army specifically to trying to understand and to help people such as her, but is she right? Because of my upbringing (no broken home, no poverty, etc.) am I useless to those who have dealt with such hardships? I insist on telling myself that this is not true, but her words still haunt me. And so this is where the beauty of a community blog comes in handy...does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is there a line where sympathy and heartfelt compassion is not good enough and only true empathetic understanding from a similar background can succeed in helping others? Feel free to post your thoughts.

Well, I've held off as long as I could. I've just gotta toss some things down, and I'm quite suprised nobody else but Miller has had the same inkling in nearly two weeks. We've had two weddings- don't you have some neat story to tell? Two more weddings, and a funeral, and we could make a movie. It'd make millions. I think I'd cast Nicholas Cage in the lead role. So I'm moved into my new apartment, and the girl at Quizno's talked to me, and I started a job working carpentry again, so life's sorta different than the last time I wrote. And for all those on the SYG tour that are enjoying this entry, I myself went folfing last night with John O'dell (I think only Bob knows who that is). So now you wonder if life's better now that I have a job and a place to call my own. The answer is, it's not worse, but it sure is different. Below me live three or four (I can't keep track very well, they're always coming and going) college sophmores, girls that is. They seem terribly uninterested in saying hi or anything like that except one of them who I met several weeks ago and happens to be my boss's niece. I work with four different people - Jim and Jeff, Dana and Misha, and they're all guys. Misha is sixteen and probably should be making the same amount of money I make because he's so much better at everything we do. But I bet I could sure school him in a geography bee.
Here's a question for all the lovely young ladies that happen to be reading this: If you lived in an apartment and there was a single guy that lived above you, not many years older than yourself, would it be creepy if he left you a small (terribly small) potted flower and a short note introducing himself? Not that I did that. (So far the count is 1 for creepy, and one for sweet -Molly thought it was creepy, Anne thought it was sweet)
I don't so much write on here because I want all of you to know the ins and outs of my rather bland and disconnected life, but I'd rather much like to read more stuff from people. I've gotta get some shut-eye. I start ten-hour days tomorrow. I've already had a piece of plywood dropped on my leg. It bruised rather nicely. The shape somehow reminded me of you. No, really. It looked kinda like your face/eyes/shadowy figure from far away while squinting.
Duerkop- How much is a 1 gig processor? Is it something that I could install myself (remind yourself who you're talking to).
Jolene- My jaunt into the land of Jedi guardians has been postponed until I get a faster processor. Sorry I can't assist the fight for peace and justice in the galaxy far far away.
Folkstead- Hey, I got a cell phone. My number is 406-370-3871. Call me. I don't have your number. If you're not Chris, forget I wrote this down. I don't want to get anonymous phone solicitations for unknown missions organizations.
Everybody- What's it take to get you talking, anyway? Hope all is going well.
Steve

I realize that I'm already over my allotted space and frequency for adding to this blogger, but I have to put this on and afterwards, I'll leave it alone for as long as I can. Last night I clearly remember one part of my dream, and it incorporated so many things I felt I needed to simply write it down and explain it in a bit. (The dream starts here) I was manning a AAA battery (Anti-aircraft artillery) on a moonlit night when I noticed something of a shadow across the moon. The other gunner and I took aim and fired into this object moving across the sky. Low and behold, it was a hot air ballon, and it fell to the ground at the end of the street where I was. I ran over to the balloon (this is only in my dreams, running that is) and found that I had shot down a balloon carrying Lenny, JD, and someone else (probably Dave or Marty or somebody like that). Lenny was fine, walking around like nothing had really happened, but JD was lying on the ground, not moving, with a little trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. I freaked out and dialed 911 on my cell phone, but hit too many 1's, then started to erase them, it dialed the number when I didn't want it to, and that's when JD jumped up and they both started laughing at me, since they were faking JD's death. Okay, it doesn't sound as good now that I wrote it down, but it was pretty vivid, so I hope that doesn't mean anything for the future. I think the AAA battery stuff came from all the D-day commemoration thing this weekend, and the rest, I have no idea. Sorry if this was boring. So now to try out what everybody else does.
Gabe- Congrats on all the news. I agree whole-heartedly with Lynnea that you should send both of your children to Crown, especially if I'm teaching history there. I've calculated the costs, assuming no great change in tuition increases, and it will cost you probably between $60-80,000 per year per child. Buy a small house, go to college for a year. If Brad's old dreams come through, he'll be in the theology department to teach your children as well. If Kurbis's dreams come true, he'll be doing 15 to life in a Federal prison.
Josh- Call a bratha back sometime, eh? I refuse to leave any more unheeded messages in your voicemail box.
Lynnea- I read the Yancy book. Great book. It was the first of the seven books I've read since sitting in Missoula without a job. I just finished our old Biology book. I actually would recommend it.
Jolene- I hope to be fighting the Sith with you here shortly, depending on move-in time and free-time. Any tips before I start the game up. I realize the computer game is the only realm in which I will ever have the semblence of heroics, so I'm trying to get into it as quickly as possible.
Molly- What's life like without your conjoined twin?
Kyle- Go play tennis. I mean it. Yeah, you know.
Luke- Could you calculate, with inflation and all, the actual cost of Gabe's kid's tuition? I'm not that great at math, and I might have told Gabe a lie. He'll never know, eh?
Again, sorry to the rest of you that this is just another long blog from Missoula. If you want me to be shorter, write a blog about it (Lynnea, I think your trick is working!).

Greetings from "way up North" (actually central Minnesota). As some of you know, or don't know, I am working for the dirty United Methodist church. I thought I was hired as the youth pastor, but upon arrival I was told that I am the director of Family Ministries. I will be Pastor of Family Ministries as soon as I take time to "pass the test" with the Alliance.

Kate and I are loving out new home on the Lake. Yes, it is nice to have the first house you ever live in given to you. Even better when that house that is given to you has 5 bedrooms. And even better when that house that is given to you with 5 bedrooms happens to be on a lake. We like it. If anyone is looking for a painter (I didn't say a good painter) talk to Robbie. He was nice enough to come up and help us paint.

Not much is new here. Life is different living in a town of 1,000 people and you are the lead story of the paper the first week you move in. That is right, my first day at work the news reporter was at my office ready to do an interview for the local paper. I guess someone under the age of 75 moving into a town is big news. I would estimate that 25-30 cars drive by out house on a daily basis. They don't drive by because they are on the way to anywhere special though, they just drive by and look at Kate and I. I know that pastors live in a glass house, but this is crazy. People actually sit outside our house and watch us. Guess there is new blood in Fin land.

Not much else is new. I guess this is way too long of a blog but what can I say, I am fat. The main claim of Menahga (our town) is that it is the home of St. Urho. Does anyone know about him? Well... there is a statue of him at the entrace of the town. He is about 15 ft. tall and has a pitchfork with a grasshopper on it. IF I AM LYING I AM DYING! (ask Robbie) I will talk to everyone at Luke's little party he calls a wedding. Unlike other people, Kate and I are not having any children in the near future. Later.

Hey everybody,
Isn't life exciting? There is some much that changes post college. It is frightening and alluring at the same time. God has been some good to me and my wife. As I have already bloggidy blog blogged i am going to be getting a job at a church. The best part is that the church position comes with a sweet parsonage. I cannot wait to get out of our 1 bedroom faith village appartment and into a nice house.
i have also discovered the life of a father to be. It is harder then you would think. For starters picking out names is way tough. It is not so hard to find ones you like, but finding ones that have spousal agreement is the toughy!
A couple other insights into my exciting life. I am still in morning over the Timberwolves loss, I have not read a book since graduation(sad I know), I am found out you can call your wife fat during the first part of a pregnency and it is taken as a compliment. (I will get back to you if this begins to backfire), I have no idea what a "turd burgler" is on marty's entry, but I laughed outloud when I read it.
I am off! Have a great day and try to enjoy the excitement of life.

Hello from the far side of Montana. I just got on for the first time and am getting aquainted with the form of this strange new medium, but nevertheless, I'll try to relay the simplist description of what's been occurring in my life over the last couple of weeks. Robbie and I found an apartment in Missoula, and for the last two and a half weeks we've been trying to get our applications accepted. Robbie is not here, though, thus complicating the process in a way that I could not have forseen. Not having a job makes the property management company leary of renting to an otherwise outstanding citizen such as myself, and since Robbie does not start his job until August, the rental company has taken the position that we cannot pay for rent, thus causing the last week and a half of my time spent here to be focused on proving that I have other liquid assets as well as a candid intention to find a job. If life is so complicated a journey as this, I hope that death finds me soon and I have no immediate loved ones critically mourning my departure. Sorry to sound so glum, but without a job or a place to even really unpack to any desirable degree, I have spent my time reading, and reading, and staring at the mountains, and driving to Quizno's (not only do that make great sandwiches and currently hold an application for employment with my name on it, but a terribly cute blonde works that who has smiled at me on more than one occasion), and doing little else. And just to throw out one more glib remark at the trappings of the modern world -cell phones are evil in that they make you want to use them and cost each soul a portion of their God-given freedom (and who knows how much money when you're over minutes). I'm sure to most of you, this is not a new realization, but my first week and a half of cell-phone slavery has taught me to hate the beasts even further than I had originally. Oh, I suppose I don't know how long these normally are, so I'll sign off now and update this glum picture of reality called "being grown up". By the way, had anybody else ever actually read the Biology text "Biology through the eyes of Faith"? Running low on books, I have started reading it and find it a bit intruiging, much more so than I would have originally thought. I hope to have more time to devote to this pursuit of friendship and community beyond our college years, but not any further today.
Steve
P.S. Instead of adding another blog, two in a row, I'm just going to update my drearyness by saying that today (June 8th) is my birthday, which must have something to do with the fact that Robbie and I finally have been accepted to the apartment we applied for a week and a half ago. It's all coming together. What a difference a day makes. Sorry again that this is so long. I'll do better next time.

So frick. I'm not a regular checker of this blog. Lynnea reminded me of it, so now I'm here to talk to you about my important life. Let's see, what have I been doing....Well, unlike the majority of you, I just finished up at Crown on Friday with some summer school. Funny how the last two classes of my college career were with the Great Hustad. Thanks for telling me now that I should have taken more classes from him.

What else....Me and Jess just got back from a bike ride on a balmy Monday afternoon. For those of you not up in Minnesota the humidity has begun....It sucks. See, I can go for bikerides on Monday afternoons because I'm unemployed. My bike broke to join my pride and will.

I'm way boring....I'll see some of you this week. Talk to me then.

Life Voicers- Sorry I didn't come and listen to you guys sing. I was honestly gonna, but fell asleep. Love me anyways.

Kurbis- wanna know what I'm reading? Nothing, you turd burgler. Let's make some CD's this weekend. Call.

Brad-
Remember haiku?
Our simple musings on life
Mine were way better.

If you guys have AIM I'm debussy100
If you guys have any decency stop reading this.

Marty

I am officially tired of living in a van. Since graduation we have been everywhere from Virginia to Texas LifeVoice tour ends in three days; it is a little bittersweet being that this is my final Crown College excursion and I will now actually have to deal with the reality of that chapter of my life closing. But, I am ready to be done and to live a day that does not include carrying speakers and drum cases or setting up an admissions display. No more sitting in host homes and talking about my future plans which they all find so "ambitious" and "exciting." I just find my plans frightening, but I'm glad all of these strangers find them so exciting. I officially registered for my classes at St. Thomas for the fall and will finally experience my dream of studying English and only English for the next two years. No more Biology or Math. Gabe, maybe I'll end up teaching your twins at Crown some day...or maybe I'll just end up unemployed and living on the streets with several useless English degrees.

Hey y'all.

Well, just so no one is surprised i too am in the same boat as gabe...i will be having a baby with a in about 8 months. its totally crazy, but it is so exciting.

Work is good. me and brad enjoy it a lot and we love the paychecks. bling bling.

I just finished "The Brothers Karamozov" by Fyodor Dostyevski--it was pretty good...strange, but good. I am reading "Candide" by Voltaire to be followed by "Cats Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut. Thats right...no theology or non-fiction for me! i graduated, i dont have to think that hard anymore. If anyone is looking for a good book to read i suggest strongly "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand...best book ever written. ever.

Lynnea...i work with a deaf guy and i talked him in to getting cochlear implants. he said he was super excited to finally feel like a real human. He will also be forcing his young deaf daughters to get them as well.

Josh, how are the homeless people?

Duerkop, how is the campaign? Will your forces of darkness reign supreme?

Killer, are you engaged yet? married?

Who else reads this?

Brad, i you, why are you always around me.

Well, i love you all and i cant wait to see some of you next week...are any of you going?

word to your mother.
kurbis

Oh no you didn't Brad...I work...sort of...well...you're right...who am I kidding. :) Congrats Gabe...wow...you are the man and I'm so excited for ya! That's huge. You've liked 'arrived.' But don't get a big head, cause then that immediately disqualifies you from the 'arrived' award...which has been bestowed upon you. A wife...twins...and a job...wow...you're there man (dumb and dumber-esque if you can imagine with me)

Okay...I shouldn't be blogging so soon after a previous blog...I'll get off now!

Yo Dogs,
Josh, I also am a frequent "checker of the blogger." I always look forward to seeing what is happening in the Crown family. I wanted you all to know that I got a job! I am going to be the Associate Pastor at Hope Church in Apple Valley. I will start in July and I am very excited. Well that is all from this kid. I miss you all. Have a great day.

People...people...people...why no love for the blog?!?! I check back every day (okay, so maybe I'm the one with the problem) waiting for some more people to write so that it is okay for me to write again. I can't overdue the blog or else it becomes me talking to myself...and well...I can do that without a blog :)

Guess who I got to hang out with yesterday? (imagine that with a whiney middle-school voice) The one...the only...SCOTT STINSON! How cool is that?!?! He has a conference today through sunday up in washington but came through portland so we could hang out! It was so refreshing...what a dad he's been to us all. I love that guy! It made for an awesome memorial day.

Okay...I've got a good book to add to the previously non-existent "musings from crown alumni book of the blog club" I ran into the book, 'Is that really you God' by Loren Cunningham. It is the story of how YWAM started and is a powerful little read on how God speaks and provides...pretty cool if you're in the mood for a faith-builder.

Well...I'll go back to waiting for someone else to blog...in the meantime...i'll keep checking every day hoping to hear from ya'll!