Excuse me, Brad, Mr. "part of the elect" in ministry? Are you kidding me? Actually, don't answer that, I know that you are, it just shocked me for a second. A few seconds...minutes...whatever. I think that your joke (which I am hoping it was) just struck a chord in me, reminiscent of my time at Crown where the student body was divided between those oficially studying to be in ministry and those not. I remember a time in chapel when they had all of the ministry majors stand, then they sat and they asked those with "secular" majors to stand. Secular? This normally would not be a bad thing, but in an environment where the word "secular" carries with it such negative connotations, it really did feel like I should feel some sort of shame for standing under that label. And what is even the point in dividing the student body by visually demonstrating who belongs in what category? For all of you out there involved in full-time ministry, I am happy that you are doing exactly what it is your education prepared you to do. Really, I am. But I am not happy enough to consider your ministry position a ticket into the "elect" club. I know you are not you are asking that of me, because I KNOW that it was just a joke, I'm just a bit riled up. Understandably so, right? If not, let me have it, I can take it.

So what happened to the Blog? It had picked up some steam and then Brad brought in snoopism and bam! We were all afraid to be the next one to post. Snoop would be so much cooler in my book if he did not cuss.

Wakefield, I watched your video introduction on your churches website. I was once again reminded of how much you deserved to be homecoming king. If you were a real king I would follow to the gates of hell!

Hubka, I am more then a little curious to hear about the intricacies of your daily life. It has been too long since a post came out of you. I also realized that we have exchanges more dialogue on this website then in our four years at Crown together. I am not sure why that is, but boy I sure missed out.

Folkestad, In my last post I mentioned the dream of living in retirement with a PS2. I have since revised that thought. My ultimate retirement would be live in the same retirement housing complex as you, have a PS2 and every game it is compatible with, and own every version of GoldenTee. This would be the way to spend life. In fact I may have just described heaven without even knowing it.

Lynnea, I am also proud of your discipline to drop a class. I have been busy lately as well and have repeatedly tried to get rid of things in my life that are making my schedule so hectic. However, my wife won't let me get rid of a baby! She keeps insisting that we keep them both.

Brad, don't snoop my blog. I feel so "with it" to have just written that last sentence.

So life is going good. I am leaving to take the kin to get some shots. That is never fun. I do not have anymore interesting poop stories to tease you all with. The girls have been doing pretty good. It is amazing how every little progression in life that they take means the world to me. Today they were reaching for there toys. That may sound small, but a week ago this was impossible for them to do. Watching them develop is one of the greatest joys I have ever known.
In other less sappy father news, I am going to be meeting with a couple next week about doing their upcoming wedding. I am scared out of my mind. This will be my first trip leading people into the bond of Holy Matrimony and I feel very unprepared. To make matters worse, it is pretty obvious that this couple is not in good standing with the Lord. They gave the same address on the wedding application. So I should also be getting my first opportunity to confront a couple on fornication. What a great week! If anybody thinks of it Tuesday morning. Feel free to toss up a prayer for me.

Well, I got to go be a father.

Lynnea, I'm proud of your decision! Drop a class and you'll have to start cataloging all Mozart's works, search for Atlantis, ya know, the mundane stuff that you'll need to fill in all that extra time. Anybody hear of any good jobs at/near Crown? Just keeping all my options open for when my lease runs out in May. Final question: Since Krista's blogging, are pigs flying? I mean, all kinds of surreal things have happened lately - I even had a girlfriend. That's a once a decade sort of thing. At our ten-year I'll tell you who I'm hoping to snag next. I was recently told by a girl that getting a girl is like hunting a deer. I responded by saying that I have taken that approach before, but without a powerful, out-of-nowhere shot to the heart, deer tend to run off, and I have deformed lower appendages and a hypochondriac sort of asthma, so I can't chase anyone. I prefer to think of it more like bowling. It's not really a sport because you can usually do it better drunk. That, and my awkward moves barely ever work (Folkestad, that's for you). Final thought. Super-size Me: Great movie. Taxi: Not worth it, even drunk.
Duerkop - I've been anxiously awaiting a delivery from Wisconsin for a few weeks now. Should I find something else to look forward to? I'd love to use those chopsticks sometime soon.

So this whole blogger thing is really catching on. A blogger has been started for the people in block to be able to keep in touch with one another during their internships. Great idea, huh? Keeping in touch with people via a blogger…anyway. Even Krista broke down and started her own, and she has been disapproving of mine and Bryan’s for over two years now. Her problem is that ever since Bryan started his, he stopped communicating through e-mail as he used to. And I have to admit that there are several people in my life who have been forced to use my blog as their sole means of keeping updated on my life for the last two years. But really, it’s better than nothing, right? When I pour out my thoughts in type for friends and family to read on a daily basis, they are given a glimpse into my life in a much deeper way than if I were to call them each once a week and say, "Hey, here’s what happened this week…" I think I’ve got a point here. Although, when we started this Crown Alumni blog, Brad did e-mail me to remind me that it didn’t get me off the hook for continuing personal communication. Ooops. I’m still working on that.

On the upside, I really think I will be getting better at keeping in touch because I have made a decision to drop a class. I don’t know what I was thinking trying to take as many as I had registered for and working 20 hours a week. It was just not wise. I can admit defeat. So I am back down to normal full-time status instead of over-full-time status, and life is SO much better. So give me a call, I’ve got all the time in the world. Or even better, I’ll give you a call.

Nobody else wants to comment on this cursed day? Oh, and does anybody have a personal record for watching an entire season of 24? I'll try not to write another kiss of death blog. No more serious questions. Happy Single Person's Awareness/Valentine's Day. Hope everybody is doing well.

Well, I was preparing to leave my own cute pitures in order to properly respond to Gabe, but I'm too lazy and leery to download that software that would let me do just that. The first was going to be a duck and her ducklings. The second was going to be a baby daschund on a hotdog bun, and the third was going to be a picture of Kyle and Adam as sophomores. Top that Mr. I have created infant female offspring that can smile on command! We all know that was a staged picture! How'd you do it Gabe? Photoshop? Claymation? ILM help you out a bit? Just admit it now.
Ah, I still think my picture of Kyle and Adam playing video games in Tewinkle was cute. And it was a great intro to Gabe's question about keeping the college life alive after the dirt covers your coffin called marriage. Hmmm. No, it sounds great. I still play video games with Robbie when he rents an Xbox. I feel like it's college all over again minus class and lots of people and Minnesota crappy weather and big cities and Chipotle and every other good thing I can think of back at school. Actually, many would say I'm better off here than at Crown. I've already had a girlfriend, I'm surrounded by apartments full of really cute girls, I watch Friends every afternoon with perfect regularity, I'm not on the meal plan. Maybe back to college life isn't so inviting. And Gabe, to retire, you have to first have a job, so unless this job I applied for today comes through I won't be able to retire from anything. Give me the walker and sponge baths right now! I spend my day wrapped up in a blanket, with my glasses halfway down my nose anyway. Switching topics slightly, I treated myself to my first Coldstone in Missoula after dropping off an application this afternoon. It was wonderful, as always.
Oh, and I lost my directions to the wedding, too. They were on the back of my invitation. (This is a joke; please, nobody take offense)
Ya knowLynnea, let me tell you a little story about how I got lost one night while out with a girl. It was the spring of 2000 and I was spending time with a sophomore named Adriel when we left one night to get her home before her curfew (I actually ran into her this last Christmas while wearing my "Vote for Pedro" shirt; she was, of course, looking great with short black hair and a male companion that looked like could have been my dad -no better way to feel like an adolescent...anyway). We actually drove straight to her house, and found that we had a little bit of extra time, so we drove across town and ended up back at her house about thirty minutes later. I took a lot of flak for those lost minutes because everybody accused me of making up something to cover up a little bit of window fogging time, and that is just not true because I would gladly at this point in my life look back and reveal all of my wild exploits in high school (the shortest book except for "Kurbis, the Sweetest Guy I Know" and "Mr. Magstadt goes to Washington). Nothing happened, and all this to say "I'm an eight-ball shootin', double-fisted drinkin' son of a gun"- wait, that was the song that was just on, not me. I'm really not here for the party. Like I was saying... all this to say that, if anybody wants to say that "getting lost" is always a great excuse when you're with somebody special, and I know it really happens, except in my case it didn't, but either way, I'm trying to say that I understand, Lynnea. Except I was in high school and she had a curfew.... so maybe that was a bad story to tell. Maybe I was trying to say that when a girl looks at you with giant blue eyes and says "just drive," it's really difficult to say no. No, that wasn't it. Maybe I was trying to say that all things come to an end. Or... maybe I'm all messed up because I keep dreaming I'm going to die, and so all those subconscious regrets are coming to the surface in a series of hopeful story-telling blogs.
By the way, the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song, "Relax," isn't anything like what was on Zoolander.
So I did want to bring up a topic for debate, if that is even a remote possibility here. Maybe this isn't even an issue, but I think it has some substance in today's world. My general, and maybe stupid question is actually directed to those females with us that wish to inform me about something: How do you want men to interact with you? In a chivalric way, or with egalitarian apathy? Remind yourself how these two paradigms are diametrically opposed, and if there's another solution, I'd love to hear about it, but having dealt with it on some minor levels recently, I wanted to know what women want (what a futile desire). Just a topic that all of you can ignore .
Lynnea, classes? Oh, and what is St. Thomas' #? Not that I'm going to try to call someone there, just wanting to keep a bit of pressure on those guys to.... keep you... not that they won't anyway. I'm stupid.
One last suggestion: Never mistake tiny pieces of jalapeno in your shredded cheese package for mold or you'll throw away two or three bags because you think it's gone bad.
Happy Chinese New Year (that really comes from Annie).

Hello Everybody,
It has been a while since I have had time to sit down and post. Life has been pretty crazy. It has been a weird transition for me from college to the professional realm. I miss the days of sleeping in and playing video games all night. I now do not sleep and I play a virtual reality game called "Changing the bag from the diaper pail while not breathing through my nose." It has been fun. Speaking of the little rascals there is a picture of them below.

Well anyway. I am glad to here that Marty got married. I was planning on going to the wedding, but I got lost looking for an invitation that never came. Marty, I will never play TP with you again! Never!

So for all males who are not Marty I have an idea for how we can reclaim our college day freedom. (For those of you who have not lost your freedom, you will soon. Females have not lost the same late sleeping/game playing freedom hence they are not included in the idea) We need to plan ahead for our retirement. Can you imagine a bunch of 70 year old men who sit around all day playing on an ancient PS2 talking about how much better our classical system is then the PS46? We would sleep in everyday and play games every night (night would come around 6 pm). If this does not sound like paradise then is there such a thing? Men what do you think?

Gabe

Here are the cuties 

Okay, Brad, and anyone else who cares, I suppose it is time for me to relive Saturday night in order to explain my absence. I too was greatly looking forward not only to seeing everybody at the wedding, but also to see the wedding itself (I knew it would be beautiful). So there I was, my first Saturday night off of work in months, I’m all ready to go. Matt and I got in the car and drove. And drove… and drove… and drove. Apparently we got bad directions, because we drove for FOUR HOURS and NEVER FOUND the church or the reception site. I hate yahoo maps. And, now Matt forever hates Coon Rapids. It is entirely my fault for many reasons: I should have verified the directions, taken a map with me instead of just the directions, or brought a phone number with us to call in case we were lost. Which we were. Let’s just say it was a very frustrating evening during which Matt was more patient than I was. At 8:00 we gave up and went home defeated. So this is my formal apology to Jessie and Marty as well as to everyone at the wedding. I apologize for RSVPing and not showing up. But I tried, I really did. Now here is the good news: knowing that if I would have had a cell phone with me I would have been able to call Brad or Kurbis or someone else I knew was at the wedding or reception to help us find our way made me go out on Sunday and finally get a cell phone. I’ve been putting it off for long enough. E-mail me if you want the number, I don’t really want to post it on the internet (I’m with Sprint, so if anyone else is as well, we’ll be doing a lot of talking). So that’s my story. I’m sorry to have missed such an important event.

Lynnea, someday your self-overloading tendencies will be your undoing. I sounded like some hokey character in a James Bond movie, didn't I? Anyway, I still think that grad school is a bit on the crazy side, and I'll only go back if I can buy my way into a government position at the same time. It's like we're in France during the Revolution... oh wait, that's the crappy sort of thing I spent four weeks studying in my grad classes. Lit grad study sounds way better than mine. Fast track? Grad school is only a fast track to early health scares concerning hypertension from extreme stress levels. Of course, that's where grad school now parallels my present life only due to eating home-made tacos every week with a can of chunky soup or a frozen Tony's pizza inbetween. I think my diet alone would push some cardiologists into early retirement. Oh, speaking of consumption, I just discovered a great drink combo: Bicardi O, orange juice, and some Mt. Dew. I might just finish off that bottle of O tonight with this newfound combo. By the way, Lynnea, what sort of track, fast or slow, is Ms. Ferguson on? Just checking to see if she'll be around in case I end up living with Scott for the summer. It's on the table. Actually, I've gotten some great offers from roommates about living with them, so ante up Wakefield, Kurbis, and Miller, because there's only so much of me to go around.
Lynnea, tell Krista that I think she should be in the next big female boxing movie directed by Clint Eastwood. She wouldn't even have to act tough.
So I take it the wedding tomorrow involves Marty and Jessi; am I right? Let me know how things go.
Who else is looking forward to Superbowl commercials? And I guess there's a football game on, too. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

Well, to answer your question: Yes, it is all I imagined and more…but that is not necessarily a good thing. Through every one of my classes this week I sat there playing tennis in my head with my thoughts. "Do I drop a class?…Or do I quit my job?…Do I drop a class?…Or quit my job?…I need all of these classes to graduate….But I need to work to pay for them…" And so on and so forth. I enjoy my new classes, but I do miss the clear conscience I had gotten used to when choosing to do something other than academic reading or writing. But I just keep telling myself: "You’re on the fast track. You have to work this hard in order to graduate quickly." I sit there listening to people who have been in the program for five years and shudder to myself; that will not be me. I need to finish quickly. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it and I am glad to be in the program at all. But let’s just say there will be a break of several years before even thinking about Doctoral work.

Steve: Congrats on your new life of freedom from grad school. Oh, and by the way, Krista would beat anyone in a fist fight. You know that.
Gabe: Keep us posted on life as a father.
Anne: Your life sounds so much more interesting than mine!
Brad and Kurbis: I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding!
Jas: Good luck on the job search., let us know what happens.
Folkstead: What's happening up North?

So Lynnea, was it all you imagined and more? Is your collection of small glass spheres slowly passing from your conscious apprehension? I do not miss it, not one bit. I can read whatever I want now without feeling guilty for ignoring assigned reading and assignments. I don't have to write a bunch of crap pages trying to prove that I have something to say when all of you can vouch for the fact that I have absolutely nothing new to give to the world (is that the world of ideas, or the world of phenomena, eh former philosophy students and Ratledgites?). Sorry, I'm in a weird mood, obviously.
Oh, I was thinking this morning about what I should blog today, and I was trying to get a grasp on Lynnea's wild "school mode" of overloading in every possible part of life when I tried to pin it on middle child syndrome again, but it just wasn't working in my between-waking-and-sleeping state of mind. So instead I tried to think of a person more independent than Krista, the most out of place youngest child on earth. I mean, I'm the youngest, and I'm completely helpless. I'm lucky I can tie my own shoes and turn on the stove without burning myself. But thinking of Krista's independent nature, I wondered who would win in a fist-fight between her and Robinson Crusoe. Then I started thinking of her on every stranded thing I could think of, from Swiss Family Robinson (slamming the thatched cupboard doors on all the little kids fingers), to Lost in Space (she really tore up that robot after it said "Danger Will Robinson, Danger" too many times), and I think the other tie in here obviously was something to do with Robinson as well, but man it was a crazy thought. That robot's arms flailing for about thirty seconds while Krista shouts "Shut up!" over and over again was a wonderful little imaginative effort to wake up to. I don't think all this is very clearly expressed here, so don't think I wake up most mornings thinking about Krista on fifties TV shows, but do remind yourself how little I have to really focus my attention on now that the Xbox is gone. Okay, I'm done. Anybody watching the State of the Union tomorrow? Duerk, I'm really talking to you. Lynnea, keep us updated on wonderful overbearing grad school. Robbie, why am I leaving a message for you on this when you sleep twenty feet from me (keep your door locked... I still might be trying to kill you... you never know). I've gotta send this so that it will post on the right day, if that. Oh wait, it' s set to Central Standard Time. Not as good as my time zone (maybe that'll be a blog someday). So, in parting, "Your mom goes to college." Bye all.