Here I am.

Come visit more often, but next time leave the germs in Little Rock.

2009-03-08T23:14:00.005-06:00

Ho hum, I guess I should blog to keep certain people happy (you know who you are). The bad news: I've spent the last 6 days or so doing a lot of whining about how bad my throat hurts and coughing my lungs up - thanks, Leah. The good: I got to hang out with Leah for the first time in like, years it seems.

Other happenings:
-Jonathan came to visit last Wednesday till this morning. It was fun hanging out and was a good prelude to this summer!
-I ate Asian food three times in the last week. That's pretty abnormal for me.
-I skipped church without having a good excuse for the first time in a long while today. It was kind of refreshing actually.
-We are T-11 days till I leave for a week in Puerto Rico. To say that I'm excited would be the understatement of 2009 so far.
-The weather lately has made my soul happy. The pollen explosion caused by said weather has made my allergies not-so-happy. I'll gladly make that trade any day though. Bring on the flonase!

Darwin Day?

2009-02-11T14:59:00.003-06:00

People in the biology field FREAK OUT about Darwin. Apparently tomorrow is Darwin's 200th birthday. Some of the professors are so excited about it that they started talking about it last semester, so I am not surprised that my department is having a birthday party for him. Here's an exerpt of an email I just got:

"We will be going over activities for the semester as well as celebrating Darwin's 200th birthday!...As part of the celebration, there will be an evolution quiz game with prizes. And if you can, please bring fun Darwin-related food items to help celebrate."

I'm really curious what people will come up with for "fun Darwin-related food items," but I don't intend on going to find out. I'm such a biology rebel. Just for fun, what Darwin-related food item would you come up with? I'm thinking "Galapogos goulash."

I'm not going to name this post Ice Storm '09.

2009-02-08T21:56:00.002-06:00

Look y'all! I'm updating my blog! I thought I'd do my obligatory ice storm 2009 photo post. The first picture is the tree in the corner of our driveway after if fell across the road. If you look closely, you can see the electric and cable wires to our house that it took out in the process...thus the beginning of a cold few days at the West Ave. house. Amazingly, we just happened to be on the front porch when it fell. Freaky and awesome all at the same time. Also notice the tree in the top right corner of the picture that is creeping down, more on that one later.

The next Center St. between our house and the university. It was mostly impassable for a few days due to all the trees blocking the road, let alone the inch or two of ice coating it.

Next is a nice view of Old Main from the window in the lab where I work. The trees in this picture are mostly fine, but Old Main lawn took quite a beating.

Another view of Center St. between Hill Ave. and Duncan Ave.

Some crazy looking ice-covered berries.

Remember that tree I told you about in the first picture? Here's the end result. Yeah, that's the street in front of our house.

The finished product.

And my fish miraculously stayed alive even though the temperature of the house got down to 34 degrees!

Lately.

2008-11-11T23:45:00.003-06:00

Here are a few things I've been up to lately.

Went to the Arkansas vs. Tulsa football game with Cara, Laura, and Jordan - basically 3 of my favorite people. The picture below was taken from our seats, which were right in the heart of the Tulsa section. I was a bit skeptical about these seats at first, but it ended up being a blast (probably because Arkansas won and we were able to act a fool in the middle of a bunch of angry people holding hurricane warning signs.) Thanks for the tickets Mr. Dean!

Our walk home from the game was beautiful. This was the peak weekend for fall color in Fayetteville, gorgeous!

Last Sunday, I attended a banquet in honor of the Indian holiday of Diwali. Apparently it's a really big deal to Indian people. I have some Indian friends at work, so a bunch of us (as well as other non-Indian people I work with) went. And we all wore Indian clothes. My friend Brenda hooked me up with an awesome male Indian garment (it was actually Nepali, but no one noticed) that she just apparently had laying around. Indian clothes are comfy, I could definitely get used to them. The banquet was pretty sweet. There was lots of Indian music and dancing, some funny clips of Bollywood movies and commercials, and basically the best Indian food I've ever eaten...it was seriously awesome. The first picture is me with my friend Sharath, who works down the hall from me.

And this is Carmen and Payel, both of whom work in my lab.

The Grim Reality

2008-10-22T13:48:00.003-05:00

Fair warning: This is a Debbie Downer post.

So last night I was aimlessly browsing facebook for a long time, and I randomly came across a facebook group dedicated to the death of one of my former students. I had no idea he had died. He was actually one of my favorite students I've ever had- super nice, hardworking, genuinely interested. I could've definetly been friends with him. After some detective work (searching the archives of the newspaper in his hometown), I found out that back in July he lost control of his vehicle and ran off the road into some trees and was thrown out.

Sometimes I forget that people my age die. Freak accidents happen. Life is transient. I suppose it's a good reminder, but it sucks that such a great human being is gone.

Anectdotes from Sunday School

2008-10-19T22:01:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things about hanging out with a group of 5-7 year olds is the funny things they say or do. Here are some of my favorites from this morning:

Kid: "We went in a cave once and it was like 50 feet tall. Mommy said that's about 13 daddies."

While they were coloring-

Me: So what are your favorite songs these days?

Kid #1: Hosanna!

Kid #2: (named another Christian song, I don't remember what it was)

Annoyed Kid #3: Do I have to say a Jesus song?

Me: Of course not!

Kid #3: Ok then, mine is Free Ride with Lightning McQueen. (I assume it's from the movie Cars)

At the beginning of the Bible lesson-

Me: Ok, let's pray. Dear God, thank you for letting us be here, and help us learn more about you. Amen.

Kid: Gee, that was short.

Sing to the moon.

2008-10-15T17:04:00.002-05:00

I'm might be more overwhelmed right now than I ever have been. Not by work, or life, or responsibilities....by music. The pace at which I'm getting new music right now is much faster than the rate at which I can actually listen to it all. I think it's safe to say that I'm probably getting on average about 4 or 5 new albums per week. There are several reasons for this.

1. The advent of Ruckus (and my subsequent knowledge of how to free my Ruckus songs from the oppression of the licenses they bear).

2. Mojo, a program that lets you browse the iTunes libraries of other computers on your network and download the songs to your computer. This has made for some ravenous music sharing with the roomies.

3. Friends making mp3 cds for me.

4. New releases from some of my favorite bands.

That being said, here is a list of albums I have fallen in love with lately. If you are cool, you will like these albums too.

-New Surrender by Anberlin

-The Sparrow and the Crow by William Fitzsimmons

-You are My Sunshine by Copeland

-For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver

-Conor Oberst (self-titled)

-For All This by The Early November

-and there are others but I'm writing this at the end of a long day of work and my mind is going blank.

What a wonderful thing to be overwhelmed by.

"...better dressed than any girl on her wedding day."

2008-09-18T23:06:00.002-05:00

So I've been listening to Jon Foreman's (lead singer of Switchfoot) solo acoustic albums lately and they are way good. He made four EP's, one for each season, and I thought I'd share one of my favorites from the Spring EP. It's called "Your Love is Strong," and it's a modern take on the Lord's Prayer. These are my favorite lyrics from the song:

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place

I walk to the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why should I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need!

That is all. Hopefully I will start posting more often than I have been.

How to dress like a European, and smell like one too!

2008-07-28T20:48:00.003-05:00

Hello? Is this thing on? There's like an inch of dust on this thing.

So I just got home from what I'm calling my annual "science camp." This year it was at the University of Toronto, and there were around 700 grad students and professors from my field from all over the world. I always get a kick out of how differently European men dress from Americans. In addition to being the annual science camp, these meetings also give me a fresh look at the new trends in European fashion. So without further ado, here is a list of must-do's to look uber cool and trendy (Euro-style).

-Of utmost importance is the capri pant (man-pris). It was like a floodgate of 3/4 length opened and I got caught in it.
-Of lesser, but very high importance is black socks. With sandals, shoes, any other desirable footwear.
-Extreme v-neck t-shirts...time to show some man-cleavage.
-Faux hawks. Nothing says "I'm european" like a huge spike down the middle of your head.
-A last rule of thumb for dressing like a european is the tighter the better.

Now you can all go and dress like european men. You're welcome.

Skies so blue, hearts so true.

2008-06-13T14:03:00.003-05:00

Hello. It has been too long, here's what I've been up to.

-Finished writing my grant proposal. I was so excited to be done writing that I literally could not proofread it as closely as I should've - thus it got turned in with a handful of typos.

-A freakin awesome trip to Albany, NY. The highlights included hanging out with Dan alot, a legendary 24 hours in Montreal, hiking to a waterfall in the Catskills, hiking to the top of Black Mtn. in the Adirondacks (or the 'dacks as the locals call it), visiting Schenectady's finest cougar hotspot, and eating lots of Hormel products.

-Successfully defended my grant proposal! I'm now officially a Ph.D. candidate. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me afterwards with El Camino Real and Habibi - it was a blast!

-Got selected to give a talk at the conference in Toronto that I'm going to in July. Holy crap I'm talking about my research in front of like 800 people. It's kind of a big deal.

-It's summer!

ps. There's a lab full of Chinese people downstairs and they are ALWAYS listening to country music. I don't know why, but it makes me laugh every time I hear it.

EDIT: I almost forgot! I decided that my all time favorite 80's pop songs are Oh Sheila by Ready For the World, Africa by Toto, and Take on Me by Aha. At least these are my favorites at the moment.

and I just can't hide it....

2008-05-03T12:05:00.003-05:00

I'm literally minutes away from taking my last final EVER. This brings great joy to my heart. I'm definitely as happy or happier than this guy.

Fleeting thoughts

2008-04-28T13:15:00.000-05:00

Throughout my day, I have lots of little random (and I mean RANDOM) thoughts here and there that I usually don't think twice about. But when I do, I usually get a pretty good laugh at myself. In an attempt to enlighten you with what goes on in my head on a daily basis, I've been trying to remember and write down some of these random thoughts. Here are a few that I've been able to remember from the last few days. For comedic effect, I'm not going to include the context from which these thoughts arose.

-Is your hair really blue, or is my brain playing tricks on me?

-You look kinda gross with your fake-back tan and bleach blonde hair, but I really don't care right now.

-Maybe lightning is what happens when God takes pictures of us.

-You make me feel really awkward.

-Who the H cares if Shirley Temple broke her arm?
-I'm pretty sure you guys record the music for the Weather Channel.
-HOLY CRAP! ASIAN COWBOY!
-Your name totally means "face" in spanish.
-Is it bad that I want to kick that cat?
-I'm glad I'm so entertaining to myself. It's one of my favorite things about me.
-What if there was weed in this?
-I hope I never get attacked by a Komodo dragon.
-Note to self: do not traffic drugs for anyone when you travel. No matter how legit it seems.

Life update

2008-04-21T21:39:00.003-05:00

So it has been 20 days since my last post. A lot has happened since then, here goes (not necessarily in chronological order):

-Two AWESOME bluegrass concerts.
-Spring!
-3 birthday cakes. Please stop, Brian. Or keep doing it...I'm really ok with either.
-One of the more enjoyable Saturdays of my life...farmer's market, good music, planting things, baseball game, sunshine, topped off by an awesome evening with bff's.
-Laptop conveniently needs repair when I need it the most.
-Momma raccoon in a cage on our roof, baby raccoons in our walls miss their momma dearly and scream. Alot. In the process of catching the babies - 1 down, 2 (we think) to go.
-First sunburn of the year. Feels so good.
-Finally found a great place for my GPS in my car.
-Ate goat meat and drank goat milk. Not at the same time. The meat was pretty decent, somewhere between lamb and beef, the milk had a weird twang to it.
-Watched the ncaa championship, and by watched I mean sat on Weston's patio and smoked cigars and drank margaritas during the game and went inside for overtime. Fantastic.
-My hair is the longest it's been in quite a while. So far I'm liking it, but I do miss the buzz.

Definitely not an exhaustive list, but that's most of the high points.

Cultural awareness: so hot right now.

2008-03-31T15:42:00.002-06:00

I had a very culturally diverse weekend. On Saturday, Brian and I visited three different international food stores. First stop: Betty Jo Corner gas station on Wedington which has a small selection of Middle Eastern groceries. I bought some Arabian cheese (really good!) and some hummus. Next stop: Mexico Aqui Tienda (also on Wedington). I bought a couple of Coca-Cola (hecho in Mexico) in glass bottles and made with real sugar....muy delicioso! Last stop: Oriental market/Philpino restaurant which was next door to the tienda. I bought some cassava chips and coconut milk.

Later that night, Brian, Cara, Laura, and I went to an Indian restaurant in Rogers for dinner. It was pretty good! They had a buffet so we got to try a few different dishes.

To top the cultural weekend off, we watched a movie called Kite Runner last night. It is filmed mostly in Afghanistan and most of the dialog is in Arabic. It was pretty good, I recommend it.

Friday: Weirdos and Withdrawals

2008-03-28T13:44:00.003-06:00

Is anyone else concerned/annoyed that it is 30 degrees colder today than yesterday? I am.

I walked to the union for lunch today and the crazies are out, folks. Here is a sampling of just a few of them:
-Guy/girl with green hair juggling by RZ's

-Crowd of medieval enthusiasts by juggler with green hair.

-Some sort of international fair thing between union and library - the international people weren't weird, but the non-international people there were.

-There was a table of hippies with a sign for peace or something at the international fair. That wasn't too weird (it is Fayetteville, after all) but the punk girl with plaid skirt roller skating around the table was.

Yay for diversity!

In a completely unrelated story, I stopped taking zyrtec a week or two ago after taking it pretty solid for several years for allergies. I don't like being on medication long term and it didn't seem that necessary anymore. I noticed that my skin has been really itchy the past few days but I couldn't figure out why. The only thing I could think of that was different was that I wasn't taking zyrtec anymore. So I googled it (as I do) and sure enough, I'm having "zyrtec withdrawals." It's not listed in any of the side effects or in any professional literature, but lots of people are realizing that it's a real thing. Apparently when some people stop taking zyrtec after extended periods it can cause them to have really sensitive and itchy skin. It can be really severe, mine's not though (thankfully). So just fyi, if you are considering zyrtec as your allergy medication of choice (especially now that it's over the counter) you might want to rethink. Class-action lawsuit, anyone? Jk Jk.

Psalm 30

2008-03-26T08:34:00.004-06:00

1 I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.

3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.

5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
"I will never be shaken."

7 O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:

9 "What gain is there in my destruction,
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;
O LORD, be my help."

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

World's Youngest Hey Jude

2008-03-19T12:04:00.002-06:00

The whole L pronunciation probrem apparentry happens at a very young age.

Sleepless in Fayetteville

2008-03-18T23:06:00.002-06:00

I'm having trouble sleeping, so I thought I'd blog. Just so you know, I have no idea where this post is going so don't be surprised if it doesn't make any sense.

I'm thankful for people who have talked me through things lately. I've realized in the last few months that I think through problems/issues best when I can bounce my ideas off people instead of trying to figure it all out in my head. I'm amazed at how God has been continually providing ears for this purpose recently, and in places I didn't necessarily expect to find them.

I inherited two fish earlier tonight. My buddy Dan is moving (river of tears) to New York and can't take them with him, so I volunteered to be the godfather. It'll be a nice memento to have when he's gone. I hope they don't die.

There's real therapeutic value in music for me I think. I pretty much have music for any possible emotion (at least the male spectrum of emotions), and when my soul can identify with a song it can be really comforting.

Speaking of emotions, I feel like I'm alot more emotional the older I get. I haven't quite figured out the reason for this, but I have some ideas. Maybe I'm more comfortable with who I am that I'm not afraid to be vulnerable. Maybe my world view is changing and it's not all about me anymore. Maybe my life sucks more now than before (I'm 100% positive that this ISN'T the case). I feel like I've been teary-eyed and/or cried more in the past 6 months or so than I have my whole life. And it's been a variety of reasons such as crying to God in prayer, sad movies, saying goodbye. I'm really thankful I'm surrounded by people that I feel comfortable crying with.

I'm gonna try this whole sleeping thing again. Goodnight.

Clarity

2008-03-07T11:10:00.002-06:00

The last few weeks have allowed me to spend some quality time with some of my closest friends. Some of which live here, some visiting from exotic places such as Tennessee and Mississippi. I'm kinda prone to becoming delusional in my spiritual view of things (I know that is vague), but something about being around my best friends brings tremendous clarity to all my delusions. Whether it be dumping all my sinful baggage on someone, laughing at inside jokes from back in the day, wrestling with God together about injustice in the world, or just riding in the car listening to music and being silent, the Lord blesses me from just being in their presence.

If you've never read Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, I recommend it (and I hate to read). I really like the image he presents at the beginning of the book about his spiritual journey. He is walking down a long dirt road and he can barely see God as a tiny speck way off in the distance. As his journey progresses he can see God getting closer and closer. I'm so thankful for the people in my life who help me see God more clearly. He is coming into view on my dirt road.

Those crazy Sunday school kids...

2008-03-03T15:41:00.001-06:00

I forgot to write this in my post yesterday. Here is the funny Sunday school story of the week: The kids were coloring pictures of baby Jesus, and then they started coming up with names for their baby Jesus. Most of them were just silly kid names, but then Max (the youngest kid in the class) says "Mine's name is Lord." He said it so matter-of-factly as if to say "try topping that, fools." The kids stopped coming up with names after that, and I laughed real hard. Way to go, Max.

Winter's almost over.

2008-03-02T22:09:00.002-06:00

This weekend was good for my soul. My least favorite month of the year is over, and there is finally a sense of anticipation in the air for Spring.

Saturday was probably one of the most fun days I can remember from the last two or three years. The weather was GORGEOUS and I got to play a sweet game of ultimate frisbee at the park for a couple of hours. This was followed by an impromptu cookout at our house. As if that wasn't enough fun, a bunch of us went to Dickson for some adult beverages. Eventually, the night was capped off by me smoking Dan in guitar hero and a fun game of "find the liquor that mysteriously got hidden."

The day was definitely enhanced by the people that were involved. I love all of you guys. A lot.

After a warm weekend, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. WTF? Oh well, this weekend was enough to get me through the rest of the winter I think.

Wednesday thoughts on God and such

2008-02-27T22:38:00.003-06:00

God is a much better friend to me than I would be to him if the roles were reversed.

I wish I could see God. Hear him. Touch him. Have an audible conversation with him. The Christian life would be way easier. There are times when I can see God in his creation and hear him in the symphony of a summer night and touch him in the much needed hug from a friend. I wish I were more aware of these moments.

I long for stability in relationships, but am learning to appreciate instability. I don't like it, but it fosters growth.

In the words of Further Seems Forever, "This winter is lasting forever, at least for tonight."

It was really great to sing at CG last night. That's probably the thing I miss the most about my old CG. There's just something about singing praises to God in a small group that is really refreshing to my soul.

Kids are freakin hilarious

2008-02-17T23:40:00.002-06:00

I teach a kindergarten/1st grade Sunday school class at church. Tonight (while the girls were all playing quietly and peacefully with each other, as girls do) the boys were being crazy and sword fighting with these swords they made out of these Lego type things. Eventually, the sword fighting regressed to typical boy-humor and they started strategically placing the swords in the genital region of their bodies and walking around with their, um, new endowments. In all fairness, it was actually really funny....but I had to be a responsible Sunday school teacher and tell them to stop. So then I had a huddle with the 3 boys and I was like "Guys, when there are ladies in the room, you cannot make jokes about your penis." And then one of the boys asks, "Is it ok if it's all boys?" I thought for a moment and then said "Yeah. It's not like a great thing to do, but it's ok." Those kids are so great.

Sweep Me Away

2008-02-13T23:12:00.004-06:00

I like this song by Monk & Neagle. Life is funny. And difficult sometimes. Thank God for difficulties.

Standing in this valley
Broken down, all alone
I haven’t seen the sun
For so many days
I’m clinging to the promise
Of a mountain top
But right now, Lord
I’d settle for some rain

Sweep me away
By Your great love
Cover my life in Your holy flood
Let the currents of change
Come and carry away
All of my questions, my doubt, and my pain
Deliver my life from this valley, I pray
Sweep me away

There’s a blessing in the valley
I cry out in faith
But my mind begins to wonder
If I’ll ever see that day
I know that seasons are expected
But Winter leads to Spring
So I will thank You in the middle of everything
Thank You in everything

Two ways an afternoon can change from good to bad real quick

2008-02-08T14:32:00.000-06:00

Overall, my Friday has been great. I had a rather productive an efficient day at the lab, got out of going to a boring seminar, the weather is nice, etc. I finished up everything I needed to do at the lab at 2:00, with plenty of time to spare before my meeting with a professor at 4:00. I decided I'd walk home and work on my proposal some until my meeting, and that would also allow me to drive to campus for the meeting instead of walking all the way to the Poultry Science building and back home. Let's just say the walk home was more eventful than normal.

Incident #1
I was walking down Dickson St. and just passed Bank of America and had come to the intersection of University and Dickson. There was a car waiting to turn left onto University. Now for those of you who don't walk my route regularly, sometimes it's hard to tell if a person is waiting to turn left on University or if they are just waiting at the stoplight at Arkansas and Dickson. Anyway, right as I get about 1/3 of the way out on the crosswalk, this lady finds a tiny opening in traffic and decides to go for it. She turned REAL fast and had no idea a freakin pedestrian was in the crosswalk until I did a nifty little jump move to avoid her taking out my knees. She simultaneously slammed on the brakes and I missed being hit by no more than a couple of inches. Definitely the closest I've ever been to being run over by a car.

Incident #2
So incident #1 definitely got my adrenaline going. I was kinda shaking and a little freaked out that I almost got run over real hard. My trek home continues down Dickson past Qdoba and George's and into the Walton Arts Center parking lot. By this point I wasn't quite paying attention to where I was walking because of all the death scenarios running around in my head. The lack of attention led to me missing a step down from a curb in the parking lot and I totally sprained my ankle. At first I was real mad and didn't think about it, and then after being mad for about 5 seconds I realized it hurt real bad. And I still had to walk the rest of the way home. Crap. I'm sure I had this hardcore gritty look of determination on my face, but deep down I think I just wanted to sit down in the parking lot and call people to come pick me up to take me the last 1/4 mile home. I made it home writhing in pain and without any more incidents, thankfully.

Hope y'all have a good weekend!

Costa Rica Day 6 and 7

2008-02-05T15:20:00.000-06:00

Finally, here is the rest of my trip to Costa Rica. I know you all have been eagerly awaiting it (I can pretend). Right after I posted Day 5, I got REALLY sick, then really busy, then really lazy, then kinda sick again. But anyway, here we go!

We decided to make our last full day in Costa Rica a "beach day" and relax a little. We went to the public beach in Manuel Antonio and hung out there for a while and did some shopping at all the street vendors. We also rented some sea kayaks and snorkeling equipment for one and a half hours and paddled out to the 2 smaller rocks you can see in the picture below (just to the right of the big island). There was a couple of buoys out there to tie the kayaks to, and then we got out and snorkeled around. There were tons of cool fish to see!

After a day of fun in the sun -- our last sunset of the trip.

Yet another great seafood dinner. Dan really got intimate with his oysters.

Lori bought this ice cream sandwich thing at a little grocery. It had graham cracker crust instead of chocolate and was really good!

That evening we went back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool at the hotel with Cuban cigars and Bavaria Dark, our favorite Costa Rican beer. It was a good way to spend our last night!

Day 7, we left the hotel in the morning and began our journey back to San Jose to fly home. Even though it was only about 100 miles, it took 4 hours...that's how awesome the roads are in Costa Rica. Overall, the journey was pretty uneventful except for getting pulled over twice. The first time was just to check passports, and the second time (less than 10 minutes after the first time) Dan got a speeding ticket for 88kph in a 60kph zone. It cost 20,000 colones ($40) and the cop "let us" pay him directly instead of filing it with the bank of Costa Rica, which is the standard procedure. We suspect a little shadiness. Below is a picture of our beloved car for the week. It was just barely big enough for the 3 of us with our bags. We had a couple of close calls, but in the end it got us where we needed to go.
A nice view in the mountains on the drive to San Jose.Costa Rica was completely outstanding. I can't wait to go back someday. The Costa Rican people where honestly the nicest people I've ever met in the world. We didn't come across one single person that wasn't willing to help us -- even those that didn't speak English. We would speak our horrible Spanish to them, and they would speak their horrible English to us and somehow we always managed to understand each other. It really was beautiful.

Costa Rica Day 5

2008-01-08T11:34:00.000-06:00

We spent Day 5 in Manuel Antonio National Park. It is a nature reserve with very nice beaches, rain forest, and lots of wildlife (monkeys!) It was really cool, because the beaches and rain forest areas were all intertwined by hiking trails so you might be walking along the beach one minute and in the jungle the next. Very cool. Below is a picture of the beach we hung at the longest. The picture doesn't really do justice to how beautiful the beach actually was. The lighting was kinda weird that day so none of our pictures turned out so well. The water was a dark emerald green color, and there was a barrier of rocks a little ways out that kept the water near the beach very calm. I would describe it as idyllic.

Dan and Lori found a cool starfish.

And the moment I had been waiting for. We saw monkeys, lots of them!

And just when were leaving the park and thought that were weren't going to get to see the elusive sloth, we saw two of them with the help of a local guide that was walking with another group. He let us tag along for a little bit so we could see one. They were kinda high in the trees so I had to zoom all the way. This is the best picture I have. The guide said that it was a mother and baby, but we couldn't ever actually see the baby.After leaving the park, we found a new place to stay in the area and had a great dinner at a restaurant that had a full size C-123 in the middle of it. We got a great deal on a really nice hotel (our first with a tv all week). We were pretty exhausted so we watched the end of the Patriots football game, some of Liar, Liar in espanol, and then crashed for the evening.

Costa Rica Day 4

2008-01-07T13:08:00.001-06:00

We awoke to a rather rainy day. The owner of the hotel told us the night before that there were really good sunrises there because the sun rises kinda right over the volcano, so we had hoped to see that. But it was far too cloudy that morning, so no sunrise to be seen. We were treated to other cool things to see, however, like the parrots in the trees right outside of our room!

And our jungle-yard, complete with a nice clump of bananas growing.
And some crazy jungle flower thing.
Some people from Alaska that we talked to at breakfast told us about some really cool waterfalls that we hadn't heard about, and it wasn't out of our way so we decided to hit them up. So glad we did! There were 4 really great waterfalls within short hikes of each other, and we were able to swim in 3 of them. The water was on the chilly side, but it was totally worth it.
This was the most powerful one. It was like being in a hurricane, or at least what I envision a hurricane to be like.
This one was technically the tallest one, but it was more of a "slide" waterfall instead of just coming straight down. It made for a nice shower!

Lori wanted a "cute" picture of us in front of the waterfall. We complied, but Dan and I suspect that this was the cause of our mysterious jungle rash that both of us developed on our stomachs the next day.

After the waterfalls, we stopped for lunch in the town of Tilaran. We ate at Super Pollo, and the chicken was in fact super. Costa Ricans really like to use "super" to describe everything.
And eventually we arrived at the beach town of Manuel Antonio later that night and stayed in a pretty gross hostel. Definitely the worst place we stayed all week. It was right on the beach though, and it came complete with Sesame Street curtains.After smoking cigars on the beach and talking a French guy for a while, I noticed something bright orange flashing down by the water. We were on a log probably 40 or 50 yards away from the water and it was dark so I could not tell what it was. I thought it was some kind of crazy glowing fish or sea creature, so I took off running towards it with Dan in tow. As we got closer (like really close) it became apparent that it was in fact two humans in a heavy make out session. We totally tried to play it off and started walking a different direction, only to realize that there was another couple making out right behind us. Oops. It was definitely the most awkwardly funny moment of the trip. I think Dan and I laughed for at least a really long time.

Costa Rica Day 3

2008-01-06T22:29:00.000-06:00

Day 3 in Costa Rica was probably the most exciting. We went whitewater rafting on the Rio Picuare, which is CR's premier rafting river. Since we went rafting, there aren't any pictures from this day. Dan took some with a waterproof camera, but I don't have those yet. The company we went with provided all transportation (3 hours each way), breakfast, lunch, all equipment, and guide. We had 8 people in our raft including the guide, who was named Ricky. He is probably one of the coolest guys in the world and I want to be him. Dan and I were definitely man-crushing hard. He was probably a couple of years younger than me, and you could tell that he just LOVED his job. The river was amazing! It was all class III and IV rapids the whole way. There were two really sweet canyons that we went in with really high cliffs. Probably one of my favorite things besides the sweet rapids was that we went by lots of indigenous villages. It was so so so cool to see these villages and huts on the sides of jungle mountains. It was pretty much straight out of the Discovery Channel. There were also lots of great waterfalls to see.

Apparently the river had received a lot of rain earlier in the week, and when that happens it can change the routes that rafts need to take in the rapids. There was one such rapid which conveniently happened to be a class IV. Our guide nor any of the other guides was completely sure which way to go, so basically we just had to guess and hang on tight. In the middle of the run, our raft kinda went up on a rock and a HUGE wave of water came over the raft and knocked me and the girl next to me out of the raft. I honestly thought at the time that the whole raft was going over. It's all kind of a blur to me, but somehow I managed to do a back flip over the side of the raft and I came up still with a grip on the rope on the side of the raft and my paddle in the other hand. I remember the only thing I was thinking when I went over was "I sure hope I don't hit my head on a rock." Anyway, it was pretty intense because this all took place right in the middle of this huge rapid. After a failed attempt to get me back in the boat by two tiny Indian (India) kids, Dan came to the rescue and got me out of the water.

After returning from rafting, we drove to the town of Nuevo Arenal. It was kinda late by the time we got there so we pretty much just got some dinner and went to bed.

Costa Rica Day 2

2008-01-04T15:46:00.000-06:00

Day 2 In CR brought lots of excitement and fun. We began by going on a zip-line adventure through the rain forest canopy. The ride to the zip-lines gave incredible views of Arenal Volcano.There were 10 zip-lines in all, the longest being 900m long! One of the zip-lines went right beside a waterfall. It was simply incredible.
After zip-lining, we visited the Maleku indian village on horseback. One of the Maleku men told us about their tribe and showed us some of the masks that their people craft. Very cool stuff.
My steed was nobler than Dan's.

Later that night we went to this resort-ish type place near the volcano. There are lots of hot springs in the area due to the volcano, and this place sort of made a water park out of water from the hot springs. There were 10 or so different pools with different temperatures of water (all very warm). It was fantastic! One of the pools even had a waterslide, and 3 of them had swim up bars. It was one of the most relaxing and awesome places I've ever been.

COSTA RICA! Day 1

2008-01-03T13:14:00.000-06:00

I'm going to attempt to give a day-by-day synopsis of our trip to Costa Rica, both for the sake of posterity and for anyone who is curious what the heck we did while we were there.

After arriving in San Jose and going through customs and immigration and all that good stuff, I only had to walk around for about 3 minutes before I found Dan, so that was great. We began our drive through the mountains to the town of La Fortuna. We stopped at great little restaraunt on the way and had a great seafood lunch.
And here is Dan inspecting our very first bottle of Imperial, brewed in Costa Rica.

We arrived at night so we found a place to stay first. We stayed at a place called La Posada Inn. It was a hostel and it only cost us $5 a night each! After cleaning up a little, we walked around the town and found a place to get some dinner and drinks.

Excitement of things to come...

2007-12-21T22:28:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd take this moment to blog before the weekend gets too crazy with family and holiday obligations. Yes, obligations. I'll smile and act like I'm having a great time though.

This will officially be my first Christmas away from my family. Why? BECAUSE I'M GOING TO COSTA RICA!! I'm ridiculously excited, just in case you couldn't sense it from the previous sentence being in all caps. My parents were cool with it when I first mentioned it to them before I bought the ticket, but now they are trying to make me feel guilty about it (pretty sure they are just joking though) Either way it is getting on my nerves. The following list are some reasons I am excited about going to Costa Rica.

-Warmth
-Going to the beach, tasting the salt water on my lips.
-Awesome fresh fruit
-Seeing all kinds of crazy animals in the rain forest, including but not limited to sloths, monkeys, frogs, snakes, birds, leopards, and jaguars.
-Coffee
-Whitewater rafting in the jungle
-Hiking a volcano
-Learning about a new culture

There are more buy my laptop battery is about to die and I'm too lazy to get the power cord.

I do have a prayer request for this trip. I am arriving on a different flight than Dan and his sister (I get there about 2 1/2 hours after them). Pray that we are able to find each other easily once I get there. Other than that, prayers of safety would be appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Mutant Cats

2007-12-18T13:18:00.000-06:00

Chalk one up for another pointless discovery in the world of science. Some researchers in Korea have cloned a cat that carries a protein called RFP (red fluorescence protein) in all of it's cells. When you shine ultraviolet light on the cats, they shine red. Freaky. This isn't the first time either, folks. There are fluorescent rabbits, fish, frogs, and even a monkey I believe. In all seriousness though, this actually is a significant achievement. They believe they can use the same technique used to introduce the fluorescence to the cat to treat and possibly cure certain genetic disorders. I hated cats to begin with...and now that they can look even more demonic, I hate them even more.

Dear Lord, Arf Arf.

2007-12-13T12:06:00.000-06:00

This is quite possibly one of the cutest pictures I've ever seen. Yes I used the word "cutest." Don't hate. The dog looks like he is praying extremely hard. Maybe he really is. One of the greatest pleasures in my life is getting to pray with kindergarten and first grade kids at the Greenhouse. They have absolutely no reservations about asking God for silly things. I think that is something that is completely lost by adult Christians. We can ask God for ANYTHING, but alot of times we don't ask him because we think it isn't "important enough." I've resumed reading a book I started a couple of years ago at the suggestion of Callan. (Prayer by Richard Foster) Sometimes I get caught only talking to God when I need to ask him for something, but he wants to engage us in ways much deeper than that. We should talk to him as we would a best friend. Tell him frustrations, joys, praises, needs, talk about football with him. That would be fun..."Hey Jesus, how bout them Colts?"

Oh Sun, where have you gone?

2007-12-10T11:27:00.000-06:00

Today I'm in a Jeremy Enigk mood. His music is good for this weather.

I think I'll move to the tropics someday. But then I wouldn't have good Jeremy Enigk weather.

On second thought, I can do without Jeremy Enigk.

Peace out, y'all.

Today it's gloomy.

2007-12-06T12:49:00.000-06:00

The leaves are gone.
Cold is here.
No sunny skies.
December is not single person friendly. Maybe I can get a girl to just sign a one month agreement? Not likely.
It is amazing to me that on gloomy days like this, the Lord still fills my heart with joy.
I have much to be thankful for.

Thursday

2007-11-15T09:39:00.000-06:00

Oh to Grace,
how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be.
-
Here's the Mount,
I'm fixed upon it.
Mount of Thy unchanging love.

Weekend Highlights

2007-11-13T11:54:00.000-06:00

This weekend was incredibly fun and exhausting, but mostly fun. At times it was a big "past meets present" fest, but that just made it more interesting. Friday I went to the university's production of "Our Town." It was really great - take a moment and enjoy life folks. Afterwards, a great game of Apples to Apples with old friends. Side note - I love when I hang out with people for the first time in several months and we are able to just pick right up where we left off.

On Saturday, Dan and I went backpacking around the Buffalo River. The trees were gorgeous. Here are a few highlights from that trip:
-We saw a herd of 15-20 elk on the side of the road, one of the bulls was MASSIVE.
-While driving to Erbie, I saw a dog on the side of the road with something in it's mouth. Upon closer inspection, it was a fresh bloody deer leg. Yum!
-We had a sweet campsite, complete with reclining couch and fire pit.
-I woke up in the middle of the night to a coyote howling about 40 yards away from me.
-Saw an old cemetary, an old farmer's house (with a sweet barn), and awesome views of the river.
-Learned how to off-road in a Honda Civic.
-Random puking incident in Harrison.

And the last, but definitely not the least, highlight of my weekend: pillow talk with Jordan - twice!

Life lessons from the trees

2007-11-02T10:03:00.001-06:00

When walking to/from school, I have a few options for my route. Most of the time I just take the main roads, but occasionally I walk through the cemetery. I find myself taking the cemetery route more in the fall because the trees are so beautiful. When I was walking home through the cemetery yesterday I started having all these thoughts of how trees are like a model of how I want my life to be remembered when I'm gone. I don't know if being surrounded by tombstones just brought the subject of death to the forefront of my mind or what, but it was like a flood of thoughts all at once. I started thinking of spring when the trees are flowering and putting on leaves as birth. It's a beautiful event and the new leaves have such a delicate look to them. As the spring/summer progresses, the leaves turn a darker green color and they withstand storms, drought, whatever the world throws their way. I want my adult life to be like that. Then, just before the leaves wither and fall, they put on an awe-inspiring display. I want the end of my life to be like that - the most beautiful and meaningful part of my life. I hope God allows me to shine in the waning moments of my life.

Random thoughts for your Thursday

2007-11-01T10:42:00.000-06:00

The trees are actually turning colors - I thought we were gonna jipped this year.
-
I've never actually written the word "jipped" before the last sentence, and I have absolutely no idea if it's spelled even remotely correctly.
-
Brian's bed is comfortable.
-
Girls who use Halloween as an excuse to dress as slutty as humanly possible annoy the crap out of me.
-
An upcoming weekend road trip has the potential for greatness.
-
I'm loving the cooler weather, but I'm so not ready for winter.
-
I wish I had better organizational skills.
-
Murder in the dark is a fun game.
-

Microscopic Faith

2007-10-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been convicted that I'm not depending on God like I should. It's easy for me to see God and ask for his help with big things like family issues, health problems, world peace, etc., but it's hard for me to feel like I need to depend on God for the small everyday things like food, clothing, joy, shelter. I guess it's somewhat a testament to how blessed I am that I don't feel like I won't ever go without a meal or have a roof over my head, but at the same time I forget that God has blessed me and it's not of myself. I'm starting to be able to see God in everything. The orange I had after lunch was exceptional, spring roommate situation taking care of itself, I had warm jacket to wear this morning when it was quite chilly outside. He is everywhere, and is in control of everything. I want to get to the point where I see everything that happens in my life, big and small, as a direct involvement of God.

Girl's best friend, or utter injustice?

2007-10-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

Mankind is sick and twisted. I used to think that people are inherently good, but that is hard to justify with the Bible (all have sinned and come short....). So, the richest 1% or so of people in the world think that some stupid rock is "pretty" and the poorest people in the world have to slave to dig these things out of dirt and rock and make next to nothing for it. Talk about injustice. I don't understand the big deal about diamonds anyway. I mean, they're basically just clear coal. Sure, they are beautiful, but do you really need to adorn your body with them? By no means am I trying to say that I am not a materialistic person, but if we were constantly aware of the hardship we bring to other people as a result of our lofty desires I think the world would be a wildly different place.

Open question

2007-09-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

I seemed to have lost my tweezers several weeks ago. My question to anyone who might be reading is this: Where the heck does one find tweezers in Walmart? I looked all over the health and beauty section but came out empty-handed. So if you know what aisle tweezers are located, please enlighten me.

Wes

Pondering

2007-09-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

I've recently been listening to the new Shane and Shane CD, Pages. One of the lyrics is "May the vision of You be the death of me." Do I truly think this way? I mean, I want to see Jesus desperately, but am I willing for that vision to mean the death of my desires? It's so hard to just let go and let Him be in control, but I think it's something that I'm learning to do.
-
Here are some things that have made me happy lately:
1. A trip to Memphis and Columbus, MS to hang out with two of my favorite people on the planet, Jonathan and Jordan.
2. Getting a new car and not having to worry about it breaking down, thus allowing #1 to happen.
3. The weather.
4. Easily finding a new community group that I love.
5. My Sunday School kids...I seriously love them.
6. Bluegrass.
7. My friends - I wish I knew how to express how much I love them.

Look at me, I'm in Long Island

2007-08-16T13:47:00.000-05:00

So I figured I'd follow the crowd and blog about my trip that I'm currently on. I'm at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in Long Island, NY. Long Island itself isn't very pretty (at least the little I've seen of it), but the lab campus is amazing. The weather is awesome, lower 80's...not missing Arkansas August weather at all. I'm rooming with this guy from Holland. We had kind of an awkward meeting because we didn't run into each other moving in yesterday and then he was asleep when I got back to the room last night. So we met after we had already slept in the same room for a night. He came out of the bathroom from his shower and I was brushing my teeth and we were like "Hi." Quite funny. Oh, and his name is Sake, pronounced "Shocka." It was hard for me not to laugh when he told me his name. Probably my favorite part of the meeting so far is when people give presentations when English is obviously not their native language nor are they fluent, and then people just as bad at English try to ask them questions. They totally just don't understand each other at all and it ends up being like 5 minutes of back and forth with no real resolution because neither side ultimately understands. Oh and hearing the Japanese people talk makes me laugh too because they pronounce their "l" as "r." For example, nucleoplasm ends up being "nucreoprasm." It's all I can do to not LOL all over the place. Anyway, maybe I'll post again before I leave. Goodbye.
::Wes (I decided to try the cool little thing Blake does at the end of his posts...hope you don't mind, my red brother)

Life is changing

2007-08-06T15:48:00.000-05:00

So I feel like my life is changing a lot right now. A good 15 or so of my friends have moved away within the last year or will be leaving very shortly. I guess that's what I get for going to grad school at the same place I did my undergrad instead of being the one to leave everyone else. I definitely don't regret it though. I'm positive that God's Will was for me to stay at Arkansas. I got to make some incredible relationships that I otherwise would've missed out on. This fall will be my first semester without having to take a class (although I still have one class left to take in the Spring). My friends are getting "real jobs" and driving "grown up cars." I am so thankful for the friends that I still have here and the new people God is placing in my life (especially a certain lady-friend). I am looking forward to getting involved in a new community group and forging new relationships and community. With this transition, it has made me realize how much stock I put in my friends. At times I think I fall into putting my identity in people I respect and love, but this is a good chance to (yes I know it's cliche) work on putting my identity in Christ. I'm excited to see what and who this next part of my life will bring. I usually am resistant to change in my life, but I definitely think it can be a positive and healthy thing.

Only in Dreams

2007-06-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

Dreams are probably one of my favorite things God has blessed us with. Mine are usually never scary or anxiety-filled, but usually bizzare and something that I can have a good laugh about the next morning. Last night though I had an amazing dream experience. I feel like I got to visit a place that no one else in the world has ever been to. It was so vivid and real-feeling and the dream seemed to last for hours. It started by me riding on a four-wheeler in a forest with my golden retriever. We crested a hill and looked down upon the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. The sand was pure and not littered with trash, and the water....oh the water. It was shallow and brilliant blue. There were lots of sandbars that gave texture to the ocean. Apparently in my dream I knew that this place was a volcanic beach - the largest in the world. Mountains arose dramatically just behind the beach, and there was an old temple/tomb thing that was built into the mountain. It seemed to be a relic from an ancient civilization. I got to explore it walk the ancient halls. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Even though this place most likely doesn't exist anywhere on Earth, it existed to me for that vapor of time and I probably won't soon forget it.

Loaded Down

2007-06-20T18:56:00.001-05:00

Loaded Down
Originally uploaded by Peloria

I was feeling kinda nostalgic and thinking about my childhood, and I started remembering about the old barn that my grandma used to have that used to sit on the plot of land where her house is now. Life is completely different now from those days. Family dynamics have changed, everyone is older, some have passed. Life is a vapor and nothing material here is eternal. Things will change. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, "Everything is meaningless!" Life, just like grandma's old barn, will someday pass. And I think I'm ok with that.

On a completely different note, I have been listening to The Weepies alot lately. I am in love with the girl's voice. It's so effortless and subdued, yet has a certain quality that just draws me in. It's so genuine. Their songs are great and I highly recommend both of their albums if you are into chill acoustic folky stuff.

Obituary Overhaul

2007-06-05T22:53:00.001-05:00

So I was looking through the Sunday paper a couple of days ago and I came across the obituaries. There's some morbid part of me that has to look at all the obits just to see if I know any of them. I think the standard obituary is in serious need some revamping. They are so freaking boring. I mean, come on. Let's spice it up a little. For most people, an obituary is the last thing that will ever be written about them, so give people something to remember. I think that obits should be a celebration of the person's life. Tell funny anecdotes, favorite foods, hobbies, etc. And the main thing I think obituaries should include is cause of death. It makes me so mad when I read those stupid things because I just want to know how they died. Maybe when we check the little box to become organ donors when we get a drivers license we can have an option of releasing cause of death on an obituary. I don't know, these are all just random thoughts.

2:30A.M. Madness

2007-05-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

So I was sound asleep and something woke me up. Wasn't quite sure at the time what it was, but then I heard a car alarm. I finally came out of my slumber enough to realize that the alarm I was hearing sounded very much like Brian's car alarm. "Oh crap, not again," I thought. So I ran to the window to witness the scene of carnage of the vehicles. A drunk driver had hit the back of Jesse's car, ramped it up onto Brian's car, and then Jesse's car rolled off of Brians car and landed upside down in our front yard. Insanely enough, it missed rolling onto my car (which was parked in the driveway) by about 6 inches. The drunk guy's hands were all bloody and he had a gash on his head. He was treated at the scene and then arrested. Here are some pictures. I'm sure Brian will be posting some of his pictures later today on his blog, so check it out.

Don't drink and drive, kids.

These hips definitely don't lie.

2007-05-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

wow.

The Amazing World We Live In

2007-05-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been watching Planet Earth alot on the Discovery channel. I am in constant awe when I watch this show. I was talking about the show with a lady I work with the other day and she made a good point. She said "I don't understand how people can fight all the time over stupid things when we live in such an amazing world. They should be enjoying it instead of hating all the time." That's so true. God has given us a global playground showcasing his beautiful creation, and we just crap all over it most of the time. On a lighter note, school is almost over and I'm pumped big time. I'm about to start working on one test now, and I have one more next week. And then what could possibly be the best summer of my life so far. Hiking 100 miles, living with Jon again, Cara won't be lame anymore, cookouts, backroading (although it won't be quite the same) lake, beach...ok I'm getting a little too giddy right now. I hope this finds you well. Until next time.

Much love,
Wes

Funny PostSecret

2007-04-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Callan, I read PostSecret from time to time (good blog, you should check it out). I was browsing today and came across a pretty funny postcard someone sent in.
I think it's hilarious, but I can see how some people might not find it as funny as I do. I can laugh at almost anything. I especially like the fan's face. And the fact that I don't think I've ever actually seen the word "bajesus" spelled out before.

Hilarious

2007-04-15T15:16:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite commercial right now and is probably in my top ten all-time. Hope you enjoy.

100 MILE SUMMER

2007-04-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to set a goal of hiking/backpacking at least 100 miles this summer. Here's why:
1. I like being outside
2. Great exercise
3. Good times with friends
4. I want to hike the distance of roughly 4 marathons in a span of about 3 months...makes for good stories.

Let me know if you want to join me on this endeavor...seriously.

PS. School is lame.

Easter

2007-04-03T20:22:00.000-05:00

"When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:30

This time of year carries so much gravity. The God of the universe came to earth as lowly human and lived the perfect life without sin. He left the ultimate example of how we should live our lives, and then he gave his life for mankind. I don't know if I will ever fully comprehend the love of our savior.

How is it that I can know these things and go on sinning? I feel like Paul when he says "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." (Romans 7:21-25)

Easter week is usually a good time of reflection for me. It's so easy to just go through Easter without really contemplating what Christ did for us, but I encourage you to really think about it this year.

That's kind of an awkward end to this post, but I can't think of another way to end it.

Spring Break Part 2: The Rainforest

2007-03-27T18:00:00.000-06:00

After we left the beach we went back to mainland Puerto Rico and hit up the good ol' jungle. It's called El Yunque Rainforest after the name of the god whom the Taino indians believed lived there. It was so beautiful that it was pretty easy to understand how this place had such spiritual significance at one point in history. The rainforest terrain was something that was completely new to me, but it didn't take long to fall in love with it.

You can see the ocean from the rainforest!

I didn't know it at the time, but I'm told this is hibiscus.

This picture is very jungly.

Despite what he tells you, that is definetly not Jordan making out with a random Puerto Rican girl under the waterfall.

Jordan and I after we dominated El Yunque Peak. You could see almost a 360 degree view of the entire island from here. Without a doubt it was the best view I've had in my life. And then later we decided that the indians probably did lots of rituals and sacrifices on that peak and it made it even sweeter.

All in all it was a pretty sweet trip. If you've never heard Reggaeton music, you should probably check it out. I hated it at first but I think I like it now.

Spring Break Part 1: The Beach

2007-03-26T16:00:00.000-06:00

Well, spring break was pretty much the bomb diggity. Here are some of my favorite pictures from my time on the beaches of Culebra, a small island about 17 miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico.

This is Flamenco Beach where we camped. The campground was directly behind the beach and we could hear the waves crashing from our tent.

Another view of Flamenco Beach.

Tamarindo Beach

Carlos Rosario Beach

Carlos Rosario Beach at sunset. I really like how this picture turned out.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It was just a random palm tree by the ferry dock, but someone had painted Fajardo, Puerto Rico and Culebra -- the two places the ferry runs between.

Basically we did a lot of snorkeling, lounging in hammocks, eating, and just being lazy in general. Those things combined pretty much equals awesomeness. Stay tuned for Spring Break Part 2: The Rainforest.

Internet weirdo

2007-03-14T22:53:00.000-06:00

So I was in a youtube mood tonight and I felt inclined to search for "emo vampire" just to see what kind of crazies I could pull up. This guy definitely fit the bill. Some people are just....wow. This will be my last post until after my awesome spring break adventure, so I hope all 3 of you won't miss me too much while I'm gone. Enjoy the creepy emo vampire guy.

The Infamous Funky White Boy Dance

2007-03-10T11:18:00.000-06:00

He definitely brought sexy back.

Hey look! My blog didn't die!

2007-03-06T10:34:00.000-06:00

I like this picture even though there's nothing really that special about it. I think I'm over liking pictures for "artistic value." It's way better if the picture just means something to you. Like the feeling you had when you took the picture, or the people you were with. So I'll tell you (if anyone is still actually still reading this dumb blog) why this picture is meaningful. I took it last weekend while hiking with two of my best buds, both of whom I don't get to spend nearly enough time with. It was so great being outside, and you could just feel spring about to explode all over the place. This picture reminds me of how brilliantly blue the sky was that day and how great the pines smelled. And how much I love spending time with people that I love.

An Ode to Taylor

2007-02-11T22:13:00.000-06:00

This post is in honor of Taylor Wood. He makes me laugh. His parents are awesome and cook massive meals for me. He likes good music (with one exception). He has asthma. He has cool shoes. He plays guitar. He makes funny faces.

God Bless Taylor!

RIP

2007-02-08T17:16:00.000-06:00

Anna Nicole Smith is dead. Sucks for her, but I'm not upset that she is out of the gene pool.

Everyone else is doing it.

2007-02-08T14:52:00.000-06:00

I guess if I truly want to be super cool and trendy, I should get up to speed and have a blog. And it helps me waste time at work. So here's my super cool and trendy blog. I'll leave you with a picture. I like the contrast of lush lettuce fields with the backdrop of barren desert mountains near my grandparents' house.