A Great (long) Weekend for Football - Woohoo!

All around it was a great weekend for football!

It started out on Thursday morning with a pickup game of football with some of the guys (and gal - go Tina!) from the NCC. We had a great time over at Franklin Park. Even though my team lost (it was close) we had a blast & I got to QB - loads of fun! Special props to Donovan who definitely made the most sliding catches & a happy birthday to Brad.

Next up on Friday, we went to the Washington 1-A semifinals where my school - Cascade Christian - won big time. We've got some really talented players on our team & it was great getting to watch them in the Tacoma Dome. Next weekend we play for the championship - go Cougs!

Finally, this morning was the matchup I've been waiting all year for - Georgia Tech vs. Georgia. And to top it off, our network decided to show it - meaning I got to watch it for a change (in HD to boot). It started out slow, but come second half, it was all Yellowjackets (sorry, Dawgs). It was a great game, but in the end Tech held out for the victory (7 years in the making). An interesting note: when the Tech players were asked their goals at the start of the season, their number one goal was beat Georgia - that's how deep the rivalry goes. Way to go Yellow Jackets!


Go Tech!

Transplant Success!!

Over the summer, we picked up a little Mac Mini for our everyday computer. It has no doubt been one of my favorite computers. I love it's size (picture four Ramen noodle packs stacked together), the fact that it can run both Apple's OS-X & Windows XP, the speed at which it wakes up from sleeping (2 seconds max!), and the fact that it shares the name of a very cool car!

Unfortunately, we had picked this little beaut. up from Craig's List (read: slightly broken in). Apparently the previous owner had opened Mac up a bit and didn't get him put back together 100%. Sometimes the audio would crackle & cut out. And the wireless didn't get nearly as good of a signal as it should have. And there were a few parts - memory & hard drive - that I had been itching to upgrade. So with my Amazon store going so well, I took some of the proceeds and bought the upgrades. Last night I sat down to work.

Never before have I had to open a computer with a putty knife, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Once I got it open, there were a few of the usual steps involved with switching out memory & hard drives (I'll save you the boredom). Needless to say, things went well - and while I was in there, I reconnected a few cables that had gotten loose.

After reassembling, I plugged in my external hard drive (Time Machine backup), ran the setup program and now things are running perfectly. Not only that, but Time Machine maintained all my settings - it's like I'm l0oking at the exact same computer - just with new insides!

Brain transplant & heart valve replacement, success! Mac feels like a new computer.

Back to Music Education

When I was in high school, a lot of people would ask what I want to do in life. I knew I would be heading to college (that was a given for me), but I wasn't quite sure what I would do there. But the last couple of years in high school helped steer me in the direction of teaching - and specifically teaching music.

College arrived and I loved it. I loved the music education, I loved the activities (BSU), I loved the atmosphere. Unfortunately I hit a speed bump in the last year or so of college life - which changed things a bit. Fortunately, I was still able to get a degree in music. And the best thing was that it helped direct us towards serving in ministry in the Northwest. (Have we mentioned we love the Northwest?)

A few years of college ministry, a couple of church plants, and a seminary degree later, we are still loving the Northwest and excited about what the next chapter holds.

Well, I am excited to say that we know a little more of what that will look like. Starting this Fall, I'll be teaching music at Cascade Christian Schools at the Fredrickson Elementary campus. Elementary music! I love it! 250 kids, K-6. We're going to have a blast! One of the really cool parts will be working with the worship team for chapel services. I love developing worship leaders - and this is starting at the very beginning. It's going to be a great year!

I feel that in a lot of ways, I'm coming full circle. Getting back into one of the things I love, while still being able to serve God in the local church as well. I'm excited & we'll keep you updated on how things go.

Water slides and theme parks

On our family vacation this summer, we (re)discovered a fun part of traveling...water slides and theme parks. We decided to camp in a tent for most of our trip, but for one night, we splurged and spent the night in a hotel. It was in Fargo, North Dakota and the big draw for this Ramada Inn was the 150 foot water slide. After a long day of driving, it was so much fun to swish around on a fast slide and swim in a big pool! It was Ellie's first time on a water slide and she had a great time!! We felt like we were living in luxury with plush beds and a fancy bathroom (compared to the middle-of-the-night trips to the bath house at the campground). So, we definitely enjoyed our night at the Ramada!

On our way through Minneapolis, we stopped at the Mall of America to see Dora the Explorer and all of her friends at Nickelodeon Universe. What a blast!! Michael and I were expecting all kiddie rides (which there were plenty of), but there were a couple of roller coasters and some fun parent-friendly rides too. I'm including some pictures from our afternoon at the Nickelodeon Universe. If you're ever near the Twin Cities with kids, I recommend it!

Back to life, back to reality...

We've been back from our road trip vacation for 2 weeks now and life has been busy. But, I figured I should at least begin blogging about our great trip to Wisconsin and back. We set out early on a Saturday morning at the end of June. Within 45 minutes of getting on the road, Ellie announced, "I have to go potty!" So, she received a lesson in "squatting" in the woods--which by the way she refused to do!! That squatting lesson turned out to be a blessing, as many times on our 2 week road trip we said, "Ellie, you can either squat or hold it until we find a real potty!"

We had great family time along the way. It was really fun to see the different scenery as we travelled through the beautiful mountains of Northern Idaho and Montana (might I add that Montana is a very wide state to drive through!!). We saw some funny road signs including "Bad Route Road" and "Crazy Woman Creek."

As I begin to unpack the memories from our summer vacation, I'd like to share our checklist and goals.

Total Miles: 4197.8
Gallons of Gas: 149.9
Total driving time: 62 hours, 52 minutes
Number of nights spent in a tent: 10
Number of Sonic Lemon-Berrry Slushes: 4
Number of Chick-fil-a sandwiches: 2
Number of éclairs eaten by Michael: 5
Number of visits to Leon’s Frozen Custard Drive-In: 3
Number of cousins visited: 11

Total number of innings of baseball: 8 ½ (go Brewers!)

Go fly a kite!

It may sound like a deprived childhood, but I've never flown a kite before! So, I was excited when Michael recently suggested that we buy a kite for our road trip next month. Michael found a good deal on a kite at Costco (and you know that everything's bigger @ Costco), so we waited for the perfect windy day. Finally, last weekend, it seemed that it was windy enough to give it a try. Michael, Ellie, and I took a family walk over to a neighborhood park with few trees. It was a blast! It wasn't super-windy that day, so Michael had to do a lot of running to "create" wind. Ellie and I loved seeing the dragon fly! And I had a great time snapping lots of pictures!

Welcome Home, Sasha!

Dear Sasha (pictured right),

It's good to have you back! We're so sorry you had an accident (people really should pay more attention when they are driving), but we're glad to have you back in all of your restored beauty. Truthfully, your bumper was getting a little faded (I didn't want to tell you before), so I guess things turned out well. Plus, it created the perfect opportunity to get your new windshield installed (15 rock chips & one really large crack later).

Sasha, I would like to express my thanks for watching out for my wonderful wife during the accident. That was so kind of you to take the impact for her (she is actually feeling quite well). You'll have to give our regards to your skillful creators back home at Saturn.

Sadly, I must admit that while you were gone, we did employ the services of one Eric the Avenger (pictured left). Have no fear, we were not at all tempted by his sporty appearance (afterall, we're not that into smokers). Yes, it is true that Eric had satellite radio, but I did not let him tempt me. Besides, you're sound system is way better. Don't worry, you never really had anything to fear - we remained faithful through it all!

Ellie greatly missed you during your absence and asked about you frequently.

Once again, it's great to have you back. Here's to many more years and another 100K miles or two!

Your friend & humble oil changer,

Michael