Back with Lots of News

Sorry about the lack of posts for an entire month.

Well, I got the new car and it turns out that the car is Canadian. Yesterday, it was 17 degrees outside so I turned the in-car temperature to 20. Also, I think that instead of oil, the engine takes maple syrup. With that being said, the Black Baron is not a suitable name. The car shall now be dubbed, "The Hoser."

I finished my second year of seminary and have two left, God willing. I even got a 'B' in my really hard Greek class that I was worried about passing! Now I am taking an online theology class this summer. I found a coffee shop in Crosslake, MN that has wi-fi so I'll be doing coursework from Northern MN this June.

The marathon is 3 weeks from today! I am excited and pretty nervous now. I haven't done many long runs yet because things always kept coming up (sickness, final exams, bad weather). Last Monday, I tried to run 16 miles, but when I was 8 miles from home it started downpouring (with lightning) and the temperature dropped from 60 degrees to 40. I was soaked and freezing, so I stopped at a nearby rec center and called Jess to come pick me up so I didn't die. So either tomorrow or the next day I am attempting a 20 mile run.

Finally, (and I mean finally) I got a job yesterday! I start working this afternoon as a pizza delivery driver for Papa John's in Highland's Ranch (a.k.a. Tiptown).

Oh! And Jess and I have an anniversary coming up on May 29th! It will be our 3 year anniversary!

Fenway Park Fans

Hilarious.

The First/Last Great Journey of the Black Baron

Yep. I think that's a pretty good name for the new car my mother-in-law, Sara, is graciously letting me apprehend. The Black Baron. Of course, I said that I'd have a car-naming competition, but I'm pretty sure that after not writing on this blog for a couple weeks there are approximately zero readers. So, executive decision: the car shall be named The Black Baron. (If you haven't caught on, the car is black.)

I'll be flying back to Minneapolis on the 24th and driving the car back on the awe-inspiring stretch of I-80, travelling through Iowa and Nebraska, on the 26th. I'll take lots of pictures.

Oh, and my 1st sermon went well. I'm deep into sermon #2 right now. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

As I Pass in and out of Consciousness...

I remember that 12 miles is not even half a marathon. Argh.

SermonCarContest

I'm waist deep in my James sermon right now. This Monday morning, I'll be preaching a 1/2 hour sermon on James 2:14-26 - Faith and Works. I've got it almost entirely written out. I have to turn in a word-for-word manuscript and then preach without notes of any sort (though I may have an outline on the back of my eyelids).

Oh, and here's some news on the job front:

When I lost this job, I started to think about other things I would like to do part time. As previously mentioned, I really wanted to deliver pizzas, but we were worried about it killing our only car. When I delivered pizzas in college, it killed both The Chief and Hercules.

So I was praying about what to do. Then, out of the blue, Jess's mom called her up (before she knew I had lost my job) and asked if we wanted her car because she would be buying a new one! God definitely answered that one quickly! I'll have to think of a good name for the car when we get it at the end of April or so.

Maybe I'll post a picture of it and have a car-naming contest. I'll think of a sweet prize. Like I could post the winner's picture on the blog and have it surrounded by little shimmering stars and the caption could say something like, "Hey! Good job!" or "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" Boy, that would be great.

Now it's bed time.

A Lot/Little Has Happened/Not Happened

Well, for starters, I no longer am working with the young man with developmental disabilities. For some reason (no one has any idea why) his anxiety was starting to rise every time I came to work with him. (This is weird because this didn't happen until after about 8 months.) So that was weird to lose a job out of the blue, but I'm really okay with it. The training and paperwork and some of the peripheral issues were getting pretty stressful, so it's actually freeing to be done with those things. I'm probably going to start delivering pizzas again. (Good pay - free pizza).

In other news, we got stood up by the Mormon missionaries. I don't know why, but we were actually looking forward to talking with them. Back in La Crosse, we and some friends of ours played whiffleball with some Mormon missionaries and we think they let us win. I might post the results of some of our Mormon research if anyone is interested in what we were going to say.

The marathon training is going well(?). I've had to cut back on my mileage a bit because my shins and knees are hurting, but I've managed 84.1 miles since 2/12. This isn't as many as Phil, but there is something to be said for quality over quantity. And high altitude. (Actually Phil is the trendy pick to win it all.)

Today my weekly long run was 9 miles. I haven't run that far in 8-10 years. I managed to run the whole thing without breaking my legs. While I was running, I was listening to a program about near-death experiences. I think I also had one at about mile 8. I can't wait to cross that finish line and be done with this whole crazed idea. I think I'll take up something easy next, like birdwatching.

That's all for now.

#1

Welcome to my brand new blog. Since our family blog is dedicated to just that (well, really to Silas), this blog is where I'll post things about myself - marathon complaints, things I've learned in school, fish I've caught, or whatever is on my mind.

I thought I'd start by posting a picture of a guy on a McDonald's cup who looks exactly like a cross between my friends Ben Cosgrove and Mike Degrood.

In other news, a couple of LDS (Mormon) missionaries might be coming over to our apartment in the next couple of days to talk to us. Why not? I'll keep you all (though no one reads this yet) posted.